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|2013-01-06, 14:03
|Link #37461
The Interstellar Medium
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 29
I don't know what Kaiser's Divine Grimoire is, though.
As for your question
Haven't really thought that far. It's written on-the-fly so I have very little notes. Though, I can say it is most likely only in the TSAB's "dimension" as the Absolution probably doesn't have access to any other dimension. More backstory will come.
Speaking of which. I've been without net for a few days due to skiing vacation and gotten more stuff written.
Part I
Part II
Spoiler for The Unforgiving III:
Hayate stared, dumbfounded, as God Fist shattered. It broke apart, debris exploding outward, while plasma devoured its shield and, a few seconds afterward, its armor. The plasma remained there, chewing inwards towards the interior, soon breaking through its inner shell.
During the massacre, the channel from God Fist remained open, broadcasting to the entire fleet. Everyone could hear the death cries of its crew being burned alive inside their ship that had turned into an oversized microwave. Hayate imagined for a few seconds those that didn't have their flesh turned to ash, instead suffocating or freezing to death out in space, all alone without salvation. She almost threw up, pushed the mental imagery away and shut the broadcast off.
"Commander," Mariam said, shaken yet calm at the same time, "orders?"
It was a good question. What was she supposed to do now? With the flagship down and the Absolution fleet regrouping there wasn't much choice. The other ships in her fleet had started drifting away from each other, clogging the comm channels with frantic chatter and panicked voices. She could hear them continuously, streaming into her consciousness from the mental link. A storm of information assaulted her as data kept flooding her screens.
Shut up…
Someone demanded an explanation for what had just happened. Another tried to take command, failing, as no one listened to him. The Absolution fleet aligned themselves towards them, their menacing weapons coming to bear.
Shut up.
Mariam asked something, but Hayate didn't hear. Or she didn't want to. Thoughts raced around in her head; options, alternatives, tactics, strategy. Everything she had learned during the years replayed itself in her head, but nothing of it applied. They'd never faced a force as strong as this before. They'd grown lazy, complacent. No. That wasn't it. They couldn't blame themselves like that.
She couldn't blame them like that.
Shut up!
She saw it. It appeared to her as a lighthouse in the night, an idea so simple, a tactic so spartan it would work fine. As long as she could take control, they would make it out alive. It was down to her.
"Everyone, shut the hell up!"
Mariam stared at her with her mouth half-open. Some of her crew turned to look at her, but most didn't care. They sat still, smiling for themselves. The comm channels went quiet.
"Cranagan's Glory, Miademes, Oriasen, prepare for emergency warp. Mariam, give me the coordinates for a resupply station." Mariam nodded and started working, fingers flying. "Prepare all your weapon bays for immediate launch. Those I didn't mention just now, warp away as fast as you can." Which meant five ships in her fleet would be sent into safety. "We are going to give them hell and then get the fuck out of here."
A new comm channel opened, this one from the Commander of Cranagan's Glory, Tamil. He didn't look pleased. "Commander Yagami, what are you doing?"
"Saving the fleet."
"I can see that, but sending those ships away is stupid. We can use their firepower to—"
"No, we can't," she said without looking at the screen. "Those are the older models, they don't have the supply capacity that we do."
"That's true, but—"
"Commander Tamil, we don't have time for this. Just trust me on this one because we don't have any time left!"
He furrowed his brow then shook his head. "Fine. Have it your way, but don't think this you'll get away with this unscathed." He disconnected.
Hayate snorted, a smug grin on her face. "I'm sure I won't. Mariam, preparations?"
"Almost complete, Commander."
She eyed the tactical screen again and found the Absolution fleet closing in. Individual beams soared through space from their bows, but none made any significant damage on her fleet. They were still too far outside their effective range, the only weakness they had found so far when it came to Absolution ship weapon systems, which the Messiah didn't seem to have. Nevertheless, at the speed the hostile ships were moving they would soon be upon them anyway. It wouldn't matter at that point.
"Alright then," she murmured, steeling herself. "Prepare to fire everything we have left on my command."
Mariam looked up from her console. "Everything, Commander?"
The Vengala turned too slowly for her tastes, but it was enough. Aligning a warship took some time when they were facing the wrong way; if they entered the dimensional sea without doing so would potentially result in structural damage.
She was almost ready to take that chance.
Warning sirens sounded as she saw light coming from the Messiah again. It was preparing the same beam attack from before. She looked at her screen, noting that the ships she had told to leave had indeed left. The last of them were swallowed up by the dimensional sea while she observed.
"It's just us left," she said, raising her arm straight up. "Fleet, acquire target; the Messiah."
"Target locked," the remaining ships replied. "Weapons hot. Ready on your orders, Commander. "
"Then…" She threw down her arm, pointing at the behemoth on the screen. "Fire!"
A warship like the Vengala could fire its weapons for a long time with pinpoint accuracy. Eventually, though, it would run out of magical energy and would be forced to recharge or simply resupply. However, nothing prevented a warship to gather all its remaining energy into one single attack, spending it all in a massive destructive beam, along with secondary weaponry fitted along the ship. Hayate didn't know the effect it would have. She had never seen it nor knew of anyone who had used it since it was so impractical; it was safe to say it was a last resort as the ship would become a useless brick afterwards if they didn't leave a little for energy for their drives, which she had already planned for.
Nevertheless, four massive, white beams followed by magical missiles and various small magical projectiles roared from the four warships at the same time, taking up the large space between the two fleets. The Vengala shuddered from the sheer recoil, throwing Hayate off-balance. She caught herself before falling, awestruck. She could feel the magical energy through the hull, prickling her skin. Almost as if hypnotized, she stared at the screen while the beams made their way towards the Absolution fleet.
Mariam's voice brought her out of it, her mind returning. She didn't have time to observe the beautiful spectacle. "Emergency warp, initiate. Go, go, go!"
As their drive hummed throughout the ship, the dimensional sea opened its maw to swallow them. Hayate watched with clenched fists as the beams hit the Messiah head-on. They scattered for a second against its shield, throwing themselves like solar flares around it, before they penetrated and caused a massive explosion that threw the dreadnaught backwards. It collided with another ship, breaking it apart, before magical fire feasted upon it.
The screen went black. They were safe in the dimensional sea.
Hayate sat down in her command chair, sweat dripping from her brow. All the tension in her body escaped and she suddenly felt tired. All she wanted was to go to her cabin and close her eyes for a few minutes, welcoming darkness.
But she couldn't. Not yet.
"Mariam, send a message to Unforgiving. Tell them…" Tell them what? That she ran away, leaving them stranded? Nanoha would understand, but it didn't feel right. Besides, that wasn't what Hayate was doing. "Tell them I'm coming back for them, soon. The Absolution fleet is in the way, but once we've regrouped and resupplied we are coming for them."
Mariam noted it down, stroking the keys. "Anything else?"
Hayate pondered for a moment. "Wish them luck. We all need it…"
The girl nodded and sent the message. In a matter of seconds it would arrive to Nanoha. Hayate wondered what her reaction would be and realized she had nothing to worry about.
She knew that prodigy too well at this point.
Hot. It was hard to breathe as if something kept stealing the air away from her. Her lungs were on fire, her head a mess. Her body ached. She gasped, coughing heavily as she sat up, struggling not to retch from the foul taste in her mouth. Her head spun and she had to shut her eyes to collect herself. What just happened? The shockwave had caught them or… No, it hadn't. They had escaped, somehow, but—
Teana. Caught by the Aeon.
She looked around in a daze, trees hindering her view. Some of them had broken over the middle, twigs and leaves covering the ground. Next to a bush under a lone tree that had escaped the shockwave, she saw a body lying on its side. Steam rose from the familiar black suit, now covered in marks and cuts, and her heart jumped in her chest. Fear took charge, spurring her into action.
No, no, no, can't be. I saved her! I had her in my arms!
Shrouded in denial, she crawled over to the girl while her body returned to her control little by little. With a shivering arm she reached out and grasped Teana's shoulder. It was hot to the touch as she turned her over, but she didn't feel any pain in her palm. Her magic still worked. Or she was in shock.
In one part of her mind she felt relieved when she found Teana's eyes closed; it meant her face hadn't been scorched off. Nanoha leaned in, listening for a breath. A faint gust of hot wind touched her skin. Yes! She patted Teana on the cheek, trying to rouse her. She didn't seem to have trouble breathing, though she was unconscious. The shockwave must have thrown them a large distance, causing a concussion. Nanoha hoped she wouldn't have internal injuries.
It didn't take long until her eyes opened and, with a gruff voice, said; "I'm alright. I think. You can stop."
Nanoha smiled, keeping a lid on her emotions, though didn't hide her happiness at finding her alive. She helped the girl up until she sat on her knees while coughing assaulted her. Nanoha put together a container from scraps of metal lying around, gathered a few drops of rain and urged Teana to drink it. She swallowed greedily, almost choking.
"Thanks, Nanoha…" She glanced around, still a bit dazed. "The others?"
Now she remembered what she had to do, her mind clearing. Nanoha tried to raise them on comms, but no one responded. All she got was interference. She figured magical energy still clogged the air. "Can't contact them right now, but we should start moving towards Cranagan. We can rendezvous closer to there."
Teana seemed about to argue, but instead nodded. Nanoha helped her up, supporting her on one side as they started to walk. Teana's leg had a deep gash in it, blood streaming down to the bottom of her armor. She walked with a limp, taking careful steps. Pain made her grimace from time to time, but she didn't mention any of it. Nanoha didn't ask.
The devastation around them was apparent yet subtle as they walked, leaving the forest behind them. Nothing but mud and scraps of metal remained on the ground. Any organic matter that had lived within the area had melted along with the vegetation. How many lives had been lost in that one strike? A few hundred? Why? Nanoha turned it over in her head, thinking back, applying logic, using every single deductive thought she could muster and came up with nothing. It frustrated her to no end.
"How did we make it?" Teana asked after a few minutes. Her breathing had stabilized now, though her limp remained. Nanoha welcomed the interruption.
"I raised a shield just before the shockwave hit," she said. "I lost control and it threw us away, but the shield resisted the rest of it. Somehow. I think we were so far away the shockwave had started to weaken."
"Lucky, I guess." Teana scoured the landscape. "More than them, anyway…"
Nanoha grimaced as if disgusted. Trying to understand the Absolution made her angrier than she already was. It didn't seem to be a point to it all. A one-sided slaughter with no clear goal.
"I miss her, you know," Teana said. Nanoha looked at her, eyebrow raised. "Subaru, I mean."
"Ah." Sudden.
"How long has it been since the invasion started? A few days? It feels like I haven't seen her in months." She grasped the edge of Nanoha's armor surrounding her arm and stared at her. She saw panic and loss in her eyes. "I need to see her. I miss her."
"You will see her again," Nanoha said, stroking the girl's hair as they kept walking. "She isn't dead."
"How can you possibly know that?"
"How can you know she's dead?"
Teana stared at her for a moment before laughing, followed by coughing. When she'd collected herself she said; "You're hopeless."
"I know."
They kept walking without a real destination while the magic within Nanoha's body had started to regenerate at a low rate. Her armor contained extra supplies that kept supplying her body with magical energy whether she wanted to or not, but she didn't want to waste it on flying just yet. If she decided to take flight – carrying Teana meant extra consumption – she wouldn't be able to escape in case more Absolution forces lurked nearby. The safest option right now was to walk until they reached an area where they could take cover and tend to Teana's wound.
As it was now, everything was flat and muddy with no possible cover. The rain had let up though, the sun poking through the thick clouds above. Its rays were warm, comforting. Then they disappeared again, reappearing a distance away. Annoying clouds.
Nanoha's earpiece pinged and a message showed on her visor. She read it and sighed. "More bad news."
Teana perked up, stricken with worry. "What about?"
"Hayate was forced to flee. The TSAB fleet left us behind." She wasn't sure how to feel about that, but she wouldn't blame her. If it had been Hayate's decision, Nanoha would have supported it; she probably didn't have much of a choice and she would have a good reason.
Teana shook her head. "Damnit," was all she said.
It took them the better part of an hour to reach something that could be said to be a building. It had been one, at any rate, but it still had four walls and a roof. The sun had started to settle in the horizon as evening approached which meant this shelter had to do for now. Nanoha led Teana to a corner where she put her down, removed a part of her leg armor and examined the wound. The blood had dried up a long time ago and it didn't seem infected. Nanoha decided to take a chance and left it as it was since Shamal would be able to help, but she was on the Vengala. She didn't know how long it would before they returned, but Teana's internal magical energy should be able to handle it. She would be able to tell in a few hours.
She put the armor back on and sat down next to her, listening for nothing in particular. Resting; taking a minute for her mind to catch up.
Silence had ruled between them for half an hour when Nanoha's comms came to life. The static was so heavy she couldn't hear anything for the first couple of seconds, but as time grew on she could make out a voice; Vivio.
"…Interfe--… survivors please resp-- … calling on all frequencies."
"Vivio! Can you hear me?" The voice of her daughter rose the spirits within her. She'd see her soon again.
"Mom? Are you… --right?"
"I'm fine, but Teana is wounded. Where are you? How are the rest?"
"We are holed… an old building. Sending coordinates." Numbers were displayed on her visor. She downloaded them to Raising Heart. "None of us are injured… Though we haven't… survivors."
"We neither," Nanoha said. "Stay put. We are coming to you."
"Right. Be careful."
She terminated the connection and rose, looking at Teana. She nodded, having heard the conversation. "I'm fine to go."
They started to move again as night approached. The sun's warmth that lessened for each minute left them tired and exhausted, struggling to stay on their feet. Nanoha used Raising Heart as a GPS from time to time, making a route with the coordinates. Everything they passed were mud, soon transforming into asphalt. They were walking on a road, one she didn't recognize. Obviously, there wasn't much she recognized anymore. The landscape itself had changed. Hills she'd walked on, buildings she'd entered, gone in a moment. At least Cranagan grew larger in the distance.
Lost in thought, she roused when she spotted a light in the distance, darkness threatening to envelop them. It was a lone building attached to a garage. Every other building around had been demolished. The coordinates pointed to it.
"Has to be them," Teana said.
Nanoha nodded as a figure stepped out of the door to greet them.
Vivio ran up to her and hugged them both -- awkwardly since Nanoha still supported Teana -- and with her help they brought Teana inside where Vita, Yuuno, Signum and Zafira waited for them. The light came from Laevateinn that had been placed in the middle of the room. It burned from magical fire.
"Is she badly hurt?" Zafira asked as they put Teana down.
Teana shook her head. "I'm fine. I think it's healed."
He murmured something about taking a look anyway and bent down to check. Nanoha took a seat next to Yuuno, one worry gone from her mind. The room was empty, scraped clean. The floor was hard, but dry.
"Any signs of the Absolution?" he asked after a moment of silence. He seemed tired, lost.
"None. You?"
"No." He shuddered, closed his eyes. "All those people, dead in an instant. I've been holed up in the Library for too long. I thought I was prepared for this."
Nanoha put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed. "None of us were prepared."
He chuckled. "Yeah. Maybe."
She found no more words and let the subject drift away. Vivio sat down next to her and leaned her head against Nanoha's shoulder. "I'm tired, mom."
"Already?" Nanoha grinned. "I thought you had more energy than that."
She appeared insulted, pouting. "Mom."
"Shut up."
Nanoha giggled and wrapped an arm around her. "Alright."
To her side she could hear Vita sleeping with a loud snore, sprawled on the floor. Signum sat against the wall, eyes closed. Nanoha couldn't tell if she was sleeping or not. Zafira seated himself next to Signum, leaving Teana alone. She'd fallen asleep as well, breathing deeply. Even after a day everyone in the room were exhausted.
Sleep. I've been sleeping for years. It's time to wake up and smell reality…
Nanoha remained awake for an hour more, listening to the sound of war in the distance before drifting off into a worried sleep.
Unforgiving IV "Ignite" coming in a few days.
Last edited by NorthernFallout; 2013-01-07 at 03:35.
|2013-01-06, 21:22
|Link #37462
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: There's this dot on the world map...
Cranagan's Glory? Which craft is that?
Oh, and you might want to link to the previous chapters. It'll help newcomers and those who want to check back.
Yo dawg, I heard you like QB...
Thanks MAEt for the av!
|2013-01-07, 00:18
|Link #37463
Otaku Apprentice
OS-tan Collections (temporary): https://discord.gg/Hv2rBs3
|2013-01-07, 03:37
|Link #37464
The Interstellar Medium
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 29
Thanks, bhl. Added them.
@WarpObscura: Unforgiving has many warships that hasn't been mentioned in canon, since in my mind the TSAB Navy is quite large to cover such absurd distances. I'm putting in more hard/soft sci-fi into this than canon offers since the series doesn't really show much ship-to-ship combat.
Some canon ships may or may not show up, however.
|2013-01-07, 05:37
|Link #37465
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: There's this dot on the world map...
I'm very interested in the aerospace combat, so I can't wait to see more. How "hard" are you making it? Is it all close range like Battlestar Galactica, Star Wars and Trek etc.? Or is it realistic thousands or more of km like Codex Mass Effect, Honorverse...?
And what did you mean "don't think this you'll get away with this unscathed."?
Yo dawg, I heard you like QB...
Thanks MAEt for the av!
|2013-01-07, 07:15
|Link #37466
The Interstellar Medium
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 29
As for the combat, when it comes to weapons it's quite soft, though it involves long distances. TSAB has less restriction due to magic, while the Absolution has to rely mostly on tech. Navigation also has limits, especially for the Absolution, and since these ships are quite large, they are sloooooow. Heavily inspired by EVE, as that's the verse I'm the most familiar with.
I realize the chapters already written might not correspond to this concept, but I'll work with it as l move along.
EDIT: To clarify a bit more regarding ships...
Spoiler for Brainstorming, take with a pinch of salt:
The ship Hayate controls, Vengala, is the same class of ship as those she mentions in this chapter, such as Cranagan's Glory. In my mind, as this is set a little into the future, they are a new line of ships with heavy resemblance to the Wolfram http://nanoha.wikia.com/wiki/Wolfram
As mentioned on the wiki, she is an "LS Class", whatever that means. As I'm disregarding Force, going from StrikerS, one could say the Vengala is an "LS+ Class" as well. As will be seen in future chapters, the Vengala and her sister ships does not have the Augusto Cannon of the Wolfram, but instead are equipped with the more standard Arc-en-Ciel, which would make it a XVI Class... unless the Wolfram is one of a kind modified ship.
The other ships that aren't mentioned by name are most likely XV or L Classes. The "new" thing about LS+ is a higher supply of magical energy, enabling more rapid weapons discharge and more frequent Dimensional Jumps. Mind, this "magical energy supply" is something I apply myself, as I've never heard of it in the series. Just, the ships has to be powered by something that isn't infinite as it'd be a little OP. Hence EVE logic.
Last edited by NorthernFallout; 2013-01-07 at 08:13.
|2013-01-08, 06:31
|Link #37467
GregOS Offline
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philippines
Age: 30
Spoiler for Late MST3K:
Me: Aw man... hang in there, mate. it will turn around for you, sooner or later.
Val: That sword needs a new name.
Odin: Gram, Balmug, Hikari Zankantou, *snickers...*Excali-poor , Force-edge, Durandal, whatever works....
Iris: Oh no! They lost two kids.
Reia: If Lina or Nanoha finds out about it, expect something equivalent to a nuclear wasteland will be produced.
Sarah: It's a part of life, nanya. You'll just have to overcome it.
Darwin's nominee are best for laughs.
MGLN "Befriending" shows love thru superior firepower (Zenryokou Zenkai!)
Gundams are your worst nightmare in the battlefield.
SRW beats all foes.
JAM Project pwns all!!!
And I can't still make fanfic without restarting from the start when new ideas comes in...
|2013-01-10, 13:32
|Link #37468
Goat Herder
Join Date: Jun 2008
Age: 31
Spoiler for Confessions:
"So what did she do?"
"I swear, she turned red as a beet! She didn't know what to do, so she fidgeted a bit before she bolted! I had to apologize to him in her absence."
"Poor Fate-chan."
The aforementioned blonde only flushed and lowered her head further in shame, trying to avoid the expressions of her four friends as they walked among the throng of students departing from school. She knew they weren't teasing her or condemning her, but damn if she didn't feel utterly embarrassed by her reaction. How was she supposed to react to something like that!?
"Ahhh, that would've been so funny to see," Arisa remarked, linking her hands together behind her head. The fourteen-year-old was grinning at the thought, making Suzuka, Nanoha, and Hayate chuckle. She felt bad for the boy who confessed to Nanoha's best friend, though--but hey, that was Fate's fault, and she had to go back and give him an answer, didn't she?
"Ne, ne, Arisa-chan," Nanoha spoke, trotting forward to catch up with the American girl. "Have YOU been confessed to?"
Well, that was one way to derail her train of thought. Now the girls were looking at her, even Fate. Arisa sputtered.
"W-w-w-what kind of question is that!?" she demanded.
Nanoha never lost her smile. "I know why Fate-chan gets all her love letters; because she's a foreigner, but so are you! So I wondered if you had a special someone that you haven't told us about."
"We've caught you staring off into space like she was thinking about someone," Hayate teased, grinning like a cat.
Suzuka blinked as a huge blush spread across Arisa's cheeks, causing Nanoha to giggle as they hit the target. "Really, Arisa-chan?" she asked, surprised--the girl's nature made it difficult to express her real feelings at times. Arisa's movements stopped entirely at the question.
"Arisa-chan?" Nanoha asked, looking a tiny bit concerned. Had they pushed her too far by accident?
Arisa turned around, looking so hard at Nanoha the girl took an unconscious step back. It was like something had clicked, and Nanoha knew that her short-tempered friend had made a decision.
Of course, it wasn't at all what Nanoha was expecting when the blonde flung herself at her, wrapping her arms around her tightly.
Each of the girls' eyes went wide at the sight. Even some of the others around them stopped to watch what was going on. Suzuka's hands were clasped tight in front of her chest, Hayate hid a knowing grin behind a hand. Fate's book-bag hit the ground.
"A-Arisa-chan?" Nanoha asked again, understanding beginning to dawn on her.
Arisa only squeezed the girl tighter, her blushing countenance hidden from the other girls. She looked off to the side. "A girl can't have a friend like you and not fall for her."
The realization hit her like someone had turned her own Divine Buster on her. She'd never heard that kind of cute voice from Arisa! Her mind whirled at the sudden realization. Everyone was staring as Arisa buried her face against Nanoha's neck, and there was only thing the poor girl could do.
Her brain shut down entirely, and she fainted.
Arisa blinked, staring dumbly as Nanoha collapsed backwards, her face frozen in a stupefied expression. "Well, that wasn't the reaction I was expecting."
Last edited by Rising Dragon; 2013-01-10 at 15:01.
|2013-01-10, 14:05
|Link #37469
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: forge-world Moscow 1
Age: 32
A good one-shot overall.
|2013-01-10, 15:47
|Link #37470
The Interstellar Medium
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 29
Spoiler for Unforgiving Theme Song:
Spoiler for Unforgiving IV [IGNITE]:
Nanoha woke from Vivio shaking her. Mom, its morning. We have to move. She rustled herself awake and joined the others in getting rid of any signs they had been in the building, which didnt take long. Then the group made speed towards Cranagan. The weather reflected itself in them; gray, solemn and quiet. For everything they knew going on around them, everything was unnaturally quiet; no sound of battle, no troop transports, no screams of torment. The sounds from the night before had vanished. The morning was cold, but not so much that it hindered their progress.
They moved along a small road that splintered off into several sections. At one point they had to fly over a ruined bridge and then traverse a tunnel. It was dark and damp inside, but no Absolution forces waited for them in an ambush, despite Nanohas insistence. Vivio had laughed at her, but at the same time admitted she might as well have been right. Paranoia rested over them like fog.
When they reached the first block of the city they started to move carefully, making sure to scout their surroundings before taking risky decisions of where to go. Their objective lay in the heart of the city, a fair bit to traverse by foot, but they didnt want to take to the skies; without reconnaissance they ran the risk of flying right over Absolution anti-air, removing their element of surprise.
An hour passed while they walked and they eventually stopped at an abandoned supermarket. Teana, who had insisted she scout ahead despite her injury, had reported weird noises up ahead, probably from a yard behind an apartment complex. She hadnt risked getting seen so she had only gone close enough to hear it.
Alright, Nanoha said when her report was done. Yuuno, come with me. Well go and investigate. The rest of you, stay here and wait for my orders.
No one objected, though Vivio tried, shut down by a hard stare from Nanoha. The duo moved into the apartment complex Teana had indicated, made their way to the second floor and found a room facing the yard in question. From outside they could hear a strange voice speaking.
Nanoha pointed down and got on her knees, Yuuno following. Together they crawled towards the window, which for Nanoha was a challenge since her armor obstructed her movements a fair bit; she temporarily dissolved some of it with magic which helped. They could still hear the voice speaking in an alien language. Yuuno couldnt understand it, though indicated he was recording. The language was oddly human, using letters and words that to Nanoha sounded just like another language back on Earth. As far as she knew, though, droids couldnt talk. Besides, the voice didnt sound digital, though it was muffled.
She looked over at Yuuno once they reached the window sill. He nodded. Both of them rose and peered outside.
What they saw had once been a playground, not a yard. Droids were walking here and there, patrolling, garden objects being used as barriers. Weapons had been stashed where the swings were supposed to be. She could see them lying a distance away, metal bent and destroyed. A structure of some sorts had been erected in a corner; a perfect cube with a closed hatch. Black as night.
The droids and the structure werent what caught her attention the most, though. A humanoid being stood in the middle of the playground, talking to the droids. At first she thought she was hallucinating, combat and lack of sleep getting to her, but the humanoid seemed real enough. She would have called him human if it wasnt for the white, sickly skin visible above his armored suit. Like Nanohas it was black, but much larger and bulkier. Tubes stuck out from his abdomen and back, slithering around him up to his neck where they entered the suit again. His face, beyond its whiteness, looked old and sick, with bottomless black eyes. A mask of some sorts covered his mouth, which explained his weird voice.
He towered above his prisoner who stood beside him. He was easily over two meters tall compared to the woman. Nanoha, if asked, could give an exact number because she knew despite the deep wounds on the womans head and blood staining her clothes, despite the pale skin with burn marks all over Fates height by heart.
She had to restrain herself not to give away their position as fury boiled the blood in her veins. She clenched Raising Heart until her knuckles grew white. The humanoid that stood there, holding Fates neck, became the sole motivator to annihilate the Absolution. He represented everything the Absolution stood for.
For that, he had to die. They all had to die.
Yuuno mumbled something she didnt hear. She was too unfocused now, a little surprised at herself. She tried to calm down while a squad of droids approached, the humanoid releasing Fates neck. He waved to the droids and then backed up, his coughing reminiscent of laughing.
She watched in horror as the droids raised their weapons and prepared to fire. They were an execution squad.
Nanoha didnt hesitate and unleashed her fury.
Hayate arrived at Iljaren Station an hour after escaping from Mid-Childa, slipping out of the Dimensional Sea into normal space. The general mood of the crew had been mellow, but hopeful. They didnt seem to resent her for her decision, instead taking comfort in the fact they were still alive. The other Commanders had implied the same, though Tamil remained somewhat hostile towards her. She realized it would take something more to make an ally out of him.
Iljaren Station had expected their arrival and had prepared docking bays for them, cleaning out any other ships that may have been there. The ships in question now orbited the station, remaining on stand-by. The station itself was a thin tower with ten limps sprouting out from it, top to bottom. Each limb had two docking bays of an older design with physical clamps to hold the ships in place. The station had a teleporter, though, along with a multitude of weapons barely visible on its structure.
Hayate hoped they wouldnt be needed.
Welcome home I guess. She was in contact with the Overseer of Iljaren, who had introduced himself as Chris, and made arrangements for possible R&R for the crew until their ship had been resupplied. The first impression of Chris was that he didnt give a damn about military honorifics and the like, which would have forced him to attend discipline classes. However, since the TSAB was busy elsewhere, the higher-ups didnt much care about Overseers. Neither did Hayate.
I think youll enjoy your stay here, Yagami. She let the use of her surname slide. We got beds, fresh food and the best entertainment this side of Malovence.
Malovence was the name of the solar systems star. Seeing how there wasnt any other solar systems with stations in the proximity, she found the point moot. Thanks, Chris. Im sure theyll enjoy it, though you have to promise me something.
And that is? Wait, let me guess Sweets! Easy. For you Japanese girls I have this delicious--
Dont lose them, she said, ignoring him. Keep an eye on them. Can you do that for me? She might need them very soon. She didnt want to have to look for them in case they wandered off. They should know better, but who am I to tell them otherwise right now
Aye, maam, he said, throwing a mock salute. Still, about those sweets
Good. Contact me again once an hour remains.
She terminated the connection before he could respond. She rose from her chair once the screen vanished and plopped down on her bed. She had no energy to shower, no energy to take her clothes off. Right there and then she fell asleep.
She slept for about four hours, awoken by an alarm. Her mind slowed down by sleep, she found it very odd that her notification sound was so loud. Red, even, flashing from beyond her closed eyelids. She couldnt remember having hooked it up to the lights. And the noise! It was absurd how loud it was. She had to tell Mariam to
She shot up, wide awake, mind alert, and realized what the noise was.
Mariam! A window appeared by her side as she left her room, heading towards the bridge. Her hair was a mess, but it didnt register. Whats going on?
Absolution ship detected, Mariam said, a hint of annoyance in her voice. The last time Hayate had seen her shed accompanied another crew member to her room. She guessed Mariams plans had been interrupted. Arrived a few seconds ago, moving in fast.
Give me Iljaren Station. The screen changed, with Chriss face on it. Chris, prepare for a fight.
Already on it, Yagami. Rallied my guys and your crew should all be on their way.
Thanks. Will Iljaren be okay?
He snorted. Course! We have a few surprises once that ship pokes its head close enough.
Ship. She hadnt realized it when Mariam said it, but it was singular. She switched the connection over. Mariam, you said ship. There isnt a fleet?
Does not seem like it, Commander. According to our scans it is alone. No reconnaissance vessel has spotted any more ships, either.
Odd. Why would they send one ship Visuals?
In a moment.
Hayate arrived on the bridge, nodded at Mariam, and sat down in her chair. The large screen ahead of her changed to show the lone Absolution ship still a fair bit outside their weapon range, which meant it wasnt yet a threat.
It looks odd, Hayate said with brows furrowed. At a first glance it appeared to be a normal battlecruiser. On closer inspection it not only had a different color scheme, a bit darker than the others, but was also a little bulkier with more appendages sticking out of its sides. Any data?
None. We have never seen this one before, Mariam said.
The other warships in her fleet had disengaged from Iljaren Station and were moving away. She double-checked that all of her crew had returned and then did the same. The ship shuddered as the clamps holding it in place were removed and its engine spun up. She joined the other ships as they moved away from the station, in the opposite direction of the lone hostile ship.
I have a bad feeling about this, Hayate murmured and told the other ships to remain alert. Those that werent part of her fleet remained close to Iljaren station, starting to slowly turn towards the Absolution ship. It wouldnt last long in a battle against that kind of firepower, not even if it could get within its weapon range. What the hell was it doing? The only reason she didnt order her own fleet to move towards it was because she didnt want to risk a trap. They had to make it back to Mid-Childa, no matter what,
Commander, someone is trying to hail you, Mariam said, looking perplexed.
Whats the problem? Patch it through.
Its coming from the enemy ship.
Hayate turned to stare at her. Check with the others if they have received the same.
They have. I just checked.
She tapped her fingers on the armrest. Tell them to patch it through. Lets see what whoever this is has to say.
The screen changed from showing the ship to showing a man. Or so she thought. It was a bad representation of a man, since most of his face the frame only showed his head was covered in metal, sticking to his skin. His right eye was replaced by a mechanical device she couldnt make sense of, though it had an orb in the middle. The other eye was pure black and his skin pale.
Commanders, he wheezed, a deep voice disfigured by the mask he wore. It scared her. This wasnt a normal man. Heretics of the Time Space Administration. It is a pleasure to finally speak to you.
Who are you? She recognized the voice as Tamil. She didnt interrupt, since she was about to ask the same thing.
Second Zealot General of the Third Righteous Absolution Fleet, and the Commander of the Tempest, Rashim Jakaar.
Fleet? Tamil laughed. Youre alone out here, arent you? Wheres your precious fleet?
Quick to anger. Strange. I thought the Administration only picked the finest to command their ships of war. You are a disgrace, Commander.
Hayate stifled a smile while she watched the exchange. Mariam didnt, though.
You Why you Tamil started to say.
Silence, Heretic. Do you not understand the predicament in front of you?
What predicament, Zealot Jakaar? Hayate asked before Tamil would say something stupid. She wasnt sure if she had addressed him properly, but he didnt seem to mind.
This one I know and prefer to speak to. Yes. Commander Hayate Yagami.
She paled, gripping the armrest. Something wasnt right. How do you know my name?
I know many things about you and your precious Administration. Of course I would not tell you even if you asked. Rest assured, you will find out soon enough.
Annoyed, she clicked her tongue. She wouldnt let him torture her with empty talk. Lets cut to the chase; what is your purpose here?
To ask of you to yield to the Brightness of the Absolution.
Wont ever happen.
Jakaar fell silent. I must insist. Too much blood has been shed. Think of the lives you could save.
And that is exactly why we wont surrender. We wont fall for your lies and we wont forget the souls youve stolen from us. She didnt really have to think. It was obvious and judging from her crews facial expressions and murmurs she was abiding to their wishes.
Silence again. I misjudged you, Commander Yagami. I am honestly surprised. I thought you had comes to your senses, but He shook his head, an unnatural movement for someone like him it seemed. Then I have to ask of you something else.
And that is?
That you observe and reflect upon your decision. Farewell, Commander.
The Tempest blinked out of existence as Jakaar disconnected.
Damnit! Chris appeared on a new window. We had him locked and everything. The weasel remained just outside of our range.
He might have known about it. Smart bastard, Hayate said. Mariam, any sign of the ship?
None. It disappeared from all of our sensors.
Chris shook his head. Not possible. We should be able to detect where they went. Cloaking devices?
Well Hayate started to say and was interrupted by a new alarm. What now?
The ship reappeared, Mariam said. Its My god
Its between the second fleet and Iljaren.
On screen, now!
On the screen she saw Iljaren Station readying their guns. The second fleet started to turn, weapons hot. In the middle of it all, Jakaars ship lay immobile, waiting. He made no moves to attack or defend. A serene shimmer ran across his shield.
How did he do that? Hayate said, still amazed. Ive never seen an Absolution ship jump that short of a distance.
Mariam shook her head. Something is happening with that ship. It does not correspond to any known signatures in our database.
Hayate looked at the screen. A bright aura had started to pulsate all around the ship, warping the space behind it. Jakaars voice could be heard over the comms; Your leaders has sentenced you to death despite my offerings of salvation. They refused it without a second thought. For that, you must all be punished by the Sun of Empires. Do not blame me, for I am but Gods Messenger.
Blinding light. Hayate squinted and forced herself to watch through it. Countless beams originated from the Tempest, striking every single ship the second fleet had deployed, piercing their hulls in a fraction of a second. Iljaren Station became engulfed in them as well, cutting it to shreds. Its arms faltered, falling apart, venting atmosphere and bodies. It opened fire in a desperate attempt to stop Jakaar, and failed. Shots went wide, the aura that remained bending them. Ship debris collided with the station, rupturing it further. Malovence became occluded behind the chaos.
Hayate had to look away since her eyes hurt too much. She blinked to recover and when she looked again after a minute all she saw was destruction. The second fleet had been wiped out. All that remained were metallic husks that still glowed. Iljaren Station had broken into two amongst the rubble, both pieces floating away from each other, explosions still going off.
Hayate was speechless. This was a new weapon, another one they would have to analyze. So many lives lost in a single strike, more powerful than any Aeon bomb shed ever seen. A single word from Jakaar echoed in her head; Reflect.
The enemy ship, Mariam said, taking a deep breath to calm herself, is inert and undamaged.
Hayate felt no emotion as she ordered her fleet to fire.
They fired their beams upon the lone ship, annihilating it within two seconds, a flower of explosive force blooming in space. For a brief moment Jakaars voice could be heard. She wasnt sure if she had imagined it. It had said, Remember. For the future.
She didnt understand him. She tried, but her mind was numb. She held the tears in as the fleet entered the Dimensional Sea, leaving the wreckage of Ijaren and ten warships behind, and set course for Mid-Childa once again.
Unforgiving V next week, and a special treat after it.
Last edited by NorthernFallout; 2013-01-11 at 03:29.
|2013-01-10, 19:41
|Link #37471
Left for TFF
Revolution 1-10
Revolution 11
Revolution 12
Revolution 13
Spoiler for Blood That Flows - Revolution 14:
"Lord Gram! Lord Gram!" A Mazoku that looked like a blue skinned, humanoid creature, though he had what looked like weasel's head in place of a human one appeared in front of the Mazoku General with Corona dangling from his outstretched arm. "Isn't it great?"
"Calm yourself, Sneavel." Gram rolled his eyes as he looked the young girl over. "Well, well, it looks like I have an interesting specimen now, don't I?" He raised an eyebrow at what he was feeling from the girl. "Interesting, normally I don't get this reaction from people just from being in their presence." Some fear was common, but sheer, shark terror? That was new.
Corona couldn't bring herself to answer, she could only remember this monster holding Rio before killing her in cold blood in front of all of them. "R...Rio... You..."
Gram chuckled as he walked around the girl, who found herself dropped to the floor as Sneavel quickly stepped back from her. "Tell me something, girl, how have you enjoyed your time here?" He smirked as she whimpered and tried to curl up on herself. "You were there when I killed that other girl, huh?" Corona could only tremble as Gram slipped up next to her and knelt down. "Tell me something, girl, that Golem you created, what did you use to make it?"
"J...Just what was around me." Corona shivered as the Mazoku ran a finger down her backside.
"Just what was around you?" Gram looked at her with some shock as he thought about that. "To be able to do something like that though..."
"I just... Want to go home." Corona whimpered, finally losing her nerve as tears fell down her face.
"Oh?" Gram smirked at her as he stood up and started to walk away. "Why should I let you go home? What could you possibly offer me?"
Corona's eyes snapped open as a memory came to her. "You said you were looking for two people, right?" She looked up at him with hope in her eyes. "If I tell you, will you let me go?"
"Provided that you can give me everything I want about those two..." Gram trailed off, but nodded. "Now, where are they?"
"C...Cranagan, on Mid-Childa!" Corona shivered, she hated this, but she wanted to get out of this alive.
Gram frowned in confusion. He had never heard of Mid-Childa before. "So they did escape our world..." But he had done scouting of this staff with minions before and there was very limited life other than this one planet. "And since we still can't access the Dark Staff..."
Many of the Mazoku looked at each other in confusion when Gram suddenly threw his head back and laughed a chilling, heart-stopping laugh. Well, if any of them had hearts that is.
"So much suddenly makes sense. How those two got away from our master, why we could never find them, and this!" He gestured to Corona. "Even those who have the ability to create Golems from raw materials like you do can't do it the way you do."
"I still feel that punch!" A Mazoku in the group yelled at Corona.
"Now, now..." Gram waved that Mazoku down and looked at Corona with an intrigued expression on his face. "Tell me, girl, how about that Golem? Could you make it right now?"
"Lord Gram! You can't possibly..." One of the Mazoku began but was silenced when Gram looked its way.
Corona gulped and closed her eyes and a golden circle formed around her on the floor. Unnoticed to her, Gram raised an eyebrow, both at the color and at what he was feeling from her. 'Interesting.' He snorted as he saw the large black golem stand there motionlessly. "I thought maybe something interesting would happen," he closed his eyes and started to walk away. "Put her in it."
Corona started scooting away as she saw several Mazoku walk towards her, one of which had a silver-colored breast plate in his hands. She may have not known what it was, but the instant she saw it, all her mind could do was scream at her how dangerous that thing was. "Get... Get away from me! No!" Her arms and legs were quickly grabbed and she was lifted up as the Mazoku with the breastplate got closer. "NO!"
Gram suddenly turned around as he heard the breastplate hit the ground. "...Interesting." The Golem had struck the Mazoku in the side, sending it flying and was turning on the others that held its creator down. "I was wrong, but..." His eyes narrowed and the Golem suddenly shattered into tiny pieces. "I never told you to attack." Corona shook her head and he merely raised an eyebrow. "...Are you telling me that your Golem attacked to protect you without you giving it an order?"
"I was just scared and..." Corona was lifted to a standing position as Gram turned away from her, thinking about it.
"Get her into that thing!" One of the Mazoku grabbed the breastplate and lifted it up. "Don't worry, this is the Zannafar Armor, you'll be safe when you're in it." The armor split apart and one Mazoku put the back against Corona and just before the front was touching her, Gram ordered the Mazoku to stop, causing it to turn to the General in confusion.
"I just realized something..." Gram pulled the breastplate away from Corona and looked at her with glowing eyes. "Yes, I only just realized it, you have an extra organ in you." Corona blinked in confusion as he reached out and tapped her on the upper chest. Her eyes widened and she paled horribly when a glowing ball formed in front of her. "I see... Interesting. An organ that harnesses your magic directly. No need to draw it from a power source and form it into what you want." The Mazoku General suddenly smirked and chuckled as the final pieces fell into place.
"Lord Gram?"
"You can't see it, can you? She's from the Blue staff, Chaotic Blue's staff." The name alone had several of the Mazoku in the room murmuring amongst themselves. "Even if she can't hurt us directly, the fact is, her Golem was made up of common materials. If she had even a little talent in Astral, Black or Holy magic..." Gram trailed off and a gleam came to his eyes. "I wonder..."
Corona felt faint as she saw a bubbling black mass of energy form in his hands. Whatever it was, it felt dark, deep and pure evil.
"What would happen if the raw essence of our Lord Death Fog bonded itself to this organ that processes your magical power?" Gram's smile was cold as the energy shot out with tendrils and wrapped around Corona's Linker Core before merging completely.
The screams of pure pain and suffering was music to all the Mazoku present. Especially as they got louder and more high pitched while black flames started to surround and consume the young girl.
Gram wondered if she could handle it, before mentally shrugging. What did he care if a human lived or died?
Vivio's eyes suddenly widened as a cold chill ran down her spine. Clutching her chest, she fell to her knees. "No..." She wasn't sure what was going on, but for some reason, she felt that something really, really bad had happened. "Corona..."
"Vivio!" Einhart and Arashi yelled at the same time and grabbed her as she trembled. "Vivio, what's..."
"Corona." Nove said, a disgusted look on her face. "Something happened to her." Growling, the redhead turned to a nearby tree and blasted it to kindling. "DAMMIT!"
"The worst part is, we have no idea where to start looking for her." Ixpellia spoke up, looking at the group sadly. "If we just had a clue..."
"We do!" Ixpellia turned to see Pokota flying towards them. "The Ruvinagald kingdom."
"You sure?" Lyos looked at Pokota, who nodded as he landed on Ixpellia's head. "Fine. That's pretty close to Seiryuun, we can drop..."
"No!" Vivio shot to her feet and glared at Lyos. "Something happened to Corona and we're going to save her!"
Lyos saw the look in her eyes and sighed heavily. "You remind me so much of that little girl that I knew a long time ago... Nanoha, I think..."
"You knew mama?!" Vivio fell over in shock, and Lyos could only stare at her, stupefied. "You knew my mama, Nanoha Takamachi?!"
"...Wow, I know you can get older, but still... How old was she when she had you?" Lyos scratched the back of his head. "And, yeah, I fought alongside her a few times when I was younger."
"I'm adopted." Vivio pointed out to him. "But, wow, I didn't know that. Mama said that she had a lot of things happen in her life."
Lyos nodded. "Well," he looked at Vivio, then at Ixpellia and Pokota, then at Nila before finally settling on Einhart and Arashi, "if we're going, we better get going now. Even at our best speed, it'll take us awhile to get across the continent." He sighed at the questioning looks he was getting. "We're currently near the edge of the countries Lyzeille and Dils, Ruvinagald is closer to Elmekia and Zefielia, so at the very least, we have to travel through either Dils into Kalmaart to get there, or through Ralteague and Saillune, and personally, I prefer to go through Kalmaart."
"Why?" Nove looked at him curiously as he shrugged.
"Less of a hassle, that's all." Either way, it would take them a good length of time to walk that far.
"Ah!" Masha spoke up as he looked at the Blessed Blade. "Before you go, I'll put that sword into a sheath for you." Ixpellia smiled and nodded at him. "And you can keep it. Anyone who can do that with that sword deserves to keep it."
"I would like that." Ixpellia nodded at him.
Gram raised an eyebrow as the black flames started to die down, as did the girl's screams. He had lost count of how long the girl had been consumed by the darkness, but he had to reason it had been a couple of hours. "So, you did survive." He smirked at the girl who was floating there with a dark aura surrounding her. He found it interesting that her clothes had dissolved, leaving her in just her undergarments.
"Brunzel." Corona's voice whispered as she held out her hand. Her dagger suddenly appeared in her hand and she grinned. "Set UP!"
There was a surge of Black magic from the girl as energy raced along her skin, from her feet upwards, changing her skin's color got paler, her hair turned white while her eyes became red in color. Black shoes covered her feet as did stockings that went up past her knees, a black dress with white frills covered her lower body and a black top with matching white frills covered her torso. The top had a very low-cut back, stopping just centimeters above her waist while poofy black shoulders held the top up. White gloves that went up past her elbows appeared on her hands.
Corona suddenly grinned and a black circle appeared under her feet. "Goliath." She whispered as her Golem came forth once again, however, much to even Gram's surprise, the Golem was covered in spiraling black flames. The Golem knelt down and held out its hand, letting Corona climb onto it. "I do believe our business is done, Mazoku." The grin on Corona's face was one of barely held in maliciousness. "Yes... I feel... So free..." She looked at the breastplate on the ground and snapped her fingers, causing it to fly towards her. "I could use this. Now, if you'll excuse me."
"Lord Gram!" One of the Mazoku ran up to the General. "Shouldn't we stop her?"
"Why?" Gram raised an eyebrow at the Mazoku. "I said I'd let her go after she gave me the information I wanted, so, why shouldn't I live up to my end of the deal?"
"Oh yes..." Corona spoke up just before she and Goliath left the room. "You brought me here, didn't you?" She giggled at Sneavel next to Gram. "Yes, well... Goodbye." Black energy surrounded Corona for a moment as she pointed her finger at the Mazoku. The next thing any of the Mazoku in the room knew, a huge blast of pure Black magic tore into the Mazoku, utterly vaporizing the body. "Hee hee hee. Yes... This will do nicely."
Gram merely smirked at the maliciousness he was feeling from the girl. 'Yes, she will do nicely.'
|2013-01-10, 21:14
|Link #37472
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: There's this dot on the world map...
(of a place) Not seen or visited by many people; sheltered and private.
solitary - isolated - lonely - retired - lone
If you were trying to say "hidden", it should be "occluded".
occluded past participle, past tense of oc·clude (Verb)
Stop, close up, or obstruct (an opening, orifice, or passage).
Shut (something) in: "they occluded the waterfront with buildings".
If you say Eclipse Station, aren't you worried people will confuse it with the one in Force?
Yo dawg, I heard you like QB...
Thanks MAEt for the av!
|2013-01-10, 21:31
|Link #37473
Otaku Apprentice
Gram: A little something I added to her lips as well, as well as a little fun in itself.
OS-tan Collections (temporary): https://discord.gg/Hv2rBs3
|2013-01-11, 01:15
|Link #37474
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: forge-world Moscow 1
Age: 32
Seems that Absolution is very clode to muslim fundamentlists of our world. Though, since their much more technologically adavanced, the much more dangerous.
And look that Fate wasn`t so lucky as Nanoha thought in the begining.
Good luck with future chapters
|2013-01-11, 03:30
|Link #37475
The Interstellar Medium
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 29
As for Eclipse, hmm. You may be right. I had forgotten how many things it referred to. I've changed it to Iljaren.
@vic-vic: Thx for comment.
|2013-01-11, 14:13
|Link #37476
GregOS Offline
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Philippines
Age: 30
Spoiler for MST3K review:
*Insert Darth Vader's theme*
Me: Uh-oh the cat's out of the bag and someone have fallen off the steep end.
Val: *deadpan expression* Great... JUST Great.
Odin: Seriously... That's one way of going into the dark side. *looks at the BTF cast.* Does anyone is open for training for being a Dark Knight class here?
Signum: Dark Knight Class?
Odin: A Knight who harness and utilize the power of darkness. The polar opposite of the Paladin Class in terms of skill and element.
Reia: I don't think anyone of them is suited for that class, Odin.
Vivio: Can I try Nanoha-Mama's method of what she have done to me?
*everyone gone *
Reia: What is she teaching to her kid!?
Fate T. Inverse: *sighs* Befriending thru superior firepower... what else?
Val: Now... THAT explains everything.
Darwin's nominee are best for laughs.
MGLN "Befriending" shows love thru superior firepower (Zenryokou Zenkai!)
Gundams are your worst nightmare in the battlefield.
SRW beats all foes.
JAM Project pwns all!!!
And I can't still make fanfic without restarting from the start when new ideas comes in...
|2013-01-14, 17:09
|Link #37477
The Interstellar Medium
Join Date: May 2008
Location: [SWE]
Age: 29
Spoiler for Unforgiving V: Rage:
[Divine Buster.]
The droids became scrap metal in an instant. Their armor melted and innards exploded as the beam pierced the entire firing squad. The remaining hostiles turned towards Nanoha's position and opened fire. Energy shots glanced off the building while Yuuno summoned a powerful barrier, protecting them on the inside.
"Unforgiving," Nanoha said, relaying to the others while she remained crouched down behind cover, "full on assault at my position. Be careful, Fate is among them. Kill them all."
She stood up once the fire lulled down a little and unleashed another Buster, taking down a few other droids. Those who survived regrouped and took defensive positions amongst the rubble while the humanoid dragged Fate away towards another building.
"Don't let him escape!" Nanoha roared to no one in particular. He wouldn't get away. Not this time. They'd save Fate.
Zafira was the first to arrive. He struck down in the middle of a small squad, covering them in dust, and started tearing them to pieces with his bare hands. Signum and Vita arrived a moment later, striking down ahead of the humanoid, blocking his path. Another squad of droids stood between them, but Vita crashed into them, using her armor as a blockade. Their fire went wide as they tried to hit her before she reached them. Signum supported her with ranged spells while Vivio appeared behind a building, punching through a couple of droids still standing on watch. Her fist, powered by magic, ruptured the droids' chests, debris flying everywhere.
Dust and the loud noise of battle filled the small playground. It was starting to get hard to see anything from Nanoha's position. "I'll move down there, Yuuno. Stay here and provide support."
She jumped down from the apartment and onto the playground, firing off an Accel Shooter as she did so. The beams tracked the nearest targets and destroyed them in an instant, resuming the hunt for more targets while Nanoha walked towards the humanoid. Her armor glowed as it glanced off weak arms fire from somewhere to her left, but she kept her eyes focused on the humanoid. It was all that was in her sight, with a killing intent so strong she surprised herself. She, Fate and the humanoid became closed off from the fighting going on around them, sounds of battle drowning in her own heartbeat.
"Captain Takamachi," the humanoid said. "I have been expecting you."
"Expecting me?" She felt enraged at his lax attitude. They were in the middle of a battle and he treated it as an executive meeting. "And how do you know my name? Who are you?"
"So many questions. I am Zealot General Manez Zelaar, and it is none of your concern how I get my information." He looked at Fate, rustling her shoulder. She let her head dangle, looking downward. "You have come for her, yes? A friend of yours or... maybe something more..."
"Let her go."
"You have to make me do that, but judging from the strength of your fellow mages I have had the pleasure of defeating in battle so far, I am not that worried." A shimmer appeared around his body, hovering close to his armor. "Still, I am known amongst my peers for having a very curious mind so I guess I should give you a chance. Simply to see how you stand up against me."
Nanoha sneered. "You might be surprised."
"Oh? You have an attitude the others did not. Come, then. Fight me to the death."
He pushed Fate to the side, snaring her in some kind of magical bindings that had an odd resemblance to spells in Nanoha's own arsenal. She didn't let her mind waver too much on it, though, and attacked immediately. She went in close, using close range attacks to gauge his defenses. Zelaar responded by taking the attack head-on with a smile. His shield flickered for a moment, but didn't break.
Nanoha, realizing he probably planned to attack her if she continued, disengaged and leapt backwards, throwing several beams at him as she did so. Each beam seemed to bend around him, missing and exploding behind him. His shield didn't even waver.
"My turn," he murmured, smiling. He rose one arm, palm facing towards Nanoha, and unleashed a dozen smaller beams originating from his hand. Each beam spiraled out of control by their own, taking a separate different path before homing in on Nanoha. She defended with a simple barrier at first, blocking half of them. Her barrier suffered some damage, but didn't break. The remaining ones broke off their attack and tried to go around her, striking her in the back.
With a leap upward, she threw her body upside down and avoided their initial swoop. Using the momentum, she flew into the sky and shot the remaining beams down with Accel Shooter. Weak, but fast attack, she thought, looking down at Zelaar. He fights a little like a mage. If he can fly--
Her answer came when Zelaar shot up and aimed a fist towards her midsection. She flared her barrier a fraction of a second before he hit, but the sheer force behind his punch broke through, shattering the barrier, and touched her armor. It threw her further upward, dazing her for a moment. She had trouble breathing, her heart racing as it tried to catch up. Sensing something approaching, she flew to the side and avoided another punch. Both of them came to a standstill in the air, observing each other. Zelaar still smiled.
What is with this guy, she thought focused. Working in an adrenaline-fused high, her brain sped up and went through possible moves and tactics that stood a chance of beating him. The one viable option she knew so far was to use everything she had against him.
[Cross Buster.]
[Accel Shooter.]
[Short Buster.]
Beams and barriers. They traded blow for blow, beam for beam, swooping past each other high above the playground where the fighting had almost stopped. She wasn't aware of it, focused entirely on Zelaar, her eyes tracking him no matter where he was. Her barriers started to weaken more and more and she started to try and dodge with speed instead. His own beams started to become slower and more predictable. Both of them were starting to tire out, lacking the energy to go full out. A show of strength had become one of endurance, and the outcome was still undecided.
Nevertheless, Nanoha still had the disadvantage. She had noticed something in the fight and that was that Zelaar hadn't been tired before starting it. Half a night's sleep hadn't been enough for Nanoha to replenish all of her mana and the little supplies she had left dwindled for each attack. Her Purge Suit had long since stopped its infusion, having run out several minutes ago. It was a losing battle unless she could put an end to it now.
It's quiet below me, she thought, throwing a glance downwards. She saw a few scuffles here and there, but nothing major. Maybe...
"Vivio! A little help, please," she said into her comms.
Zelaar grinned. "Calling in reinforcements? I was right about you! Dishonorable heretic!"
"There is no honor in this war..." Nanoha muttered just as Vivio shot up from below and delivered a blow to Zelaar's back. He grunted, swore, and threw a few beams her way, but they didn't have the power to catch her. Vivio orbited him, waiting for another chance to strike and at the same time drawing his attention for a second.
Which meant the window of opportunity presented itself. Raising Heart extended, adding on modules on Nanoha's command. The magical residue left behind, plentiful enough to make up for her own low mana levels, started to drift towards her, glowing. The air itself warped a little.
Flash Impact.
It would be a weak one regardless since she couldn't charge it up to its full potential, but it had to be enough. The thrusters on her ankles activated, shooting her forward with Raising Heart pointed towards Zelaar. He started to turn around, anticipating it. His shield shimmered for an instant. He grinned.
"Starlight Breaker!"
His shield broke as Raising Heart pierced through it, continuing to his armor, melting that as well, before rupturing his stomach and burrowing through him like a lance. His eyes widened in shock before the spell activated while the device was stuck inside him and a white light swallowed him with a roar. Nanoha didn't look away. She forced herself to watch as the energy blasted out from his back, disintegrating his insides and melting his flesh.
Then it was over, the beam fading. What remained of Zelaar slid off Raising Heart and plummeted to the ground where his body landed with a sickening splosh on the broken swings. His upper body pierced itself upon the metal bars, while his lower body dangled in pieces of flesh just above the ground. Blood flooded from the corpse, forming a pool. His black eyes remained open, his mouth frozen in a wide grin as the mask had been ripped off.
Nanoha landed in the middle of the playground, forcing herself to stand upright. Her legs shook, muscles screaming, but her head remained clear. She didn't look at the remains of Zelaar and instead approached Fate who lay on the ground. The bindings had disappeared when Zelaar had died and she helped her to her feet, pulling her into a tight embrace. They stood there for a while, Nanoha feeling Fate's warmth and heartbeat. The others gathered around them, having finished off the remaining drones. None of them had sustained any visible injuries.
After a few minutes of silence had passed, Nanoha withdrew a little and looked Fate over. Her chaotic hair had been burnt in some place, but that was nothing compared to the damage to her face. This close the scorch marks looked worse and she could see that some of her teeth had been extracted, leaving swollen gums behind. Blood had at some point formed at the corner of her mouth, trailed down her cheek and left a red trail mark. She would need advanced medical attention if she stood a chance of recovering entirely from her injuries, and that didn't include the damage Nanoha couldn't see.
"I'm so happy you're okay," Nanoha said with the softest voice she could manage. She didn't want to ask the next question lingering on her tongue, but she knew she had to. The question had been waiting ever since she'd first seen Fate with Zelaar. "Where's Caro and Erio? Are they somewhere around here, in another camp?"
Fate disengaged from the hug and stared into Nanoha's eyes. Her lower lip started to quiver as she said, "Dead." She fell to her knees, grabbing onto Nanoha's armor. Tears dripped down on the ground, darkening it. "They are dead because of me. Because of that woman. Dead. Gone."
Nanoha stood still in silence, looking down on her friend. She was too shocked to find the right words. She tried to process it while Zafira stepped forward and knelt beside Fate, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Fate. What woman?"
She shook her head, lost. "Lord Veena. I have to kill her. Nanoha!" She stood up again, grasping Nanoha's shoulders. "We have to kill her. She was here earlier, I'm sure she left with a shuttle or something. We can track her, can't we? Pursue her, blow her up. Tell Hayate to pursue. Capture her and let me take care of her. Please, do it for me."
Her eyes were bloodshot and wide. She didn't notice herself crying as she smiled, walking on the brink of insanity. The scorch marks on her face seemed to pulsate.
"Fate..." Nanoha whispered.
"Let's go, right now. Why aren't we moving? Come on, why won't you help me? Nanoha!"
Nanoha hugged her, hard. Fate squirmed, rambling on, trying to go somewhere. Her words became slurred as she started crying harder, eventually turning into a long wail. Nanoha wouldn't let go. She felt more numb than ever, unable to say or do anything else.
The wail lessened little by little until Fate clung with her arms around Nanoha's waist, quietly sobbing. Their comms choose that moment to crackle to life. "Nanoha, this is Hayate. Take cover somewhere and wait for extraction. You have a large force moving in on your position. We would use the teleporter, but it's out of commission right now."
"Roger that," Nanoha said, patting Fate on the back. She tried to mask her emotions, pushing them down into herself, but some of it leaked through in her voice. "I knew you would come back, Hayate."
"As if you'd ever doubt me."
Nanoha chuckled and the transmission ended.
"Let's move into that building," Signum said and pointed at a sturdy-looking structure nearby. Nanoha nodded and they moved into it, carefully supporting Fate as she walked. Once inside they combined their magic barriers and shields to create a bubble around them in case the building would suffer damage, though she wasn't sure from what. Fate had gone awfully quiet, staring off into space with empty eyes. Nanoha wrapped an arm around the woman's shoulder, partly to comfort her and partly to make sure for herself that Fate was actually by her side.
A few moments later they could see a bright light in the distance, blocked by the rest of the city. It seemed to move closer until it suddenly faded. After a few seconds a shockwave so powerful screamed past them, shaking the building so hard it cracked at the walls, dust falling to the floor. Nanoha almost expected it to crumble as the foundation groaned. Metal broke somewhere in the distance, followed by a loud crash.
Their building didn't collapse. The shaking stopped as soon as it had begun and she exhaled, still holding Fate's shoulder. Relief washed over her and she couldn't help but smile. "We can leave now," she said, looking at the others and then at Fate. Relieved and battered faces all around her, except for Teana."We can rest on the Vengala for a while."
"Not all of us are," Teana said, looking into the sky through a window. She massaged the wound on her leg. "Subaru wasn't here. She was supposed to be with Fate. Where the hell is she..."
Earlier, in the Dimensional Sea.
Calm. She felt such a strong calmness it scared her as the Vengala and the rest of her fleet traversed the Dimensional Sea in silence. Hayate sat in her command chair, idly observing the crew and the screens surrounding her. Information, some of it irrelevant intel, scrolled past in a steady stream. Everyone did their jobs without paying attention to anything else.
Waiting. Holding their breaths for what would come next.
"Arriving within the hour, Commander," Mariam said. "The fleet is reporting all systems optimal."
Hayate nodded, swapping windows on her screen. Diagnostics of the ship, focusing on the bow, came up. Pulsating lines illustrated the Arc-en-Ciel weapon system links, indicating its operational status. They were all green and healthy; the last piece in her plan had been put into place.
"Are they in position?" she asked.
"Yes. According to their calculations they will drop out of the Sea at their pre-designated locations and wait for your orders, if all conditions are optimal."
"And are they?"
"For the moment, yes." She paused. "There is no telling once we drop, though."
Hayate sighed, crossing her arms. "Time will tell. I'm out of ideas at this point. This is the only way to fight them right now with our numbers."
"I agree, Commander," Mariam said. "It is just that I am voicing my worries. It is a good plan, after all."
"I understand that... And I hope it's good enough."
Mariam's console pinged and she brought it up on Hayate's screen as she narrated, "Our scouting vessels report that the Absolution fleet is holding their position where we last saw them. They are having trouble navigating through the debris, though."
"The Messiah?"
"Alive, but damaged. It seems it is stationary for the time being."
"Damnit." Hayate sighed. "I hoped it would have moved on or something. It might be a problem."
Mariam nodded, keeping quiet. Hayate couldn't read her face; a master of the stone mask.
Half an hour passed as the fleet made their way back to Mid-Childa. When the time drew near, Hayate gave them their orders and the ships dispersed in the Sea. She remained alone at her position, as planned.
"Hotdrop attack commencing in ten," Mariam said.
Hayate braced herself. Her heart started to beat faster as adrenaline rushed in her veins. She tried to repress the urge to call it a historic moment -- a moment of triumph even -- when the Navy beat back the invaders in a decisive battle. There wouldn't be any more running after this. It would change the war.
At least she hoped as much, at the same time realizing it was a fruitless wish doomed to fail.
"Dropping... now!"
The ship shuddered and blackness replaced the dark blue shimmer of the Sea, stars glittering in the background. A planet came into view below them, along with the Absolution fleet from earlier. Twelve battlecruisers orbited the Messiah in slow progression. Straight ahead of her, behind the hostiles, Cranagan's Glory dropped down, followed by the remaining ships at two other locations, forming a square formation around the Absolution fleet. They were boxed in.
By now, five seconds had passed since they had left the safety of the Sea. The Absolution fleet would already be locking them up.
"Prepare to fire," Hayate said. "Link up with the other ships, amplify."
Lines of light appeared between the four ships, linking them with one another. Hayate could feel the weapon charging up inside her own ship, a constant hum reverberating throughout the hull. She watched, anxiety rising, as the Absolution fleet started to split up, picking a target each. They were still outside their own weapon range, but that wouldn't matter in a few minutes.
"Progress?" she asked.
"Ready to fire in ten," Mariam said.
The rest of the fleet reported they were ready as well and they started to charge up their cannons. The lines between them started glowing brighter, growing in size, while the Absolution fleet fired in a desperate attempt to break the links. Beam fire reflected off Cranagan's Glory's shield, dispersing into space. The Vengala suffered its own beating, coming under attack from two of the hostile ships. For a brief moment space was cluttered with white lines of light, but none of it did any substantional damage.
"The Messiah is moving, Commander! It's aligning somewhere."
"Shit, can we fire yet?"
"No. The Miademes is reporting electrical complications. It will take a few seconds for them to fix it."
The behemoth aligned out as Hayate watched and its engines flared for an instant. Its speed picked up by a fair margin and left its brethren behind, smashing into debris and friendly ships with no heed for their safety. It's Commander knew what Hayate was planning and he didn't plan to stick around.
"It's preparing to warp away," Hayate muttered, fists clenched. Anger boiled within her. "We can't let it escape."
"We can fire now!" Mariam said, looking up from her console. All screens agreed with her."
"Do it," Hayate said, turning the key in her console to unlock all safety locks. "Fire before that fucker can get away!"
Space warped as the Ciel activated. The battlecruisers caught within the radius seemed to bend into peculiar shapes, a product of the visual illusion as the Arc-en-Ciel effect increased. Hayate knew that within the sphere of influence, burning with bright light, chaotic forces were wrecking havoc with the ships' hull. The Messiah, though, wasn't part of them. It disappeared into space, blinking out of existence.
Ships exploded in the sphere where time-space became disrupted. Debris appeared and then disappeared as the magical forces disintegrated any material within. Flowers of explosive energy bloomed in space.
Then it stopped as quickly as it had begun, the Vengala returning to its ambient hum. It all lasted for five seconds.
"The Absolution fleet has been destroyed, Commander," Mariam said. "Establish orbit around Mid-Childa?"
"Yes." She eyed the screen showing the planet. The map showing Cranagan looked odd. "What's happening down on the surface, around Cranagan?"
"A large force is moving in. The Unforgiving are unaware of it as far as I can tell."
Hayate opened a comms channel, something she hadn't done since arriving at the planet again, and hailed her team. "Nanoha, this is Hayate. Take cover somewhere and wait for extraction. You have a large force moving in on your position. We would use the teleporter, but it's out of commission right now."
"Roger that." It came through clean. There wasn't any interference anymore. She sounded exhausted and Hayate thought she sensed some emptiness in her voice. "I knew you would come back, Hayate."
"As if you'd ever doubt me."
"Commander," Mariam said. "Orders?"
"Measure the distance between the hostiles and Cranagan. How close are they?"
"A few kilometers, moving fast.
"Then we should... Yeah." She grinned as she stood up, hands on her hips. "Prepare for Orbital Bombardment. Vengala only. Tell the rest of the fleet to stand-by."
"Will do, Commander."
She waited while the ship powered up again. They had enough energy for one smaller Arc-en-Ciel blast and with the rest of the fleet surrounding them they weren't in any danger if Absolution ships would appear. The only worry lay in the fact that the radius might be too big and take out a part of Cranagan in the process. They had to be careful and accurate in their calculations. Nevertheless, she doubted there would be any problems.
"Preparations complete. Area of effect established. All systems optimal. Hostile force has been locked in. Commander, on your call."
The ship shuddered and one white beam swooped down towards the planet, forming a white orb as it reached the ground. Hayate looked at the screen as it happened, sighing in relief as the blast radius was just outside Cranagan's borders. The results came back a moment later.
"All hostiles annihilated, Commander," Mariam said when feedback information streamed across the screen. "Minimal collateral damage."
"Good. Send down a shuttle and extract them." She sighed, wiping sweat from her brow. The tension in her body loosened, letting her relax. "Tell the Unforgiving that they can rest for a while. We might just have made the Absolution a bit scared..."
Spoiler for What actually happened to Fate while in captivity? The answe won't be found in the main story, but it can be found within...:
"Lord Veena. It's an honor to have you visit us here at our outpost. It's been a long time since someone from the Highers came back."
"The pleasure is mine, Zealot General, but I am here on business. Where are the prisoners?"
"In the back. The woman took down a whole battalion before we could capture her."
"What about the boy and the girl?"
"Weaker, but still fought on like crazy. That dragon demon of hers hurt us a lot... Though it couldn't handle that much firepower. Heh. If you'd try and sell its scales now, you would barely afford dinner."
"I see. Using child soldiers. Heretics have no morals. They urgently need our guidance."
"Indeed they do, Lord Veena. Well, here we are."
"Ah. I see you have started the interrogation."
"A little. I don't think it's much use interrogating the children. I doubt they know as much as the woman."
"What about their names?"
"The woman, Fate. The children, Erio and Caro."
"Fate. An amusing name, considering the circumstances. What can she tell us, I wonder?"
"I'm not telling you... anything."
"Oh, so she can speak. Your interrogation techniques have gotten better, Zealot General."
"Much appreciated, Lord Veena. I'm proud of my work so far. I make a point of being more careful nowadays when I extract teeth and the like."
"I see. Well, Fate; tell me the locations of the Administration's fortified positions as well as any potential future plans you may be aware of."
"She's keeping silent, Lord Veena."
"What have you tried to make her talk so far?"
"Teeth extraction, skin scorching and a few other things. Either she's amazing at ignoring the pain or she's using magic to turn off her senses."
"I very much doubt that would be possible. Then again, they are Administration mages. Do not underestimate them. Look, Fate. Can I call you that? Or would you prefer Enforcer Harlaown?"
"Lord Veena, you already knew..."
"How do you know my..."
"There are ways to find such basic information. Zealot General, please leave us. I will take it from here."
"Yes, Lord Veena. As you command. I will wait outside."
Spoiler for Music:
"Now that leaves us, Fate. And these children. We are both women, you and I. We understand the connection between mothers and children, do we not?"
"... You..."
"Yes, I do have children. Two sons. Both are Zealot Generals, but not on this planet. They are waiting for my orders. Again, Harlaown, give me the positions and any plans you may know."
"You won't... break me."
"Why do you think I am asking. Out of courtesy? No. I need this information. The Zealot General? The one who tortured you? Do not tell him I said this, but he has gone soft in later days. You may be bleeding, you may be hurting, but you are not giving me what I want. Can you not understand the implications this might have between us?
"...Keeping silent again? I see. Then... Erio! Do you know this information I am asking for?"
"No. And I wouldn't tell you."
"Leave him alone..."
"So loyal! I like that in a man, with one condition."
"That the man realizes just how stupid it is to be loyal in a situation such as this. Which you do not."
"Leave him alone!"
"Will you talk if I do, Harlaown?"
"... Anything else. Ask me something else."
"Access codes. Warship authorization. Work with me, Harlaown."
"Don't tell her anything, Fate!"
"We can resist her!"
"Erio, Caro, you should keep quiet. Your mother and I have are having a conversation between adults."
"Please stop it..."
"I cannot, Caro. Harlaown, what will it be? Silence? Well then..."
"I broke two of your fingers. You did not scream or wail. Impressive. I can respect self-control."
"Leave her alone! Don't you dare--"
"You are an annoying one, boy. I have to make you keep quiet."
"Don't... touch him..."
"But I am, am I not, Harlaown? Look, my fingers are trailing his neck. His cheeks. Tongue."
"... No!"
"And now I have ripped out his tongue so he will learn not to interrupt me again. All this blood is an inconvenience, though. My armor is red. I need to clean it now."
"Erio... Veena, you bastard..."
"Please talk, Harlaown. Look, everything will end if you do. This boy is already doomed, however. It is because of you he is dying, because of loyalty yet again. Loyalty to the Administration, loyalty to the cause, loyalty to... I do not know. Someone. Somewhere."
"Please don't let him die... Please save--"
"That made you quiet, did it not? Snapping his neck like that? The sound is quite horrible. He is so quiet now. Tranquil. No pain. What do you think, Caro?"
"...Ah... no... Erio, why..."
"Hmm? Do you want your mother to kill you too? Might that actually be what you want? You look at her with those wide eyes of yours, tears streaming down your cheeks. Almost as if you want her to save you from this madness. Except she will not, because her loyalty means much more than you do. You are merely a piece in her game. In the Administration's game. To imagine they would use child soldiers, well, this is the result of that. Maybe they will think twice the next time they do it. Would you not agree, Harlaown?"
"... I don't... You don't understand. Caro, don't listen to her, please."
"But I think she should listen! I am applying logic here. To protect your loyalty towards the Administration, you must keep quiet. This child is merely a vessel for your success of keeping that loyalty. She is the epitome of some kind of redemption, is she not? A personal totem, if you would, something to remind you of... Well, I would guess something you yourself did not have and that you are now able to give. And it is all... lies! All of it. Yet you call us the beasts. Ironic, is it not?"
"None of that... is true..."
"Maybe not. Maybe it is. It does not matter."
"What are you--"
"Please stop!"
"I have only broken one arm so far. Look, you can see the bone piercing the skin. There is one more to go, not counting her legs, fingers, toes... You know, to some, this might be the definition of insanity. Doing the same thing over and over and over again, expecting different results. Do you want to spiral down into madness, Harlaown? To see what lies beyond the veil of--"
"Alright!... Alright. I'll give you what you want, just please don't hurt her anymore, please."
"Good. Excellent. That means I can end her misery."
"... What?"
"No... No."
"You were too late, Enforcer Fate T. Harlaown. You see, I believe that the true face of a person appears when they are driven to vengeance fueled by hatred. And, what better hatred is there than towards the person who slaughtered your children."
"Don't do it. I swear, if you do--"
"You will come and hunt me down for the rest of your life. It will become your sole purpose for existing and I will be there to witness your real soul. Come after me and kill me. Drive that device of yours through my heart. End my life before I succumb entirely to insanity because I can feel it creeping up on me. If it takes over me, I might forget about you and I would not be able to enjoy the moment of revelations."
"... You..."
"Your hatred is already growing, I can see it. I know you better than you know yourself. The Absolution has a history with you, Administration mage. Soon your history and my history will clash and join each other. Our fates, Fate, will become intertwined. Now..."
"Put her down! What are you doing to her!?"
" You would be surprised how fragile the body is when you cannot use your magic. Especially when you are surrounded by my own magic. Do you know what it is called, Harlaown? This spell of mine, rising your daughter to the skies in a golden bubble?"
"I don't..."
"I call it the Extractor of God. Do you know why I call it that? No? I will show you."
"... Ah. No. Caro! No! Please, god, no!"
"Can you see it, Enforcer? Can you see God's extraction? It is raining from the skies, streaming down your body, coloring your blonde hair red. It feels good, does it not? Knowing that now you are bathing in the glory that is God. Your daughter has become one with God. Your son, not so much. And it is all your fault. You need to remember that, Enforcer. Remember what I have done. Remember it was your fault. Because of you, and the Administration, your children died a horrible death."
"You son of a... I will never... forget what you've done."
"Are you deaf, Fate? That is what I have told you over and over and... Insanity. It is claiming me. You can see it is already happening. If it is any consolation I am actually a little afraid."
"Are you leaving me here? Where... are you going?"
"Ask me, Fate. Ask me why I am afraid."
"... Why... are you afraid?"
"Because if insanity claims me, what I have done here today has been a taste of what is to come. That which follows will only be described as... the work of a real monster. Goodbye, Enforcer Fate T Harlaown. I have a feeling we will meet sooner than you think."
After this, Act I ends, Act II begins. Perspective becomes only Nanoha and we finally go space walkin'. And turn everything up to 11.
|2013-01-14, 21:41
|Link #37478
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: There's this dot on the world map...
Your fanatics are... morbidly interesting.
Yo dawg, I heard you like QB...
Thanks MAEt for the av!
|2013-01-14, 23:01
|Link #37479
Join Date: Feb 2011
Location: MY
Personally I think that using pure dialogues was a waste since torture thrives with description, but I'll give it a 7 out of 10. *pops blood red grapes into mouth*
|2013-01-15, 07:09
|Link #37480
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: There's this dot on the world map...
I thought it interesting to try and mentally fill things in purely on what was being said... but I do agree that just a bit of description would have made things better/worse.
Yo dawg, I heard you like QB...
Thanks MAEt for the av!
|authorshipping, befriending, fanfiction, interactive fanfiction, nanoha
|Thread Tools


text:
In the never ending drama for the Jon & Kate Plus 8 family, comes a new report that Jon & Kate Gosselin are being investigated the Pennsylvania Department of Labor for possibly violating child labor laws by having their children on the show.
No we're not kidding. The the Pennsylvania Department of Labor confirmed yesterday that an investigation is being done to determine if the hit TLC show is violating child labor laws after receiving a complaint against the show. So all it takes is one complaint to waste tax payers money on a ridiculous investigation such as this one?
Troy Thompson of the Pennsylvania Department of Labor says, "We're not saying that they are not complying with child labor laws. We're investigating a complaint. We're not saying that there was or was not a violation, just that we're conducting an investigation."
The reality show – for which Jon and Kate earn $50,000-$75,000 an episode – features their eight children, including 8-year-old twins and sextuplets who just turned 5.
TLC has released a statement denying any wrong doing. This whole witch hunt on the couple has now gone a bit too far in my opinion. To say they are violating child labor laws seems to be a very big and rather unfair reach to me.

subset: commoncrawl


text:
For the tens of millions of Americans who get their favorite shows and movies over the Internet, futuristic-looking devices have been the norm for years. The Amazon Fire, the Roku 3, and Apple TV boxes all could be props from a sci-fi flick; Google's Chromecast and Roku's "Streaming Stick" deliver HD-quality video through devices the size of your pinky finger.
For most cable customers, on the other hand, the set-top box experience may seem like a glimpse of TV's past more so than its future — the boxes have changed some, but they're still pretty big and clunky.
It's not because cable companies don't know how to build sleek boxes; it's because they are required to follow special rules and include out-of-date technology in their gear unlike their many competitors. Basically, America's cable companies are regulated as though Google, Amazon, Netflix and Apple don't exist.
That's right. Unlike the companies seeking to supplant them in the marketplace, cable companies have to use set-top devices based on a technology standard from 1998 — probably a time before most of the people reading this column had Internet access.
That standard, known as a CableCARD, contains the security or, as cable customers of a certain age might think of it, "channel scrambling" technology that ensures each customer gets the channels for which they pay — no more or less. For years, this technology was hardwired into a cable box, which is more cost efficient and, over time, could have presumably been wired into smaller and smaller devices — much in the way every other electronic device has packed more power into exponentially smaller cases.
The 1998 rules erected a firewall in the path of that progress. The idea at the time was that the Federal Communications Commission could create a competitive retail market for set-top boxes by forcing cable companies to make their security technology — which is unique to each provider — available to third parties that wanted to build competitive devices. Thus the CableCARD — a device the length and width of a credit card — was born.
The good news was that the CableCARD rules helped spawn devices like the TiVo, which forever changed the idea of "appointment TV" and birthed scores of imitators. The bad news is that the FCC mandate froze the technology of the cable box in time by requiring cable to include CableCARDs in its own boxes — you can't build a pinky size "cable stick" if it has to hold a massive CableCARD.
This rule is called the "integration ban" — it bans cable companies from integrating their technology into sleek modern devices. Today, most of the services that compete with cable video simply don't require CableCARDs; they operate online and compete on programming as well as device technology.
To be fair, when the FCC first came up with the integration ban, Google was still a theoretical paper in a Silicon Valley garage and Netflix was still a year away from its founding. Roku did not exist; its founder had just invented the DVR. No one understood that the Internet video cavalry was coming, or that it wouldn't need CableCARDs to get there.
And today the commission's outdated mandate is costing consumers billions. Customers renting CableCARD-based boxes have spent over $1 billion since 2007 in increased manufacturing costs. The unnecessary CableCARDs in rented boxes are energy hogs as well, burning nearly 700 million kilowatt hours every year, and piling cost onto consumers' energy bills. Forced inclusion of the CableCARD prevents cable operators from developing low-cost set-top devices and offering them to families who choose to rent rather than own to save on up-front costs.
And let's not forget the technological advancements that cable customers may have missed. Freed from the integration ban, there's no reason a cable "box" might fit inside your remote control or match the lean design that Apple and Roku have pioneered.
Happily, consumers have an unlikely activist in their corner: Congress. Yes, the Congress that has passed less legislation than any other in history is considering modernizing these rules and getting rid of the costly integration ban (but not the CableCARD itself, so rest easy, TiVo users). The bipartisan provision is part of larger telecom bill that has already made it through a House committee and is now in front of a Senate committee on which Sen. Barbara Boxer sits.
Senator Boxer should support this legislation and permit the state's cable providers to innovate and offer the next generation of exciting technology and apps to consumers in California and elsewhere.
Curtis Symonds is president and CEO of HBCUX, a network devoted to increasing access to news and information about historically black colleges and universities. He is a former executive with Black Entertainment Television.


text:
Welcome to Beverly Hills AYSO Region 76
A message from Michael Karlin, Regional Commissioner (1997 - 2000):
Region 76, like every other, faces the problem of too few volunteers. It's a vicious cycle, because the relatively few who do volunteer get burned out too quickly. It is also a problem because it enables some of our coaches and referees to resist pressures for them to (a) comply with the spirit of AYSO, (b) do their jobs properly; and (c) get the additional education they need. So what to do?
First, before you start thinking of all the lines to feed potential volunteers, all the carrots and the sticks, all the details of how to get from where you are now to a resemblance of where you would like to be, you need to think more broadly about your program.
When I did this, I concluded that we needed to think more about quality and less about quantity. In other words, it was not acceptable to provide a washed-out experience, with so many teams that some are coached by unprepared and untrained people who had to be dragged in at the last moment, refereed by experienced referees who won't run lines or act as mentors and inexperienced referees officiating games for which they are not yet ready. We need to be willing to face up to the consequences of fewer players and teams until the culture of volunteerism can be restored and imbued into the program.
So, what principles should we apply (strategies and tactics can be left to another time and page)?
First, the region's leadership must be committed to high quality volunteering and a high quality of volunteering experience.
Second, get the word out. There are numerous ways to communicate, both formal and informal. But however you do it, parents and the community have to hear from you all the time about the need to step forward.
Third, insist on a high level of performance from your volunteers and (gently) get rid of those who do not perform. Remember: Being a volunteer is not a license to do a bad job.
Fourth, make sure volunteers and potential volunteers know what is expected of them. Write it down. Make them sign that they have read and understood. People perform better when they know what they're supposed to do.
Fifth, make sure that there are too many rather than too few educational opportunities for volunteers and let them know about them. "I'm sorry, I can't make it" should not just be a lame excuse, it should simply be untrue.
Sixth, make sure volunteers know they are appreciated. Pay volunteers not in kind but in kindness. Thank them early and often.
Seventh, make sure there are ways for people to be involved at different levels of commitment.
Eighth, start by finding the volunteers who can make the first seven items happen!
Our Region is making progress developing strategies and tactics to implement these principles. We have a long way to go. We probably will never quite get there. But it helps me to have articulated these basic ideas to guide us as we go about our daily business.