Mahou Shoujo Lyrical Nanoha

Jaded Marble

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Chapter 1

Six years have passed since the conclusion of the Jail Scagliettie case. The dimensional sea has changed little since then, with conflicts raising every so often, some annually. This would normally please most of the upper bureaucrats of the Time-Space Administration Bureau, an organisation turned militant government whose goal is to secure the peace, as the only way to secure peace is to have conflict in the first place.

A dimensional sea in peace would put them out of the job.

However those said bureaucrats were very displeased at the moment. Yes, there was conflict to be stamped out. The only problem was, it was from within the Administration Bureau itself. And the ones causing the conflict were the bureaucrats themselves.

This however, wasn’t the reason why Fate Testarossa Harlaown looked so pensive as she leant against the rails of her office’s rooftop in the dead of night. She distantly watched some of her colleagues head to the warmth of their cars and homes as she listened to the ringing tone of her mobile phone.

She was tired. She’d been working overtime for months on end now, thanks to the before mentioned bureaucrats. But she couldn’t complain about it. Everyone was in the same boat. The Administration Bureau was at breaking point now that a large number of its experienced commissioned officers either resigned or were forced from their jobs. She was forced from her office on the dimensional space station that serves as the Bureau’s headquarters to fill in the gaps in rank on Midchilda. While the re-assignment came with a promotion to Senior Enforcer, the assignment itself could easily be seen by others, and herself, as a demotion. Everyone knew that the Ground Defence Force took care of investigations on Midchilda.

The call timed out. She gave a sigh of frustration as she pressed the call button again and pressed it to her ear once more, and allowed her thoughts to wonder down a different path.

Since when was the Administration Bureau a government? How can a Bureau be a government?

Oh that’s right. It was about the time when the bureaucrats started to play up. A new leadership calls for a new change. They claimed that as the Bureau was an organisation that took care of planets and in some cases even ruled them, they should then form an Empire.

That was what they first suggested anyway. It didn’t go down to well so they opted for a “Militant-Democracy.” The thought of the idea made Fate shake her head. A military government who’s rulers and laws were elected by the populace? That was probably when everything went to hell.

The bureaucrats who lobbied for the government were probably thinking that they’d have a chance to take the leadership, though seemed to lack insight as a militant government, democracy or not, is ruled by military officials. So when they decided to go ahead with the government plan, the bureaucrats quickly found the errors of their ways and instead of trying to drop the plan, decided to get some officers to do their biddings for them.

The phone call timed out again and Fate gave up. She slipped the phone back in her pocket and headed inside. She didn’t like the call she received from Arisa. She was lucky she got it at all, as her work forced her to have her phone off most of the time, and she often forgot to turn it back on.

After Arisa had vented about not being able to get in contact with her for so long, she told her about the upcoming plans that some of her old high school friends were planning and she was invited to join in, though Arisa sounded like she wasn’t going to give Fate the option.

Then she told her to pass the invitation to Nanoha, who no one was able to get in contact with for what Arisa said was ‘two whole months!’ Fate figured that Nanoha was pushing herself once again, and had just tried to get in contact with her, with no success. She wouldn’t answer any form of communication.

But that wasn’t the most worrisome thing about Arisa’s call. A tingle went down her spine when Arisa held and uncomfortable pause then asked: ‘Did you hear what happened to Nanoha’s mother?’

It made Fate hesitate. There was something about the way she asked it. ‘No...’ she replied cautiously. There was another long pause as Fate figured Arisa was trying to find the right words. It made her nervous.

‘She was taken to hospital last month...’ Arisa answered. Fate froze. ‘She had a stroke...’

And during the entire time, no one could get in touch with Nanoha. They had tried though. From what she was told, her family still tries at least once a day.

She had called Nanoha’s apartment, using the Bureau’s video communication system, only to get through to her daughter, Vivio.

‘Mama’s not home at the moment...’ Vivio replied distantly. The girl seemed depressed over something.

‘I see... Do you know when Nanoha will be home?’ Fate asked.

Vivio looked crestfallen. ‘Mama hardly comes home now...’

The answer shocked Fate. She knew that Nanoha worked herself too hard, but ever since she adopted Vivio, she made sure that Vivio came first. Fate was worried from time to time that she doted the girl too much.

‘When Mama does come home, she only goes to bed...’ Vivio continued. Fate realised why she looked so depressed. She was lonely.

‘What about Yuuno?’ Fate asked. Yuuno and Nanoha had made an arrangement. If Nanoha’s work was going to keep her back, and Fate couldn’t take care of Vivio then Yuuno would step it. Vivio was getting on very well with Yuuno too.

Which is why Fate was even more shocked when Vivio scowled. ‘He’s not here. I don’t want him here.’

Vivio wouldn’t tell her what happened between them, but for Vivio to not want to talk about it, it would have been something huge. And from the looks of it, she’d been on her own for some time now.

And that also meant that she couldn’t get in contact with Nanoha through Vivio, which put Fate in an uncomfortable situation. She wanted to be there for Vivio, who she still thought of as a foster child, but she wanted to go to see Nanoha, who would probably still be working, and find out what was going on with her.

She couldn’t visit Vivio, and then run off to find Nanoha. She wouldn’t be able to drag herself away from the girl. But on the other hand, if she went to find Nanoha, by the time she arrived to visit Vivio, the girl would have gone to bed on her own.

She slumped into her office chair, held her head in her hands and gave an irritated groan over the situation. From behind her, Tiana turned from her work and looked at her inquisitively.

‘What’s up?’ she asked.

Fate sighed and told her everything that just happened. Tiana was put in the same situation as Fate. When the bureaucrats lost the plot, Tiana was also sent to their new office, although she didn’t have the small saving grace of a promotion. Their new commander saw their potential, and unofficially partnered them together. This gave them the flexibility of working together if needed, or working separately. This also helped as Tiana’s assistant wasn’t allowed to go with her, so they both shared Shario.

There was something else about Tiana that Fate noticed was different from their time together in Section 6. Apart from the fact that she wore her hair down now, Tiana’s personality was a lot softer now. She wasn’t as irritable, and she often joined in on some of the pointless jokes that would occasionally float around the office.

‘And so now you’re stuck over finding Nanoha and visiting Vivio,’ Tiana concluded. ‘As I’d expect from Fate-mama!’ she cried. Fate replied with a sarcastic smile, and looked over Tiana’s shoulder to the time display on her workstation’s console. It read 1938.

‘Where’s Nanoha stationed now, anyway?’ Tiana asked. ‘Just about everyone’s been posted somewhere else since the re-organisation.’

‘Northern Midchilda 4^th Military Academy.’

‘No way!’ Tiana gasped. ‘That’s my academy!’

‘I know. But it’s over an hour and a half drive in the wrong direction of Nanoha’s apartment. If I go there, I’d never be able to visit Vivio in time!’ Fate bit her lip. She was starting to get anxious, but that was to be expected. She was Vivio’s godmother, and she cared for her as much as her actual mother did.

The two did a bit of lip biting and finger tapping.

‘How about I go to the academy then?’ Tiana offered. She noticed Fate freeze for a bit, and her expression lightened.

‘Could you really do that?’ Fate asked, almost pleaded as she leant forward and placed her hands on Tiana’s knees.

‘Sure,’ Tiana agreed. ‘I’m haven’t got anything planned for after work anyway, and it’s my old academy. I wouldn’t mind giving the place a visit. If I’m lucky I might be able to meet up with some of my old instructors too, and tell them how they were so wrong about my future,’ she added with a cheeky grin. ‘It’ll be interesting.’

Fate’s eyes were almost gleaming now, and she was leaning dangerously forward. If she leant forward any further, she’d be leaping into Tiana’s arms.

Close by, someone cleared their throat.

It was Shario. She was standing over them, hands on her hips and giving the two a look normally reserved for a school teacher who caught some students giggling their way through a lesson.

‘Enforcer Tiana Lanster,’ she said carefully, making sure to squeeze as much authority into her voice as possible, ‘before you go anywhere, I still need today’s report. The commander said that he’d need it for his meeting tomorrow, though I’m sure you know that.’

Tiana spun her chair back around and began typing again, acting as if she had never taken her hands from the keypad. ‘Oh please, Shari!’ Tiana laughed nervously. ‘It’ll get done before I go, honestly!’ She paused and quickly scanned over what she just wrote, then held down the backspace key.

She risked a glance to the assistant as she held the key. There was a slight grin creeping across her face. She was enjoying this, the swine! Tiana was confident that making sure everyone was working was one of Shario’s joys in life. It was the only time she technically had more authority than her superiors, and savoured every second of it.

With a chuckle, Fate got up from her seat, placed her hands on Tiana’s shoulders and bent down to whisper in her ear: ‘Thanks a lot Tiana, I really appreciate it. I’ll make up for it someday.’

Tiana simply raised her head proudly, grinning with false pride. ‘What are you talking about, Fate?’ she said haughtily, ‘I’ll gladly do this for my trusty partner! After all, she’d gladly do the same for me, wouldn’t she?’

Fate replied with a nervous smile. It was the smile she always gave Tiana when she wanted to change the subject. Tiana’s grin slowly faded from her face. She turned look at Fate again, who was walking to her jacket that was hanging on the corner of the filing cabinet.

Fate made sure she Tiana couldn’t see her face. Tiana wasn’t sure, but she noticed that Shario was enjoying this greatly, standing up straight to attention with her hands behind her back. Tiana was starting to get worried; she knew that Fate and Shario were planning something.

‘Oh, Fate-san!’ Shario chirped playfully, ‘I forgot to mention that the commander has approved your leave and wishes that you enjoy yourself!’

‘That’s great, thanks Shari.’ Fate replied nervously as she straightened her jacket.

‘Huh?’ was about the only thing Tiana managed to say. Shario looked at her with a poorly acted confused look, while Fate kept her nervous smile. ‘Wait, what’s this about leave!? I never heard of it!’ she cried. Shario looked to Fate, then back to Tiana.

‘Um…’ Fate muttered nervously, ‘didn’t I tell you Tiana? Arisa told me that my high school friends are organizing a reunion. I’m taking time off so I can go along, it should be... er... fun.’

‘No you didn’t tell me!’ Tiana cried, jumping out of her chair. ‘What about the investigation!? How am I supposed to do it by myself?!’

Fate shrugged. ‘The same way you do everything else by yourself?’ she suggested and then she gestured an apology before turning to head for the exit. ‘Oh, do me a favour and tell Nanoha about the reunion too, please. I’ll tell her more about it if she’s interested.’ She called behind her, trying to ignore Tiana’s dumbstruck stare. ‘I think I’ll probably spend the night at Nanoha’s anyway, just to be on the safe side. Well, see you tomorrow... my trusty partner.’ She waved without looking back as she walked out of the office.

Tiana slammed her hands on her desk. ‘What partner!?’ she yelled angrily. ‘I trusted you! You owe me big for this! Demon! Slaver!’

‘Shut up, Lanster!’ another officer yelled from somewhere within the office, making Tiana duck instinctively.

‘Sorry…!’ she whispered, slumping back into her chair and rested her head on her desk with a heavy sigh.

Shario was still there though, standing to attention, hands behind her back and grinning a demonic kind of grin. Tiana rolled her head to one side to throw her an annoying look. It didn’t faze her.

‘What?’ she finally asked, and Shario just tilted her head to match the angle Tiana’s head was lying at.

‘The report, Enforcer Tiana Lanster.’ Shario answered with a pleasant yet unpleasant voice.

The city of Cranagan, capital of Midchilda, never sleeps. When the dead of the night sets in, and most people in other cities call it a night and go to bed, Cranagan simply gets a little bit less busy.

However, the fewer cars and pedestrians on the streets was all that the shrouded figure needed as it skulked from shadow to shadow, avoiding street lights where ever possible and only staying still when someone walked past or a car sped by.

It didn’t try to conceal itself. It simply became a part of the scenery. No one bothered to pay it any attention, although it did think to itself, would anyone really bother anyway? But it didn’t take the chance. Someone might have recognised it, and it couldn’t risk that.

It didn’t wear black. Black, to the trained eye, was too noticeable in shadows. It wore a mixture of washed out dark greens, blues and greys, the typical colours of the night time Cranagan.

Eventually the figure found an alley way to its liking and hurried down to a manhole not too far down from the road, checked to make sure no one was looking and then made its way down.

Cranagan was an old city, one that was standing well before the time of the Ancient Belkans. It was a city of everlasting growth, and when you don’t have room to grow out, you grew up. Even on top of the old buildings and infrastructure.

This meant that Cranagan’s underground wasn’t soil. It was a massive maze of tunnels, sewers, subways and even buildings. Not all of it was mapped out, though if you looked hard enough, you’d be able to find some old, possibly even ancient maps of the city’s subway or sewer networks that weren’t in any of the current maps.

And the figure knew where to look. It made its way through the maze with a hurried patience, opening old rusted doors, jumping over sewer streams and climbing over small walls that was presumably, once someone’s fence. Eventually it made it to a small steel door. There was a buzz of work coming from the other side. It straightened itself up, then silently made its way inside.

Beyond the door was an abandoned subway station. In it, was a large group of people, all in scrappy street clothes and all hurrying about their business very quickly. They were loading creates into five small flatbed trucks, two were already loaded and covered with tarpaulin. There were workstations, what looked like make-shift labs, being dismantled and burnt. And being placed inside the creates were what looked like vial holders, all filled with vials with a milky blue substance.

The figure didn’t make itself noticed, but it didn’t conceal itself either. It simply stood in the unused opening of the subway just beyond the door it entered and watched. Eventually, someone noticed her, put down the create he was carrying and ran over to the person who looked like the person in charge. The man whispered something into the other man’s ear, and then as the worker ran back to his previous job, the leader looked over to the figure and scowled.

He stormed towards the figure. ‘You said they wouldn’t find us down here, you lying bitch!’ he bellowed.

‘They got lucky,’ the figure replied calmly. Its voice was distorted, but it was enough to define it as her. Her voice also had a sense of expensiveness about it, the kind that wasn’t too haughty, but still had an air of thick arrogance about it.

‘Lucky my ass,’ the man growled, ‘do you have any idea of how many men I lost today? How much Boost we lost? Do you know how expensive that stuff is?’

‘That is none of my concern. The deal was that I let you know of a safer route, and if your business grows, you transport some of my goods for me.’ The shrouded figure looked over to a metal bin burning with green and pink flames. ‘It isn’t my fault that some of your men got lazy and left the tunnels without checking to see if there was any Bureau officers at the other end. They certainly didn’t have to fight back either. And you don’t have to go to such extremes as to destroying your lab.’

‘I’m playing safe here, missy.’

There was a pause as the figure examined the man. He was well built, but didn’t seem too bright. She figured his usual way of making sure things happened was to hit enough people to encourage them to get the job done, by promising not as much hitting if they did. He didn’t dare try to use that method on her though. He wasn’t that stupid.

‘Where are my goods?’ she asked.

The man glared at her, then walked off to a bench that hadn’t been destroyed yet, picked up a small metal case and handed it to her. She opened it. Inside, laying in a thick grey bed of foam were three clear blue liquid vials. There were five empty slots.

She snapped the case shut again. ‘Three?’ she asked. There was a hint of irritation in her voice. ‘What am I supposed to do with three? I ordered eight!’

The man shrugged then folded his arms. ‘That’s none of my business. The rest were in the other convoys that we lost.’

‘I told you one vial per car! There should be five in here!’

‘Yeah. I’m playing it safe here, missy.’ The man repeated.

They stared at each other for a while. The figure took the opportunity to think over her plans. Only three vials... enough to finish up one job, but...

‘Fine then,’ the figure said. ‘Play it safe. May we never meet again.’ The figure turned and made its way for the door in came in through. The man gave her a disgusted look and spat on the area she once stood before turning back to continue packing up his shop.

He never checked to see if the figure had actually gone through the door. He probably should have. The figure silently made its way towards the burning bin, ignoring the intense heat. She didn’t sneak, or dart from shadow to shadow. She simply moved with care and patience, and no one seemed to notice her.

She placed a hand on the bin, and waited for a bit. The bin eventually started to glow feint blue, and the flames died down a little. Satisfied, the figure left the subway, made her way back to the surface, then stealthily made her way out of the area before finding another alley. There she fetched a bag out of an industrial bin, brushing a few food scraps off it as she did. She removed her cloak and put it in the bag along with the metal case, and then took a long blonde wig from it, and placed it on her head with long practiced precision. She adjusted her glasses, straightened her casual outfit, then made her way back out to the street again and hailed a taxi down.

Later on that night, long before the crew in the subway could possibly be ready to leave, the city shook gently as something exploded. Several people looked up as glasses rattled and the ground rumbled, but then passed it off as someone else’s problem and went back to doing whatever it was they were doing.

Winter was starting to set in, and Tiana’s thick brown biker’s jacket did little to keep out the stinging wind-chill. She kept as low as possible on her new black and blue motorcycle to keep the wind resistance to a minimum, but her cheeks were beginning to numb as some air managed to rush over the wind shield and into her face. She really ought to buy a full helmet, but she loved her half-top helmet and goggles too much to leave them on a shelf in her dorm. They were the kind of times that needed to be used to be appreciated.

She cursed to herself as she thought of the dorms. They were only a quarter of an hour behind her now, and turning back seemed more inviting than ever before. As everyone else was, she was tired, and it was very late and the thought of being in her warm bed made it even colder. It made the thought of turning back even more inviting. Fate owed her big now.

It might not have been so bad if she had been able to leave thirty minutes earlier, but the acting supervisor decided that then was a good time to throw his authority around, and lecture her on punctuality and discipline within the office.

She passed the last possible turnoff on the highway for her to be able to head back to the dorms, and with a sigh, she pressed on, and pressed harder against the bike’s fuel tank.

Her dormitory wasn’t really all that grand a place. It was similar to any other dorm you’d expect to find; filled with people too busy to use them properly. Because of that, it never felt like home. There was never the chance to furnish the room to her liking. Anything could happen to a military dorm, and expensive or valuable items weren’t permitted. She just had to remember what happened to Section 6 to understand why. And besides, there was no telling how long she was going to be there until she got reassigned elsewhere. Military life was like that these days.

At least her rank gave her the privilege of her own room. If she was still a Private, she’d more than likely be bunking with three or four other soldiers.

Vehicles were allowed though, which was unusual for a Midchildan military dorm, and the bike was Tiana’s pride and joy. She’d often got around by borrowing the bike of whichever unit she was attached to, but now she was attached to not a unit, but the Main Branch, borrowing a bike proved difficult. Eventually, she managed to buy her own sports bike. It was similar to the one that Sergeant Vice had in Section 6, but more sleek, a bit faster, slightly more agile, and was black and blue instead of red. It was also personalised to have a screen that displayed various information, instead of various dials for bits of information. And at the flick of a switch, its siren and flashing lights would materialise, fitting for an officer of the law.

A little while later she pulled into a high-way side service station to re-fuel her bike and warm herself up with a hot coffee. She also took advantage from one of the various fast food stores to get some much needed food in her stomach. She hadn’t had anything to eat since lunch, and the call she got from Fate just after she left the office made it worse.

It was an innocent call, wanting to know if she was still in the office and telling her that she shouldn’t push herself, but she did so while eating her own nice, warm hearty meal with Vivio. Fate had also told Tiana that some other people, not only Nanoha’s family and friends had been trying to contact her, but Nanoha was still at work. At least this wasn’t all for nothing then.

After downing a poorly made hotdog, Tiana mounted her motorcycle once more, and continued her journey.

It was half an hour later when she turned her bike into the large administration car park of the Time-Space Administration Bureau’s Northern Midchilda 4^th Military Academy. It was very late now, and the car park’s lights have already turned off, but the full moon in the clear sky made it easy enough to see. There were still a few cars within the car park, but plenty of space for her to park her bike.

She rolled into a spot closest to the large administration building and kicked the bike rest into the concrete and then tore her helmet off her head and shook her hair back over her shoulders. Sliding off the bike, she made her way down the cement path that lead to the administration building. The path was nostalgic, bringing back memories from when she and Subaru were just trainees, eager to earn their spot within the Bureau.

She admired the building as she unzipped her biker’s jacket and removed her gloves from her hands. It was old and the outer walls were laid with sandstone. Now days, you’ll be hard pressed to find a new building made from sandstone. It took too much effort and was too expensive to maintain. Tiana could see that a quarter of the wall was covered in scaffolding, a part of the annual attempt to maintain the sandstone’s brilliance which was sure to be lost after nine months from weather, dirt and grime.

The highest point above the entrance marked what the building was for. With large Midchildan letters, it read “Time-Space Administration Bureau Northern Midchilda 4^th Military Academy” and was lit by powerful lights that extruded from the building below the words. People often misread what the 4^th means. It doesn’t mean that it was the 4^th academy within Northern Midchilda, but it was the 4^th academy ever established.

She reached the doorway, the words “Adm nis at on” sat above the door, the i t r and i missing from either worn adhesive or stolen from some student. It brought a faint smile to Tiana’s lips, and was yet another reminder of how old the building was. She couldn’t see anything through the heavily tinted glass, but there was an orange glow coming from underneath the doorway.

Tiana reached out to open the door, but hesitated. She then placed one of her gloves on the metal door handle and swung it open.

As the door closed behind her with the metallic thud of a door that failed to close itself softly, another vehicle pulled into the parking lot. It was a slick black hover-car that only the most prestigious of people would ever drive in. In an overly careful and pedantic fashion, the car made its way around the maze of painted white lines and came to an agonisingly slow stop with its rear passenger door to the cement footpath.

When the car came to a stop, the driver bailed out of the car and ran around to the passenger’s door, only to have it swing open just before he reached it. He stepped back nervously and adjusted his officer’s jacket as a middle aged woman made her own way out of the car. She was bulky, but not fat. Her black hair was dreadlocked and tied into a short, neat but tatty ponytail. Her pristine white and blue uniform with gold trim made an interesting contrast to her dark chocolate skin. Her square face was creased, not with age, but with experience. In all, she looked very regal, and very annoyed.

The driver straightened nervously as she shot a steely glare at him, and cleared his throat. ‘May I ask how long you will be, Madam Grand Admiral?’ his voice croaked slightly.

The Admiral’s glare intensified. ‘No, you may not,’ she replied, shutting the door behind her. ‘Now park the car properly. Don’t follow me inside either, Warrant Officer, I’m sure I’m capable of walking by myself.’ She didn’t wait for a reply as she made her way inside the facility.

Tiana basked in the warmth of the administration building as the door closed behind her with a metallic thud. The foyer was as she remembered it, just more cluttered. There were memorabilia anywhere it could fit. Weapons, pictures, trophies and certificates were hanging or placed on every wall, pillar and cabinet that was available. Some even hung from the ceiling.

As Tiana slowly walked through the foyer, she remembered the first time she stepped foot within the room. It was ten years ago, and she was only twelve years old, incredibly nervous but determined. Others arrived with their parents, or with friends, and had others to support them as they made the greatest step in their lives: enrolling into the Time-Space Administration Bureau. Tiana had herself. No one was cheering her on. No one was holding her hand. The memory filled her with pride.

On a large section of wall, alongside other life sized photographs was one of Nanoha, smiling warmly while holding a sharp, textbook salute. It seemed only fitting that Nanoha had such a grand photograph on the administration building’s walls. There were some of past students on the other walls too, although they weren’t as large and grand, and Tiana wondered if she would be able to find one of her and Subaru.

On the far side of the foyer, opposite the entrance was a desk. On either side of the desk, grand curved stair cases rose to the second floor above, which Tiana knew was an array of officers for all the instructors, academy administration staff and the grand Headmaster’s room. Behind the desk was a greying woman, and behind her was a small open office with no one in it. The woman had been watching Tiana from the corner of her eyes since she entered the lobby, with a somewhat disappointed look on her face as Tiana wasn’t shaking the feeling back into her hands from the static prone metal doors. For company, the lady had an old television playing a show that was repeating for the nth time, and a cup of coffee.

‘So what can I do for you at this hour of the night...’ the woman asked as Tiana approached the desk, hesitating as she peered closer to get a clearer look at her uniform, ‘Miss Enforcer Ma’am?’ Her voice had a stuttered slurred and dripped with sarcasm.

Tiana peered into the office behind the woman, and didn’t respond until she had placed her helmet and gloves on the desk. ‘No security?’ she asked, leaning against the steel blue laminated desk.

‘The thugs don’t kick me out until Ten T’irty.’ The woman took a sip of her coffee. It seemed to have an oily gleam. ‘But I doubt that’s what ye’ want from me.’

‘I’d like to see Captain Takamachi—‘

‘Major,’ the woman interrupted.

Tiana blinked. ‘Sorry?’ she asked, standing up straight again.

‘It’s Major Takamachi. She’s no Cap’n,’ the woman said as she took another sip of her coffee. Tiana’s attention was drawn to it again. It looked like the gleam was also frosting.

‘She was promoted?’ Tiana asked.

‘Don’ know any other way to become a Major. Tell me if you do though, I’d much apprecia’e the pay rise.’

Tiana ignored the last comment. ‘Why didn’t she tell us?’ Tiana asked herself, but the woman thought otherwise.

‘I ‘dunno... Why don’ you ask her during your appoin’ment?’ she asked, taking yet another sip of her defiantly cold coffee. The woman’s attitude was starting to annoy Tiana. ‘Speaking of which,’ the woman continued, ‘when would you like to see the good headmistress?’

Tiana almost fell over.

‘Headmistress?’ she asked.

‘Headmistress indeed,’ the woman replied.

‘Headmistress Major Takamachi Nanoha?’ Tiana asked again, just to make sure that her fatigue wasn’t playing tricks with her.

The woman gave her a long look. ‘Yer not tryin’ to mak’ a fool ou’ of me... are you?’ she asked before dismissively pointing to the life-size picture of Nanoha that Tiana had spotted as she walked through the foyer. It was then that Tiana realised that lined up next to Nanoha’s picture were all the previous headmasters in the academy’s history.

‘When did this happen?’ Tiana asked in dismay.

‘’bout two and a half months ago.’ There was another sip of the oily, frosting coffee. ‘Though if you have any more questions about the good lady, I’d prefer you’d ask her yourself. So... when did you wan’ this appoin’ment?’

‘Now!’ an irritated voice boomed from behind Tiana. She spun around startled; she didn’t even notice that anyone was approaching from behind. Normally any shoe would tap loudly against the white marble floor.

At the sight of the Grand Admiral uniform, Tiana’s body snapped into a salute. The room’s atmosphere suddenly became so intense Tiana was finding it hard to breathe.

‘At ease, Enforcer,’ the Admiral grumbled as she came to a stop beside Tiana. The salute was dropped, but Tiana found it impossible to relax. The admiral was giving the greying woman a steely glare as she gingerly rose up from her chair and made a show of saluting.

‘Well now, Grand Admiral, Ma’am, would you like an appoin’ment with the good Major too?’ the woman asked, placing her coffee cup on top of the desk.

‘No. I will see her now.’ The Admiral said coldly. Her steely gaze was growing harsher and her jaw was tensing, and told Tiana that the lady was running low on a short supply of patience.

‘Tha’ll be a problem you see...’ the woman began, ‘’cus the good headmistress is currently tu’orin’ some of her good studen’s. I’ve been told tha’ I’m no’ to be disturbin’ her while she’s tu’orin’. Can be dangerous, yeh see.’

‘Is that so?’ the Admiral asked with a disturbingly calm voice.

‘It is so, Grand Admiral Ma’am. ‘Tis a military academy after all.’

Patience ran out.

The Admiral was only a step away from the desk, but she stormed forward with enough force to walk through it and slammed her hands on a desk with a deafening thud.

‘Then obviously you’ve forgotten that I can meet my officers in my buildings whenever I want to!’ the Admiral roared with so much volume Tiana’s ears were ringing. The woman was taken aback and almost fell over her chair, but instead into it. She seemed to lose her attitude as the Admiral slammed her fist into the desk with so much force that the coffee cup was knocked over, spilling its contents over Tiana’s helmet and gloves.

‘Now,’ she continued, not any quieter, ‘you’re going to find the Major for me, you’re going to tell her that I’m waiting in her office, and you’re going to do it now! Is that understood!?’

The greying woman managed to stagger back to her feet and gather herself back together from the Admiral’s verbal barrage.

‘Err...’ she managed to mutter, ‘Yes, Grand Admiral. Ma’am... Err...’ she hesitated for a brief moment, visually going over what she was about to say, filtering out anything that could get her into any more trouble. ‘The headmistress’ office is locked a’ the momen’, Ma’am. Grand Admiral. Ma’am... Err... Would you like for me to fe’ch the keys for you?’

The Admiral held her gaze for a moment longer and the woman shrunk into herself. ‘So you are capable of thought,’ she eventually said, her jaw unclenching but still very irritate. The woman took the reply as a yes and scurried away, almost stumbling over her chair, to find the keys needed in the office behind her.

The Admiral took a few deep breaths to compose herself again as she took a handkerchief out of her to dab the sweat off her forehead. Then, as if she just realised what had happened, she picked up one of Tiana’s dripping gloves.

‘Sorry about that, Enforcer...’ she hung onto the last word as she began to wipe the coffee off the glove with her handkerchief.

‘Lanster...’ The atmosphere lightened enough for Tiana’s body to relax again and she stepped forward to retrieve her helmet. ‘Tiana Lanster, Grand Admiral Carrington.’

‘Admiral will do, Lanster, I’m not fond of such titles,’ Carrington said and then she paused. ‘Lanster... where have I heard that name before...?’

Tiana froze. Oh crap, she thought, I haven’t screwed up, have I? There was an awkward silence as Carrington stood in thought and Tiana stood in nervous terror, her hands robotically cleaning the coffee off her helmet.

‘Oh that’s right!’ Carrington suddenly exclaimed, and she turned to face Tiana with a warm smile which didn’t help Tiana’s nerves, even though she looked like a teddy bear compared to the beast she was just a few seconds ago. ‘You’re working with that Harlaown girl, aren’t you?’

‘Yes, that’s right ma’am,’ this constant tension mustn’t be good for my health, Tiana thought as relief ran through her again. But the lady now gave off the aura of an elderly mother. Not a grandmother, but a mother approaching her elder years and took a soft approach to everything. Tiana was silently amazed how a person could change her personality to such extremes in such a short amount of time.

‘It’s no wonder why you’re after Takamachi too then. I’m sure her friends would want a word or two with her as well.’ Carrington finished wiping one of the coffee soaked gloves clean and handed back to Tiana. ‘Once again, sorry about that.’

‘Not at all, Ma’am,’ Tiana replied as the Admiral started on the other glove. ‘Actually, I’m an acquaintance of Nanoha-san too.’

‘Is that so?’

‘Yes Ma’am, Nanoha-san was my squad commander in Section 6.’

Carrington looked lost for a moment. ‘Section 6? Oh yes, the Lost Article Mobile Section 6, I remember now. That’s quite an achievement, that...’ the Admiral then looked away in though. ‘Section 6, huh...’ she muttered, wiping the glove absentmindedly.

Tiana finished wiping off her helmet and gave it a sniff to see if it stunk. Her nostrils burnt, her eyes watered and her throat dried as she took in the smell of coffee. She dropped her helmet as she sneezed uncontrollably. ‘What the hell is that stuff?’ she cried when calmed down.

Carrington carefully took a sniff of the glove in her hand, her face souring as she did. ‘Whiskey...?’ she guessed. ‘Oh dear...’ she muttered as there was a disturbing noise coming from the office area behind the desk.

For General Hatsudoki Seizo of the Japanese Self Defence Force, life was just as frustrating as for those at the Time-Space Administration Bureau, not that he knew anything about them. It wasn’t because there was an internal conflict within the Self Defence Force... it was mainly his own conflict against the view of... well... the world.

You see, his father fought in World War Two, and came home with glorious stories of how he fought patriotically for his country to expand the mighty empire. Seizo himself wished to do the same. But the foreign bastards who mercilessly bombed their land and claimed themselves the winner decided to create this law that because they didn’t do as well as they did in the Second World War, and now they weren’t allowed to have any others. Nor were they allowed to have an empire.

So the mighty Japanese military machine was whittled down to become a “Self Defence Force” and the empire became a nation. People had argued that the empire never existed to begin with, seeing as it only spanned one nationality to being with, but those people were unpatriotic bastards, and frankly, not worth his time.

Seizo pinched the bridge of his nose. Okay, he could admit that they weren’t an empire anymore, but there’s no reason to say we shouldn’t have a military. Japan had all the necessary pieces together for a military. They had just crossed out the word “Military” and quickly wrote underneath it “Self-Defence Force, We Won’t Leave Our Borders Honest.” There was no need to force the punishment of losing a war on them for this long either. Most of those who were alive during the war had passed away now, and most of those who were still alive were only children at the time. Japan had put the war behind them long ago. It was time to move on.

But no, we can’t have that, they say, we might upset someone. Who? The Americans? Oh yes, it would upset the Americans. After all, they only trespass on our soil under the name of the United States Forces Japan and do what they want saying that they’re, “helping Japan defend Japan”. Since 1952, there’ve been over two hundred thousand crimes committed by the US dogs. Oh, some could be called “accidents” if you looked at them from a certain light, but if you looked at it straight on you saw the real picture. Over one thousand Japanese civilians killed as well. And in most cases the suspects were given a slap on the wrist, given a lolly pop and told to go back to camp and think about what they just did or they might also go without supper.

And there were all the military establishments the US held as well. Hokkaido, Okinawa, Aomori, Tokyo, Saitama, Kanagawa, Hiroshima, Shizuoka, Nagasaki... Those were some of the places where the US held their bases that Seizo could name off the top of his head. He also knew that the US Navy had some hotel in Tokyo too. And as for Okinawa, well... The US might as well claim that as their next Hawaii.

Well that was going to change. Seizo didn’t become a General for nothing, and while others might talk and laugh behind his back, he was going to stand firm and take action. He couldn’t stand the thought of Americans loitering on Japanese soil. It was worse than rubbing salt in a wound that had been open for far too long.

A knock from the door shook Seizo from his dreams of patriotism and glory. ‘Enter,’ he barked primly as he faced his chair to the door. His office looked like a war room, containing only what was necessary, and on one wall, a massive map of the only battlefield he was allowed to deploy on: Japan. It had markers showing where all the Japanese forces were in blue, and where all the American forces were in red.

The door opened, and a sharp young officer entered. He closed the door, saluted, and then gave an awkward glance to the map. The only defining feature on the man’s face was a large scar that ran down its right side, and quite literally, from top to bottom. There were many stories as to how he got it, but the man himself had never hinted which was the correct one. But one of the most remarkable things about the scar was that it never pulled on his face. Apart from that, the only other comment you could make about him was that he was taller than average, and slightly built.

Seizo himself could be thought of as your average stereotypical stubborn old thin Japanese military man. His face wrapped around his head and he looked so Asian it made other Asians embarrassed. He didn’t have any other hair on his balding head apart from his neatly trimmed moustache, which miraculously bristled when he got angry. No one knew how he managed to do it.

‘Ah, Captain Raiden,’ Seizo said, wondering if his name was any reference to the scar. ‘How are the training drills going?’

‘Sir, I’ve come here to inform you that they’re not, Sir.’

‘What?’

‘The training drills are not happening, Sir.’ There was no cheek in Raiden’s voice. He was simply stating facts.

The moustache bristled. Seizo didn’t show any other reaction. ‘And why are the drills not happening, Captain?’

‘Because I was ensuring that our careers within the Defence Force remain long lasting ones, Sir.’

‘I surly doubt it if you weren’t following my instructions!’ Seizo barked. ‘What the hell kind of an excuse is that?’

‘Well, Sir, if you’ll excuse me for saying so, I’m not a foolish man. The drills are one that I would prepare if I was going to storm the Yokohama North Docks, Sir. Which I do believe is under the control of the United States Army. If anyone found out about such a drill, both of our careers will be in risk, Sir.’

Seizo’s moustache continued to bristle as he glared at the young man. Raiden remained indifferent. He was a good officer, Seizo thought. Bright. Perhaps too bright. Like that kind of brightness that can often turn cheeky and start bushfires that threaten to burn down several neighbourhoods. A shame that.

‘You are aware of the consequences of ignoring a direct order, aren’t you Captain?’

‘I am, Sir. I figured that even if I am in a lose-lose situation, it might weigh out if I save the job of my superior officer.’ There was still no change in Raiden’s face.

Too bright indeed. Probably thinks too much as well. That often gets in the way of taking orders.

‘Fine. Get out. I’ll deal with you later.’

Raiden saluted again. ‘Sir,’ he said before leaving the room, silently closing the door behind him.

Seizo pinched the bridge of his nose again. He had no intention of storming Yokohama. Not yet, anyway. But when the time came to rebuild the mighty Japanese military, and it will, chances are the Americans wouldn’t want to leave.

And he wanted to be prepared for that chance.

There was another knocking at the door.

‘What is it now?’ Seizo growled with annoyance. The door shyly crept open, and an older soldier stepped in this time. He timidly gave a salute as the door closed behind him.

Seizo recognised the man as Iwasaki. His rank eluded him, but he was one of those chubby men that spent most of the time looking busy behind their desk, and Seizo had to admit, Iwasaki did a good job of it. Seizo also knew that Iwasaki did everything that he was told to. Everything.

‘Yes, Iwasaki?’ Seizo sighed. Having Iwasaki show up normally meant someone had some more bad news that they were too afraid to tell in person, which Seizo didn’t want at the moment. He already had to figure out a replacement for Raiden.

‘General, I was given this letter by a young lady this afternoon...’ Iwasaki fumbled with a letter and placed it carefully on Seizo’s desk under his suspicious glare. ‘It’s for you,’ Iwasaki added.

Iwasaki remained at attention as Seizo read the letter, and watched in well hidden horror as the General’s moustache began to bristle and his eyes widened in growing fury. He eventually finished reading the letter and slammed it down on the desk.

‘Oh no she’s not!’ he roared, reaching for the phone. ‘I’ll be damned if I’ll let my own granddaughter move to America!’

Iwasaki chose to quietly excuse himself from the room, with a nervous salute. It seemed to him that things were Going to Get Personal.

Nanoha made her way down the corridor that lead to her office. The call over the academy’s intercom had confused her and made her slightly worried. She doubted that a Grand Admiral would personally call her to her office so late at night, but if she knew enough about Carrington, it was possible that she’d be sitting behind Nanoha’s desk at this very moment. There was also the possibility that some of the unruly students were playing some sort of prank, and if they were they’d pay dearly for it. Nanoha doesn’t like her training sessions to be interrupted, and she had to finish this one an hour early to attend to the call.

But she was prepared for situations where her students might act against her. Apart from Vita, who only looked young, she was the youngest instructor in the academy, and yet she was also the headmistress. Even the oldest students here were also just a few years younger than her. She understood that some students would have difficulty comprehending the fact that such a young woman was in charge of their next few years of education, but she was prepared to demonstrate why she was chosen for this job if necessary.

She reached the end of the corridor, facing the large double oak door with intricate carvings that was the entrance to her office. She felt uncomfortable as she stared at the plaque that read “Major Nanoha Takamachi – Headmistress”. She’d tried many times to get the plaque fixed to have her family name first, but every time she was refused. It seemed the Bureau didn’t have enough money to write her name properly. She wrapped her knuckle on the thick wood twice; the knock was solid and very clear to hear.

‘Yes, come in Major,’ a voice called from within the room. Nanoha recognized the Grand Admiral’s voice, and in a single movement, opened the door and took a single step into the, clicked her heals together and gave a text book salute.

‘Major Takamachi Nanoha, reporting as requested, Grand Admiral Carrington,’ Nanoha said briskly, still saluting. She looked ahead at nothingness, even though directly in front of her, the Admiral was sitting in her rich leather chair, feet resting on her desk with an indifferent and slightly bored look.

‘Yes, very nice Major,’ Carrington said dismissively as she swung her feet off the desk and sat up in the chair. ‘At ease.’

Nanoha let her gaze fix on the Admiral now, and it seemed the Admiral preferred it that way. She swivelled the chair gently side to side, obviously finding it comfortable.

‘This is a very nice office,’ she said looking around.

And it was. There room was once a single room, but one of the walls was removed to make a casual sitting area where Nanoha could discuss whatever it was she needed to discuss in a comfortable, casual manor. The entire back wall of the office was wall of blinded windows, some blinds were open and the courtyard of the academy was clearly visible below, even in the darkness of night. Her office area was roomy as well. Her rosewood desk was large and spacious and had an old fashioned desk lamp on it that arched over several photographs of friends and family, but mostly Vivio. The wall opposite the lounge room was one massive wall unit, filled with books, files, awards, medals, some decorative weapons and more photographs.

‘There’s only one problem with it though...’ Carrington continued and she stopped swivelling the chair to look directly at Nanoha, her hands were interlocked at the fingers and resting on her stomach, ‘it’s not used.’

‘I prefer to be with the students, Ma’am,’ Nanoha responded crisply.

‘That’s reasonable, I suppose, but this is your office, and you’re headmistress now. Not an ordinary instructor. You should be attending to matters here as well as overseeing your students.’

Carrington flashed an irritated look to Nanoha. ‘What are you doing standing in the doorway for anyway? As I said, this is your office, not mine. You shouldn’t have to knock to enter it either.’ Nanoha shifted her balance awkwardly, and then moved to close the door. ‘Do you know why I’m here Takamachi?’ Carrington asked.

Nanoha closed the oak door and slowly walked to her desk in thought. ‘Would it be my tutoring hours?’ She guessed.

Carrington smiled curtly. ‘Close, but wrong. It’s your school Takamachi; you can teach how you see fit. I’m here because I wanted to see how you were fitting in your new command.’

‘At this time of the night?’ Nanoha looked slightly confused. The Admiral leant forward onto the desk.

‘Yes. After all, I couldn’t contact you. You wouldn’t answer my calls, so I couldn’t arrange a more suitable time.’

‘I’m terribly sorry Ma’am,’ Nanoha straightened up again, ‘I’ve been having… some communication difficulties recently.’

Carrington sighed heavily. ‘Takamachi, a lie would have been better than twisting the truth,’ she said leaning back again. ‘And from what I know, you’ve had more than just “some” difficulties. I met one of your old pupils in the foyer. Tiana Lanster she called herself.’

Nanoha perked up. ‘Tiana’s here?’ she asked.

‘She was. I told her to go home and get some rest. I can’t have our officers not doing their jobs properly because of fatigue from spending the night being worried about their former colleagues who refuses to the let the world contact them.’ This seemed to upset Nanoha.

‘It seems you haven’t told them about your promotion, either. The girl was surprised that you’re now running the academy she graduated from.’

‘... I’ve been busy...’ Nanoha said defensively.

‘We’ve all been busy, Takamachi. But Lanster still found time to check on her old squad captain.’ Carrington waited for a reply, but it never came. Nanoha simply stood there, looking slightly guilty.

‘That’s not the only thing, Takamachi,’ Carrington added as she opened a draw and pulled out Nanoha’s cell phone. Nanoha was about to protest, but Carrington got in first. ‘I’ve been told that your family has been trying to get in contact with you too. For some months now it seems. You’ll have to forgive me, I needed to make sure.’ She started to go into some of the phone’s functions.

‘Even though it’s primitive, it’s still a rather ingenious device, don’t you think?’ the Admiral said absentmindedly. ‘Here it’s listed all the call’s you’ve missed. Your father, sister, your father again for some time, you’re brother, Arisa, Suzuka, your mother, Amy, your mother again… There are several hundred calls here, you know?’

Carrington caught Nanoha’s defiant glare, but continued on. ‘There are also a few hundred “email” things in here, too. It seems you’ve ran out of memory space though, so there’s every chance there would have been a lot more. Most of them are just asking if you’re okay, telling you to answer the phone and so forth. This one’s interesting though. It’s from your sister, and reads, “Nanoha, where are you? Mum’s had a stroke and is in hospital. It’s really bad, hurry up and come home.”’

Carrington looked up to Nanoha from the corner of her eyes. She’d struck a chord. Nanoha had frozen still, and she looked like she just saw the ghost of her mother.

‘You’re lying...’ Nanoha managed to say.

‘I wish I was,’ Carrington said shaking her head, ‘but there’s several other messages from your family, saying the same thing. “Where are you?” “Your mother’s sick.” “Come home.” Have a look for yourself.’ Carrington threw the phone to Nanoha, who fumbled with it as she desperately checked through her messages. Tears were starting to form in her eyes as she became increasingly worried.

‘No… this can’t…’ she muttered as she made her way through the list.

‘It’s not in your inbox, probably because it filled up, but Lanster tells me that your mother’s recovered. She’s out of hospital now. Apparently it’s been three weeks now. So you can stop worrying, Takamachi. Enforcer Harlaown told her it seems.’

Nanoha almost collapsed from relief, and Carrington leaned on the rosewood desk again. ‘The last message in there was a month ago, Takamachi. The last message you read was over two months ago. I’ve been trying to contact you for the last week as well.’ She stood up, and reached in pocket to get a handkerchief for Nanoha, who was trying to compose herself again and wiping some tears away from her face. She hesitated as she remembered what happened in the lobby, then decided against it and walked to the blinded window behind the desk and peered through to the view of the courtyard below.

‘This place was facing closure three months ago because of that pathetic corruption investigation,’ Carrington continued. ‘Major Cloud was forced to resign when several officers pinned her for corruption, though I’m sure that you and I both know she wasn’t capable of such an act. No one thought we had anyone left to fill her spot. That’s when I suggested you fill it, Takamachi. A lot of people thought I was crazy for doing that. You’re young, you have a daughter to attend to, and you’re inexperienced…’ Carrington glanced back to Nanoha, who had composed herself again and was listening to the Admiral attentively, although her eyes were still noticeably puffed and red.

‘Well, we all know how much truth is in that last statement,’ Carrington said with a smile, which Nanoha weakly returned. ‘Regardless of what they said, I believed you could do it. You’re a great instructor, and every student you teach either becomes a valuable soldier, or a trustworthy leader. You’re one of the hardest workers I’ve known and you treat your job like a passion. I believed you could save this school and be its headmistress, so I promoted you and gave you command. A lot of people told me that I was making a mistake, and that I should have just closed the academy.’ Carrington paused for several moments in though. She turned to look at Nanoha again, concerned. ‘Did I make a mistake, Takamachi? Can you do the job?’ she asked.

‘What?’ Nanoha stammered, taken aback by the Admiral’s question. ‘No, of course not! I can do this!’

‘That’s what I hope, but I have doubts now. Why haven’t you let anyone contact you for the last two months?’

Nanoha shied away. ‘It’s personal,’ she stated.

‘Takamachi!’

‘I’m sorry, Ma’am, I can’t tell you! It’s really personal, but I’m on top of it now! I can do this, I promise!’

Carrington sighed and walked to Nanoha. ‘I’ve heard of personal issues getting in the way of work, Takamachi, but it’s worrisome when personal issues get in the way of personal issues.’ She placed a hand on Nanoha’s shoulder. ‘I do believe you can still do this job though. Hell, I even believe that one day you’ll make Chief of Staff. Maybe you’ll even take my job. But before you can do anything, you need to clear yourself of this issue of yours.’

Nanoha was going to reply, but hesitated and read into the last few words further. ‘What do you mean?’ Nanoha asked.

‘I’ll give you an option Takamachi. You can take two weeks leave. Sort out your issues, see your family and meet with your friends. Enjoy yourself for a change. This place can go two weeks without a headmistress.’

Nanoha contemplated it. ‘What’s the other choice?’ she asked eventually.

‘I suspend you, force you to see your family, meet your friends and don’t let you back on active duty until you’ve sorted your issue.’

Nanoha smiled wearily. ‘That’s not much of a choice, Ma’am.’

‘Really? I thought it was. The first one sees you back here in two weeks. The other could see you back in a year. And you don’t get paid either.’ Carrington added with a grin and Nanoha laughed.

‘Okay, I’ll take the leave. When does it start?’

‘Now. Go home Takamachi, your daughter is lonely. I called your house and your daughter told me to tell you, “stop being a bad girl and have dinner at home,”’ Carrington anticipated Nanoha’s smile. ‘She’s a sweet girl.’

‘Yes Ma’am.’

‘Well, I should leave you to prepare for your leave then, Major,’ Carrington said as she turned for the door. She hesitated before she reached it. ‘Oh, I forgot to mention. It seems that Testarossa Harlaown is taking care of your daughter for now. She has something to tell you about some sort of reunion.’

‘Thank you,’ Nanoha said. She wondered what it could be about as she saluted again. ‘Good night, Grand Admiral Carrington.’

‘Oh, and Takamachi!’ Carrington said before she reached the grand oak doors. She retrieved something from her pocket. ‘I think it’s best if you kept things like this hidden in better places, not lying in your desk drawer.’

The object was passed carefully to Nanoha who was now standing behind her desk next to her chair. She caught it looked at it curiously. It was a black cubical box made of tough but smooth plastic about the size of her hand. The edges were lined in a red metal strip and the Administration Bureau insignia was made of gold embroidery on the lid which took half of the box. It also made Nanoha’s heart leap.

‘There are some... exotic materials used to make that, Takamachi. You could get into a lot of trouble, seeing as you had it made without the proper authorisation,’ Carrington said. ‘Who’s it for?’

Nanoha hesitated. From what she knew, she was in a lot of trouble already. ‘My daughter...’

Nanoha was surprised to see the Admiral smile. ‘Then you’d best get back to her,’ she said before leaving the office.

To Chapter 2

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