RE: [IC][Story][Arc 1] The Big Raid
07-10-2021, 04:00 PM (This post was last modified: 07-11-2021, 04:09 PM by robkelk.)
07-10-2021, 04:00 PM (This post was last modified: 07-11-2021, 04:09 PM by robkelk.)
The Plan Makes Contact with the Enemy, Part One
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:00 am ET
As the comms chatter from everybody carrying out a final check before deploying started to come in, Ben turned to Kate and asked, "How many giants are you expecting we find?"
"If they're from the same time that Jacky and I are, just Gyre the Younger," Kate replied. "Jacky killed Gyre the Elder the only time we were there."
"If they're from the same time as you. There's no guarantees of that. Well now. Guess that means there's gonna be more than one there."
"What? How do you know for sure?"
"Simple. I'm here. And whenever I'm involved? Always assume the worst case scenario. My luck really is that terrible."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:02 am ET
"I've been in this part of the country before," Haruka commented as other members of the strike force teleported in behind her.
Michiru looked around. "This doesn't look like the kind of place you'd be interested in."
"True. But I've driven by here. One of the most difficult tracks I've ever raced on is just on the other side of the river, past that panel truck over there."
Michiru looked at the truck for a moment. Finally, she said, "They're spying on us, you know."
"Why would they be here for us? They're probably spying on the Horde," Mikoto Misaka answered. "If they already know enough about the supernatural to keep an eye on it, then let them look. We want word to get around about what we're going to do here, right?" (She was an electrokinetic, not a precog; later, she'd regret making that statement.)
As more people teleported in, the operators in the panel truck noticed and noted an alarm on their cameras. The team leader picked up his radio and reported a UV source consistent with an Arm Slave using an Electronic Concealment System.
The orders relayed back from AMALGAM headquarters were to continue monitoring, and to expect a truck within two hours.
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:11 am ET
A group of teens and young adults were making their way on cross-country skis - slowly, due to the lack of decent snow cover so early in the season - across rolling fields. They seemed to have no concern as to who might be watching them.
"I am impressed," Saber commented. "The Norsemen who came up with this mode of travel should be rewarded."
"If they were Nordic people," replied Shirou Emiya.
"It is called 'Nordic skiing'," Rin Tohsaka commented.
"And guinea pigs are rodents from the Andes," Arf pointed out. "You can't always trust a name."
Archer grinned. "I think this particular name is trustworthy. The sport can be traced back to Swedish and Norwegian infantry maneuvers."
"As fascinating as this is," Fate Testarossa said while stifling a yawn - it was still early morning for the people from San Antonio, and she had been using muscles that she didn't even realize she had - "is discussing it here really the best use of our time?"
"It's this or wonder again when they're going to notice us," pointed out Sakura Matou. Her Servant, Rider, nodded in agreement.
"Oh, they've already noticed us," Noike Kamiki-Jyurai replied.
"Didn't you see them pointing at our group?" asked Nanoha Takamachi.
Meanwhile, the "them" in question were reporting to their superiors. "There's a bunch of humans out near the front entrance!"
"What, really? How many, and how old, and are any of them from that building nobody's been able to attack in the last two months?"
"I see nine, and I think only three of them are older than teenage. And I don't think any of them are from that group."
"Go get them, then. We need more snacks for the buffet next week."
"Yum, lady fingers. And lady toes." If the troll had a mustache, he'd have been twirling it.
The guards were so intent on the small group that was nearly at their front doorstep that they completely missed seeing the larger group teleporting in beside the van parked up the road.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:32 am ET
Kazari spoke into her headset's microphone without looking up from her laptop. "Polar Bear 4, Goalkeeper. Eagle Nest Actual has turned on the beacon. Here are the coordinates."
Kuroko had chosen a communicator with a head's-up display that bore more than a passing resemblance to a DBZ scouter. Kazari transmitted a string of numbers that didn't correspond to any latitude-and-longitude system used anywhere outside of Academy City to that display, then heard over her own headset, "Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Got it."
Tessa spoke into her microphone. "All units, TDD Actual. Headquarters authorizes commencement of Stage Two."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
At that, Kuroko put her hands on Mikoto and Usagi's shoulders and teleported them in directly over the beacon in the center of the room, then waited a half minute and followed them in, bringing Sailor Jupiter along for the ride. What she saw was everyone in the advanced team hugging the walls and Rin finishing casting what she assumed was a defensive spell. "This is not quite what we expected."
"It is a holding cell," Noike replied. "They aren't usually luxurious or spacious."
While Nanoha and Fate manifested their Barrier Jackets and extended their Intelligent Devices, Mikoto looked around. She saw nothing in the way of artificial electrical flows in the area other than what the displacees had brought in with them.
"We needed 'spacious'. There's no way that I can bring everybody in. Who's next?"
"The heavy hitters," Usagi replied.
"Right." Kuroko teleported out, then Uranus and Neptune appeared a moment later. "Moon, Polar Bear 4. It's too crowded in there for me to send anybody else in safely," announced Kuroko over the communications link.
"Time for us to break out of jail, then. Polar Bear 4, Moon. Once we're out, send in Mars, Venus, Tuxedo Kamen, and Mercury, in that order."
Any member of the Horde who wasn't already awake was startled into consciousness by the explosion that ripped open one of the dungeon cells.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Washuu caught Teletha's attention, and showed her a screen. As soon as Teletha had finished reading the report, she switched on her own microphone. "All Units, TDD Actual. That explosion was detected in Ottawa. You're near a fault line, so the government is explaining it as a magnitude 3 earthquake. Exercise caution when using your more powerful attacks. TDD Actual out."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Fate turned to Nanoha - who was red with embarrassment - and said, "I guess you can't use Starlight Breaker."
"I guess not. And there's so much loose magic here already, too. It would have been perfect if we found any giants. I'll just have to stay with Divine Buster."
"I understand, my master," Raising Heart acknowledged.
"We're losing the element of surprise, people," Noike commented. "Split up, spread out, and make our opposition panic!"
They did so.
They rounded a corner and saw a human. One human. A teenage girl, by the looks of it. No weapons, no explosives, no nothing. Just a girl.
This is why they were pulled off of tunnel-digging duty and sent to contain or capture an intruder?
Somebody was going to get an ear-full from the shift boss - who decided to make things quick so that he could get things over with and get back to work. He grabbed a large rock and threw it with all of his might at her head.
It hit the wall.
"Oh, crap. How did I miss?"
The girl turned to face them. "Oh, hello. Did you want my attention?"
"No, kid, we want to kill you," one of the other dwarfs in the team said while pulling a gun on her. She just stood there - in shock, maybe; none of them knew how to read a human's subtler reactions - as he aimed and fired.
The bullet bounced off the air in front of her face, ricocheted off the wall, bounced off the roof, and hit the shift boss's boot. It didn't penetrate the leather.
The sheer improbability of the bullet's path made everybody stop and stare for a moment - including the girl.
The shift boss recovered before anyone else. "No more ranged attacks! She's got a reflection charm going!"
"Since when do humans --?"
"Maybe a hob gave it to her! Just dogpile on her!"
The closest three dwarfs rushed her, tackling her at the knees and forcing her down. "Jump on her, guys!"
Instead of putting up a fight, she just smiled. "I don't think so."
Then there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder.
The girl was unharmed. The dwarfs that had attacked her were either dazed or out cold.
The shift boss - the only dwarf within ten meters who was still able to form a coherent thought - backed away. They weren't paying him enough to put up with this kind of schist! But he needed some time to get clear of this ... monster. "What are you?"
As the girl stood up, she replied, "They call me Railgun."
"Railgun? From Ottawa?"
Her smile turned into a grin. "You've heard of me!"
"Er... Could we just go our separate ways? Live and let live, and all that?" It was worth a try - she was supposed to have morals.
"Well... I'd like to do that... but you did attack me from behind." She stepped forward quickly and just barely touched him with two fingertips. Then there was another thunder-crack.
As Mikoto watched the last dwarf fall unconscious, she wondered why she didn't use her stungun-style attack more often. Then she remembered that she usually fought espers, not normal people. Well, it was a useful attack today...
A sluagh came flying through the air, hitting the wall at the T-junction just ahead and falling flat on its face.
The troll who saw this as he was approaching the same junction might not have been the brightest guy in the caverns, but he knew enough to avoid going up in a fair fight against whoever could do that to a sluagh. He merged into the tunnel wall and let them approach.
There were two of them - kids, a blonde and a brunette, with a dog or wolf or something. He recognized those two - they were in the group that they'd captured less than an hour ago - but they'd changed clothes and were carrying staffs now.
Mages. They were sodding mages.
But he knew how to handle mages. They were all spell, no fist. And he was all fist.
He let them pass, then stepped out of the rock wall and backhanded the blonde into the other wall.
She... didn't fall down.
"Uh-oh."
The blonde just asked quietly, "Was that supposed to hurt? My own mother used to hit me harder than that."
Then he noticed that the brunette hadn't run away. She almost ignored him while she asked the blonde, "Do you want me to help, Fate?"
Fate shook her head. "I think I can handle him on my own. You go on ahead, Nanoha. You too, Arf," she added, speaking to the dog - probably her familiar. Then she said, "Bardiche, Assault Form."
"Yes, sir," her sodding staff answered her and transformed into a pole-axe!
What the bog kind of mage was she?
But he didn't have time to think about that.
Two seconds later, he discovered the hard way that the axe was sharp.
He'd been having misgivings about joining the Horde for a while now. But everybody else was doing it. And, unlike peer pressure among humans, if your friends joined the Horde and you didn't, you'd very quickly end up dead.
He didn't want to end up dead. But he didn't want to hurt anyone, either. which was why he was alone. Guarding cows. They could trust him to guard cows, but they weren't going to trust him guarding humans.
Then he heard the commotion. He knew he wouldn't get any help from his fellow trolls. One against ... how many? Did it matter? What mattered what that he didn't want to die. He ran - away from the commotion.
He rounded a corner... and stopped. There were three girls there - all dressed like the girls who'd killed a giant in Ottawa a month ago. He did the only thing he could think of to do.
He dropped to his knees and started begging for his life. "Please don't kill me! I'll do anything you ask. Anything! Just let me live! Please!"
Because he was pleading, he didn't notice the one in the middle of the group holding a hand up to the headset she was wearing. "Jack, Moon. Do trolls usually beg for mercy? ... Jack, Moon. They can? Thank you. Out." But he did notice when she let go of her headset and reached out to him, in a welcoming gesture. "Will you renounce the Horde?"
"Yes! I'd be happy to! I never really wanted to join in the first place."
"Then be ready. If that's what you truly want, then this won't hurt you." The two others who were with Moon moved to cover the entrances to the tunnel they were in, while Moon gestured with the wand she was carrying. "Moon Healing Escalation!"
A light from the wand surrounded him, and he felt... at peace. Calm. As if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He found himself saying "refresh"... and then it was over.
Then he realized who she was. "Thank you, Ms. Moon. It's an honour to meet you. But ... I don't know if I can get out of here now without somebody killing me."
"Leave that to us," replied Moon as she reached for her headset - no, a switch on her headset - once again. "Polar Bear 4, Moon. Evac required at my location. Sending coordinates now."
A moment later, Kutoko teleported in. "Is somebody hurt?"
"No, ma'am," replied the troll. "But I'm sure I'll be attacked if I try to walk out of here."
Kuroko looked over to Usagi, who simply said, "He's been refreshed."
"Right. Mr. Troll, have you ever teleported before?"
"No, Ms. Human."
"Then today's your lucky day. You get to do something new!"
Two minutes later, Kuroko had handed the troll off to Yuuno, who had teleported him to San Antonio, where he was sitting down to have a very informative discussion with Mao and Kurz about the layout of the Horde's cavern system.
Back in Calabogie, Kuroko turned to Usagi. "That's what, three that you've convinced to change sides?"
The taller of the other two Sailor Senshi giggled. "He didn't need much convincing," Makoto replied.
"I actually felt sorry for him," added Ami.
Out in the van that was serving as advance base, Rob and Jacky smiled. One more rescue.
Out in the panel truck, the AMALGAM agents took notes.
"Space Sword Blaster!"
"Deep Submerge!"
A dozen opponents dropped as one.
As they checked their foes for any signs that they might be human, Uranus muttered, "What is the point to letting them live? It isn't as if any of them are going to suddenly change sides."
"They're just grunts," replied Neptune. "Why not save our energy for the big foes?"
"I guess. But we're leaving them alive behind us. It's bad tactics." She thumbed her communicator's talk switch. "Headquarters, Uranus. Proceeding to mission objective three."
"Uranus, Polar Bear 2," Mii replied over the comms. "Acknowledged."
Sakura Matou was stumbling around in the near-dark. Her flashlight had stopped working after she hit a ... something ... over the head with it while she and Rider were exercising a tactical retreat from a group of some sort of dwarves. And then she'd become separated from her Servant and the rest of the people that she'd been working with.
At least I'm not being attacked. The thought gave her some comfort... until she saw a cloaked person up ahead. No, a person with a cape, not a cloak. And a top hat. And blood stains. She rushed over to him. "Are you all right?"
"Lost..." he gasped. "Separated... Don't know... where they are..."
"We're together now. Let's go find the others."
"All right. Lead ... the way."
Sakura looked him over quickly - and saw a lot of blood. "Are you sure you can walk?"
"Can't stay ... here."
"I guess not." She turned to start walking toward the closest tunnel entrance... and stopped as a claw ran her through the chest.
"Silly human," said the sluagh without gasping as it shed the appearance of Tuxedo Mask and grinned at the sight of her blood leaking out of her wound.
I'm so stupid! she thought. We knew they have illusionists! But she kept her thoughts to herself as she cast a spell through the claw in her chest.
The sluagh screamed... then was silent forever more.
She knew she was in trouble - she had disobeyed orders. But then she remembered Mr. Rhodes' words about her life being as important as the enemy's. And then she realized how much blood was running from her wound now that there wasn't a claw in it to act as a block. She switched on her communicator. "Anyone, Violet. I'm hurt."
The gods must have been smiling on her; her call was answered right away. "Violet, Polar Bear 4. Where are you?"
"Polar ... Bear 4, ... Violet. Don't ... know." She was hurt worse than she thought.
As she lost consciousness, she heard over her headset, "Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Find Sakura for me, now! Sawbones, Polar Bear 4. Prep for wounded."
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Teletha happened to glance at Ben... then took a longer look at his face. "What's wrong?"
He turned to her while still listening to the communications traffic. "I don't know. Yet."
Before she could ask anything more, Kazari announced, "We have wounded! Sakura Matou is down." Whatever it was that was bothering Ben, it would have to wait.
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
They heard crying coming from down a dark corridor. "We have to check it out," Sailor Jupiter insisted. Ami and Usagi didn't answer; they just followed Makoto's lead.
Once they were close enough for their lights to show the end of the passage, they saw a small, sad girl - who saw them at the same time. "Do you know where my mommy is?"
Usagi's heart went out to her. "I don't know, but maybe we can help find her. What are you doing here, alone, in the dark?"
"Bad people took me and mommy away from daddy. They took us here. I ran away."
"Let's go see whether we can find your mother," Makoto suggested as she reached out to the girl.
"Jupiter! Moon! Stop!" They both turned to look at Ami... who shouted "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
The blast hit the girl square in the chest. As she fell over, her appearance changed to something inhuman... and familiar to Usagi. "That's... Mercury, how did you know she was a sluagh?"
It was only then that the others noticed that Ami was wearing her reading glasses. "I accepted some divine assistance. Where are your glasses?"
Neither of the other Senshi could meet her gaze. Finally, Makoto answered, "At home."
Ami sighed. "Maybe I'd better take the lead from now on."
She'd taken a wrong turn somewhere and had been separated from her Master and the rest of her team. And sound echoed in the caverns, as well - she could hear Divine Busters and Shiny Aqua Illusions and electric arcs and the louder of her companions' Noble Phantasms, but she couldn't tell what directions they were coming from. That wouldn't have been so bad - they were likely to find her eventually - except that one of the enemy had found her first.
The troll had taken her by surprise, and got her in an arm lock before she could do anything. "Oh, you're a pretty one!" he gloated while leering at her from head to toe. "Think I'll have my way with you before I kill you. Season the meat." He chuckled. "If I'm going to do that, I want to see the terror on your face."
As he reached for her glasses with his free hand, she whispered, "no ... don't ..."
But it was too late. He looked her straight in the eyes.
It was the last thing he ever did.
Rider - Medusa - squirmed free of the statue that had been an enemy, then pried her glasses from its stone fingers. As she covered her eyes again, Archer ran into the room, stopping too late to avoid hitting the statue and knocking it over, shattering it into dozens of pieces. "Ew..." Then he sighed. "Oh, well - the fortunes of war. I'll call it in for you."
"Thank you," she replied quietly. "I did try to warn him."
"Fe fi fo fum!"
"'Fe fi fo fum'? I hate cliches!" She backhanded the other giant, casually sending him flying into the wall.
Said giant shook his head as if to clear a concussion, then said, "Hey, ease off, Advil."
"That's Avril!"
From where they were watching, Minako leaned over to Kuroko and whispered, "These two are worse than Tomo."
"You're sure?"
"At least Tomo is original."
"Sometimes."
"I'll bet this 'Tom O.' guy is more observant than you are, too," came a raspy voice from directly behind them.
"Aw, fudge," muttered Minako as she and Kuroko turned around and raised their hands in surrender. "We fell for a distraction."
The troll who had discovered them grabbed Kuroko roughly by the shoulder... and disappeared. Kuroko followed the forced teleport with one word: "Run!"
As they raced to get reinforcements, Minako asked, "Where did you send whoever that was?"
"Since we're being unoriginal, five hundred turbo-miles due up." They ducked into an alcove, where Kuroko thumbed her headset's talk switch. "Headquarters, Polar Bear 4. Two giants located, 12.7 meters south-southwest of current location."
"Polar Bear 4, Goalkeeper. Acknowledged," replied Kazari's voice in Kuroko's ear. "Can you hold out for 25 seconds?"
"Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Affirmative."
The headset went quiet for 24 seconds, then Ryoko teleported into the giants' room. Kazari added over Kuroko's headset "Polar Bear 4, Goalkeeper. Devil Caller will take care of the giants. Continue to your next mission objective if you can."
Minako tapped Kuroko on the shoulder, then pointed at what looked like a passage on the far side of the chamber. Kuroko nodded. "Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Affirmative. Also, one hostile teleported 85 meters up from my current position."
Instead of Kazari, it was Tessa who replied. "Polar Bear 4, TDD Actual. We noticed. Stars 2 has already recovered the troll and we are interrogating him. New orders: Avoid obvious actions that might show up on weather radar."
Kuroko grimaced. "TDD Actual, Polar Bear 4 acknowledges. No calling attention to ourselves."
"Polar Bear 4, TDD Actual. Proceed. Out."
Ryoko's energy blasts were so bright in the gloom of the cavern that Minako and Kuroko had to shield their eyes when they teleported past the fight.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Ben stared at the big board - a projector aimed at a large whiteboard, so people could make notes on it directly - for a moment, only half paying attention to the comms chatter being played on the room's stereo system. "... Huh. Looks like I called it," he muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"What do you mean, Benjamin?" said Tessa, a worried tone creeping into her voice.
"Look at their distribution of forces," he replied. "They're not trying to keep them out. They're being funneled in. There's only one reason why they'd do that."
Teletha blinked at Ben in surprise, then looked back at the tactical board and murmured to herself for just a second before she gasped in horror. "HURRY!" she cried out.
"Way ahead of you." He thumbed his headset. "Stars 2, Polecat! Emergency teleport! Me to chamber 23-A!"
"What's going on?" Kazari asked.
"Benjamin... Dear sweet god, I can't believe I missed it! He saw the distribution of the enemy's forces were entirely off. They have more than one throne room in there!"
"Oh, dear."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
"Dammit! I thought there was only supposed to be one throne room here!" Shirou Emiya readied his sword, for all the good it would do against two giants, while Rin Tohsaka started casting an offensive spell.
Suddenly there was an emerald green glow in the room, disappearing after a few seconds to reveal Ben Rhodes already powering up his bio-laser. "Sometimes I get tired of being right. Well, I sure hope somebody picks up that phone. Because I fucking called it!"
Rin finished her spell, setting one of the giants on fire, then thumbed her communicator. "Headquarters, Red Devil. Polecat has arrived." She didn't wait for a reply; she just grabbed Shiro and headed for the closest exit.
As he watched them run out of the corner of one eye, Ben could hear Shiro add, "And he's all out of bubblegum..."
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:00 am ET
As the comms chatter from everybody carrying out a final check before deploying started to come in, Ben turned to Kate and asked, "How many giants are you expecting we find?"
"If they're from the same time that Jacky and I are, just Gyre the Younger," Kate replied. "Jacky killed Gyre the Elder the only time we were there."
"If they're from the same time as you. There's no guarantees of that. Well now. Guess that means there's gonna be more than one there."
"What? How do you know for sure?"
"Simple. I'm here. And whenever I'm involved? Always assume the worst case scenario. My luck really is that terrible."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:02 am ET
"I've been in this part of the country before," Haruka commented as other members of the strike force teleported in behind her.
Michiru looked around. "This doesn't look like the kind of place you'd be interested in."
"True. But I've driven by here. One of the most difficult tracks I've ever raced on is just on the other side of the river, past that panel truck over there."
Michiru looked at the truck for a moment. Finally, she said, "They're spying on us, you know."
"Why would they be here for us? They're probably spying on the Horde," Mikoto Misaka answered. "If they already know enough about the supernatural to keep an eye on it, then let them look. We want word to get around about what we're going to do here, right?" (She was an electrokinetic, not a precog; later, she'd regret making that statement.)
As more people teleported in, the operators in the panel truck noticed and noted an alarm on their cameras. The team leader picked up his radio and reported a UV source consistent with an Arm Slave using an Electronic Concealment System.
The orders relayed back from AMALGAM headquarters were to continue monitoring, and to expect a truck within two hours.
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:11 am ET
A group of teens and young adults were making their way on cross-country skis - slowly, due to the lack of decent snow cover so early in the season - across rolling fields. They seemed to have no concern as to who might be watching them.
"I am impressed," Saber commented. "The Norsemen who came up with this mode of travel should be rewarded."
"If they were Nordic people," replied Shirou Emiya.
"It is called 'Nordic skiing'," Rin Tohsaka commented.
"And guinea pigs are rodents from the Andes," Arf pointed out. "You can't always trust a name."
Archer grinned. "I think this particular name is trustworthy. The sport can be traced back to Swedish and Norwegian infantry maneuvers."
"As fascinating as this is," Fate Testarossa said while stifling a yawn - it was still early morning for the people from San Antonio, and she had been using muscles that she didn't even realize she had - "is discussing it here really the best use of our time?"
"It's this or wonder again when they're going to notice us," pointed out Sakura Matou. Her Servant, Rider, nodded in agreement.
"Oh, they've already noticed us," Noike Kamiki-Jyurai replied.
"Didn't you see them pointing at our group?" asked Nanoha Takamachi.
Meanwhile, the "them" in question were reporting to their superiors. "There's a bunch of humans out near the front entrance!"
"What, really? How many, and how old, and are any of them from that building nobody's been able to attack in the last two months?"
"I see nine, and I think only three of them are older than teenage. And I don't think any of them are from that group."
"Go get them, then. We need more snacks for the buffet next week."
"Yum, lady fingers. And lady toes." If the troll had a mustache, he'd have been twirling it.
The guards were so intent on the small group that was nearly at their front doorstep that they completely missed seeing the larger group teleporting in beside the van parked up the road.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
December 17, 2016
8:32 am ET
Kazari spoke into her headset's microphone without looking up from her laptop. "Polar Bear 4, Goalkeeper. Eagle Nest Actual has turned on the beacon. Here are the coordinates."
Kuroko had chosen a communicator with a head's-up display that bore more than a passing resemblance to a DBZ scouter. Kazari transmitted a string of numbers that didn't correspond to any latitude-and-longitude system used anywhere outside of Academy City to that display, then heard over her own headset, "Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Got it."
Tessa spoke into her microphone. "All units, TDD Actual. Headquarters authorizes commencement of Stage Two."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
At that, Kuroko put her hands on Mikoto and Usagi's shoulders and teleported them in directly over the beacon in the center of the room, then waited a half minute and followed them in, bringing Sailor Jupiter along for the ride. What she saw was everyone in the advanced team hugging the walls and Rin finishing casting what she assumed was a defensive spell. "This is not quite what we expected."
"It is a holding cell," Noike replied. "They aren't usually luxurious or spacious."
While Nanoha and Fate manifested their Barrier Jackets and extended their Intelligent Devices, Mikoto looked around. She saw nothing in the way of artificial electrical flows in the area other than what the displacees had brought in with them.
"We needed 'spacious'. There's no way that I can bring everybody in. Who's next?"
"The heavy hitters," Usagi replied.
"Right." Kuroko teleported out, then Uranus and Neptune appeared a moment later. "Moon, Polar Bear 4. It's too crowded in there for me to send anybody else in safely," announced Kuroko over the communications link.
"Time for us to break out of jail, then. Polar Bear 4, Moon. Once we're out, send in Mars, Venus, Tuxedo Kamen, and Mercury, in that order."
Any member of the Horde who wasn't already awake was startled into consciousness by the explosion that ripped open one of the dungeon cells.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Washuu caught Teletha's attention, and showed her a screen. As soon as Teletha had finished reading the report, she switched on her own microphone. "All Units, TDD Actual. That explosion was detected in Ottawa. You're near a fault line, so the government is explaining it as a magnitude 3 earthquake. Exercise caution when using your more powerful attacks. TDD Actual out."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Fate turned to Nanoha - who was red with embarrassment - and said, "I guess you can't use Starlight Breaker."
"I guess not. And there's so much loose magic here already, too. It would have been perfect if we found any giants. I'll just have to stay with Divine Buster."
"I understand, my master," Raising Heart acknowledged.
"We're losing the element of surprise, people," Noike commented. "Split up, spread out, and make our opposition panic!"
They did so.
They rounded a corner and saw a human. One human. A teenage girl, by the looks of it. No weapons, no explosives, no nothing. Just a girl.
This is why they were pulled off of tunnel-digging duty and sent to contain or capture an intruder?
Somebody was going to get an ear-full from the shift boss - who decided to make things quick so that he could get things over with and get back to work. He grabbed a large rock and threw it with all of his might at her head.
It hit the wall.
"Oh, crap. How did I miss?"
The girl turned to face them. "Oh, hello. Did you want my attention?"
"No, kid, we want to kill you," one of the other dwarfs in the team said while pulling a gun on her. She just stood there - in shock, maybe; none of them knew how to read a human's subtler reactions - as he aimed and fired.
The bullet bounced off the air in front of her face, ricocheted off the wall, bounced off the roof, and hit the shift boss's boot. It didn't penetrate the leather.
The sheer improbability of the bullet's path made everybody stop and stare for a moment - including the girl.
The shift boss recovered before anyone else. "No more ranged attacks! She's got a reflection charm going!"
"Since when do humans --?"
"Maybe a hob gave it to her! Just dogpile on her!"
The closest three dwarfs rushed her, tackling her at the knees and forcing her down. "Jump on her, guys!"
Instead of putting up a fight, she just smiled. "I don't think so."
Then there was a flash of lightning and a crack of thunder.
The girl was unharmed. The dwarfs that had attacked her were either dazed or out cold.
The shift boss - the only dwarf within ten meters who was still able to form a coherent thought - backed away. They weren't paying him enough to put up with this kind of schist! But he needed some time to get clear of this ... monster. "What are you?"
As the girl stood up, she replied, "They call me Railgun."
"Railgun? From Ottawa?"
Her smile turned into a grin. "You've heard of me!"
"Er... Could we just go our separate ways? Live and let live, and all that?" It was worth a try - she was supposed to have morals.
"Well... I'd like to do that... but you did attack me from behind." She stepped forward quickly and just barely touched him with two fingertips. Then there was another thunder-crack.
As Mikoto watched the last dwarf fall unconscious, she wondered why she didn't use her stungun-style attack more often. Then she remembered that she usually fought espers, not normal people. Well, it was a useful attack today...
A sluagh came flying through the air, hitting the wall at the T-junction just ahead and falling flat on its face.
The troll who saw this as he was approaching the same junction might not have been the brightest guy in the caverns, but he knew enough to avoid going up in a fair fight against whoever could do that to a sluagh. He merged into the tunnel wall and let them approach.
There were two of them - kids, a blonde and a brunette, with a dog or wolf or something. He recognized those two - they were in the group that they'd captured less than an hour ago - but they'd changed clothes and were carrying staffs now.
Mages. They were sodding mages.
But he knew how to handle mages. They were all spell, no fist. And he was all fist.
He let them pass, then stepped out of the rock wall and backhanded the blonde into the other wall.
She... didn't fall down.
"Uh-oh."
The blonde just asked quietly, "Was that supposed to hurt? My own mother used to hit me harder than that."
Then he noticed that the brunette hadn't run away. She almost ignored him while she asked the blonde, "Do you want me to help, Fate?"
Fate shook her head. "I think I can handle him on my own. You go on ahead, Nanoha. You too, Arf," she added, speaking to the dog - probably her familiar. Then she said, "Bardiche, Assault Form."
"Yes, sir," her sodding staff answered her and transformed into a pole-axe!
What the bog kind of mage was she?
But he didn't have time to think about that.
Two seconds later, he discovered the hard way that the axe was sharp.
He'd been having misgivings about joining the Horde for a while now. But everybody else was doing it. And, unlike peer pressure among humans, if your friends joined the Horde and you didn't, you'd very quickly end up dead.
He didn't want to end up dead. But he didn't want to hurt anyone, either. which was why he was alone. Guarding cows. They could trust him to guard cows, but they weren't going to trust him guarding humans.
Then he heard the commotion. He knew he wouldn't get any help from his fellow trolls. One against ... how many? Did it matter? What mattered what that he didn't want to die. He ran - away from the commotion.
He rounded a corner... and stopped. There were three girls there - all dressed like the girls who'd killed a giant in Ottawa a month ago. He did the only thing he could think of to do.
He dropped to his knees and started begging for his life. "Please don't kill me! I'll do anything you ask. Anything! Just let me live! Please!"
Because he was pleading, he didn't notice the one in the middle of the group holding a hand up to the headset she was wearing. "Jack, Moon. Do trolls usually beg for mercy? ... Jack, Moon. They can? Thank you. Out." But he did notice when she let go of her headset and reached out to him, in a welcoming gesture. "Will you renounce the Horde?"
"Yes! I'd be happy to! I never really wanted to join in the first place."
"Then be ready. If that's what you truly want, then this won't hurt you." The two others who were with Moon moved to cover the entrances to the tunnel they were in, while Moon gestured with the wand she was carrying. "Moon Healing Escalation!"
A light from the wand surrounded him, and he felt... at peace. Calm. As if a weight had been lifted from his shoulders. He found himself saying "refresh"... and then it was over.
Then he realized who she was. "Thank you, Ms. Moon. It's an honour to meet you. But ... I don't know if I can get out of here now without somebody killing me."
"Leave that to us," replied Moon as she reached for her headset - no, a switch on her headset - once again. "Polar Bear 4, Moon. Evac required at my location. Sending coordinates now."
A moment later, Kutoko teleported in. "Is somebody hurt?"
"No, ma'am," replied the troll. "But I'm sure I'll be attacked if I try to walk out of here."
Kuroko looked over to Usagi, who simply said, "He's been refreshed."
"Right. Mr. Troll, have you ever teleported before?"
"No, Ms. Human."
"Then today's your lucky day. You get to do something new!"
Two minutes later, Kuroko had handed the troll off to Yuuno, who had teleported him to San Antonio, where he was sitting down to have a very informative discussion with Mao and Kurz about the layout of the Horde's cavern system.
Back in Calabogie, Kuroko turned to Usagi. "That's what, three that you've convinced to change sides?"
The taller of the other two Sailor Senshi giggled. "He didn't need much convincing," Makoto replied.
"I actually felt sorry for him," added Ami.
Out in the van that was serving as advance base, Rob and Jacky smiled. One more rescue.
Out in the panel truck, the AMALGAM agents took notes.
"Space Sword Blaster!"
"Deep Submerge!"
A dozen opponents dropped as one.
As they checked their foes for any signs that they might be human, Uranus muttered, "What is the point to letting them live? It isn't as if any of them are going to suddenly change sides."
"They're just grunts," replied Neptune. "Why not save our energy for the big foes?"
"I guess. But we're leaving them alive behind us. It's bad tactics." She thumbed her communicator's talk switch. "Headquarters, Uranus. Proceeding to mission objective three."
"Uranus, Polar Bear 2," Mii replied over the comms. "Acknowledged."
Sakura Matou was stumbling around in the near-dark. Her flashlight had stopped working after she hit a ... something ... over the head with it while she and Rider were exercising a tactical retreat from a group of some sort of dwarves. And then she'd become separated from her Servant and the rest of the people that she'd been working with.
At least I'm not being attacked. The thought gave her some comfort... until she saw a cloaked person up ahead. No, a person with a cape, not a cloak. And a top hat. And blood stains. She rushed over to him. "Are you all right?"
"Lost..." he gasped. "Separated... Don't know... where they are..."
"We're together now. Let's go find the others."
"All right. Lead ... the way."
Sakura looked him over quickly - and saw a lot of blood. "Are you sure you can walk?"
"Can't stay ... here."
"I guess not." She turned to start walking toward the closest tunnel entrance... and stopped as a claw ran her through the chest.
"Silly human," said the sluagh without gasping as it shed the appearance of Tuxedo Mask and grinned at the sight of her blood leaking out of her wound.
I'm so stupid! she thought. We knew they have illusionists! But she kept her thoughts to herself as she cast a spell through the claw in her chest.
The sluagh screamed... then was silent forever more.
She knew she was in trouble - she had disobeyed orders. But then she remembered Mr. Rhodes' words about her life being as important as the enemy's. And then she realized how much blood was running from her wound now that there wasn't a claw in it to act as a block. She switched on her communicator. "Anyone, Violet. I'm hurt."
The gods must have been smiling on her; her call was answered right away. "Violet, Polar Bear 4. Where are you?"
"Polar ... Bear 4, ... Violet. Don't ... know." She was hurt worse than she thought.
As she lost consciousness, she heard over her headset, "Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Find Sakura for me, now! Sawbones, Polar Bear 4. Prep for wounded."
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Teletha happened to glance at Ben... then took a longer look at his face. "What's wrong?"
He turned to her while still listening to the communications traffic. "I don't know. Yet."
Before she could ask anything more, Kazari announced, "We have wounded! Sakura Matou is down." Whatever it was that was bothering Ben, it would have to wait.
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
They heard crying coming from down a dark corridor. "We have to check it out," Sailor Jupiter insisted. Ami and Usagi didn't answer; they just followed Makoto's lead.
Once they were close enough for their lights to show the end of the passage, they saw a small, sad girl - who saw them at the same time. "Do you know where my mommy is?"
Usagi's heart went out to her. "I don't know, but maybe we can help find her. What are you doing here, alone, in the dark?"
"Bad people took me and mommy away from daddy. They took us here. I ran away."
"Let's go see whether we can find your mother," Makoto suggested as she reached out to the girl.
"Jupiter! Moon! Stop!" They both turned to look at Ami... who shouted "Mercury Aqua Rhapsody!"
The blast hit the girl square in the chest. As she fell over, her appearance changed to something inhuman... and familiar to Usagi. "That's... Mercury, how did you know she was a sluagh?"
It was only then that the others noticed that Ami was wearing her reading glasses. "I accepted some divine assistance. Where are your glasses?"
Neither of the other Senshi could meet her gaze. Finally, Makoto answered, "At home."
Ami sighed. "Maybe I'd better take the lead from now on."
She'd taken a wrong turn somewhere and had been separated from her Master and the rest of her team. And sound echoed in the caverns, as well - she could hear Divine Busters and Shiny Aqua Illusions and electric arcs and the louder of her companions' Noble Phantasms, but she couldn't tell what directions they were coming from. That wouldn't have been so bad - they were likely to find her eventually - except that one of the enemy had found her first.
The troll had taken her by surprise, and got her in an arm lock before she could do anything. "Oh, you're a pretty one!" he gloated while leering at her from head to toe. "Think I'll have my way with you before I kill you. Season the meat." He chuckled. "If I'm going to do that, I want to see the terror on your face."
As he reached for her glasses with his free hand, she whispered, "no ... don't ..."
But it was too late. He looked her straight in the eyes.
It was the last thing he ever did.
Rider - Medusa - squirmed free of the statue that had been an enemy, then pried her glasses from its stone fingers. As she covered her eyes again, Archer ran into the room, stopping too late to avoid hitting the statue and knocking it over, shattering it into dozens of pieces. "Ew..." Then he sighed. "Oh, well - the fortunes of war. I'll call it in for you."
"Thank you," she replied quietly. "I did try to warn him."
"Fe fi fo fum!"
"'Fe fi fo fum'? I hate cliches!" She backhanded the other giant, casually sending him flying into the wall.
Said giant shook his head as if to clear a concussion, then said, "Hey, ease off, Advil."
"That's Avril!"
From where they were watching, Minako leaned over to Kuroko and whispered, "These two are worse than Tomo."
"You're sure?"
"At least Tomo is original."
"Sometimes."
"I'll bet this 'Tom O.' guy is more observant than you are, too," came a raspy voice from directly behind them.
"Aw, fudge," muttered Minako as she and Kuroko turned around and raised their hands in surrender. "We fell for a distraction."
The troll who had discovered them grabbed Kuroko roughly by the shoulder... and disappeared. Kuroko followed the forced teleport with one word: "Run!"
As they raced to get reinforcements, Minako asked, "Where did you send whoever that was?"
"Since we're being unoriginal, five hundred turbo-miles due up." They ducked into an alcove, where Kuroko thumbed her headset's talk switch. "Headquarters, Polar Bear 4. Two giants located, 12.7 meters south-southwest of current location."
"Polar Bear 4, Goalkeeper. Acknowledged," replied Kazari's voice in Kuroko's ear. "Can you hold out for 25 seconds?"
"Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Affirmative."
The headset went quiet for 24 seconds, then Ryoko teleported into the giants' room. Kazari added over Kuroko's headset "Polar Bear 4, Goalkeeper. Devil Caller will take care of the giants. Continue to your next mission objective if you can."
Minako tapped Kuroko on the shoulder, then pointed at what looked like a passage on the far side of the chamber. Kuroko nodded. "Goalkeeper, Polar Bear 4. Affirmative. Also, one hostile teleported 85 meters up from my current position."
Instead of Kazari, it was Tessa who replied. "Polar Bear 4, TDD Actual. We noticed. Stars 2 has already recovered the troll and we are interrogating him. New orders: Avoid obvious actions that might show up on weather radar."
Kuroko grimaced. "TDD Actual, Polar Bear 4 acknowledges. No calling attention to ourselves."
"Polar Bear 4, TDD Actual. Proceed. Out."
Ryoko's energy blasts were so bright in the gloom of the cavern that Minako and Kuroko had to shield their eyes when they teleported past the fight.
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Same time
Ben stared at the big board - a projector aimed at a large whiteboard, so people could make notes on it directly - for a moment, only half paying attention to the comms chatter being played on the room's stereo system. "... Huh. Looks like I called it," he muttered just loud enough for everyone to hear.
"What do you mean, Benjamin?" said Tessa, a worried tone creeping into her voice.
"Look at their distribution of forces," he replied. "They're not trying to keep them out. They're being funneled in. There's only one reason why they'd do that."
Teletha blinked at Ben in surprise, then looked back at the tactical board and murmured to herself for just a second before she gasped in horror. "HURRY!" she cried out.
"Way ahead of you." He thumbed his headset. "Stars 2, Polecat! Emergency teleport! Me to chamber 23-A!"
"What's going on?" Kazari asked.
"Benjamin... Dear sweet god, I can't believe I missed it! He saw the distribution of the enemy's forces were entirely off. They have more than one throne room in there!"
"Oh, dear."
Calabogie, Ontario, Canada
Same time
"Dammit! I thought there was only supposed to be one throne room here!" Shirou Emiya readied his sword, for all the good it would do against two giants, while Rin Tohsaka started casting an offensive spell.
Suddenly there was an emerald green glow in the room, disappearing after a few seconds to reveal Ben Rhodes already powering up his bio-laser. "Sometimes I get tired of being right. Well, I sure hope somebody picks up that phone. Because I fucking called it!"
Rin finished her spell, setting one of the giants on fire, then thumbed her communicator. "Headquarters, Red Devil. Polecat has arrived." She didn't wait for a reply; she just grabbed Shiro and headed for the closest exit.
As he watched them run out of the corner of one eye, Ben could hear Shiro add, "And he's all out of bubblegum..."
--
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown
Rob Kelk
Sticks and stones can break your bones,
But words can break your heart.
- unknown