Difference between revisions of "2015-06-14 - Tuning Up"

Latest revision as of 22:09, 12 August 2017

Part 1

~ALERT~ ~EMERGENCY~

Over the sound of blaring alarms, Time-Space Administration Bureau officers on the bridge of the Dimensional Warship Arthra call reports up to their commander.

"Captain Lindy! The Jewel Seeds have disappeared!"

"/All/ Jewel Seed signatures have vanished, both Nanoha and Fate's!"

"Jewel Seeds transferred away by unknown method! Our sensors can't track their movement!"

"Impossible..." Amy thrusts herself away from her control panel for a long moment, staring not at the sensors but at the middle distance. One moment the Jewel Seeds were present, and then they were gone. Transfers through Dimensional Space leave a signature, but this left nothing at all.

Captain Lindy Harlaown's voice brings order to the chaos instantly, snapping out not like a whip but like a beacon, a guiding lamp. She thrums with urgency, but also the exact sort of eye in the storm, a center of calm, that draws people like a lodestone.

"All right, here we go."

This is not the first emergency she's had to find such strength to manage, and the apparent effortlessness of the feat lends that same strength to her people.

"Transfer the Arthra to Earth's second-stage Dimensional Space immediately." "Yes, sir!"

"Where is Fate Testarossa?" "Pulling up the last known images of her extraction now, Captain!"

The inexorably alarming red tint of the room is mercifully muted by the change in screenery, but the new images are no less worrisome in their own way. There she is -- Fate Testarossa, flagship effort of Project Fate and agent of Precia Testarossa -- looking desperate and sad and exhausted. There comes the violet lightning, undoubtedly an attempt at intervention by Precia herself.

Without looking away, Lindy murmurs, "Amy -- start backtracing the residue of that massive spell. Locate the Garden of Time." "Y-yes, Captain!" Amy shakes her head, a little filip of hair popping up in the back, and clears herself from her reverie, which was as much thoughtfulness as panic. Her fingers fly across the keyboards.

Lindy has returned to the images, which show exactly what happened with crystal clarity: just before Precia Testarossa's lightning could strike Fate, someone else interposed himself. With that blond hair he could be a brother... But that was foolishness. Fate could be argued to have one blood sibling, perhaps, but only the one. No, the style of this interloper's dress wasn't Midchildan at all, and the analysis of his energies indicate that his origins are quite different, quite different indeed...

"Labyrinth." It's as much a curse as revelation, the way she says it, and several bridge officers startle, looking over at her worriedly. Lindy clears her throat. "Who's tracking the retreat of this... Westar?" He's not in any TSAB databanks but hers, for the Arthra has been monitoring magical activity in Tokyo for some time now in pursuit of the Jewel Seeds, and he hasn't been shy about self-introduction at other times.

"Captain! He appears to have retreated with Fate Testarossa into the forests of 'Tama.' There's something strange about the specific area he disappeared into, but I think we can pin it down long enough to..."

"I've got it."

Lindy briefly smiles over at her son, a proud mother -- he frowns -- and then reviews the grainy image. "A magical mansion... I doubt we'll be able to penetrate its defenses more than once."

"Permission to pursue the Jewel Seeds, Captain?" Now Chrono is looking at another screen, one that has frozen on a blurry still, all that could be caught in the tiny timeframe of its existence. The girl has long black hair and purple clothes. And the girl is long, long gone.

"Denied, Enforcer." She's no happier about the answer than he is, but far more dignified in her frustration. "In the meantime, you may go explain the situation to that girl in white... and anyone else who might be helpful. But beyond that, we have no jurisdiction. Earth is in peril, though, as well as all the other worlds... there's no saying how far a Dimensional Quake would spread with twenty-two Jewel Seeds being activated at once. Perhaps I can open a channel and convince my superiors to allow an intervention."

Part 2

"No."

"No? Just like that, no?" Admiral Gil Graham, the TSAB's favored liaison when it comes to negotiating with the Magic Association, tries and fails to avoid pounding his fist against his armchair. "Mano-san, you are being unreasonable. You're letting fear of the past cloud your--"

"No! A thousand times no!" There are any number of officials he could be talking to instead of Madoka Mano, the 107th Devil Hunter, but she is by far the most likely to listen to him. This wholesale rejection is a major disappointment. Even so, he can't say he's really that surprised. There's pain in her ancient eyes, in the lines of her cragged face, as she gazes at his image, formed on her outstretched palm. "Last time, I went to bat for you. I put everything -- everyone -- on the line. And what happened?"

"You're not the only one who lost people in the Book of Darkness incident, Madoka."

"And now I have a whole lot more to lose, /Gil/." Her tone makes it clear that his familiar use of her first name is no more welcome than he is. "Things have come so far since ten years ago. I will not have a bloodbath on my hands. Not again. Not because you couldn't keep your people in check and your assets under control."

Gil closes his eyes. "Mano-san, Earth is in terrible danger. All the worlds may be. The Lost Logia may not be Midchildan themselves, but we're the best equipped to--"

"Maybe they are and maybe they aren't, but you and your organization are to STAY OFF OF EARTH. Don't meddle where you aren't wanted. And I can sense your warship hovering nearby, it's been giving me a headache for hours. Thought you'd rather apologize than ask permission about /that/, too? Pull it back. I'll take your intel and send it up the chain, but Earth protects its own. Your help isn't wanted, go back to where you came from, goodbye."

There's more to this than grief and terror, and they both know it. Madoka Mano can 'send it up the chain' as much as she wants, but the Magic Association isn't going to touch a bunch of Lost Logia with a ten foot pole or a hundred of them. Once bitten, twice shy. She knows this, too. And he knows that she knows.

After she slams the connection shut, the Admiral leans back at his desk, and strokes his graying beard.

"Heh. That went well..."

Part 3

"No?!?"

"No. I'm sorry, Harlaown. I did all I could. If there's anyone else you know, anyone from the old days, you could try reaching out, but the official verdict is that the TSAB must respect Earth's autonomy. No interference."

"Understood, Admiral."

Lindy thrusts herself away from her desk and paces the room. She /does/ place a call -- several of them.

"You know I'm retired... the Shiny Rod doesn't resonate with me anymore."

"Oh, you dear sweet child. You know they don't listen to me... have you tried talking to Madoka-chan? And stop by the greenhouse for tea. I bet you're still taking it with sugar and cream, but I'll make a real connoiseur of you yet."

"This is Vice-Principal Kishi... oh? Hmm. Well, there really isn't much that I can say about that. You understand, of course, that we just operate a Midchildan exchange program, and of course our Sorcerous Studies Program under the auspices of Directors Mano and Cyprine..."

She feels the darkness closing in as the window of opportunity for an intervention slides closer and closer to shut. Crimson crescents paint her palm. Her fists are as tight as her heartstrings, which thrum an early mourning.... no. She mustn't think that way. She can't give up, not yet.

Exhaling long and slow, she unclips the Captain's pin from her collar. Just placing this call is tantamount to treason; it violates every term of the TSAB treaty with the Magic Association, could jeopardize what flimsy relations they have left.

But with so many lives in the balance... can she really do any less in the service of peace?

Part 4

"This is Conductor One."

"Really. TSAB? How interesting."

"Hm, yes, that does seem quite serious."

"Come to these coordinates. Bring any intelligence you have. This isn't a secure connection, but we can arrange logistics in person."

"Don't worry, Harlaown-san. /We/ won't just stand by and let this happen."

Part 5

"This is for volunteers only. Anyone afraid of reprisals from higher up in command can bow out without any repercussions... or shame. We'll be taking a very large risk here."

The team assembled in the Arthra's briefing room (Chrono, Amy, and a few trusted others) remain silent. A soft curve of the first smile Lindy's had in several hours touches her lips.

"Very well. This is so far off the books that I really wonder if we'll ever get back on them, but... the Tuner Organization has agreed to take on the acquisition of the Jewel Seeds as a mission. They're more than willing to work with us directly; we'll be sharing information and resources for the duration."

Really, Chrono's totally gob-smacked expression is enough to make all of this worthwhile. Lindy beams at him.

"I've got the coordinates of the Garden of Time," Amy announces, causing her Captain's -- her friend's -- smile to turn into a more predatory grin.

"Good. I'm sure we'll need that to apprehend Testarossa in time. For now, however, our priority has to be locating those Jewel Seeds, and the girl who has them now. Do we have any leads?"

"If it were easy to detect deactivated Jewel Seeds, we'd have them all already, ma'am."

"Nothing's going to be easy from here on out. Once we find the Seeds and the girl who stole them, if we're going to act on that information, that will be the last time we can use the Arthra's sensors. They already want us to pull further away from Earth."

"So, use them wisely. And our new allies have given us a name -- Homura Akemi. Let's get locks on both the Jewel Seeds and the location of Fate Testarossa before we act again. Dismissed!"

"Ma'am!"