CHAPTER 7: Collapse

-VERTEX FOUR: 8.36679-

Carnaaji

Gale-force winds lashed the rocky canyon as the enormous sphere slid free of its portal, already occupying more than half the sky. Standing out against it was the Will's violet-black spell triangle as she maintained the Dimensional Transfer... the Will herself was a barely visible black dot.

Nanoha and Fate looked upon it in silent horror, their hands clasped in a death grip It's too big... The words screamed through Nanoha's mind, over and over again. It's too big. Not even she should be able to transfer something that size! Oh God, the planet... if that thing stays in the atmosphere for too long, the planet will-!

And Viluy simply watched, with the closest thing to joy her icy face could express. "Lord Moebius," she said to it, somehow managing to be heard over the wind's howling, "is this not to your liking?"

The rounded surface of the sphere rippled. With a low, scraping sound of shifting metal and silicon, hills and canyons appeared upon it, distorting its shape into something new, something familiar. Two vast, circular depressions set above a smaller, more angular one, and below that a series of gleaming steel mountains arranged in a grid...

Nanoha and Fate stared upward, paralyzed.

It was a face. No, not a face, a grinning skull, kilos wide and staring down at them from the heavens. Cold, electronic blue lights like distant stars flared within its empty eye sockets as its monotone rumbled through the canyon, spreading fissures through the ancient rock. "CLASS-M MID-SIZE TERRESTRIAL PLANETOID," boomed the skull, its voice metallic, chilling and fathomless as the bottom of an ocean. "LOCAL DESIGNATION: CARNAAJI. ELEMENTAL COMPOSITION: SILICON. CARBON. IRON. MAGNESIUM. OXYGEN. NITROGEN. SULFUR. NICKEL. TRACE AMOUNTS OF CALCIUM, ALUMINUM, AND TITANIUM. CORE COMPOSED OF MOLTEN NICKEL-IRON, SURROUNDED BY SILICATE INNER MANTLE. CONCLUSION: ACCEPTABLE. COMMENCING CONVERSION."

They descended from the gap between the skull's upper and lower teeth, a writhing tangle of cables of all sizes wound together. Unraveling themselves, they spread out in a hundred different directions, plunging down and piercing through the rock and soil of Carnaaji like needles piercing flesh. Tremors shook the canyon, fracturing more of the walls, dislodging boulders the size of cars...

Nanoha, we have to stop this! cried Fate in her mind. There was no question of speaking aloud now; the awful noise of relentless metal grinding rock to powder drowned out everything else. Try to cut through some of those cables, I'll take out that woman!

Of course she would. Like it or not, Nanoha was in no shape to engage in real combat with another mage yet. Her inner tactician recognized that the plan was sound, but still... Fate-chan, please be careful! We don't know what else she's capable of!

I will. Go! I'll keep her off of you as best I can!

*****

The two Aces split off. Viluy's eyes briefly followed Takamachi's vector for a moment before she lost interest, giving Harlaown her full attention. Takamachi in her prime would have been a subject for extensive study, but now? Now she was a flawed, sad specimen of her former self, not worth her time. Besides, however many cables she managed to sever, it wouldn't be enough to stop Lord Moebius.

Harlaown, on the other hand... now she was a worthy subject. The TSAB's networks were filled with fascinating data about Fate Testarossa Harlaown and the forbidden, secretive project that gave her her name. Viluy smirked as she recalled the blissful rush from absorbing every bit of knowledge she could find about Harlaown, about her mother, and about Jail Scaglietti, the originator of Project Fate. A desperate attempt by a desperate woman to resurrect the dead through the creation of an Artificial Mage, indistinguishable from the deceased... The results were flawed, of course, but evidence of at least partial success was currently rushing up at her, wielding an axe-like Intelligent Device.

"Fate Testarossa Harlaown," she said curtly once the mage was level with her. "I've been looking forward to this for quite some time."

"Stop," said Fate, her grip tightening on Bardiche. "Stop what you're doing. Your activities are in clear violation of TSAB authority concerning treatment of enlisted personnel and-"

Viluy tapped her gauntlet and raised a snow-white eyebrow. "Enforcer protocol? That's hardly an appropriate profession for someone of your talents... and background..."

Those eyes... they were like chips of ice, and they made Fate shiver, as if rats were crawling over her skin. "Who are you? How do you know me?"

"Data," whispered Viluy. "Data is everywhere. Data is everything. You only need to know how to gather it." The gauntlet on her forearm liquified, flowing over her hand in a river of silver before hardening again as a long chrome blade. "I will gather the most extraordinary data from you, Harlaown-san..."

*****

Two hundred meters above them, Nanoha came to a halt and scanned the area. No shortage of targets... there were now cables everywhere, a forest of them, more than she could count. More than I can destroy, she thought bitterly, but I have to try, for the sake of this world! "Raising Heart, prepare a multi-range bombardment! Hit as many cables as you can!"

"[Yes, my Master,]" chimed her Device, glowing from her core. Spheres of Nanoha's signature pink magic blossomed one by one around her, numbering in the hundreds... smaller than they should be, like pink fireflies, but they had to be enough. They had to be.

"Axel Shooter!" At her command, the spheres lengthened into lines of light, cascading in all directions. Small though they were, her aim was flawless: each line found its mark on a cable and bored through, snapping the thinner ones altogether.

And then the backlash... Nanoha wobbled in mid-air, clutching a hand to her chest. A little fatigue after casting so many bolts at once was normal, but this was like running a half-dozen marathons in a row. Her consciousness slipped in and out, and tiny lights danced in the darkness on the fringes of her vision. Not yet, I can't be tired now! Come on, Nanoha, pull yourself together!

"[Are you all right, Master?]" chimed Raising Heart.

"I'll be fine," she wheezed. "Prepare another volley, just like the last one. We know we can destroy the small cables now, so focus fire on the larger ones."

"[Master, your heart rate is elevated-]"

Her fingers dug into her Barrier Jacket, and grasped the spot where poor Vita had hurt her... it was still tender, not completely healed. The pain was enough to give her a new burst of energy. "Please, Raising Heart, don't worry about me! Right now, Carnaaji is what's important!"

Below, the planet shook with increasing violence, fissures racing through the canyon floor like the cracks in ice struck by a hammer. The skull from above loomed ever closer. If someone didn't do something fast, soon only the skull would be left.

*****

Again and again, Bardiche clanged against the gleaming chrome blade, throwing off glowing sparks. The face of the woman wielding it remained unchanged, still wearing that infuriating, icy smile. That smile only made Fate burn hotter, and she directed that heat to fuel her magic. Mad science like hers had to be stopped, before it hurt anyone else, before it tore this planet to pieces...

The blades locked, and Viluy drew close. "Your friends, the Knights? They were quite useful, Harlaown-san. Even with fragmented memories, they had so much information."

"What... did you do..." Fate snarled, straining to break the stalemate, "... to them? To Hayate?"

The smile curled upward at the corners. "With the Time Reaper's assistance, it was simple to restore the Book to its former state. My colleagues succeeded in bringing Yagami-san over to our side... and after that, it was only a matter of reprogramming the Wolkenritter's basic protocols, and instructing them to obey a new user: me."

A primal sound of fury escaped Fate as she hauled her Device free. Dolls. This woman had made her precious friends into nothing but dolls. Bardiche's blade shifted into cannon form, and steam gouted from his vents as she let loose... not even with a proper spell, just a shapeless burst of raw energy. She was grimly satisfied to see Viluy finally show some sign of alarm, throwing up her hands... The golden streak of power washed over her, and pieces of her strange armor ripped to shreds as it tossed her at least two kilos away. Nice work, Bardiche.

"[Yes, sir.]" He sounded almost satisfied as he ejected casings from his cylinder.

*****

Far below, Viluy climbed slowly, stiffly out of the shallow crater she left in the rock with her impact. The merest tic of annoyance flickered over her face, but in an instant it was gone, replaced once more by her cold smile. This was a minor setback at best, and the pain would soon be worth it. Here she came now, descending from the darkening clouds with her axe blade raised, trailing electricity in her wake... a magnificent specimen indeed. A specimen that would be all hers...

*****

Too many. There's just too many...

Shoulders sagging, Nanoha fought to catch her breath. A dull, persistent burning sensation raced through her bones and muscles, and there was a lead weight on her chest, pressing down on her lungs, denying her enough air...

Too many...

The forest of writhing cables spread no matter how many she shot through. Like a mythical hydra, for every one destroyed, two more took its place. Continuing this way was pointless, a waste of mana... the only way to stop them was to cut off the source. Sorry, Fate-chan. I know it's reckless, but I have to try!

Her wings spread wide as she ascended, wincing at the cold and lashing winds that bit at her even through her shields. Higher and higher, through the ceiling of blackened clouds... Moebius's metallic skull took up her whole field of vision now, but it didn't matter. Her target was not Moebius, but the mage in the process of transferring it.

The familiar frigidness of the Will's seething aura washed over her long before she reached level height with her. So much colder and more intense than before... how in the worlds she could contain that much power without perishing from the strain, Nanoha didn't know. Tightening her grip on Raising Heart, she broke through the lowest layer of clouds and made a beeline for the winged figure in the center of the massive spell triangle...

Half a kilo from her target, Nanoha slammed into an invisible shield as hard and unyielding as a steel wall. Rivers of fire scoured her body with the impact, racing through her limbs and back before settling in a dense, burning knot around her injured rib. Fighting to stay conscious, she put a hand on the shield, which crackled and spat violet flame at her touch. Hayate-chan! she thought at the distant winged figure. Hayate-chan, if you're in there, please answer me!

The Will turned to meet her eyes. She couldn't see it from this far away, but she could feel the Book's embodiment staring at her, those vermillion eyes making her skin prickle and the fine hairs on the back of her neck rise...

My Master will not speak with you, came the reply, cool and calm and devoid of feeling.

You both have to stop! Nanoha pressed her other hand against the shield wall. Her glove hissed in protest, giving off faint wisps of smoke. I know that neither of you wants this! If you bring that thing here-

My desires are of no consequence, said the Will. My purpose is to serve my Master.

Tears welled in the corners of Nanoha's eyes. This wasn't the old Will at all... when she manifested on Earth before, even under NachtWal's influence, she was remorseful for the destruction she caused during each of her awakenings. There was no hint of emotion in her now, no sense of her own mind, her own soul fighting against the Book's corrupted programming. What happened to you?! What has that woman done? This is all wrong...!

-static-

It's all gone wrong.

Sudden, inexplicable terror seized hold of Nanoha's heart, terror she could not explain, flooding her veins with ice. She drifted backward, away from the shield wall, heaving short, sharp breaths one after another. There was someone else inside her, feeling her feelings, looking out from behind her eyes, and their voice repeated the same words over and over in her thoughts: It's all gone wrong. It's all gone wrong. Heaven help us, it's all gone wrong...

Wrong or not, this is what my Master has commanded, said the Will, snapping Nanoha back to reality. I cannot disobey.

"Reinforce-san..." Still light-headed from the rush of foreign feelings, Nanoha pressed herself closer to the wall, forcing herself to focus. It was Hayate that gave the order to bring Moebius here, not the Book or NachtWal. That was what she was saying, wasn't it? But why in the worlds would Hayate-

A crash of thunder and an angry, pained shout floated up from below. Fate... Fate was still fighting that woman. If she was the cause of all this, if she was somehow controlling Hayate, and the Book through her... I'm sorry, Reinforce-san. Just hold on. With that regretful thought and a last look back at the winged figure, Nanoha began her descent back through the clouds.

*****

Shaking off the most recent hit, Fate righted herself and cast another Plasma Lancer volley at her enemy. The woman was fast, fast and maneuverable... but not invincible. Her armor still hadn't regenerated from the damage she took before. Sooner or later, Fate would learn her patterns, and then she would make this Viluy woman pay dearly.

*****

Viluy twisted and weaved through the rain of crackling spheres, blocking what she could not dodge with the flat of her chrome blade. Everything was according to plan. All that was left was to wait for the right moment, and then to harvest the data... She spared a glance down at her gauntlet, the readout confirming what she already knew. Over a quarter of Carnaaji's mass was now converted and prime for absorption. Her Master had already succeeded in his mission; she could do no less. The corner of her mouth twitched upward-

-and a plasma sphere three times the size of the others slammed into her from behind. Electrical current raced through her body and escaped in tiny, bright forks from the tips of each of her fingers. She slumped, falling...

*****

Now!

Bardiche's firing cylinder loaded a fresh round as he shifted to Zanber Form once again. Fate poured on all speed, matching her flight vector with that of Viluy's fall. Her Device's blade lit up hot as she closed the distance, roaring out the name of her signature finishing move: "Plasma-"

Fifteen meters away, Viluy snapped upright, clutched her gauntlet with one hand and spread her fingers with the other, aimed right at Fate, and intoned: "Mosaic Buster." A whirling cyclone of dust spread outward from her hand...

Fate wouldn't stop. Whatever kind of spell this "Mosaic Buster" was, there was no way she would break off now, not when she was so close. She poured all the mana that wasn't channeled into Bardiche into her shields and continued the charge, straight into the cyclone's center. Just a little closer. Nine meters, eight, seven, six, five, four-

"[Alert,]" chimed Bardiche. "[System disruption detechhhhhhhhhhhhht-]"

His voice broke off into static, and Fate stopped dead in midair, paralyzed, little more than a body length away from delivering the final blow. Bardiche and her Barrier Jacket both felt off, wrong... She gritted her teeth and strained to move, but her body resisted her. "Wh-wha- B-Bardiche!"

"[M-M-M-M-Mmmmal-f-f-f-function-tion,]" Bardiche slurred, his voice warped and distorted. "[Un-un-un-known f-f-f-foreign-eign con-contaminant-nant-nant...]"

"Contaminant? How-" Fate's eyes went wide. The cyclone... but it couldn't be that, her shields and Barrier Jacket should have-

"Nanobots," said Viluy with that damnable smirk, floating close to her, just out of reach. "Microscopic machines, infesting and spreading through your body, your Barrier Jacket, and your Device. They're my specialty. I was chosen for this mission specifically with mages like you in mind, Harlaown-san. Your magic isn't magic, is it? It's highly-advanced technology... and technology, no matter how advanced, can be broken apart and reconfigured if one works small enough."

"You-!" Snarling, Fate pulled hard enough that her muscles screamed in protest, but she still couldn't move... Realization struck her like one of her own thunderbolts. Viluy had let herself get hit on purpose, had feigned being stunned so that she could deliver the nanobots when she was close enough. Fate had fallen for one of the most novice tactics ever conceived, but she had been so angry that she never saw it coming. That anger, too, was part of the trap... Viluy knew exactly which of her buttons to push, which words would infuriate her... how could she have been so stupid...!

Viluy drifted around her in a lazy circle, examining her prey from every angle. "Splendid," she whispered. "Your mother may not have been able to see it, but her work on you was extraordinary. Every part of you looks human..."

Bardiche! Fate screamed internally. Full purge, now!

Her Device's voice sputtered a reply. She could feel him trying to hold himself together, trying to protect her, but it was as if her thoughts were separated from his by one of the dark clouds around them. "[Ye-y-y-y-ye-y-yes, sssssir...]"

The woman's fingers brushed Fate's cheek, her touch as icy as her smile. "Especially your eyes," she continued. "You really do have lovely eyes, Harlaown-san."

*****

She heard the awful scream in her mind, a split-second before her ears picked it up. "Fate-chan!" Nanoha bid Raising Heart to unfurl another set of wings. Her insides burned... she was exceeding maximum safe speed for someone still in recovery, but it didn't matter. Fate was in danger, Fate was hurt...

Clouds broke away before her, and she saw- "FATE-CHAN!"

-saw Fate falling, trailing red, her pigtails fluttering loosely, and the Viluy woman hovering in place with a satisfied smile and fingers painted crimson.

"FATE-CHAN!" Nanoha dived, calculations streaking through her mind, giving a constant stream of orders to Raising Heart to match her velocity with Fate's, to slow her partner's fall, to prepare a healing spell to counter whatever harm the woman had done to her... I'm coming, Fate-chan, I'm coming! Please be all right, please be all right, please be-!

Her timing was impeccable as ever. Fate dropped neatly into her arms... and she nearly lost her grip. Fate was convulsing wildly, clutching at her face, making small, breathless sounds of agony.

She's in shock! Even in a state of panic, Nanoha recognized the signs from her training. Raising Heart, cast an emergency medial barrier!

"[Yes, Master!]"

A pink, elliptical field of energy enveloped Fate's body, but still she shook, her skin turning pale...

"Fate-chan! Fate-chan, please, it's going to be all right, it's-" Nanoha's throat closed tight, depriving her of speech. Her hands were warm and wet, and smelled like copper. Fate's thrashing brought the right side of her face into view, half of it was streaked with red... from between her fingers, Nanoha caught a glimpse of something, and the sight filled her veins with ice.

An empty socket. A raw, bloody, empty socket.

High above, Viluy spoke in a drawl as she examined the prize clutched in her stained fingers. "Fascinating. Emotional variation, motor control, even response to pain stimuli... all perfectly reproduced. The late Testarossa-san was truly a genius."

Her words drifted through Nanoha's mind without connecting to anything as she floated downward, clutching Fate tight to try to calm her shaking. "I'm here, Fate-chan. I'm here. I'm here... R-Raising Heart, contact the A-Arthra's sickbay, tell them to standby for immediate t-transfer!"

"[Unable to comply,]" her Device said with a muted, discordant chime. "[A barrier spell is still present over the area, blocking all communications.]"

"No..." She hugged Fate so tight she thought she might break... her convulsions had petered out, and now she was still, too still. Nanoha's paltry healing barrier could only do so much to keep her stable. Without proper medical attention... "Why...? Why is this happening?"

"'Why?' It's all data, Takamachi-san," came the cold voice from above. "People, animals, plants, technology... it's all data. And data needs to be collected, catalogued, and experimented on."

Nanoha touched down on one of the few remaining shelves of stable rock. Part of her noticed the rock's growing metallic sheen, its thin veins of circuit pathways... but it didn't matter. The barrier, she had to destroy the barrier, or they would both die here. They would die, and that horrible skull would destroy the planet... Setting Fate down, she curled her fallen partner's cape around her to keep her warm, and diverted a mental command to the medical barrier to engage gyroscopic mode to keep her still. With that done, she stood...

"It's for science, Takamachi-san" she heard Viluy say. "Surely a bright young girl like you can understand the need for science?"

Nanoha's fingers curled into a tight fist. Her reply was two words: "Restrict Lock."

*****

Above, Viluy cried out in genuine shock as bands of pink energy clamped around her wrists and ankles, holding her in place. "NanoCuff, counter it!" In her mind's eye, she saw her faithful nanobots spread, analyzing the energy for weak spots, but it would take time... "Impressive, Takamachi-san," she began, searching her mind for any information on Takamachi that she could exploit. Most of her research had been on Harlaown; Nanoha was crippled, she knew, so she wasn't important... not worth studying extensively...

*****

Down below, Nanoha turned around, her eyes shadowed by her bangs. "You... you hurt Fate-chan..." she whispered, standing over her partner, shielding her with herself and brandishing her Device like a spear. "And Hayate-chan... and Reinforce-san, Signum-san, and Vita-chan... I'll make you pay for what you've done to them..."

*****

Viluy sneered. Ridiculous... with her injuries, Takamachi was barely more a threat than a novice mage. Even at full power, the TSAB's lackeys had their weapons restricted to non-lethal power levels only... and pain was a simple enough thing for her to block, all it took was a choice redirection of her nanobots. As soon as she was free, she would-

*****

"Raising Heart?" said Nanoha.

"[Yes, my Master?]"

And Nanoha whispered the four words she never imagined she would say to her Device... the words forbidden by every law the TSAB operated under, the deadliest command that a mage could give: "Disengage all safety limiters."

There was a pause. When Raising Heart answered, her voice was tinged with the barest hint of alarm. "[Master, are you sure?]"

"Disengage all safety limiters," Nanoha repeated. Before her Device could ask, she added, "Yes, I grant total authorization, under TSAB emergency protocol Red-Niner-Six-Omega. Go to Exelion Mode, Full Drive."

Another pause, longer this time. Then... "[Yes, my Master. Disengaging limiters... activating Exelion Mode. ACS System, standby ready. Initiating Full Drive.]"

Raising Heart transformed. Her jewelled red core became enclosed by the head of the staff, now reconfigured into the shape of a wicked spear blade half a meter long. Two pairs of curved stabilizing fins unfurled from her sides, and discharge vents integrated into the spearhead's structure slid open one by one. With a mighty hum, the angelic wings sprouted... one pair, then another and another, eight in all, formed of incandescent pink light and spreading out at wide angles like those of a biblical seraphim. As Nanoha's magic circle flared back to life, the forward portion of the spearhead split in two, both halves sliding backward. From between them erupted a wicked pike blade of hard light, half as long as Nanoha was tall. Points of pink light shone in the air around her like stars, thousands of them, the remnants of all the mana she had expended since arriving here... they gathered in front of the spear, into the center of a gigantic ring of power.

The grip and firing apparatus rotated smoothly into Nanoha's hand, and her finger found the trigger with long-practiced ease. She braced her other hand farther back along the shaft, wielding her Device almost like a medieval knight hefting an enormous lance for a mortal blow... but she had no intention of impaling Viluy, as much as she might deserve that. Viluy, who sneered at Fate's brutal injuries with no remorse at all... she deserved more than the simple physical pain that impalement would bring. That was why the limiters were now off.

The safety limiters were not mandated by the TSAB for Nanoha's sake, though they did provide her protection against the backblast of her energies.

The safety limiters were in place for the sake of whoever was on the receiving end of those energies.

With none of her usual vigor or bombast, Nanoha softly gave the command: "Maximum power... Starlight Breaker."

The ring of power erupted into a volcanic blast, an enormous, fifty-meter beam of blazing light that tore upwards through the clouds, reflecting in Viluy's widening eyes... She had no chance to scream, or to make any sound at all. All that she was was instantly incinerated in the beam's white-hot fires. Not even dust was left behind.

Gritting her teeth, Nanoha sustained the beam, directing it upward to the looming metal skull, toward the winged figure still casting her transfer spell...

The Will had enough time to blink out of the way, maintaining her original spell while strengthening her personal shields...

... but Nanoha did not direct the beam to follow her. It burned upward, straight and true, slamming against the invisible wall of the massive barrier that enclosed the canyon... and broke through it like a brick through glass. And it kept going, scoring a long mark beneath Moebius's left eye socket, shearing through layers of metal and silicon and carving a swath deep into the skull's structure. Moebius's awful, wrenching, electronic scream shook Carnaaji to its core...

Below, Nanoha fell to her knees, her hands burnt and smoking, and Raising Heart let of blasts of steam as she ejected a full magazine's worth of cartridges. The consequences of using so much mana would keep her bedridden for days once they caught up with her, but it was done, the barrier was gone. Desperately, she sent out a telepathic call: Arthra, please help...!

The plea was barely cast to the ether for a second before she and Fate both disappeared in streaks of white light.

*****

Nanoha materialized on the Arthra's bridge, saw the deck rushing up at her...

A pair of strong, steady arms caught her before she could fall. "Easy, Takamachi. Easy," said a calm, commanding voice, one she knew well.

"Ch-Chrono-kun...?" Nanoha allowed herself one weak smile at the black-haired blur that was Lindy's son and the ships's XO before she pushed against him to right herself, clutching at his sleeve. "Chrono-kun, it's Fate-chan, she-"

"We know," said a blur with Admiral Lindy's voice, heavy with strain. "We ran scans on your location as soon as you broke the barrier. She's in sickbay, and the medics are doing everything they can."

A sigh of relief escaped Nanoha's lips. Turning in the general direction of Lindy's voice, she attempted to assume a proper stance and salute. "Admiral, permission to transport back to the sur-"

"Permission denied," said Lindy before she could finish. "You've done more than enough for today, Nanoha. We'll take it from here."

"Come on, Takamachi." Chrono gently tugged on her shoulder, his voice unusually soft. "At ease. You need to report to sickbay yourself."

Nanoha shook off his hand, blinking her eyes rapidly to restore her vision. "Admiral, the Will and Hayate-chan are still down there! If you let me go, I can-"

The blur that was Lindy sharpened enough that Nanoha could see her turn and look back over her shoulder, her blue eyes hard with pain and regret. "I'm taking care of it."

That was when Nanoha saw... Lindy's face was awash in the glow of a complex holographic lock that hovered before her. On the main viewscreen, there was Carnaaji, with an ominous deep blue sphere shadowing one continent, that had to be Moebius... and between the Arthra's forwardmost bows, a vast ball of iridescent energy danced and spat, waiting to be released.

Amy's voice came from the conn, hushed and shaken. "A-Arc-en-Ciel, b-barrel ready, Admiral."

All the pieces came together. "Admiral, no," said Nanoha in horror. "No, there's got to be another way. You can't do this."

Lindy closed her eyes and turned back to the firing lock, determined not to meet Nanoha's gaze. "Amy, confirm target lock. We only have enough power for one shot."

"Lock c-confirmed. A-awaiting your command."

"We can still save her!" Nanoha pleaded, pulling away from Chrono, who was trying to hold her back. "Hayate-chan's still somewhere inside the Will, I know she is! If I go back down, and you and Chrono-kun come with me-"

"Takamachi, that's enough," said Chrono.

Lindy still wouldn't turn around.

"Lindy-san! That's Hayate-chan down there, you can't-"

"You think I want to do this?!" snapped the Admiral, slamming one hand onto the arm of her command chair. The words came out of her in a rush. "We don't have any other choice! You're hurt and exhausted, you're in nowhere near the same condition you were when you fought the Book before, and she's stronger than she ever was. Your partner, my daughter, is in sickbay, clinging to her life. There's a huge hole in my ship, and at least a dozen of my crew are dead. If we let the Book get off-planet, or if we let that thing finish transferring, they'll do even worse, to more worlds than we can count. What else would you have me do?!"

Nanoha opened her mouth to protest more... but all that came out was a desperate "Please. Please, Lindy-san...!"

Lindy sucked in a breath. She held up a hand in front of the lock system, which broke apart and turned red as it revealed the trigger interface. No one saw that the fingers of her other hand were digging into her palm, hard enough to draw blood. "Arc-en-Ciel," she whispered. "Fire."

In the void of space, the iridescent energy ball made no sound as it condensed itself into a tight, compact star and hurtled into the heart of Carnaaji at nine-tenths the speed of light. Once it struck its target, multicolored planar shockwaves erupted from the planet's core, each one spreading outward like a firework before shrinking back down again. Red, yellow, blue, green... each wave bathed the bridge in a different color as Carnaaji's continental plates crumbled, its oceans drained away, its clouds were pulled like wisps of cotton candy into the void that was now in its center. The massive form of Moebius shrank into the reaction as well, its immense, perfect spherical shape crumpling like paper as the unfathomable energies of warping time and space washed over it. A new sun seemed to take the place of Carnaaji as the reaction expanded, blinding in its radiance... and then, finally, it collapsed in on itself and was gone.

There was nothing left of the planet but empty space.

Nanoha stared... she didn't know when she had started crying. She only noticed when she felt a wet drop on one of her shaking, bloodstained hands.

No one spoke, there were no shouts of victory... only the humming of the instruments. Other than that, the silence on the bridge was the same as the silence of the void outside.

Lindy dropped into her command chair, her face in her hands. "Amy," she said, a bit muffled. "If you can, open a channel to TSAB Headquarters. Tell them everything, and tell them we'll be returning to HQ as soon as we divert enough power for a transfer."

"C-comms are down again, A-Admiral." Amy's voice quivered like a leaf, on the brink of tears.

"Dammit," said Lindy. "Start diverting power as soon as we cool off."

Once more, Chrono grasped Nanoha's shoulder. "Come on, Nanoha," he said. "I'll take you down below to see Fate. Alph's already there."

This time, Nanoha allowed herself to be led. Hayate was gone, gone in the most permanent way possible, and there was nothing she could do. She was almost to the lift when Chrono spoke again, saying something that didn't make sense.

"Admiral? Who is that?"

Lindy's head snapped up. A spell was already on her mind... if one more person or entity endangered her crew today, they were going straight to Hell before they had a chance to explain themselves. Her magic circle appeared at her feet as she stood and faced-

-a girl. A very small girl with long, wavy white hair, done up in two tiny pigtails behind each ear. Her eyes were odd, multicolored rings of red and yellow. She wore a pink polka-dotted dress and a cheerful smile, and she stood near Amy's station as if she belonged there.

Amy shrieked and clapped her hands over her mouth; everyone else stared.

"Nanoha?" said Chrono slowly, his hand edging toward his sealed Device. "Is this another friend of yours?"

In a baffled daze, Nanoha shook her head.

"Who are you?" barked Lindy. "What are you doing on my bridge?"

The girl bowed politely, but didn't say a word.

"Can you speak?"

She held a finger to her lips and breathed: Shhh.

Lindy's brows knit together as she pressed a button on the arm of her chair. "Attention, all available security officers," she said. "Intruder on the bridge, unknown origin. Set Devices to heavy stun, and-"

The white-haired girl moved over to Amy, who shrieked even louder, and gently touched her hand. Amy went as rigid as a board, her teary eyes flying open...

That was enough for Chrono. "Amy! Durandal, Set-"

"Wait!"

Again, everyone stared... except for the little stranger.

It was Amy who had spoken. "She's... she's not here to hurt us," she said, as if she couldn't believe it herself. Like a woman possessed, her hands moved over her console.

"Amy? What are you doing?" said Lindy, who was very close to losing her storied calm. "Did she speak to you?"

"I... I don't think so, I just know," said Amy as her fingers flew. "She... she gave me coordinates."

"Coordinates to where?!"

Panic rose in Amy's voice as she looked down and rattled off a long, complicated string of numbers. "These don't make sense," she said. "They're not in any format I've ever seen, but there's still a destination listed..."

Finally, Nanoha spoke, directly to the stranger. "Where?" She didn't know why, but something was telling her that Amy spoke the truth... she intended no harm. "Where do you want us to go?"

Again, the answer came from Amy. "'The Lighthouse,'" she read from her screen. "That's all it says. No planet classification, no navigation data, just... 'The Lighthouse.'"

The stranger pointed at the screen. At once, the view of the empty space that had minutes ago been Carnaaji was replaced by a field of static. High-pitched hissing and garbled voices washed over the bridge crew.

Lindy locked a death glare on the little stranger. "What did you do?!"

Hesitantly, Chrono moved to Amy's side and checked the console. When he spoke, he sounded as baffled as she was. "She's opened a comm channel. It's the same as before: the data doesn't make sense, but it says it's coming from-"

"- the Lighthouse," said the static with sudden clarity. It was a soft voice, a girl's voice. The field slowly resolved into something resembling humanoid features, though it was still impossible to make out any details. "Arthra..." The static whined, and the voice faded in and out. "... TSAB vess... questing assista... immediate trans... ighthou..."

"Can you get a lock on that signal?" said Lindy, sinking back into her chair. At this point, she was almost ready to believe anything. SSS+ level Lost Logia coming back from the dead, holes blown through her ship, and strange, silent children on her bridge giving nonsensical coordinates to places that didn't exist... a comm signal from nowhere was almost plausible.

"W-working," said Amy.

"TSAB vess... thra," said the voice from the static.

The little stranger smiled... directly at Nanoha, who thought she saw her nod.

On screen, the vaguely humanoid features snapped into sharp focus as if someone had flipped a switch. It was another girl, a few years older than Nanoha by the look of her, with short, boyish brown hair and gorgeous green eyes. She leaned over a crystalline control console, lines of worry on her pretty face and faint shadows of exhaustion under her eyes. Next to her...

Nanoha goggled in disbelief.

Next to the girl on the screen was what appeared to be a floating, winged teddy bear, wringing its paws together anxiously. "We gettin' through?" said the teddy. Nanoha's mouth fell open... the teddy spoke in a pronounced Kansai accent.

"I think so," said the girl at the console. "Ohhh, I hope this works... TSAB vessel Arthra, this is Sakura Kinomoto calling from the Lighthouse. Do you read me?"

"We read you, Kinomoto," said Lindy, rising from her chair. "Did... did you send someone here? She gave us your coordinates... and your comm frequency..."

Sakura sighed with relief. "Hoeeee~," she said, "so that's where she went! I was getting worried about her... Um, to whom am I speaking, exactly?"

"Admiral Lindy Harlaown," said Lindy, unable to hide her confusion. "Where is this 'Lighthouse' of yours, Kinomoto? The coordinates your friend gave us don't make sense..."

"I don't know," said Sakura, shaking her head. "Honestly, I don't know where it is. All I know is, she wants you to come... and you'll be safe here."

This time, the little stranger did nod, and everyone saw it.

Chrono looked back over his shoulder at his mother. "Admiral, can we trust them? For that matter, should we trust them?"

"She's telling the truth." Amy was back to staring at the little girl. "They both are."

"Um, excuse me?" said Sakura, shuffling in a nervous manner. "This is going to sound like a strange question, Admiral, but... is there someone named Nanoha Takamachi on board your ship...?"

Swallowing, Nanoha stepped forward and bowed. "I'm Nanoha Takamachi. How do you know my name?"

Those gorgeous green eyes stared into hers from across who knew how many worlds. "I'm not sure," said Sakura, "but I think... I think we're supposed to meet each other..."

END OF CHAPTER 7