Return to my Hometown - A Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha and Puella Magi Madoka Magica Fanfic

[Repentant_Dragos]

Chapter Thirteen-A: The Restoration of Hirose Rika

Disclaimer: I don't own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Puella Magi Madoka Magica (or its spinoff, Oriko Magica), nor the face of one character from Ensemble Stars (that I am using for my OC). Solomon (yes, that Solomon) is a Historical Domain Character, but this take on him is mine.

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Hirose Ren
TSAB Warship Illumina
8 Days after Walpurgisnacht


Our shuttle returned to The Illumina, where the crew was busy monitoring readings from the Sun-Snuffer parked close to Earth's Sun. As we docked, with Jail Scaglietti in tow, I realized that even with Kyosuke and Sayaka by my side, I was still pissed off.

But considering how my sister may be saved because of this, maybe I had to hold on to that silver lining.

Admiral Janneth, Lucas, and a few elite guards in black cloaks with tiny anachronistic spiked pauldrons walked over to us, and the Admiral faced me and asked, "I see it's done. For the record, I wish we didn't have to make such a sacrifice, but at least we'd save millions of lives by making it."

Lucas, meanwhile, was sizing Jail up, his gold eyes facing down Jail's own as they glinted with cold, playful curiosity. Before Jail can open his rotten mouth, my adoptive brother pre-empted him with the words:

"I am to be your handler. Let me make this clear: Unlike with Precia and Alicia Testarossa, this is not an amnesty, nor a pardon; your skills are merely being used to turn my adoptive brother's blood sister back to someone capable of living a normal life. The moment you step out of line, and we both know you'll do so when you feel it's safe, you'll be back in Gruen - or you can go to Hell; I'm not picky."

I didn't know Lucas had such viciousness in him. Then again, this was Jail Scaglietti, the infamous mad scientist, he was talking to.

And before Jail could respond, Lucas gestured for him to follow as he went to guide him to the Illumina's Laboratory Wing, where he was supervising a project that already had a person of dubious moral character and massive magical power involved with it (Precia) and…

Oh, no, Jail Scaglietti was going to meet Solomon, wasn't he?

Ugh, I wanted to do anything but watch that interaction, but I had to, didn't I? So I walked over and said, "I think I'll stay with Jail a while longer; just to make sure that he, Solomon, and Pre - Ms. Testarossa do not get ideas."

Lucas nodded a little bit curtly; he must have some important scientific work to do, then asked, "All right, but I would prefer that the rest of the team sent to bring Mr. Scaglietti here goes with Admiral Janneth for mandatory debriefing - She wants to know their opinions about the mission."

He led the way through a few winding corridors and an elevator that led to the laboratory wing, where Alicia Testarossa was testing a 'Grief Compress', a bandage-sized version of the equipment her mother had invented to drain despair en masse, on a serene, eager Mami Tomoe, who had been spending more time with her and Lucas, thus filling the space with gold hair and pairs of gold eyes.

"Ah!" Jail Scaglietti said, "So this is what a truly resurrected being looks like in the flesh; not that I haven't already made acquaintance with Alicia back when she was just 'genetic material'..."

As the compress she held grew black with the gathered despair from Mami Tomoe's Soul Gem, Alicia turned towards Jail and told him to, "Shut up, you creep; once Mother returns from her excursion to Earth, she has a lot of words prepared about your false promises in the past."

My eyebrows rose as I registered that one, Jail was careful not to say that he met Alicia when the latter was dead (as Precia would put his head on a spike), and two, Precia Testarossa took frequent trips to Earth. What was she doing there?

"Earth has become the center of the Multiverse nowadays, hasn't it?" Jail quipped, but before I could respond, there were footsteps, and Solomon Ben David entered the room with a quip of his own.

That being, "Isn't that as it should be? My little planet being the center of the Multiverse?"

Ugh, classic arrogant Petty Middle Eastern King. Like our world needed that 'honor'!

Solomon then continued, "So, you must be Mr. Scaglietti; I am Solomon Ben David, pleased to meet your acquaintance."

Both of them looked at each other, and as I feared, their gaze was one of mutual understanding and sizing each other for usefulness to each other's plans.

Then the mood in the room turned colder as Precia Testarossa, clad in a white labcoat and dress shirt plus grey trousers that did not reflect her heart, casually teleported into the room; we only gave each other a crude nod of acknowledgement as she said, "Scaglietti. You're back. Now, shall we brief you on the groundwork we've already made in the process of 'Reversing Witchdom'?"

Jail nodded, and I was treated to the sight of five of the greatest scientific and magical minds in the cosmos discussing the relation between the body and the Soul and Mana, as well as the various cultural lenses that people viewed Magic and Souls with.

To summarize, the problem with Witchdom was that the Soul, being separated from the Body in a Soul Gem, accumulated despair when generating Mana/Emotional Energy, which subtly warped the Soul's self-perception. This self-perception can take on a physical form using Magic, and warp the disembodied Soul into a being that reflects its 'corruption', a monster that upon completing its shift to Witchdom, throws away its original body and creates a new one from congealed Mana/Emotional Energy.

To reverse this, the emotional resonance of the 'Corruption' must be cleansed away from the raw soul, returning it to 'Humanity' (Alicia and Lucas argued for it always have been Human, just warped by suffering). But that instantly kills the Witch anyway because the Soul now drifts free without a body and 'passes on'.

However, during the 'reversion' to Humanity, the Witch may attempt to transform what remains of its body with it, or more rarely, create clumps of organic matter that approximate a Human's, and that can be recombined with the Soul to create something that is like a living, breathing Human being, but will stop living and breathing unless given cybernetic organs, a skeleton, or in some cases, a regrown brain that's half-made of nanomachines.

"So, let me get this straight…" I blurted out, condensing their discussion to one sentence afterwards. "The issue is that the soul is easier to save than the body but we need to save the body because if we don't save that, it'd be no better than murder."

I ignored the looks of surprise from everyone but Lucas as I continued, "Doesn't that mean that Science and Magic can advance to the point where we won't need clone parts or cyborg conversions to save Witches? Note that we are not at that point, nor is it right to wait for that point, but this means that Jail needs to prove his usefulness now, right?"

Precia and Alicia looked at me in surprise and the former asked, "You were able to keep up with that? It appears your adoptive brother raised you to be more than a blunt instrument…"

Lucas scooted over to stand beside a somewhat mystified and bored Mami Tomoe (who looked a lot like Alicia, which was why I didn't notice her continued presence) and said, "I do not appreciate the attention. The point is that we can return Hirose Rika back into a Magical Girl or even a full Human right now."

At the mention of that, my thoughts fluttered back to seeing my sister again.

I know she loved me; that's why she wished to send me to where I had my new family. Four years of love and joy have not erased my memories of her and of that.

But it had created a gulf, a gulf that I only noticed just now.

Did Rika ever want to come back? Or if she did, did she really want to be my sister again?

Were we even family at this point?

I barely noticed Lucas gesturing Mami and me to follow the 'New Team' to the containment chamber where my sister's Witch, Mara the Barren, had rebuilt her Barrier, albeit caged by the chamber's wards.

Another blast door, a corridor, and another blast door followed to the closed habitat, observable through a transparent glass-like window, where a smaller version of Mara the Barren's desert and bitter lake stood, with Mara herself standing tall in robes of grey and black, her unnaturally ovoid face, with eyeholes that wept waterfalls of real tears and a mouth and lips that, though corpse-white and starchy, were able to wail loud enough to shake the window pane.

Lucas looked at me with guilt in his eyes, then said, "You don't need to see this. You literally do not need to see this. Ren, your sister will go through a lot of pain as she returns to Humanity and again, you don't need to see it. Now go back to your boyfriend; your sister can wait a little longer."

I nodded and returned back the way I came. To be honest, I wanted to see Kyosuke right now!

So I walked, and Mami Tomoe followed me, glancing back at Lucas with what I could have sworn was disapproval, maybe even suspicion.

"So, tell me about your sister, Hirose Rika," the older teen blurted out. "She's not the only reason you're doing this, but she's important to you, right?"

I flashed back to her wish. The wish she had made for me even though she knew enough to ask that damned Incubator for what her wish entailed. The times she had taken a beating for me when I was much younger.

The times she had endured my constant questions as to why Mom hated us and why we weren't a normal family.

And of course, when she comforted me when I cried, which was a lot back then.

"I'm strong enough to protect her now," I said to Mami. "I owe her… Even if she doesn't want to be my sister after this."

I then asked her, "What about you? I will be honest, we fought together but I don't know much about you."

Her gold eyes flashed with pain as she said, "There's not much to tell; my parents died in a car accident and I wished to live; the exact wish was to 'connect to life'."

She then told me about how she began fighting Witches, how she met Kyoko and trained her, and how their friendship was lost, seemingly forever, after Kyoko's father snapped and murdered his entire family but Kyoko.

Then she weaved a tale of how lonely the time after that was, and how even now, she can't help but fear losing everything again.

We went to the teleportation bay; Kyosuke and Sayaka had gone back to their homes to sleep, meaning I couldn't see either of them after all.

Then Mami said, "You'll wake up tomorrow and Hirose Rika will be back as your sister. As for me… I have another chance to make everything right."

A flash of light as we teleported down. Then we parted and went to our homes; I almost forgot that Cody had been keeping a house back on Earth safe.

I then had my dinner and bath, watched a few shows, and then slept when it was time.

Upon waking up, my wishes were fulfilled; ringing the doorbell was a young woman of eighteen years of age, her body from neck to toe covered in a shell of reddish-brown (russet?) metal.

Her face was recognizably organic, pale but flush with life, her blue eyes lit with… peace? Calm?

"Little Brother," Hirose Rika said with a smile as the rising sun caught her crimson hair, "You've grown so tall…"

I was permitted to cry. I'd earned the right to shed tears with my blade.

So I did.

 

[Repentant_Dragos]

This is canon and I need to incorporate this:

https://wiki.puella-magi.net/Minor_Characters/Magia_Record#Nicholas_Flamel

 

[Repentant_Dragos]

Chapter Thirteen-B: The Reconnection of Hirose Rika

Disclaimer: I don't own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Puella Magi Madoka Magica (or its spinoff, Oriko Magica), nor the face of one character from Ensemble Stars (that I am using for my OC). Solomon (yes, that Solomon) is a Historical Domain Character, but this take on him is mine.

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Hirose Ren
Ren's House on Mitakihara City, Earth
9 Days after Walpurgisnacht


"Onee-san..." I said, not knowing what to say next -

"Ren; I think you should let your sister come in," Cody interrupted, wearing a butler's outfit (a black tuxedo, white dress shirt and tie, black pants and leather shoes) and stepping up.

Rika looked at him; observing her further, I realized my earlier assessment was wrong; she was twenty, not eighteen; must be some quirk of her cyborgization. It fit her, though, in a way that… felt right for her, I guess? Yeah… it felt like what she should be; alive and capable of thought.

Either way, I let her in, and noticed that Cody had already prepared a western-style breakfast with plenty of bread, fruits, honey and jam plus scrambled eggs and hot coffee. Also bacon and chicken.

"Glad to see you've been eating well… And I'm glad that bastard doctor gave me new tastebuds," Rika's voice was sharp, something I barely remembered through the haze of memory.

"It seems we have the same opinion of Jail Scaglietti," I said to my sister. "So… you feeling all right? He hasn't put anything on the back of your head, has he?"

Rika's cyborg eyes rolled, then she sped up the eye-rolling in a way that was deliberately weird and off-putting, before stopping, then smiling and saying, "Please. I survived Witchdom; whatever mind-control programming that Doctor put in my body can't be stronger than what I've gone through. Plus, a Starlight Breaker to the face can break that, right?"

I grimaced. She knew about that?! I… I felt like cringing for some reason; did I really look that arrogant after mastering one of the Aces' signature techniques?

"Everyone's talking about you on the Illumina, Ren," my sister continued as she sat down and began eating and drinking, before pausing after a sip of tea and saying, "Plenty of people don't like you because they think you're stuck-up after mastering Nanoha Takamachi's technique, others think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread - Huh, this toast is the best thing I've eaten ever - and some resent you for breaking the TSAB's secrecy rules while also mastering Starlight Breaker."

I had to admit that my reasons for that were bad, that just because my decision exposed an unprecedented threat to the TSAB did not change the fact that I broke the law to heal not just my future boyfriend, but an entire hospital.

I cringed again, realizing that I looked like a loose cannon - No, I was a loose cannon, period. That maybe, I should have healed Kyosuke's hand and the rest of the hospital more discreetly - Not healing them at all was out of the question!

"By the way," Rika mentioned, "I did more than just listen to gossip while recovering from my restoration from Witchdom; I got a briefing from your adoptive brother, Lucas, right? He says that just as the original version of the Starlight Breaker broke the mind control used on Nanoha Takamichi's adoptive daughter during the Jail Scaglietti incident, so can sufficient force break any mind control used on me… But it's not recommended as Scaglietti will try and find a way around that eventually."

Rika talked with Lucas? Did she like him? Did he make a good impression on her? Were either of them jealous of each other -

"Relax, Little Brother," she said. "I can tell he cares for you."

Then she paused, as though deciding to tell me something. Then she sighed and said, "That said… he does not have to hate you to hurt you; sometimes, people can do what they think is best for others while hurting them. To protect you and maybe others they love, family may do things that are both the least painful option, maybe even the right thing to do, yet still hurtful."

I ignored the implications and instead focused on how she was referring to herself.

Then I replied, "You did the right thing. Wishing for me to be sent… elsewhere. Also, I remember what you and that weasel talked about."

Rika sighed, knowing what needed to be said.

"I didn't wish that pain on you - well, technically I did. But as you said, I did the right thing. Well, maybe except murdering… her."

Our biological mother. She didn't deserve how she died, or even being killed at all, but she did deserve punishment.

"Guess we both do things the wrong way, whatever our reasons are," I said bitterly; distance, time, and new adoptive parents cooled what should have been almost obligatory rage at the thought. After all, killing kin was still frowned on in all societies unless there was a valid cause and even then should be regretted and not regularly done.

I should not be so bitter. Nor should I blame Rika, and I was pretty sure I didn't. Instead, I asked her:

"Want to talk about it more?"

Her answer was, "There wasn't much to say; there was yelling and magic and then there was fire and I had enough presence of mind left to turn on the alarms so people could escape; I may even have used the last of my magic to send them away before the fire spread. Then I became a Witch."

The hurt in her eyes as she remembered holding onto sanity enough to perform an evacuation told me that she was being blunt and curt because she did not want to continue.

So I gave her her space for a few seconds, holding the words I wanted to say.

"It was all worth it, though," Rika told me as she set down her teacup. "Well, not the potentially having killed people as a Witch - I hope you and that Homura girl reduced me to a Grief Seed before I killed anyone - but wishing you safety, that I do not regret. But now you need to lighten up, relax, and deal with your other connections; I'm not the center of your world anymore and nor should I be."

After that, I said, "So, want to meet Sayaka, Kyosuke, and maybe Hitomi if she'd still talk to me?"

Rika's smile curled teasingly as she said, "Your best friend, your boyfriend, and your other friend? Sure! You can have your Familiar - Cody - call them here…"

Huh, I forgot this new house was good enough to be visited by them without it being a social faux pas.

"Cody, can you -?"

The response from the blonde was, "I already did. Sayaka, Kyosuke, and Hitomi are coming. Also, I'm glad you've taken the step to finally include Hitomi in your secrets; this means she'll be less emotionally damaged by what has been happening these past few weeks."

He was right; I have neglected Hitomi!

"I'll prepare the tea, cake, and sandwiches," Cody followed up then added. "I also recommend that you look up ways to politely apologize to your friends for neglecting them and think up a way to soften the impact that revealing the supernatural to them will cause."

Oh, right, I'd be doing that, and to be honest, I'm nervous. But someone who faced down Walpurgisnacht along with an army of allies should not fear breaking a friend's worldview, right?

Even though you (aka I) stole that friend's crush and also the time and attention of her best friend.

Yeah… I'm anxious.

"Let me guess, you care about Hitomi," Rika said to me from where she sat at the head of the table, already eating a sandwich. "And you are tempted to put it off even though you know in your mind that that's a very bad idea."

I nodded.

"Little Brother, you worry too much. Do you really think Hitomi would hate you?" was her response.

I realized that she won't. Not today unless I let it fester further.

Rika smiled and said, "So let's wait, Little Brother."

Then we heard a knock on the door. Cody moved to open it before I could get cold feet; it was Hitomi.

She saw Rika, who didn't bother to hide her cyborg body and its metallic shell. To her credit, she didn't blubber, she didn't scream, and most of all, she resisted the urge to faint.

Instead, her next words were, "It seems you're followed by miracles, Ren."

She was smiling faintly at that, her joy was cautious and it showed in her pace and her small movements.

Sitting down on one of the chairs, Hitomi opened her mouth to say, "I should be mad. Not only do you come back after a long time - four years of no letters and texts, nothing - but when you came back, you snatched Kyosuke right from under me and Sayaka and made him the happiest he can be. And of course, you're another boy…"

She sighed and said, "I suppose I shouldn't be so… judgemental. Kyosuke is happy, after all, and so are you."

Hitomi then changed subjects to say, "So, Sayaka and Kyosuke; they already know, right? About…?"

I nodded and said, "Yes; they should be here soon."

While waiting, I explained to Hitomi about Magic, about the TSAB, then the Incubators and the Puella Magi System and Witches and how to turn Witches back into Human, we had to… persuade the TSAB to amnesty and parole criminals in order to get Rika's soul cleaned and purified and her body given a cyborg shell.

"I see…" Hitomi sighed. "And Kyosuke taunted this 'Jail Scaglietti' for your sake and Rika's. He's also fighting beside you and Sayaka against an enemy who can make the Sun go out."

Another sigh, before she said, "You three; all of you three and Rika… Don't die. Same for Madoka and the new transfer student. If a miracle costs so much, don't make it cost more."

I nodded, then replied, "We'll keep each other safe. As for the Sun-Snuffer parked on Earth's Sun, we're preparing to fight it -"

The light from the windows dimmed, plunging the skies to unnatural gloom. Even here, a flash of cold chilled the air as the radiator automatically turned on.

Kyosuke and Sayaka opened the door, went in, acknowledged Hitomi with nods, then Kyosuke confirmed to me what just happened.

"The Incubators have declared war; they're snuffing out not just Earth's Sun, but Mid-childa's and other TSAB worlds; the stars are going out."

Sayaka then added, "Admiral Janneth wants to talk to us in the Illumina."

Turning to Hitomi, the bluenette said, "Sorry, Hitomi; Cody may have to keep you safe for a while."

Hitomi nodded; she knew enough that not everyone needed to join the fight. But she did not lack courage as she said.

"Don't worry; I'll make sure that when you all come back, you have something to return to."

Then she smiled and added, "Thank you. All of you."

I and the others stood and turned to leave; Rika got up too, saying to me:

"Little Brother, I hope you're not planning on leaving me behind too; let's go - I can't wait to show you how my remaining Puella Magi powers mix with my new cyborg parts."

I nodded, then smiled and said, "Let's fight together. I wasn't strong enough to do so back then, but now I am… Rika. To the ends of the earth?"

My sister smiled back and said, "Yes, but this time, we'll win; utterly and completely."

I grinned, and then we all went out; to our destinies.

 

[Vulpix]

This cant possible end bad

right

 

[Repentant_Dragos]

right

Click to shrink...

Should I spoil?

Rhetorical Question.

 

[Vulpix]

Should I spoil?

Rhetorical Question.

Click to shrink...

nah we keep spoilers to ourselves like mabayu....


Yes spoil it

 

[Repentant_Dragos]

nah we keep spoilers to ourselves like mabayu....


Yes spoil it

Click to shrink...

This is a Fix-it Fic, what do you expect?

 

[Repentant_Dragos]

Chapter Fourteen-A: The War Council

Disclaimer: I don't own Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha, Puella Magi Madoka Magica (or its spinoffs, including Magia Record), nor the face of one character from Ensemble Stars (that I am using for my OC). Solomon (yes, that Solomon) is a Historical Domain Character, but this take on him is mine. The Flamels, who get a minor reference here, are from the spinoff about Jeanne D'Arc and certain Magia Record events.

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Admiral Janneth
The Illumina's Conference Room, The Illumina, Earth Orbit
9 Days after Walpurgisnacht


The Incubators had declared war, and the stars were going out.

According to Lucas, we have six hours until the Sun-Snuffer above Earth's Sun expands to cover its surface, and another twelve until the Sun is irretrievably lost.

Now, I have to step up and gather the people whom I needed most if we had to end this soon, summoning them into this blue-ceilinged, white-floored, oval room that served as the ship's conference chamber.

Waiting for them were several floating egg-shaped chairs upholstered with beige rubbery cushions floating around a white oval table with a green-bronze metallic circle at its center that served as the holographic projector.

Lucas entered first, using Ameliè to teleport himself into the room; good, my most trusted officer can be trusted to know the urgency of this.

Then again, judging from everyone else appearing at the same time, they grasped how dire things were too.

My responsibilities meant being at the head of this conference table, talking with the just-appeared Precia Testarossa, Jail Scaglietti, Solomon, and to my annoyed surprise, Oriko Mikuni, who had invited herself and her girlfriend Kirika to the meeting.

Hirose Ren and his team, plus Homura Akemi, Mami Tomoe, and Kyoko Sakura, and finally Hirose Rika… they were waiting for orders in the Illumina's hangar below.

But first, we had to sit around this table and piece together iwhat orders to give..

"Incubator Sun-Snuffers…" Solomon spoke from where he sat facing Jail on opposite ends of the oval table, "For the longest time, I thought they were unreachable, incomprehensible; horrors matching the most obscure passages of scriptures I contributed to. Then two of my juniors, the Flamels, actually managed to draft a theory that made those machines make sense, demystifying them."

He then looked at Oriko, Precia, and Jail, saying, "Miss Mikuni here can confirm if that theoretical model matches reality, while Ms. Testrarossa and Mr. Scaglietti can provide knowledge of the underlying… concepts behind the Snuffer's functions."

My eyes flashed as I glared at him, then I said, "Please get to the point, Bronze Age King."

Solomon sighed, then brought out an old-style paper blueprint from a suitcase and unrolled it, showing a cross-section of the cuttlefish-shaped vessel. The tentacles weren't all for show, but rather the starting point of a growing lattice/mesh of 'entropy-resistant dark matter' that fed on the Sun's energy to feed itself, eventually becoming a sphere that consumed the star and left its planets to die.

And of course, tendrils and fragments of this dark matter can also detach from the web and form semi-autonomous drones to defend the web and its origin point, the Sun-Snuffer, against a counterattack.

Jail Scaglietti felt that it was his turn to seize the moment, "Surprisingly simple and advanced; it's taking an entire TSAB fleet on Midchilda to slow down the growth of the Snuffer there while as for Vaizen, the world where the Aces and all their compatriots are being bloodied by the Hucklebeins, the Incubators have arranged for the latter to 'accidentally' find a Sun-Snuffer that they are using to keep Nanoha Takamachi and the rest of Special Duty Section 6 pinned down; not that the Hucklebeins don't have plans to destroy the Incubators next… "

Oriko interrupted with a statement, "Their failure is written by their inability to control their raw emotions; but the triumph of the Aces will not come so soon that we can avoid the hard work of… earning our unlikely ending."

Precia looked at her and said, "In plain terms, the TSAB's best - Including… Alicia's Sister - are not in any position to bail us out, and the good Admiral is smart enough to know it."

We needed to get back to the plan. Examining the schematics, I asked Lucas, "I presume the Sun-Snuffer - the nucleus point for the 'lattice' - has defenses that can prevent teleportation? Not just drones, but magical shields?"

Lucas confirmed it with a nod, before giving additional details, "The Incubators defend the Sun-Snuffer with three layers of deterrence; the first being the residual heat from the Sun, which is still hot enough to melt entire planets."

Activating the holographic projector with a thought, Lucas showed us a model video of a typical TSAB Warship melting hundreds of thousands of miles before it reached the Sun-Snuffer, and adding, "This is if our Warship's shields are not used at all. Now for the second layer."

The hologram shifted to show a close-up of the Sun-Snuffer's 'core', the 'Cuttlefish Shell' from which the lattice radiated from. It then showed several sheets of light covering both shell and lattice, which were labelled as 'magical shields', 'graviton fields', and 'artificial magnetic fields'."

Then he elaborated, "Even… Dr. Precia needs to use a lot of power to break these overlapping barriers, and that is if our ship can fight through the final layer - The swarm of dark matter drones that will no doubt be fighting us every step of the way."

He then showed us geometric shapes made up of dark purple, faintly-glowing crystals that were capable of shooting laser beams from the ends of their blade-like limbs.

Lucas then paused for effect, waiting for the gaggle of skeptical Mad Scientist-Mages that made up the room to ask him, 'What's the plan?'

"I can shield this ship from the heat or break the Sun-Snuffer's defensive barriers, not both," Precia Testarossa spoke out loud. "Little Boy, you'll have to use the Illumina's L'arc n'ciel to clear away that… structure's shields for the next stage of whatever you have planned."

Lucas responded with a nod, then the words, "The Illumina will need to pierce a hole large enough for my brother and his team to be inserted so that they can disrupt the nexus. Conventional forms of attack are inefficient with our level of resources, but with the technology we've already developed, we have a chance to defeat the foe without brute force…"

He then paused, then dropped yet another revelation schooling his expression to be matter-of-fact, with only the faintest tremor of rage, "Because the Sun-Snuffers are living beings."

From his seat to my right, I saw him holding Solomon and Jail's gazes while Precia smiled the small smile of someone who knew this all along, but stayed silent; good, as she had very little to say, that was not hypocritical, about the revelation that the enemy was using living weapons.

As for myself, I circulated a bit of Mana through my nerves; numbing my facial muscles to avoid them going taut in shock at the revelation that the Incubators have exploited yet another species in callous disregard for life.

Then Lucas leaned in, forcing all eyes to focus on what he had to say as his voice rose slightly higher than necessary, "The Incubators claim to respect sapient species as 'above cattle'; they've told us that 'technical truth'. That does not mean that they do not have equivalents to cattle, nor that the original ecosystem where they evolved lacked other forms of life.These Sun-Snuffers are not true machines; they're living creatures tortured and 'enhanced' with their arcane tech. And considering how the Incubators do not have a sense of perspective towards the pain and suffering of life that they claim to 'respect', then towards non-sapient life which they regard as fodder or labor…"

Jail smirked, "So you want us to break the Incubators' grip over the local Sun-Snuffer using a combination of soul purification techniques in addition to my advanced cybernetics. A fitting challenge."

I committed myself to this plan with the words, "Then we have a plan; The Illumina will ride as close to the Sun-Snuffer's nexus, insert a team with an improvised device that fulfills purification and cyborgization functions -"

Lucas lifted up his hand and said, "I already ordered the engineers and technicians in the fabrication chambers to assemble such a device; with Magic, they should complete it by the time we arrive in range of the Snuffer's shell."

Jail looked at Lucas, then responded in a matter-of-fact, slightly shocked tone, "That quickly? Ah, you used Oriko's precognition to skip entire stages of testing; a worthy shortcut."

He smiled thinly and widely; it was a mix between paternal and paternalistic that was incredibly patronizing.

"Tch," Lucas let the sound escape his lips before glaring at Jail and saying, "I don't need your approval and I never will. Now stay -"

I took back control of the conversation by continuing, "So our main option is to insert a team that would… pierce this implant into the Sun-Snuffer's brain after entering its chassis, blasting as many of the Incubators' defending constructs as we do so, then hope for the best. That's the best plan we have, right?"

Everyone nodded. So I sighed and said, "Approved. I'll pass the orders on to Sergeant Major Ren and his team personally. Is there anything more we need to talk about?"

Hopefully, there was no last-minute crisis.

There was nothing more to talk about; everyone felt they had said enough. Good; because my head was aching more than ever.

"Dismissed," I said, before I reversed the spell keeping my face composed; it was against protocol to do that anyway.

As the participants of the meeting all left the room, I sighed and muttered, "Exhausting."

Then I got up and just… teleported myself to the hangar where Hirose Ren and the team were waiting.

A flash of green-white light, and I was in front of them.

I glanced tiredly at my Sergeant Major and his team; the newest crop of 'exceptional Mages' from Earth, now accompanied by three 'Puella Magi' that had fought in the shadows of Earth's civilization without our knowledge -

"Admiral Janneth; my little brother's boss, right?," said the new Cyborg Ex-Witch who was also my Sergeant Major's older sister. "If so, I'll ask you once: Can I invite myself to the mission you're sending Ren and his new friends and boyfriend to?"

Hirose Rika, the first human to be returned from Witchdom by Precia and Jail's methods working together. By all rights, I should forbid her, considering the fact that she was just newly-purified, cyborgized, and hadn't had much combat experience outside of being a Witch, and that did not count.

But I had to ask, "Do you still retain your Puella Magi or Witch powers? Have you learned how to use your cyborg strength and armored body yet? And did Jail give you any experimental weapons?"

She leaned in and said, "All three, RenRen's boss. Also, you could use more options, and my nature gives me a limited ability to interface with Incubator technology, including creatures they influence. Would\ that help?"

So she knew about the plan before I told her. Normally, I'd consider it suspicious, but Lucas personally vetted her; maybe he gave her a head's up?

I asked her, "I just teleported from a meeting where we just agreed to his plan. Did he already tell you?"

"Ah! So the blond kid - RenRen's adoptive brother - locked down the ship's fabrication stations so he could make that giant needle. Fair enough; guess that's a good use of that equipment," was her answer.

I knew that redundancy was important… assuming Ren's sister was correct.

"Proof?" I asked unnecessarily archly. After all, she was making a very important claim.

The reply was, "Sure," and Hirose Rika covered the area in a Witch Barrier with a wave of her hand, then after a few seconds of seeing grey skies, sand, a glimpse of grey lakewater plus floating letters in what looked like Belkan, brought us back to normal reality.

I nodded before I could overthink the implications of such power, then said, "Welcome to the mission, Hirose Rika. Please keep your brother safe."

 

[Vulpix]

kyubey you just keep digging your grave bro


also i assume oriko knew kyubey was gonna take walp grief seed then?

 

[Repentant_Dragos]

also i assume oriko knew kyubey was gonna take walp grief seed then?

Click to shrink...

Yes, why wouldn't she?

 

[Vulpix]

Yes, why wouldn't she?

Click to shrink...

Oh its just i expected homura to question her on that

because everyone was so shocked

 

[Repentant_Dragos]

Oh its just i expected homura to question her on that

because everyone was so shocked

Click to shrink...

Fair. And to be fair, I forgot.

Sorry.