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avatar_Senkusha

A Spark of Hope

Started by Senkusha, Thursday, July 28, 2022, 19:54

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Senkusha

I stepped outside of the Mage Academy's grand doors, and a warm beam of sunshine bathed me in peaceful feelings as I exhaled.   Finally, the big exam is over. The door opened behind me and a familiar voice called my name.

"Fate!"

"Nanoha!"  I looked at my best friend, who was still dressed in her mage armor of all white, contrasting my official black dress uniform from the Time and Space Administration Bureau.  She reached over and gently gripped my hand in hers.

"Are you ready to come back to Earth with me?"  She asked.

"Yes.  There are so many things you've told me about that I want to see!"

"I don't know if we'll have time to see ALL of that within a week, Fate-chan."

"What?  You know, I'm pretty fast."

"Yeah, but you're talking about trying to see the whole world in seven days—"

Just then Bardiche announced an incoming call, as did Raising Heart.  I pulled out the small golden trapezoid from my pocket and held it in my palm.

"Okay, Bardiche.  We're ready."  I said.

"Yes sir."  He replied and, in an instant, he displayed a holographic window with Miss Lindy smiling at me.

"Hi sweetie!  How did you do?"  The green-haired middle-aged woman asked.

"Hi Mom.  I think we passed."

"That's wonderful news.  Nanoha, I had Yuuno go over to your apartment and pack some things for your vacation. I hope that was okay.  I know both of you are eager to get back to Earth."  Lindy said.

"Yeah, that's fine, Miss Lindy."  Nanoha said, smiling.

"Good.  If you two are ready, we can transfer aboard whenever you're ready."

I looked at Nanoha, and she looked at me, both of us smiling like giddy schoolgirls, and we giggled.

"Yes.  We're ready!", we both cheered.

 Moments later, we were engulfed into a bright white light, and vanished from the Academy, and re-appeared on the Bridge of the Arthra.

"Oh Fate!", was the first thing I heard from my mother, and she had embraced me in one of her not-so-gentle hugs.  All I could do is blush.  Nanoha giggled, holding her fingers to her mouth.

"Hi... Mom..."

"Oh, you've grown since the last time you were here."  Lindy backed off and held my shoulders at arm's length, smiling.

"...You're embarrassing me."  I said quietly.  I looked over Lindy's shoulder and saw both Chrono and Amy whispering to each other with grins on their faces.

"Oh, relax, Fate.  This Is my ship.  Besides, can't I welcome home my beloved daughter?"  Lindy replied.  Luckily, Nanoha came to my rescue.

"Miss Lindy, if you wouldn't mind.  We'd like to get changed."

"Oh yes, please.  Dinner will be ready for us soon in the cafeteria."

"Okay, thank you, Ma'am."  We both said together and walked toward the door.

"Helm, set your course for Earth, Speed setting Level 3, please."  Lindy said as we left.
 

***


Meanwhile in the depths of deep space, a small tear in time-space occurred, emitting a bright flash of white light, before quickly sealing itself up.  A small bluish humanoid creature of about nine feet tall remained and took flight towards a small green and blue planet at a remarkable speed.  Within a few minutes, it had arrived on the planet of Dueatone.
Women and small children screamed taking a single look at the grotesque creature, while grown men collapsed from the sheer stench of the creature as they attempted to defend their loved ones.  The Akuryo grabbed the first closest person and gripped and held him in the air.  It screeched loudly, blowing the hair backwards of the man it held.  A bluish-white light glowed around the man and slowly transferred over to the Akuryo's body through its arms.  Moments later, the man slumped over with a sign of exhaustion.  The Akuryo tossed him like a rag doll, picked up a young woman, and repeated the process.  After a few minutes, a pile of dead bodies formed.
 

***


A delicious dinner was set before me.  Plates of eggs in different styles, scrambled, poached, sunny-side up, soft boiled, omelets loaded with veggies, over-easy eggs, hard boiled eggs, with bacon, sausages, toast and butter, waffles, French toast, steak, pancakes, hash browns, bagels with cream cheese, donuts and more.  I looked over at Nanoha, who's beaming with a smile. Chrono, meanwhile, looked overwhelmed as Amy began filling his plate with various food.

"Mom?  Why are we having breakfast for dinner?"

"Nanoha thought it would be a good idea to start our voyage home with a nice breakfast."  She replied.

"But, mom, this stuff usually is served in the morning."

"Fate-chan," Nanoha said calmly, "it is the most important meal of the day, and I'm sure we'll be needing as much energy as we can get for everything, I have planned for us."  I'm sure I caught a very quick wink from her eye.

"I think Nanoha is right.  Besides, I know you two will be busy studying too.  Right?"  Mom looked seriously at Nanoha and then me.

"Of course, Mom.  I –"

A moment later, there was a chime on the overhead speaker, and male's voice echoed, "Admiral to the Bridge.  Admiral to the Bridge."

Lindy stood up and gently smiled, seeing most of us becoming tense.

"I expect to see half of this food gone before I return."  Mom said and left the cafeteria.

I glanced at Chrono, who had stopped eating and looked concerned, along with Miss Amy.

"Maybe we should –" I said.

"Go ahead and try this, Fate-chan!  It's so delicious!"  Nanoha said as she dumped an omelet on my plate.  I glanced at her, and I knew she wore a smile for my benefit.  I had this feeling that something wasn't going to end well tonight.
 

***


"Admiral on the Bridge!" a crewman announced.

"Ma'am, a priority level One message from HQ."  An ensign reported.

"On main screen."  Lindy said.

"Ah, Admiral Harlaown.  I wish I didn't have to interrupt your current mission to Earth, but we have a serious problem."

"Councilman Greives.  It's been a while."  Lindy said.

"Ah, yes.  I see you're still holding a grudge."

"No."  Lindy replied, "No, there's no grudges here."  She smiled.  "How may we assist?", Lindy got right down to business.

"The planet Dueatone, is under attack by something calling itself the Akuryo.  The last reports were over two hours ago, and the message we received is very cryptic."  He paused.  "We need somebody to go out there and investigate what's going on, as well as to retrieve some valuable cargo.  And your ship is the closest to the area—"

"Councilman, with all due respect, with what your asking would be better handled by a military grade warship.  The Arthra doesn't have its full crew onboard, and I'm not about to risk the safety of my daughter.

"Fate Testarossa is aboard? ", Greives said.

"Yes, she is.  We are transporting her and her friend, Nanoha Takamachi, to Earth for a well-deserved vacation."

"The White Devil, is there too!?"

"Sir."  Lindy sighed.  "Her name is Nanoha Takamachi, or Miss Nanoha, or Cadet."

"Admiral Harlaown, given this new information, you are to change course immediately and perform this rescue mission.  That's an order."

"Sir..."

"Lindy.  Please.  Don't argue on this one.  There simply isn't time."

"You leave me no choice.  Expect my formal objection to the High Council."

"Thank you, Admiral."

"Helm, change course for the planet Dueatone.  Maximum speed." Lindy said, while glaring at the man on the screen in front of her.

"God's speed to you and your crew.  We're already sending reinforcements to assist you.  Head Quarters out."

The image vanished from the screen, and Lindy took a deep breath.

"Ensign, you alert me personally when we come within five parsecs of Dueatone. 
Lindy walked off the Bridge and marched straight for the cafeteria.  Pleasantries were over.
 

***


Jack O'Neil, Sam Carter, Daniel Jackson and Teal'C all walked into the briefing room, where General Hammond was sitting with his hands folded on the table in front of him.

"Be seated, please."  Hammond said as he stood up and pulled down a rolling map of terrain and extended a pointing stick.  "Your next mission will be to PX-3331 for a recon mission.   Based on reports from SG-5 and SG-9, the Goa'uld have been dropping a lot of materials there that could indicate that they plan to use the Star Gate to launch an invasion force to penetrate our defenses.  We need a more accurate estimation of what it is they're doing there."

"But sir, what's so special about PX-3331?"  Carter asked.

"That's what we need your team to figure out."  Hammond replied.

"This is most likely a trap."  Teal'C said calmly.

"Yeah, that sounds about right."  Jack said.

"Uh, I have a question.  If the Goa'uld are already there, how are we supposed to 'take a look' around?"  Daniel asked.

"We plan to send your PX-2918 first, then with some drones we've dropped there, you'll open the Gate to PX-3331, take a look around, and if it's determined safe, to land feet on the ground for a closer look." Hammond said.

"That makes sense.  PX-2918 is one of the closest Gates to PX-3331.  Travel time will be very short." Sam added.

"Alright, let's move people."  Hammond said as he collapsed his pointer stick.

Jack and the rest of the SG-1 team left the briefing room and went down to the armory. Ten minutes later, everybody reported to the Gate room.  Red chevrons already began illuminating as the large circle rotated around.

"Chevron Five encoded."  A male's voice echoed over the loudspeaker above.

"Alright.  Showtime."  Jack said, then straightened his green baseball cap on his head.  "Lock and load."

"Chevron Six encoded."

Teal'C's staff-end opened with a Sher-Zak sound, with a red energy charge traveling from the staff to the tip.  Daniel and Samantha cocked and readied their P-95s, then Sam lowered a pair of amber googles over her eyes.  The four commandos stood side by side and watched for the last Chevron to lock into place.

"Chevron Seven encoded."

The Star Gate came to life, as all the red lights flashed an intense red, while the center of the Star Gate flashed a brilliant white light, before shooting a 15-foot column of "water" towards the SG-1 team.  Seconds later, the blast of water quickly retreated and left a perfectly calm plane of still blue water.

"Alright.  Let' move out."  Jack said and walked right up the ramp and into the portal.
 

***


Lindy entered the cafeteria to see Fate buttering some toast, and Nanoha helping herself to some more bacon.  Amy and Chrono were relaxing listening to the girls' stories about life at the Academy.

"You know, it wasn't that long ago when we graduated."  Amy said quietly to Chrono and brushed her hand to his.  As Lindy approached, she hid a sly smile.

"Admiral, would you like me to heat up some of this wonderful food for you?"  A crewman asked politely.

"No thank you."  She said as she took her seat.

I had just finished buttering the toast and was ready to enjoy my first slice when the ship bounced gently, causing the toast to land butter-side down on the floor.

"Oh, um, excuse me."  I said, and I reached down to pick it up.  Immediately, an alarm blazed, and some of the lights turned red and began blinking.

"Breakfast is over."  Lindy said as she stood up, along with Chrono and Amy.  Nanoha and I watched for a couple of seconds as what had just happened sunk in.

"Come on, Nanoha."  Both of us stood up and jogged behind the others.  The toast remained on the floor.

As soon as we reached the bridge, I knew something was very wrong.  The tension was high, and the view-screen showed an event horizon in front of us.

"Admiral on deck!"  One of the crew members said as he noticed we were standing on the bridge.  Miss Lindy made her way to her chair.

"Amy."  Mis Lindy said.

"I'm on it"

Miss Amy went over to the View-Screen terminal along with Chrono following behind and began to sort through all the information.  A few moments later, Amy answered the question everybody on the ship was asking:

"Admiral, this is a level Two-dimensional rift."

"And that bump we felt, was us breaching the external layer of this Event Horizon."

"Helm.  All engines, full reverse!" Lindy said.

"Yes ma'am."  The helmsman said and pushed a few buttons on his console.  "Ma'am, the controls aren't reacting, although, engine status is reporting a full reverse thrust."

"Ma'am, we're still slowly approaching the Inner-Event Horizon.  We'll pass through it in about two hours." The other Helmsman reported.

"We're trapped."  Lindy said silently.  "Send a priority One secured message to HQ. – "This is the Arthra, sending an emergency distress signal.  We are approximately seven parsecs from Dueatone.  We are trapped within a Level-Two-dimensional rift.  We have lost all maneuverability and will be lost inside an Event Horizon with in two hours.  Please send any ships so we may evacuate the Arthra."
"Message sent."  Amy said.

Lindy pushed a button on her chair and the ship's PA system activated with a two-tone digital whistle sound. 
"Attention Arthra crew.  Battle stations.  This is not a drill, I repeat, battle stations.  This is not a drill."  Then she deactivated the PA and paged Engineering only.  "Chief Kuzo Rintsu, please report to the Bridge, immediately."
A few minutes later, Rintsu walked onto the Bridge.  Lindy stood up and guided him to her Briefing room.  She shut the door behind her.

"Rintsu, is there any way you can increase the engines output?"  Lindy said.

"Yeah.  I can give you about twenty-five more percent to the engines, however, I'll have to take the power from somewhere.  May I ask why?"

"We managed to get caught in a Level-Two dimensional rift and are slowly heading toward the Inner Event Horizon."
 
 

Favored Class:  Magical Girl