Lettuce+Rogue Bunny=Teaser

[Rieverre]

---

He has no such intention. ^_^

---

And we all know that this means exactly squat in this situation, what with how things snowball in often random directions. *evil chuckle*
On which note, when does ... damnit, I keep thinking about the guy as 'True Blunder of Fuuka Academy', and can't actually remember his bloody name. Kendo-guy with a crush on Natsuki. Yeah, his reactions should be interesting.

---

I'm stopping here because I just know she wouldn't give in that easy - and even otherwise she shouldn't, since that'd ruin her dramatic impact as a character - but I'm having a hard time figuring out the rest of her reaction because as soon as the Nao-in-my-head comes up with one, the rest of my brain pounces on the thing and tears its logic to shreds before I can write it down.

---

I want to hire that rest of your brain, then. The way mine works is far too much along the lines of 'Oooh, neat idea. Oooh, shiny! Now, letsuseitlesuseitletsuseit'.

---

Actually, as I tried to show, Nagi hasn't got a clue what's up with N!Tate, or why he should be important in the first place. Obviously he knows too much, but how? And what's he after?

---

*snickers imagining Nagi making elaborate mystical trap for N!Tate, whereupon the latter doesn't come by, but bombs the place with a mortart he'd swiped from invading Searrs troops*

---

As far as he's concerned, now that the Hime-sentai are known to and working with each other, he's nothing but a cheerleader!

---

Well, you know what they say: The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

---

I doubt it. They are likely out to get you.

---

For a given identity of 'they'.

---

I pulled the Frame into the garage, and directed it towards an empty parking slot. Parked. Dismounted.
Yamada had been worried about both dai Artai and Schwarz for a longer while now, from what I'd gathered from his own cryptic comments about the matter. It certainly gave more weight to his thoughts and speculations about their motives and actions.
I'd give the bits of hard data riding under my jacket in for analysis.
With the not insubstantial help of Juliet-ane-san, though she and hers didn't exactly know that, Black was slowly gaining more and more information on Schwarz agent presence within Windbloom. The results were nothing if not concerning, though.
For all my earlier pride in Black's achievements and our analysts and information gathering network, the sheer volume of Schwarz infiltration was far beyond merely being significant.
It was downright scary.
Well spread out, too. From high nobility, to to the average Joe on the street, they didn't really seem to discriminate.
"Well, we knew it wasn't going to be a cakewalk when we got started," I muttered, unlatching the heavy riding jacket and removing the helmet.
The analyst work spaces were, as always, in a sort of organized chaos. The two floors right above the workshop had had part of the floor between them removed, several double height whiteboards and wooden stands with pictures pinned to them now occupying most of that space. Rigs chirped away on whatever they were working on here and there, and people with far too much coffee in them to be commonly accepted as healthy were wandering to and fro or buried in mountains of written reports and other hardcopy information.
Snagging a styrofoam cup of still steaming coffee from the one long table someone had converted into an impromptu bar-space, I made through the bustle without getting as much as a glance most of the time.
Honestly, it warmed my cold little black heart every time I saw it.
Single cubicle offices where most of the compiling got done were spaced along the outside of the hall-like chamber. I knocked on one, heard a vaguely affirmative grunt from the inside, and went in.
I'd never been quite sure whether the creative mess that covered most of the analysis department spaces was just an extension of that in this room, or if this was simply distilled essence of the same in a much smaller area.
Be that as it may, the figure hunched over ... well, it could have been the remains of a Rig, it could have been a random assortment of parts thrown together just to see what they did, it could have been the beginning of cold fusion research ...
Pleasenowe'realltooyoungtodie!
If nothing else, my life up to this point had given me a healthy appreciation of just what sort of threat rating should be applied to tiny, machine obsessed asian women.
Ahem.
"Any chance of tearing you away from that in the next couple of minutes?"
"Wha ...? Oh! Boss, I didn't hear you come in!" the woman spun, startled.
I was at the stage of dearly hoping that whatever she'd been working on didn't have the potential to turn explosive. Apparently, it didn't, since the bits she'd fumbled met floor without anything beside a slight crunch.
I gave the parts a look.
"Umm ... well, I was sort of inspired, and you were resting in the workshop, and ..." Miyuki Kobayakawa was both a truly talented engineer, and one of the best analysts we had. She also had the unfortunate tendency to get sidetracked into little projects when an idea struck her. Hence the ... rig, toaster ... err ... whatever it was.
"I'll pretend I didn't notice anything wrong," I shrugged. As long as the quality of work being delivered didn't suffer, and it hadn't, setting up a private workshop in her assigned analyst workspace wasn't really something I'd have her taken to task over.
"So, did you, err ... yeah, what did you need, boss?"
"Take a look at this and split it up between the others," I handed her the message tube that Yamada had given me at the end of our meeting. "Oh, and any idea where Ren is right now?"
"Err ... maybe," she frowned cutely. "I think Turippu-san was here an hour or so ago to look over what sort of progress we were making with getting some more data on the Cardair situation."
I bid her goodbye and started looking for my errant aide.
***
Ren Turippu spent a moment just standing in the garage, waiting for the whine of mini-turbines of the Frame to die out in his ears.
His boss had come and grabbed him from the middle of a research session - something he was doing increasingly more and more often in lieu of his usual message runs - dragged him into an empty cubicle, and dropped a bombshell on him.
"I'm heading off on a little fact finding expedition. Shouldn't take too long, but there's always a chance that it stretches. You've got seniority and you know how to do the job, so you're in charge until I get back."
Just like that.
Yes, Ren was pretty confident that he could manage. Hell, even do well. It wasn't that which was bothering him. It wasn't even the moderately freaky ... and considering who he worked for, that was saying something ... woman Katz had introduced him briefly to the day before. There was something about that woman's handshake which had just felt off, not to mention - yes, he definitely didn't and wouldn't mention - the fact that here was yet another person whose eyes were of a shade that could not be natural.
Still, that wasn't quite what had him momentarily poleaxed.
"Just try not to leak too much information, yes? As much as I'm fond of Aries, we do have to pay our bills, not to mention our people."
Ren Turippu, nee Chrysant, second cousin of President Yukino Chrysant and one of her most trusted - if momentarily absent for an extended period of time - advisors, sighed.
And even despite that ...?
He shook his head, finally breaking out of the stupor before he could fall prey to 'what ifs' and 'maybes' again.
If Katz was willing to continue with business as usual, despite the little fact of who he occasionally reported to ... well, Ren was willing to play along, at least until Katz got back from wherever it was he'd just gone off to.
Something told him he wouldn't have very much of a future left if he didn't.

---

Again, honest politician doesn't mean stupid politician.
Edit: 100. 100? One-Hundred? Wow. Okay, this is going better than I'd expected it to. Let's hope we can keep it up.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[ordnance11]

None of the HIME has asked how OLD mentally N-Tate actually is. There is a huge gap from a 16 year old to a 20 something. Unless it's in his notes.
It seemd to be in genre that middle and high school girls are attracted to college level guys..or at least those who act mature. Look at Reito's popularity in the campus.
My take on Nao is that she may decide N-Tate is going to be her special project...*snicker*
As for N-Tate being a hypocrite...being a 20 something stuck in a teen's body doesn't mean your mindset has changed overnight.

---

On which note, when does ... damnit, I keep thinking about the guy as 'True Blunder of Fuuka Academy', and can't actually remember his bloody name. Kendo-guy with a crush on Natsuki. Yeah, his reactions should be interesting.

---

The guy's name is Takeda...as for him pulling a Kuno...especially after the lingerie episode...well, Takeda seemed to regard the original Tate highly since he kept bugging Reito to have Tate released from the council and back to the kendo club. If it looks like Shizuru is seen being around N-Tate too much...would he see it as act of betrayal?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Valles]

---

None of the HIME has asked how OLD mentally N-Tate actually is. There is a huge gap from a 16 year old to a 20 something. Unless it's in his notes.

---

Midori will. And no, it wasn't something he was worried about forgetting...

---

My take on Nao is that she may decide N-Tate is going to be her special project...*snicker*

---

*whistles innocently, hands behind his back*

---

As for N-Tate being a hypocrite...being a 20 something stuck in a teen's body doesn't mean your mindset has changed overnight.

---

I'm not following - what he's thinking is that it's hypocritical of him to decide that Nao (age 14) is too young but Mai (age 15) is all right when he just turned 22 around Easter...
Ja, -n
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[ordnance11]

---

I'm not following - what he's thinking is that it's hypocritical of him to decide that Nao (age 14) is too young but Mai (age 15) is all right when he just turned 22 around Easter...

---

So N-Tate is attracted to girls with certain physical characteristics...doesn't mean your a hypocrite..it means you're human...and a male. Lolita seductresses isn't just N-Tate's bag.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Valles]

---

So N-Tate is attracted to girls with certain physical characteristics...doesn't mean your a hypocrite..it means you're human...and a male. Lolita seductresses isn't just N-Tate's bag.

---

ITYM, 'just aren't'... and it just doesn't sit right with me that a strictly physical feeling should be able to affect a moral judgement to that degree.
*shrug* Anyway, I do have a bit written, but have decided to insert a new scene in front of it. Since I have class in about *checks* twenty minutes, including mid-term in same, you're going to have to be patient, I'm afraid.
Ja, -n
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[ordnance11]

---

ITYM, 'just aren't'... and it just doesn't sit right with me that a strictly physical feeling should be able to affect a moral judgement to that degree.

---

*small chuckle*
I'm going to forgo my rant about you just getting to the point about what Western civilization is all about.
I am going to say that N-Tate is a good egg for being aware of it. And find an "onee-san" he can talk it over with, if it bothers him that much. Which "onee-san" (two spring to mind) is up to him.

---

*shrug* Anyway, I do have a bit written, but have decided to insert a new scene in front of it. Since I have class in about *checks* twenty minutes, including mid-term in same, you're going to have to be patient, I'm afraid.

---

hope you do well..
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[ordnance11]

just finished episode 8...
damm...now there's an event that needs to be avoided. The funny thing is that Nagi would probably thank N-Tate for it. Talk about irony.
But what would be the consequences? Should N-Tate even interfere? And would Sears thank him for it?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Valles]

---

On which note, when does ... damnit, I keep thinking about the guy as 'True Blunder of Fuuka Academy', and can't actually remember his bloody name. Kendo-guy with a crush on Natsuki. Yeah, his reactions should be interesting.

---

Takeda. Yeah, now that you've put it in mind I'm rather looking forwards to that - especially since, unless I'm greatly mistaken, Tate is actually the senior Kendo student on campus... In canon he'd retired due to injuries, of course (both continuities - in the anime he'd hurt his leg), but here, their nature was rather different.

---

Well, you know what they say: The best-laid plans of mice and men often go awry.

---

*dark laugh* You have no clue.

---

Fortunately, I seemed to have convinced her, since after that she just made a couple of snippy comments then flounced out of sight.
By the time I had hit the ground floor, though, I was rather wishing she had stayed.
Shiho was standing under the tree in front of the dorm's entrance, fiddling aimlessly with the bookbag she was holding in front of her legs. I was the only person I could think of that she might be waiting for, and then only if she was of a mind to at least set aside our argument the night before last.
Honestly it wasn't a conversation I was looking forward to - I didn't have the energy for it, especially after having to deal with Nao's worldview first thing in the morning - but it was one that needed to happen, between the chance of convincing her to act her age and the fact that, frankly, I owed it to her given that I was even there to talk. "Hey, Shiho," I said softly.
She looked up. "Hey... Yuuichi."
Wait, she called me what? "How are you feeling?" Yes, yes, I know it was a lame opener. I never claimed to be smooth.
"Okay... I've been thinking." She took a deep breath, bracing herself, then met my eyes. "You're not my onii-chan at all, are you?"
I shook my head slowly. "No. I'm not... though I'd... be happy to be a brother."
She nodded, and we spent the rest of the walk in silence.
* * * * *
Fuuka Academy survival tip number nine: Do Not Pet Happy Fun Freaky Monster. No matter how cute it might or might not look, attempting to snuggle up and get friendly with an Orphan is a bad idea.
In my own defense, however, I will note that I did no such thing. It didn't make any difference in the long run, of course, but for what it's worth, I treated the Lingere Critter with all the same respect and caution I'd have given its larger, merged form.
In short, I took one look and ran like hell.
Even so, I wasn't expecting a creature whose primary interests had been shown as eating lingere and molesting schoolgirls - in that order - to take it into its wierd-ass mutant-frog head to launch itself at my throat.
Fortunately, the angle it was coming at me put my left arm in its way rather than my right - if I was going to have to have a limb torn to shreds, that was the one I'd likely miss least, after all. I guess I was swatting at it fast enough that it didn't have time to react and actually bite, for which small favor I offer due thanks to the heavens, but the claws it raked along my forearm trying to get a grip were more than enough to gouge bone-deep.
Of course I screamed. Natsuki must have already been nearby - from the looks of things, she had chasing it for a while, and Mikoto and Nao were hot on her heels, looking faintly puzzled and one step short of berserk, respectively.

---

Boy, he's just having a heck of a week, isn't he? Two serious injuries in as many days...
Ja, -n
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[ordnance11]

*Solve one headache and another one pops up*

---

In short, I took one look and ran like hell.
Even so, I wasn't expecting a creature whose primary interests had been shown as eating lingere and molesting schoolgirls - in that order - to take it into its wierd-ass mutant-frog head to launch itself at my throat.
Fortunately, the angle it was coming at me put my left arm in its way rather than my right - if I was going to have to have a limb torn to shreds, that was the one I'd likely miss least, after all. I guess I was swatting at it fast enough that it didn't have time to react and actually bite, for which small favor I offer due thanks to the heavens, but the claws it raked along my forearm trying to get a grip were more than enough to gouge bone-deep.

---

Nagi's doing...I guess he plans to cut N-Tate one piece at a time.

---

Of course I screamed. Natsuki must have already been nearby - from the looks of things, she had chasing it for a while, and Mikoto and Nao were hot on her heels, looking faintly puzzled and one step short of berserk, respectively.

---

So...more than one of them was a flasher?....lol!
Can't be Mikoto..she's clueless about things like that.

---

Boy, he's just having a heck of a week, isn't he? Two serious injuries in as many days...

---

Unless he has mad healing skilz, he won't last the rest of the semester.

Edit: Seriously, Natasuki and Nao together is like propane gas and air..all you need is a spark. God help those in between those two if they decide to get down and dirty.
BTW, since Nagi has made his appearance, when is the chairman going to pay N-Tate (or vice versa) a visit? Since those two do communicate with each other, I found it hard to believe that Nagi hadn't told her yet about the new player moving the pieces.
Since Afro-sensei hasn't found out yet about N-Tate's movements, I wonder how long before they figure it out? And how long before they send Miyu to visit n-Tate?
I don't think Mai has manifested per powers yet, hasn't she? (no need to do so...yet)
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Florin]

Rather interesting, both of them, although the Otome one has now gone beyond my knowledge of canon.
I feel sorry for N!Tate though. First he's got to try and wrangle a bunch of high school girls who range from Quirky (I had this very odd flash of Midori stuffing Tate into a tuxedo and mask and demanding he make encouraging remarks during all thier battles), to outright insane ("No Shizuru, I can explain why I was lying on top of a naked Natsuki, honest! It's not what it looks like!"). Then he's got to deal with a meglomanical choir girl and her killer android/private army, and the creepy monster summoning midget.
The main problem I see for him though, is that his plan is tell the HiME what's going on and hoping for the best, but he's up against a group (or groups) used to manipulating events on a global scale. After all, what would happen if they assasinated say... Haruka and framed Yukariko (who N!Tate knows is a weak willed person who can be pushed into doing bad things). Not only would they sow distrust and fear, but they'd also elimnate one of the more dangerous (on a strategic level) HiME's.
And wow, I used way to many brackets in this post...--
Oh, what has science wrought? I sought only to turn a man into a metal-encased juggernaught of destruction powered by the unknown properties of a mysterious living crystal. How could this have all gone wrong?
--
If you become a monster to put down a monster you've still got a monster running around at the end of the day and have as such not really solved the whole monster problem at all. 

[Valles]

Ordnance:

---

So...more than one of them was a flasher?....lol!

---

Given what happened to her mother, I figure Nao's a lot touchier about having liberties taken than her usual demeanor would suggest - not so much 'cause she objects to the act itself (I can't see that considering some of the stuff she pulls in the manga) as because she's, well, almost obsessed with having complete control over the whole process. Which is why 'Tate' gets under her skin - between his cultural background, his age, and most especially his insight into her personality, none of the tried-and-true tactics she's used to even make him do more than blush, and it frustrates the hell out of her.

---

Edit: Seriously, Natasuki and Nao together is like propane gas and air..all you need is a spark. God help those in between those two if they decide to get down and dirty.

---

A spark like giving them something to compete over? Especially if both of them are still in denial at the time...

---

BTW, since Nagi has made his appearance, when is the chairman going to pay N-Tate (or vice versa) a visit? Since those two do communicate with each other, I found it hard to believe that Nagi hadn't told her yet about the new player moving the pieces.

---

That's due fairly soon - not sure when. Not until after he comes down off the morphine, though. (Or would the hospital use something different? I don't plan to be specific, but it'd be nice to know...)

---

I don't think Mai has manifested per powers yet, hasn't she? (no need to do so...yet)

---

I expect the Lingere Critter to make a play for Akira at some point - and, of course, guess who that puts in the crossfire. ^_^
Florin:

---

I feel sorry for N!Tate though. First he's got to try and wrangle a bunch of high school girls who range from Quirky (I had this very odd flash of Midori stuffing Tate into a tuxedo and mask and demanding he make encouraging remarks during all thier battles), to outright insane ("No Shizuru, I can explain why I was lying on top of a naked Natsuki, honest! It's not what it looks like!"). Then he's got to deal with a meglomanical choir girl and her killer android/private army, and the creepy monster summoning midget.

---

"Oi, Sentai-onna! Stop yakking and kill the fucker!"
...er, no.
*snickers as Ideas are planted for Stoned!Tate's conversation with Shizuru*

---

The main problem I see for him though, is that his plan is tell the HiME what's going on and hoping for the best, but he's up against a group (or groups) used to manipulating events on a global scale. After all, what would happen if they assasinated say... Haruka and framed Yukariko (who N!Tate knows is a weak willed person who can be pushed into doing bad things). Not only would they sow distrust and fear, but they'd also elimnate one of the more dangerous (on a strategic level) HiME's.

---

*pats Florin on the head* It's cute, the way you think small like that.
^_^
Ja, -n
(who has plans for SEARRS. oh yes. he does.)
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[katreus]

o.O
Small...
Btw, for those who were comparing sizes, I was randomly looking up images and found this.

---

A spark like giving them something to compete over? Especially if both of them are still in denial at the time...

---

Not in denial
Possible resolution o.O?

[ordnance11]

---

A spark like giving them something to compete over? Especially if both of them are still in denial at the time...

---

I foresee massive property damage in the near future in and around campus. And someone gets a reputation.

---

That's due fairly soon - not sure when. Not until after he comes down off the morphine, though. (Or would the hospital use something different? I don't plan to be specific, but it'd be nice to know...)

---

Aleh would be the one to talk to, but oxycontin would be the painkiller of choice..no addictive properties (i.e. no craving)...physical dependence yes...the dosage will have to cut back gradually...and it's time released..crush or chew the tablet and you get a case of poisoning.

---

I expect the Lingere Critter to make a play for Akira at some point - and, of course, guess who that puts in the crossfire. ^_^

---

Takumi is gonna put two and two together and realize his roomie is a she at that point.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Bob Schroeck]

---

Btw, for those who were comparing sizes, I was randomly looking up images and found this.

---

I really wish you'd warned me that that was borderline NSFW...

-- Bob
---------
For Jor-El so loved the Earth, he sent his only begotten son...

[Rieverre]

Florin: Don't worry, it's gone beyond my knowledge of canon as well, and I'm the guy writing it.
Tjalorak: Well, that explains things _quite_ nicely. Thanks for the visual aid.
Nate: I am most definitely looking forward to the Stoned!N-Tate/Shizuru conversation. She'll either kill him, blackmail him, or try to 'adopt' him.
As for the thinking small thing? *chuckles* We're talking, in part, about Searrs. You know, they who blow up bridges and bring in a private freakin' _ARMY_, complete with aircraft carriers and such, into the game just to make a bloody point.
Not to mention the 33-C and orbital particle projection cannon ... *blink* er, wrong story. Anyway, yeah ... they can be subtle, but they're just as likely to go the other way.

---

It was a dark and stormy night.
No, really.
It was.
Two weeks ago, when I'd been in the process of riding a Frame out of Windbloom and heading for the Lutetian border with all due speed, I wasn't expecting things to take me quite this far away from the initial site.
After arriving, I'd set up camp and rested during the day. The plan had been to search the area at night, set up on a decent lookout spot for the day, and see what came out. With Schwarz's fondness for using Slaves there was a fair chance I'd sense something before I saw it, or so I thought.
Not quite right, as it turned out, but not exactly wrong either.
The first time I became aware of it was on the third day after I'd arrived there. The signature was faint, and fleeting, and normally I wouldn't have paid it much attention, but it was the first thing I'd sensed that even remotely reminded me of what a Materialization felt like. And again, it was very much unlike it, since neither Robe nor Slave popped into and out of existence again every few seconds.
It only lasted for five or so minutes, but that had given me enough time to at least get an idea of the direction these ripples were coming from.
Over the next two days, there were two further occasions when this occured, and judging by the growing strength of the ripple I'd say I was getting
closer to the cause.
I didn't find one, exactly.
Not quite so unexpected were the dead bodies and crippled vehicles of a Romulus border patrol I ran into on the second day of my following the bursts. The ice spike that ran through one of those vehicles, armor and all, was new though.
The ice was already melting, and at a visible rate, when I arrived, though. Meaning I'd gotten pretty close.
The ripple that was suddenly almost freakin' on top of me was not warning enough even if this time, pinpointing where it had come from was all too easy.
Then I was too busy hurting from multiple puncture wounds, as the Frame unbalance due to the huge fucking spike of ice that was suddenly stuck clear through it, top to bottom. Oh, and also stuck clear through my chest.
It was there and then that I once again became very, very grateful for the fact that the body I occupied most of the time was just a shell made to mimic a human one. Had I still been human, this sort of thing would have killed me. If not the puncture, then the intense _cold_.
As it was, my body wound down to the level of a biological automaton, and I had it fall limp as a puppet with its strings cut as the Frame finally keeled over, dug into the sand, and became so much mangled scrapmetal.
I waited for half an hour like that, the connection my Core maintained with it barely enough to let its senses function. I lay in wait. Sadly, also in vain.
After I was sure nobody was watching, I expanded my consciousness into the body again, focusing my AT Field to sever and remove the ice. Then I dragged myself from the still intact crash cage, and concentrated on healing my injuries.
Luckily, the regenerative properties of anything containing Angel DNA were relatively easy to activate.
I first crawled, then stumbled, then managed to actually walk in the direction I'd been attacked from. A bit of climbing had me on a stone shelf overlooking the scene of destruction below, and examining the scuffed but still visible footprints.
If the weather kept up, sand would cover those up in a matter of hours.
Didn't really matter all that much, since I could see, ever so faintly, signs of motion in the distance.
"Thank you, pretty little angel eyes," I snickered into the darkness.
Going back down let me see that I'd healed enough to move without any problems. I hauled the emergency pack out from under what was left of the Frame's seat, and trekked up to the shelf again.
I stood, turned, reached out ...
The Frame's remains crumpled, between two shifting planes of faintly visible hexagons, before I expanded the Field down and out. A few minutes later nothing of my destroyed ride was visible, since it now rested around half a dozen meters underground.
Then I frowned. Concentrated. Let my Field unfold behind me, making it as unobtrusive as possible.
The commonly known hexagonal manifestations of an AT Field's presence aren't the Field itself, you see. Rather, they're the energy caught by the Field that bleeds into the visual spectrum as a result of the interaction. The shining golden wings are actually the result of an interacton with 'local' electromagnetic fields.
Right now, barely a glimmer of amber slithered along their leading edges, which I'd expanded to many times their usual size. Normally, this would be overkill.
I wasn't about to make myself into a handy and obvious nightlight, though, so rather than, metaphorically, sticking the extensions deep into the flow of the planet's natural energy fields, I merely had them ... 'trail along the surface' would be a good way of saying it.
Slower? Yes. But also far less obtrusive.
And yes, I was ever so glad I'd figured out how to phase them through things, since otherwise the pack on my back would have been so much confetti right then.
This time, nobody noticed me following them. Not that they were really trying, I realized a day later after finding a place to lie low during daylight hours. It looked like they were on the move, and judging by the map and compass in the pack, they weren't heading for Artai.
They were heading for Aries.
'They' being a kind of desert vehicle I'd not seen on Earl until then. Low, long, wide, and skirting the sands - literally - the hovercraft left surprisingly little dust in its wake. Something the Frames had yet to manage well enough, since they were usually bloody obvious during the day. For all that, it was also quite large. I'd bet anything there was around as much room inside as there was in the trailer of a large truck.
I kept with them, making up distance at night. The air became steadily less and less dry, the vegetation more and more prevalent.
When they finally stopped, we'd reached the ocean, and the area was slowly getting lush with forest and underbrush.
That night, the confusing dreams of a shadow shrouded yet somehow still glaringly bright red moon that I'd been having ever since I'd lost the Frame were replaced with something else.
... waking to saltwater lapping at my face ... burning ache as muscles struggle with the tide ... bleeding fingers dragging my body ashore, front rubbing against rocky beach ... bandages ... soft covers ... faces ... familiarity and alienation at the same time ... nothing is as it should benothingisasitshouldbenothingisas ...
It had been disturbing in ways I couldn't quite put my finger on, the obvious ones aside.
A day later. Yesterday.
I woke up to the sensation of RobesMaterializing in the distance.
'Isn't there some sort of survival excercise that Garderobe usually holds in Aries?'
For a moment, I thought the hovercraft missing, before I spotted its bulk covered in woodland cammo netting.
Motion at the edge of the smallish clearing drew my eyes, and I brought the binoc goggles around my neck up.
A Flea - a small hoverbike type that I'd swiped the mini-turbine designs to put into the Frames from - slewed to a stop right beside the disguised craft. The person who dismounted, thought ...
'Paydirt,' I thought as John Smith, the front man of Schwarz, made his way to the large vehicle.
By then, I was praying to whoever happened to be listening in hope that the binocs' image capture still worked, despite their mildly beat-up state.
When Smith took off again a few hours later, back the way he'd come, I briefly contemplated sticking around. Then I realized he was heading in roughly the direction I'd felt the Materialization ripples come from.
That, and the fact that the skies were taking on a decidedly overcast look, and twilight seemed like it was going to come early today, sealed the deal.
I made my way back from the rise I'd taken position on, taking to the air on the opposite side from where Schwarz's people had set up shop, then circling around whilst still keeping low enough to not be spotted through the relatively thick tree cover.
Sadly, it was about five minutes into this that I realized the tree cover was also effectively stopping me from seeing any signs of Smith.
And then I picked up the Robe signatures yet again, along with the faint but still visible shapes flitting through the air in the distance. I should count myself lucky that my eyesight adjusted as well as it did - part of the whole Adam package adaptability deal I'm guessing - and seemed more acute than that of even the enhanced Otome. Then again, those enhancements I'd seen in action were mainly focused on combat, not detection.
Still, I went to ground. Better safe than sorry.
It looked like I'd stumbled across something here, with Smith in the area, and the Otome about. What, though? I didn't know, but I'd sure as hell wanted to find out.
Which had me trekking through forested mountainous terrain to avoid the eyes in the sky ...
... I used to love hiking, so things weren't as problematic as I'd initially made them out, though I did sort of wish I still had either my Frame or even a Flea.
This was yesterday. Or a few hours ago. Take your pick.
And I did run across something interesting, though not in the way I'd initially planned.
Mercy. Heh. Gabriel had reminded me not to lose it. The reminder had been both a blessing, and a curse at times. Then again, those two words often meant the same thing.
Which, I think, explained what I was doing here and now.
Sort of.
Wet.
Cold.
Rain slamming against my back and face as I glided through the storm on Field-fed wings, heading along the shoreline and for the lights far ahead.
I could feel the heat of the bundle I'd wrapped in my runner's jacket - holed and bloodied though it may have been it was still good protection against the elements - and it didn't fill me with confidence.
I'd literally stumbled across the hollow tree she'd been put inside. A blonde girl wrapped in what looked like a Garderobe issue sleeping bag, the heat of heavy fever almost tangibly hanging over her. The packs and supplies, all in twos aside from a single water flask, meant that she'd not come out here alone, and that whoever she was with had gone to get help.
Things had looked grim, though. She was fighting the fever, I could tell that much, but it didn't look very promising.
The fever also didn't look to be natural. I didn't know exactly what the nanomachines inside an Otome, even a Garderobe student like this obviously was, did. I could bet they augmented the body's healing, though.
If it wasn't natural, though ...
... cursing silently. My other leg came down on its middle, crushing the body against rocky ground. Damn. Poison didn't work on me, but the bite of the damn bugger still hurt. Figures. I go to an alien world, and of all the possible things, I get bitten by a ...
That had been a day or so prior, when I'd still been trailing the hovercraft and too busy with not being noticed that I nearly stepped on a snake.
At a guess ... Well, no. No real need to guess.
I didn't often expand my Field to interact with those of other people. Memory bleeds were useful sometimes, but more often than not the result was just an onslaught of information that didn't really amount to very much in the end. Still, some of the less useful side effects were that this let the person doing the expanding ... synchronize, sort of, with the person the Field was being expanded around.
The sudden feeling of heat, dizzyness, and other bleed-over effects of the fever were easy to shrug off for me. The flare of pain in the right ankle - the opposite of the leg I'd been bitten on - was not.
I'd snapped my Field back, wishing I'd learned how to stimulate a human body's natural healing. Angel bodies were very similar, but still sufficiently different in that regard that me trying to use that method would have resulted in ... well, either a pool of orange goo, or the girl's mind being flash fried. I think. I wasn't even going to think about what kind of feedback would happen, and what that would do to me.
My pack, which was almost empty now, provided a temporary solution. I wasn't really sure if it would do much good. The antiven Black's runners have in their packs' emergency medkit is mostly good for countering a bite or poisoning in the early stages.
It was better than nothing, though ...
Not much, as it turned out.
By midnight, the fever was no longer rising, but held steady. And the antiven doses seemed far less effective than advertised.
Later, I'd find out that the girl's nanomachines were breaking the antiven down faster than it could become fully effective as well as countering what they could of the venom - which was part of why she was still alive.
There and then, though, things didn't look all that good ...
Mercy is a funny thing that way.
I think what sealed my decision was when she'd started crying and calling out for someone called 'Nina'.
'Gabe, I don't know whether I should curse you or thank you,' I thought, swooping down towards the lights below.
Smith could wait.
Or so I hoped.

---

*shrugs* I like her, she's bouncy. Among other things.
-Griever
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[katreus]

---

I really wish you'd warned me that that was borderline NSFW...

---

Sorry! I'll make sure to do that next time. :/
Edit: Erstin saving! Good thing in my book -- although that'll draw...mmm... unwanted attention to Black from both Shizuru and Co. and Nagi.
Edit2: Another possible result (no warnings but pretty funny)

[ordnance11]

---

Nate: I am most definitely looking forward to the Stoned!N-Tate/Shizuru conversation. She'll either kill him, blackmail him, or try to 'adopt' him.

---

So...adopting him is the worse case scenario?

---

It was a dark and stormy night.

---

How...Bronte. *snicker*
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Valles]

---

I am most definitely looking forward to the Stoned!N-Tate/Shizuru conversation. She'll either kill him, blackmail him, or try to 'adopt' him.

---

Adopt him? Like how?

---

As for the thinking small thing? *chuckles* We're talking, in part, about Searrs. You know, they who blow up bridges and bring in a private freakin' _ARMY_, complete with aircraft carriers and such, into the game just to make a bloody point.

---

Entirely true - but {SPOILER DELETED}...
...Never mind.

---

---

I don't remember too much of what happened after the Orphan jumped me - I had bigger things on my mind at the time, understand - but about the time I was discovering the wonders of the emergency health care system, quite a number of the 'canon' relationships were taking an abrupt turn for deep left field.
The biggest surprise was Akane. It just didn't seem like something she'd have been capable of... but I'm getting ahead of myself.
Something none of the fictional material I'd seen had gone into was why a particular HiME ended up with a given Element - once I'd discussed it with the girls, though, it seemed fairly clear: an Element's design and abilities are guided and decided by the HiME herself, based on the weapon with which she was most comfortable.
Despite her inoffensive personality, Akane was a quite skilled practitioner of several different martial arts - most notably an Okinawan one whose name I never learned. While her family wasn't anywhere near as involved in the whole Festival cycle as, say, Akira or Shizuru's, there were apparently still enough family legends for her HiME mark to be recognized as roughly what it was. They weren't, she told me later, taken seriously enough for her parents to try and force her into practicing combat skills, but the connection with her heritage had been enough to make her genuinely interested in the matter - though not so seriously as she would become after her powers began to manifest.
The security video I got a look at eventually had full sound as well as color video - it was poor quality, so the only reason you could hear the door opening into the largish room in the Academy's athletic center where Akane had been waiting was the way it echoed off of the hardwood floor, but still quite clear.
"'Multiplly Intelligential Yggdrasil Unit'... That's what you are, right?"
"How do you know that?" Miyu shot back as she walked into the frame, sounding even colder than she usually did.
"I'm not going to tell you," Akane answered, then bent down and pulled something out of the bag lying at her feet. I had to pause the video and squint for a couple seconds before I could make out that they were a pair of police batons. "And I'm afraid that I can't let myself become your guinea pig. What that'd cost those precious to me... I can't allow it." Her voice had been rather hard, harsh - determined - but as she settled into what was unmistakably a combat stance it softened, became almost pleading. "You understand? If it were you - and Alyssa?"
"Yes," Miyu said after a moment. "Perfectly."
In animation her sword-materialization trick looks pretty neat - all slick and fast and stuff. In real life, it's fucking disturbing.

---

---

I'm going to keep working on the actual fight scene, but that's too cruel a stopping point to pass up. ^_^
And blondies a sweetheart, yeah.
Ja, -n
("Wau! Puru-puru Ers-chan no oppai nitai!")
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[ordnance11]

---

"I'm not going to tell you," Akane answered, then bent down and pulled something out of the bag lying at her feet. I had to pause the video and squint for a couple seconds before I could make out that they were a pair of police batons. "

---

I believe what Akane would be using would be a pair of side-handle batons, if it was security equipment or a pair of tonfas.
www.tonfas.com/tonfas.com/
So she decided to strike first? Dammit..she's going up against the equivalent of a 33-C boomer! Even with the element of surprise, it's still a long shot..if she's going up against Miyu. If she dies or get hurt badly...I'm gonna be pissed!
Edit: This is so unexpected of her...then again, I'm betting Sears is also surprised. So..Sears is aware that someone else knows more than them..especially since their primary task is to identify all 12 HIME's. How long before they track it back and take steps?
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Rieverre]

... specifically, the one where Big Dog was acting all romantic with a hamster, and they pulled a whole 'John and Marsha' scene. It was funny. No, really.
As for the adoption thing? Mostly, I just added that to be quirky, but I could see her making him a protegee of sorts.
Haruka: Damnit, the buzuzuke-onna is stealing my minions!
Certainly, she's HELL ON WHEELS with a naginata, which I seem to remember as the weapon of choice of an avatar of yours, ja?
-Griever
will post next bit after he's done some rewatching and ... err ... y'know, got some sleep? Which even I need sometimes.
When tact is required, use brute force. When force is required, use greater force.
When the greatest force is required, use your head. Surprise is everything. - The Book of Cataclysm

[ordnance11]

---

As for the adoption thing? Mostly, I just added that to be quirky, but I could see her making him a protegee of sorts.
Haruka: Damnit, the buzuzuke-onna is stealing my minions!

---

Especially if it involves Natsuki....this can go in so many directions.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[Valles]

---

I believe what Akane would be using would be a pair of side-handle batons, if it was security equipment or a pair of tonfas.

---

Yeah, that's the thing I had in mind - I guess I'm young enough that the simple straight type of club never comes to mind for that term, and I specifically didn't want her using a martial arts version because I think it would have detracted from the impact of how serious she is about this.

---

Edit: This is so unexpected of her...then again, I'm betting Sears is also surprised. So..Sears is aware that someone else knows more than them..especially since their primary task is to identify all 12 HIME's. How long before they track it back and take steps?

---

*whistles innocently*
As for Miyu and Akane's relative combat potential... well, HiME are hardly ordinary humans, are they?

---

As for the adoption thing? Mostly, I just added that to be quirky, but I could see her making him a protegee of sorts.

---

I'm going to be basing the entire 'under the influence' scene off of my experience getting my wisdom teeth out, which basically boils down to, 'Whee! Happy happy babble juice!' This'd go real interestingly with some of the things I've got in mind. ^_^

---

Certainly, she's HELL ON WHEELS with a naginata, which I seem to remember as the weapon of choice of an avatar of yours, ja?

---

Maaa... True, but this whole 'injured arm' thing is one of those manga tie-ins I mentioned. He's not going to be using a two-handed weapon any time soon.
Ja, -n
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."

[ordnance11]

---

Yeah, that's the thing I had in mind - I guess I'm young enough that the simple straight type of club never comes to mind for that term, and I specifically didn't want her using a martial arts version because I think it would have detracted from the impact of how serious she is about this.

---

My father carried a straight baton in the course of his duties. Of course, if you're fighting a killer droid, my choice of tactics would had been a FAE bomb.
but then again..I'm a believer in victory.
__________________
Into terror!,  Into valour!
Charge ahead! No! Never turn
Yes, it's into the fire we fly
And the devil will burn!
- Scarlett Pimpernell

[VladimirTherin]

or a limpet mine. Or a wrecking magnet.

[Valles]

1 kg
400 m/s
20,000,000 newtons
3 cm^2
6.6 x 10^10 Pa
Heh.
===========

===============================================
"V, did you do something foolish?"
"Yes, and it was glorious."