The Arthra

[Senkusha]

Admiral Lindy Harlaown sat in her command chair, enjoying a freshly brewed cup of tea that Amy had just poured her.  Just as Lindy put her cup down on the desk in front of her, the ship's alarm blared overhead, a red Alert message flashed on the main console at the head of the Bridge.

"Captain, incoming transmission from HQ.", Amy announced and tapped a few keys on her keypad.  The image of middle aged man wearing a blue Temporal Space Administration Bureau uniform appeared.

"Admiral Harlaown, I must apologize to dispatch you like this, seeing as you just got back from your last mission, however, I've been ordered to scramble all Cruisers on an urgent mission to World 97--"

"Earth?", Lindy replied.

"Yes ma'am.  I know that you happen to be fairly knowledgeable about that world because of your daughter--"

"Fate's attending school there, along with Nanoha and Hayate.  What's going on?", Lindy's face became seriously stern.

"World 97 is experiencing an unusual astrological phenomenon that contains high levels of mana.  Impact of this material could cause localized dimensional distortions to occur.  The Administration has determined this to be a serious enough event to not take any chances, especially considering the presence of such young mages around the area.  Your orders are to--"

"Helm, set course, Earth, Speed level five."  Lindy ordered.

"Yes ma'am, all engines ahead flank speed."  A helmsman replied.  The Arthra momentarily shook as the engines roared to life.

"The Arthra will arrive on scene in approximately 18 hours, Major." Lindy said as she glanced up at the console screen.  "My daughter is down there, I'm not going to risk anything happening to her, or anybody else."

"That's understandable, Admiral.  You'll also be the commanding flag officer among the rest of the fleet, given not only your rank, but your experience with the area.  We'll keep you updated as we receive more information.  HQ out."

"I want all ground force squadron leaders to assemble in meeting room four within fifteen minutes.", Lindy said.

 

[Riko Kawasaki]

Lieutenant Riko Kawasaki stared at his cards. Inside he smiled. Finally, a winning hand. He'll be able to pay off his laundry debt to Miho. He glanced at the pile of credits on the table. Yes, sizeable it was. Watsubi and Densuki already folded. It was just between Bozuki and Riko's three-of-a-kind.

"I think ya're bluffing, Ree." Bozuki said in between chewing his bubble gum.

"What if I am?", Riko said dangerously. "And I've told you to stop calling me Ree."

"Tell ya what Ree," Juniro said smiling up Riko, "ya win a hand, and I'll call ya whatever ya want."

Riko growled under his breath.

"Ready to lose, again Ree?"

"I'm winning this time."

"On three then."

Riko swallowed hard, he knew he just had to win!

"One ..."

The camera panned from Riko to Bozuki and back.

"Two ..."

The room was silent with anticipation. Riko glanced between his cards and Bozuki. It was almost as if life was moving in slow motion. Riko studied his opponent's lips, and felt his body tighten as Bozuki's lips parted. Sweat began to form with excitement on Riko's forehead. This was it, the moment of truth!

"Thr--"

"Attention all crew, attention all crew. Ground force Indigo-Five, Indigo-Six, and Indigo-Nine report to the Briefing Room immediately. Repeating, ground crew Indigo..", the PA speaker above Riko blared.

"Ah! NOOOOO!", Riko exclaimied as everybody started shuffling around the lounge.

"Better luck next time, Ree." Bozuki said, smiling as he stood up. He tossed his cards down onto the table, scattering them. All he had was a pair of sevens.

"Damnit! I won!", Riko whinned.

"Would have won." Bozuki corrected. "The hand was incomplete."

"That just means the pot will be that much bigger for the next game. I so can't wait!", Densuki cheered.

The four comrades walked out of the Lounge and down the corridor towards the Briefing Room. Thoughts started to form about why only three ground force teams were being called, espeically after the ship had just arrived at HQ. Did the team do something wrong? Are they being punished? Oh God, that's what it is, we're all going to have to scrub the outside of the Arthra, probably for some stupid inspection. Riko frowned. He definitely hated external duty.

Riko followed Bozuki and Densuki into the Briefing Room, he was a little surprised to see Admiral Lindy Haralaown standing at the podium. Doesn't she have better things to do?

 

[Lindy Harlaown]

"Please take a seat, gentlemen, and we'll get started straight away.", Lindy said.

The four officers took the nearest empty seats. After a few moments, Lindy started by dimming the lights. A holoscreen appeared in front of her, reversed from her perspective, so that the others could easily see the data presented. An image of planet Earth appeared in the middle of the screen, the contentment of southeastern Asia slowly zoomed in to the land of Japan. Greenery faded to grey, grass changed to city-scape and roadways. A blue dot appeared not too far away from one of the major city locations. The words Unknown Signature appeared in underneath the blinking dot.

"Approximately thirty minutes ago, Unadministered World #97 experienced a meteor storm, with several impacts detected. Now, while it's not unusual for this planet to be struck by cosmic debris, what is unusual is the fact that an unusual mana signature has been detected at the site of the impact.", Lindy paused, taking in the room. Silence answered her.

The map zoomed in further to show a smaller neighborhood. Many brightly colored circles appears in what seemed to be random locations, along with muted chirping noises as each circle highlighted.

"The Arthra has been one of several cruisers scrambled to investigate these impacts. We can not be too careful with regards to this location, as it has been the site of multiple events over the past couple of years. Your mission is to transport to these locations and scan for any unusual mana signatures. The presence of an unidentified signature at the same location of these impacts makes the Bureau believe that there may be a Lost Logia involved. Please ready yourselves to arrive within the next couple of hours.", Lindy paused. "Questions?"

 

[Riko Kawasaki]

This mission seems routine enough, but why scramble? Retrieving Lost Logia is just part of what we signed up for. Well, whatever the Admiral feels is urgent shouldn't concern me. Just drop down to the surface, scan, analyze, detain, collect, and return. Simple. There's no reason to look like an idiot by asking stupid questions.

"Ma'am? I have a question.", Densuki said as he stood up.

Well, at least I'm not the idiot.

 

[Lindy Harlaown]

"Ensign?"

All eyes turned toward Densuki as he stood there.

 

[Riko Kawasaki]

"Ma'am, why are we going to be so spread out? Wouldn't it make more sense to use a standard wave deployment in this scenario?", Densuki asked, his voice cracked and squeaked with a slight tremble.

Are you serious right now? You're going to question the Admiral's tactics? You? A junior ensign? I couldn't help but to laugh inwards, but quickly stifled it when I saw the Admiral's gaze soften into her typical cheerful demeanor.

 

[Lindy Harlaown]

"You are correct, Ensign, in a standard search deployment using a wave would be more efficient, however, this mission isn't standard, and I wish to take extra precautions.", Lindy smiled.

 

[Senkusha]

After a moment without further dialog, crew members began to leave the room, heading toward their assigned stations and duty stations. The Arthra would arrive at Unadministered World #97 in one hour and 37-minutes.