[Nanoha] That Time I Rode An Old Maid chapter 1

[Akuma-sama]

Note: This is a spinoff to Through Troubled Waters, and while reading it is recommended (;)), it's not absolutely necessary.
(Snippet ahoy!)#

Chrono Harlaown, Admiral Harlaown, Commander Designate Twelfth Fleet, Area Administrator of Sector ZX6-8-10-5-8, tactfully hid a subtle smile behind his wineglass as his flag crew bustled before him. This smile was all that remained of the massive shit-eating grin he felt like displaying, but which would be ill-advised for an Admiral of the Bureau to produce while watching half his fleet moving into an ambush. While this normally wouldn't be a cause for amusement, this was a special case; the ambush-er happened to be the other half of his fleet, commanded by his flag captain, Commodore Helen Riva.

Commodore Arnold Tucson, however, would be quite furious with himself, but hopefully he would learn his lesson. Chrono had to admit his initial moves had been beautifully executed, if a little fancy; translocating down a non-normal dimension while replacing his ships with Electronic Warfare drones set to imitating his fleet's exact energy and gravitational emissions was a difficult maneuver to execute, and his subsequent second leap away had prevented Helen's ships from detecting even the slightest hint of his fleet's presence until it was too late.

Or so it seemed. Unfortunately for Tucson, one of his Destroyers, the TSABS Little Milly, had been just a little slow in sliding out, and for a fraction of second, the other fleet had seemed to get an additional hull. The average commander would have overlooked it—Chrono himself had almost missed it; it had been just a tin can, almost insignificant in the scope of things—but Riva hadn't. A better commander might have overlooked what it meant, but the older officer had seen the ruse. Finally, only the rarest kind of commanders would have reacted correctly, and she had.

That was why, when Tucson's fleet had suddenly popped back into the battle's plane of existence and “opened fire” on the seemingly unsuspecting fleet leaving only a handful of destroyers “alive”, Riva's fleet had been lying doggo just one jump away “up” on the fifth dimension, watching their own EW drones “dying” through the active sensors of the quite real tin cans.

They hadn't quite come unscathed; the TSABS Tsubasa had been “taken out” by a long distance laser shot, and as Tucson's mage wings sped out of their motherships, the display icons representing the fleeing ships blinked with simulated battle damage. Those destroyers weren't even bothering to use their own badly outnumbered mages to counterattack; everyone in there had to be working on strengthening the tin cans' weak shields, which was the sensible thing to do... if one was hoping to survive past a certain point, and not in long term.

Chrono would have been tipped off right there.

Tucson kept going, toward the middle of Riva's firing arc. The fleeing destroyers, harassed from all sides by a swarm of trained mages throwing everything they had at their shields, kept fleeing in a straight line. Another destroyer started falling behind as shots got through its shields, carving simulated holes in its thin armor, and another icon, this one of the TSABS Emperor Penguin blinked out of existence as an Arc-en-ciel shot “ripped” through it and “killed” it.

Then, Tucson's fleet crossed the no-return point, and suddenly it wasn't a handful of battle-damaged destroyers he was facing, but an intact fleet of two cruisers, two heavy cruisers, a single battlecruiser and six destroyers, guns charged and already painting their targets with LIDAR sprays. Five Arc-En-Ciel shots ripped into the startled fleet, and suddenly simulated battle damage rose catastrophically.

Chrono clucked satisfiedly as the last heavy element from Tucson's fleetlet blinked out of tactical display. Additional icons, those representing Riva's own battle wings, flowed like a crimson tide toward the tin cans, but at that point the battle was already won. An impish idea came to his mind and he turned toward his communications officer.

“Mister Aries, please inform Commander Riva that she's just suffered a generalized sensors' failure.”

He was obeyed without question—as it should be; he was the admiral—but Chrono easily saw the strange look that came upon his comm officer. A sensors failure? Now? Was Harlaown going mad in his old (hah) age?

He chuckled and settled deeper in his chair, glancing with the same sense of mischievous amusement at the stream from Riva's bridge. The older woman received the report in the form of her tactical screen blinking and a report from Damage Control, and Chrono saw the exact second she realized who had done this the instant her eyes narrowed and a small, amused smile came to her face.

Oh yes, she remembered. Well, of course she did; it wasn't everyone who got the dubious pleasure of living through a new captain's first taste of command, especially not one who would later become an Admiral. And it wasn't everyone who got the even dubious-er pleasure of working aboard a ship like old Mathilda.

Ah, memories...

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That Time I Rode an Old Maid
Chapter 1: First meetings

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“What the hell is this?!”

A flurry documents thrown across his rented motel bed accompanied the heated declaration. His audience, the three most important people in his life watching in through a floating M2D, had varied reactions. First his sister, Fate Testarossa-Harlaown, flinched a little; he knew she hated to see family members angry. Second was his Fian—wife (damn but it was hard thinking of Amy this way... Amy!) who shot him a dirty look with a glance at her right, where he knew the twins were sleeping soundly, just off screen. His mother, Rear-admiral Lindy Harlaown, currently in her kitchen on Midchilda, just barely glanced up. From the way her shoulders were moving, she was preparing tea out of his sight.

“It looks like the documents you asked Letty-chan to get you about the Mathilda,” she replied matter-of-factly. There was a very soft blop; Chrono knew a sugar cube had just joined the three his mother had already sent to drown in her tea. Or drown her tea, depending on how one was looking at things.

“It is,” Chrono replied flatly. “The Time-Space Administration Bureau's Samuel Ford-class Destroyer Mathilda, freshly out of maintenance; certification of quality on weapons, certification of quality on armor, certification of quality on translation drives, n-space generators, sensors, paint job, yaddiyaddiyadda, currently in slip seventeen of Prometheus Inter-Dimensional station. Originally left said station on October first of the year thirty-nine. See the problem yet? That ship is over thirty-one years old!”

“It is,” Lindy replied, intentionally taking his tone. The teacup rose to her lips and some of the unbearably sweet concoction went past them noisily. When she finally stopped drinking, she gave her son an apologetic smile. “Unfortunately, it's the ship you have, and I have no power to change it. Or rather, I've already tried, and failed.”

“You have?” Chrono blinked.

Lindy nodded. “Please answer my question. Who is, at the moment, the Third Admiral?”

“Admiral Scania,” Chrono replied immediately, rolling his eyes. Scania had been the manager of the Main Branch's Section three for four years now, and would continue to do so for two more unless something happened.

Certainly, the imposing man had the skill and experience for the position, but even though he was a good speaker, Chrono had never agreed with his ideas, an opinion he knew he shared with his mother. Likewise, Scania would never agree to a lot of positions held by the Harlaowns and their supporters; in many ways, the Bureau's political spectrum could be divided in those who pushed for more political independence for the Bureau, as both he and his mother believed, and in those who suggested instead closer ties toward the more important members of the Bureau's allies, Midchilda chief among these; Scania happened to believe the latter.

Lindy nodded in confirmation. “And who did he assign as the head of BoP and BoS?”

“Jarama Mercedes and Islero Bentley,” Chrono replied with a sigh. Close political allies of Scania who would do whatever he wanted, ensuring that both the Bureaus of Personnel and Ships would be deeply in his pocket. “So basically this,” he motioned at the documents, “is them trying to sabotage my career? And wait; BoP is involved in this too?” He groaned, realizing what that probably meant for the overall quality of his crew.

Lindy nodded again, this time while frowning. “Precisely. I had been hoping they would manage to look past their own pettiness, but evidently the opportunity to cause trouble for an important member of an old family was too good for them to pass up.” Along with a few dozen names, the Harlaowns had been active members of the Bureau's navy since its creation. “I did manage to put some pressure on Mercedes, though. I can tell you that at least one member of your crew will be competent.”

“Hm? Which one?”

“I'll keep it a secret for now,” was his mother's cryptic answer. Surprisingly, Fate seemed to share their mother's enigmatic smile. “I expect you'll need the good news.”

“That bad, huh...” Chrono sighed. “What about this...” he glanced at his admiralty letter for a second, “...Admiral Mariner? And Captain Torino?” Respectively, his fleet Admiral (whom he would never meet, being a lowly junior grade Destroyer captain) and taskforce Commander.

“Mariner's a decent sort,” Lindy replied. “If I'm not mistaken, Fate has served on his flagship once?”

Fate nodded. “I didn't actually meet him, and it wasn't for long; us law enforcement types aren't usually kept in Admirals' fleets.”

“Hm,” Lindy dismissed. “As for Torino, I'm afraid I've got bad news for you.”

Chrono groaned. “Don't tell me he's in Scania's clique too?”

“Oh, no. He's quite apolitical, actually. Unfortunately, I knew him at the academy. He had some... issues with your father. And me, kind-of. And he's the type to hold a grudge.”

“Huh?” Chrono blinked. “What did you do?”

“We married,” she replied with a sheepish grin. “He was quite taken with me, and we might have dated a few times... but Clyde was simply the better man. I'm afraid he never quite accepted it.”

“Oh.” Chrono voiced.

“Plus, he and Clyde might have been sport rivals.”

“...Oh.” Chrono sighed.

“A~nd... your father might have sent him a letter bragging about it on our wedding day,” she added really quickly.

“...Ooh.” Chrono sighed again, this time accusingly at his mother, who gave him an angelic smile.

“Let's go out and eat somewhere the next time we meet,” Lindy none-too-subtly changed the subject. “Oh, look at the time, I have to go. I love you! Bye bye~!” And with a final wave, she cut off the connection.

“...”

“...”

“...good luck, oniichan,” Fate supplied helpfully. Chrono gave her a thankful, if suffering, look.

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Anyone feeling sorry for Chrono yet?

[Sky]

...flag captain, Commodore Helen Riva.

Never heard of this term before. I've heard of "flag officers" in the navy, which are Commodore and higher, which would make this statement more confusing since Admirals outrank Commodores.

“A~nd... your father might have sent him a letter bragging about it on our wedding day,” she added really quickly.

I laughed.

Anyone feeling sorry for Chrono yet?

I am.

I like this - it has a good start although sometimes I get lost in the tactical navy stuff and acronyms (it's government, I know). I did a much better job of keeping up with the conversation between Lindy, Chrono and Fate. The opening somewhat reminded me of Picard reminiscing about the Stargazer and Scotty about the Enterprise.

Do you have a plan or are you going to feel this one out?

[Akuma-sama]

>...flag captain, Commodore Helen Riva.

Never heard of this term before. I've heard of "flag officers" in the navy, which are Commodore and higher, which would make this statement more confusing since Admirals outrank Commodores.

That would be the captain of his flagship, which incidentally makes her the captain of his fleet's main taskforce.

Do you have a plan or are you going to feel this one out?

A little of A, and little of B.
It's the first time I ever really write space opera fiction, so I'm feeling my way through a lot of things. My planning didn't go too well, since it's character-based instead of intrigue-based like I'm used to. Mostly I'm writing this so I have a solid base to build on for the sequel of TTW, which will involve quite a bit of Chrono in Space... and to have fun.

[Sky]

That would be the captain of his flagship, which incidentally makes her the captain of his fleet's main taskforce.

Ah, that makes sense.

A little of A, and little of B.
It's the first time I ever really write space opera fiction, so I'm feeling my way through a lot of things. My planning didn't go too well, since it's character-based instead of intrigue-based like I'm used to. Mostly I'm writing this so I have a solid base to build on for the sequel of TTW, which will involve quite a bit of Chrono in Space... and to have fun.

Fair enough, and I say go for it.

[Akuma-sama]

For those who are still interested in this, the first chapter is now up on FF.net
http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5745115/1/That_Time_I_Rode_an_Old_Maid

...yes, I realize I didn't post the rest of the chapter here. Kinda forgot. ^^;
My8HiME was also updated at the same time, if anyone is interested in reading it.

Enjoy.