MSLN Test Dummies

"Crash" is a member of the TSAB's Experimental Systems Test (BEST) Force, which tests out new systems and disposes of mass-based weapons. The Aces are scheduled for a demonstration of the new Gadget Drone countermeasure, but there's more potential than just that around. Meanwhile, a catastrophic terrorist plot is brewing in the wings.

MSLN Test Dummies (Less complete but Word Of God-containing SpaceBattles version here) by Admiral Tigerclaw (who would later go on to do Sleeping with the Girls) is a Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha fanfic taking place sometime after StrikerS.

Be warned: May be divisive. Currently stands at 11 chapters, but might be a Dead Fic now as it has not been updated since March 2010.

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Tropes used in MSLN Test Dummies include:
  • A Father to His Men: Roland, most of the time. Probably exemplified by how he takes Hayate's near-death at Zed's hands poorly.
  • A.I. Is a Crapshoot: Supposedly defied by Cooper spending "two hundred hours on that ALONE!" and giving EDI "a full suite of philosophical and moral judgement to fall back upon".
  • Action Prologue: The very first scene is Crash trying to survive a run-in with the Numbers.
  • Action Survivor: Crash is no Ace; his raw magic power is not even on par with the Forwards. He gets by with quick thinking and the assistance of his Device and tech-toys. Various characters note that the potential is there, but needs to be honed by proper training. Which Lynn starts giving him.
  • All Your Base Are Belong to Us: Sektor 21 mounts an attack on the BEST Force's base.
  • An Axe to Grind: Lynn "Thanatos One" A. Bardou's Device Waldron takes the form of a big one.
  • Anti-Magic: Sektor 21 has wide-area AMF generators and Zed mounts his own. So does Mr. Kage.
  • Armchair Military: Admiral Tigerclaw loves accusing the Bureau brass of being this.
  • Atomic F-Bomb: "This, was the biggest, most absurd CLUSTERFUCK I've seen in twenty years."
    Nanoha suppressed a wince as he elevated his voice to emphasize… That word.
  • Authority Equals Asskicking: Mr. Kage, the apparent leader of Sektor 21, is also apparently the group's best fighter.
  • BFG/More Dakka: The fight against Mr. Kage ends with him teleporting away... and around 100 50 cal-armed goons surrounding and opening fire on the Aces.
    • And while that is going on, Roland has busted out an Abrams.
  • Bad Dreams: Crash frequently re-experiences the Action Prologue as a nightmare.
  • Badass Boast: EDI and Fox drop one after blasting out of their hanger to take out the Sektor 21 attack force.

Fox: "Mess with the B.E.S.T."
EDI: "Die like the rest."

  • Badass Bystander: Tre once ran afoul of a weatherman who was secretly a high-tier weather control mage.
  • Badass Cape: Mr. Kage, definitely.
  • Badass Unintentional: Crash; although he's never had proper military combat training, it's pointed out at least twice that what he does everyday in testing is functionally identical.
  • Barehanded Blade Block: Done by Admiral Mishima.
  • Captain Ersatz/Expy: Lots.
  • Character Filibuster: Roland loves denigrating what he perceives as the flaws of the Bureau.
  • Click. "Hello.": Crash does this to Subaru during the training battle.
  • Cool Mask/Malevolent Masked Man: Mr. Kage.
  • Cool Plane: Roland has a scrapped B-1B Lancer heavily modded into the sub-orbital transport Deep Sky. Of course, there's EDI and Fox's Arwing.
  • Curb Stomp Battle: Hayate tries to take on Zed up close with predictable results.
  • Dangerous Forbidden Technique: When Crash's Heroic Safe Mode kicks in, he ends up burning through cartridges at a rate unhealthy even for stronger mages.
  • Defictionalization: In-universe, EDI and Fox's Arwing.
  • Don't Think, Feel: Lynn tries to teach Crash to do this in order to improve his combat skill. It seems to be working.
  • Dope Slap: Teana delivers one to Subaru after Crash wakes up from the training battle, for getting in his way.
  • Dynamic Entry: Roland surprising the Forwards by flanking and shooting them. Followed later by some Thanatos members doing the same.
  • Four-Star Badass: He has not gone directly into combat yet, but MG Roland is a good shot and very sharp with a throwing knife. Admiral Mishima is also an example, with a side dish of Old Master, starting off with a Barehanded Blade Block against Mr. Kage. He makes a bit of banter, seemingly giving Mr. Kage some time to prepare, and then lands ten solid blows without the terrorist leader being able to defend where the latter had previously held the Aces off almost effortlessly.
  • Flanderization: A number of canon characters.
  • Fun with Acronyms:
    • Cooper has a robot called Multiple Engagement Guardian Automatic Sentinel, or MEGAS.
    • The Magical Autonomous Drone, Combat Assault Platform, "MADCAP", otherwise referred to as Enhanced Device Intelligence "EDI".
    • Mobility, Attack, Defense, Active Management System "MADAM".
  • Grenade Launcher: One of the weapons Zed uses is a M79.
  • Heroic Safe Mode: Crash goes into this state after seeing Subaru with Combat Cyborg Eyes of Gold trying to smash down his barrier. He ends up burning through cartridges at an unhealthy rate, kicks the asses of the Forwards and manages to win even when Thanatos members join the Forwards in trying to pin him down.
  • Homage:
    • The discussion of the MH-1's capabilities is very similar to that of the ZF-1 from The Fifth Element.
    • Roland and a St. Hildes professor get into a discussion on government reform that is reminiscent of Code Geass.
  • I Know You Know I Know: "A pattern... Something he could sink his teeth into. These tactics, these plans they were all patterns of overlapping tricks and counter-tricks. A plan was made, the opponent would plan a counter, then he'd have to counter that counter, and the opponent was usually sitting at step three waiting to deal with the counter's counter. If he wanted to win this, he needed to be four moves ahead of the current game pieces."
  • In Soviet Russia, Trope Mocks You: Roland makes such a joke when asked why EDI's Up to Eleven version of Iron Howl is called "Iron Curtain". Almost everyone present at the time, oddly including fellow Earthborn Hayate, fails to get it.
  • Instant Win Condition: In the training battle, Crash wins as long as he manages to scratch Nanoha. Which he eventually does.
  • The Jinx: Why Crash has his nickname.
  • Just Hit Him: Subverted when Zed takes on Hayate; although he knocks her around at first, he caps off with a Neck Lift choke that nearly kills her. Played straight with Crash's Heroic Safe Mode in the training battle, as while he does combo various opponents, at no point does he simply pin anyone down and pummel the victim into Barrier Jacket dematerialisation.
  • Kinetic Weapons Are Just Better: The BEST Force handles mass weapon disposal. There's a scene where Crash warns Hayate that her Barrier Jacket won't stand up to 7.62 FMJ from an AK-pattern rifle. This is one of the things that determine your stand on this work.
    • Dispite that, this trope has been mostly averted in-story as almost all of the fights have been using magic-based firepower and none of the dialouge has suggested anything more than 'Kinetic Weapons are Just as Good'.
  • Lightning Bruiser: Zed's speed, strength and resilience is incredible.
    • Crash himself while in his power armor is a seven foot tall 'walking tank' that can fly at Mach 3.
  • Loophole Abuse: Roland makes use of the classified nature of Crash's armour to have the screwed-up training battle erased from records.
  • Male Gaze: Crash instinctively takes a look at Abigail "Thanatos Three" Granger's "rather generous-" (sic) before forcing himself to look away. "Thinking about such things, especially in combat, only leads to trouble."
  • Mega Manning: Battery has copied Vita's Iron Howl, while EDI has a superior Cooper-developed version called Iron Curtain.
  • The Mole: Logan.
  • Multi Melee Master: Mr. Kage is this, which is perfectly complemented by his Swiss Army Weapon power. Nanoha notes that it is the reason why he is so difficult to fight.
  • Neck Lift: Zed nearly kills Hayate by choking her while doing this.
  • Oh Crap: Mr. Kage visibly demonstrates surprise only twice in his fight with the Aces. Firstly, when Lynn's strike shatters his projected staff. Secondly, when Admiral Mishima pulls a Barehanded Blade Block on him.
  • Only Known by Their Nickname: Crash's real name, Ford T. Daonau, was first revealed by All There in the Manual/Word of God and has almost never been used in the main story.
  • Powered Armor: Crash's Olympian Powered Armor Exoskeleton, which is described as looking rather like an American Footballer's. The author specifically referred to this video.
  • Rant-Inducing Slight: When the Forwards rib Crash about being scared of training combat, with Raising Heart and Battery joining in, Crash is most displeased.
  • Razor Wind: Admiral Mishima's final hit against Mr. Kage is not even a physical impact but the (mere) concussion of his punch. It still sends the terrorist flying.
  • Robotic Reveal: Done to Zed.
  • Shell-Shocked Veteran: Crash developed PTSD with regards to Combat Cyborgs after his run-in with the Numbers. He gets better, but only after Subaru pushes him into Heroic Safe Mode, where he trashes her.
  • Shout-Out: Tons, perhaps to the point of distraction. YMMV. An inexhaustive list:
  • Spell My Name with an "S": The author uses "Tiana".
  • Swiss Army Weapon: Mr. Kage has this power. Mixed with Green Lantern Ring as it relies on projecting the form of the weapon type needed. Demonstrated projections include daggers, swords, staffs and flail whips.
  • Stealth Hi Bye: Done by Mr. Kage. Also done to Roland by someone who suspiciously resembles Alucard. Abigail "Thanatos Three" Granger appears with this, as opposed to the Dynamic Entry of her fellow Thanatos Enforcers.
  • Super Speed: EDI and the BEST Force's AIs work with Bardiche to take Fate's already high speeds to even greater heights.
  • Talk to the Fist: Mr. Kage interrupts the prep of a Divine Buster with a thrown dagger, causing Nanoha to realise that she should not be drawing it out for so long.
  • Tank Goodness: apparently Sektor 21 mooks and drones don't fare well againt an M1 Abrams.
  • Teleport Spam: One of Battery's abilities.
  • Tranquil Fury: After the training battle, Roland goes into this. "With most people, their anger was worn on their sleeve. They were easy to read. It was easy to think and react to the situation. Roland, [Nanoha] realized at that moment, was the Quiet Type. The Quiet Type were very BAD. She would know, she was one of them. And she'd never really considered the possibility of having to answer to… well, herself. So in this situation, knowing how she would be reacting made her sweat run cold."
  • You Are Already Dead: Lynn says that if Gray had been serious, Signum would already have taken one In the Back.
  1. ↑ Al Card anyone?
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