StrikerS Sound Stage X is a two-disc self-contained Audio Drama story, part of the Nanoha franchise. Taking place three years after Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS, it excluded everyone introduced before that, with the exception of minor character Mariel and revolved around a new incident that the heroes must handle.
What appeared to be an ordinary Serial Killer case that Enforcer Teana was investigating turns out to be something more sinister as ancient texts that speak of the undead Super-Soldier army of Mariage led by the Dark King Ixpellia are uncovered together with the identity of a terrorist named Tredia who plans to use them. With the threat of a Zombie Apocalypse looming over the horizon, Subaru and friends must battle the Mariage, and locate both Ixpellia and the mastermind behind this latest terrorist attack before it's too late.
NOTE: Only general tropes for the series are listed here. For character-specific ones, check out the character pages.
Sound Stage X provides examples of:
- All There in the Manual: The Sound Stage X Dictionary has additional information on the plot, such as how "N2R" got its name and the implications of Teana's partner being implicated as the killer.
- Amusement Park: Marine Garden.
- Asshole Victim: The hotel owner is shown to have a shady past and sleazy personality before he gets murdered.
- Audio Adaptation: Unusually for the series, it actually has events with lasting consequences for canon.
- Battle Amongst the Flames: Inevitable in any battle against the Mariage since the first step in any of their attacks involves torching the place they're in.
- Bittersweet Ending: The Mariage are neutralized, but Ix goes into a coma that could last from one to a thousand years, and Teana's partner is arrested, upsetting her and leading to her taking a leave of absence due to feeling responsible.
- Busman's Holiday: The incident occurs when Subaru was organizing a mini-reunion for any Riot Force Six member she could get a hold of.
- Consulting a Convicted Killer: Ginga and Cinque must consult the imprisoned Big Bad Jail Scaglietti in order to gather some important data on the Mariage serial arsonist case. Scaglietti only asks for enough Belkan wine to honor the dead Due in exchange for his info.
- Couldn't Find a Pen: The Ancient Belka Psalms, which were written in blood on the walls of one of the murder sites.
- Darker and Edgier: To start with, this is the first time where Innocent Bystanders are explicitly killed on-screen en masse.
- Deus Exit Machina: All of the super-powerful old cast are off on their own missions, allowing the newer cast to take the spotlight.
- Dug Too Deep: The Underwater Ruins containing Ixpellia were uncovered during the construction of the Marine Garden.
- Dystopia: Orussia, a place torn by civil war where basic necessities are scarce, but weapons and ammunition are plentiful.
- Evil Poacher: Erio and Caro catch one in the track where they first appear. He was quite surprised to find himself being hunted down by a dragon in this day and age.
- He Knows Too Much: The hotel owner gets murdered immediately after he realizes what's going on.
- Impromptu Tracheotomy: The murder victims were found with their throats stabbed.
- Ironic Echo: Subaru flicks Ixpellia in the forehead when she's angsting, and tells her it's something you do to children who are being unreasonable. Later, Ixpellia does the same thing to Subaru when she starts to cry about Ixpellia's impending coma.
- Lensman Arms Race: The booklet describes the Ancient Belka War as this, and mentions how this was the direct cause for its destruction.
- Line-of-Sight Name: The name for "N2R" the Nakajima sisters' unit came from the part of the rehabiliation center where they stayed.
- Lower-Deck Episode: The Mariage case is the only major storyline in the entire franchise where neither the Three Aces (Nanoha, Fate, and Hayate), nor a certain clone of the last Belkan Sankt Kaiser play a major role—in fact, the Aces don't appear in it at all. As a result, it is a fairly grounded (by the series' standards) episode that offers unique insight into what most TSAB investigations that don't involve an impending apocalypse or two are like.
- Minor Crime Reveals Major Plot: What started as a Serial Killer and arsonist case turned out to be a terrorist plot to revive a Dark King and unleash an army of undead Super Soldiers.
- Mundane Made Awesome: Vivio going Full Drive to do a data search with MAXIMUM POWER.
- Parrying Bullets: The Mariage has no need for Deflector Shields since they can block a barrage of Magic Bullets with a single arm blade. This Sound Stage also had a scene that had Fragile Speedster Erio using Strada to deflect physical bullets fired by an Evil Poacher.
- Pilgrimage: The work features a small scene of Sein assisting Sister Schach in a mass pilgrimage, though where they're going is a bit of a mystery given that any presumed holy sites in their religion would be on Belka (a planet that was lost in a dimensional dislocation decades if not centuries earlier).
- Psychic-Assisted Suicide: How one person died in front of Subaru. She wasn't able to stop him despite his pleas to save him.
- Put on a Bus: All characters from the Nanoha universe that appeared before Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS.note And the "Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha" title and logo too.
- Superpowerful Genetics: The booklet mentions that the Belkan Royalties directly invoking this, experimenting on their bodies to not only turn themselves into Persons of Mass Destruction, but to also ensure that their descendents would inherit their powers.
- Time Skip: Three years after Magical Girl Lyrical Nanoha StrikerS.
- Warrior Prince: The standard king during the Ancient Belka War, who are mentioned in the accompanying booklet as having turned themselves and their descendants into Persons of Mass Destruction to better lead their countries as symbol of power.
- Wham Line: Ginga and Cinque are interrogating Jail Scaglietti about the whereabouts of the current Big Bad and drops this bombshell at the end:He died four years ago. He was devoured by the Mariage.
- Zombie Apocalypse: What Tredia was planning to start with the Mariage.
