Hello, and it's time for the moment you've all been waiting for: I present for your reading pleasure...Strike Heroes 3: Global Revengeance!

It's been a while since I ended the series for a while with Strike Heroes: Wings of Freedom, but now I'm coming back to the series with this new entry.

So to answer your questions about it so far: this is going to go in a completely original direction. I planned to move the story in this direction since I first finished Strike Heroes, which had been about two years ago. After I finished with the movie, I had to do a bit of a quick assessment to make sure that the direction I wanted to go was still possible, and according to what I saw...it was still possible, albeit with a few corrections to it. Plus, the teaser should have given you guys a slight idea (if not more) of where this story will be going.

This will also be (for the most part) longer than any of the entries for each chapter, something that comes with a pro and a con: I can get more of the story out to you guys so that you can spend more time within each chapter but at the same time I know that not everyone enjoys long chapter, so I will definitely be depending on you guys to tell me how I'm doing so far.

As for the rest of what I want to say, I'll discuss those things concerning this story at the end of this chapter, so for now let's see what's going on since WoF...

Ah, right, can't forget disclaimers: I don't own anything except the characters I created. Also, any references made in the story belong to their respective owners.

So with that said, let's get going, shall we?

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Chapter 1: Settling Back Into the (In)Sanity

Witches.

Humanity's trump card in the war against the mysterious beings known only as Neuroi, Witches were magically-attuned humans, mostly girls in their ranks, who took on the Neuroi in the sky using specially-designed devices known as Striker Units. Designed by Doctor Ichirō Miyafuji, these devices amplified a Witch's powers and made flight possible.

However, while there are a lot of female Witches, it was extremely rare to see a male with magical abilities, and no one had ever seen one take on Neuroi in battle due to the severely handicapped magic abilities a male Witch exhibited.

However, there was one man who defied all these expectations and survived: the Neuroi Witch.

There were other male Witches who had taken to the battlefield and showed potential (a notable example would be Sergeant Draco Leonardo Dracon, a boy who joined because of the Neuroi Witch's deeds), but the Neuroi Witch was unique because of two things.

First, he was so far the only human who was able to maintain control over a Neuroi core and was even able to use it to aid him in battle via his Neuroi Mode. Other attempts to replicate this with machines were varied: first was the Warlock, a machine whose production had been headed by General Trevor Maloney. While the initial test run for it worked out spectacularly (to the general's pride), when it was used to try liberating Gallia it managed to destroy all Neuroi in the area before being taken over by the core that was inside it, and the machine was stopped by the Neuroi Witch and (once it fused with the sunken Akagi) the Strike Witches. The next attempt was the Magic Dynamo, which had improved on the Warlock's initial concept and had been fitted on the Yamato for Operation Mars. While this one managed to not turn on humanity, the plan had hit a hitch in the execution, and the Neuroi Witch (who had been on board to make sure that the ship didn't turn) decided to fire the cannons himself.

The other thing that made him unique was the fact that he was not from this world.

Anyways, his name has been made famous around the world, and after he revealed his living status a while after getting his magic back he's refilling the shoes he had left close to two months ago.

His name...is Roland Sage.

XXXXXXXXXX

Unknown POV

I simply sat behind my desk as I watched one of my men bring in the former general Trevor Maloney into my office. From the information I had been given, he had been stripped of a few ranks and had been imprisoned temporarily for the military coup he had tried pulling when he attempted to replace the Strike Witches at the time with the Warlock unit to test the idea. I only say "temporarily imprisoned" because a few days ago I had sent one of my men to negotiate for Maloney's freedom. Which simply went under the table, according to what the report I received after the deal said.

His release is a matter we feel the public shouldn't worry about.

Anyways, I suppose that my men had also gotten the idea of giving him his uniform back...including his original rank.

He may have lost his original rank after his coup was thwarted, but it was the only uniform we had at the time. We'd have to correct it to account for his new rank.

"Former General Maloney is here, sir," the man who escorted Maloney told me with a bow before he left the room to give us some privacy.

Maloney took one good look at me and asked in a rather irritated tone, "Why did you call me back here? Last I recalled, you had sent me a phone message when I tried calling you saying that I was no longer working with you. So why the change in tune?"

I sighed before I replied with, "As usual, you worry about yourself more than you do everyone else, and your image isn't exactly sterling."

"My image was something I couldn't afford to lose at the time. You don't have much room to talk about that sort of thing, though...Duke."

"What can I say? I work best in secrecy." You can call me "Duke" if you really want a name: everyone in my organization does. Hell, the only one who knows my true name is myself, and I'm not going to be telling you it anytime soon. I don't make it a point to go on a real-name basis myself, hence the name "Duke".

"...So what do you want now, Duke?"

"I won't bore you with the exact details, but are you aware of Captain Roland Sage's achievements so far?"

Maloney lowered his eyebrow. "I've been sitting in a prison for about nine months, Duke. I didn't have much time to keep up with the military. And even if I did, what makes you think I would pay attention to him?"

I sighed. "In that case, let me put it simply like this: we need you, Maloney."

The man huffed as he crossed his arms in front of his chest. "Why do you want me now? I'm sure one of your men around here can help you out, so why ask me?"

"Because this is a top-secret project that only an elite few around here know about."

Maloney stopped as he looked at me with slight curiosity. "How top-secret are we talking?"

"Completely top-secret, Maloney. Not even the people I have working on it know the full picture; only I know the whole thing."

"And you want me?" The former general sounded like he would have found amusement elsewhere.

I smiled slightly. "You sound like you're unamused, Maloney."

"Why shouldn't I be? You arranged for my release just to bring me here and present me with the chance to work on a project that's so top-secret that you don't even tell your own people working on it about your true intentions. I may have an eye for ideas that would improve my standing in the military, but even I can't simply go along with it. Not without a good reason to."

"I see...how about this: if you decide to cooperate with us for this project, then I will tell you enough about the project to help you focus on your new duties. Should you accept."

Maloney seemed to consider this for a moment before he looked at me with a frown. "I guess it's not much of a deal right now...I want to add something to the deal: I want whatever information you've got about the Neuroi's capabilities, including any secret files on Sage and his core."

I was curious, but I didn't show it to the man. "Something tells me you want Roland to pay for that day."

"Damn right I do. I should have just killed him when I had the remote." While that would have made things a lot easier for us all, I can't exactly say that it was a good idea even if Maloney had gone through with it: last I checked, his teammates would have probably killed him if they had the chance once he used the remote to terminate Roland. That was, if the Britannian military didn't get to him before they did. Besides, I still needed him alive, hence why it was a bad idea either way.

I sighed again before I stood up. "Alright. I will have one of my men compile a file with all the information you wish to see. In return, you will not make a move on Roland until such time as I deem it necessary to do so in addition to your duty helping out with the project. Do you agree with these terms?"

Maloney looked a little irked that I added in the part about him being unable to harm Roland at the moment but chose not to act on it. "I guess we have a deal then, Duke."

With Maloney now on the project team, everything should be able to proceed as I wanted them to...

And all it took was one boy...

XXXXXXXXXX

Roland's POV

"Hey, Roland-kun. How are you this morning?" Yoshika Miyafuji asked me as I stepped into the dining hall, a sleepy look on my face. She was busy cooking something in the kitchen attached to the area.

"Rather fine, Yosh," I told her as I gave off a yawn. "Just had to adjust to sleeping next to Minna again. You'd think that being away from her for almost two months would make me want to sleep with her near me badly, but not really." I then noticed and saw that no one else was in the dining hall. "Uh, why aren't the others up yet?"

Yoshika chuckled a bit before saying, "Well, it's only six in the morning." She then turned to look at me really quick. "Check your watch, silly."

As the little Fuso Witch focused back on her cooking, I glanced down at my watch and saw that it was 6:06 in the morning. "Ah. Must have forgotten to check the time before waking up. Could have used a little more sleep, to be honest."

"Well, you'd best not, Roland-kun. Not unless you don't mind forgoing breakfast."

At the mention of breakfast, I perked up quickly. "No thanks, ma'am!" Jeez, I swear I'm getting spoiled by you girls now. I think Draco feels the same way, but I'm not sure.

Oh right, introductions: for those who have no idea who I am, my name's Roland Sage. Captain in the Liberion Army, Minna-proclaimed (I'd say "self-proclaimed", but Minna's the one who came up with the nickname in the first place) Neuroi Witch, and current second-in-command next to Major Heidemarie Schnaufer (she and I are in the same position, so it's a cooperative thing).

Also, I'm the resident oddity magnet or whatever the term is right now.

"Oh, right," I decided to try asking. "Did you get any sleep in the hangar?" Apparently, I was lucky in that Minna asked me to sleep in her room (though with the way the others were sleeping I wanted to sleep in the hangar too for at least a night) because, and I'm quoting her here, "We have two months of cuddling to catch up on."

Man, that's one of the weirder things I've heard (I think Mio's comment when we first started in Romagna is still numero uno on my list), and coming from Minna of all people?

Right, I'm getting off-track, aren't I?

Anyways, we had some of the men on the base lend their sleeping bags for the others to use, and we managed to find a few tents in one of the shipments, so the others (that would be everyone but myself, Minna, Heidemarie, Gertrud, and Erica) were using those to camp out in the hangar. At least until their rooms were ready to be occupied (something about moving beds around and things of that nature...I lost track, to be honest).

"It was slightly cold in there," Yoshika told me. "I'm fine, though. I had Shizuka and Lynne with me."

More specifically, you had Lynette Bishop with you. Shizuka Hattori was just a add-on. I didn't dare try correcting her, though. "That's good to hear. So do you happen to know the sleeping arrangement at the moment?"

"Well, there's Shizuka, Lynne, and myself." Yoshika seemed to take a slight pause to think of any more arrangements. "Let's see...oh, Perrine and Sakamoto, Eila and Sanya, and Shirley, Lucchini, and Drakey-oops, I mean, Draco."

I raised an eyebrow. "You've picked up that nickname from Fran, huh?" I really hope Draco isn't going to raise a complaint when Yoshika accidentally calls him that.

"Yeah, sorry..."

"It's fine."

"Anyways, you better sit down. Breakfast is almost ready."

I was tempted to do just that, but then I remembered that I left my girlfriend sleeping on the bed. "I better get everyone up and ready if that's fine with you. Captain rank's duty and all that..."

"Oh. That's too bad." I think Yoshika sounded bummed out before she sighed. "Please hurry back or else it's going to get cold, alright?"

"Sure thing, Yosh." I walked out of the dining hall and navigated down the hallway, making my way to the room Minna and I were using. However, thanks to my luck, I ended up finding Mio Sakamoto standing in front of it, like she was waiting for me. "Morning, major."

"Good morning, Sage," Mio greeted me. I don't think I need to describe what her uniform looked like considering that hers and Yoshika's were the same, but seeing as I forgot to do that for the little Fuso Witch I better do that: she and Yoshika both wore a sailor uniform, a staple of the Fuso Navy Witches (I think. What did Amaki wear again?), but there was one difference between them: the one-piece swimsuit Mio wore under her uniform was white while her younger teammate of the same nationality wore a dark blue one. "Where were you just coming from?"

"The dining hall," I told her. "Yoshika's making some breakfast for us at the moment, so I figured that I'd get the others up."

Mio nodded in understanding. "I see."

I then realized that I had next to no idea how I was going to wake up the others without creating a group of cranky Witches. "Um...how exactly are we going to get everyone else up?"

I swore Mio lowered her visible eyebrow as she looked at me (apparently, she's still wearing that eye patch of hers despite not having a magic eye to use). "Hmm? What do you mean 'we'?"

"Well..." I placed my right hand behind my head as I gave off a sheepish chuckle. "I don't exactly have an idea for how to wake up a group of girls and Draco in one go at the moment, so..."

Mio gave off a sigh. "You're hopeless sometimes...alright, give me a second to go grab something. You're going to go wake up Commander Minna, right?"

"That's the plan."

"Okay. Be careful, though."

"Thanks, and I will." Why is she telling me to be careful?

I opened the door and stepped inside the room.

Right, maybe I should make a better explanation of the inhabitants of the room at the moment: of course, at the moment there was Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke (my girlfriend), laying on her back, along with everyone's favorite Rottweiler, Sullivan (aka Sully). Heidemarie also shared the room with the commander, but she was off on night patrol (we needed to make a sort of schedule that can utilize her and Sanya for maximum efficiency without making either one too tired to operate at their best, an idea I had suggested and, to my surprise, got approved...if only because Minna either agreed with me or didn't have any better ideas).

Walking over to Minna's bed, I noticed that she was covered by a blue comforter. Sullivan was laying at her feet, and since I came in he's been looking at me out of curiosity. Well, he looked curious: the brownish spots above his eyebrows (I think I can call them eyebrows given that's what they remind me of) looked like they were raised in a sort of curious look.

"Minna?" I asked as I nudged her left shoulder gently with my right hand. "You awake?" Minna didn't give off a reply, so I tried again. "Commander Minna?"

This time, she did have a reply, but it wasn't at all what I was expecting: she rolled over to face me and, still asleep, managed to catch me in a hug and, for reasons I still don't know of later on in my day, thrust my head into her chest. This made me drop onto one knee.

Okay, first off: how the hell can she do that in her sleep?

Also, why me?

I mean, I know she's my girlfriend and all, but I still want to be careful with how intimate we get at the moment, something Minna also agrees with. The only issue I have at the moment concerning that, though, is figuring out if my current position was on the list of acceptable or unacceptable intimacy positions.

"I love you, Roland," Minna mumbled to herself as I tried pulling my head up for some air. I managed to get a lungful of air before she forced me back into her assets. "I love you so much."

"That's nice and all, Minna," I said in a muffled voice (hey, you try saying something normally when your face is where mine is!), "but can you let me go please? Contrary to what you may think, I still need air." I then felt Minna start rolling over, so I tried getting out of my position really quick. All I managed to do was getting a bit of air back into my lungs and turning myself around so that I didn't twist and snap my neck before her chest crashed down onto my face, the back of my head hitting the mattress with a slight thud. "Ow..."

We stayed like that for about ten seconds before I felt my lungs begging for air.

Your lungs would like to tell you that they would love it if you'd give them some air, Lionelis told me. Just to let you know.

Lio? I replied mentally. Can it, please. I'm currently busy trying to get out of someone's breasts at the moment.

Ah. Let us guess: Minna?

I'd probably get arrested in my time period if it was Lynne or Shirley. Or at the very least a severe nosebleed. But yes, it's Minna.

...You know, for not having superhuman strength as her magic ability, she's got a strong grip.

Less being impressed with the grip of my girlfriend, more thinking of a plan to get her to let go.

Alright, alright. Yeesh...let's see, what to do if you have a girl clinging on to you... I swore that I was hearing the sounds of computer keyboards being typed on (maybe it's my lack of oxygen at the moment that's making me hear that sort of sound).

A little faster please... I think I'm starting to lose consciousness.

Give us some time. We've got a lot of data to go through right now.

Not thinking clearly, I decided to see how far into her fantasy (I'll call it that for now) Minna was in. Of course, without thinking I went for the first thing I could reach: her breasts. Well, one of them: my right hand was unable to get to its position, so it was up to my left hand. Resting on her right breast, I squeezed it lightly.

"Please be a little more gentle, dear..." Minna said. At least, that's what Lionelis told me she said; with me falling unconscious, I swore I heard something different. Like, way different. Something with the deed (I would have blushed, but no oxygen, remember?).

Okay, not working...next! Quickly!

My right hand flew to the comforter and flicked it off Minna before said hand landed on her rear. This at least got a reaction from her, but it wasn't much: due to the suddenness of it, she started rolling over my chest before she started falling off the bed. Thinking quickly, I slipped my right arm under her legs to catch her bridal-style as my left arm went behind her back. The good news was that, as she was falling, Minna managed to relinquish her grip on my head, and I took in a massive lungful of sorely-needed air as my vision started coming back into focus. Also, Sullivan, having been still laying on the bed when this was going on, got up and off the bed as quickly as a dog who hadn't had time to stretch could go before he decided to get his stretching done while he seemed to wait for us.

Well, I think he's stretching. All I see is a slightly dark fuzz that's slowly coming back into focus.

Once I could see clearly, I looked at the doorway...

Only to see a sleepy-eyed Heidemarie standing there, like she had seen something she shouldn't have. Well, a sleepy version of it (I have no idea right now!). That, and she seemed to have a blush on her face.

"Major?" I asked her. "How long have you been standing there, ma'am?"

"About two minutes," Heidemarie told me sleepily. The blush was on her face still.

"And how much did you see?"

"About two minutes."

About two minutes...

Crap...she saw pretty much the whole thing, didn't she?

Before either of us could say anything else, Minna chose now to wake up.

"Uwah..." she said as she yawned. "Morning, Roland..."

"M-morning, Commander Minna!" I replied a little sheepishly. "Sleep well?"

"Yeah..." Minna then looked at Heidemarie and her blushing face. "Why are you blushing, major?"

"Well, see..." Heidemarie started before she turned around, her blush getting the better of her.

Minna looked confused at Heidemarie's current display before she realized where she was: in my arms. "Hold on, why am I...?"

"Long story," I replied, "but in your 'fantasy'...you kinda..."

Minna must have understood exactly what I was getting at because now she was blushing lightly. "And Major Heidemarie...?"

"Yeah, she apparently saw the whole ordeal I went through..."

Minna's blush exploded into a deeper hue. "Oh dear...that means that...you...grabbed...my..." My girlfriend stopped, and it was then that I realized that she must have felt me touching her.

"Um...yes?"

Minna's reply was rather...loud, to say the least. And it ended up hurting one side of my face thanks to a harsh slap.

And my morning is off to a great start...yay...

XXXXXXXXXX

Shizuka's POV

I wonder if it's a sort of routine thing when the Strike Witches are together?

I'm asking that because I had been sleeping soundly in the tent I shared with Miyafuji and Bishop when someone (it sounded like a girl) screamed. This seemed to have gotten me startled as I bolted upright, ready to go see what the matter was about. As far as sleepwear went, I was wearing one of Roland's shirts, a long-sleeved black shirt.

Until I heard Captain Barkhorn say "I'm thinking it has to do with Sage. No surprise, I guess." I don't know who she was talking to, but I can only guess that she had been going around and getting some of us up. Or, since the yell occurred, see if everyone's got up.

Huh? What do he and Commander Wilcke do in their private time exactly?

...Actually, I don't want to know!

"Uwah..." Bishop said as she sat up and yawned. She wore a white nightgown of sorts. "What's happening?"

"No idea, master sergeant," I told her. "I think Captain Barkhorn said that it had to do with Captain Sage, though."

"Oh. I think I know what might have happened."

I raised an eyebrow. "You do?"

"Yeah. You get a good idea of what could have occurred when you're a little clumsy yourself."

I sighed. "I doubt that makes sense to me, but I'll take your word for it."

XXXXXXXXXX

A while later, and Bishop and I were now in our uniforms, walking down the hallway and towards the dining hall for some breakfast.

"Hey, Sergeant Hattori..." Bishop started. "Um...can I call you Shizuka instead?"

"I guess," I told her. "I pretty much refer to Miyafuji without her rank now, so I don't really mind. She and Captain Sage seem to call me 'Shizuka' anyways, so...don't Captain Sage and Miyafuji call you by a different name?"

"Yeah. You can call me Lynne if you want."

I nodded my head. "I'll keep note of that...Lynne." It's going to be a while before I get used to referring to people without their ranks, and I wouldn't be surprised if I slipped up and called her "Master Sergeant Bishop" at one point.

We finally reached the dining room...

And was greeted to Miyafuji tending to Roland's face for some reason, Commander Wilcke standing nearby as she was watching them. There was also a Rottweiler with a tail sitting next to the chair the Neuroi Witch was sitting in, to his right. If I remember correctly, Miyafuji had told me that the Rottweiler was named Sullivan ("Sully" for short) and that it was a gift Roland had received back when they were fighting to free Venezia.

Well, I should say he was a gift Roland had received...

"Um..." Bishop started.

"Do we even want to know?" I finished for her.

"It's just something my boyfriend here did earlier," the commander explained with a slight blush. "Don't worry, Miyafuji's handling it as we speak."

"Morning, Shizuka!" Miyafuji greeted us as she took a second to turn her head and look at us. When she did, I noticed that Roland had a red handprint across his right cheek. I think I also saw a slight scratch mark on said cheek. "Morning, Lynne!"

"Good morning, Yoshika and Roland," Bishop replied.

"Morning, ma'am," I added. "Morning, sir."

"You know that I can handle the injury on my own, right?" I heard Roland tell Miyafuji as she turned her attention back to the Neuroi Witch. "I have your magic in me since I copied it the morning before Operation Mars, remember?"

"You probably wouldn't be able to do it without leaving a scar or something," the Fuso pilot officer replied. "Besides, I'm learning to be a doctor, so it'd defeat the purpose if you treated it yourself."

"A normal doctor wouldn't exactly use her magic to heal a red handprint, and I'm assuming it's a handprint the way Minna slapped me, and a scratch."

"You do have a point, but either way just hold still and let me do my thing." We then watched as Miyafuji called upon her familiar and used her magic to heal Roland's injuries. Once she finished, she dismissed her familiar and examined the nonexistent damage, most likely making sure she fixed it up correctly. "There. All better."

Roland felt his right cheek and blinked. "Huh, didn't feel anything when you healed it. Thanks."

Miyafuji stepped back a bit and gave off a salute. "Yoshika Miyafuji, medic extraordinaire, at your service."

Roland tilted his head to the right a bit. "Um, maybe we should leave the corny comments like that to a professional."

The Fuso pilot officer stomped the ground with her right foot gently as her hands flew to her sides. "You're no fun, Roland-kun."

"It was just a suggestion. I don't really care too much if you do that sort of thing."

"Anyways," I decided to say, "when's breakfast, Miyafuji?"

"I'm glad you asked!" the pilot officer replied cheerfully. "I just finished it and was working on serving everyone when Commander Minna and Roland-kun came in."

"Why is it I feel like I know what we're having?" I heard Roland ask flatly.

XXXXXXXXXX

Roland's POV

Okay, at least there were no nattō beans served with breakfast, but then again with eggs, some bacon, and toast there was not much use for it.

"You managed to make all this?" I asked as I looked at everyone's plates, each plate having a Witch in front of it (well, everyone but Heidemarie since she was sleeping currently). I sat at one of the ends of the table, near the entrance. Minna sat to my left while Yoshika sat to my right, both seated along the longer side of the table. I then looked at the little Fuso Witch. "By yourself?" I thought she was making something small, like simply eggs. Not...this.

"Yeah," Yoshika said proudly. "I figured that everyone else had been tired from the battle two days ago still, so I decided to make breakfast for everyone."

"Well, you could have at least asked for some help," Mio told her. She was seated at the other end of the table, across from me. "I know that Sage and I would have gotten up to help out."

I saw Yoshika chuckle nervously. "I didn't give that much thought..."

"Yosh, Major Sakamoto does bring up a valid point," I added. "While we don't mind you making breakfast for everyone by yourself, and in fact we thank you for doing so, but being up at...whatever time you got up isn't exactly healthy. I know you have never gotten sick, but that doesn't mean that you can avoid fatigue."

"True...sorry, Roland-kun."

I sighed. "No problem, Yoshika. No need to apologize."

"Can we eat now?" Francesca Lucchini, seated to Mio's right on the longer side of the table, asked me, sounding a little impatient. I think she was really starving or something.

"Yeah, let's eat for now."

And so we ate our breakfast, and it took a while before Francesca decided to try making some small talk.

"So, Roland-kun," the Romagnan Witch began, "how was Fuso?"

"Yeah," Charlotte "Shirley" Yeager agreed. She was seated two chairs to the right of Francesca, Draco being between the buxom Liberion Witch and her Romagnan teammate. "How was your time in Fuso with Yoshika's family?"

"Not too much," I replied with a slight smile. "We had patients at the clinic, but I usually moved boxes around or something of that nature, so there wasn't much excitement for me on a daily basis. Also looked at a few notes left behind by Doctor Miyafuji while I was there."

"And?" Mio tried.

I sighed. "Not much luck. Nothing linking me to him, sadly."

"Right. I would offer to take you to his lab in Britannia, but..."

"Yeah, Yosh already told me when I asked about it." Still a bummer that I can't find a personal journal or something.

"Oh. Well, that at least marks one thing off my list." Mio went back to eating.

"Anyways," Minna added, "How was Fuso itself?"

"Rather beautiful. And interesting. The Neuroi don't seem to be making a move against them, so it's definitely more peaceful over there."

Minna smiled. "That's good to hear."

I then turned to look at Shizuka, who was sitting to the right of Perrine, who was herself seated to Lynette's right (guess where the Britannian Witch was seated: to the right of Yoshika). Eila was sitting next to the Fuso sergeant's right side, Sanya on her other side. "Now that I think about it...how was your transfer to the unit, Shizuka?"

"Hmm?" Shizuka asked before she realized that I was talking to her. "Oh! Rather well, I guess. Commander Minna managed to convince them to let me stay here. When they asked her for a recommendation, she said that you yourself had vouched for me."

Well, that's kinda true: I did mention that having her on the team would be able to bring our rank up to our full count of thirteen able Witches (Mio, due to her loss of magic, was unable to fight like we could and so far chose to be on standby in the event I was unable to uphold my duties as one of two second-in-command members). Interestingly enough, with Heidemarie that now went past that mark by one. "I wouldn't say that I personally vouched for you...though it does explain why I had been called into Minna's office yesterday." Yeah, apparently, due to the "vouching" I had given, her original headquarters' leader called me up and asked for confirmation. After some time talking to them about it, I managed to at least allow them to accept Minna's proposal to bring Shizuka into the Strike Witches. Strange how much being the Neuroi Witch can do for you sometimes...

"Either way, I'm really grateful, sir."

I smiled slightly. "No problem, Shizuka."

"Just note that you've got some new responsibilities now since you two rejoined the team," Gertrud told me and Yoshika. She was to Minna's left, with Erica sitting between her and Charlotte. "You're an officer now, Miyafuji, and you're going to be working with Major Heidemarie as second-in-command alongside her, Sage."

"You know you can just call me 'Roland' now, right?" I tried. "We're the same rank now, and besides...we've worked together since Britannia."

The Karlsland captain looked like she was about to say something to argue against the idea but caught herself. "Bit of a fair point, but you're now part of second-in-command, so you're technically higher in authority than me."

I'm higher in authority than her because of my new position? I wonder...

Facing Gertrud, I cleared my throat and added in a tone of authority, "If that's the case...then I order you to call me by my first name whenever we are not in battle. I also order you to let me call you by your first name under the same conditions and not complain about it too much." Now, find some mental popcorn and watch what happens...

Already on it! Lionelis said as I heard him munching on something.

...Wait, he's able to conjure up popcorn inside my mind? That-don't think about it, Roland! Don't think about it, you've got more things to worry about than how your mental voice of a Neuroi core does things like that.

Anyways, Gertrud's reaction was...

Erm...for some reason I was thinking that she would tell me that it didn't work like that, but there were a few things about Gertrud I had forgotten about: the first being her mindset (mind of a soldier, heart of a older sister sometimes), the second being the importance of a word like "order" to her (and now that I think about it so far, most Karlsland Witches with the possible exception of Erica), and the third...

"Jawhol, Kapitän!" we heard Gertrud shout as she stood up and saluted. She then looked at us in general before she grew a huge blush and added in an apologetic tone, "I-I mean, Roland..."

...That...

All was silent for a few seconds before someone started sniggering before it turned into a full-blown laugh. When we all looked to see who was laughing, it happened to be Erica, who was on the floor laughing.

XXXXXXXXXX

Erica's POV

It's rather nice to eat breakfast with a full table alongside your friends and teammates. So far, I heard Roland talking about Fuso a bit before asking Hattori about how her transfer went, which sounded rather good.

From what I understand, Miyafuji was going to be helping us fight the Neuroi for a while longer. She had apparently been in the area because she was going to a medical school in Helvetia, so Commander Minna had to ask her school to hold her spot if at all possible. They seemed to be rather nice about it given what Miyafuji had done, so the little Fuso Witch was going to fight alongside us. As for Hattori and Roland: Hattori was Miyafuji's escort, and I've already mentioned (and Roland had asked her about it) her transfer. Roland, since he was able to fight once more, was with us.

"Just note that you've got some new responsibilities now since you two rejoined the team," Trude told Roland and Miyafuji. "You're an officer now, Miyafuji, and you're going to be working with Major Heidemarie as co-second-in-command, Sage."

"You know you can just call me 'Roland' now, right?" I heard Roland try saying. "We're the same rank now, and besides...we've worked together since Britannia."

I think Trude was about to say something about it but chose not to. "Bit of a fair point, but you're now part of second-in-command, so you're technically higher in authority than me."

I blinked: um, Trude does know that she's going to open up something that she's not going to find very entertaining, right?

I watched as Roland thought to himself before he looked at Trude and, clearing his throat, announced with a tone of authority, "If that's the case...then I order you to call me by my first name whenever we are not in battle. I also order you to let me call you by your first name under the same conditions and not complain about it too much."

Trude quickly stood up and gave off a salute. "Jawhol, Kapitän!" She then looked at us as a whole before she grew a huge blush on her face and added in an apologetic tone, "I-I mean, Roland..."

I blinked in surprise.

Huh? Did Roland just...?

A few seconds had passed by before the oddity of the situation caught on for me, and I started trying not to laugh. I tried holding it in to avoid embarrassing Trude further, but after a moment it didn't work out, so I started laughing uncontrollably. I even managed to get out of my chair and lay on the floor as I had my hands on my sides to keep myself from laughing too hard. At least, I think that's why someone would do something like that.

XXXXXXXXX

Roland's POV

"I think you two broke Hartmann..." Mio told me as we all looked at the laughing mess that was Erica.

"Wait, how is it my fault?" I asked her. "I wasn't the one who stood up and announced, 'Jawhol, Kapitän', was I?"

"Hartmann!" Gertrud added, directing this at her laughing teammate. "What's so funny?"

It took a few seconds more for Erica to stop laughing, though she was still chuckling or something as she replied with, "Sorry, Trude, but, heh heh...I never really pictured you actually, ha ha ha...actually saluting Roland like that, ahahahah..."

I think Gertrud's blush grew a little redder. "What? That's absurd! Of course I'd salute Sa-I mean, Roland like that. I would have done it when he was a higher rank than me."

We watched as Erica stood up and got back in her seat. "Well, heh heh...you're both the same rank, so...besides, remember your thing for-"

Despite not having speed as an inherent magic ability (though last I checked they were part of the same class of magic), Gertrud managed to go from zero to thirty (approximately) in a second, reaching over and slapping her left hand on top of the Karlsland blonde's mouth quickly. "Don't you dare, Hartmann!" I think her blush was redder than how a normal human could make it.

Erica muttered something under Gertrud's hand, and Gertrud uncovered her mouth. "Fine, but we'll talk about it later, teehee..." She looked a little...mischievous.

"Please don't..." Evidently, Gertrud didn't look pleased with this agreement.

"As long as you don't talk about anything...girly around me, I don't care too much about what you two end up discussing," I told them. "Just try to keep it Pee-Gee for Fran's sake."

"Not you too, Roland..." I don't think that was what Gertrud wanted to hear from me...

"Anyways," Minna decided to say before things got more awkward for anyone, "We're staying on standby in case of an attack, but don't be afraid to relax for today at least. It'd help a lot if we're not strung up before a battle."

"Yes, ma'am," we told her.

XXXXXXXXXX

Heidemarie's POV

I don't think I'm going to have a very good night patrol at the moment.

I think it might be because of the sight I was greeted with when I went to the room to rest up from last night.

While I know that Captain Sage and Commander Minna are together as a couple, I don't think that the sight of him having been...trapped inside her bosom...?

I don't really remember it too much since waking up from my sleep, but I definitely remember him asking me about how much I saw, which once I told him I think he interpreted it as "the whole thing".

Anyways, I was making my way to the hangar so that I can gear up for the night patrol. I was busy looking at a notebook I had with me to keep track of all the chats I've had with the other Night Witches. It was rather interesting since we came up with the concept for it: it's how Sanya and I became friends.

"Hey, major," I heard Captain Sage's voice say. "You're getting ready for night patrol?"

I turned around and saw the Neuroi Witch standing there alongside Sanya-wait, why is Sanya here?

"Captain Sage!" I shouted quickly as I tried not to let a blush appear on my face. I don't want to remember what I saw at the moment! "What are you doing out and about right now?"

"Don't you remember?" Captain Sage asked me, looking slightly confused. "Minna talked to you and me about the night patrol thing and the fact that we have two Night Witches for the job."

She did? I must have forgotten it once I fell asleep or something. "Sorry, must have forgotten it just now."

Sighing with a slight smile on his face, the Neuroi Witch continued with, "Right, you had some things on your mind, I guess. Anyways, we agreed that we'd have a schedule set up that utilizes you and Sanya to our best ability."

...Oh right, that schedule! "Three nights I fly, three nights Sanya goes, and one night you join the two of us just in case."

Captain Sage flashed a quick thumbs-up with his right hand. "See, you're remembering it now. I'd volunteer a little more time to night patrol per week, but I've got a schedule I've got to try maintaining. Anyways, tonight is the night I come along with you two. So shall we?"

...Don't think about it, Heidemarie...

"Alright, captain," I replied.

"Please, ma'am," Captain Sage replied as he rested his left hand on the back of his head. "Feel free to call me 'Roland' or something. Save the rank for more formal moments."

"Okay...Roland?"

XXXXXXXXXX

"So what are your experiences with night patrol, erm...Roland?" I asked Captain Sage once we entered the hangar. He was busy grabbing a few weapons for him to fight in case we need to.

The Neuroi Witch looked at Sanya before he said, "You want to tell her, San?"

"Might be better if you tell her yourself, Roland-kun," Sanya replied.

"Right..." He turned his head to look at me as I was busy getting comfortable in my Striker Unit. "I've flown with Sanya, Eila, and Yoshika for a few nights in Britannia, and I flew a few extras for more experience, but with my powers having been gone for a little over two months I need to get back in the loop on them."

"I see," I said. "Alright. I'll get going on getting into the sky."

"Okay, major. You and Sanya go ahead without me. I'll join you girls in a bit. Need to find a radio piece around here again..."

Sanya hopped inside her Striker Unit and readied her Fliegerhammer as her familiar revealed itself. Soon, we taxied over to the runway and took turns taking off into the air, me going first as Sanya joined me a minute later.

"Hey, Sanya?" I asked the Orussian Witch as we floated there, waiting for Captain Sage to fly up here. "How much do you know about Captain Sage, I mean, Roland?"

"Huh?" Sanya asked, a little confused. "Well, he's...kind. He's a little rash and definitely too worried about us, but we can do our best knowing that he worries about us that much."

"Uh-huh...so during Operation Mars..."

Sanya frowned slightly. "Heidemarie?"

I blinked. "I'm sorry! I know that it must be a touchy subject for the Strike Witches, but I was hoping to understand a bit more about what you meant by-"

The Orussian Witch's frown changed into a slight smile. "It's alright, major. About Operation Mars...it was that worry that got him in trouble at the time, but he did prevent Major Sakamoto from suffering his fate. The way he sounded when he told us that his mind was made up...he sounded sad."

"Sad?" Captain Sage has a Karlsland commander as a girlfriend, a team who seems to trust him, and the fame he's received so far. What's there to make him sad?

"I think it had to do with his past."

"His past? What do you mean?" He's never told me anything about his past, though to be fair I've only known him for a few days now.

"Well..." Sanya was interrupted by something that seemed to bother her. "Huh? Hang on..." She activated her magic antennae, me following suit, and we were greeted with the following:

Neuroi detected near the Loreley...It seems to be scouting or something...No idea right now...Yeah, we know, keep you posted if it changes.

As the voice went away, I looked at Sanya and asked, "Erm...any idea what that was we just heard?"

Sanya shook her head. "No idea. I think I'll ask Roland-kun about it later on, but right now he's coming in to meet up with us." She pointed down at the base, where Captain Sage was giving off a bit of a glow as he flew to get up here with us.

XXXXXXXXXX

Roland's POV

As I watched Sanya and Heidemarie taxi over to the runway, I strapped my BAR onto my back and tightened the strap of my sword's sheath before I looked down and resumed looking on the table for a spare radio piece.

"Hey, there we go," I said to myself as I found one sitting by itself on the table and, taking it in my right hand, worked on fitting it to my right ear. Satisfied with the placement, I then walked out onto the runway and powered on my Striker Unit as I saw the scars on my left arm glow red. I also noticed that the left side of the bridge of my nose had a red patch of light shining on it. "Huh. I guess it's a good idea to have a sort of light right now, isn't it, Lio? Thanks." I then looked up and could barely make out the girls above. It seemed like they were waiting for me. "Alright, better-"

Neuroi detected near the Loreley, Lionelis told me, cutting me off mid-sentence.

Wait, a Neuroi? I aksed him. What's a Neuroi doing over there?

It seems to be scouting or something.

Any clue about what its target's going to be? I started the engine and looked down the runway. Everything's green for flight, I hope.

No idea right now.

In that case... Just make sure you-

Yeah, we know, keep you posted if it changes.

At least you know what I was about to say. I took off down the runway and pulled into the air a few seconds later, flying up towards the girls.

XXXXXXXXXX

Heidemarie's POV

"Hey there, Roland-kun," Sanya greeted the Neuroi Witch as he came to a floating stop in front of us. He seemed to be giving off a red glow from his left eye as I noticed that he had some red lines along his left arm. "Um...why are you glowing like that?"

"No idea," the captain told her. "Probably for night patrol for the moment. It's usually not like this, if you'll recall."

"Anyways," I said as I shook my head. We have a night patrol to do. "Let's get going, please."

"Right."

We started flying for a bit, our attention focused on looking for any Neuroi.

The voice said that there was a Neuroi near the Loreley River, but why was it there? If it really is scouting, what is it scouting for?

"Any ideas where we could start?" Captain Sage tried asking.

"What about the Loreley?" I tried.

"The Loreley?" I think he looked confused.

I shook my head. I don't think he heard that voice, so he doesn't know what I was trying to say. "It's nothing, Roland."

"Ah. You bring up a good point, though. I think Gertrud said something about that being where the Neuroi went under to make its way across, right? Better make sure no one else gets the bright idea to do that."

"Right."

We made our way over to the Loreley, but when we arrived we didn't see anything out of the ordinary.

"Strange, thought there'd be something here," Captain Sage said. "I'm pretty sure I felt something around the area. No idea how accurate I pinpointed it, but it was around here somewhere."

"It doesn't help that your Neuroi core can be detected by the Neuroi, Roland-kun," Sanya added. "Plus, you're glowing red."

"...Good point. Maybe it was a fluke."

I activated my antennae and used it to look for any Neuroi in the area, but the only thing I kept sensing was the core of the man near us.

"I'm not picking up any Neuroi apart from your core, Roland," I told them. "Sanya?"

The Orussian Witch used her magic antennae to check for any enemies but came up with the same result: only Captain Sage's core was detected.

"Doesn't help that I can't just turn the core off otherwise I'd do it for sneaking purposes," the captain said with a sigh.

"Meaning...?" I tried.

"The last time it was shut off was immediately after Yoshika destroyed the core over Venezia, and it took my remaining magic to restart it to avoid dying. Apparently, the core has been active inside me for so long that I can't live without it." Captain Sage put his hands inside his side pockets carefully. "Such is life, huh?"

"Yeah..." He's living because of his core? That sounds like it's a bad thing to have happening right now...

We came to a stop at the boundary and I looked in the direction of Karlsland based on our position.

Still hard to believe that we'll actually have a chance to take it back, but with Captain Sage and the Strike Witches us Karlslanders can have our Fatherland back.

"Major Heidemarie?" Captain Sage asked as he and Sanya flew ahead of me and looked at me. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, Roland," I told him as I shook my head. Maybe I could...?

The Neuroi Witch looked in the direction I was looking and sighed. "So that way leads to Karlsland? Kinda difficult to go and see it in person right now. Wonder how Minna, Gertrud, and Erica feel about the fact..."

"Um, Roland?"

Captain Sage turned to look at me. "What is it, major?"

"Why did you refer to them by their first names just now? I mean, Commander Minna I can understand because you two are a couple, but why Captain Barkhorn and Lieutenant Hartmann?"

"Well, Gertrud seems to be easier on my tongue than Barkhorn, I guess. Maybe it's the fact that she and I have a sort of friendly standing with each other. As for Erica, it was something she let me call her in return for letting her read some of my letters. About the only people I refer to by rank are Gertrud and Minna if I need to be formal and Major Sakamoto because...well, I don't think she's allowed me to call her by her first name just yet in casual conversations, though I have used her name once by itself. Might never be able to say it freely, I guess, but..."

I nodded my head. "So why do you want me calling you 'Roland'?"

Captain Sage blinked (something that he couldn't really hide because of the red light he was giving off right now). "It helps me get to know you more as a person rather than some 'expendable' unit." He raised his hands and put the word "expendable" in some sort of air quotes.

"Oh. Erm...thanks...I guess."

"Don't think about what I said too much, though. Just know that you'll get to see me in combat some more at some point." I then looked at Sanya. "Anyways, let's get going. Better make sure they didn't just go around us while we were talking."

Nodding, we continued our patrol, Sanya and I using our magic antennae to pay attention for any ambushes from Neuroi. The whole time, we felt Roland as he was flying alongside us, his head panning from left to right as he looked around our surroundings in order to spot any potential problems.

I can't believe that I'm working with the Neuroi Witch himself, but so far he seems different than what the newspaper makes him sound like: he's rather nice. A bit odd to understand, but he really means well.

Though I can't help but think about what Sanya told me concerning his behavior: he's a bit rash?

I know that he did get angry when we were repelling the Neuroi ambush a few days ago, but was it because he wanted to end it quickly or because his friends and girlfriend were in the danger zone?

I have a feeling that I'll find out more about him myself as we go along around here...

XXXXXXXXXX

And that's the end of the first chapter of Strike Heroes 3: Global Revengeance.

First off, as stated above, I have a few more things to say before I end this chapter: like I said, this is going to have its chapters be the longest out of all the entries in the main series. I'm going to try shooting for at least ten thousand words per chapter, which across twenty-four chapters is going to be a lot of words (note that this number includes the notes at the beginning and end of each entry, so the actual chapter might be a little shorter than the amount I gave. You have been warned...).

Another thing I wanted to point out is this: as I said earlier, I'm going to be depending on you guys, the readers, to let me know how I'm doing so far. If you wish to give me ideas for the story, please don't be afraid to either put it in your review or inside the forum (go ahead and make a new thread if you want: I don't mind). If you want to make sure I get it personally without anyone seeing it, you can also PM me your idea. Just know two things: one, any ideas you send me may not be used. It's not because I don't like the idea you submit, but rather because I don't want my story to stray from the path I wanted to try making. This series is the first series I made for the site (though it's not the first fanfic I ever wrote, this is one of the series I'm proud of having authored) and has taken priority over all else at the moment, so (I might sound a little protective of it) I want to make sure the ideas can be fitted into the story.

The third thing I wanted to talk about is the rate of updates for this story: I am going to go an update once every two weeks. While this is a rather huge departure from me posting an update every week (or three days in the case of the first story), this gives me some time to not only create more chapters without being placed into a period of rushing things out but also gives me a chance to update other stories I'm working on. If I happen to forget to update at the appointed time, please don't panic: I'm most likely trying to get a chapter ready for you guys to read.

...Now, if I happen to forget about it for more than about a month, please remind me that I have a chapter to get up and I will be sure to get it done and up within about a week (it's happened before, so I want to avoid it as much as possible).

Let's see, anything else? I guess not...

Anyways, please read and respond and let me know what you thought of this first chapter in the next entry of Roland's saga.

Thanks, and I will see you guys in the next update, and with that we conclude "Road to Revengeance Week".