This was made between me and Draken04 while we were bored out of our minds.
Late 1942, several kilometers from the eastern Australis shore line…
Three white V's could be seen cutting through the calm, dark blue waters. Upon closer inspection, one would find themselves looking at three Fuso warships, the Imperial Fuso Navy carrier Ryuujou, with its flight deck devoid of any structures, and two destroyers, the Fubuki and Inazuma. They were tasked with a simple patrol of the region, at the request of the Australis government.
When the Neuroi attacked Fuso several years ago, it sparked the attention of the entire world, especially those in the Pacific. The Australis military, not owning many warships or witches of their own, requested help from neighboring countries in case of an attack. Those to answer the call were only Kiwiland and Fuso itself, as the Neuroi did not seem to pay any more attention to the island nation.
And there they were the carrier and her two escorts, peacefully swimming through the Australis water. On board the carrier, two witches were milling about, doing what they usually did all day; nothing.
"This is so boring!" shouted a girl wearing the uniform of a Fuso Navy officer, "I could be out killing Neuroi in Europe right now!" The girl next to her, who was busy making water shoot out of the ocean down below, just looked at her in the corner of her eye, and muttered loudly, "sure, Flying Officer Sakurako, we'd all be saved be your heroics and all round awesomeness."
The Fusojin flashed a grin, and laughed. "Damn right, Willow! Better than watching you play with water all day, I tell you!" Willow sighed, pushing more magic into the next burst, and she sprayed Sakurako's black hair with a splash of pure aqua. "Hey, I just dried that off! Now I have to lay in the sun again!..."
And so was the normal way they spent their afternoon. But whether it be good or bad luck though, something finally decided to appear.
Fubuki and Inazuma were some distance ahead of Ryuujou. As Sakurako looked at them, she saw their Anti-Air guns going off.
There was no doubt about it: Neuroi. What type and formation was as yet unclear, but what was clear was that both witches had to launch to intercept immediately. Sakurako headed below deck to where her striker was docked, the tried and trusted Miyabishi Type Zero. Willow needed no prompt to follow her, as she was right there next to her leaping into her own Britannian built Seafire.
Ryuujou's flight deck came alive with the magic streak as the two witches disembarked, her flat silhouette serving as a backdrop for their entry into battle. They flew side by side. The two witches who often bickered and poked fun at each other when on the ground were a single unit when in the air, they'd served together long enough to understand each other's skill, and the limitations of each other's strikers.
Sakurako was straining her eyesight to see what she'd be facing, and the black shapes with the red streaks came into view eventually; they were fighter types, not too dissimilar from what her compatriots faced in the Fuso Sea incident. Their numbers were underwhelming though; five of them. Witches were far too used to facing larger odds since the Fuso incident, and these older looking Neuroi were not as big a threat as what she's heard about in Europe. Willow was close behind, when she started talking to Sakurako "Fighters, all of them. We should still defend the ships though"
"It's about time we got a few more kills. I'll head in first, cover me"
Willow did not contest, despite it being too obvious that Sakurako wanted to lead the attack. Still, she thought she might be able to take the loud Fusojin down a peg if she managed to save her from a Neuroi strike or two.
As soon as they came within visual range of the formation, the first Neuroi beam flew, and Sakurako expended little effort in absorbing it with her shield. Willow returned fire instantly, with the continuous thumping of the Hispano cannon ringing out.
That Neuroi was flying perfectly straight, only intent on loosing its beam at Sakurako. It was too easy for Willow to empty enough twenty millimeter shells in it to both expose the core, and destroy it. The first kill of the engagement was scored, and it was Willow's.
The single mindedness of the Neuroi was on display. With Willow scoring that kill, the nearest aimed at her, the beam crashing impotently against her shield.
Sakurako took it as her cue, scoring many easy hits against it, replicating Willow's feat from earlier, another Neuroi disappeared into silver dust.
The remaining Neuroi were obviously completely unsettled with the 2 kills already scored, and their flying patterns became erratic. This would be a problem for most witches, but to the extremely maneuverable Seafire and Zero, it was a turkey shoot.
A mutual agreement was reached between the two witches; they no longer needed to cover each other. Sakurako toyed with one that was attempting to avoid her in a downward spiral, trying not to expend too many of her shots. The core eventually became exposed, allowing her to take her time with scoring the final shot. As she was admiring the silver dust appearing from the dead Neuroi, a beam flew past her face. She turned around in a bit of a panic, prepared to engage in evasive maneuvers, but all she saw was silver dust. Willow appeared behind it, and gave Sakurako a wink. For a split second, she wished the beam had hit her. Willow would not live this down.
The last Neuroi was nearby, stupidly flying near them. It glowed red, obviously preparing a beam, when Type 99 and Hispano rounds simultaneously crashed into it. It was obliterated instantly.
"Three for me, two for you" Sakurako said.
"No, Fuso. Three for me, two for you, including me saving your life"
"The Type 99 has a higher velocity. I obviously hit first"
"Yes, but it fires blanks. I was the reason it exploded"
They were prepared to continue this all day when cheers rang out from the decks of Inazuma and Fubuki. The cheers were for them, the crew saw them as their saviors. It brought smiles to their faces, and they held hands while looking down at the grateful faces of the sailors.
"2, with one shared each?" Willow whispered.
"Fair enough" Sakurako replied.