Disclaimer

I do not hold the intellectual property rights to the Strike Witches franchise, or any other book, comic, song, movie or other work of art I reference. Original Content created by me is copyrighted by me alone. All brand names are property of the respective parties owning rights to them. This disclaimer is valid hereinafter and won't be repeated in the following chapters.

Welcome to the third installment of the 'Chosen One' saga! This one will be a big one, oh yes… If everything will go according to plan, the last chapter will be released on June 27. So you'll have a chapter every three days for almost half a year!

This fic covers the second season of the anime, as well as a little epilogue… somewhere… Won't tell shit! :P

As usual I would like to thanks Doran Maya for bothering to beta read my (sometimes) horrible stuff.

I would also like to thanks my friend MrBJBlazkowicz from the FalloutNexus for some weapon related info!

Without further ado, here's the first chapter!

Chapter 1 - Bienvenuti al Romagna!

The rhythmic rumbling of the BV 222's six Jumo 207C engines sounded around the cargo hold, in which Toshiro, Adolfine, Shirley and Francesca were sitting on a duralumin bench.

"Ro-ma-gna! Ro-ma-gna!" Francesca shouted excited to the brim.

"Calm down, Lucchini… You are screaming as if you're having your first orgasm…" Shirley mumbled.

"How would you know that?" She asked innocently.

"Ah… Well…" She looked all over the roof of the cargo hold. "I've heard things so perverted that you'd crawl under a blanket and cry to your mommy!"

"Ooooh! Do tell!"

"Oh come on, Toshiro will just get horny for naught!"

"Alas, it's true!" Toshiro said with a dramatic voice. "And Yuki won't even let me relieve myself… Woe is me!"

"Aaaaaw, Poor Toshiro." Francesca said with a complacent voice, stroking his shoulder. "Don't worry, Yoshika will soon come to us, and you can make out all you like!"

"Francesca… Why are you interested in my love life with Yoshika?"

"Ah well… You see…" She squirmed around heavily. "She's my best friend, and I can ask her about credible info about 'those' things, eheheh…"

"So you want her to blabber out our dirty erotic secrets, just so you will profit from them?"

"Yes!"

"Why don't I just fuck you here on the spot? I could disable Yuki for a while so she wouldn't interfere, and you would get so much practical knowledge, that it would be enough for a few years, if not for your whole life!"

"WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHH! RAPIST!" She shouted fiercely and ran away into a corner, behind some of the equipment.

"Bwahahahahahaha!" Toshiro laughed aloud.

"You scared her shitless, Toshiro." Adolfine said. "Now get her back, we'll be landing soon."

"Okay… Franceeescaaa…"

Toshiro went in the direction she ran off, and found her shivering in a corner.

"Come on, Francesca…"

"Noooo…"

"Oh come on, don't be so childish…"

"Nu-uh…"

"Yuki, help me or…"

"Okay, leave it to me."

"Hey, Francesca, listen to Toshiro." Yuki said.

"Oh? Snakey?"

"Yes, it's me. Come on, we are approaching your homeland." She extended Toshiro's hand

"But Toshiro…"

"He was joking. A rather tasteless and crude joke I must say, but still. He wouldn't dare to even touch you in a wrong way while I'm around, and he knows that I would make him pay for disabling me."

"Oh… Okay…" She grabbed Toshiro's hand and they went back to the girls.

"Here." Yuki said. "One Francesca delivered undamaged."

"Oh, thanks Yuki." Shirley said.

"Hi, Yuki." Adolfine said.

"Hello, Shirley, Adolfine. Going back now."

"Huh, Yuki calling you lot by your given names, and not rude nicknames?" Toshiro asked surprised.

"You see, Toshiro…" Adolfine started explaining. "While you were unconscious, you were very feverish, so everyone took daily turns in caring for you. That's how we got to have long and honest talks with Yuki, and we've gained her trust."

"I see… Well, it's certainly for the better. I'm glad the three of you got in terms with Yuki."

"The 31st also had some conversations with Yuki from what I know, but only your cousin, Keiko and Marseille were 'worthy' enough to be spoken too." Adolfine said.

"Fitting… I didn't have much time with Raisa and Furuko… What about Matilda?"

"She wavered to answer…"

"I told her such lewd things that I don't blame her…"

"And who's the pervert now?"

"So anyway… You said something about landing?"

As if on demand, a voice came from the PA system.

"Frau Generalmajor, we are approaching to landing."

"Understood." Adolfine responded. "See?"

"Not bad…"

The whole planed jumped a bit, which meant that the plane touched down on a part of the Mediterranean Sea. Francesca looked as if she was going to burst just about any second.

The engine noise soon changed, as the revs got lower and they could feel the hull of the airboat cutting the water slowly.

Soon the engines went into idle and stopped.

"You are now ready for disembarkation, Frau Generalmajor."

"Thank you, Udo."

"Oh, and Herr Oberst…"

"Yes?"

"Congratulations."

"Thank you."

"Well then, open the door, Francesca." Adolfine said.

"Oh, can I?" She asked.

"Yes. Oh, but wait a second…"

Adolfine pulled out something out of her locker, and presented it to them.

"These are upgrade transponders. This time you use two, but don't worry, they are 'hearthrough', your hearing abilities won't be impaired."

Toshiro picked up a pair of black transponders with one hand, and pulled out the old, blue one with the other.

"Well, I'm already accustomed to having one transponder in my ear 24/7, so I might as well have two."

He put the transponders in his ears and said, "Hmmm… They fit a bit better…"

"We engineered them carefully." Adolfine said with pride.

The girls also exchanged their transponders, but Francesca shouted, "I want out already!"

"Oh, yes. Please, open the door."

She opened the door and immediately shot through it. However, the gangplank wasn't still attached to the plane, so she fell into the water with a loud splash.

"Waaaaah!" She shouted.

"Mi dispiace molto (I'm very sorry)!" A man in Romagnan army uniform with a gangplank shouted apologetically. "Are you all right?"

"Si, si (Yes, yes)… It's actually nice to take a dip in the waters of the Mediterranean, heehee... Even if it's cold…"

The man placed the gangplank between the pier and the plane, and pulled out Francesca out of the water.

"Once more, I'm so sorry…" The man apologized further.

"Ehhh… Those Romagnans…" Adolfine muttered. "If they won't fuck up something, they'll look for a bordello…"

"That's some strong prejudice you have there, Adolfine. Ain't that a bit… xenophobic?" Toshiro asked.

"An eye for an eye, Toshiro. The world thinks that we are stuck up, rule abiding and meek perfectionists."

"What about us Liberians?" Shirley asked.

"Hot headed, reckless, gung ho, guns blazing, et cetera…"

"Jeez… Good that I don't give a fuck…" Shirley sighed.

"Me neither…" Toshiro said. "But well, I'm a half to be honest, heheh…"

"Okay, Toshiro, Shirley… Let us go. I'll see to the unloading, and go back to Neue Karlsland… Oh… I forgot about something, give me a second."

Adolfine returned to her trusty locker, and pulled out a file. She gave it to Toshiro saying "Here, all your papers confirming your position in the military and such. Be sure to show it to Minna, as she will probably be… skeptical about your sudden rise in power."

"I will, thanks, Adolfine." He said and put the file in his chest.

"Oh, and another thing… You shouldn't parade with those medals all the time, you could lose them in combat. Ask somebody to sew the ribbons you got with each award on your uniforms."

"Good idea… I'll ask Lynne, if she comes by…"

"One other thing…" Adolfine approached him and gave him two keys. "Top floor, view on the runway. Nothing fancy, but worthy of a Colonel. And the second key… Look in the basement… Oh and while I remember, a large part of the castle is unusable due to some of the interior collapsing. The center part of the castle is inaccessible, and anything between the first floor and the top two."

"Thanks yet again." He said while hiding the keys in his pocket. "But you know what… Remember that orphan money I'm getting?"

"Yes. You still have two payments left."

"Give it to some real orphans, I don't feel like one."

"But legally you are an orphan, Toshiro."

"Just do it, please."

"Your big heart acting up again? Heh, okay… I'll pick some orphanage or something…"

They stepped out of the plane into the mildly shining sun of Romagna.

Only a few hundred kilometers up north and such a climate change…

Toshiro saw the enormous stair on the side of the wall leading upwards, and a big statue of an angel on the top of the base.

Lucchini looked like a wet cat, so Toshiro approached and asked "Care if I dry you?"

"Huh? You can do that? I want to see that! And I'm cold!"

Toshiro placed his hand on her shoulder, and an orange aura slowly enveloped her.

"Oooh… It's warm!"

"Tell me when it's too hot, I don't want you to fall from the frying pan into the fire."

"A little bit more… A bit more… Ahhhhhhh… That's my sweet spot…"

"I'm trying to heat up just your clothes, so don't wriggle. I'm pushing about 200 degrees Celsius so…"

"Is that hot?" She asked curiously.

"Two times the temperature of freshly boiled water, a bit hotter than hot cooking oil."

Francesca suddenly stiffened up.

"Hah! That's what I wanted." Toshiro said with a big grin.

After a few seconds, the aura enveloping the previously wet Romagnan dissipated, and Francesca stood before Toshiro dry as pepper. She felt her clothes with her hand, not believing how dry she was.

"Cool! Thanks, Toshiro! Now I can't wait to explore the base!"

"We'll explore it together, so you won't break anything." Toshiro said.

"Awwwww…"

"But don't worry, we'll look into every nook and cranny, I promise!"

"Okay!"

The crane has lifted the roof of the airboat, and the equipment started being unloaded. A big stack was formed, which Toshiro and Adolfine inspected. After giving a green light, the Romagnan soldiers started moving all the items up the stairs. The planes roof was mounted back on its position, and the plane was ready for takeoff.

"Hey, Adolfine, do you think I should show off a bit?"

"For now, you should show me off, Toshiro."

"Oh, you are leaving now? What a shame…" Toshiro put his hand forward. "But you know, a little pale haired bird chirped something in my ear today… Although I don't have any trinkets on me, and it's a way overdue but… Happy birthday, Adolfine."

"I should kill that Keiko... Thanks, Toshiro, much appreciated, heehee…" She said and shook his hand firmly.

"Aaaaw, Auuuuntiee!" Francesca shouted, hugged Adolfine and looked up to her face. "Happy Birthday, Auntie!"

Adolfine patted the little mischief maker on the head while saying, "And you should stop groping girls so much, it's rude. Thanks anyway."

"Weeheeehee, I'll try."

"Happy Birthday and goodbye then, Adolfine." Shirley said while patting her shoulder. "Wish I had a body like yours. You look like you're eighteen!"

"Wish I had tits like yours… And I'm in fact twenty-four starting tomorrow, so… Thanks for the compliment. And as for the body, Toshiro could give you a training program, but you would probably fall back to tinkering with your mechanical toys anyway."

"Well, heh… You ain't that far away from the truth…"

"Hah… Bye everyone, it was fun spending my time with you. And you, Toshiro, look sweet when you sleep; I forgot to tell you that after we landed in Africa."

Toshiro blushed with an uncertain facial expression.

"Ehhh… Sorry for keeping you busy for those nine days…"

"Nothing to be sorry about, Toshiro. If that sucker were to move westward, the whole African front would have been demolished. Sometimes it's good not to be humble, and you know it." Adolfine reassured him.

The engines of the plane started up.

"Oh, it's time for me. Good luck on your new mission, all of you! I'll be in Africa for another day, so ask the phone central to patch you through there!"

"Sure!"

Adolfine boarded the airboat and she flew off back from where they came from.

"So… What was that about showing off?" Shirley asked.

"Ah, yeah…"

Toshiro walked up to the pile of equipment, and took the cannon in his left hand, and the motorcycle in his right, hanging it over his back. The Romagnan soldiers that just returned from the first round with the equipment had to hoist their jaws from the concrete.

"Oh… That's showing of for sure…" Shirley mumbled. "Come on, Lucchini, let's go exploring!"

"Yay!"

Toshiro went forward and climbed the stairs with a steady pace. Once he got up, the view took his breath. The castle in its whole overshadowed the Britannian base. It was so high that his neck hurt just by looking up. They were standing between two small buildings, and another one was to be seen behind the left one. Lush green grass was seen everywhere, as well as white columns standing silently since ages.

"So majestic…" Shirley said.

"Uhuh…" Francesca concurred.

They went on forward, passing the next building, which was partially over something resembling a pool. The water in it however was murky.

"Hey, Toshiro, will we clean up the pool some time?" Shirley asked.

"Sure, why not. Trude will be too happy to express it with words."

They went on through the lush grass, and entered through a large doorway in the side of the enormous wall. The interior resembled the exterior, which was made from dirty yellow sandstone. The corridor was over ten meters high and five meters wide.

"Toshiro, left or right?" Francesca asked.

He looked in both directions, and saw a soldier coming from the left.

"Left."

As they approached the soldier, he made a surprised face.

"Excuse me; are you coming from the place in which you dump off our stuff?"

"Yes, Colonnello, I'm coming from the hangar."

"Thank you."

They progressed through the corridor, and came to a point in where the route split. They could continue going through the second part of the corridor, take a set of wide stairs somewhere down, or take the lift or hike up the staircase.

"So, where do you think should we go now, Toshiro?" Shirley asked.

"Judging by the footprints in the dust, I should say down the stairs."

They went down the stairs, and through a double door entryway, they got into the hangar. It was an enormous construction, topping what Toshiro saw in Britannia. It could even match the hangar in which Patton stored his tanks. The entrance was now closed by a roll-down door, above which a catwalk was present, which could be accessed by a set simple metal stairs. The Launch Unit's for their Strikers were already waiting for them, with the Strikers of the three present in them.

"What a big hangar!" Shirley shouted. "Hey, Lucchini, it even has beams for you to sleep on!" She pointed out to the solid looking metal beams under the roof.

"Oooooh! I have to check it out!" Francesca shouted with enthusiasm, and pulled something out of her duffle bag.

It was her favorite blanket with the flag of Romagna sewn on it.

She ran up the stairs on the catwalk, and with a long leap jumped up on one of the beams. She then placed the blanket, and lied down on it.

"Maaaaaaah… Mhhhhhmmm… Perfect!"

"That's Lucchini for ya…" Shirley said silently. "Hey, I wonder what for that big door is?"

She pointed out to an enormous green sliding door on the wall opposite to the hangar door. They approached it, and Toshiro pressed a button beside it. The door started sliding open, along with the orange flashing of a strobe light.

A tunnel was revealed to them, lit by simple sodium laps, which were now warming up. A truck was inside of the tunnel, waiting for them.

"This must be the truck of which Adolfine spoke about, and the tunnel is probably leading right outside the base."

"I wonder what brand is this truck… I never saw such a model…" Toshiro wondered.

"It's the 'Deuce and a Half', Toshiro." Shirley answered.

"Deuce and a half?"

"Well, officially it's the GMC CCKW, but people just call it 'Deuce and a Half', because of its weight of two and a half ton. I wonder who gave us the truck…?"

"Maybe ol' Patton was in a spending mood, heheh… Okay, let's get back to the hangar; I saw stairs going down on the right side."

They went to the said stairs, and they saw a storehouse, a tad understocked, but it was huge. They looked around it, and stumbled upon a locked door.

"I wonder what's behind it…?" Shirley asked

Hmmmm…

Toshiro pulled out the two keys he got from Adolfine, and picked out the one that could fit in the keyhole. The key turned flawlessly, and Toshiro pulled the door back. A dark abyss awaited them inside.

"I'm scared…" Francesca said silently.

"Nah… You don't have to be…"

Toshiro took a step in, and patted the wall near the entrance. Suddenly he felt a small knob, which he turned. A single low power light bulb lit up on the ceiling.

"Woaaaaaah!" Shirley gasped. "It's a wine cellar!"

"Bleh…" Francesca showed her disgust in her usual way.

Toshiro approached one of the wine racks, and picked up a dusty bottle.

"Monsigniore… 1908… Nice…"

"Hey, Toshiro, why don't we check if… the wine didn't spoil…" Shirley said while fluttering her eyebrows.

"Heheh…" Toshiro laughed mischeviously.

Toshiro pulled out the cork out of the bottle with his teeth. He took a sniff of the content of the bottle.

"Hmmm… What a rich composition… You can feel the smell of freshly pressed grapes…" Toshiro took a swig.

"Mmmm… The bouqet is surely rich… You can taste the sunny Romagnan soil…"

"Huh?" Francesca turned her head in surprise.

"It's good." Toshiro explained. "Here, Shirley, take a sip."

"Don't mind if I do…" She took a good swig.

"Hmmm… No shit, this is some good wine… But Perrine would probably get a heart attack seeing us drinking like barbarians, bwahahahaha!"

"Yeah… Surely, heh… But anyway, this room is now off limits to anyone but me."

"Oh pfffff…" Shirley puffed her cheeks.

"We have to ration this wine, or you girls would chug it down in one go…"

"Sounds all right…" Shirley mumbled.

They got out of the room, and went to the hangar door. On the way, they saw the field kitchen near an impressive stack of firewood and a long table, which they ignored for now. Toshiro pressed a button, and the door rolled up.

The runway went all the way over the sea. There was a big plaza before the hangar entrance, decorated with blue marble.

"So… incredible…" Shirley gasped.

"This is why I love my home country!" Francesca cheered.

"Yes… Romagnan architecture sure is breathtaking…" Toshiro said. "Okay, let's get back inside, and see what's up those stairs…"

They got back to the lift, and inside of it. Most of the buttons were pulled out so only a few were left. Toshiro pressed one of them and nothing happened. He pressed another one, but with the same result.

"Oh fuck… We have to go up the stairs…"

"Waaaah! But I don't wanna!" Francesca cried.

"Then hop on my back, and let's go."

"Yay!" She cheered and hoped on Toshiro's back.

After a good few minutes, and getting past sealed of stories, they came up to an accessible corridor, huffing and puffing.

"Buuuuh… Francesca… You sure are heavy under some circumstances…"

"Sowwy…"

There were two doors before them, and two on the opposite ends of the corridor.

They opened the left door, and saw an empty room with lots of empty filing cabinets.

"This should be Trude's kingdom. Oh, and it has a window!"

"Why are you so excited, Toshiro?" Shirley asked.

"Back in Britannia, the archive had no ventilation whatsoever, so the room was a bit… stuffy…"

"Oooh… I get it…" Shirley said with a wry smile.

"As if…" Toshiro muttered.

The right door led to a room, which was an ideal candidate for an office of the base commander. Burgundy drapes were hanging besides a tall, sleek window. A sturdy desk was standing before the window, and a big dusty bookstand was standing on the left.

"This would look like an ideal office for you, Toshiro, since you are the bigshot now." Shirley said.

"I would probably agree, but Minna is the unit commander, so she deserves to have a good office of her own. I'll just huddle in a corner with the desk I got in Africa…"

"So you mean you won't undermine Minna, or play the fat cat?"

"Nope. But I will study on how to become a good commander from here, not like there are manuals on how to do it…"

"Good and kindhearted as always…" Shirley sighed.

They exited the room and looked into the room to the left, looking from the stairs. They had to climb small stairs to get into a miniature corridor, leading to the room itself.

The room had windows on two of the wall, which provided a stunning view on the sea. On one wall there was a big map of the area, and a big wooden desk was standing before it. Toshiro also saw some power outlets on one of the walls.

"This could be a good war room… We'll have to haul the radio equipment here, and procure a radar…"

They went back and tried to go into the second room, but it was closed. Toshiro tried to use a key, but it didn't work.

"Well, won't see what's in here…"

"Oh, Toshiro, we missed a room."

"Oh? Oh yeah, the center one…"

They went back to the door, and tried to open it, but it was also locked. However, this time Toshiro's key worked.

"Even more stairs…" Francesca muttered.

They ended up in a small corridor, with only one door.

Toshiro opened it, and was stunned by what he saw.

The room was a bedroom fit for a king. An enormous bed, a bathtub besides the wall, a sink, a huge wardrobe, drapes, a mahogany floor and ebony wall panels. There was also a gigantic glass door just opposite the entrance door.

"Toshiro… Don't tell me this is your room…" Shirley gasped.

"It seems so… It opened with a key, and has a view on the sea… Wow…"

"Toshiro, your room is fit for a Doge!" Francesca cheered.

"A dog?"

"A duke, silly."

"Uhhhh… No parla romagnano… something…"

"Heeheehee!"

"It's kinda secluded… But once the lift gets working, it won't be such a problem. And maybe you girls will stop bugging me like in Britannia, heheheh…"

"No stairs are big enough to hinder me from that!" Shirley shouted.

"For me neither!" Francesca added.

Afterwards, they scoured the whole base premise. The result of their search was finding a building they could use as a dormitory, a 'social' building with a common room and a potential kitchen and dining room, a secluded little house for a loner like Mio and an aula for briefings.

In the evening, they dropped on the grass, somewhere in the southern part of the base.

"Woooo… We've been everywhere…" Shirley said.

"Yeah… I'm tired…" Francesca added. "And huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuungryyy!"

"Let's return to the hangar, and see what kind of delicatessen Adolfine provided for us." Toshiro proposed.

The wild cheer of both was enough for him to know it was a good idea.

From all the things that they found, Toshiro wanted to make some bacon and eggs, but first they had to fire up the kitchen. Besides the obvious stack of firewood, they found two canisters. Toshiro took a whiff of the content of the first one.

"Hurrrgh… Gasoline, no doubt."

He took the second canister, and to his surprise, the contents smelled familiar.

"Alcohol?"

"It's probably methanol, Toshiro. Don't drink it or you'll go blind."

"Thanks for the tip; I was just about to take a swig… Wood naphtha ain't good for ya…"

"Heh… Speaking of booze… Francesca, go fetch that wine bottle I opened earlier." Toshiro said throwing her the key.

"Sure. Be right back!"

After they filled the kitchen with methanol, Toshiro wanted to light up the flame.

"Ugh… Shirley, do you have that lighter you had in Britannia?"

"Uh… Heh… I lost it at the Tobruk dock…"

"What do you mean lost? That's a rather ambiguous word."

"I lost it in a card game…"

"Ugh… I don't blame you, because that guy's hands move faster than lightning…"

"You know who I'm talking about?"

"Yeah, he tried to rip me off. But since I don't produce any visible signs of magic use, I reversed the tables, hehehe…"

"So, how do we light it?"

"I have an idea…" Toshiro's hand got enveloped in an orange aura, and he placed a finger in the methanol. "I'll just heat it up until it ignites."

"And you say I'm reckless…"

After a second, the methanol started boiling. After half a minute, it suddenly ignited rapidly. Toshiro quickly put the burner adapter over it.

"Pfff… That was close…" He said.

Francesca got back with the wine, and they all made the bacon and eggs together. While consuming the meal, Toshiro stood up with a glass of wine.

"To our first day in Romagna!"

"Cheers!" Shirley and Francesca shouted.

Afterwards, they exited the hangar, and went to the crossing.

"So, it's bed time you two, I'll go up to my room, you two go to your room in that dorm…"

"But… Toshiro… We barely know the place… You want us to be alone in this big place?" Shirley asked a bit frightened.

"Oh okay… Until the rest gets here, you two sleep with me, Yuki won't scalp me for it…"

"I won't, they know the rules, and will hopefully abide them."

"Yay!" The two shouted.

Toshiro undressed to his undies, Shirley left her shirt on, and Francesca didn't do anything. They cuddled together on the enormous bed, and slept in lieu of another day.

And this marks the end of the first chapter!

And if you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]

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