Disclaimer: Unfortunately I don't own Strike Witches. Enjoy!

Chapter One

"Hmph...mnn..."

Yoshika Miyafuji tossed and turned in bed. No matter what she did, sleep eluded her. She lay there quietly for a few minutes and then sat up in bed.

"It really isn't the same as back home," she said to herself. Yoshika turned to look out of the bedroom window. She stared at the twinkling, shining stars set atop a background of blue-black sky. The moon shone brightly that evening, illuminating everything with a soft blue iridescence. Even the sea lapping at the shore looked slightly odd, bathed in the moon's glow.

"Oh yeah..." She said, remembering. "I joined the Strike Witches, didn't I?"

It had all been such a blur. From meeting Major Sakamoto back in Fuso to the trip to Britannia, to settling in and meeting everyone at the base. It had almost been too much to take in.

"I can't wait to tell Mum and Grandma about all this..."

She smiled happily at the thought of home. She lay back in bed and dozed off. That night she dreamed she was back home, flying through the sky with the birds, with not a single care in the world.

Outside the base that evening, a lone figure stood in silence, silhouetted by the moon's glow. She was a slim, athletic-looking woman, standing atop a small outcrop of rock, perfectly balanced and motionless. The sea lapping around her feet didn't deter her one bit. She exhaled slowly, then as fast as lightning she drew her katana from its sheath and executed a slash attack. She paused momentarily, her jet-black ponytail flapping carelessly in the wind. Then once again she moved with pace and precision. Slash after thrust after slash; she became a blur of motion.

Then, just as suddenly as she had begun, she stopped. Breathing heavily, she returned her sword to its sheath. A single drop of sweat trickled down the back of her neck.

"Even this much tires me now..." she said absently, with a hint of regret in her voice. Then she noticed she was being watched from afar by another woman. "Who's there?" she said, spinning around.

"Oh my. Training this late again, Mio?" the woman's voice was full of warmth and caring. She had long reddish, almost chestnut-coloured hair that fell to below her shoulders and barely managed to conceal her large forehead. She was not overly beautiful, but she was certainly attractive and her large eyes and warm smile could put anyone at ease.

"Oh, it's you, Minna. Sorry, you startled me," Sakamoto replied. She silently cursed herself for an instant, for being so absorbed in her thoughts that she had allowed someone to get so close to her without being detected. In an actual battle, she could be dead by now because of that.

With no apparent effort whatsoever, Sakamoto leapt up off the rock she was perched on, arced through the air and landed nimbly beside Minna. The jump had been at least 15 meters, maybe more. No human could have done that. However, Sakamoto was more than just human.

"Come, let's go back inside. You'll catch your death out here, Mio," said Minna. Her tone was gentle but carried with it the force of a command.

"Okay," came the reply, and the two women walked together in silence back into the base.

The next morning everyone was woken abruptly by the shrill shriek of an alarm.

"Uh...Wha...What's going on?" mumbled Yoshika, as she struggled to get out of bed. She snagged her foot in the bed sheets and inelegantly tumbled to the floor. "Ow, geez!" she muttered and scrambled back to her feet, just in time for a young girl to open the door for her. The girl was small but slightly taller than Yoshika, with her thick hair tied back in a braided ponytail. She wore a look of apprehension on her youthful features.

"Yoshika-chan!" Lynette said, her hands clasped together tightly at her chest.

"What's wrong? Lynne-chan? What's going on?" demanded Yoshika, using one hand to rub her eyes awake and her other hand to untangle herself from the bed sheets.

"It's the alarm, Yoshika! That means a Neuroi must be headed our way. Quickly, we'd better hurry!" Lynette sounded worried.

"OK, I'm right with you. Let's go!" agreed Yoshika, and together they rushed down the corridor.

They almost bumped into Shirley as they rounded a corner at pace, and after barely managing to dodge her, the pair ran straight into Perrine, knocking her to the floor.

"Oh my goodness! What are you two idiots doing? Get off me!" snarled Perrine angrily.

"Oh, I'm so sorry Perrine-san!" exclaimed Lynette as she picked herself up.

"I'm sorry too," added Yoshika bashfully.

"Honestly, what in the world-" began Perrine, but was cut off by Shirley yawning loudly. After visibly flinching, Perrine regained her composure and glared at the American.

"What is all this anyway? Seriously, what time is it? Didn't we just beat one of those things yesterday? Man, can't I catch up on my sleep..." Shirley mumbled drowsily, scratching her head.

Further down the corridor, a female voice could be heard shouting. It sounded angry, and was getting louder and louder.

"Oi! Hartmann! Wake up already!" Barkhorn yelled at her fellow countryman.

"Mm...just 40 minutes longer..." came the reply from Hartmann.

Barkhorn's face flushed with a combination of anger and frustration. She clenched her fists at her side and continued to shout.

"There's no time for this, the enemy is coming! Get the hell up right now Hartmann! Get your shit together and let's MOVE!" she practically screamed the last word, her voice piercing the air like a shotgun blast.

"Mm...OK then...just gimme 20 minutes more..." Hartmann muttered and rolled over.

About 15 minutes later, every member of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing was assembled in the main briefing room. Except for Hartmann, who Barkhorn had apparently been unable to rouse.

All the girls were tired, yawning and in various states of undress, their hair dishevelled and their eyes heavy. Apart from one girl.

Major Mio Sakamoto stood perfectly still at the front of the briefing room, her one visible eye surveying the girls before her. The uniform she wore was spotless and looked like it had recently been pressed. Her hair, as always, was immaculately neat and tied back into a simple yet elegant ponytail. She stood rigidly at attention, ever alert. She looked at the women in front of her. They were all tired, battling the Neuroi was no easy task, however she felt they were slacking off lately and that was the one thing she would never do. She would fight with everything she had until her last breath. Seeing these girls before her, yawning and barely awake, a full eighteen minutes after sounding the alarm, filled her with exasperation.

Sakamoto turned around and pressed a hidden button on the wall behind her. The alarm went dead. In its absence, the silence felt wrong somehow. Sakamoto turned back to face everyone and spoke.

"Attention, everyone! There is no enemy. I repeat, no Neuroi have been detected. This was, for lack of a better term, a false alarm."

"Eh? You mean you dragged us out here for nothin'? Aw man, I'm goin' back to bed..." Lucchini said, standing up. She began to move, but then she froze in her tracks, realizing Sakamoto's gaze was burning into her with an almost menacing ferocity. The Major was not a woman to be trifled with.

"Ensign Francesca Lucchini. SIT!" barked Sakamoto.

"Eep!" Lucchini gulped and then quickly sat back down.

"What exactly do you mean, Major?" asked Barkhorn. Apart from Sakamoto, she was the only other person who looked awake. "What is going on? Is this some kind of drill?"

"Not exactly. This was more to test a suspicion I had, and unfortunately that suspicion was confirmed just now," replied Sakamoto.

"What are you talking about, Major?" Perrine asked politely, brushing a stray strand of blonde hair out of her face.

"Allow me to explain. Lately you have all become too relaxed. Battling the Neuroi is no joke. We are fighting for our lives, for our very existence, and for all the millions of people in the world whose homes are threatened by this alien menace." Sakamoto stepped forward to press the point home.

"If we fail, there are no second chances. Failure means death. Death means the skies of Britannia will be undefended. If that happens, Britannia will fall, and the Neuroi may well be able to wipe the human race off the face of the world, forever!"

Sakamoto paused. She then realised she had almost yelled that last part, in the heat of emotion. Every girl in the room looked at her in stunned silence, suddenly much more awake. Sakamoto took a deep breath, and in a calmer voice, continued.

"We cannot surrender. As far as we can tell, the Neuroi do not take prisoners. Death is unacceptable. The only option we have is to win. To that end," she said. "We must train harder. We must train to win. If this had been a real attack, we could all be dead by now. So, we will start by doubling, no, tripling your training regimens, beginning today!"

"Geh?" was the response from everyone.

To be continued


OK, this is my first attempt at fanfic-writing, so be kind with comments and reviews :-) Thanks for reading!