Disclaimer: I don't own Strike Witches.
Cleaned up the text to make the dialog more clear. Thanks to Symbiotic and Flanker 33 for pointing out the confusing points!
Real upload this time!
The story begins. My thanks to Flanker 33 who suggested a more concise title. As always, my appreciation of everyone who's read, reviewed, followed, and favorited.
A quiet, persistent droning filled the night air. High in the NeueKarlsland sky, a 'V' of six Messerschmitts, five Bf 109 D-1s and a Bf 110 C-4, flew a quarter kilometer ahead of a Junkers Ju 52 transport plane. Undercarriages painted dark grey, the planes' running lights were off and they flew slowly - almost slow enough to stall - in order to dampen the sound of their progress. They flew in tight formation matching speed exactly in order to mask the number of planes that could be determined by sound. The operation was conducted on a moonless night; by sheer luck there was heavy cloud cover. A moist wind carried with it the threat of rain at any moment. Absolute radio silence was maintained.
Four witches accompanied the flight, two with the lead fighters, two flanking the transport plane. The sound of their strikers was drowned out by the rhythmic thrum of the Messerschmitts' engines. The only hint of their presence was the dampened spring green glow of a magically enhanced radar array near the lead aircraft.
"Still nothing?" the radar witch's long haired wing-mate asked.
Shaking her head, the short-haired radar-witch replied "Nothing."
Pulling a periscope shaped flashlight out of her belt pouch, the long, pale-blonde witch pulsed the light on and off rapidly, relaying the information to the lead fighter, a twin engine, triple-seated night fighter fitted for command duty. The operations specialist in the rear seat pulsed his own flashlight, signaling receipt of report, then turned to relay the information to the planes behind him. The transport plane signaled it had received and understood the relayed information. The fighters waggled their wings nearly imperceptible in understanding. The formation continued ahead.
"Aaaaa," complained the pale-haired witch with nervous irritability as she returned her flashlight to its pouch. "How much longer until we reach the target?"
"Don't get antsy, Eila," counseled the smaller witch. "We'll be there soon."
"The waiting is driving me crazy," complained Flight Lieutenant Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen. Clandestine operations were not her forte. Magical foresight ability making her untargetable, the pale-blonde's preferred battle strategy was to charge into the thick of action and shoot down enemy craft until she ran out of ammunition. The self same ability meant almost every round she fired would find its mark.
"This operation is very important," Flight Lieutenant Sanya V. Litvyak scolded without turning to look at the older witch. "Just be patient. We'll be seeing plenty of action soon enough." She returned her concentration to scanning the night sky for enemy aircraft.
Eila pursed her lips crossly. She knew quite well the magnitude of the mission and how much was riding on its success. In truth, her real concern was for Sanya. She deeply loved the Orussian witch flying next to her, though she was too afraid to ever admit it, and feared what a failed attack would mean for her safety. Frustration unappeased, she flew a petulant barrel-roll around the silver-haired younger witch and resumed her position at the Orussian witch's flank. Sanya scowled at the Soumi witch's stunt, but said nothing.
They continued in formation for a few minutes longer, when the operations specialist strobed his flashlight in a rapid series of pulses of different duration.
"This is it!" exclaimed Eila, fishing her flashlight out of her pouch and responding with three rapid flashes, indicating the specialist's message was received and understood. "The operation is beginning." Sanya nodded without turning her head. Her antennae glowed brighter as she closed her eyes to concentrate on scanning the sky for enemy presence.
Pulsing his flashlight from the rear window panes of the cockpit, the operations specialist relayed instructions to the transport plane. There was a metalic creaking sound as the side door slid open. Immediately after, a small object fell from the side of the plane, then another, then another. At three second intervals twenty such objects fell from the opening in the plane. Ten seconds after the dark shapes left the plane, a dark green parachute snapped open. The commandos had deployed. Its mission complete, the Ju 52 reduced its speed, falling behind the Messerschmitts, eventually turning back in the direction from whence it came while its witch escort continued forward.
The operation specialist's flashlight pulsed another message: ten seconds to enemy airspace. Eila nodded in grim determination to herself, flicking the safety off her MG42. Next to her, Sanya did the same with her Fliegerhammer. Behind them, the two Karlsland witch escorts prepared their weapons as well.
According to plan, the Messerschmitts pulled ahead of the witches. As they did, Sanya's magical antennae pulsed green. "Two enemy units launched," she reported. "Estimated time to engagement: thirty seconds." Eila was already relaying the information to the accelerating planes.
The planes broke formation into three rottes, pealing off in different directions to engage the enemy. The mission instructions were clear: the planes needed to engage the enemy in the air for a minimum of ten minutes until the commandos were in position. The witches were to delay entry to the engagement for as long as possible to retain the element of surprise.
Red beams lanced from the incoming Alien craft. The Messerschmitts were already banking away from the incoming fire, unleashing a hail of bullets, some of which scored the surface of the enemy planes. The Neuroi banked hard, one each after a separate rotte. Shaped like squarish sausages with stubby tails and wings, the enemy made exceptionally tight turns.
One unleashed a salvo of beams, bending at a forty-five degree angle several meters from the firing point. The beams cut through the aft wing of a Messerschmitt, severing it while setting it on fire. The damaged plane banked, metallic groan filling the air as the airframe shrieked in protest. Facing the Alien sausage, the pilot opened fire on the enemy craft, pouring the plane's entire ammunition payload into the oncoming black-and-red mottled vessel. The Neuroi began diving as the dying plane's bullets ripped into and through the alien. Barrels glowing red, the plane's guns jammed as the pilot changed course towards the diving enemy. Pulling the ejection loop, the pilot launched his ejection seat, blasting clear from the doomed airplane right before it crashed into the evading Alien, exploding it in a shower of silver dust.
"Two more Neuroi are launching from the target," announced Sanya. Eila grimaced; they still had to maintain radio silence, and the Karlsland planes were too far ahead to see her flashlight.
The remaining Neuroi from the first wave banked hard to avoid a dive-bomb attack from one of the Messerschmitts. It unleashed a handfull of red beams which bent 60 degrees back behind it. The beams ripped across its attacker from propeller to tail. The plain exploded into a ball of oily smoke and shower of metal. Two more Karlsland planes swooped past the Alien attacker, hammering it with their wing mounted cannons, ripping apart its surface and shattering the core.
The remaining planes reformed into rottes, only to bank away from the Alien reinforcements entering the battle zone, unleashing red-glowing beams of destruction.
On the edge of the battle-zone, Eila growled with frustration. The Messerschmitts had held their own admirably so far, but the enemy craft were older Neuroi types that she had first faced in Belgica rushing to the aid of Miyafuji. These types were meant to annihilate enemy ground units and overwhelm opposition through sheer numbers. The Karlsland planes would be no match for Neuroi units dedicated to shooting down witches.
Another Messerschmitt plummeted to earth like a burning comet when Sanya announced, "Two more enemy units are launching... these are bigger and faster than the last four!" In the distance, they could see the solitary wingman breaking hard away from the black and red enemy craft as the other two planes swooped in to rip it apart.
Eila glanced down at her watch - a mere six minutes had passed since the commandos had parachuted from the transport plane... if the Karlsland pilots could hang on for four more minutes...
A glowing red beam lanced up from the ground, piercing one of the Karlsland planes in the belly. The plane exploded into a ball of flame, showering flaming debris on the forest below.
"Crap!" exclaimed the Soumi witch, surprised. "Sanya, Saya! Can you locate the ground units?" she asked, desperately.
"Nuh-uh," replied the Orussian. "I sense they are there, but their locations are obscured by the trees and buildings."
In the distance she could see the two remaining planes bank in opposite directions as two more Neuroi joined the remaining Alien craft. The incoming aircraft were shaped like sharp inverse bowling pins with a vane-supported ring around the center. Red weapons hexes lined the nose and ring.
"Rapid intercepters!" exclaimed Sanya as the enemy craft split off after the evading Karlsland planes. The Messerschmitts banked, rolled, and even tried an Immelmann turn to evade the interceptors, but were hopelessly outclassed. A ground based beam lanced up from a different location, shearing off the wing of one of the planes. The pilot ejected as the plane spiraled out of control and crashed into the forest below.
"Initiate plan B..." the Operations Specialist announced over the radio, just before the twin engined plane was incinerated by a red beam. The Neuroi circled around to ensure they had eliminated the invading aircraft.
"Eila, take out the ground units, we'll handle the airborne Neuroi!" ordered Sanya.
Eila hesitated for just a moment; attacking the ground units would mean leaving the Orussian witch alone. Then she saw the look of determination on the short-haired witch's face as she shouldered her Fliegerhammer. "Got it!" she replied enthusiastically.
Behind them, the two Karlsland witches prepared to engage the enemy. "This is it!" shouted the witch dressed in grey, brown hair tied back into pigtails behind her ears. She lifted her two MG42s up in each hand, ready for combat. "For Karlsland!"
Her wing-mate, a short haired blonde dressed in black, raced ahead of her in a barrel roll. "I'm way ahead of you, Trude!" she called back jubilantly.
"Oi! Hartmann!" called Captain Gertrud Barkhorn after the younger witch, "A proper Karlsland soldier stays in formation..."
"Hee hee!" giggled Flight Lieutenant Erica Hartmann, Cheerfully ignoring her friend's admonitions.
"Gah!" spat Barkhorn in disgust as she raced to catch up with the smaller witch.
As she descended towards the Neuroi hidden among the trees Eila saw from the corner of her eye Sanya fire two rockets at an incoming Alien vessel. The rockets slammed into the bulbous nose of the craft, detonating it in a shower of silver flakes.
Good job, Sanya! she thought to herself as she swooped down on the Neuroi ground unit. It was shaped like a box with four spidery legs. Straddled underneath the box-like body was a turret with red hexagon tipped barrel. The Neuroi fired beams from red hexagons located across its body at the incoming witch. She zig-zagged, avoiding the beams, pouring fire into the Alien. The surface of the ground unit ripped apart, allowing her shells to shatter the core buried within.
"Whoah!" she exclaimed as a flurry of beams erupted from the forest, slicing trees and setting brush-fires. The Soumi witch dodged crazily as three more Neuroi tanks scuttled from the trees. She flitted around, avoiding the Alien death beams and trying to get a clear shot at her attackers. Dammit! she thought to herself, I need to put some distance between me and these...
A deep, loud whooshing sound emanated from the trees, followed by an explosion as the left-most Neuroi detonated into a shower of silver fragments with a chime. The right-most Alien turned to locate the newest attackers. Eila flew in an arc to the side, avoiding the middle Neuroi's beams while pouring rounds into the distracted tank. The tank exploded into a shower of glowing flakes as another anti-tank rocket streaked from the forest, destroying the final Alien attacker. The commandos had arrived.
Turning to decide where to engage next, the Soumi witch saw six more bowling-pin shaped Aliens streak from their resting places into the sky. She decided to chase after the airborne enemies, leaving the Neuroi ground units to the paratroopers. As she gained altitude, she saw from the corner of her eye several explosions as the Karlsander soldiers drew the Nueroi away from the target to engage and destroy.
In the sky above her Hartmann flew in a tight barrel roll, twisting ether around and in front of her, growling "shturm!" as she plowed through an attacking craft, buckling it at the middle and causing it to burst into shards.
Behind her, Barkhorn unleashed her twin MG42s at the enemy, roaring in anger, shouting "This is for Marburg! And this is for Frankfurt!" as another Neuroi exploded in mid-air.
Hartmann swooped over to join Barkhorn, shouting "This is for Rüdesheim!" pouring shells into yet another Alien ship.
Barkhorn blinked, puzzled. "Wait, what? Why Rüdesheim?"
"My parents took me there on a trip once. It was a cute little town," Erica explained as the Nueroi's remains cascaded down.
The two Karlsland witches peeled off to chase down another interceptor. Eila paused in her climb to locate Sanya. "Iiiy!" she exclaimed as an interceptor banked, firing a salvo of beams at her. She dodged the incoming fire as an explosion rocked the nose-cone of the hexagon mottled Alien. "Sanya!" she exclaimed in relief as she dove away from another Neuroi salvo. Twisting her body in mid-air to see her pursuer, she saw the spinning red dodecahedron core exposed. Jack-knifing her body she charged her black and red antagonizer, unleashing a barrage of bullets that shattered the core, detonating the attacking aircraft.
Sanya swooped down to Eila. "Are you okay?" she asked with concern. She was too shy to admit to her long-haired wing-mate that she was in love with the boisterous, care-free witch.
"Yeah! Thanks to you," Eila replied, beaming. It was too dark for Eila to ever see, but Sanya blushed at the compliment. "How many rockets do you have left?"
"Five," the Orussian replied simply. "We need to save as many as possible to support the ground forces."
"Hmmm. You hit the nose cone with a rocket, I'll destroy the core?"
Sanya nodded in agreement. "There's one coming at us now, seven o'clock high!" she announced. The two witches raced towards the incoming craft, splitting to flank it as the enemy closed the distance. Sanya launched a rocket at the incoming Alien, blasting a gaping hole in the front. Eila spiraled over the top, hammering it with her MG42. The Nueroi tried to break away from its attackers but was too late; it exploded in a plume of glittering shrapnel.
Above the Northern witches, Barkhorn and Hartmann attacked another Neuroi. "...for Heidelburg!" shouted Trude as the Alien craft exploded. The Karlsland witches veered off to chase additional prey.
Sanya flew over to Eila. "Barkhorn and Hartmann can take care of the remaining aircraft," she said. "Let's provide support to the paratroopers."
"Roger," agreed the pale-blonde witch. The two witches descended towards the ground battle. As they approached the tree line they could hear the chatter of the commandos' MG34s, interspersed with the whoosh and roar of anti-tank rockets and panzerfausts. Ordnance exploded against the four-legged black and red mechanical spiders, sometimes destroying the entire Alien tank, sometimes only damaging it, leaving the enemy unit firing wildly as its damage limb or torso regenerated.
The hovered briefly to decide where to attack. Toward the eastern edge of the target zone they saw a group of four paratroopers pinned down by two advancing Neuroi. The witches arced over the low slung darkened buildings between them and the advancing attackers. Sanya shouldered her Fliegerhammer, unleashing a single rocket that detonate squarely on the alien's abdomen, destroying it in a flash of shining light. Eila concentrated her fire from the south of the remaining alien to avoid catching the commandos in the cross-fire. Her MG42 bullets shredded the black and red menace, exposing then shattering the core within. The paratroopers scattered from their position to engage more enemies as the two witches climbed to find their next target.
Above them, Trude and Erica laced around each other chasing down and destroying the remaining flying sausage. The remaining interceptor dived between them, firing red death. Caught so close to the attacker Barkhorn and Hartmann raised their shield in defence.
Near the tree line, Sanya pointed at another pair of spindly Neuroi spiders. The two witches started over to ambush the Aliens when multiple red beams arced up and over a low building. Eila dodged instinctively, but Sanya was caught in the beams' path; she managed to raise her shield just as the beam would have incinerated her. The beams flowed across and past the sky blue disk, the force of impact pushing her back.
"Sanya!" Eila yelped in alarm. Vacillating a split second, Eila flew over the building's hulking shaped, firing into the Alien tank as it came into range. Her fire ripped through the building and Neuroi; its detonation destroying the side of the structure it was hiding behind. Finger still depressed on the trigger, the Soumi witch's MG42 firing mechanism stuttered impotently, ammunition expended.
From different directions, multiple red beams streaked across the open space between the trees and Sanya, her shield providing the Nuerois with too inviting a target. Eila looked on in horror as her silver-haired beauty was pummeled from all sides, shield flickering in a wild effort to block the incoming beams.
High above them, the Neuroi interceptor executed a tight Immelmann turn, firing beams from its nose and ring. Hartmann and Barkhorn banked sharply to avoid the brunt of the attack, shields deflecting the blazing red death.
Panting, the diminutive blonde asked, "Is this one an advance model or something?" The Alien craft pivoted about its horizontal axis, streaking away from the witches, red beams bending behind it.
"Was zum Teufel?" grunted the pigtailed brunette agrily. "Doesn't it feel inertia?" Red beams continued to slam against their shields. The Alien vessel suddenly flickered, then dissapeared.
"Verdammt!" Erica exclaimed in shock. "Where did it go?"
Barkhorn slowed to a hover. "Can they teleport!?" she asked, frantically scanning the skies for the enemy.
From the corner of her eye, Hartmann saw a pink flash. "Trude!" she yelled, diving below her fellow Karlslander and raising her shield. A concentrated beam hammered her, knocking her backward.
"Hartmann!" Barkhorn exclaimed frantically as Erica fell towards the earth. Stars flashing in front of her eyes, the short-haired blonde became aware that she was spinning as she plummeted to the ground. Reflexively she righted herself, and tried to gain her bearings. From behind, the Neuroi barreled at her.
"Nein!" bellowed the tall brunnette. She dove at the Alien interceptor at maximum speed, unleashing a hail of bullets from her MG42s. The stream of metal converged on the bulbous nose section, shredding apart and through it.
The final enemy aircraft blossomed into a silvery shower; Hartmann groggily raised her shield as the ultra-sharp Neuroi shards blew past. "Huh uh wha...?" she asked, disoriented, as the dark haired Karlslander swooped to her side.
Barkhorn asked frantically "Are you okay? Are you okay!"
Sanya was barely able to keep her shield deflecting the Neuroi beams that assaulted her from all sides. She tried climbing out of the line of fire, but that gave a target to even more attackers. "Eila!" she called out, panic creeping into her voice. Help me! Please! her thoughts echoed.
Hearing Sanya's plea, Eila acted without thinking. Weaving through the Alien death-beams, she caught the petite Orussian witch about the waist and led her out of harm's way, dodging sizzling red streaks. "Right," she cooed huskily in the silver-haired witch's ear. "Up... right... down and left... a little back..."
Eila's calm, reassuring voice caressing her flustered thoughts, Sanya relaxed, felt safe in the taller witch's embrace. Slight blush of pleasure gracing her cheeks, the Orussian raised her Fliegerhammer and fired her remaining rockets at the Neuroi spiders plaguing them from below. Four rockets hit four separate targets, destroying them in a shower of glowing shards.
"Time to go," whispered the Soumi witch; Sanya nodded in agreement.
The pale-haired witch led them up and away from the battlefield, evading Alien beams targeting them. Below, they saw one source of beams targeting them after another erupt in orange flashes, showers silvery shards, and oily smoke as the paratroopers destroyed the Neuroi tanks.
As they reached 500 meters the Alien beams and explosions ceased. The only sound was the thrum of their strikers and burning. Eila sensed the two Karlsland witches gliding up to them.
"This is Papa Bear to Golden Eagle, the wolves are clear from the forest. Repeat, the wolves are clear from the forest." the commando leader's voice crackled over the radio.
"Golden Eagle to Papa Bear, copy that. We are waiting for Artemis' report."
Sanya held her hands to the side of her head. Eyes closed and antennae glowing brightly, she scanned the surrounding area for traces of Neuroi presence. "Artemis to Papa Bear and Golden Eagle," she said clearly. "The wolves are gone. Repeat: the wolves are gone."
"Copy that, Artemis. This is Papa Bear, send in the Woodsmen. Repeat: send in the Woodsmen."
Hartmann wrapped her arms around Barkhorns neck, squeezed and exclaimed happily "Yay! we did it!"
Hunching from Erica's weight on her shoulders, Barkhorn scolded "Hartmann! This is not how a proper Karlslander soldier behaves while on a mission..." while the short-haired blonde pointedly ignored her.
Eila reluctantly unwrapped her arms from Sanya's waist. "You did great, Sanya!" she complimented the smaller witch akwardly.
Feeling painfully shy, Sanya could only offer a timid "thanks."
Fifty kilometers to the west, a convoy of trucks started their engines and began closing the hour's distance between themselves and the battleground. Bassenheim Airfield had been captured. The 501st Joint Fighter Wing had a new home.