Chapter 1
Fernandia glanced up, as she heard the telltale sound of approaching aircraft. The room was shuttered and only faint traces of light passed through the wooden panes that were fitted in front of the windows. Sitting up in her bed, Fernandia yawned, stretched and tried to get out. Standing up, she was alerted by the movement on her bad, smiling Fernandia said:
" now, now, Vittoria, Its time to get up, it seems we got company.
"mpgh"
the response was before continuing:
" I am still sleepy."
As the figure moved onto her other side, her back facing Fernandia. Fernandia gently leaned over, and stroked the girls hair.
" you need to wake up now, otherwise those karlslanders will be mad with you."
Gently cupping her face Fernandia turned her over. Vittoria Salvi opened her green eyes, and smiled.
"for you then"
she said as she got up, stretching her arms she yawned, and according to Fernandia she did it like a cat. Fernandia smiled, while she put on her uniform.
After a few minutes the pair left the building together. It was a cloudy day, and by the looks of it, it seemed that rain was coming. However the main feature was the huge tri engined bomber that stood on the end of the runway. Looking around Fernandia noticed the other witches had too come to see what the whole thing was about, and from the hangar on their left, Fernandia spotted some of the mechanics looking at the aircraft. By all standards, a military aircraft on an military airfield was hardly special. But nearly everything that passed through here was either Orussian or Karlslandian, and this was neither. On the tailfin was the flag of Romangia, the distinctive white cross with the red and green squares.
Glancing over to Vittoria, Fernandia sighed. As without a word, she and Vittoria walked along the runway towards the large building near the control tower.
Ratevchy Airbase was by all means not a pretty thing. It was a simple runway with a few slablike buildings on the side of the ruddy runway, the only good thing was that the runway was concrete instead of the normal dirtpacked ones. The base had not been used for a long time until Neuroi began their offensive towards Moscow in early 1941. The Orussian army had been devastated by the sudden Neuroi onslaught and had quickly fallen back towards the capital. At this stage, the Orussian government had requested aid from all human nations to keep fighting the Neuroi. The Regia Aeronautica Romangia had responded and dispatched some witches in the expeditionary corps to support the hard pressed Orussian defenders. The Romangian and Karlslanders had been assigned here. And frankly neither was truly happy about it either.
A little while later they arrived at the main building. It was like all other buildings on the base a simple concrete 2 story box, neither being pretty or remarkable. It was clear the original builders had not bothered with any form of decoration, or anything really, the cracked concrete and weather beaten look gave the impression it was more of a ruin then a building in use. Opening the door, the pair went to the left, towards the common room of the building.
As they entered it was mostly empty, of the Witches most of them were still out, asleep or busy. To the right, sitting on a couch however was one of the Karlsland witches. A cute little witch at that, Fernandia remarked.
"Officer Minguzzi" the girl stammered.
" Squadron commander wants to see you in her office."
" thanks Fredericke, I'll be going there shortly."
Fernandia replied, as she helped herself to a cup of coffee.
" But…. B-but, she said now." Fredericke tried.
" she can wait, nobody is in a rush here. Now is there?" Fernandia replied cheerfully. Emptying the cup, she stood up and walked out.
Making her way to the second floor, Fernandia could not do much except wonder, why her of all? She went over last week in her mind, trying to figure out why the Wing commander would want her for this time. Sure she was easy going and problematic, but she could not remember anything of the sorts in the last week. Walking along, she reached a simple double door. The plaque on the side read: "wing commander's office".
Without any hesitation Fernandia opened the door.
"Hanna… what did you call me out for this morning?" She cheerfully asked.
"Goddammit Minguzzi."
The wing commander, Hanna Ehlers shouted back,
"How many more times do I need to tell you, Knock before you get in. Honestly you types lack discipline." She fumed, as she looks angry at Fernandia. Fernandia on the other hand did not see anything wrong with her behavior, and simply smiled back.
" Hanna, you need to be less of a stuck up, always insisting on procedure. Don't you think things will get nicer without all the salutes, formal names and knocks."
Fernandia replied happily.
"ugh, just… sit down already, I want to get this over with." Hanna said, as she sipped her cup of coffee. As Fernandia sat down she pulled out an evelope from the pyramids of papers on her desk. It was a light brown envelope with the Romangian coat of arms printed on it.
" seems its for you. And it got in this morning." The wing commander proceeded, before handing Fernandia the envelope. Accepting the it, Fernandia began to read.
envelopePilot officer Fernandia Minguzzi,
These are your new orders for you and all witches currently stationed at Ratevchy airbase.
Due to mounting Neuroi pressure on the Romangian borders, all personnel is to be withdrawn to Romangia to aid the national defense efforts. Exceptions are the witches attached to the joint witch squadrons and those serving under the African command.
Your orders are as following.
You are hereby relieved of duty in Orussia, and shall return home. You are to report to Airmarshal Adriana Ruggero Piccio in Rome for further orders, relating to your new position in the airforce. Furthermore you are to take all Romangian witches with you.
You are to bring all equipment with you back to romangia.
Furthermore the aircraft that has brought these orders is tasked with transferring you back to Romangia.
"seems I am finally getting rid of you" Hanna remarked. While she picked up the newspaper.
"looks to me, it has something to do with this." As she handed Fernandia the paper. Looking over the front page, It seemed the Neuroi had started to push towards the island of Malta. The Britannian Carrier island in the Med.
" Officer Minguzzi, you hereby officially relieved of duty, and it was a pleasure….." Hanna said, while giving a salute.
Fernandia smiled back,
"well if you excuse me, I need to pack my things." While she stood up and left.
Walking outside, she made her way to the smallest of the 2 hangers. Peering in, satisfied there was nobody around, she walked over to the 2 striker units standing near the back of the hangar. Looking at them, she smiled, this was the Romangian workhorse. The MC 202 Folgore. Powered by the same magic engine as the Karlslandian Messersharf, it was anything but the Messersharf. Sleek and clean, it was fast, dove far better then the Messersharf while maintaining far better maneuverability then the Karlslandian units, easily being the match of the famed Britannian Spitfire mk V. Tracing her hand over the left unit, she smiled again, remembering fondly how it had saved her from a ton of trouble when she first arrived here. There were a lot more Romangians here back then, 5 or 6 at most of the time, but in the recent months, all of them had transferred out, and now it were their turns. Looking at the envelope and the paper Hanna had given her, she looked at it, sighed and began to read the newspaper.
" Neuroi advance into the Mediterranean!
Yesterday sources within the Romangian military confirmed rumours of possible Neuroi in the Med, stating that some incursions had been detected around the Med. However sources within the army deny the rumours the Island of Rhodes has come under attack by the Neuroi.
The Duke of Romangia had stated today in a press conference that "all possible assets were used to defend the country." Furthermore she confirmed that the Royal family will not leave Rome for the time being, stating that: "The Dukes of Romangia have the Duty to stand by the people who they rule, and will not evacuate as some members of the army have suggested."
Flicking through the paper, Fernandia sighed.
" No wonder we are getting pulled out…" she said against nobody in particular.
" Is it that bad?" a little voice asked. Looking up, Fernandia saw the form of Fredericke, the dimutive Karlslandian witch that she met this morning.
" Well its not easy." Fernandia replied. As the Karlslander come closer, Fernandia shot her a friendly smile. As the Witch sat down next to her, she went on
" Neuroi are closing in from every side, and there are not nearly enough witches to fight. Let alone experienced ones. "
" and they are recalling you?" Fredericke asked.
" yes, all of us… well the two of us. And guessing the way things are looking, chances are they are going to split us up as well."
" you seem pretty confident about that."
" well I can't see THAT far into the future, but it's a feeling I am having." Fernandia replied cheerfully.
That night, Fernandia went back to her room, the message was an unwelcome one, Although she had not really loved it here, she had grown fond of the place, the gruff Karlslanders, the leaking roof in the hangar and the cold winters. Lost in her mind she walked into her room.
"FER-NAH-DIA" It sounded as a small yet powerful frame hugged her at full speed.
"now now, Vittoria, don't be hasty." Fernandia smiled back, while accepting the hug. She gently pushed her away.
" I am tired and I want to sleep, we have a long trip in front of us tomorrow." She said as she looked at Vittoria, her long time wing witch, and a good friend.
With Vittoria backing off, Fernandia stripped off to her panties, and walked over to the bed, that sat in the corner. Closing her eyes, she heard Vittoria undressing as well, and after a few steps on the creaky wooden floor, she felt her warmth next to her in the bed.
Vittoria gently slipped her arms around Fernandia, pressing her own body against Fer's.
" I feel sad." She said, while she hugged even tighter.
" it seems that after almost 2 years, we are finally going home." She went on, "and I like this place, in a way, and I even like the Karlslanders that are here." She started to sob.
Fernandia, turned over, looking into Vittoria's sad green eyes, her face being flustered. She was not used to Vittoria being emotional. She hugged Vittoria back, gently caressing her.
"but why so sad?" She asked, "we are going back home."
"Because…." Vittoria sobbed even harder.
" I can't be with you." Clenching Fernandia, she continued to sob.
Fernandia being at a loss, let her have her way, while stroking her hair, like a mother tries to comfort her child.
" Listen to me Vittoria." She said, calmly and serious.
" We managed to get through this, without any problems. I have always protected you." Gently cupping Vittoria's face, she nudged her to look at her. Vittoria stifled her sobbing, and even in the dark room Fernandia knew she was looking at her.
" remember the time you were being chased by 20 Laros fighters? Remember how I saved you, and we managed to smile afterwards. How we pissed Ehrler off by breaking formation, and how she admitted that what we did was the right thing?"
" But Fer, I won't stay with you." She whispered.
" I know… I know. But remember, I love you, and I won't let anybody or anything harm you. And even if I am not there, I will watch out for you. And I will be waiting for you, the day that this war ends. I'll even go and visit you if I can. I'll write you a letter every week."
Grabbing hold of her hands, she looked Vittoria in her deep green eyes. And went on.
" you are, one of the best witches I have ever seen. And if you are not by my side, you are still a brilliant witch, a good friend and my wingman, and no transfer is going to change that!"
Gently Hugging Vittoria, they fell asleep.