North Vietnam 1969

A thin fog moves through the thick forest as dew settles on the leaves of small plants that consume the ground. the sun has risen high above the tropical wasteland of Asia. the air is filed with the rustle of small animals in the brush and the call of birds high above. a low growl of an engine begins to stir the silence of the afternoon. a large truck cuts down a path at a high speed as it heads towards its destination. running over plants and clipping small tree branches on its way. the truck comes to a stop as blades of grass and mud are thrown about. troops begin to file out of the back of the tented military vehicle and aim their weapons into the forest. from the front of the truck their superior officer steps out throwing his helmet on his head.

"alright boys. we have reports of and unknown threat that has been seen retreating to this area. i want you all to do a thorough sweep and keep a good eye out for anything out of the ordinary. Y'all got that! lets role out i want this done quick!" the commander shouted as he through his rifle over his shoulder and the troops divided off into the thick forest in teams of two.

"I don't like this one bit." said one of the soldiers to his partner as they moved through the large leaves. "who do you think is out here that we are searching pockets of the forest"

"isn't it obvious kid. its got to be the space ships" said the taller soldier who was following shortly behind him.

"what are you talking about. what are the space ships" He asked turning to him with a puzzled face.

"you know the black ships from the 40's that occupied Karlsland. the Neuroi must be back"

"thats just crazy. if the Neuroi had returned we would know and not be dead reckoning"

"whatever. when we find it we'll know. im gonna take the right over this way can you check out the ditch to the left"

"are you sure its a good idea to split up" the younger soldier asked as he looks off into the forest

"its fine if you see anything just hit the rest of us up on the walkie-talkie"

"alright" the soldier said as he headed for the ditch in the distance. the ground went from filled with dense plants to dry dirt. the land suddenly went into an incline almost directly down into the ditch. the young soldier slides down the side of the wall and falls down to the bottom. it was deeper and wider than he had first thought as he picked himself up and started to walk. soon the ditch began to widen to a point where a tank could fit comfortable down it. the soldier leaned against a large rock and pulled a carton of cigarettes out of his pocket. he strikes up a match and begins to take a drag to cool himself off after not finding anything so far. he pulls it out of his mouth and exhales the smoke into the air. " there's nothing out here. I'm just making myself paranoid. the neuroi left years ago." he tells himself as he lets the burnt half of the cigarette fall to the ground.

The earth began to rattle a bit as the soldier began to look around to find out what was going on. the dirt began to crack beneath him as he fell onto his back and started crawling backwards on his hands to get away from the raising land. he moves against the wall of the ditch trying to get away. a large black crab like leg raises out of the ground followed by its large cube like body. on top of the cube was a cylinder with glowing red hexagons on it. the rest of it was plated with black hexagons. as it raised itself to its full height the neuroi towered above the soldier. the man grabbed his rifle off his back and began to open on the bottom of the neuroi. the aliens red hexagons began to shine a bright red as it aimed right down at him.

"AUUUUUUGGGGHHHHH!" the soldier screams can be heard high above the forest

...

Karlsland

A cool breeze rolled over the hills of the countryside in the warm summer as a girl lays beneath a tree. long brown hair is spread out beneath her head as she looks up past the tall branches into the sky. her eyes are closed as she takes in the warmth from the sun and runs her hand through the grass. this young relaxed teen is Maxine Barkhorn the daughter of the great war hero Gertrude Barkhorn. compared to her mother she seems to be the exact opposite of her. she is easy-going and relaxed while her mother was heavy-handed and serious.

Maxine had the same skills as her mother when it came to magic though. she had learned the ropes of piloting a striker from her mother and learned how to fire and maintain many weapons. along with that was her mothers rigorous training but even with all that she was a relaxed person. when she got the chance to get away from her training she would take it. Maxine listened to music on a tape recorder while she lay on top of the hill. she would wait for her favorite songs to come on the radio so she could record them on this new device and listen to it when she wanted. it was a personal item that she took everywhere she went even though it was a bit bulky.

A cool breeze rolled over her body moving the grass around her back and forth than the sun warmed her skin again. it was a perfectly peaceful day.

"Maxine!" She heard breaking the silence as her eyes shot open in fear. sitting up and taking of her headphones she looked of the side of the hill to see her mother was coming up to get her.

Barkhorn had gotten to the top of the hill to see that Maxine had vanished. the change into an adult was clearly shown in Gertrude as she had grown a bit taller over the years. she still wears her hair with two bows in it. she is wearing civilian attire though other than the Karlsland officer uniform she would wear in the 501st. she looked around and saw that Maxine had left her tape recorder on the ground in her haste to get away.

"Maxine i need to talk to you. if you want to hear your Rolling Stones again you better come out" she threatens pulling the tape out of the recorder an looking it over.

"don't!" Barkhorn hears from above her as she looks up to see Maxine was hiding up in the tree.

"Maxine this is very childish. come down i need to talk to you" Barkhorn says as she tosses the tape up to her. Maxine jumps out and catches the tape but falls quickly to the ground with a thud.

"ouch.. that hurt." Maxine states with an embarrassed look on her face as she makes sure the tape is alright.

"i can't understand your obsession with this noise" Barkhorn says as she helps her daughter up

"its not noise mom. its Rock from Britannia. you wouldn't understand my taste. what did you want to talk to me about"

"oh yes. i have an important letter for you from the Karlsland air force recruitment office." Barkhorn says pulling the note from her pocket

"what could they wan't with me" Maxine asked as she began to read the letter

Maxine Barkhorn,

as the daughter of the great war hero Gertrude Barkhorn we request your magical abilities to aid in military operation. a situation has begun to unfold that your talents are needed to counteract. You will report to Florida, Liberion to be placed into your unit. your enemy and mission will be explained when you arrive at the base. we await your response.

-Karlsland Air force

"why do they wan't me to join the Air Force" Maxine asks as she closes the letter

"there must be a threat that their own forces cannot fight. they must want your magical abilities that i have passed on to you." Barkhorn responds

"and what if i refuse" Maxine says as she gives her mom back the letter

"Maxine you have a power that not many other people have. you are a strong girl and i have raised you to make the right decisions. you must fight to defend your people. if you refuse and something does happen you will never be able to forgive yourself. your power is great and you must now use what i have taught you to defend this world like i did when i was your age. it never crossed my mind to not fight for what i believed in and it shouldn't cross yours. i am not telling you to do this... you have to make that decision on your own. what do you chose to do?"

the two retained eye contact for a moment in silence until Maxine finally spoke.

"alright. i chose to fight" She says with a smile as she picks up her tape recorder "but I'm taking this with me"

"i ask for nothing less" Barkhorn says as she puts her arm over her shoulders. "lets go get you packed your plane is leaving early in the morning"

"wait you already booked a flight before you told me about this!" Maxine says shocked

"yeah i was sending you however you responded" Barkhorn joked as the two walked down the hill and headed back to town.

...

War Room- Liberion

the rustle of papers and the chatter of officers is all that can be heard at the large table in the dim lit room. as the men talk to one another about their currant situation and about what should be done. the man at the end of the table stands as all the others go quiet to see what he has to say.

"I believe that you all have a good idea of why i have called you here" he says as one officer passes folders around the table. the lights go out as a projector switches on displaying a map onto a screen. it was a map of Vietnam with many circles and lines drawn around it.

"three months ago citizens and villagers throughout North Vietnam had started to abandon their land for an unknown reason. the movements have been happening in a radius to the center of North Vietnam." the General states as he points out the large circle that stretched far from the center of the country.

"so why have the villagers been abandoning their homes" said one of the diplomats.

"we were wondering the same thing until we sent in a small squad of troops to investigate. sadly none of them returned to report their findings but we do have this recording of a radio transmission from the squads sergeant in command to the base." the general said as he places the tape into the cassette player on the table and turned it on. he than sat in his chair as the static started. it was soon interrupted by the sergeants voice.

"come in! this is Chicago squad! oh god its coming retreat" the tape is than interrupted by static "come in! this is Chicago Squad! We need Medical assistance! we have three casualties two injuries and two men are MIA." the sound of a high pitch screech can be heard in the background "oh god no!" the recording goes back to static than cuts off.

the general stands back up as the lights come back on "men i can say without a shadow of a doubt that that was a neuroi attack."

"but there hasn't been a report of a hive on earth since the 40's" said one of the men on the other side of the table.

"yes that is true. in the best case scenario this is just a straggler that went down during the war." the general said taking his seat. "it may have just reawaken in the past months and thinks its still trying to occupy the land. that or its a whole new invasion about to happen and this is just the begging."

"so what are we going to do about this" asked one of the diplomats.

"our first plan was go regroup the witches that had originally defeated the neuroi back in 1944 but sadly they are no help to us because they have lost their magical abilities in their older age. we have figured out, though, that the witches have had children that posses the abilities of their parents. we are now attempting to gain access to them all and create a new wing of witches to combat this possible threat."

"general are you sure this will work." asked an officer

"its one of our best shots if this does escalate into another neuroi war. but we want to stop that before it comes to that."

...

Fuso

The waves break on the shore of Fuso as a girl with long black hair stands on the beach with a katana griped in her hand. the sun is beginning to set as the sky is filled with shades of pink and orange. the girls long shadow is stretched along the beach as she slowly raises the blade out of its sheath and holds it out in front of her. the blade reflects rays of the sun in all directions as she positions the sword above her head and swings it down. the girl stands there practicing her slashes for many minuets.

this girl is the daughter of Mio Sakamoto, Shina. she took her training very seriously just like her mother. learning the art of flight, magic, and weaponry from her mother along with the ways of the sword for many years. diligently training her to be a great soldier as she enlisted in the Fuso Air Force at the age of 14. she was very much like her mother in ways other than her abilities in combat though. she had that same sense of kindness that she would show to her fellow pilots. at the current rank of flight lieutenant she felt that she had a large legacy to live up to in the air force.

A boy in a navy uniform walks down the beach towards her.

"excuse me. Are you Flight Lieutenant Shina Sakamoto." he calls over to her.

Shina places her sword back into the Sheath and turns to the boy.

"yes can i help you with something" she asks not knowing why the boy came all this way

"Hello FL Sakamoto. I am Petty Officer 2nd Class Elway." he says giving her a salute. the young dark-haired Petty Officer was wearing a black Liberion navy uniform. he was taller than Shina by probable ten incehs but he looked about 19 years old. just one year older than her. Shina did not find it strange to see someone from Liberion this far out. she was confused about what he wanted her for "I have been instructed to deliver this transfer letter to you and accompany you to your destination" he says handing her the letter.

"transfer. where are they sending me" she says as she opens the note and begins to read it out loud."you will be reporting to Liberion along with PO2 Elway. we will explain the reason when you arrive. this is very strange don't you believe so Officer Elway." she questioned as she puts the letter in her pocket.

"i think everything will become clear when we make it to Florida. my vehicle is parked up the beach. i can take you back to you base so you can pack. care to take a walk with me Flight Lieutenant Sakamoto."

"i would love to" she says with a smile taking her place next to him as they started to walk down the beach"seeing as we are going to be spending a lot of time together you don't have to keep calling me Flight Lieutenant Sakamoto. you can just call me Shina." she says giving him a smile.

"oh alright" he said as they reached the jeep

"do you have a first name or am i going to have to call you Petty Officer 2nd Class Elway the whole trip." she said in a joking way getting into the passenger seat.

"my name is Nick. Nickolas J Elway." he told her as he started the jeep. with a loud roar the car started to move as he drove it down the road.

"well its nice to meet you Nick." she said finally making Nick Smile as they road towards the base.