Alright now that the story is complete I feel I should finally go back in and make corrections to the many mistakes that probably turned many readers away when they started. You see when I first started here I didn't have a writing software on my computer so I typed most of my stories into the copy and paste area, that didn't help with editing much. Not only will I correct spelling and grammar but I'll also add a lot to the main story to fix some of the early dry writing and even develop characters a bit further that I feel need more work. I'll probably put a little blurb like this at the top of each chapter I edit so it is clear what I have and have not worked on… or you can tell by the fact I'm still using ellipses to show a break in the story rather than a long line. Lol.
Again thanks for all the support and don't forget to tell me what you think of the improvements and point out areas that I should pay attention to. Everything helps to making my story a little better. :D
The sound of water pounded over metal as rain poured down in the gloomy country of Britannia. Paramedics rushed men to a large hospital, their vehicle splashing through puddles as every second could be a lost life. The reason for their rush was an accident had occurred at a nearby research and development lab. The medics knew that the men they were rushing to the hospital didn't have much time, some had already passed and others didn't last long before losing their final breath upon arrival. There was one who stuck it out along the rocky journey towards medical assistance. The one special boy who was still breathing when they got there. That boy was John Walker of the 81st airborne anti-aircraft battalion.
John is only 17 years old but he can fly with the best of them despite his age. He has been known to be headstrong though and that does get him in trouble allot during missions. He's always trying his hardest because he knows what's at risk if he fails. The boy was also part of a special operations unit before the 81st but he doesn't like to talk about it. Others had tried to ask about what it was all about but he just told them it was nothing exciting. All the information on that unit has been classified to high ranking officers only. The only thing the others know is that he's a pretty good shot with a rifle.
At a young age his father got him interested in flight, living on a farm they were exposed to crop dusters on a regular basis. When the boy came of age his father allowed John to take lessons from the pilots who would fly these beautiful aircrafts. John was a smart kid and picked up quick on the skills that made a good pilot. Before long he was getting payed along with the other dusters to fly over the neighboring crops.
Crop dusting wasn't as cut and dry as one might believe, there is a lot of effort that goes into the profession that John had to keep up with. Soon the boy not only started studying sciences to learn about the chemicals he would be using but also picked up on fundamental mechanical systems to keep the airplanes he flew in top shape. At a young age the boy was a well-rounded thinker and getting along well. How he got to this point in life is a story to get into at another time.
John was at that research and development lab because he was helping the scientists build a new anti neuroi canon. It was going to be more accurate and deliver a larger payload to the enemy. Maybe that's where their first mistake was. The payload. Something had gone horribly wrong when they were moving one of the ammunition rounds for transportation. It was going to be test fired at a nearby harbor but while it was in motion something set it off.
"Ugggghhhhh" John groaned as he awoke in a place he was unfamiliar with. Looking around he saw there was a white sheet placed over him, light flashed through the windows as lightning struck close by. As he tried to raise himself from the bed a sharp pain in his chest forced him to stay laying down. All he could tell was that he was in a hospital because of all the equipment around him. It must be late because all the lights were out in his room and there was no noise coming from the hall outside, all he could hear was the sound of rain. Although John had just awoken he was still weak from his injuries. Just thinking about what happened sent pain into John's chest.
All the screams around him as pieces of metal ripped through the people around him like they were paper. It was truly a horrible sight. John recalls seeing the men and woman fall to the ground around him before something hit him dead in the chest, knocking the wind out of him. His ears rang and is vision started to turn black, then he awoke in this place.
As John recollected what had gone on earlier a man opened the door to his room. He was tall with a beard, from the jacket that he wore John could deduce that he was one of the doctors. Probably working a night shift to keep an eye on patients.
"Oh. I see you are awake. I was just coming in to check on your vitals." he said in a hearty tone, walking over and picking up Johns chart.
"What happened to me doc. am I going to walk out of this one." John asked, his voice was hoarse and his throat was dry so it didn't come out clearly. He slowly tried to pick himself up to a sitting position but the doctor stopped him.
"I wish I could tell you that boy... I really do." replied the doctor as he gave John a sad look. "Allow me to explain what happened to you. As the explosion went off chunks of metal were sent flying all over the room you were in. a few of those chunks of shrapnel were lodged in your chest and began to move dangerously close to your heart." He said flipping through the paperwork until he found some x-rays. He held them up to the light so John could see what was going on inside of him.
John suddenly turned pale as a ghost, he saw the image and looked down at his bandaged chest to see wires going into the bandages. He had not noticed it when he had woken up but he was attached to a large machine. The wires burrowed under the bandages and into a circular bump that was hard like metal when John touched it. The doctor continued.
"Removing the metal would be too dangerous and beyond our medical capabilities. Our only resort was to connect you to this electro magnet to stop the metal from going any deeper than it has gone." The doctor looked over the equipment he had seen so many times before and just shook his head out of sadness.
John just lay there thinking to himself how bad this was. How he could never fly again with this huge thing holding him back. He wasn't even sure if he would be able to leave the hospital and live a life with something like this keeping him from moving. Sure his wounds would heal at some point but without some way of transporting this battery he would be unable to live a normal life. Then Johns mind began to race, there had to be some way of changing this situation. John wasn't about to sit around and wait for his wounds to heal, he was going to get to work on a solution.
"Hay doc. is there any way I could get some equipment in here?" John asked as the doctor met the boy with a confused look.
Over the next week john began to work on a smaller generator that could store enough power to work the magnet but still be small on size so he could still contribute to the war effort. John was a smart kid who helped out when it came to designing weapons but this would be the first time he built something that saved a life instead of take one. As the first day went by he kept getting negative results from the power source he was using. He knew electricity was not going to cut it. As he sat there with his face in his hands thinking he looked at the table next to his bed and saw a news article. It depicted a young girl wearing equipment that looked like a plane fuselage on her legs. He remembered hearing stories about these girls but had never really seen one before. They were called strike witches and they used magic to power their flight equipment in order to battle the Neuroi threat.
"Magic..." John whispered to himself as he read on in the paper. It described the engines of these modern brooms that worked completely off of magic power alone. The magic was not charged from anywhere or taken from the ground, It just naturally occurred in the world and witches had the ability to draw from it. John knew that he had stumbled upon the power source he was looking for.
A week had gone by and john was full of energy after completing the portable generator. The staff of the hospital were amazed at how quickly he had recovered from the wounds he had. In that week, though, John had gotten bored of hospital life and was ready to fight again. The doctors wouldn't let him out of his room because he still had to go through tests and therapy before he could leave. This made John restless as he attempted to escape on many occasions.
"But I'm ready to go. I feel great. I could take down a neuroi with both hands tied behind my back." John tried to explain to the doctors but they knew of his headstrong past and weren't falling for it. The orderly Took John back to his room, the smaller boy tossed over his shoulder, not putting up much of a fight. They knew John would do anything to get back into the field again and that's why they needed to put him under supervision with people who wouldn't let him get himself killed. Also he could not stay in the hospital because they needed the room to treat other people. With a few calls the military sent in one of their commanders with special orders to take him under the watch of her unit and make sure he completes a full recovery.
At the hospital a woman with deep red hair walked down the halls searching for John's room. She was wearing a green military jacket but at the same time no pants. Looking down at a piece of paper and then around the hall at the different doors she attempts to find the numbers she is looking for. She walked in to John's room to find the boy standing with his back to her, buttoning his shirt.
"Excuse me" she asked as John turned with a puzzled glance. "Are you flying officer John walker of the 81st AAA battalion?" The girl inquired as she took in the features of the boy. She was a bit taken back by the fact the boy was standing close to the window rather than in his bed. She was informed the boy was hospitalized and needed to recover.
"Why yes I am. And may I ask who you are" He said with half a smirk to the attractive girl standing across from him. She can tell she isn't going to enjoy this person just from the sound of his statement.
"My name is wing commander Minna Wilcke of the 501st joint fighter wing" She said and John sprang to attention for a superior officer. After the formalities were finished she waved her hand to the boy and let him speak freely.
"Oh yes I think I have heard of you before." John replied feeling a bit nervous by the fact a high ranking officer was visiting him.
"May I ask what you are here for Mam?" John asked
"I am here to escort you to our base for the rest of your recovery." She said looking out the window of the hospital, the sun was shining brightly as she pulled back the shade.
"Wait what!? I feel fine. Never better. If you're going to take me out of the fight you might as well put me down as well" John said not ready to just roll over and rest while the war was going on.
"I have read your file on what you have done just this week and I am both impressed and scared for you. Until that thing is taken out of your chest you will not be flying any time soon… They should probably update these though, didn't say anything about your current condition. Still, quite impressive" She said looking down at the paperwork in her hand, John put his finger on the file and pushed it down gently. The Minna looks up at him with a face of annoyance.
"Then where dose you being impressed by my work put me?" John remarked with a grin. Minna just sighed and tried to keep a professional attitude towards the soldier.
"We could use someone like you in our unit. What you have done with technology is way ahead of many other great inventions and, if collaborated with the strike unit, could change the tide of this war." John took a seat on the bed and just looked at Minna, he was deep in thought.
"I guess I could lend a hand while I recover. I just have one more question. Do all the girls in the military not wear pants or is it just you." John remarked, Minna's cheeks turned bright red as she covered herself up with the papers.
"For your information it's so we can get into the strike units more easily" she yells as she opens the door.
"Are you coming or not?" she shouts at the boy as he picks himself up from the bed and follows the girl out of the hospital and into her car.
The ride to the base would take quite some time but John didn't mind. He was just happy to see the world again from the outside once again. He had a thing against being held up in a small room for a long time. John was especially relieved that the car they were driving in did not have a roof and the wind could blow through his hair. After a few minutes of driving John decided to strike up a conversation with the commander.
"So, Commander, what brings you to the war?" John asked as he stuck his hand past the door and allowed for the air rushing by to lift it up and down.
"I'm from Karlsland so I really didn't have much of a choice, as a witch it's my duty be part of the war effort. Even if it is voluntary, what was I supposed to do? Sit by and let my homeland go uncontested against those bastards?" She says, John noticed the break from professionalism in her voice and can see she may be a hard nut to crack but there is some personality in her.
"What about you, Farm boy one day and then multiyear combatant the next? What caused you to join the fight" She asked. John leaned back in his chair and put his arms up.
"Guess I always had a knack for it… After my father passed I didn't have much of a place in the world. To tell you the truth I didn't feel at home on the farm after that. Thought I would try seeing the world, I always pictured I'd be holding a camera rather than a gun when I took that step. Kind of dumb of me really to think the military would be one big vacation." John laughed as Minna looked at him with a sad expression.
"I'm sorry to hear that, how long before leaving did your father pass? If you don't mind me asking?" She asked the boy, He was surprised by the way the question was asked. After such a long time John didn't exactly feel bad about losing his father.
"Its fine, He died a couple weeks before I signed the papers and shipped off. Alas he's in a better place now. You don't have to be sorry, It's not like you killed him or anything" John responded and the car became quiet once again. They had hit a point in the conversation that made things uncomfortable to try to change the subject.
John looked out the window at the lush scenery rolling by. He could smell a saltiness in the air and knew they were coming close to the ocean. It wouldn't be long before he would see it over the horizon. John began to tap his hand on the door of the car and hum a song to himself. Minna took notice of this action and listened carefully.
"Is that… Lili Marleen?" Minna asked interrupting the boy's concentration, he looked over at her with confusion.
"Oh, yeah. I was never really crazy about the song until about a year ago. I was returning from a mission when it came on over the radio frequency. I had no Idea who was singing it but-"John was saying when Minna began to laugh. John was taken back by this.
"What's so funny?" He asked the girl.
"That was me" She said trying to get by what a coincidence this was for John, she just couldn't stop laughing from the pure randomness that was their encounter.
"What do you mean?" He asked still completely lost with what the girl was trying to get across. Minna finally stops laughing and takes a deep breath to collect herself.
"I sang that song about a year ago over the communication channel, you must have picked it up." She said with a smile.
"That's crazy, what are the odds?" John laughs.
"So you like music?" She asked as John noticed he could finally see the ocean English Channel in the distance.
"No, I'm the only person on earth who hates music" John said sarcastically.
"Alright, watch it wise guy" She says to him as John Chuckles.
"Yes, yeah I have been known to enjoy my fair share of music" John responds with a smile. The two speak of their favorite singers as they traverse through the town, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the base from that point.
They approached from a long bridge that lead to the island, from what john could see the base looked more like a castle. They drove around the exterior wall as John had to lift himself out of his seat to get a better look at the place. It was stunning, John could see they were approaching the runway from below. The runway stretched far into the water and had a tunnel that allowed vehicles to pass beneath it. As they drove in everything quickly became dark and the echo of the car was loud. The sunlight blinded them as they came out the other side.
"What do you think?" Minna asked the boy seeing the excitement on his face.
"This place is amazing!" John said as they pulled up onto the runways ramp and headed for the hanger. John was surprised to see it was empty, other than the striker units and vehicles scattered around inside there wasn't a soul in sight.
After exiting the car Minna escorted the boy to a large room with desks that lined up towards a podium at the front. John knew it was some sort of meeting room, maybe a place for the soldiers to study get briefed for missions. As he walked down the aisle in the middle he saw there were many girls sitting in the rows. There were about ten of them in the room, not counting Commander Minna. They were all looking at him as he followed Minna to the front of the room. John was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable by the whole situation but he tried not to let this show.
"John I would like to introduce you to the members of the 501st joint Fighter Wing. Girls this is John Walker he has recently been injured and will be joining our unit for the time being until his recovery. He may not be able to fight alongside us but he will be a valuable asset in this war against the neuroi threat. He also is very experienced with a large array of fire arms. We may all learn something from him. He will be joining our research and development team as well." Minna said in a very absolute manner.
"Um commander." said a girl with short brown hair wearing a white Fuso navy uniform. "If he is going to be staying at the base. Where exactly will he be spending the nights? There isn't a free room available anywhere in either quarters, we have even had to bunk mechanics and other pilots together in the empty witches rooms." She said as Minna began to stroke her chin not prepared for this.
"Hmm. That is a good point Miyafuji. This has all been very short notice and I would be too much to ask for an empty room for John to recover in." Minna began to look through papers trying to find some way of resolving this problem.
"I know what we can do. John you can stay with pilot officer Litvyak for your time here. As long as that is alright with you Sanya." Minna said with the snap of her finger. John jumped with fear at this proposal, the first day and this was already being thrown at him. He looked among the faces and saw one girl with platinum hair wearing a Suomus Air Force jacket get red in the face.
"WHAT!" The girl shouted and john blushed. He thought to himself that must be the Pilot officer in question. He knew it was an unreasonable request but for that kind of answer John felt a little embarrassed. He always considered himself a good looking guy.
"That's fine with me" said the younger girl sitting next to her. John was confused at this response and began to do the math in his head.
She must be Sanya, John thought to himself as he quickly looked over the girl with short silver hair and black and white Orussian Army uniform. She was a bit younger than him but it looked like only a year, her voice was very calm and quiet. She seemed like a nice enough girl.
"Are you serious Sanya? You're going to sleep with a guy you just met!" The girl next to her shouted as her face turned even redder thinking about this situation. John also became a bit nervous, he wasn't about to intrude on someone's life like this on just the first day meeting them.
"Yeah, Commander. This seems a bit rash" John said to the commander trying to agree with the frantic girl.
"That's enough Eila. I chose Sanya because she takes the night watch most out of all of you so they won't sleep together that much." Minna said, this came to John relief but there was still the lingering fact that she said 'that much'. John had a feeling some ground rules may have to come in to play.
"Oh, that makes sense" Eila said as she sank back down into her seat with an embarrassed look on her face.
"Well that will be all for now you can take this time to get to know one another. Dismissed" said Minna with a smile. She picks up her paperwork and sees John is still standing there.
"Well go on, introduce yourself" Minna says gesturing towards the group as the others begin to talk among themselves. John steps down and walks over to the silver haired girl.
"Hi. So you must be Sanya. It's nice to meet you." he said as he sat down next to her at the table.
"Oh, hi I guess were going to be spending a lot of time together. It's nice to meet you as well." Sanya said blushing. She extends her hand and John shakes it.
"Let's hope not" John mumbles to himself when he sees Eila is staring him down from behind the smiling girl.
"What was that?" Sanya asked
"Oh, Nothing. Who's your friend?" He asked and Sanya looked over her shoulder at Eila who was crossing her arms in discontent.
"I'm Eila. Eila Juutilainen." She said, there was still a bit of anger in her voice but she looked like she was calming down.
"Nice to meet you" John said with a smile extending his hand to the girl. She was hesitant at first, surprised by his kindness even though she was being rude to him. She put her hand in his and shook it.
"So new guy do you think you got what it takes to run with us." said a mysterious voice from behind John. When he turned around he saw a red head with a Liberion Air force jacket standing there.
John broke his conversation with the two girls and stood up to confront the girl. "I know that I can whatever it takes to be the best." he said with a smile. The girl broke out laughing almost doubled over from this.
"What's so funny?" John was very confused as to what was going on.
"You are. You thought I was being serious about that. You have to learn to lighten up. The names Charlotte Yeager but everyone just calls me Shirley." she said extending her hand to the boy.
"Well I'm not always this serious..." he said giving her a firm hand shake.
"It's not always good to only be serious during a fight. You should be serious with your other duties outside of combat to." said a girl with brown hair that was tied into twin tails in the back. She was wearing a Karlsland Air Force jacket. She had a very assertive atmosphere about her. Looking behind her he could see a shorter girl with blond hair.
"Don't let her get to you she is always a stickler for the rules" said the other Karlsland girl with short blond hair as she walked up and patted John on the back. "I'm Erica and that's Gertrude" She said with a smile.
"It's Captain Barkhorn to you" The girl said angry that Erica would introduce her in such a way. John could see Erica and Shirley were way more laid back than the others. If John was going to be making a recovery it may be better spent with these two.
"Yeah yeah yeah, and everyone should be calling me Captain Yeager but you don't see me complaining" Shirley laughed.
"So have you had a chance to look around the base?" Erica asked the boy
"No, not yet. I only just got here" John said as the girl smiled.
"Then we'll give you the tour. You're going to love it here, this place has everything." She said excited to show the boy around. John had just arrived and he was already meeting so many new people but the formalities were all cut short when an alarm had gone off. The girls all stand up surprised by the sound.
"Looks like that tours gonna have to wait" Shirley said as everyone bolted for the hanger to get ready. The alarm meant that a neuroi was approaching the base and they had to destroy it before it got by them. John was told to go to the communications room to help guide the witches to the neuroi using the sonar. It was all he could really do.
The witches were armed and ready as they took off for the sky using their strike units. Taxing down the runway one by one they hit rotation speed and took off, climbing high into the sky. In no time they had caught up to the neuroi. The enemy was a large type of Neuroi and had taken on a cube formed with many spikes pointing out of it. When it saw the witches coming it began to attack by firing lasers from parts of its outer shell. The witches used shields to protect themselves from these lasers. They opened fire on the Neuroi, each shot broke the enemy's armor apart and opened it up until its core was revealed. Barkhorn tried to take a shot at the core but the Neuroi was faster. Firing a beam Barkhorn had to protect herself with a shield and lost the advantage. That gave the Neuroi enough time to regenerate its self.
The girls regrouped to ready their next attack but before they could do that the Neuroi let out a green pulse of light around it that quickly engulfed the sky. The witches were unable to escape, they braced for impact but then it faded around them.
"That was weird. It didn't do much did It." said Barkhorn as she went to fire her guns but all there was from the weapon was a clicking sound.
"What the hell, my gun wont fire!" she shouted as the others attempted to discharge their weapons as well to the same effect.
"This is bad, really really bad!" Hartmann shouted as the Neuroi fired more beams, with a roll Hartmann barley got out of the way.
John had been listening the whole time and knew that if he didn't act quickly he would lose the people he was just beginning to get to know.
"I need to do something" John said rushing out of the room and headed for the hanger. Running into the empty hanger he scans his surrounding and his eye catches something useful.
"And I think I know exactly what that something is" he said looking at an unused striker unit in the hanger.
Back at the battle field things were not going well for the witches as they were taking constant hits from the enemy. Sanya was nearly out of energy and knew the next hit could be bad. She didn't have to wait long because the neuroi had charged its laser and was aiming right for her. Sanya braced herself for the impact but instead of feeling pain she didn't feel anything. When she opened her eyes she saw John had flown in front of her and used his shield to defend her.
"I… I can't believe that worked!" John shouted when he saw the exhausted girl next to him. "Sanya, You alright?" John asked as he reached his hand out to her.
"John? But how?" she wondered as she took his hand and he pulled her in to help her fly.
Alright, That's much better. I ended up adding way more than I thought and completely updating areas that I felt could use stronger descriptions. All in all I feel if I do this to all my early chapters I'll have a much more satisfying story.