Strike Witches: Ribbons of the Sky
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the OC's; I own all the OC's.
Chapter 1: In Usea No More
October 19th, 2006
Location: Allenfort Air Base, Newfield Island
It was a calm sunny day for the civilians living on Newfield Island. Some were out shopping for groceries, while others were at the parks to let their children play and having picnics. Others were at the beach, enjoying themselves by either swimming in the shallow waters or soaking up the sun. There were even a few scuba divers, who were currently swimming around the coral reefs that were scattered around the area.
However, at the nearby Allenfort Air Base, things were not so calm.
Technicians and mechanics were hard at work, checking equipment and performing maintenance on the various aircraft and Striker Units that were at the base. Several technicians, however, were being accompanied by researchers as they walked towards one hangar in particular.
Upon arriving, they found two Striker Units being held in two launcher units, the likes of which they've never seen before.
They were painted a white color and had a pair of unusually-shaped wings, consisting of them first sweeping back before suddenly sweeping forwards. The units also possessed 3-dimensional thrust vectoring nozzles as well as a pair of canards near the top of the unit, the likes of which were both only previously seen on the Su-37 Terminators that the now defunct Yellow Squadron members were fond of using. There was a lack of horizontal stabilizers; instead, there was an angled stabilizer on each of the flight legs. Each stabilizer was bearing the emblem of the ISAF organization; the "Three Arrowheads", which was an arrangement of three blue triangles with two on the sides and one on the top.
Standing next to the first Striker Unit was a girl who appeared to be around 17 years old and stood at a height of 163 cm. She had ash grey hair that went down to her mid-back and a pair of electric blue eyes that seemed to be glowing. She was wearing a tanned green ISAF flight jacket on top of a white sleeveless tee shirt, while on top of her head was a large blue ribbon that was being worn like a bandana. She was also wearing a blue short skirt that went down only a third of her thighs, as well as a pair of white socks and black shoes. She was also wearing a head-mounted holographic display/transponder that can be linked directly to her mind. This girl didn't have a real name, but rather, only a code name: Mobius 1.
Standing next to the second Striker Unit was another girl who appeared to be around 25 years old and stood at a height of 176 cm. She had tannish white hair that went down to her lower back, and a pair of grey eyes. She was wearing a tanned green ISAF flight jacket on top of a green sleeveless tee shirt. She was also wearing a blue short skirt the same length as Mobius 1's which, due to her being thirteen centimeters taller than the aforementioned Witch, only covered around a fourth of her thighs, as well as a pair of white socks and black shoes. She was also wearing a head-mounted holographic display/transponder, which was the same model as the one Mobius 1 was wearing. This girl was Major Erica Klinsmann, a Belkan by birth who immigrated to Erusea after the Belkan War, but was now a part of ISAF after surrendering when the Erusean military was defeated at the capital of Farbanti.
'And look at me now,' Erica thought to herself. 'Here I am at an ISAF air base, and the wingman of Mobius 1 herself.'
"So… those are the two X-02 Wyvern Striker Units we were able to capture…" Turning towards the voice, Erica spotted the technicians and, to her dismay, the researchers that were accompanying them.
'Them again…' She thought venomously. 'Why can't you idiots see that Mobius isn't your personal little "experiment"?! She's a living being! Artificially created by you dicks, yes, but still a living human being! To hell with your experiments; let her live, dammit!'
Needless to say, Erica wasn't very friendly with the researchers who only saw the combat cyborg known as Mobius 1 as an experiment.
Unfortunately, she wasn't able to do a thing about it except try and teach the girl what it meant to have emotions and live as a human being, with little success.
Filing away those thoughts for later, she snapped to attention as the researchers began to speak up. "These are rather interesting Striker Units… and to think they came from your home country, Yellow 13."
"That's where you're wrong, sir." Erica replied, having to keep herself from lashing out at his cocky tone at the usage of her old call sign. "I was born in Belka, but immigrated to Erusea after the Belkan War 11 years ago and joined the Erusean Air Force at the age of 14."
"Hmph. It doesn't matter where you're from; as far as I'm concerned, you're only a trophy Witch, a spoil of the war Erusea started." The same man said back, trying to get a rise out of her and a reason to have her executed.
The Belkan knew what he was up to, and managed to keep herself under control despite her anger at being reminded of her status. "I joined the ISAF two months after the war ended, and also participated in Operation Katina. Which, may I remind you, was where I not only saved Mobius' life when she was facing off against no less than eight veteran Witches who were all flying the X-02 Wyverns, but also managed to capture one of the said Striker Units myself." She placed her hand on the Wyvern to make her point.
"Mobius 1 could have handled that by itself." A different researcher spoke up this time. "And on the off chance it was destroyed, we can always build another one to replace it."
Erica had to keep herself from snarling and strangling the man; to call Mobius 1 something as low as being replaceable and only an "it" was seriously grating on the last of her nerves.
"Sir," One of the technicians spoke up. "We don't have all day…"
"Hmph. Very well." The first researcher said, turning back to the Witch and combat cyborg present. "You two have been assigned to test the captured X-02 Wyvern Striker Units so that we can obtain their performance and flight data. Mobius 1, Yellow 13, you two will be fully armed in the case of an emergency, like remnants of Free Erusea deciding to try and attack this base again." He said Erica's former call sign with distaste.
The technicians looked at her in an apologetic manner, something she was grateful for. 'At least the techies are considerate, and they actually share my viewpoint about how those pigheaded bastards treat Mobius.' "Yes, sir." Both Erica and Mobius 1 answered, with Mobius' voice holding no emotion.
"Then arm yourselves and get ready."
Thirty minutes later, both Mobius and Erica were wearing their newly assigned X-02 Wyvern Striker Units, with both of them also wearing a bright blue pendant which was actually a hammerspace crystal, which stored all of their handheld weapons as well as their backup Strikers (an F-22A Raptor Striker for Mobius 1 and an Su-37 Terminator painted in the colors of the 118th Tactical Fighter Squadron for Erica) inside a pocket dimension.
"Ladies, you may begin at your discretion." The base commander, who was also observing the first test flight of the captured units from the control tower, said.
"Roger that. Beginning to taxi." Erica replied, having warmed up the jet engines over the past few minutes and began to slowly taxi her way to the runway, with Mobius 1 following behind her without saying a word. After three minutes of slow gliding over concrete, the two Witches arrived at one end of the runway. All they had to do now was wait for clearance to takeoff.
They only had to wait another thirty seconds. "Mobius 1, Mobius 13, this is Allenfort Air Base control. You are cleared for takeoff."
Erica smiled as she heard her new call sign being said by the person that spoke to them. "Roger, control. Mobius 13 is taking off."
"Mobius 1, taking off." Mobius replied as well, as usual with no emotion.
The two throttled their engines to the max and kicked in the afterburners and shot off down the runway. They only needed to travel around 500 meters before the two felt themselves slowly rising off the ground, and once that happened, they pulled straight up into a vertical climb, not having to worry about stalling due to the thrust-to-weight ratio being greater than 1:1.
"This is Erica Klinsmann, call sign Mobius 13." She reported to the technicians on the ground who were recording the flight data. "The two of us have begun our vertical climb. Airspeed is still increasing." As she said this, the forward-swept areas of the wings began to fold inward into the housings that were in the inner wings that had just opened. Meanwhile, the two butterfly tail fins folded downward so that they were horizontally flat. "Wings and stabilizers have shifted into high speed flight mode. We are now passing through the sonic envelope."
"Roger, Mobius 13. We've confirmed that here as well."The techs answered through the transponder, even as the faint noise of their sonic booms were heard over the transponder.
"This is AWACS SkyEye to Mobius flight." A new voice said over the ISAF frequency. "I'm observing the test flight on my end. Keep me and the ground crews informed on any problems that you may come across."
"Roger that, SkyEye… and it's good to hear your voice again, Narumi." Erica said with honesty in her voice.
20 kilometers away and at an altitude of 17,500 meters was a Witch who appeared to be around 20 years old and yet was only 139 centimeters tall, not counting the Striker Unit she was wearing. She had black hair that went down to her shoulders and a pair of amber colored eyes. She was wearing a white ISAF flight uniform that signified her role as an Airborne Warning and Control System Witch on top of a yellow sleeveless tee shirt. She was also wearing a blue short skirt that was the same length as the ones worn by Erica and Mobius 1, which covered the tops of her customized Boeing E-767NX Sentry Strikers due to her shorter than average height despite them being tailored to her stature. She was wearing a head-mounted holographic display/transponder (HMHD/T) that was a different model than the ones used by the two Mobius Witches, being tailored more towards those who have excellent sensory capabilities and being outfitted with extra sensors. There was also a large, rotating radar dome that was securely strapped to her back. This girl was General Narumi Miyamoto, a height-challenged, tomboyish girl who served as the Mobius Team's aerial commanding officer and tactician who had an IQ of an astounding 300. She was also one of the few Witches to have been confirmed to possess two different inherent magic abilities, which were Magic Antenna Array and Spatial Awareness; a perfect combination for a tactical commander of her caliber.
Narumi blushed at hearing Erica's words, having developed a crush on the former leader of Yellow Squadron during the time they worked with each other during Operation Katina. "I-It's good to hear from you too, Erica…" This she said with sincerity. "R…Report your status, over."
"We're currently at an altitude of 18,000 meters and still climbing. We'll reach our flight ceiling within a minute or so. As of this moment, it has been 3 minutes and 41 seconds since brake release at takeoff. Over." Erica replied in a professional tone, reminding Narumi that they were still testing the Wyvern's capabilities, which was a fully armed flight this time in the case of an emergency.
Getting serious again, she made to answer when her Magic Antenna Array, along with her Spatial Awareness abilities alerted her to a sudden electromagnetic spike coming from the southeast. "Base Command, this is AWACS SkyEye! I've detected a large electromagnetic spike! Bearing 1-4-7, distance: 45 kilometers!"
"SkyEye, Base Command. We've detected the spike as well. You, along with Mobius Team, are ordered to investigate the electromagnetic signature and report back. It might be a remnant of Free Erusea or some other unknown faction." The base commander ordered.
Even though Narumi would've done so anyway, the base commander was the 5-star General of the ISAF Air Force, while she was only a 4-star General. But that meant that she held the record of the highest-ranking front-line commander in history, and was just about always given full authority whenever she was at a battlefield due to her high rank and tactical prowess. "Yes, sir. Moving to intercept the spike." She reported as she banked and turned to the right.
Erica and Mobius 1, who had previously levelled out of their vertical climb at an altitude of 22,760 meters, glided back down and began flying alongside Narumi a few minutes later to safeguard her from any threats planning an ambush. "Mind if we drop in?" Erica asked.
Narumi managed to keep her surprise and blush under control, taking a moment to compose herself. "No… not at all." She then turned towards Mobius 1. "Mobius, what do you think is going on?" She asked this as she wanted to know what was currently going on in the combat cyborg's bio-cybernetic mind.
"If it is an enemy, then it will be eliminated." Was all Mobius said in reply.
Erica and Narumi sighed at this, honestly having expected such a response. They both had the same thought; 'Mobius really needs to learn how to live…'
It was only after another thirty seconds when Narumi was able to pinpoint the general location of the strange signal; a huge storm cloud that they were just now able to see on the edge of the horizon. "A storm cloud…?"
"Could be… but there's also a chance that who or whatever is creating the signal is merely hiding inside it." Erica replied. "We'll have to be careful on the off chance that this is an ambush."
"Understood." Mobius replied, summoning her two FN F2000X bullpup assault cannons from the hammerspace crystal that was around her neck and flipping off the safety switches, while Erica did the same with her two M2X Browning machine cannons and Narumi did the same with her AN/APG-79R Active Electronically Scanned Array (AESA) Radar Rifle to assist in her search for potential hostile threats that may have been hiding within the clouds.
After five minutes of flying in close formation, the three Witches flew into the clouds, highly alert for any signs of an ambush. Narumi pulled the trigger of her AESA rifle, sending out several "chirps" on a wide range of frequencies from the numerous transmit/receive modules (TRMs) incorporated into the body and along the length of the "barrel". To add to that, she also activated her Magic Antenna Array (MAA) ability, which allowed her to cover most of her body in numerous magic-formed antennas to expand her search radius, as well as her Spatial Awareness ability to augment her search radius even further.
Mobius 1 and Erica were silent, letting Narumi focus on finding the source of the electromagnetic spike when her eyes shot open in shock. "No way…"
"'No way'? What do you mean by that?" Erica asked, alarmed at her friend's sudden shock.
"The source of the spike… is the storm cloud itself!" She replied, before her MAA flashed from green to red as she screamed in pain.
"Narumi!" The Belkan native yelled before she noticed her holographic display/transponder (HD/T) began to flicker and spazz out, a clear indication of what was happening.
They were caught right in the middle of another electromagnetic spike.
"Sensors malfunctioning… cannot restore to optimal status…" Mobius 1 said in her usual tone, but her twitching was a clear sign of her internal cybernetics being affected by the EM spike.
Thinking quickly, Erica sent both of her M2X Brownings back into her hammerspace crystal and grabbed onto both Mobius 1 and Narumi, before they were engulfed in a bright flash and disappeared.
Back at Allenfort Air Base, the radar operator could only look at his display in shock as the word "SIGNAL LOST" appeared over the blips that used to be Mobius 1, Mobius 13, and AWACS SkyEye. "I've lost their signals… Mobius Team and AWACS SkyEye have dropped off our radar…"
Time: Unknown
Location: Unknown
Erica cracked open her eyes a few seconds after being engulfed by a bright light, only to find that she, Mobius 1, and Narumi were no longer in a storm cloud.
Instead, they were in a clear blue sky, devoid of any clouds.
"What the hell just happened…?" Erica asked to herself as Narumi opened her eyes, no longer in any pain.
"Erica… what happened?" She asked, before noticing the distinct change in surroundings and lack of clouds. "And where are we, anyway?"
"Systems restoring to optimal parameters… all systems, green." Mobius 1 said to herself. "Accessing satellite network… error. Cannot connect; no satellites found."
That got the attention of the other two Witches. "W-What do you mean by that?!" The Belkan yelled as Narumi pointed her AESA rifle straight up and pulled the trigger, searching for any of the satellites that should be up in orbit. To her shock, however, her radar didn't send back any return signals. 'There's… nothing in orbit…? But how can a bunch of satellites just disappear?!' Her mind raced, trying to come up with an answer.
"Narumi, we won't accomplish anything by just hovering here; we need to find land soon before we run out of magic." Erica said, pointing out the fact that they were still above the ocean.
The Usean nodded at her secret crush's logic and activated her MAA along with using her AESA rifle to search for any signs of civilization. To her surprise, there was a lot of radio chatter on multiple different frequencies, most of them coming from the southwest. "There are numerous radio transmissions coming from the southwest. Due to the high transmission rates there's a high possibility that there is land in that direction."
"Understood. Is that the direction we will take?" Mobius 1 asked.
Narumi didn't even have to think about her answer. "Yes; that's where we're going."
Erica nodded, but before any of them could move…
GREEEE!
"What the-" Was all Erica could get out before a large red beam shot by them only a few meters away. Alarmed, the three Witches turned to where the beam came from, only to see a large black… thing flying towards them at a high speed, before it fired more red beams from the red patterns on its fuselage at them, forcing them to dodge. "What the hell is that?!" the Belkan shouted in shock.
"Scanning… enemy type: unknown. Composition: unknown. Physical shape: similar to the Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar developed by Osea after the Second World War." Mobius 1 reported.
This caused the other two to blink; from their new position and now able to see the unknown flier from a new angle, it did look like a Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar… only massively scaled up and outfitted with laser weaponry.
Speaking of which, all three were forced to dodge another volley of laser fire lest they get vaporized. "If that thing wants a fight, then a fight it's going to get!" Erica growled out as she summoned her two M2X Brownings again and opened fire, the two twin-barreled weapons opening up with a storm of lead that totaled to around 3,600 20mm rounds per minute. Most of the shells impacted on the thing's right wing and disintegrated it while it screeched in apparent pain.
To their collective shock, however, the wing swiftly regenerated before the unknown opened fire again. "Oh, come the FUCK on!" The Belkan shouted. "HAX! I call hax!"
"Stop yelling and keep shooting!" Narumi yelled, summoning her two custom-built GAU-21X "Modernized Buzzsaw" triple-barreled Vulcans from the crystal on her neck, and pulled the triggers while channeling her magic into the guns, spinning the barrels up to their optimal rotational speed before opening fire with a ridiculous 2,700 rounds per minute each, sending 90 bullets at the unknown enemy in the first second alone. To the unknown enemy's credit, it did manage to dodge her barrage during the first second of firing by boosting forwards, but her bullets soon found their mark and began to chew their way through the enemy's regenerating armor faster than it could repair itself.
Mobius 1 wasn't standing by, either; she had already decided to shift into close-quarters combat and summoned her enormous black scythe and bull-rushed the enemy, dodging in between the wall of beams it was firing at her with pinpoint precision. Now up close with her opponent, she started hacking away at the armor that was in front of her, all the while keeping a cybernetic eye on the only red… firing ports, she concluded, that could angle any surprise beams at her.
They promptly did so a moment later, as the unknown enemy had apparently decided that enough was enough and fired off a ridiculously wide volley of beams aimed at the three Witches, not caring that it caused some minor self-inflicted damage to get the scythe-bearer away from itself. Enraged at the three humans for causing it so much pain, it let out a loud screech before opening up with another full volley, this time keeping on the pressure as the Witches were constantly forced to either evade or block with their shields.
"Tch. Well, I'm pretty sure that thing's pretty pissed at us." Erica said to herself as she kept pulling one evasive maneuver after another to make sure she didn't get killed.
"Yeah, you think?!" Narumi shot back. "Keep that thing distracted, you two! I'm going up high to try and find a weak spot!" With that said, she began increasing her altitude to put some distance in between herself and the unknown enemy and began scanning it with her MAA, looking for any weak points to exploit.
Although she didn't find any, she got the unpleasant surprise of sensing three Witches coming in from the southeast. "Heads up, you two; three unknown Witch contacts coming in from the southeast. Bearing 1-4-5, distance: 14 kilometers and closing… rather slowly, actually."
"Roger that." Erica replied, getting the hint that they now ran the risk of the top-secret Wyvern Strikers becoming known. She then turned towards Mobius 1. "Mobius, try scanning the enemy using different settings. X-ray, infrared, whatever you've got; we need to find that thing's weak point ASAP!"
"Understood." Mobius 1 replied after blocking another set of beams and began pulling several complex evasive maneuvers, while her cybernetic eyes shifted into their X-ray mode and began to scan the target. After a few seconds and not getting anything, she shifted into infrared mode… this time with much better results. "This is Mobius 1. Thermal scans have shown a possible weak point. I am sending the data now."
"Roger that." Erica replied as the data presented itself on her holographic display, highlighting a section in the rear central portion of the unknown's armor in a bright red color. "You getting this, SkyEye?"
"This is AWACS SkyEye. Roger, I've received the data. Do me a favor and keep that thing distracted for eight seconds; I'm through messing around." The Usean said back, cluing Erica in that Narumi was angry enough to actually consider using the railgun she had built in her spare time back before Operation Katina went underway.
The power of a genius was indeed scary. The power of a bored genius was even scarier.
"SkyEye, Mobius 13. Roger that, over." If Narumi was going to speak like a professional despite her dislike of formalities, then she would as well. She turned her gaze towards Mobius after using her shield to block a beam that she wouldn't otherwise had enough time to dodge. "Mobius 1, Mobius 13. Form up on me; we'll engage the unknown in close-quarters to draw its attention away from SkyEye and buy her enough time to destroy its weak point."
"Roger that." The combat cyborg replied as she gripped her scythe only slightly tighter as she formed up with Erica, who dismissed her two M2X Brownings in favor of her preferred weapons of choice; two massive, ancient zweihendlers of Belkan origin reinforced with various spells and enchantments, named Lævateinn and Dainsleif. With a clear objective in mind, the two Witches charged forward, bull-rushing the enemy flier as it desperately fired off salvo after salvo of deadly beams in an attempt to drive off or kill the two aggressors.
But these two weren't just any Witches; they are the top two aces of the Usean Continental War, and they will not be deterred by something as simple as a laser-equipped, regenerating aircraft.
Despite having only worked together for the past few month during Operation Katina, the two were in sync with each other and knew what the other was going to do and when, which was displayed when the two split up simultaneously only mere meters away from the enemy. Stabbing their weapons into the enemy's hull on both sides and kicking in their afterburners, the two dragged their weapons along, cutting three deep gashes through the armor and causing the enemy to shriek in pain once again and focus its fire on the two aces.
Unfortunately for it, Narumi, who was hovering around 5 kilometers above the fight, had taken the time to charge up the massive railgun she was holding and was aiming it right where Mobius 1 reported the apparent weak point was located, using her targeting sensors and HMHD/T to assist with her aiming. "This is AWACS SkyEye. I'm all charged up and ready to fire… and you two might want to get away from that thing just in case."
She had the distinct pleasure of watching her secret crush break away from the enemy in a slight panic, closely being followed by Mobius 1. "SkyEye, Mobius 13. Both of us are clear. You may fire when ready."
"Roger that. Firing in 3… 2… 1…" Taking a brief moment to brace herself, Narumi pulled the trigger.
A massive 150mm tungsten slug was fired from the gun at a speed exceeding Mach 10, the recoil pushing her back and forcing her to gun all six of her Striker Unit's General Electric CF11-97F6E turbofan etherjets to keep herself from being sent flying away and tumbling out of control. The slug, which superheated the air it passed through enough to create a plasma trail, punched clean through the enemy flier, as well as managing to melt a four meter diameter hole through it.
'Note to self,' Narumi thought to herself. 'Add additional recoil dampeners if I don't want my arms to be nearly torn off after firing a single shot next time.'
However, she, as well as Erica and Mobius 1, were caught off-guard when the unknown enemy suddenly shattered into many white shards.
"What the heck just happened?!" Erica asked to herself.
"I… do not know." Mobius 1 answered her after a brief moment's hesitation, a clear sign that even she was caught off-guard and that the scanners in her eyes weren't able to clarify what just happened, either.
Narumi was about to answer when she remembered the three unknown Witch contacts she had sensed earlier. Scanning in the direction she remembered them to be, she found that they were now only seven kilometers away, but have apparently stopped moving.
'Perhaps it might have been that they were sent to intercept the… thing we just killed.' Narumi mused. 'But now that I have the time to study the signals from the Strikers they're wearing, they apparently lack any kind of IFF… and they're reciprocating Strikers? Who the hell fights using tech that outdated?! Best let the other two know, and have them swap to their backup Strikers for now; we can't let these unknowns know about the X-02 Wyverns. After all, we are supposed to be on a test flight, but look how well that turned out!' "Mobius 1, Mobius 13, SkyEye here. The three unknown Witch units are only seven kilometers away, but they've stopped moving. Before they get to within visual range, swap to your backup Striker Units; we can't let them know about the Wyverns."
"Heh. Haven't pulled off a mid-air swap since my time back at Belka during the Belkan War. Hopefully I haven't gotten rusty on it." Erica replied.
"Understood." Mobius 1 replied as well. "Performing mid-air Striker Unit swap to hide the identity of the X-02 Wyvern."
As one, the two Witches gunned their engines to the max and began to fly straight up. But after only ascending 200 meters, they cut all power to the engines and dismissed them, sending them back into the crystals on their necks. Without missing a beat, they summoned their backup Strikers from the pocket dimension they were stored in and grabbed them with their arms. With their upward momentum now almost gone, they were quick to slip their legs into the flight units and kick-start the etherjets; they only fell around 50 meters before they began to hover in midair again.
Seeing that the current order of business was done, Narumi shifted her attention to the three unknown Witches who were still hovering in their current spot around 7 kilometers away. 'Time to see what they came for… and to see who exactly they are as well.' "Attention, unknown Witch flight. State your names, ranks, and squadron number. Failure to comply will have you shot down." To make her point clear, she aimed her railgun at the trio of Witches and began to charge it just in case.
Perrine didn't know what to think.
First, she, Miyafuji, and Lynette were taking off from Anna's house to intercept a Neuroi that would have destroyed the bridge linking said house to the Romagnan mainland. Then she sees that three unknown Witches had already engaged said Neuroi and destroyed it. Now one of those Witches was pointing a weapon at her and asking for identification!
"Who do you think you are, pointing a weapon at us?!" The Gallian shouted into her transponder.
She was met with a tungsten slug that sailed a few meters above her, Yoshika, and Lynette, and the three had to use their shields to protect themselves from the trailing plasma's heat wave. The slug impacted dangerously close to the bridge, the plasma trail actually melting a small part of it as an enormous splash was generated from the slug's point of impact on the water.
"She shot at us?!" The Fusojin shouted in shock.
"I repeat. State your names, ranks, and squadron number. Failure to comply will have you shot down. And that was a warning shot…the next one won't be." The unknown voice said again, saying the last five words with a slight edge in her voice, almost as if daring her to refuse.
Perrine gulped; although she herself was a noble and would only follow the orders of Wing Commander Wilcke and (more importantly for her) Squadron Leader Sakamoto, she was facing off against a Witch who was apparently more than willing to kill her if she didn't comply, which in itself was ridiculous to even think about.
But still, discretion was the better part of valor, and she had no intention of dying either. "Perrine. Perrine H. Clostermann. My rank is Flying Officer, and I'm a part of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing." The Gallian answered.
"L-Lynette Bishop… Flight Sergeant, and also with the 501st." Lynette answered as well after a moment's hesitation.
Seeing as how her friends have already answered, the Fusojin decided to comply as well, following their example. "Yoshika Miyafuji. I'm a Sergeant and am also with the 501st."
"There, was that so hard?" The unknown Witch asked almost sarcastically. To the relief of the three, they were able to see her lower that ridiculously powerful rifle despite the distance between them. "Now tell me; who's your commanding officer, and can you patch me through to him? There are some things I want to ask him."
That caused the three to blink. "Umm… don't you mean 'her'? Wing Commander Minna's a girl." Lynette replied.
"… My apologies for getting your commanding officer's gender wrong. Now can you please patch me through to her?"
"I can," Perrine answered. "But first, who are you?"
"… My name is Narumi Miyamoto. Call sign, AWACS SkyEye. I am a 4-star General and the commanding field officer of the 118th Tactical Fighter Group, the Mobius Squadron."
…She was a WHAT?!
May 21st, 1945
Pescara Air Base, Romagna
Wing Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke was getting worried.
She had learned about a Neuroi on its way to attack the remote island that Yoshika, Lynette, and Perrine were training at, and had yet to receive word on their condition.
Before she could think on the matter any further, her phone began to ring. Picking it up, she answered. "Hello? This is Wing Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing."
She was surprised when Perrine was the one who answered. "Umm, Wing Commander, there's been a… complication."
That caused her to raise an eyebrow. "What kind of 'complication'?"
"Umm… well, before we could engage the Neuroi, there was another flight of Witches who had already engaged and destroyed it. And…"
"And?"
"Well, their commanding officer pulled a gun at us and asked for identification, even going so far as to fire a warning shot."
That shocked the Karlslander to the core. "She did WHAT?!"
"We're alright, though… but she wants to speak to you now." Perrine said back
Minna's eyes narrowed. "Put her on."
"Yes, ma'am… here, she wants to talk to you."
There was a little noise on the phone before a different voice spoke up. "You're the Wing Commander?" The new voice asked in a surprisingly strict tone, almost as if she was a Major at the very least.
"I am… Who am I speaking to?" She asked in her best intimidating militaristic tone.
The speaker wasn't fazed, however. "I am General Narumi Miyamoto. My call sign is AWACS SkyEye, and I am the commanding field officer of the 118th Tactical Fighter Group, the Mobius Squadron, affiliated with ISAF."
Minna was shocked; she was speaking to a General?! "A-A General?! But… why point a weapon at a Witch and fire?!"
"I was following ISAF protocols with dealing with unknown Witch squadrons. You're actually quite lucky they answered, despite the blonde one shooting her mouth off at first." The General answered.
"…What would have happened if they didn't?" A part of her didn't want to know the answer, but their safety was her responsibility.
"Simple; shoot to kill."
She heard a set of gasps on the other end of the line, and she was sure she had gasped as well; shoot to kill?! The very thought of a Witch killing another was absolutely ludicrous to even think about, and here was a General of all people saying that she would have killed three Witches if they hadn't complied?!
"Bu-But that's' ridiculous! Why shoot at another Witch?! And more importantly, what the hell is this ISAF you keep mentioning?!" Minna all but shouted into the phone, drawing the attention of Mio from the other room.
Walking in, Mio didn't expect to see Minna as pale as a ghost. 'Is something wrong?' The Squadron Leader thought to herself.
"I can ask the same thing about the 501st Joint Fighter Wing." Narumi replied. "But enough chit-chat. There are things that I want to know… things that you can give the answers for. First question: What country is this?"
Despite still being in shock at what she had heard a few seconds prior, she was caught off-guard by the first question. "R-Romagna… It's known as Romagna." She answered. "Now… answer me…"
"To answer your first question, that was what we were trained to do, so we don't particularly see a problem if a Witch presents itself as an enemy." Straight to the point, just like a General of her caliber, even as a trio of horrified gasps were heard on the other end of the line.
Her eyes widened in horror at Narumi's first answer, much to Mio's confusion. "Wha… What…?"
"Who are you talking to, Minna?" Mio asked in concern, worried about her friend's rapidly-increasing horror.
The new voice shocked the red-haired Witch, but she was relieved that it was only Mio. "Mio… oh thank god…" Shifting her attention back to the phone, she asked a question she really wanted an answer to. "Hey, listen. C-Can I have my 2IC take over for a while? I… need some time to myself…" Her voice cracked a bit at first, then it began to waver.
This sent alarm bells screaming in Mio's head; something was up, and it was bad enough to have Minna on the verge of tears.
"… Very well. I'll let your 2IC take over." Narumi answered, something which Minna was grateful for.
She shakily got up and handed the phone to Mio. "Please… take over for me. I… I need to go…" With that, she ran out of the room, her eyes leaking tears as she did so.
Mio was somewhat hesitant to answer the phone, but she did so anyway. "…Hello? Who am I speaking to?"
It was only around ten minutes later before Mio slowly walked out of the office, her horror clearly seen in her visible eye from what she had learned. There was obviously a lot more questions she had for the General named Narumi, but those would have to wait until she talked to her face-to-face, no matter how much she wasn't looking forward to meeting the trio of trained Witch killers.
First things first, she had to find Minna, as she felt she wouldn't be able to handle the upcoming Q&A session alone.
The flight back to Pescara Air Base was unnaturally quiet.
Of course, since Yoshika, Lynette, and Perrine were flying back towards their base, they should have kept quiet for at least a little while. But what kept them from talking at all was the fact that the three Witches known as Narumi Miyamoto, Erica Klinsmann, and the girl only known as Mobius 1 were following them, as Squadron Leader Sakamoto wanted to speak to them face-to-face. The fact that their Striker Units produced a far different sound due to their so-called turbofan engines helped in the matter.
The fact that they were trained to kill other Witches was the icing on the cake.
The three's mindsets were in turmoil at the very thought of being trained to kill another human being, but here were three Witches who were trained to kill not just other human beings, but other Witches as well. And judging from how the General said they were trained to kill, they probably killed hundreds, if not thousands of other people.
The three newcomers had hardened, focused looks on their faces, and if any of the Strike Witches so much as glanced at them, they would look right back. For some reason, staring the Mobius Squadron in the eyes deeply unsettled the three locals, especially when the eyes they looked at belonged to Mobius 1.
Narumi kept her eyes on the horizon, keeping a sharp lookout for anything that so much as looked like a base. After a few minutes, she could faintly see… a castle with a runway and a hangar built into it?
'Odd choice for a base… and a highly inefficient one if the barracks aren't near the hangar. However, such a design can also be beneficial, such as plenty of storage space for food, spare parts, and ammunition, and the space can be used for plenty of SAM and anti-air gun emplacements… if they had SAMs, that is.' Narumi mused to herself, remembering the fact she learned from the person known as Squadron Leader Sakamoto that the year was 1945 instead of 2006, no matter how ridiculous the fact sounded.
Shaking off that train of thought, she followed the Strike Witches' glide slope as they coasted down to land. Taking a quick glance to her flanks, she saw that Erica and Mobius 1 were also following the glide slope.
Looking back forward, she could see two distinct figures watching them from the entrance of the cavernous hangar. 'Probably the Wing Commander and her 2IC. Time to see what I'm dealing with…' With that thought in mind, she gently landed her E-767NX Striker Units on the tarmac and slowed down to a stop, being flanked by Mobius 1 and Erica in their F-22A Raptor and Su-37 Terminator Strikers, respectively.
A/N: This idea has been bugging me for a while now, and I just had to write it.
As for Mobius 1 being a combat cyborg, I found out that the Mobius 1 from the games is so skilled that he is considered inhuman by some, and I'm playing on that tidbit of information here. In terms of combat skills, she's excellent with all forms of weapons, but she's at her best in close-quarters with her massive scythe, which earned her the nickname "Grim Reaper". Due to the fact that she's a combat cyborg, she doesn't have any hobbies that can be considered hobbies; instead, she usually looks back on the combat footage stored in her cybernetic memory and constantly works out strategies. Her inherent magic, which was artificially grafted to her during the process that led to her creation, is Resupply. This ability allows her to completely refill her ammunition supply, and can do so with other allied Witches as well so long as they're within close proximity.
About Erica Klinsmann, she is based off of Elrich Klinsmann who appears in the game Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War. Now there is a lot of speculation that Elrich Klinsmann and Yellow 13 are one in the same, and there's plenty of evidence to support such a theory. Considering that there are too many similarities between the two to be a complete coincidence, I support that theory and as such, Erica Klinsmann's former call sign was Yellow 13. As for how she's still alive, I'll explain that in a flashback in a later chapter. In terms of combat skill, she's great with a gun, but the only one who can fight her in close-quarters on even terms is Mobius 1. And although her tactical commanding skills are greater than Mobius 1, Narumi easily trumps her in that department. As for her hobbies, she likes listening to music, studying aviation history, and continuing to improve her skill with her two zweihandlers, although she can only use one of them outside of combat; she can't draw Dainsleif unless she's in a combat situation, since the sword is unable to be sheathed before either scoring a kill or at least inflicting a fatal wound on an enemy. Her inherent magic is Super Strength, which is strong enough to allow her to swing around gigantic steel beams as if they were clubs. However, she has trouble with objects that are heavier than that.
Now about Narumi Miyamoto, she's an OC version of AWACS Sky Eye who appears in Ace Combat 4: Shattered Skies. She may seem a bit overpowered because of her ridiculously high IQ and the fact that she has two inherent abilities instead of one, but data gathering and being a tactical commander are where her combat specialties lie; she may be pretty good with a gun, but her close-quarters combat capabilities are sub-par. As for hobbies, she likes to build new things like weapons and gadgets, plastic models of various mecha (with the Gundam franchise being her favorite), and practicing her talent in singing in her spare time. Her two inherent magic abilities are Magic Antenna Array, a vastly enhanced version of the Magic Antenna which can only be obtained with years of intense training, and Spatial Awareness, which allows her to further augment her sensory abilities by allowing her to constantly keep track of, perceive and discern all nearby targets in every direction, sorting out their position, number and classification.