Ahoy, lads and lasses! I'm back from sailing the Seven Seas to provide ya with more new headers and footers. If you haven't caught on yet, I'm not the author Leche Flandre. I'm just a….concerned friend of his. Yes. You don't need to worry anymore about that. Anyway, I digress. Here's the next chapter!
Previously, on Strike Witches: Displaced…
"Tiny bubbles…In the wine…"
"Commander Anabuki, please refrain from utilizing the airwaves in an unnecessary manner."
"Sorry about that, Anko."
"I, uh, I liked it when you were singing. It….made….this flight….more enjoyable…"
"I guess it's alright, as long as we keep it within our own comlink channel."
"Sanya-san, Eila-san, Heidemarie-san, good morning."
"But why do I have to be back here?"
"Because you got be Tomoko's wingman last week. Now it's only fair that Giuseppina gets a turn. And plus, you're much lighter."
"If we're gonna be flying in the same Wing together, it would be best not to have any secrets. I've got a Neuroi infection."
"Tell us what happened."
"So it was a beautiful day about six months ago…"
Chapter2: Bayushki-Bayu (Cossack Lullaby)
0000 hours, July 7, 2015
Western Orussian Airspace
"Lidiya. Lidiya, wake up." Lidiya's yellow eyes opened drowsily to Vera's quiet whispers and gentle shaking. They focused on her standing over their owner with a full uniform on, complete with ushanka and hairdo. "Come on, get dressed," she whispered, "We're on night patrol."
"O-ok," said Lidiya as she slowly got up. She walked over to the closet and grabbed her uniform and toiletries kit, and then she headed for the bathroom. Closing the door, she splashed cold water on her face, and then proceeded to brush her teeth. Then, she shed her pajamas, put on her uniform, and brushed her silver hair. Once her hair was straightened out, she proceeded to bunch it up into a ponytail, securing it with a red ribbon. Finally, she placed her garrison cap upon her head, put everything back into her kit, and exited the bathroom. "I'm ready," she said to Vera, "Shall we?"
"Let's go," said Vera. Before they headed out, they noticed faint sobbing sounds coming over the engines' roar. Looking for the source, their gaze soon fell upon Nina, who was curled into a fetal position in a corner, mumbling and sobbing the entire time. "Oh, you poor thing," said Vera, "Are you all right?"
"It's n-n-nothing," said Nina with a sniffle, "Honestly, I'm f-f-f-f-fine."
"Come on, tell us about it. You can trust us."
"N-n-no. I just can't sl-l-leep. I'd rather not t-talk about it."
"Oh, ok, that's fine," said Lidiya, "Let's get you back to bed." She and Vera lifted the younger girl into their arms and carried her back to her bed. Nina was protesting through her sniffles and hiccups the whole time.
"I-it's not like I n-n-need to be treated like some f-f-five-year-old," she said, "B-but, thank you."
"Don't mention it," Lidiya said soothingly, "Now, you rest your head on that pillow and close your eyes. I'll be here until you fall asleep." With that, she tucked the blanket over Nina and began to sing a song her mother sang to her when she was little.
Spi, mladenets moy prekrasnyy, (Sleep, my beautiful one,)
Bayushki-bayu.
As Lidiya quietly sang those first few lines, Nina's eyes focused on her face. It was then that she began to notice how alluringly beautiful Lidiya was; those yellow eyes seemed to glow the warmest glow, almost like a nightlight. And her silver hair seemed to remind her of starlight. Lidiya stroked Nina's head, running her hand through her hair, and continued singing.
Tikho smotrit mesyats yasnyy (With her quiet face the moon, she)
V kolybel' tvoyu. (is looking upon your bed.)
Soon Nina could see nothing more than Lidiya's face. Any background noise was drowned out to the point where all she could hear was Lidiya's voice. All she could feel was Lidiya's hand against her hair. Her eyes began to close.
Stanu skazyvat' ya skazki, (I will tell you fairy-tales of enchanted places)
Pesenku spoyu; (and sing you some little songs)
Ty zh dremli, zakryvshi glazki, (but you must slumber, with your little eyes closed,)
Bayushki-bayu.
By the time Lidiya finished the first verse, Nina had fallen completely to sleep with a look of contentment on her face, and she decided not to continue. Standing back up, she turned to Vera who looked like she'd been fighting a losing battle against sleep. "You sure you still wanna go on patrol," asked Lidiya.
"Don't worry about me," said Vera through a yawn, "I'll be fine. Orders are orders, anyway. Man, that was some lullaby."
"Sorry, hehe," said Lidiya, "My singing has always had this weird effect on people ever since I was little."
"Come on, let's go. Before I really fall asleep."
"Ok." The two witches made their way through the corridor to the briefing room, closing the door behind them. Unknown to them, all of the other sleeping witches slept with content expressions similar to Nina's.
Once in the briefing room, they took their seats at a small table facing a projector screen that showed their current location on a map. The Antonov's air traffic radar was shown making a circular sweep through the airspace around them. A short while later, the door opened, and a senior officer from the Orussian Air Force entered. Lidiya and Vera stood at attention and snapped salutes. Returning the salute, the officer began the briefing.
"Ladies," he said, "An AWACS aircraft with the callsign 'Oka Nieba' is patrolling the airspace about 60 kilometers from us, here." Pointing to Oka Nieba's position to the northeast, he continued, "You are to form up with them and fly escort, taking down any Neuroi threats that they point out, from now until 0400 hours. You'll be going out as Nightjar Flight. Get down to the flight deck and equip your Strikers. Stay safe, girls, and good hunting. That is all."
"Understood," said the witches simultaneously.
"Dismissed," said the officer. The two girls stood and saluted once more, and then they left the briefing room and proceeded down the forward staircase leading to the flight deck.
The sound of the engines and the rushing wind was much louder down there, but the witches paid it no mind and proceeded to their waiting Striker Units. The deck crew had already positioned them up front in the nose section, along with the racks holding their guns and ammunition. They had also already loaded up air-to-air missiles into the Strikers' internal weapons bays. The witches grabbed the holster for their sidearms and clipped it into place on their waist, and then they put on a pack with pockets to hold extra ammunition and some provisions. Finally, they put on their headphones and wrist-mounted flight computers.
With these in place, they chose their weapons. Lidiya decided to go with all her suppressed weapons, grabbing her VSS Vintorez rapid-fire sniper rifle, AS Val assault rifle, and PSS silent pistol. Vera, not having the luxury of such weaponry, went with a more audible loadout with an OSV-96 anti-materiel rifle, an RPK-74 light machine gun, and a GSh-18 semi-automatic pistol. Slinging the rifles and machine guns onto their backs and holstering their pistols, they then grabbed as many magazines for these weapons as they could fit and climbed up their Striker cradles.
Once atop, they placed their legs into the sockets in their Strikers and fused with their familiars, starting up the magic flow into the engines. The engines came to life with a low hum rising in pitch until it became a low roar. Running through a mental checklist, they secured straps, connected the cord running from their headphones into a jack on the Strikers, checked their weapons, checked the comms in their headsets, and moved their Strikers' control surfaces to check for malfunctions. With everything running satisfactorily, they nodded to the officer in charge of the flight deck, who signaled another man to open the hatches. With a mechanical hum and a mighty whoosh, the hatches in the nose and tail opened to let in the wind.
As the witches throttled up their engines, blue magic circles formed beneath them, and they were soon ready for launch. Lidiya taxied her Su-47 over a small catapult, placed her wheels its saddle, gave the "ready" sign to the deck officer, and prepared for take-off. Returning her signal with a nod, the deck officer turned to the deckhand manning the catapult controls and signaled for him to power it up. Feeding more power into her engines, Lidiya braced for the jolt. Launching off of an aerial carrier like this Antonov was risky business. If anything went awry, the plane could be damaged and possibly crash with all aboard killed. So everyone had to be very careful.
With the catapult at sufficient power, the deck officer gave the command to launch. Lidiya went from 0 miles-per-hour to take-off speed in just a few seconds, and soon she was in the air banking to the right to wait for Vera. Once she saw the characteristic diamond-shaped wings of Vera's T-50, they formed up. "Ready to go," Lidiya asked her through the intercom.
"Yeah," came Vera's response. Flipping down their head-mounted display screens, they took on a northeasterly heading and opened the throttle. With the moon and stars illuminating the night sky, Lidiya's Su-47's unique black-painted shape was easily picked out, making it easy for Vera to keep track of her.
"Snow Goose, this is Nightjar 1, designated Garid, checking in, over," said Vera to Snow Goose through her intercom.
"Snow Goose, this is Nightjar 2, designated Siren, checking in, over," said Lidiya, also to Snow Goose.
"Nightjar 1, Garid, and Nightjar 2, Siren, roger. You are clear to head to your station and begin patrol. Good luck, over," said Snow Goose.
"Snow Goose, Nightjar 1, roger that. Thank you, over." With that, Vera and Lidiya peeled off from the Antonov and took a northeasterly heading. The night sky was clear of clouds and stretched out over the sleeping villages of Western Orussia. Despite it being summer, the extreme altitudes at which the girls were flying made it very cold. Magic fields and uniform coats may help to keep them warm, but they still felt it a little bit.
"Sure is cold today," said Vera, "But man, you can never beat a view like this."
"Yeah," said Lidiya. She felt a song coming on, but she resisted the temptation. "I'd like to sing right now to pass the time, but I don't think that would be the best idea."
"Why? What could happen," asked Vera.
"I could take over your mind and make you do my bidding."
"Oh…..So your ability is mental manipulation?"
"Yup."
"Hoho, impressive."
"Thanks. What's yours?"
"I've got magic eyes. I can activate both my eyes at will, so I don't need an eyepatch."
"Oh, wow, that's awesome."
"Thanks!"
Their conversation was cut short by a young male voice in their intercom singing "Die Wacht am Rhein", a Karlsland patriotic anthem. He sounded really good; the only problem was that they were on a mission, and singing might choke up the airwaves. So Vera decided to say something. "Hey, would whoever's singing on the radio save it for the ground? We gotta keep these airwaves free in case an urgent message needs to get through."
"Sorry," apologized the male voice, "It's just so quiet and boring when you've got the redeye shift. Gotta do something to stay awake. Hello, madam, this is Oka Nieba. I have you on our screens as Nightjar 1 and 2. By any chance, would you ladies be our witch escorts for the next couple of hours?"
"That's us," Lidiya said, "I'm Lt. Lidiya Litvyak, and you were just talking to Sr. Lt. Vera Choibalsan. You can call me Siren and Vera Garid."
"Roger that, Siren," said Oka Nieba, "Hey, you guys are Orussians, huh? You know, 'Oka Nieba' is – "
"I know, I know, it means 'Sky Eye' in our language," said Vera. Oka Nieba started to laugh.
"Alrighty, ladies, you know how this works. I point out Neuroi, and you take them out. Ok, form up on me." By that time, Vera and Lidiya had gotten a visual on Oka Nieba's aircraft, a Boeing E-3A Sentry. With its massive rotating rotodome on top, it was able to scan wide swaths of airspace to detect Neuroi and human movements, covering more area than Snow Goose's air traffic radar. The girls formed up, each taking a position on one of the Sentry's wings.
Oka Nieba is part of a world-spanning network of AWACS aircraft that patrol the skies 24-7. Because the Neuroi hold space supremacy, humanity's attempts to launch any satellites into orbit continuously failed. So, their next best solution was to use the AWACS planes with their huge dishes to fill in where needed, communicating with military forces and tracking for Neuroi appearances. Boeing E-3s were commonly used over the US and Europe, Beriev A-50s and A-100s were seen over Orussia and the Middle East, KJ-2000s and E-767s were seen over China and the Far East, and Grumman E-2s and Yakovlev Yak-44s launched from aircraft carriers were used over the vast oceans. While it was quite costly due to the higher need for fuel and maintenance for these planes, the important thing was that for now, humanity could have worldwide radar coverage. Oka Nieba's particular station was over Western Orussia, flying out of a base in Karlsland.
For the first 30 minutes or so, nothing was happening. Oka Nieba went back to singing "Die Wacht am Rhein". He decided to try and teach the words to the song to Vera and Lidiya; Vera caught on quick, but Lidiya decided to opt out, reasserting that her ability would probably compromise the mission. Oka Nieba's voice was really something though, and he and Vera harmonized well. Suddenly, he stopped singing. "Nightjar, I'm picking up some bogeys on the radar," he said, his voice suddenly becoming serious, "They're Arion fighters. Heading looks to be about southwest of us. Ah! Isn't your Snow Goose over there?! They're refueling! They'll get obliterated! Nightjar, move to intercept. Quickly!"
"Understood," said Vera, "Divert Snow Goose and the tanker, and get them away from there as quickly as possible. Lidiya, let's go!"
"Roger," said Lidiya. Both girls formed up and opened the throttle to maximum speed. As they flew, they rechecked their weapons once more, ensuring that they wouldn't jam upon firing. "Finally, some action," said Lidiya excitedly.
"Nightjar, this is Oka Nieba. You should be getting close to the Arions. Engage at will."
"Roger, Oka Nieba," said Vera. Closing her eyes and concentrating, she activated her Magic Eyesight ability, and when her eyes opened, they glowed a Violet color. Augmented by her Striker's integrated sensors, she scanned the piece of sky in front of them, looking through the clouds and darkness before finally getting a visual on the squadron of eight delta-shaped Arion-class fighters. "I've got visual now with my ability. Lidiya, arm your missiles, and fire as soon as you have a lock."
When they armed their missiles, a crosshair showed up on their HMD screens, and the seeker tone began to beep into their ears. Immediately, the little sensors in the missiles' noses reached out into the night, looking for a target to lock on to. As the girls adjusted their positions to lock up, the beeps started getting faster and faster until the missiles found their lock and shrieked a solid shrill tone. With the tone screaming in her headset and the crosshairs focused on a distant Arion, Vera shouted, "Garid, Fox Three!" A hatch opened up on her Striker, revealing the sleek shape of an R-77M missile. In a split second, the missile jettisoned from its clamps, fired up its rocket booster, and shot off into the night.
"Siren, Fox Three," said Lidiya. A hatch opened up on her Striker, revealing the slightly chubbier but just as sleek shape of an R-37 missile. It soon shot off into the night behind Vera's R-77M. Flying at Mach 6, the missiles quickly found their targets and impacted, obliterating the unlucky Arions. The other six Arions broke formation and flew in all directions, intent on finding their attackers. However, Vera's and Lidiya's Striker shapes and paint ensured that they were not found out. "Woohoo! Two bandits down," Lidiya cheered.
"Good work," said Vera, "Now let's mop up the rest." They switched to their guns. Grabbing her OSV-96, Vera lined up an Arion through her scope; her magic eyes still active, she zeroed in on the gleaming red core. She fired off a round, and a 12.7mm bullet cut through the core like a hot knife through butter. With the core destroyed, its Neuroi owner exploded into fragments. By now, the remaining Arions were maneuvering all over the place and became too hard to fire single shots at, so Vera switched to her RPK-74. Yanking the bolt back to cock it, she aimed at another Arion, squeezing off a short burst. The little Neuroi fighter proved a hard target, and it easily dodged the fusillade.
Meanwhile, Lidiya was having a whale of a time. She was employing quick passes on her hapless prey, flying in fast and letting loose with her VSS. Her target never saw her coming and was quickly destroyed. However, another Arion had taken her tail. It launched a missile, and a different kind of tone screamed into Lidiya's headset. "Aw, dammit," she shouted, "I've got a missile on my tail!" She broke into a hard right, dumping chaff and flares to try and break the Neuroi missile's lock.
"Hang on," said Vera, "I'll get that bastard for you!" She switched back to her missiles and locked an R-73 heat-seeker onto Lidiya's assailant. When she heard the growl of a good lock, she shouted, "Garid, Fox Two!" The missile ejected from its bay and rocketed towards the Arion. The enemy fighter broke off its attack and tried to evade the missile. Vera shot at it with her RPK to foil its escape. Dodging both the missile and her salvo, it answered with its own weapons, firing off bursts of lasers in her direction. Vera blocked the bolts with her shield and responded in kind with her RPK. This time, she did score some hits, and the Arion fighter was pockmarked with holes and began trailing fragments. It quickly began to regenerate. Using her magic eyes, she located the core and fired a longer burst, running the 75-round drum dry. Her bullets opened up a larger hole over the core. Expelling the spent drum and hammering in another, she cocked the gun and fired some more, obliterating the core and its owner. She rolled over to check on Lidiya.
Having successfully evaded the missile, Lidiya was back in action. The last three Arions had surrounded her in a wagon wheel maneuver, firing salvos of laser bolts at her. She blocked every attack with her shields and answered with her AS VAL. All of her shots were hitting, but they weren't inflicting effective damage to the fighters, so she switched tactics and started to sing. Her enthralling voice echoed across the night sky, and her eyes seemed to glow, just like they did with Nina. The song sounded slow, soft, and sad yet beautiful at the same time. Vera was unaffected this time thanks to the noise-cancelling feature on her headsets that protected witches ears from loud outside noises. As Lidiya's voice reached the Arions, however, they stopped shooting lasers and began to lower their speed, flying as if in a trance. When she flew towards Vera, they followed her, maintaining their slow orbit. They were completely under her control. Admiring her work, Lidiya placed her hands on her hips and said, "Look, Vera, I've made some new friends."
"Whoa," exclaimed Vera, "That is so weird. How'd you do that?"
"Well, you know how I told you that my singing always had this weird effect on people? When I use my magic, this effect is magnified, allowing me to do things like take control of people. It also works on Neuroi."
"Guess that's why they call you 'Siren.'"
"Yup! Now watch this."
Lidiya started singing again; only this time, her song sounded louder and more aggressive. All at once, the Arions powered up their lasers. Vera freaked out and cast another shield. Her fears were unrealized as the Arions fired their lasers at each other, and with that, the Neuroi squadron was quickly destroyed. The two girls cheered to their victory, and Vera got on the radio to inform Oka Nieba of their success. "Oka Nieba, this is Nightjar 1. We've neutralized all threats and are heading back to you now."
"Hahaha! Well done, Nightjar," said Oka Nieba. After a while, the two girls formed back up on the AWACS plane, and they started up a new song. And so, the night patrol continued with the sound of two voices filling the night sky. Lidiya, barring herself from singing some more, was feeling a little left out.
"Maybe next time, I'll bring my clarinet, so I can actually join in," said Lidiya semi-dejectedly. Vera and Oka Nieba laughed.
0600 hours, July 7, 2015
Approaching RAF Coningsby
Makoa's eyes snapped wide open at 6:00am on the dot. She was half-expecting to see a drill-sergeant yelling all manner of expletives in her face – a not-so-fond memory of hers from basic training. She tried to get up out of the chair she was sleeping in, but her right arm was caught on something. Any attempts to wriggle it loose only trapped her in more tightly, and the moans of quiet protest rose up from the seat beside her. Looking to her right, she saw a bundle wrapped in a blanket clinging itself to her sleeping peacefully. "Mmm, Makoa-san, you're so warm," it was mumbling, "Don't go yet. The pony at the stable's gonna…." It would've continued, but then it started kissing her arm.
Alrighty, this is officially getting awkward, Makoa thought, cringing. She decided she was going to go for it and free herself from this bundle's vice-like hold. She shook her arm violently and said, "Hey, Kaminari. Wake up!" Then she stood up and yanked her arm out from Kaminari's grip. Losing the support on which she was putting all her weight, Kaminari's head fell down, and she snapped awake with a squeal.
"Uwah! What happened? Where am I," she said, alert yet still sleepy.
"You were sleeping on my bad arm, man," said Makoa, slightly annoyed, "And were you kissing it?"
"Um….no."
"What the heck were you dreaming about?"
"Um…..uh….I don't remember."
"What's going on now," asked Lidiya. She and Vera had just returned from their night patrol, and had come in to hear the tail-end of the conversation.
"Oh, it's nothing," said Makoa, "Kaminari here was having a weird dream."
"Oh?" said Vera, "What was it about."
"I…can't remember," lied Kaminari.
"Hmmmm," said Lidiya, "Anyway, how's your arm doing?"
"It's doing alright so far," said Makoa, showing the fresh magic bandage Kaminari applied the night before.
"That's good," said Lidiya, "Come on, help me wake everyone up. The captain said we're getting close to RAF Coningsby, so we should start getting ready."
"Okay," said Makoa. Arranged in a lounge format with couches and tables on one end and fold-out bunks on the other, it could've passed as a luxurious first-class cabin had it not been for the Spartan military look to the furniture. Sprawled throughout were the sleeping forms of the other eight witches. Makoa, Kaminari, Lidiya, and Vera moved throughout the cabin, shaking and waking them all up. Once everyone was awake, each girl took turns in the bathroom to get ready and into their uniforms until all twelve were ready to go. Since they were not going in their Strikers, Anko did not put on her miko uniform; instead she wore the same light-green FASDF uniform and darker-green tie as Miyuki along with her black fingerless gloves.
"Alrighty, said Vera, "Captain says we're descending, so let's get our stuff together so we can disembark quickly once we land."
"Okay," said everyone. They put away their nightclothes and hygiene kits in their packs and zipped them closed, placing them back into the closet. With that done, they returned to their places on the couches and pulled out the built-in seatbelts to strap in for landing.
Out in the cockpit, the copilot was running through the landing checks to make sure that everything was working smoothly and would remain so upon landing, and the captain contacted the base's tower to request permission to land. Upon receiving the affirmative, he turned to the copilot and gave the go-ahead to lower the flaps and landing gear. With a small mechanical whine, the flaps angled downward, and twelve pairs of wheels extended from the belly of the humongous jet and locked into place with a click. They were now ready.
Slowly pushing back the throttle, the pilot expertly glided the big plane into a perfect landing position, touching the rear wheels down onto the tarmac with the slightest bump. Then, he rotated the nose down, opened the brake flaps, and hit the thrust reversers, throttling up once more to slow the plane's roll. After they slowed to a satisfactory speed, they taxied off the runway and followed a guide vehicle to their parking spot in front of the hangars. After about five minutes, the pilot parked, switched off the engines, and the deck officer opened the rear ramp. Trucks drove in to load up the heavy Strikers and weapons with the help of the plane's built-in crane.
Meanwhile in the passenger cabin, the girls were grabbing all of the belongings they took with them. Then, they headed down the staircase and into the flight deck. Passing the trucks loading their equipment, they waved goodbye to the flight crew and exited the aircraft. Waiting for them was a witch with platinum-blonde hair and wearing the light-blue uniform of the Suomus Air Force. Lidiya immediately recognized the girl and ran over to her, giving her a big hug. The rest of the girls were surprised. The Suomi wasn't. "What's going on, cousin," she said good-naturedly.
"Cousin," asked the others in disbelief.
"Yup," said Lidiya with a big grin, "Everyone, I'd like you all to meet Dorotea Juutilainen, also known as 'DJ.' She's my cousin."
"Hello, everyone," said DJ with a funky grin.
"Hey, Lidiya," said a strange voice that sounded just like DJ's, "Who exactly are you hugging there?"
"Eh?" Lidiya spun around, and saw another DJ. "Wha….?"
The DJ next to Lidiya began to laugh mischievously, and then it disappeared with a burst and a cloud. Everyone was shocked, including Lidiya. With a chortle and a snort, the real DJ laughed and said, "Got you all good, didn't I?"
"Aw, dammit, DJ," said Lidiya, "What the hell was that for? You know I fall for that trick everytime!"
"I'm sorry, Lidiya. Come on, bring it in."
"Jeez, you're such a jerk," said Lidiya, but she was no longer angry and accepted DJ's hug.
"Man, I feel like I've been bear-hugged twice," said DJ afterwards, rubbing her shoulders and stretching her back.
"Well, that's what you get for using your clones," said Lidiya.
"It was still worth it, though," DJ responded with a laugh, "Hey, everyone; I'm Lt. Dorotea Juutilainen. Call me DJ." She casted eleven more clones and exchanged introductions simultaneously with the eleven other witches. In just a few moments, she had everyone's name and general information memorized. Dispersing her clones, DJ closed her eyes for a bit. "Wow," she finally said, "That is a lot of information to hit me all at once. My hand feels really, really warm. Must be all the handshakes I was giving. Some of you guys have got a mean grip."
Lidiya elbowed her cousin good-naturedly and said, "So, are we just gonna stand here awkwardly, or are we gonna get going?"
"Yes, of course," said DJ, "Follow me everyone. I'll take you to the Captain, and maybe give you a little tour as we walk. You can leave your things with the trucks; the guys will know where to put them. Just don't forget your transfer orders."
Leaving their packs by the trucks but grabbing the folders containing their orders, the witches followed after DJ. Makoa walked up next to Lidiya and said, "Your cousin is really something."
"Ehe, don't worry too much about it," said Lidiya, "She's actually a really nice person."
"And so beautiful, too. I guess it runs in the family," said Makoa with a wink and a nudge. Lidiya blushed a little bit.
Behind them, unknown to anyone, Kaminari felt a little sting in her heart. She wasn't sure if Makoa was serious or if she was only joking. Could it be that I have rivals for Cdr. Anabuki's affections, she thought. If so, I cannot lose to them.
Suddenly, two huge sonic booms reverberated across the sky, followed by the loud report of Striker etherjet engines. Frantically looking around, the girls' gazes fell on two witches rocketing through the air. Pretty soon, the witches were little more than distant dots. Almost everybody stood shocked, surprised at how quickly those two witches disappeared into the horizon. Only DJ looked into the sky without showing any interest. "At it again, are they," she commented offhandedly, "Those two speed demons are Myah Lucchini of the Romagnan Air Force and Kelly Johnson of the USAF. They always compete to see who's the fastest. Don't they know that Yeager's already got them both beaten?"
"Yeager," asked Anko.
"Yeah, Major Carly E. Yeager," said DJ, "She's in a different squadron that's stationed here with us. She's got an FR-71 and the Speed Boost magic ability, so she's already hit Mach 4. She's the fastest person alive."
"Mach 4," exclaimed the witches.
"Yup," said Juutilainen.
As they left the hangars and entered the common area, DJ started giving the tour. "There's the barracks and residential area. And there's the general store. And over there is the clinic. There's a witch with healing powers working there, a real charmer, that one."
"Um, excuse me, um, DJ-san," said Kaminari, "Did you say there's a witch with healing powers here already?"
"Yeah, why?"
"Oh, uh….you see…..I'm a healer witch, too…..but since there's already one here, well…" Kaminari hung her head.
"Hey now, Kaminari. Cheer up. We're not gonna send you back. Not after we went through the trouble to bring you over. Maybe you two will get along." DJ walked over to Kaminari and brought her head back up. "Hey, aren't you that one witch who can infuse bandages with healing magic?"
"Oh, well, yes," said Kaminari, her mood lightening, "That's me."
"See? There you go. The witch we've got right now can't do that. Maybe you could teach her?"
"Ok."
"What is all this racket," said a voice coming from the right, "You woke me up from my nap."
"Oh, what are you huffing about for," said another, "You aren't supposed to be sleeping on my head, anyway."
The group turned to look at the voices' source and beheld a particularly tall figure. It turned out to be two girls, with one sitting atop the other's shoulders. The rider looked as small as a child, with very long black hair dyed pink-blonde at the tips and a baseball cap. She beheld the new group with a sleepy-eyed expression. The ride, on the other hand, was quite tall with tannish-blonde hair tied in a ponytail, a slightly-burnt baseball cap, and a scar over most of the right side of her face that reached over her eye. "So, you lot are the ones who just flew in, huh? Nice to meet you all. I'm Gracie Bishop of the Fleet Air Arm. This 'Sleeping Beauty' on my head is Azalea Nakamura."
"I can introduce myself, you know," said Azalea, "Can you let me down so I can say hi properly?" Standing on her own two feet, the girls saw how short she really was. Extending her hand, she said, "Hello. I'm Lt. Col. Azalea Nakamura, leader of Chimera Team. Despite my height, I'm actually 18." She shook hands with every witch in the group, and then returned to her place on Gracie's shoulders. "Okay, bye-bye then, and it was nice to meet you all," she said as they left.
The group continued on, finally arriving in front of the headquarters building. They noticed three witches exiting it. DJ pointed two of them out to Lidiya. "Check out who's also here," she said to her, "it's Anna and Katya."
Lidiya immediately recognized the girl with the short red hair and peaked cap, and the other girl with the red-tipped white hair and white rose hairclip, as her half-sisters. She ran over and embraced both girls. The third girl was a little surprised at what was happening, and she was feeling a little left out; but she guessed they were family, so she didn't bother to ask for a hug, too.
When Lidiya finally released the other two, she said to them, "Hey, Anna and Katya. What are you guys doing all the way in Britannia?"
"We could ask you the same thing," said the girl known as Anna, "We're here as part of a squadron based out of here. The 413th Joint Tactical Fighter Squadron, to be exact. What about you?"
"I'm going into the 815th Joint Air Wing with DJ."
"Hey, that's where I'm transferring in, too," said the third girl. She had a light tan, short black messy hair, brown eyes, and a sky-blue bandana tied around her neck. She held out her hand and said, "Hello, my name is Katrina Khadijah binti Adam of the Royal Malayan Air Force."
Lidiya shook her hand and said, "Lidiya E. Litvyak of the Orussian Air Force."
"And, ladies, here we are at the end of our tour, the headquarters building, also called Building 1," said DJ. By this time, the rest of the group had caught up to Lidiya, Anna, Katya, and Katrina. "Hey, Anna. Hey, Katya. Hey, Katrina. How are you fine ladies doing this morning?"
"We're good," said Katya, "How come you didn't tell us that Lidiya was flying in?"
"Surprise? Ehe," said DJ with a sheepish smile and jazz-hands.
"Well, you got me," said Katya. Facing the group, she began introductions, "I'm Yekaterina Viernya Litvyak von Wilke of the Orussian Air Force."
"She was the test pilot for the Su-47," said Lidiya.
Anna was next, "Hello," she said with a tip of her cover, "I'm Anna Dietlinde Litvyak von Wilke of the Luftwaffe. Nice to meet you all."
Finally, it was Katrina's turn. Throwing up a piece sign, she said, "Hey, everyone. Name's Katrina Khadijah binti Adam. I'm from the Royal Malayan Air Force. I'm not part of the 413th; I'm gonna transfer into the 815th with you guys."
"Nice to meet you all," said Anko, "I am Anabuki Anko of the Fuso Air Self-Defense Force."
"Makoa Nani Keikilani Koa Anabuki," said Makoa, "You can just call me Makoa. I'm from the US Navy."
"Wanna run that name by me again there, Makoa," asked Katrina uncomfortably.
"Makoa, Nani, Keikilani, Koa, Anabuki," said Makoa, breaking it down, "Don't worry too much about it. Just call me Makoa."
"So, Makoa," said Anna, "You and Anko share last names, but you're from different countries. Are you two related at all?"
"Oh, yes," said Makoa, "Anko and I are twins." At that moment, the twins broke into some sort of routine, in which they side-fived, then backhand-fived, then joined their hands together by the thumbs to make a bird-shape, then they flapped their fingers, before finally turning around back-to-back with their hands still joined. Once that was all done, they held that pose and looked at each other with a smile.
"Whoa," said Anna, "that was pretty awesome. Hey, we should try something like that, Katya and Lidiya. What do you guys think?"
"Maybe," said Katya.
"That's sounds like a good idea," said Lidiya.
The introductions continued. Lijuan stepped forward and gave hers in sign-language, which Meifeng translated. "This is 1st Lt. Zhu Lijuan of the Republic of China Air Force," she said, fidgeting nervously with her glasses, "I'm, uh, Sun Meifeng. Ah! I forgot to say my rank. Um, it's, uh, Republic of China Naval Air F – Ah! That's not….right…haaaaaah…" Her voice trailed off as she looked down with sad eyes. Lijuan gave her a reassuring hug, and she tried again, "Ahem, I'm Ensign Sun Meifeng of the Republic of China Naval Air Force."
"I'm Vera Natalia Choibalsan of the Orussian Air Force," said Vera.
"She and I had night patrol on the way here," said Lidiya, "She took down an Arion fighter that was on my tail."
"Well, you know those Neuroi can't resist such a lovely young lady like yourself," said Anna poking Lidiya in the side. Introductions continued, and soon were complete. "It is nice to meet you all," said Anna, "A shame none of you guys get to be in the 413th. Anyway, we should get going. We've gotta get you to your med-exam, Katrina."
"Oh, yeah, huh," said Katrina absent-mindedly, "See you guys later!" They gave one final wave and then headed off to the clinic.
"Well then," said DJ, "Best not to keep the CO waiting any longer." Everyone nodded in agreement and entered Building 1. Walking up a flight of stairs, they made it to the 815th JAW office and opened the door. Inside was young lady in her late teens sitting at a desk and filling out paperwork; she had curly dirty blonde hair that came down to the middle of her back and wore a Gallian Navy uniform consisting of a white collared shirt, a white skirt, white gloves, a black tie, and black leggings along with a blue coat with a Captain's rank and fringe on the shoulders and sleeves. Assisting her with this paperwork was another lady also in her late teens; she had shorter wavy brown hair that was tied into two tails by black ribbons and wore a Karlsland Luftwaffe uniform consisting of a white collared shirt, red tie, and grey coat with the collar and lapels colored black with white outlines. The new witches fell into line, stood at attention, and snapped crisp salutes.
"Captain Daigneau," said DJ, "Here are the new witches who just flew in from the Far East."
Capt. Daigneau looked up from her work and scanned the line of witches in front of her. She cracked a soft smile and said, "At ease, girls, at ease. Bring your orders forward individually please."
The witches relaxed and came forward one-by-one to present their transfer orders. Daigneau opened each folder and read through the orders, signing each one with a pen. Once she was done, she stacked them in a pile and gave them to the girl next to her. "Lt. Col. Kleinheyer, would you please make copies of these documents for our records?"
"Yes, ma'am," said Kleinheyer. Holding the stack of twelve folders with both hands, she couldn't reach the door, so DJ got it for her. Thanking her, Kleinheyer exited, and DJ closed the door.
Getting up out of her chair, Capt. Daigneau walked over to the front of her desk and leaned back on it. "Hello, everyone, I am Capt. Maia Daigneau, your new CO. Don't worry too much about rank or anything. In fact, you can just call me Maia or by my nickname, 'Curly.' Pleased to meet you all and I hope you'll enjoy your stay with us…..That….was awkward, sorry. Ehehe. Please bear with me; I just graduated from Officer Training. Just, uh, good to have you aboard. Heh."
There was a knock at the door, and DJ went to open it. Kleinheyer entered with the stack of folders she had originally left with. Coming in behind her was another figure carrying another stack of papers. The figure looked like a shadow, complete with arms, legs, hands, and feet. It even had what looked like hair and teal-colored animal-ear-shaped extensions on its head. For all intents and purposes, it looked like a witch that forgot to de-fuse with its familiar. Except, it wasn't it human at all. It was –
"A Neuroi!" shouted the new girls. They grabbed Kleinheyer and pulled her behind them, staying in between her and the witch-looking Neuroi and causing her to drop all of the folders she was carrying. All twelve girls had fused with their familiars and were ready to battle with the Neuroi-witch. The Neuroi-witch had thrown its hands into the air, dropping the stack of papers it was holding. Tensions had suddenly gotten high.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa, guys calm down," said Maia, "It's fine, X-626 is not gonna hurt us."
"Captain, all due respect, but what exactly are you saying," said Anko, "That's a Neuroi. Of course it's gonna hurt us."
"No, no, seriously. X-626 is a defector. It's on our side."
"Wait, what," said Ludmila incredulously.
"Seriously?" said Marie-Rose.
"Yes. 626 is a friendly," said Maia, "Well, since they're here, I'll introduce you all." Pointing to Kleinheyer, she continued, "This is Lt. Col. Stefanie Kleinheyer, your XO. Say hi, Stefanie."
"Hello," said Stefanie. The girls immediately stood down and scrambled to help her pick up all of the fallen papers and folders, reorganizing them back to their original forms. "Thank you," she said.
"And this is X-626, our Neuroi defector," said Maia, pointing to the Neuroi-witch, "Why don't you introduce yourself?"
"Hello," said X-626 in a high-pitched robotic voice that sounded oddly cute, "I have no real name – Neuroi have no concept of such a thing. But humans call me X-626, so I guess that's my name. Is this a normal human greeting in your sector of the world?"
"Not usually," said Makoa, "So, 626, huh? I saw a movie that had an alien experiment numbered 626. Unfortunately, the experiment was a guy. He did make a human friend named Lilo. How would you like that for a name?"
"Hm, Lilo," mused X-626, "It has a pretty nice ring to it. Thanks!" With that, it walked over to Makoa and gave her a tight hug, lifting her a good few inches off the ground. Anko and Kaminari tensed up a little bit.
"Ah, hey, Lilo, choking, not breathing," struggled Makoa.
"Oops, hehe," said the newly-named Lilo as it released Makoa from her embrace, "I don't know my own strength." It appeared to look saddened.
"Eh, nevah mine," said Makoa, stretching her arms and cracking her back, "I'm good. I'm fine. I'm Makoa Nani Keikilani Koa Anabuki, and this is my sister, Anko."
"Makoa Nani Keikilani Koa Anabuki," said Lilo effortlessly, "Very interesting name."
"…You got my name spot-on in the first try," said an astonished Makoa, "No one. No one has gotten my name right on the first try…."
"The one good thing about being a Neuroi researcher is that I get accelerated data processors. In other words, I'm a fast learner and a master memorizer."
"You know, no offense, but it's kinda hard to take you seriously when you've got a voice like that," said Ludmila chuckling.
"Sorry," said Lilo, "Britannian is a second language for me. Definitely beats screaming like a maniacal machination."
Stefanie directed everyone's attention back to the CO. By now, Maia had signed and filled out the transfer papers, and was filling out twelve more slips of paper. Once she was done, she said, "Okay, girls, your transfer orders have been processed, and I have also scheduled you all for medical examinations tomorrow." She handed everyone back their folders, one of the slips of paper she was filling out, and two 815th JAW unit patches. It was shaped like a normal unit patch with a Gallian Horn on top of a globe and a larger compass rose, with crossed witch brooms underneath, all in a sky-blue background; on the top banner was "815th Joint Air Wing" and on the bottom banner were the words "The Musician Witches". The other one was similarly designed, but everything was in different shades of tan and brown with black outlines. "Bring those medical exam sheets with you when you go see Lt. Clostermann," said Maia, "Welcome to the Musician Witches. Now fall in!" The twelve witches fell back in line and stood at attention, the slightest hint of proud smiles on their faces. Then, Maia said, "Dismissed." She was beaming proudly towards the new additions of her first ever command. The girls snapped quick salutes, which Maia, Stefanie, and even Lilo returned. They then fell out and exited the CO's office, again escorted by DJ.
Once they left, Maia pumped her fists into the air and did a little dance back to her desk. Stefanie and Lilo looked at her, surprised. "What's gotten you into such a good mood," asked Stefanie.
"Why shouldn't I be excited," said Maia, "The 815th is my first command, and now it's complete. I am the CO of a complete unit. Plus, tonight's Open Mic Night. And you know what that means?"
"Oh, right," said Stefanie, "Hehe."
"This is why humans are so much more fun than Neuroi," said Lilo.
1800 hours, July 7, 2015
RAF Coningsby
That night, everyone in the 815th Joint Air Wing and 413th Joint Tactical Fighter Squadron was in the mess hall. The galley staff had prepared a buffet of various roast meats, fried chicken, potatoes, carrots, peas, cabbages, onions, corn on and off the cob, and rice. There was also a soup and salad bar, pasta station, and dessert station. All around, the witches engaged each other in conversations spanning various topics. Johnson, Lucchini, and Yeager were all talking about how to milk every last ounce of power out of their Strikers' engines to get more speed. Azalea was sleepily eating her food, looking like she was about to pass out into it; Gracie was doing all she could to prevent that from happening.
Since they were still unfamiliar with everyone, the new girls decided to stick together, so when they had gotten their food, they looked for a spot big enough to fit all twelve of them. Scanning the mess hall, their eyes fell on Katrina, DJ, and the von Wilke sisters beckoning them over to their table, and made their way over to them. There were just enough chairs to fit them all, and they were glad. Once they sat down, they proceeded to dig in. The food was pretty tasty, and everyone was busy enjoying the food to talk. Finally, Anna decided to break the silence. "So, Makoa and Anko, you say you were twins," she said, "How did you two come to be from two different countries?"
"Mm, yes, that's an interesting story," said Makoa, and she began. "I'd grown up in Hawaii all my life, and the whole time, Dad never said anything about Mom or the existence of another twin. So, I grew up thinking I was an only child. Then, when my magic manifested itself – which is another story I will have to save for later – Dad encouraged me to enlist in the US Navy as a Witch. Once I completed flight training, top brass thought I was really skilled, so they threw me right into the Blue Witches aerobatic team. I did a good number of shows with them, but I wanted to be in a real squadron. So they put me in to transfer to VFA-102, which was based in NAF Atsugi all the way in Fuso.
"So I pack my stuff, say goodbye to Dad, and moved to Fuso. I was there for about three years, when all of a sudden, Kaminari tells me about this rumor floating around that there's this really famous witch with the same name as me. I was all like, 'Haaaah?' and looked my name up on the internet. Finding only stuff about my time in the Blue Witches, I figured that whoever started the rumor got confused and thought that the Makoa Anabuki in the Blue Witches was a different person than the Makoa Anabuki in VFA-102. But then, I came across an article about this witch called 'The One-Winged Angel of Fuso', and my last name was in it. So I searched up just 'Anabuki', and lo-and-behold, the same article appeared underneath another one about this girl named Anko. I clicked on the article, and saw a picture of her. She looked exactly like me. So I thought, 'Could this girl be a twin of mine?' Then, I noticed she was going to make a publicity appearance in Tokyo, so I grabbed Kaminari and Miyuki and we all hopped a train to Tokyo to meet this Anko.
"When I got there, there was choke people, a whole bunch. When she finally appeared, it was like looking at a mirror, except she was paler, had longer hair, and no glasses. When she started signing autographs, I shoved my way through the vast sea of fangirls to meet her. She passed me off as some extra-passionate fan and went on her way. 'What a jerk,' I thought. So, we went back home."
"Hey, you may have looked similar to me," interjected Anko, "But not enough for me to prompt a second look. I was bogged with all those fans, remember? Plus, you were in civilian clothes."
"Yeah, whatever," said Makoa, chuckling and poking her twin good-naturedly, "If you can manage to fly with one wing, then you surely could've easily managed that fangirl army." She continued her story, "Few months later, the Friendship Day festival to celebrate Fuso-Liberion relations was happening on the base, and Kaminari and I were put on the board to perform an aerobatic display. I also found out that the other Anabuki girl was gonna be there. So I thought to myself, 'wait until she sees what I can do. I'll show her that I'm not just some fangirl. I mean, who can say that they were a part of the greatest air display team in the world?'"
Makoa turned to Anko and said, "I think this is the part where you take over."
"Ok," said Anko, "So, I'd also heard of another rumor floating around that NAF Atsugi had a witch with the same name as me. I wanted to find out for myself, so I arranged to make an appearance there, and they put me down for a Friendship Day performance. So, when I get to NAF Atsugi, I was told that I was to go after another dual display. As I was preparing my Strikers and equipment for my display, I heard the announcer on the speakers say, 'To honor Fuso's relations with the United States of Liberion, FMSDF witch Lt. Cdr. Sakomizu Kaminari and US Navy witch Cdr. Makoa Anabuki will be performing for us.' The first name didn't ring any familiar bells to me, but the second one did, since it was my last name. I was dumbfounded. I thought they mixed up the script for my performance. 'It couldn't possibly be my rumored twin! Did they get my name wrong or something? And since when was I part of the US Navy?' As I went over to correct the issue, two witches lifted off from the runway, pitched up steeply, and accelerated. It was a pretty impressive starting maneuver.
"After a few passes, the ground crew had set up a huge Neuroi-shaped balloon. As I was wondering what in the world they would need a balloon like that for, they mention that other Anabuki again, saying that she was gonna display 'one of the greatest abilities to ever be bestowed on a witch,' according to the announcer. So, the Liberion witch flew in and went into a standing hover. Then, her hands and arms started to glow. I was expecting it to be some shield attack, so I was unimpressed at first. But then two bright blue beams shot out of her hands, obliterating the balloon. I was astonished. I had never seen such an ability before. I thought to myself, 'I have to meet this girl.' After my performance, I had my chance. Weaving my way through the crowd, I finally found her and the girl they called Kaminari surrounded by little kids and fans all dying to get a picture with them. I eventually recognized her as the girl I brushed off when she tried to meet me back in Tokyo. I suddenly got nervous, and I was thinking that she wasn't going to be very nice to me. I decided to keep to the back, partially hoping she wouldn't notice, but she did."
Makoa took over again, picking up where Anko left off, "So in this sea of faces, I picked out one that looked particularly familiar to me. She had that familiar face and long hair, and I easily pegged her out as the one who brushed me off so brusquely. Being in a similar situation, only reversed, I was initially inclined to return the favor, but I decided against it, wanting to set a good example for the kids from the orphanage and daycare. So I looked at her and beckoned her forward. As she weaved her way through the people, they recognized who she was and began to swarm her too. I grabbed her hand and pulled her over to me, introducing myself with my full name.
"Initially, it seemed that she was astonished with my name's length, as any person would. But when she shakily introduced herself, I began to understand that her astonishment was more than just because of my long name. I had the random idea of asking when her birthday was, she said the same date that I was born on. We examined each other's facial features closely, and noticed that despite the differences in skin color, hair length, and glasses or lack of them, we practically had the same face. I was dumbfounded. So was she. We silently stared at each other for a long time, oblivious to Kaminari and the rest of the crowd doing the same thing. 'I think we might be twins,' I finally said. 'Yeah, I think so too,' she said. The crowd went crazy upon hearing this, and soon reporters started showing up to interview us. I planned to meet with her at the food court after the festival was over. Next day, the newspaper had 'Long-Lost Anabuki Twins Reunite' on the front page."
Anko took over once again, "We got to know a little more about each other at the food court. Once I got back to my base the next day, I phoned my mother and told her about all that transpired the day before. Mom fell silent, and I thought she hung up when I heard the phone fall and hit the floor. She quickly picked it back up, though, and immediately ordered me to get us both to visit her. So I arranged the meeting with Makoa, and she seemed excited about it. So after about a week, we both went to see Mom. When Mom saw Makoa, she started crying, and we both started to cry, too. We came over and hugged Mom very tightly. It was a pretty emotional moment." Anko had to pause because remembering that moment was choking her up.
Makoa tried to take over again, trying to speak between hiccups and sniffles, "So that evening, Mom cooked us dinner, and she laid out all of the details pertaining to our birth and separation. It seemed that she and Dad met when Dad was stationed out in Yokosuka. They fell in love, married, and Mom gave birth to us. Soon after our birth, they divorced and lost contact, and Dad took me back with him to Hawaii."
Anko was feeling better enough to finish off where Makoa left off, "Makoa and I soon grew very close, and we even convinced Mom and Dad to reconnect. They talk every now and then. By now, it's been a year since this all happened." When she finished, she looked over to Makoa, and she beamed a smile. "I'm glad we ran into each other all that time ago," she said.
"D'aw, you, come here," said Makoa, grabbing Anko for a big hug.
"Wow, that was quite the story," said Anna.
"Yeah, that part where you met your mom almost had me crying into my salad," said Katya.
At that moment, the Maia, Stefanie, a witch in a Hispanian Air Force uniform, and a witch in a USAF uniform walked into the mess hall. Someone noticed and immediately yelled, "ATTENTION! CAPTAIN ON DECK!" All at once, everyone save for Anna and Katya, who have higher ranks, stops eating and stands up straight at attention.
"At ease. You can be seated," commanded Maia. The girls relaxed and sat back down, turning their heads or chairs to face the Captain. She smiled to everyone, and began, "Good evening, everyone. I'm sure you have noticed by now that we have some new faces floating around the base today. They are new additions to the 815th JAW, and they just flew in this morning." Quiet conversation began to rise up from among the witches.
"Oooooh, new people," Myah Lucchini whispered to Johnson and Yeager, "I'll have to 'examine' them later, hehehe."
"Hey, quiet and pay attention," Johnson whispered back.
Maia held up a hand to quell the chatter and continued, "We've got four from Orussia, three from China, three from Fuso, and two from Liberion. So can I have the new girls stand up and introduce themselves? Also, as new Musician Witches, tell us your musical abilities." The twelve new girls looked among themselves, wondering who should go first. Makoa decided to go for it and stood up.
"Hi, I'm Cdr. Makoa Nani Keikilani Koa Anabuki of the United States Navy; it's a pleasure to meet you all. I'm from Hawaii, so I can play ukulele, sing in both Britannian and Hawaiian, and dance the hula. I used to have a strong Pidgin accent, but it mellowed out because I've been stationed in Fuso." With that, she sat back down. Everyone looked astonished, possibly due to her name's length and how easily she said it.
Next to come up was, naturally, Anko. She cleared her throat, and began. "Hello, I'm Lt. Col. Anabuki Anko of the Fuso Air Self Defense Force. I can sing and play violin, viola, cello, and a little bit of ukulele. Makoa's been teaching me. Oh, and yes, Makoa and I are twin sisters." She bowed and finally said, "It is a pleasure to meet you all, and I look forward to working with you."
Quiet conversation once again rose up amongst the other witches, most likely focused on the fact that Makoa and Anko are twins despite coming from different places. Everyone quieted back down when Miyuki stood up. "Hello, I am Maj. Nagase Miyuki, also of the FASDF. I can sing and also did brief stints in a Taiko drum ensemble and a Fuso traditional instrument ensemble, so I can play the Taiko drums, the shamisen, the koto, and the shakuhachi." She, too, bowed and said, "Pleased to meet you all."
After Miyuki stood Kaminari, and she looked a bit nervous, but at the encouragement of the others, she spoke up. "Um, hi, my name is Sakomizu Kaminari, and I am a Lieutenant Commander in the Fuso Marine Self Defense Force. Um, I can sing a little bit, and I'm pretty good on the piano. I mostly like to play songs from videogames and anime." Like the two Fuso witches before her, she bowed, and said, "I am honored to be working with you all."
Next up was Lan. She bowed politely, and said, "Hi, I am Lt. Jin Lan of the Republic of China Naval Air Force. I am really good at breakdancing and beatboxing." With that, she began to sit back down, but she was getting looks from both Lijuan and Meifeng. Sighing, she stood back up and continued, "I can also sing and play the violin and viola." Finally done, she sat back down.
After Lan sat down, Meifeng and Lijuan stood up and bowed together. Lijuan, being mute, gave her introduction in sign language. Meifeng translated. "She says, 'Hello, I am 1st Lt. Zhu Lijuan of the Republic of China Air Force. I am mute, so I can't sing, but I can play violin. Nice to meet all of you.'" Finishing Lijuan's intro, Meifeng began her own, "I am Ensign Sun Meifeng, and like Lan, I am in the ROCNAF. I can sing and play piano and cello. It is nice to meet you all."
Then, Marie-Rose stood up to make her introduction. "Hi, everybody, I am Capt. Marie-Rose Boudreaux of the US Air Force. I come from New Orleans, and I love Jazz and Blues. I can also sing and play all types of saxophones."
Next stood Ludmila. "Hello, I am Lt. Ludmila Toscha Mijasik of the Orussian Air Force. I can sing and am really good on the snare. I played in my unit's marching band."
After Ludmila, Vera stood up. "Hello, everyone, I am Sr. Lt. Vera Natalia Choibalsan of the Orussian Air Force. I can regular sing as well as Tuvan Throat Sing. I can also play morin khuur, cello, and double bass."
Nina stood up next. "I am Capt. 1st Rank Nina Dina Denisova of the Orussian Navy. I can sing and play piano okay. I particularly like Orussian folk and classical songs."
Lidiya brought up the rear. "Hi, everybody, I am Lt. Lidiya E. Litvyak of the Orussian Air Force. I sing and can play clarinet, alto saxophone, and piano." With that, she sat back down.
With intros finally complete, Maia said, "And now, let's get this month's Open Mic Night started, shall we?" The whole room cheered.
"Open Mic Night," asked Lidiya.
"Yup, we hold it every month," said Katya.
"Oh."
The first performance was Lucchini on electric guitar and DJ on acoustic. "Hey everybody, I'm Myah Lucchini and DJ and I are gonna cover "Sugar Rush" for you guys." They began to play a simple melody on their guitars, and Myah sang with DJ harmonizing. It sounded really relaxing and nice, and once they were done, they received a huge applause.
"Hey, good job, DJ," said Lidiya as DJ came back to her seat, "That was awesome."
"Thanks," said DJ.
Next to perform was Gracie on harmonica. She began by playing a simple quiet blues song, but then she upped the volume and intensity and started to play and beatbox into the harmonica at the same time. She too, received huge applause. Marie-Rose and Lan were impressed. "Now that is some harmonica playing," said Marie-Rose.
"Yeah, and that beatboxing was pretty awesome, too," said Lan.
A few more witches from the 815th and some from the 413th also made performances, all getting applauses from the audience. Then, Maia came back to the stage, saying, "Good job all of you who performed tonight. That about wraps it up for the scheduled performances, but tonight's special, so we have a little surprise for you all. As the Musician Witches, it is customary among us that the newest additions perform for us on their first Open Mic Night. So girls, I am sorry, but despite having not known about this beforehand, you must all perform for us."
The girls nervously looked amongst themselves once more, not knowing what to do or who should go. Anna and Katya had an idea and started encouraging Anko and Makoa to start. They began to chant, "Ana-buki. Ana-buki. Ana-buki," quietly at first. Soon, the rest of the room began to catch on, and before the Anabukis knew it, everyone was chanting their name over and over again. Backed into a corner, they finally relented, asking for a quick moment to run to their rooms and grab their instruments. Earlier that day, DJ had shown them to their rooms, where the logistics staff had already put their bags. They returned a little while later with their ukuleles, and took the stage. Everyone cheered.
"Hey, Anko," said Makoa, "You still remember Hawaii 5-0?"
"Yeah," said Anko.
"Okay, let's play that."
"Alright."
Tapping the mic, Makoa said, "So, uh, hi everyone. I'm sure you guys already know our names, but we're gonna play Hawaii 5-0." Sitting down on the chairs set up there, they began to play. Anko handled the chords, while Makoa handled the strumming. Together, they sounded really great. Once they finished, everyone cheered loudly and gave them a standing ovation. The twins were touched. "Thanks, you guys," said Makoa. They bowed and exited.
"Dude, that was awesome," said Katrina.
"Yeah, you guys sounded great together," said Anna.
Next to muster up her courage was Vera. She left the hall and returned with a stringed instrument that had a long neck, two strings, an intricate design carved on the body, and a horse's head carved on the head. She sat down, placed the instrument on the space of chair in between her legs, and grabbed the microphone. "So, uh, hi guys. Um, this is the morin khuur. It's a traditional Mongolian stringed instrument. It's also called the 'Horsehead Fiddle' on account of the head often being shaped like a horse's head. So, uh, yeah, here goes." Taking her bow, she ran it across the two strings and began to play a slow, slightly melancholy melody. Once she had finished the last note, there was another standing ovation. Standing, she bowed, said thank you, and exited the stage.
Miyuki came next, taking the stage with a banjo-looking instrument with a pretty long skinny neck and three strings. She was also holding a huge wooden pick-looking object. "This is a shamisen, a Fusan instrument," she said, "It can be plucked, but I usually play it with this thing called a bachi." She held up the bachi to show what she was talking about. "Anyway, let's get started." She started playing a fast-paced and energetic song that got everyone pumped up for some reason. Even though it was a traditional Fusan instrument, Miyuki's song seemed to have something of a rock vibe to it. Once she was done, everyone was cheering for an encore, but she refused. Her fingers were really hurting from all that quick movement.
Nina, noticing that a nice piano was set up on-stage, decided to play a piano piece. She played an excerpt from Sergei Rachmaninoff's Piano Concerto No. 2. Once she was done and the applause died down, Kaminari took the stage next. She sat at the piano and played a song she'd heard from an anime she'd recently been watching. Her fingers danced across the keys almost effortlessly, and once she was done, everyone was cheering. Lijuan, Meifeng, and Lan decided to all perform together, grabbing a violin, cello, and viola, respectively. They took to the stage, and began to play a nice relaxing classical song. Then, Marie-Rose performed a smooth jazz song on her alto saxophone. After her, Mijasik performed a routine on her snare drum, dancing her sticks effortlessly across the drum and through the air.
Finally, it was Lidiya's turn. Taking the stage, she brought the microphone to herself. She was had a dilemma; she knew that singing would probably lead to something weird, but her clarinet and saxophone were still en-route – she hadn't brought them with her to save space and weight for the flight over to the Antonov. She had to conserve as much weight as possible to prevent from tiring out mid-flight. So even though she really didn't want to, it seemed like she had no choice but to sing. She elected to sing whatever song that popped into her head, which turned out be the lullaby she sang to Nina last night. Not wanting to stand there in awkward silence any longer than she needed to, she just went for it and started to sing.
Spi, mladenets moy prekrasnyy, (Sleep, my beautiful one,)
Bayushki-bayu.
Tikho smotrit mesyats yasnyy (With her quiet face the moon, she)
V kolybel' tvoyu. (is looking upon your bed.)
All at once, everyone dropped whatever they were doing and stared transfixed at her. She was starting to feel a little awkward, but she soldiered on and continued into the next verse.
Stanu skazyvat' ya skazki, (I will tell you fairy-tales of enchanted places)
Pesenku spoyu; (and sing you some little songs)
Ty zh dremli, zakryvshi glazki, (but you must slumber, with your little eyes closed,)
Bayushki-bayu.
People's eyes started to flutter, and yawns were popping up here and there. Oh, I hope I'm not boring them, thought Lidiya.
Stanu ya toskoy tomit'sya (I will die from longing,)
Bezuteshno zhdat': (I will wait inconsolably,)
Stanu tselyy den' molit'sya, (I will pray the whole day long,)
Po nocham gadat': (And at night I'll tell fortunes)
Heads began to fall onto the table or onto people's arms. Lidiya was too much into the song to care at this point; she was reminiscing about the times her mom would sing this to her every night when she was little. It made her feel nice and relaxed.
Stanu dumat', chto skuchaesh' (I will think that you are in trouble)
Ty v chuzhom krayu… (Far away in a foreign land.)
Spi zh, poka zabot ne znaesh', (Sleep now, as long as you don't know sorrows,)
Bayushki-bayu.
When she sang that verse, she remembered when she had to tell her mom that she was deploying out of Orussia. Her mom was sad, but she understood that as the mother of witches, she had to make the hard choice of letting her go.
Dam tebe ya na dorogu (I will give you on your way)
Obrazok svyatoy: (A small holy icon,)
Ty ego, molyasya bogu, (And when you pray to God, you'll)
Stav' pered soboy; (Put it right in front of you)
Da, gotovyas' v boy opasnyy, (When preparing yourself for the dangerous fight)
Pomni mat' svoyu… (Please remember your mother.)
Spi, mladenets moy prekrasnyy, (Sleep, my beautiful one,)
Bayushki-bayu.
Lidiya held out that last note with the memory of her mother singing this song the night before she had to fly out. She really wanted to see her now.
Finally opening her eyes, she noticed that everybody was sleeping deeply and peacefully. Some of them had fallen off of their chairs and onto the floor. Even Anna, Katya, and DJ were not immune to her song's effects, and had planted their faces into their food, spilling it all over them. Aw, man, not again, she thought to herself. She got off the stage with the intention of simply leaving, but she decided against it. Leaving the mess hall in such a state just wouldn't do. I ought to clean up this mess to make up for making them all fall asleep. She proceeded to carefully grab everyone's dishes and stack them in piles at the ends of the tables. Then, she took the stacks and brought them into the galley. The galley crew were also passed out, so she looked for the soap, a sponge, and a pair of rubber gloves, and proceeded to wash them all. There were a lot of dishes. After she had placed the clean dishes on a rack to dry, she grabbed a mop and bucket.
She began to hum "Katyusha" to pass the time. Oh, now a different song comes popping into my head, now that everyone's asleep. But she didn't mind too much; it was a good song, and plus singing "Cossack Lullaby" made her remember her mom. So, as she mopped the floor around the sleeping witches' feet and bodies, she kept humming. Once she was done, she dumped the bucket and put it and the mop away. She did what she could to clean Anna's, Katya's, and DJ's faces and clothes of food and soup, and then turned to leave. Before she turned off the lights, she checked her handiwork. The hall looked reasonably clean, despite all the work being done by one person, and she was proud. Chuckling, she hit the lights and closed the door, still humming away to Katyusha's song.
[End of Chapter 2]
Zdravstvuyte, everyone. I'm Lidiya Litvyak. I kinda volunteered myself to do this, since I made everyone fall asleep with my singing, including the author and Saya-I mean his friend. I know this is break the Fourth Wall a bit, but it's the least I can do for putting everyone to sleep. So, here goes! Davayte Prikinem…
The title song, which is also the one I sang, is called Cossack Lullaby, a tradition Russian/Orussian lullaby. My mama used to sing this to me all the time when I was a little girl.
Myah and DJ's cover of "Sugar Rush" is based off another cover of the same song by a YouTube artist named Rockleetist. She's pretty awesome.
Makoa and Anko's version of "Hawaii 5-0" is based off another sister duo's named Honoka and Azita. They're from Hawaii.
Vera's song is called "My Father, My Hero". The author has no idea who the song is by, but if you look it up on YouTube, you could find it.
Miyuki's song is called "Kodo" by the Yoshida Brothers. When you look it up, just imagine those two parts being played by just one person.
Nina's beautiful piano piece is already mentioned in the story, so I guess I don't need to repeat it down here.
The last song I hummed at the end is a popular Russian/Orussian wartime song called "Katyusha". You have heard of this song, da?
Oka Nieba is a callsign from the game franchise Ace Combat. Probably the greatest aviation game franchise there is. Although, that last game, Assault Horizon, kinda made Russia look bad…but no biggie, I guess.
My half-sisters Anna and Katya are credited to the author NCWriting. Check him out, he's a cool cat.
Ms. Katrina Khadijah binti Adam is a descendant of one Amirah Aisyah Sulaiman, an OC of another author Colonel AmiruddinArifSulaiman.
Now, I believe that about wraps it up for the references now. Hope you all enjoyed the chapter, and didn't fall asleep on account of my singing. This has been Lidiya Litvyak saying do svidaniya! See you all next time!
Postmeridie – Puella Magi Madoka Magica OST
