November 21st 1944

501st JFW Base; Dover, Britannia

Ever since the Neuroi started to appear in the early 1930's, Humanity began a struggling fight for survival against the Alien race but with the Neuroi managed to take away a large chunk of Mainland Asia and Liberion proves too much for humanity to fight against the aliens but Humanity has still one last hope, the Witches which proves to be a lethal adversary against the Neuroi and with the introduction of new revolutionary war machine named the Striker Unit thanks to Dr. Ichiro Miyafuji, Humanity have the means to fight back the Neuroi. It's now the year 1944 and the focused shifted to a particular base on Dover which housed a particular but famous Witches Squadron of the War, the 501st Joint Fighter Wing a.k.a the Strike Witches, a group of multinational Witches from different Air Force organization around the world gathers to make an effective squadron to combat the ever growing Neuroi threat. The 501st is tasked to defend Britannian Isle from the Neuroi but on that particular morning over the 501st base, five witches are running across the beaches as a part of morning exercises by one of their Squadron Leader, Sakamoto Mio who's herself among the 5 witches on the morning jog. Beside her was Katherina Litvyak, Commander of Allied Air Forces Command.

"Alright you ladies! You all need to toughen up! The war ain't gonna win by itself you know!" Mio shouted at the three young witches named Yoshika Miyafuji, Lynette Bishop and Perrine Clostermann. Coincidentally, Yoshika Miyafuji is the daughter of Dr. Ichiro Miyafuji, the creator of the Striker Unit.

"B-But Sakamoto-san!" Yoshika gasping as she struggles to talk to Mio, "G-Give us a moment to r-rest please?"

Mio just laughed and told the rest, "Not until you guys finish 2 more laps! Now get going!"

Knowing that Mio won't take no for an answer, the witches continues their jogs for two more laps. Meanwhile at the base particularly the office of Wing Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, Minna is busy with some desk work as usual until a man wearing a Fuso Navy uniform arrives at the Wing Commander's office, bringing a telegram with him.

"Good morning Wing Commander Minna. How's your day?" The Fuso Navy personnel with the rank of Ensign greeted as he enters her office.

"As always Ensign Hige, too much paperwork for me to do. So what brings you here?" Minna said as she writes the last of the papers and looked at Ensign Hige.

The Fuso Ensign then handed her the telegram while saying, "These just came in this morning." Minna proceeds to read the content and finally put down the telegram paper. The telegram stated that a fleet of supply ships needed aerial escorts from the witches to protect them as they entered the English Channel from the North Sea route.

"So the Liberion 3rd Convoy Flotilla needs some escorts huh? Send a reply, [we will provide some witches to escort the fleet] and tell the rest of the girls to meet me at the Briefing Room." Minna ordered which the Ensign comply.

She looked outside the windows and noticed the weather is changing, "its cloudy today…I just hope it didn't get worse today."

Later Over the English Channel Airspace,

Over the skies of the English Channel which separates Britannia and Gallia, the 501st Witches are sent on an escort mission, protecting a supply fleet coming from the Atlantic from Neuroi incursions. Among the witches that participated are Flight Lieutenant Gertrude Barkhorn and Flying Officer Erica Hartmann from Karlsland, Pilot Officer Eila Juutilainen of Suomus and the Fuso Squadron Leader Sakamoto Mio. The rest of the Witches are ordered on standby if things go south.

"I can't believe they wanted us to escort them in this kind of weather." Gertrude complaints as she and the rest of her flight linked up with the convoy fleet while the weather around them are heavily clouded.

"It's unnatural though we get weather like this…especially in this month." Erica comments as she watches the sky around them for any signs of Neuroi.

"Well the sooner we finish this mission the better. Sanya is waiting for me you know." Eila said to the two Karlsland witches while thinking about Sanya.

Mio ignored the conversation and decided to talk with the lead escort destroyer which escorted the supply ship, "This Sakamoto Mio of the 501st, how it's going down there?"

Then a reply came from one of the destroyer escort,

"This is Captain Sanchez of the Liberion Destroyer USS Sims, everything seems fine. We're expe-Wait a second ma'am."

There is a pause before he talks to Mio again

"Ma'am, we've detected a hostile Neuroi north of our position!"

Before Mio could reply, there's a transmission coming from the 501st base

"This is Minna; our radar detected several hostile Neuroi's approaching your position. I've sent Lynnette, Yoshika and Perrine to assist you."

"Acknowledge Minna, we're moving to engage." Mio replied before turning to the three other witches with her, "Alright we got a Neuroi coming for the convoy. Separate into two teams, Eila you with me."

The rest acknowledge her orders and began to fly in pairs and prepare to engage the Neuroi. However, they knew little that there was a surprise coming in for them.

Meanwhile 800 metres north from the convoy

"Argh my head hurts, oh shit!" Erich shouted as he quickly grabbed the yoke of his Bf109 and pulled hard to avoid from falling into the water.

"Wait what the hell I am doing over water?" Erich questioned as he looked around to see that he is surrounded by water for miles on end.

"This is Erich Alfred Hartmann of the I/JG-52to anyone there? I need some assistance" Erich radioed.

"Bubi is that you?" a voice was heard.

"Gerd, is that you? I thought you were in Berlin" Erich said.

"Well, I thought I was too but now I am here" Gerhard said as he maneuvered his Me-262 to the left of Hartmann's Bf109.

"Do you mind if I join in the conversation" another man said as another Bf109 appeared this time to Hartmann's right.

"Furst, is that you I thought you were shot down near Braunschweig" Erich gasped.

"Were you hiding from us?" Gerhard asked

"I don't know, first I was engaging number of American fighters, then a storm cloud appeared then a light and next thing know I am here" Wolf said.

"Funny that what happened to me when I was over Berlin" Gerhard said.

"I experience the exact same thing over Brno!" Erich exclaimed

"Do you think this is all connected?" Gerhard wondered.

"I don't know but we need to find land or something or we will be ditching in the sea" Wolf said.

"…so let me get this you too experience a storm, then a light and now you are here?" a man's voice was heard.

"Did you hear that?" Gerhard pointed out.

"Yes, I did, how about you Bubi?" Wolf asked.

"Yeah, I heard as well, should we check it out?" Erich enquired.

"Well you two are more experienced since both of you have 300 kills at least" Wolf said.

"Ask Bubi then, he has 351 kills while I have only 301" Gerhard exclaimed.

"352 kills actually, I shot down a Yak-9 before I got here" Erich chirped

"See, Bubi has more experience than me" Gerhard complained while Erich and Wolf laughed.

"Anyway, let's just go and see whose there" Erich said.

"Okay" Wilcke said as he went to Erich's right rear.

"Of course, top ace" Gerhard said as he slowed down and covered Erich's left rear.

"Hey I see German fighters coming, what should we do?" a voice said but this sounded female.

"Hold up Litvyak, don't shoot, I don't think they know where they are either" another voice said

"Litvyak, isn't that the Soviet female fighter ace?" Gerhard exclaimed.

"Da it is me, Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak of the Soviet Air Force, who is on the other end?" Lydia asked.

"Erich "Bubi" Hartmann, I am the lead plane at your service and I am not a Nazi" Erich said

"Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn, I am the jet fighter and I am not a Nazi" Gerhard said.

"Wolf-Dietrich "Furst" Wilcke, I am in the second Bf 109 and like the other two, I am no Nazi" Wolf said.

"So, who is there other than Litvyak?" Erich asked.

"Charles E. "Chuck" Yeager, the P-51" Chuck said

"Eino Ilmari "Illu" Juutilainen here, I am in the white Bf109" Eino said.

"I am Franco Lucchini and I am in the Macchi C.202" Franco said

"This is Pierre Clostermann here, and I am in the Hawker Tempest" Pierre said

"Arthur Bishop here, I am in the Supermarine Spitfire" Arthur said

"Saburo Sakai, I am in the A6M2 Zero" Sakai said.

"And I am Kaneyoshi Muto, in the N1K-J Shiden" Muto said. There was a tense feeling in the air

"Wow looks like we have a number of famous aces here" Erich joked.

"Yeah that is true" Franco said. Erich just succeeded in breaking the ice.

"You know what, I didn't really wanted to go to war in the first place" Eino said

"Me too, I just continue to be a civilian pilot instructor" Erich said.

"Oh looks whose talking, you have 352 kills, Hartmann" Gerhard said. Erich could hear the gasps.

"You have 352 kills! That is at least 2 fighter wings! But back to the topic, I would want to be a plane mechanic but I always wanted to be the first to break the sound barrier" Chuck said.

"Wow that's quite a dream, I just wanted to see another class of pilots leave my class" Lydia said

"If it wasn't for the war, I would have been a comedian" Muto said

"Yeah you do have a great sense of humor, always cracking jokes, well I would have been fine as a farmer" Sakai chuckled as he remembered Muto's jokes.

"I actually wanted to be artist, well since Hitler started all of this, never got the chance" Arthur sighed.

"Well I wouldn't mind being the Luftwaffe since it occupied my time" Wolf said.

"I would love to open up saunas in Finland" Eino said

"I would still be a commercial pilot if it wasn't for the war" Pierre said.

"I wanted to be a lawyer but I don't think my parents would like it since I was Prussian" Gerhard said.

"I wanted to continue my studies in aeronautical engineering" Franco said.

"Hey did anyone notice that all of us just understood each other?" Erich asked. There was a moment of silence.

"Hey I just noticed too, maybe that light did something" Lydia suggested.

"Okay then, let's just continue with our chat" Erich said.

Suddenly all of the aces' radios came to live and they all heard a distress signal

"*Static* T-To any allied ships in the-*Static* -rea. This is Captain Sanchez of *Static* Liberion Navy USS Sims. *Static* -We're under attacked by a Neuroi-*Static*. Request any assis-*Static*"

"Can anyone locate that radio transmission?" Erich said

"*Static* unidentified squa-*Static*on, we are 800 metres south of your*Static*-cation, just North of the English *Static*-annel *Static*"

"That is just south of us, should we help out, they might shoot you guys, especially you, Barkhorn because you are the only jet" Chuck warned.

"I don't care; let's help out the ship out" Gerhard said.

"Alright let's go!" Franco said as he begins his turn but decided to wait on everyone else

"I think Hartmann should lead our rag tag squadron" Eino said.

"Why should I lead?" Erich asked

"Well first you are the top ace amongst all of us and second you were able to defuse the tense situation that we were in" Arthur said.

"Alright then, everyone follow me then" Erich said as he turns to the direction of the distress call.

The rest of the aces formed behind him.

"I'll be Bubi's wingman" Gerhard said.

"I will be Hartmann's second wing man" Wolf added

"Alright, since there are eleven pilots here; therefore, Gerd and Furst are my wingmen and we will form 1st Flight Lead, Sakai and Muto will be form the 1st Flight Element!" Erich said.

"Acknowledged, Sakai why don't you lead" Muto responded as he flew into Sakai's rear

"Roger!" Sakai replied.

"Lucchini, Clostermann you form the 2nd Flight Lead!" Erich continued

"Okay, captain!" Pierre sounded.

"Hey Clostermann, you lead, I will watch your back" Franco said.

"Alright, keep my rear clear Lucchini!" Pierre called out as he pulled up in front of Franco's plane

"Alright, Litvyak, you and Juutilainen will form the 2nd Flight Element" Erich ordered.

"Acknowledged, hey Litvyak, you will lead, I will watch your rear" Eino said as he maneuvered his plane behind Lydia's plane.

"Okay, wow I did not expect to be flying with a facis…I mean German plane as my wingman" Lydia joked.

"Hey this is a new experience for me as well" Eino chuckled.

"Alright, Yeager, you and Bishop will form the 3rd Flight, okay" Erich said.

"Roger! Hey Bishop, why don't you lead, I am a bit of a speed demon so I don't want you get left behind" Chuck chuckled.

"Alright okay then" Arthur said as he accelerated into the front view of Yeager's plane.

"Is everyone alright with their current grouping?" Erich asked.

"Everything is A-Okay!" everyone else replied.

After cruising over the English Channel; the flight finally arrived to see a small fleet under attack by a black object above them. The flight of aces sees a convoy ships being attacked by an air group of black flying object which resembles an oversized Horten Ho 229 and several smaller planes like object which shoots red lasers, something he didn't see every day. Then there is one thing caught on Hartmann's eyes, from his cockpit he saw what seems to be several girls in uniforms of his era wielding weapons of his era with their whole legs is encased in a machine that resembled planes of his era and managed caught a sight of one of them uses a magic circle as a shield to deflect the incoming lasers as he thought.

"Is everyone seeing what I am seeing?" Erich asked.

"If seeing some teenage girls fighting against the black flying objects that shoot lasers at what seems to be warships of our era…I say yes" Chuck said.

"What the hell is going on" Erich thought.

"So what do we do?" Gerhard asked.

"Let's shoot down those black bogeys!" Erich ordered.

"Roger!" Everyone roared.

"Joint Fighter Squadron, Engage now!" Erich ordered.

"Hartmann, you fast thinker, calling us the Joint Fighter Squadron" Gerhard smiled. Soon the JFS began to close the gap between them and the besieged fleet.

Back with the Witches

The aerial battle between the Witches and Neuroi are intense as ever after another 6 large type Neuroi arrives to give the pressure against the Witches whom also receives more reinforcements in the form of Lynette, Yoshika, and Perrine with Flight Lieutenant Charlotte E. Yeager which her friends prefer to call her as Shirley.

"This is bad, more enemy reinforcements are coming." Mio said as she pulled the trigger of her Type 99-2 Cannon and on occasion slashing one of the medium sized Neuroi with her sword Reppumaru.

"We need more help if we're going to protect the convoy! Erica! Cover me!" Getrude shouts as she engaged a Neuroi and managed to shoot it down before it hit one of the ships in the convoy.

But then, one small cubicle type Neuroi managed to land a hit on one of the Sims-class Destroyer which caused heavy damaged to her hull and began to sink.

"This is Captain Sanchez! *static* we've lost USS Buck I repeat, we *static* -USS Buck, requesting immediate assistance!" A transmission came from the lead Destroyer escorting the supply ships as they saw one of their Destroyers took heavy damage and capsizing.

"We're trying the best we could!" Mio replied as she sliced another Neuroi with her Reppumaru before continuing, "Try to hold on for a little while longer!"

Meanwhile, Lynette engages several Neuroi from long distance using her Boys Anti-Tank Rifle while Miyafuji acted as a guard to protect Lynette while Perrine and Shirley move in to finish any remaining Neuroi that evade Lynette sniper fire.

In the heat of the battle, Shirley spotted one isolated Neuroi and decided to chase it, leaving Perrine behind.

"That Neuroi is mine!" Shirley said as she immediately flies off to pursue it.

Seeing Shirley's action, Perrine tried to warn her but it's too late as she's interrupted by another Neuroi that cause her lose focus on Shirley.

Shirley managed to catch up with the small type Neuroi before she's realized it was a trap as 3 small sized Neuroi appeared and cornered her.

"An Ambush? This ain't good…this ain't good" Shirley mutters as she readied her M1918 BAR and prepares her shield from oncoming Neuroi fire.

But then she spots something approaching from the North, then several seconds later; the four small type Neuroi that surrounds her shattered as they hit with cannon fire.

Stunned from the sight she saw, she immediately contacted Mio, "Mio this is Shirley, I spot several objects appears from the northern part of the English Channel."

"Is it more Neuroi reinforcements?" Mio asks

"No…it kinda kills the Neuroi which has cornered me earlier and it used cannons." Shirley explains.

"Is this true Shirley?" Mio replied doubtfully.

"If you want to know, try looking at the North side" Shirley said as she begins to fly back with the other Witches.

Mio feels skeptical and decided to ask Minna, "Minna this is Mio; has any witches been sent to assist?" She thought that Minna send more reinforcements to help them

"Minna here; negative, there hasn't been any witches dispatched yet why?"

Mio's eye widened and then she said, "Minna, can you take a look at the radar and told us what you saw?" Mio herself didn't know why she asks that question but she has the feeling that something is off.

"Alright please standby"

"You better be quick about it Minna!" Mio urge the Wing Commander as she engages several more Neuroi.

"Mio, we've detected a concentration of unknown contacts approaching from the north! Be careful!"

As she heard about the unknown contacts coming from the north, she immediately uses her Magic Eye ability to see the contacts and surprised at what she saw a squadron of planes racing in, one was different from the other as it had what looked like lumps under its wing

"Minna, I saw the contacts. It appears to be a squadron but we're unsure yet if they're Neuroi or human." Mio informed Minna about this development.

"Roger, continue protect the convoy but be careful. We'll try to establish contact with them." Minna ordered.

Suddenly a new unheard voice is heard throughout the witch and the convoy's radio,

"That will not be necessary."

Mio startled at the new voice and decided to ask, "Who is this? Identify yourself"

"Sorry for not introducing myself, I'm Wing Commander Major Erich Alfred Hartmann of the Joint Fighter Squadron. I thought you guys could need some help."

After that, the rest of the Witches which has regroup suddenly saw a squadron coming in from the north but they are surprised to see one of the planes fly without a propeller and also more surprised to see the planes roundel which is similar to those on their nation's air force.

"Whoa...it's beautiful~" Shirley's mechanical instinct kicks in after she sees the warplanes which lead some of the witches sighed but continues to focusing on the Neuroi.