NCGaming: the waiting has ended.
Danger Close: Yeah he is…and the biggest heart wrencher is still to come. Only a little Kleenex is needed for this chapter…you will likely need a case for the next one.
Aviat0r: Yes that is normal for Susie; she even talks in her sleep! Megan is the daughter of a lumber Jack and the camp cook and part of the reason she swears so much is it blows off excess steam. Remember her familiar is a Wolverine she shares her temper (The Wolverine is female too.)
LenCrossTop20: Well I hope to keep it up I usually am home more when it's cold so that should help.
Meeting the kidsI slowly return to the flight deck, I get up in time to see witches taking off I guess from the hanger deck. They look smaller than the witches of the 501st They quickly form into three groups two have four each and one only has three, One of the witches from that group has an odd looking striker. I hear more engines behind me I turn around to see four bi-planes firing up their engines getting ready to take off I suppose they will be joining the witches. As I watch them get ready I spot something that does not look right. They have a little baby girl they are stuffing behind the pilot's seat of one of the planes! A damn BABY! Is this for real?" The ground crew move away and the bi-planes take off the one with the baby taking off first. They fly off in the direction that the witches had gone earlier. I turn and walk away wondering just what the hell is going on? Then I see a little black boy around eight or nine. What is he doing here? He walks up to me.
"Hi you're the new guy they just flew in aren't you?" He said
"Yeah" I said extending my hand. "Corporal Wilson Tyson."
"Darnell Morris." He replied shaking my hand. "Pleased to meet you sir."
"I'm pleased to meet you too." I reply. "So what do you do here?"
"I'm a mechanics assistant." He replied. "I help the mechanics work on the strikers."
I'm surprised to hear that this young boy was working on strikers even if he was only an assistant.
"How old are you?" I asked him.
"I'm eight." He replied.
"How did you become a mechanics' helper?" I asked him next
"My little sister is one of the strike witches and she brought me down to their base and I met Darla Evans, She's the one who made all the strikers we use. I'm really good at fixing stuff so she started to show me how to work on strikers." He told me then he looked around. "I have to get down to the hanger and get ready for the witches to land. You can come with me if you want."
I shrugged I had nothing better to do so I figured I might as well.
"Sure I'll go with you." I tell him.
"Good follow me!" He says as he darts down a staircase.
I follow almost stumbling as I struggle down the steep stairs. I hear a kid's groan as I reach the base of the stairs.
"I wish she wouldn't do that." Darnell exclaims.
I came down the stairs behind Darnell and saw him go over to an odd-looking striker cradle. It looked like most of them except for a flat shelf behind it. Darnell was picking up crutches and leg braces that looked like they belonged to Tanisha and setting them on the shelf.
"She always throws her stuff around when she mounts up and I have to pick them up and put them back on the shelf so she can have them when she takes off her strikers." He complained. "I know she has to take them off fast so she can get her strikers on fast but does she have to throw them around like this?"
I watch as he picks up the crutches and the braces and positions them on the shelf. I notice he puts the braces on the inside and the crutches on the outside. I still find it hard to believe that a little girl who uses crutches and braces on her legs is a strike witch.
"I wonder whose idea it was to recruit a witch that uses leg braces and crutches." I say to nobody in particular.
"That was my sister." Darnell replied. "She talked to Tanisha when the Calypso stopped in Detroit on the way to Houghton."
"How did your sister meet Tanisha." I asked him.
"Well Tanisha was sitting on the banks of the Detroit River crying when Tonya rolled up and asked her what was wrong." Darnell said "Tanisha told her that she had talked to Charlotte Yeager a few days before about being a strike witch, Charlotte told her that because of her braces that she could not become a strike witch. Tonya told her to wait there she had something to show her…Something WONDERFUL! Then Tonya rolled off to get her striker. She came back about half and hour later flying her striker. That's when she told Tanisha that if she really wanted to be a strike witch that she should come with her because she knew a girl who could make special strikers for paralyzed witches and she was living proof of that."
I'm stunned by what he said then I saw another odd looking striker cradle and saw a wheelchair butted up to the back of it. I remember that Darnell had said that Tonya had rolled up to Tanisha and rolled away from her. I looked at the wheelchair behind the odd striker cradle. I point over at it.
"Is that Tonya's?" I ask him.
"Yup!" he said with a big smile. " Tonya is the first Strike Witch who uses a wheel chair. She is VERY powerful; she's the most powerful witch in the 555th! "
I just nod my head. I listen to the young boy brag about his sister's power. I have a rough time accepting his assertion that his younger sister can be as powerful as he says. I mean she is in a wheel chair. She can't be that powerful. Then I watch as he goes over to the area behind her striker cradle. I remember that is where they kept spare parts and ammo with the 501st so I assume that is the same for the 555th then he stops by a rack that is loaded with rockets…BIG rockets! I follow him over to the storage rack. He looks up as I come over.
"You want to help me reload her when she comes in?" He asks. "These rockets are too heavy for me to lift by myself."
I look at the boy. He's a skinny little kid. I think it's more like I'll be lifting the rockets and he'll help a little.
"Yeah I'll help you." I tell him.
"Thanks." He replied.
"Hey Darnell is that the guy they just flew in here with you?" A young boy with blond hair a couple years older than Darnell called out.
"Yeah Jacob. He's corporal Wilson Tyson." Darnel informed him. "They sent him from the 501st"
"Nice to meet you Corporal Tyson." Jacob said as he walked up to me with his hand extended"
I shook his hand.
"Nice to meet you too Jacob." I said "And please call me Wilson. What do you do here?
"I'm the lead striker mechanic here." He replied.
I look at the kids stunned by what he just told me he looks like he is maybe ten.
"How old are you anyway?" I ask him.
"I'm ten." He replies. "I have been working on strikers almost four years since I was six. I helped build most of the strikers the 555th uses."
I'm can't believe what I'm hearing! If he is to be believed this little kid not only fixes them but also helped build them? Then I think about the witches in the group the ones I have met so far are little kids too…This whole damn unit is a bunch of little kids. What is this war doing to us?
"Yeah Jacob, Wilson told me he would help me load the rockets on Tonya's striker if she fired them." Darnel told him.
"Good because she did fire them off plus Tanisha used her firestorm and is getting a ride back from Gamma flight." He replied. "I hope she has enough strength left to dock her strikers so we don't have to pick them up off the flight deck."
"Why would we have to pick them up from the flight deck?" I ask.
"When Tanisha uses her firestorm power it really draws a lot of magic." Jacob explained "It burns her out so she grabs one of the wing struts and rides on the lower wing she locks her arm around the strut. If she is too worn out when they land her strikers will fall off where they land. "
"Does this happen a lot?" I ask. "And does it happen to any of the other girls?"
"It happens quite a bit with Tanisha because her firestorm is so powerful." Jacob told me "Anne sometimes has to do it too because she will charge in throwing up shields all around her right in the middle of a bunch of neuroi and wear herself out. She's getting more careful about how she throws up her shields and charging in the middle of a bunch of neuroi by her self."
I hear the familiar sound of striker units approaching as I look toward the front of the hanger I can see some strikers move in…then suddenly one comes in at a high rate of speed it looks like it's going to crash into the back of the hanger. I dive to the floor sure it's going to crash, and then it suddenly turns at the last moment. Then I hear this little giggle. The striker pulls up to me and this cute little blond haired girl smiles at me.
"You funny" She giggles then she flies over to one of the striker cradles and docks her striker. She walks up to me.
"Who you?" she asks "Me Cindy!"
I stare at the little girl she could not be more than two or three. I can't put my finger on this but I feel like I have seen her before.
"I'm Corporal Wilson Tyson" I tell her.
"Me Corporal too!" she says with a smile.
By this time other strikers are coming in, much slower and more carefully. I watch as they dock and the witches dismount. I see a thin brown haired girl run up to Jacob and they hug each other. Then Diana dismounts and Darnell runs up and hugs her! This is a lot different from the 501st; there Minna would not even let the witches go near the guys. Here I just saw two couples embrace and one of them was Diana and Darnel and they are different races! Then again Grant always taught me not to judge a man by his skin tone, still sending kids to war is bad enough but losing a girlfriend before you're ten is something else. I watch as the girls dock their strikers and shut down and dismount. They look so little. Most of them look like they are around five or six. Then I realize that eleven took off only eight have returned I know already that Tanisha is coming back on the wing of one of the fighters that leaves two I look over and see that Tonya's striker cradle is still empty, I look over to Darnell. It's like he already knows what I am thinking.
"Tonya can't maneuver tight enough to come in through the front when the ship is moving. She is landing on the flight deck Tracie is with her they will use the elevator to come down." He informed me.
Then I hear the elevator coming down and see two more witches coming down there is a little black girl in this massive one piece striker and a little white girl in normal strikers with her. The black girl slowly maneuvers that massive striker in the her cradle the little white girl watching her once she is in place the striker cradle tilts back and she slides into her wheelchair. Her legs look so thin not at all what you think of a strike witch. Only when she is settled does the girl that came down with her park her striker and dismount. She is so tiny she can't be more than four. She runs over to Tonya and jumps in the crippled girls lap! I'm about to say something when Darnell speaks first.
"Yup that's my little sister." H e says. "The other girl is Tracie they are best friends she is kinda like Tonya's baby doll. You'll find that Tracie spends a lot of time in Tonya's lap."
Tonya spun around and rolled over to were Darnell and I were standing.
"Hey Darnell you want to check-out my right engine for me? It's making some odd noises and running a bit rough." She said then turned to face me. "Who is this?"
"That's Corporal Wilson Tyson." Darnell replied. "He just got here."
"I'm Sergeant Latonya Morris and this is Sergeant Tracie Osborn. " The little girl in the wheel chair said.
"Nice to meet both of you." I said.
I looked at the legs of the girl in the wheel chair…they were little more than skin and bones. I could not believe that this little crippled girl was actually a Strike Witch. I can tell that these two were very close. Then somebody shouted down from the flight deck and announced that Gamma flight was coming in and Tanisha looked like she was out.
"Hey Wilson can you go and help Tanisha?" Jacob called out to me.
"Yeah sure." I reply.
I run over to the elevator as it starts to go up and jump on I hear a thump next to me and see that Captain Wilson had jumped on too. She had a worried look on her face.
"I fucking wish she wouldn't be so fucking careless when she throws a fucking firestorm." She said. "One of these fucking days she is going to do that and fucking go down and we fucking won't be able to fucking get to her in time."
I looked at the little Captain For all her foul mouth and hard ass attitude this was somebody who cared about the girls under her command.
"She'll be okay.' I told her
"I hope so." She said "I fucking hope so."
I could see a single tear roll down her cheek. We came to the deck as the last of the bi-planes landed I could see Tanisha secured to the lower right wing her strikers dropped off as the plane taxied to a halt. Megan and I both rushed to the plane. I saw them take the baby girl out of the lead plane out of the corner of my eye as we came up to Tanisha as she lay on the wing of the plane. I helped Megan get Tanisha off the wing and laid her out on the flight deck. She was still as we put her down. She was barely breathing Megan looked at her then over at the baby girl.
"Mary!" She yelled out. "Get the fuck over here!"
The tiny tot smiled and started to run toward us.
"Otay" she called out.
As she ran toward us I noticed that red stripes appeared on her cheeks and yellow stripes on her neck as she arrived I saw a tail that looked like it came from a reptile. She knelt down next to Tanisha smiling.
"I heal!" she chirped.
I had seen Yoshika Myafuji heal an injured witch before but not close-up, now I watched as this tiny tot started to glow with a soft blue light a magic circle formed under her and her hands glowed as she started to transfer her power to Tanisha who soon came around. Mary leaned over and kissed her.
"I heal!" she said again with a big grin on her face.
I just stared at this tiny witch as she treated Tanisha. She was just a baby but she handled the situation with Tanisha like a pro. I can't believe what I just saw.
"She's fucking good." Megan announced. "That definitely justifies keeping her around."
"So Tanisha you need a hand up?" I ask.
"I can't walk with-out my braces and crutches." She replied, "I can't even stand."
"Yeah" I reply realizing my mistake. "In that case…"
I pick her up.
"I'll carry you." I announce.
I watch Megan call up her familiar, which is a wolverine! I start to think I made a mistake until she goes over to Tanisha's strikers and picked them up.
"Lets get these down to the hanger." She says.
I carry Tanisha to the elevator while Megan carries her strikers. She puts them down then turns to Tanisha.
"You have to stop this burning yourself out bullshit." She declared. "I'm tired of having to carry you and your fucking strikers down here because you fucking over did it again. I'm fucking tired of this fucking BULLSHIT!"
I could not believe that Megan was yelling at Tanisha not to mention all the foul language.
"HEY! You don't yell at someone for doing their best in battle." I tell her "She's trying to fight these things and give all she's got. I understand you don't want her to get hurt. But in the desert you didn't yell at someone for valor, you rewarded him or her for it.
"Yeah I fucking know she's fucking brave and all that shit. But I don't want to have to write a fucking letter to her parents about how fucking brave she was when she fucking died." Megan replied as tears started to flow down her cheeks. "I fucking don't want to have to see Mary crouched over her fucking dead body crying her little fucking eyes out because she couldn't fucking save her. I don't fucking care if she's twice my fucking age, it's my fucking job to fucking bring her back alive!"
Mega stood there crying so hard that tears were pooling in front of her on the lift.
"I…I don't want to fucking lose her." The little captain said in a low voice.
Tanisha looked at Megan and started to tear-up herself then she buried her face in my shoulder.
"I…I'm Sorry she sobbed.
I look at the little girl in front of me crying her eyes out then at the somewhat older girl in my arms crying into my shoulder. I get down on one knee so I am closer to Megan's level.
"It's okay, I can see you care about your people. A good leader does, but you can't let that get in the way of them doing their jobs. I've lost friends …but I know they would have laid down their lives for the fight."
"Yeah I fucking know that. But you don't win a fucking war dying for your country…you make the other fucking bastard die for his." Megan replied "Tanisha, I know you fucking want to do your best but if you fucking burn out all your fucking magic in one shot then we fucking have to cover you. Keep a little to get fucking home…we fucking need you too much."
Tanisha pulls her face out of my shoulder and looks at Megan
"I know, I'll try better." She replied Tears still rolling down her cheeks.
Megan walks up and hugs her while she is still in my arms.
"Please do, I like you too much to have to fucking bury you" Megan responded tears still rolling down her cheeks too.
"Kid, Patton only said that for show." I tell them " In a war you try your best to kill the enemy, in the infantry we don't have healing witches. We lose men every Battle but we know that they would have wanted to fight and lay down their lives to defeat the neuroi."
"Well we have fucking two healing witches." Megan told me. "The 555th is the only fucking unit that does. There are not enough fucking witches now. That's why we are fucking here. We have to fucking fight because we fucking can. If we fucking don't who fucking will? We can't fucking afford to lose any witches there ain't fucking enough now. Besides what do you think those fucking generals will say if fucking little girls die? They don't fucking like us now. Those motherfuckers would fucking try to send us home if we start losing little witches. We have our own fucking carrier but they would probably try to stop us from fucking getting fuel and supplies. We have to fucking fight smart."
The truth quickly dawns on me. They had more to lose than I did, if I died one less grunt if they lost a witch it could mean the difference between defeat or victory.
"Maybe you're right, " I finally tell her.
The lift bottoms out and Megan picks up the strikers.
"Let's get this stuff where it belongs." She announces as she puts the striker units back in their cradle.
I look down at the young witch in my arms she is obviously very tired. I decide to take her straight to her bunk. Tanisha looks around
"Where are you going?" she asks.
"I'm taking you to your bunk you look like you are about to fall asleep in my arms." I tell her
"No! You can't I need my braces and crutches." She protested and started to squirm in my arms.
"Be careful! You are going to make me drop you!" I warn her.
"But I need my braces and crutches!" Tanisha continued to protest. "If I have to go to the bathroom I won't be able to get there!"
"Don't worry as soon as I put you in your bunk I'll go get them." I tell her.
She calms down and I take her to their bunkroom and put her in her bunk.
"I'll be back." I tell her as I trot back to the hanger and get her stuff. As I go back to the hanger I wonder just what the hell is this war doing to us. I'm on a ship that is full of little kids who are fighting the neuroi and I am picking up the braces and crutches for a little girl who's legs are paralyzed and she is flying a striker and fighting these monsters. I bring her stuff back to her and knew immediately that I had made the right decision. The poor kid was out like a light. I lean her braces and crutches against her bunk near her head. Then I look over and see the little toddler witch who said her name was Cindy holding a framed picture and talking to it. I wonder what that is all about…
To be continued…