Hello...I'm back with the next chapter. Tell me what you think of the Title and what you think it should be. To be honest, no good title came to mind for this. Well...Enjoy reading, my friends.

THE NEXT MORNING...

Before the sun rose up on the 501st Base, one of the men was already stirring. He sat up and for a moment forgot where he was.

'Oh yeah...That wierd little cosmic trip...' He remembered as he quietly dressed himself, leaving everything but his sidearm and tazer.

Just as he finished tying up his boots, the door to his room opened a crack. On reflex, he grabbed and loaded his Glock 17 sidearm.

"Who is it?" He asked, his tone commanding as he readied himself, cocking the hammer back.

"Do you greet everyone this way?" Captain Barkhorn asked dryly. Seeing her, he sighed and hung up his sidearm.

"Sorry about that. Just momentarily forgot where I was." He apologised as she scanned the room.

She was looking at it as if she were conducting room inspections, but was surprized by the high level of organization she saw from a couple of supposedly laid-back Liberion men, right up there with a disciplined Karlsland soldier.

'These two keep a clean room...I'm actually impressed.' She thought as she answered him.

"It's alright. Under the circumstances, I completely understand why you were a little jumpy." She replied.

"So, what are you doing awake so early?" She asked.

"I was hoping to see a little more of this base and maybe tour some of those old vehicles. I was a history buff and most of them were only museum pieces in my time. After that, I was hoping to get some PT in before breakfast." He told her.

"Oh...In that case, why don't I join you? I can show you around at the same time." She offered as two more of the men woke up and stumbled out of their rooms.

"Ah...Captains Price and MacTavish...Did you sleep well?" She asked.

"Yeah...Slept bloody right well." Price commented as he stretched out his arms.

"Same 'ere. Haven't slept in a nice bed like that in a while." Soap added, popping his back.

"I was just about to show the Lieutenant around the base and our training grounds if you'd like to join us." Gertrud invited them. Normally, she was cold to most people, but these men hardly qualified as most people. She was eager to see just what these men from a different reality could do on the obstacle course.

BASE MOTORPOOL

Taking them down the main foyer, she remembered that Frau, aka Erika Hartmann, went with the Lieutenant last night to fetch something of his.

"What was it that she helped you bring on base? I'm assuming it was a vehicle of some kind." She surmised.

"It is. It's the SWAT van that was brought with me when I was unceremoniously dumped here. Good thing I was, or I'd be dead now." He replied, Trudy remembering the conversation they all had last night.

"Hmm...I'd like to see it." She asked, interested in what policemen when they were from had if he was so well trained. He shrugged and they headed down to the motorpool, where they were headed anyway and he unlocked the van, letting her inside to see the equipment.

"I saw that on the outside it said, "To Serve and Protect.". Is that your unit's creed?" She asked.

"Actually, it's the motto of the LAPD. Most major units in our world have a motto or saying of some kind. The Marines was Semper Fidelis, or Always Faithful. The Ranger's is Rangers Lead the Way. The SEALs, which I was in, was The Only Easy Day Was Yesterday." Mason responded.

"Ours was Who Dares Wins." Price added as he got a closer look at some of the gear he had, since the last time he was in there, he was too busy keeping Soap from bleeding out.

Gertrud's eyes were drawn to the Riot Gear, seeing the shields and extra armor.

"That is the Riot Gear. Like I told your Lieutenant Hartmann, it's for suppressing riots and dangerous situations. The launcher next to it shoots out Tear Gas canisters, that make crowds disperse without hurting them too much. Next to is is the Tazer, it can render a person completely unconscious without any lasting damage. Then, there's the Baton Rounds for my shotgun. They fire rubber projectiles to help subdue a suspect without killing them. It's all non-lethal weaponry in there." He responded to her questions, when she saw Soap dig out a rifle from another locker.

"Nice...I'll bet these little puppies came in handy." Soap chuckled as she asked him what it was.

"The Mk 14 EBR Semi-Auto Sniper Rifle. A bloody well made piece of hardware chambered in .308 Winchester, or 7.62x51mm rounds with a 10 or 20 round detachible box magazine. It's got a range up to damn near 2 clicks." The Scot explained.

"Really? A semi-auto sniper rifle? This is a vast improvement. A bit on the heavy side, though." Trudy surmised, handling the rifle and checking the action.

"This was originally a battle rifle made by Springfield Armories called the M-14 around 5 years before Vietnam War, around 40 to 50 years ago in our time. It was retired in favor of much lighter and full auto assault rifles like the M16. However, while I was in the SEALs, a decision was made to dig them out and use them as Sniper Rifles for SEAL units. It was literally an inexpensive and viable solution for a very expensive problem. These rifles are so reliable, that we were able to use them right out of the mothballed crates, no cleaning or parts changing involved. On top of that, some years later, Naval Special Warfare Command developed the Mk 14 Mod 0 EBR. They updated the design, made this Universal Rail System that was introduced on later models of the M16 all of it's countless variants that followed so that a wide range of optical sights can be easily switched out." Mason offered.

"But we've got a better one. Up in the room, we have the CheyTac Intervention Anti-Material Sniper Rifle, chambered in .408 CheyTac. That bloody rifle can reach out and tag a human sized target from over a mile away and it even has a suppressor on it to keep the noise down." Soap answered her question, the Karlsland witch nodding since she understood ballistic terms and was enjoying this rousing bout of gun talk. A 2+ km range was highly impressive to say the least and that M14 was even semi-auto, not a bolt action. One of the only witches she knew could really use such weapons effectively was Sgt. Lynnette Bishop, the sharpshooter of their squadron.

"Bloody hell...You even have RPG's? It's like Christmas came early this year." Soap asked, holding up a launcher.

"Yep. Stole what I could from the Russians while wiping them out. Too bad the LMG's and other heavy weapons were in the other van. Had a couple of M-60E4's, a couple of Russian RPD's, and we managed to salvage a M134 Gatling Gun off of a wrecked Humvee, but we left it behind. Got about thrity or so rockets in the compartments under the seats, though." Mason replied, kicking open on compartment to let them see.

"PG-7VR's? You must have done some tank killin'." Price commented.

"What is that thing?" Barkhorn asked.

"Well missy...This is the Russian made RPG-7 Rocket Launcher. Fires these rocket propelled grenades that can shred most modern armored targets like tissue paper." Soap answered her questioned.

"That sounds like they could he useful against the Neuroi!" She realized, feeling that even one of the more heavily armored Land Neuroi would be severely damaged if hit by one of these modern anti-tank rockets.

"Well, well...I've heard of these, but never got to see them up close." Price appraised, holding up something else she became interested in, prompting Mason to introduce it, handing her one minus the magazine.

"Oh ho...Let me introduce you to a good friend of mine...Made by the Land Warfare Research Company, LWRC, is the M6A2 PSD Carbine. It's a pretty stable platform, with a foregrip for added accuracy and top mounted optics for faster target acquisition. It handles just like the M4A1's and the M16A4's that most U.S forces and our allies use, but it's more compact, easier to handle in tight spaces, and chambered with a new type of rifle round. Since the 7.62x39mm round of the AK-47 that our enemies mostly use has a lot of power and penetration, but it's accuracy blows at longer ranges and it's range isn't too hot either, and sometimes the 5.56x45mm just lacks the punching power needed. In light of that, a company called Remington, that's been making guns and ammo for over 100 years in our world, developed these little beauties...The 6.8x43mm SPC, or Special Purpose Cartridge." He told her, holding up all three rounds for a comparison.

She held them in her hand and looked at the difference. She could see that the 6.8mm round was the middle of the road, but she sensed that it wasn't all.

"You see...These combine the stopping power and penetration of the AK-47 with the long range and accuracy of the 5.56mm round that is the norm. These were only recently developed in the past few years, so the military still doesn't use them very much. The police forces snapped them up to beef up their arsenal to combat the growing threat of better armed and armored criminals...You know what? After breakfast, if you can reserve some time at a shooting range, I'll set up these weapons for you and any of the other witches who want to try them. I've got tons of ammo, since we managed to cram everything this crate could handle in here. It's like a mobile armory." Mason offered, the Karlsland Captain's eyes lighting up.

"One question. Can that M6A2 accept optics and underbarrels from an M4?" Price asked.

"Umm...I never tried it, but we can find out later, if you want." Mason answered, making Price smirk.

"Nice..." He murmured as they shut up the van and left to the obstacle course.

TRAINING GROUNDS

OBSTACLE COURSE

At the tree line next to the course, Major Mio Sakamoto was hard at work honing her mind and body through rigorous training. At this moment, she was practicing with her katana, Reppumaru. Reppumaru wasn't just an ordinary sword. She had forged it from scratch herself years ago, pouring every fiber of her being and possibly her very soul into it's creation. She folded it sharp over 500 times, becoming ungodly sharp and extremely durable, but that wasn't the only special quality about it. No...This katana was a Neuroi Slayer and a Beam Cutter, making her the first and at this point, only witch in history to ever score a kill with a blade and slice a Neuroi Laser in half.

Despite her rousing victories and solid reputation amongst not only the witches, but in military circles in general, she was her own worst critic, hence why she drove herself to improve more and more, especially since her magic was dying out, her shield also very weak. She was the oldest witch in the squadron, at 20 years old, and a battle hardened commander and veteran, but witches her age lose their magic. There are exceptions, such as the women of the Miyafuji family, but they are extremely rare, Yoshika being the only daughter of the dying bloodline. That was the reason why the witches were so young and none were over the age of 21. However, Mio sought to overcome this through sheer force of will, along with a Striker Unit that maximized what little power remained within her. She would keep on fighting up to the very end, as was her nature.

She was still hard at work when a group of footfalls announced themselves, coming her way. She stopped what she was doing to go see who had come to join her when she saw Captain Barkhorn showing three of the men from last night to the training course. She recognized them as the three Special Forces Operators and the three oldest of the men, the eldest looked to be at least in his late 40's. When she saw them go through a few practice stretches along with Price and MacTavish removing their gear, she decided to walk over.

"Captain Barkhorn...I see that you're out training early, as usual." Mio greeted.

Trudy held a deep amount of respect for the Major. She was the woman that she herself, one of the famous Karlsland Aces, aspired to be and looked up to. Strong, disciplined, focused, and an all around hard charger and excellent leader.

"Yes ma'am! I saw that they were also up early and looking for a place to exercise, so I had them follow me to the training course." Trudy belted out in true military fashion, leaving Price impressed with her military bearing, so well-trained for one so young.

"Really? I would like to see what these men can do on our course. Last night, I was rather intrigued by their stories and would like to see them in action." Mio mused as Soap had a question for her.

"Is that a real katana?" He asked, having seen one only in a display case at the London Museum.

"Yes...It is, Captain. This is my personally made sword, Reppumaru." She told him, allowing him to get a good look at it. He whistled appraisingly.

"You made this yourself? That's damn fine workmanship. Looks pretty strong." He commented, highly impressed. She smirked a bit at his comment.

"I've killed a Neuroi with this blade, so I would trust it with my life." She replied as he finished going through his stretches. She also noticed that Mason kept on averting his eyes away form the witches and was wondering why he was acting this way, but she thought to leave it until after they ran the course.

"What's the top time?" Price inquired, noticing that she had pulled a stopwatch out of her coat pocket.

"1 minute, 20 seconds. Set by myself." Mio replied as they lined up to run it.

"Good. Gives us something to aim for." He told her as he went first.

Mio and Trudy were both very impressed that a man his age could still move so well.

"He must keep himself in excellent shape to traverse this course so quickly." Barkhorn commented.

"Yes. Even though most his age would say that they are too old, he still trains and is thus still a man to be reckoned with." Mio answered, her respect for this man increasing even more as he finished the course in 1 minute, 10 seconds.

"How'd I do?" He asked, not even winded.

"You beat my time by ten seconds. Very well done, Captain. I must ask you, though...How old are you?" Mio praised.

"Just turned 50 a month ago." He replied off handedly, making the two witches eyes go wide as Mason got ready to run the course.

Once given the signal, he ran the course swiftly and smoothly, lending credence to what he had told them about his training. His time was 1:16. Next was Soap, who was a few seconds slower due to his bulky muscle, but still beat the Major's time by one second.

"I see that the three of you must train hard on a regular basis. You all have a very commendable work ethic." Mio commended, her overall respect for them rising even more as they continued with hard calisthenics and some basic CQC sparring when they all heard reveille being called.

"Ah...I guess we should all head in for a well deserved breakfast after such a good workout." Mio suggested as the three men and Karlsland witch nodded in agreement, the small troupe heading into the mess hall.

'These two have some of the best discipline I've ever seen and they're so young. Those two have some real promise.' Price thought.

BACK IN THE WEST WING

The bugle call of reveille made all three Rangers wake up almost on command, a reflex beaten into them in basic. Ramirez rose to see that his roommate was already out and about, leaving his major equipment behind. Shrugging, the young private got dressed in his BDU and gear, walking over next door to see if his Sarge and Dunn were up yet. A groan let him know that at least Dunn was stirring, but when he peeked in, Foley was already dressed and saw him.

"Ramirez...Good to see that you're up already. Come on in." Foley told him as he kicked Dunn's bed post to further motivate him.

"C'mon Corporal...Revellie. Let's go." The Sarge added as Dunn sat up and shook out the cobwebs.

"So private, where did you go with the Lieutenant and that Hartmann girl last night?" He asked.

"Oh yeah...We went to get his SWAT van that came with him. We brought up three ammo cans so we could all fill our mags up." Ramirez told him.

"Really? Good, I was down to my last mag." Foley replied as they all headed back that way to re-stock.

"Nice...The LT even had 7.62mm for the SCAR-H." Dunn commented while they re-loaded. After they were done, the three decided that they could do with some chow before getting some training in. In Foley's logic, there was no reason to let themselves go even if they wound up here.

DINING HALL

Mio, Barkhorn, and the three SF men strode into in the dining hall and into the delectable smell of whatever was being whipped up in the kitchen. Two other witches had come down for breakfast, Shirley and Commander Minna were inside having some breakfast Lynnette had fixed up for them, Bangers and Mash with some Scones she baked just that morning. The smell practically dragged the men in by the nose to see the young Brittanian girl setting down more plates for them.

"Good morning! I hope everyone's hungry!" She stated in a chipper voice.

"Ohh...That smells bloody good, luv." Soap murmured.

"Mmm...Yeah...Reminds me of my wife's cooking. Thanks, sweetie." Mason added.

"You're welcome, Mr. MacTavish, Mr. Mason." She replied, beaming under the praise as the three men sat down.

"Yep. That's our Lynne, a master chef." Shirley remarked as she took a good bite of the sausage.

The three men dug into their food and were swept up in a whirlwind of flavor. For the men, this was a good ol' homemade breakfast, something they hadn't had in a long time. Price then tried the Scones and his tea, and was just blown away by how good they were.

"Haven't had Scones that good in years. You're a good cook. Cheers, luv." Price smirked and chuckled as he, Soap and Mason all toasted to her cooking, making the girl beam even more as she turned back to the kitchen while humming a small tune. Minna turned to them.

"That was a nice thing you said to her. I haven't seen her that happy in a while." Minna remarked with a smile. Mio and Barkhorn could see that these three were good men, but were still wondering why the Lieutenant averted his eyes when they were up and about. Now was as good a time as any to ask.

"Lieutenant, I've been meaning to ask why you always avert your eyes when you see us walking around." Mio asked.

"Well...As I told you last night, I had daughters that were around your ages, so your state of dress is somewhat awkward for me and it'll take some getting used to." He explained.

"Oh...That pretty much explains it." Shirley remarked.

"My eldest looked somewhat like the Commander. My youngest got my dark hair but her green eyes and shy demeanor...That little Orussian girl Sanya reminds me of her." Mason replied.

"Then it's easy enough to understand, but I'm curious. What was your wife like?" Minna asked.

"I don't really mind telling. I mean, keeping it all bottled up nearly drove me insane. My wife was of Irish descent and I met her when we were 16, in High School. We started dating and after I joined the military we married when we were 18, before I was shipped off for BUDs training in Coronado. Two years later, Jenna was born. A few years after that, Amy came along. I then got out of the military and entered the police force in Los Angeles. Like I said, Jenna inheirited her looks from her mother while Amy got my dark hair. Come to think of it...When she was your age, my wife was almost your spitting image, Commander." He told them as he pulled his wallet out and showed them a few pictures.

The first pictures were of him in Navy Dress Blues just before he got out, but with his 5 year old and one year old daughters and his wife. They progressed The other girls could see the resemblance clear as day and it was a little creepy. Mrs. Mason looked like an older version of Minna with green eyes, along with the eldest girl. The youngest had dark hair, but her shy expression and green eyes reminded them heavily of Sanya. That was most likely why his eyes softened when he saw her.

"So you were a daddy?" Yoshika gasped with a smile.

"Yeah...I was." Mason replied with a sad smile as the Rangers came into the dining hall.

"Mmm...That smells really good." Dunn sniffed the air.

"A home cooked meal...Haven't had one of those since I went on leave to my mom's house in Chicago." Foley remarked as they all took the plates they were offered.

"What's this called?" Ramirez asked. It smelled and looked really good.

"That's a traditional dish from my homeland, Britainnia, called Bangers and Mash. Try it!" She urged eager to see their reactions. She wasn't disappointed in the slightest as they dug into their food, getting a chorus of praise.

"These Scone things...they remind me of the Pan Dulce my grandma used to make after church on Sundays." Ramirez commented, greatly enjoying himself.

Minna and Mio were glad to see the normally downtrodden girl brighten up like this. These men weren't as bad as they could have been, actually having some basic manners and trying to keep their swearing to a minimum.

After a few more minutes, everyone had arrived for breakfast. Perrine was a little hesitant due to how she acted the day before, the talking to she got from both her beloved Major and Commander Minna still ringing in her ears.

FLASHBACK...

It was just after Mio had assigned rooms to the six cosmically misplaced soldiers when she and Minna had Perrine stay back for a few moments.

"Perrine...I know that you were only standing up for Sanya, but they had already apologized for it. Besides, Lieutenant Mason explained to you that he didn't blame Sanya or her people in this world, since it was the parallel version of the Orussians that committed these horrible atrocities." Minna explained firmly.

"B-but Commander...We don't even know if these...males are even telling the truth! They could be lying!" She replied.

"No...I would have been able to see any deceit, but I saw none. Those men were 100% honest with us and saw no gain in holding anything back from the ones who saved one of their number from death." Mio returned, Perrine aghast by the fact that her beloved Major was reprimanding her.

"Damn those male savages..." She muttered, blaming things on others like she constantly did with Yoshika, but Minna would have none of that.

"Don't blame them for this. You need to have a little more tact, Perrine. You're a good witch, but you need to treat others a little more respect than you have, especially Sergeant Miyafuji. You may have been a part of Gallian aristocracy, but here you are a witch of the 501th and you work with a team. Am I clear on that subject?" Minna stated, her decision final.

"Yes, ma'am..." She murmured, still thinking of the heartless things she was thinking and had said.

'Those men had lost a great many things in war...Their loved ones gunned down by their fellow man. I don't know how I would have taken seeing such things...' She thought as she retired to her room for the night.

END...

She slowly made her way into the dining hall when Lieutenant Mason caught sight of her, but returned his attention to his food and conversation, Corporal Dunn and Private Ramirez doing the same.

'I think they're still a little upset with what I said last night...But I still need to apologize.' She thought as she stepped forward and got their attention again.

"I...I'm...I'm sorry...For what I said last night. I didn't know..." She stammered out, not used to having to apologize for much of anything in her life.

The two Rangers and SWAT officer looked at her to gauge if she was forced to say it, or she did it of her own volition. Ramirez sighed and spoke up.

"It's cool...Not like you could have known how things were like in our world." The young private said.

"It wouldn't be very productive, not to mention mature, of us to stay mad about it. You also came out and apologized of you own free will. Thank you." Mason added, Dunn settling for a thank you before finishing up his meal and asking for seconds.

The tension eased up considerably since they took it so well as they all finished up, and cleaned up when Mio asked for their attention.

"I was told by Lieutenant Mason that he would set up some of his hardware for us at the firing range to try and ask him any questions we may have about them." Major Sakamoto announced to the rest of the witches. Sanya was even given the night off to come out with them, Mio herself volunteering for the job.

"I'm gonna need a hand or two to help me out." Mason requested.

"Hell, I'll go. I wanna see this armory on wheels." Dunn offered.

"I'll go, too. This should prove interesting." Mio offered.

"Alright...Let's head out to the motorpool and get the van." Mason said as the two followed him.

BASE FIRING RANGE

Minna led the rest of them out to the range while Foley was wondering why he was being so open with these witches, but Soap and Price had a good idea about that. They felt that he was trying to show the witches that they weren't a threat to them, get them to trust them and make their lives that much easier.

"That SWAT Leftenant is a smart Yank, I'll give him that." Price commented.

"Since these girls will trust us a little more, I'm guessing they could help us by magicking us back or something." Soap replied.

"That would be nice...The whole world thinks we're dead, Shepherd's body is rotting in that forest a few miles from here and will never be found, and we have the DSM. There has to be something he didn't want us to see if he was willing to kill us for it." Price stated, Soap agreeing with him.

"Too right, mate. Too right." He answered as they heard a police siren wail, the van having it's Code 4 lights on to tell them he had arrived as he pulled up in the van and backed it in.

"Now...I promised that I'd show you what I had and I'm going to honor it. You didn't have to help us or let us stay, but you did so without any ulterior motives that I can discern." Mason stated as he and Dunn began to set things up on a tarp that they dragged out from under the van.

As they continued, even the Task Force men lent a hand, setting up the various firearms while Price and Mason were chatting about re-fitting his optics and M203. He hopped in back and came out with a toolbox, the two of them heading over to a nearby table to work on it while Price asked Soap to run them through the ropes. Soap looked over at the Rangers.

"Come on, you lot...Let's set these things up." Soap instructed. Foley nodded, since MacTavish was a superior officer and he'd already come to the conclusion that the 141 guys could be trusted.

Over with Price and Mason, they were busy taking the optics and underslung weapon off of his M4A1 and trying to fit them onto the PSD with Shirley and Sakamoto looking on. Shirley, a real gearhead, was interested in the workings of these Assault Rifles, seeing as they were full auto but much smaller than the BAR she was used to, but bigger than the Thompson. From what she could see, they fired full sized rifle rounds on full auto, but her interest lay in the mechanism itself, so she paid close attention to the two older men as they worked.

"Hmm...The URS looks like it can be done. Let's slap 'em on and take it for a test drive." Mason stated, Price doing just that.

"Nice. I've always wanted to try one of these. A full sized AR round in an PDW format. That was a work of genius." Price muttering as he finished, checking his grip on his new weapon.

"Feels alright. Kind of light, too." He commented.

"Hey, um...What's that thing under the barrel?" Shirley asked.

"An M203 Grenade Launcher. Fires 40mm Fragmentation Grenades for anti-personnel, or HE for use against light armor." Price rattled off as he grabbed a loaded mag, locked and loaded, and headed off to the firing line to test fire with Mason, who was trying to zero in the sight on his own M6A2 since he noticed it was off.

"That...Sounds like a good idea..." The Liberion witch and tinkerer muttered to herself.

"It does...If we had dual purpose utility weapons such as those, we could stand a much better chance against the Neuroi." Mio agreed as they headed back to the group.

Minna had seen a strange looking weapon that seemed like a sub machine gun and oddly reminded her of an MP40, but she wanted ask and be sure.

"Captain MacTavish? What weapon is this?" She asked.

"The Heckler & Koch MP5. A pretty useful SMG that fires 9mm rounds at 800 round per minute and has 30 rounds in this detachable magazine. It's also got a fire selector switch that lets you choose single fire, three round burst and full auto." Soap answered her as he inserted a magazine, locked and loaded, and set her up on the firing line.

"It sounds like it was made in Karlsland in the future. It even fires the exact same round as my MP40." Minna reasoned as she fired off a set set of bursts, since Soap set it for burst fire. She noted that while there was some kickback to it, it was more due to the high rate of fire and how light the weapon was, nothing like trying to keep her MG42 under control.

Next in line was Lynnette, who had become interested in the Mk 14 and helping her was Dunn, who had used this weapon before.

"Now...This is a sniper rifle called the Mk 14 Mod 0 EBR. It's a pretty good rifle, considering the basic design is twice as old as I am. My grandpa had an original M14 from when he was in the Marines and we used to go out into the woods and hunt in the winter when I stayed at his cabin." Dunn stated as he set her up on the line.

She noted that there was some considerable weight to the weapon, but not as heavy as her Boys Anti-Tank Rifle, and the round was probably lighter, too. As she peered into the scope, it was far easier for her to aquire her target than by just her iron sights. She also noticed the lack of a bolt action and as she fired off a round, hitting the target dead center at 400 meters, the spent round ejected itself!

"Self-loading? This is a useful feature." She commented.

"Yeah. There were versions of the M-14 that could go full auto, but most of those wound up in private collections. That 20 round box mag can go a long way." Dunn replied.

"20 rounds?" She almost exclaimed.

"Yep. 20." He returned as she handed the rifle back to him, Dunn clearing the weapon.

The weapon show went on for a while longer, due to the girls showing them what they used in the field. For the men, it was like an antique weapons exhibit, since most of these firearms were museum pieces in their time, such as the MG42's, the Colt M1919A6, Breda SAFAT, Bren LMG, Type 99-2-2 LMG, and the Browning Automatic Rifle, or BAR. The one common weapon that bridged the gap was the fact that the 141 operators carried Colt .45 Autos, just like Shirley. Price's was a family heirloom, his grandfather getting his from a man named Lt. Charles "Chuck" Walker during WWII. Soap's was a newer model, but essentially the same gun.

"It's like I got invited to the best antique gun show ever. I mean...The only one missing is the Tommy Gun." Dunn commented, his eyes still roving over the vintage weapons. He grew up in Abilene Texas, surrounded by guns of all shapes and sizes with his dad being a gunsmith and his grandfather a Marine. He still enjoyed the classics.

"Tommy...Gun?" Yoshika asked, wondering what that could be.

"That's just what the Thompson Sub Machine Gun was nicknamed. It was also called the Chicago Typewriter and the Chopper by gangsters in the 1920's." Shirley explained. It was a Liberion weapon, so of course she would know about it as well as it's rather infamous monikers and history.

A few others had some serious concerns as to what an officer of the law was doing with such an arsenal in the first place. They only knew police as the sometimes friendly but usually strict local constables, and even then there were only armed with a simple truncheon and maybe, but very rarely, a revolver.

"You say you're an officer of the law? What use would a policeman have for a soldier's arsenal and training?" Perrine asked suspiciously. Mio and Minna looked sternly at her, but he waved them off.

"It's a fair question, so don't get mad at her. You see...In my time, many major cities are not very safe places to be. A good number of those cities are in my home country, my own being one of the worst, Los Angeles. People and politicians have gone as far as to declare all out war on crime and criminals, but the criminals just got more brazen, organized, and armed. Crime rates had gone through the roof, innocent people have been killed daily by thugs and hoods that can barely pass for human beings by demeanor. Just catching them and locking them away for long periods of time had proven useless. Tired of all this and the inaction of the Governer at the time, the people voted him out and voted in a person who decided to borrow a concept from another city, Project T-Zero, or Zero Tolerance. For this, the mayor of Los Angeles sent out a call to action for anyone with military experience, combat veterans preferred. I knew the Ramirez family for a long time, and it was Private Ramirez's father that told me about the mayor's literal call to arms. It was the reason why I left the Navy and returned home. He told the mayor about my years with the SEALs and they sped me through the basics of police work, something I found they did for several others like me, and slapped us into a pair of SWAT teams, which doubled as T-Zero Teams." The SWAT leader answered.

"Reminds me of the Favela in Rio de Janeiro...A zoo were the animals are in charge and law and order don't exist." Soap grimaced.

"You...can't be serious..." Lynnette gasped, sounding shocked and aghast by this grim future.

"They're right. I lived in Chicago and a lot of areas in that city are little better than the warzones we fought in. A program like that would have helped a great deal." Foley added, his voice and face both grim, just making the witches fear for the future even more.

"You said that there were others like you?" Price asked.

"Yeah...There were ex-Army Rangers, another SEAL, a few Recon Marines, one guy from Delta and one Green Beret, Captain Barret. Myself and Barret were the two most experienced in combat, so we were in charge of the new team of street sweepers. Things were pretty rocky at first, the media and liberal groups calling us a death squad. After the first two years though, we managed to lower the crime rate by 35% with no collateral damage, a huge improvement. The criminals we did capture alive were too scared to return to a life of crime or go back to their gangs." Mason explained.

"So...It would seem that this idea was working like a charm." Mio surmised, herself being one of those who lived by the "By any means necessary" school of thought.

"It was working, but we still had our opponents in the local and federal governments, media and other places. They always swore the same thing, that we were little better than a legalized death squad. The mayor and police chief fired back with our track record and other cops and their families saying they were thankful we were there, otherwise some family would be getting a call or the Captain knocking at the door, telling them that their parent or spouse died in the line of duty." Mason answered her.

The witches could all attest to something like that. Chief Marshal Dowding set up the 501st and defended them from the naysayers that said they would fail. The witches were seen as guardian angels by many on the front lines, but they still had many more who reviled them and wanted them gone. Many of these were in the various governments that made up their alliance, some in positions to do some real damage if given the chance, Chief Marshal Maloney being just one of many. The homeland of every witch had their own hardliners causing problems.

'That reminds me...I still need to report this to Command. I can only hope they don't try anything rash with these men. I can see that backfiring in the worst way and we need to send them home. Maybe Lieutenant Hartmann's sister Ursula can help...I should contact her, too.' Minna thought as the conversation went on.

"Sounds like something my grandpa said..."If it ain't broke, don't fix it."." Shirley cracked with a grin to lighten the mood, which worked wonderfully. Barkhorn had her own questions.

"What were your normal operational parameters?" Trudy asked.

"Our main mission was to wipe out violent criminals by any means necessary while doing everything in our power to save innocent lives, which was a hell of a job. Some of them were just as well armed and organised as professional armies, especially those drug cartels that constantly tried to move in on new neighborhoods. We also responded to all high risk incidents normal police weren't equipped or trained to handle. We managed to whittle the violent crime rate down to 34% as compared to what it was before we existed. Things went on this way until the Russian invasion and you already know that story." Mason finished.

"Oh...Well...I can only hope that things won't get as bad in our future." Perrine commented, trying to stay calm.

"For your sakes...I hope not. People like us shouldn't be necessary at all in Law Enforcement. It's almost like a sign of the end of days..." Mason muttered.

As they began to put things away and get on with their day, some of them noticed that Ramirez was lagging behind. His usual shades and shemah were off and it looked like something was really bothering him. Foley noticed first and walked over.

"You okay, Private?" He asked in a hushed tone.

"Yeah...I just have a lot on my mind right now." Ramirez replied, not convincing Foley in the slightest, but he knew that the young man was usually tight lipped.

"...Okay. We're going to do some SOCP training before dinner, so make sure you show up, hooah?" Foley replied as he turned to help with the breakdown.

Mio and Sanya saw that he was troubled by something and it had started during the conversation about his home city. They made their way over to him to speak with him, Eila trying to convince Sanya to let Mio handle it, but she shook her head.

"He needs help...I want to help him." The quiet Orussian girl spoke as her friend sighed.

"Fine..." Eila grunted as she let go and followed.

"There is something wrong. I can tell. You want to talk about it, Private?" Mio asked, not accepting no for an answer. Sanya's pleading gaze behind her only added weight to the request, so he slumped in defeat.

"Fine..." He sighed in defeat, slumping down onto a bench as he explained what was wrong.

Somehow, he just felt more comfortable explaining this to them than his Sargeant, especially since the Major's no-nonsense bearing reminded him of his mother to a small degree. He was a bit wary of Sanya, mainly due to the fact that she is from this world's version of Russia. He knew that it was stupid to be fearful of such a small girl who had nothing to do with his family's outright murder, but the hesitation was still there. Gritting his teeth, he took the plunge.

"It's just hard to take...I was always wondering how my folks were doing during the invasion, but I thought that bastard Shepherd evacuated all the civilians. He kept them there, then he left them to die. Now, I find out that my folks are all dead! Murdered by those bastard Russians! I should have been there..." Ramirez barked out, barely able to hold himself back from lashing out.

Mio understood why he felt this way. She could see some similarities to Barkhorn this young man. Both were very angry that their homelands had been invaded and their families killed, except Barlhorn has her sister still, yet Ramirez's whole family is now gone, he himself the only survivor. Sanya was shaking, but she wasn't afraid of him. No...She was shuddering because she was trying to imagine her people from this parallel world committing such horrible crimes. Eila misunderstood, due to her protectiveness and lashed out.

"Quit scaring her!" She barked out. Mio was about to stop her, but Sanya acted first by placing a calming hand on her shoulder as she explained. Once she did, the Suomus witch wilted in shame.

"Sorry..." She apologized as Sanya stepped up to the American Private, who was sitting down with his face in his hands, and gave him a hug.

"I'm sorry...For what they did to you, your family...Your people..." Sanya whispered into his ear, making the young man tense and freeze.

He slowly looked the quiet girl in the eyes, trying to see any dishonesty in her, but found none. She was truly sorry for it, even though her people here in this world had nothing to do with what happened.

"S'okay...I'm alright." He mumbled as he wiped his face with his gloved hands.

Satisfied with this, Mio addressed him warmly.

"Come. It's time for lunch and after you train with your Sargeant, how would you like to train with me? If anything else, it can help you find peace." Mio offered.

Ramirez wondered for a moment how this young woman the same age as himself seemed so much more mature. Although, he had to admit that learning that Kendo stuff that she trained in sounded interesting. He shook himself out of his surprize and answered her.

"Y-yeah...I'd like that." The young american answered as he stood up, looking down at Sanya.

"Hey, um...Thanks...For actually caring. It felt nice, y'know?" Ramirez thanked the small girl awkwardly.

"You're welcome." She replied quietly as she and Eila left for the mess hall, Mio and Ramirez behind them.

COMMUNICATIONS ROOM

Minna had dropped by the Comms room to check the schedule for any Neuroi attacks when the base radio operator, a young non-witch who ran the Comms, stopped her before she could leave.

"Commander...Flight Officer Ursula Hartmann reported yesterday evening about three unknown objects that crashed into the area surrounding the base. I believe that this was how our visitors got here." The young woman, Master Sergeant Madeline LaPonte, hypothesized.

"Hmm...You may be right. Can she be raised?" Minna asked.

"I tried a few hours ago, ma'am. Last I heard, she was on a plane bound for this base. She should be here soon, barring an unforeseen circumstances." Madeline replied, but that unforeseen circumstance she mentioned just happened.

"Ma'am! RADAR just picked up Neuroi activity 50 miles out from the base!" The male RADAR tech cried out, watching for more information.

"What?! Who called it in?!" Minna demanded.

"The 78th Reserve Witches CO Lt. Hennessy just did! They were escorting Flight Officer Hartmann when they were attacked and the transport carrying her was shotdown. She is injured, but alive. The pilot and Co-Pilot were killed on impact and the 78th have already engaged the enemy!" Madeline answered.

"What are their numbers?" Minna asked the tech.

"Let's see...Three fighter Neuroi, three Tank Neuroi and one Heavy Bomber. Heading suggests they were on their way here." He replied.

"I see...Hit the alarm, Scramble all Witches!" Minna ordered as she hauled ass out of there to get ready for combat.

HANGER BAY AND MOTORPOOL

The entire base was buzzing with activity once the alarm went off, personnel running every which way to get to their battlestations. The Witches themselves were currently gathering in the Hanger and Motorpool, arming up and readying themselves for combat. The men heard the call to scramble and all rushed to the Hanger on instinct. Mason and the 141 arrived first and were gearing up, drawing attention.

"What are you doing here?" Barkhorn asked a little more harshly than she intended.

"We heard the siren and saw you girls running here. We just came to see if we could help." Price stated.

"What could you possibly do against the Neuroi besides get yourselves killed?!" Perrine exclaimed, not really seeing the logic behind their seemingly suicidal actions.

"Nothing's impossible for the 141, luv. The yank here is on par with us, so he's included with us." Price answered, Minna relenting.

"They're willing to help us, so who are we to turn down the skills these men can offer. Besides, there is a witch down and they can go in and rescue her while we only have to worry about fighting the Neuroi. Some of the weaponry they have is clearly more powerful than ours and more advanced, so if they run into a Walker Neuroi they can fend for themselves." Minna reasoned. The rest of the witches weren't as convinced, but if Minna had faith in them, they could too. Mio sighed to herself as she called out to them.

"You have radio's right? Our Frequency is 101.6." The Major informed them as the Witches sped off into combat.

"Right. Let's load up in one of those lorries and head out." Price ordered. As they loaded some ordinance into a 6x6 truck, Mason was curious.

"Price...Why include me with the 141?" He asked.

"Your experience and background make you more than adequately qualified. As far as I'm concerned, you've earned it Lieutenant. Welcome to the 141." The old veteran replied honestly, Soap nodding in agreement. Mason just nodded as they finished loading an explosion resistant case of RPG rockets into the truck and were about to head out when the three Rangers barreled around the corner.

"Great minds think alike, eh?" Dunn joked.

"You helpin' too, Yanks?" Soap asked in return.

"Might as well. If those things make it here, we're screwed either way. Besides, it'd be a nice way to repay them for letting us shack up here." Foley explained calmly, making Price smirk.

"Good answer, yank. Hop in." Price answered him, the three Rangers loading up.

"Alright, Soap...Floor it. We'll have a hell of a time keeping up with those girls in the first place." Price ordered, the truck roaring out of the Motorpool and out in the direction the Witches flew off in, following them into combat.

BATTLEFIELD

The truck had been bumping along the roads, following the route the witches had taken thanks to Price spotting them with his binoculars and helping them find them when a familiar voice buzzed over their comms.

"This is Commander Wilcke of the 501st. Lieutenant Hennessey, what is your status?" Commander Minna requested over the comms.

"Lieutenant Marissa Hennesey of the 78th Reserve Witches here, ma'am! We are currently engaged with the air types, but the Walkers are constantly taking pot shots at us and keeping us from reaching Lieutenant Hartmann! The few Land Witches we have with us are being overwhelmed!" The 78th CO reported.

"Ursula?! She was shot down?!" Erica cried over the radio, distraught that he sister was down and hurt out there

"Don't worry, Erica. We have a special Search and Rescue team on their way right now. They can get her out of there." Minna replied as she called them.

"141 and Hunter 2-1...Can you hear me?" She called them.

"We're here, Commander. How can we help out?" Price answered.

"Captain Price...Your orders are to find Lieutenant Ursula Hartmann and get her to safety, as well as rescuing any downed witches called out. You will be referred to as a Search and Rescue Team. Understood?" She ordered them.

"Copy that. SAR team en route now." Captain Price rogered up as did the rest of them.

"Good. We've needed a team like this, but our brass always refused to spare resources for it. These men actually volunteered for this?" Lieutenant Hennessey asked, stunned that they were getting such help. These men also sounded very brave, willing to enter that shit storm to pull downed witches out of harms way.

"Yes. I can also vouch for their skill under fire and trustworthiness. They can do this." Minna vouched as they barreled into the combat zone.

The Witches split up into their groups and attacked the Neuroi with rehearsed presicion as the newly christened SAR team approached the battle area. In a few moments, they caught sight of some of the strangest things they'd seen in their lives.

"What the hell is that?" Soap wondered aloud.

"I reckon it's one of those Neuroi the girls told us about. Those things are freaking huge!" Dunn exclaimed.

"Keep an eye out of trouble, you lot! We can't get caught with our thumbs up our arses!" Price yelled as a Neuroi flying overhead took a potshot at them.

"Holy hell! Evading!" Soap yelled out, narrowly dodging the laser blast.

"These things are packing freaking lasers?!" Ramirez exclaimed.

"That's correct, Private. Be careful out there. One hit and you won't even leave a corpse behind." Major Sakamoto warned as he and her wingmate broke off and engaged the Neuroi that shot at them.

"Christ...What the hell did we just agree to?" Dunn muttered as they continued on.

They continued on for a few more moments until they ran into one of the Walker Neuroi, Soap reacting quickly and steering the truck behind a building before it noticed them.

"C'mon, lads. Two teams...Soap and Dunn with me. Mason, take Foley and Ramirez. Grab RPG's and a couple of rockets and stay out of sight. We'll ambush that bastard before it even knows we're here." Price ordered as they quickly assembled their gear and deployed as planned.

The Neuroi was sitting idle, sandwiched between two three story buildings. They guessed that it was hiding among the buildings and waiting for an unwary witch to pass by and shoot her down. The plan was for each three man team to infiltrate a building on each side, both of them carrying ordinance in case lead wasn't enough. They slowly and quietly moved into position, taking aim at the large...Thing.

"Steady...Wait for my signal..." Price muttered over their comms as Dunn took aim with an RPG-7, Team 2 doing the same with their carbines.

"Drop that Wanker!" Price roared as Team 2 rained high caliber fire down on the body of the Neuroi.

The large Neuroi groaned under the concentrated fire, having been told by the witches the other night that the sweet spot on the Neuroi was usually located toward the center mass. The combined fire from the three men all concentrated on a general area was having some effect. At first, it appeared to be doing nothing, but the full auto, high caliber gunfire began to chip away at the outer armor-like hide of the Neuroi. Feeling they had done enough damage, Mason called up Price.

"Captain...Drop that bastard with the rockets!" He called in.

"Corporal...Take that bloody thing out!" Price yelled over the gunfire.

"Got it, Cap'n!" Dunn replied, taking aim with the RPG-7 and firing the Anti-Armor rocket.

The rocket hit dead center, it's first stage charge shredding the outer armor layer and the second punching a hole clean through the middle, right where the core used to be before it seemed to shatter like glass. The men looked on at their accomplishment and cheered.

"Nice shot, Corporal." Price stated.

"HOOAH! Take that, E.T wanna-be bastard!" Dunn whooped as a low flying witch witnessed the fight.

"Good kill! Nice job, comrades!" The young platinum blond girl praised them in a distinctly Russian accent as she flew on, but another Walker heard the commotion and lumbered it's way over to them, it's laser already charging.

"Holy shit...Another one." Mason pointed out as he tried to warn the young witch.

"Look out! Hostile at your 6!" Mason yelled into the comms, but it was too late.

The Neuroi had already charged up and shot at her, taking off her weapon arm at the elbow before she could open fire or raise her shield, and the second one destroying her left Striker, the young girl plowing into the street.

"Shit! She's down!" Mason bellowed as he shimmied his way down a drain pipe swiftly and onto the street. The SWAT officer quickly slid in, picked the crying girl up bridal style and ran for their lives for cover, barely evading another laser blast.

"Gah...Fuck! Shit!" Mason cursed, the shockwave form the blast nearly knocking him off his feet.

Price was at first going to order him to stay behind cover, but he knew that they needed to rescue the downed witch, their new job.

"Cover his arse! Take it down!" Price ordered as every gun around began raining hell on the Walker, Ramirez moving to get a better shot from the rooftops. As soon as he had a clear shot, he fired his SMAW and blew the offending alien away.

"Got 'im, Cap'n! Scratch another hostile!" Ramirez announced into his comms.

"Good shot, Private." Price replied.

"Two kills?! Good work, SAR team! Secure that injured witch and keep pressing ahead." Minna ordered. These men were performing beyond her expectations. She only wished that she was allowed to decorate them for their bravery under fire.

Spotting no more hostiles in the area, Price had the teams re-converge and move back to the truck. Dunn made his way over to the injured Air Infantry witch and began to assess the damage.

"Oh shit...Good thing that laser cauterised the wound already. Lemme give her something to numb the pain." Dunn said, reaching into his Medic Bag and pulled out a Morphine Syrette.

He attempted to administer the pain killer, but she began to thrash wildly at the sight of the needle, crying out fearfully in Russian. Mason sighed and pulled on more of the training he recieved in the SEALs, including the Russian that he was taught. It was a little rusty, but he managed.

"Zdesʹ oâgnitesʹ, vy kak raz primite emu legkomu promežutok vremeni." He told the scared girl to calm her enough for Dunn to treat her. His Russian was a little rough, but she understood him.

After a few more moments, he managed to coax her out of her frenzy. Once she calmed down, Dunn quickly and painlessly administered the Morphine, the painkiller doing it's job almost instantly. The young girl felt her pain die down to a dull throbbing sensation where the rest of her arm used to be. Carefully, the two men load her into the truck where he could work in her further as a Land Infantry witch rolled up. Looking at her, she was a blond girl with green eyes. Her Strikers unit and weapon both looked like they were ripped right off of a M4 Sherman, even the Howitzer Cannon she toted.

"Alena! Oh god...Is she alright?!" The young woman nearly shrieked.

"Well...That thing blew off her arm and..." Dunn began to say, but the young witch cut him off.

"I said is she alright?!" The witch bellowed at him angrily.

"Stay outta the way and let me finish!" Dunn fired back as he continued to work on her.

"I expect a better answer next time, Corporal." She seethed at the Ranger Medic, but the rest of the team was less than pleased by her attitude. From the looks of things, only three of them wore rank insignias, so she assumed she was the highest ranking one there.

"Who's in charge here?" She demanded, but Soap took over.

"Who the bloody hell are you, missy?" The Scotsman demanded right back, not at all intimidated.

"Master Sergeant Bernice Marlow. What rank are you?" She demanded again, but Price was in a less than festive mood right now.

"You are addressing two Captains and a Lieutenant, young lady." He sternly informed her. The young witch looked more closely at their uniforms, now seeing their insignias. Now, she began to sweat.

"Look...Let's just do our jobs and get out of here alive, huh?" Mason cut in, more to the young woman, who wilted.

"Bernice...These men saved my life out there and were very kind to me. They told me that their mission is to rescue any downed witches they can find and get them to safety." Alena informed her fretting comrade. She looked to the rest of the men, who nodded to affirm her claim.

"Our primary objective is to reach and rescue one Lieutenant Ursula Hartmann. If you could come with us and lend some firepower, this will get done much quicker. Savvy?" Price laid out before her. She nodded, the choice only too clear.

"Yes, sir. I'll follow you and lend fire support." She saluted, the old man returning it as they all got into the truck and moving further along.

Bernice offered to take point due to her ability to keep up with the truck with her strikers while Mason drove. With Bernice leading the way to the crash site, they made much better time than before, reaching the plane wreck inside of five minutes and spotting the injured girl, who was pinned under a wing. Ramirez, Soap and Foley jumped from the truck and quickly lifted the wing off of her while Ramirez picked her up and carried her back to Dunn, who began scanning her for injuries while the others scanned the area for more hostiles. His face grew more grim by the second as he continued to look for and find more injuries.

"Damn...She's got a broken leg and wrist, but that's not the worst of it." Dunn breathed, his breath shuddering.

"What else is there?" Price asked.

"She got two broken ribs and one of her lungs is punctured...I...I can't help her, sir." He replied, his voice shaking. Price jumped on the Comms immeadiately.

"This is SAR team...We have found the Lieutenant. I repeat...Lieutenant Hartmann has been found and secured, but she needs immediate medical treatment! Her wound are severe and we can't help her!" Price called out using coordinates on an area map in the truck, hoping that Miyafuji girl was listening and nearby. The reply he got back was what he was hoping for.

"This is Major Sakamoto. Miyafuji and myself are very close by and coming to you. The enemy is in full retreat and I hear that you managed to take down two walkers on your own. Good job out there." The Fuso Major replied the pair swooping in and landing.

Yoshika immediately disengaged her strikers and ran over to the badly injured witch, whose breathing was becoming more labored and harsh. Acting quickly and on Dunn's guidance, she focused her Healing on the most severe and life threatening injury, her punctured lung. The healing magic quickly did it's job, color returning to the young witch's cheeks and her breathing returning to normal.

"Damn good work, lass, but there's still one more in the back of the truck." Price directed her efforts to the Orussian witch in the truck while he turned to the Major.

"Ma'am...Mind if we borrow Miyafuji for a bit? We'll take her back to base with us." Price requested.

"Very well, Captain. Take good care of her and the others." Mio called out over the roar of her strikers, bolting off for the base at a rapid clip.

"SAR Team...This is Lieutenant Hennessey, C.O of the 78th Reserve Witches. I understand that you rescued one of my girls and Officer Hartmann. Thank you. We'll see you at the base. God Speed." The young C.O stated over her comms as they continued on their way towards the base and relative safety.

"So...Any thoughts on our first encounter?" Foley asked, making conversation and getting their take on this.

"That was bloody wierd...Those damn things are tough to kill. If we didn't have those Anti-Armor RPG's...Forget it. Thinkin' 'bout it don't sit well." Soap replied.

"I know, man...As if those lasers they pack weren't bad enough. I went through two full mags on that first one." Ramirez chimed in.

"At least we know that our RPG's can kill these bloody things. It helps that we can hide in buildings and bushwhack 'em...Flying around up there would make you stand out like bollocks on a bulldog." Price added.

"You guys did really well for not being witches or having magic!" Yoshika commented.

"I must agree...You men are certainly a cut above the rest of the infantrymen that I have ever seen. I owe you all my life and I'd like to repay the debt someday." Ursula added, racking her mind for a way to do it. The lessened pain in her body made thinking much easier.

'Hmm...It seems as thought when I experimented with that anomaly, I unintentionally created a bridge to their reality, plucking them from their world to ours. Maybe...I can reverse it somehow.' The young Karlsland witch and scientist thought on how to repay the men who saved her life as they made their way back to the base.

A/N : Second chapter down. I know...At first, it was like a weapons exhibition, but that was needed. You can't just expect the witches to just go and trust them when so many in their own ranks would love to see them fail. They needed a reason to trust them, first. This was accomplished by showing them their equipment and training with them, getting to know them on a personal level. Now, they have a good amount of trust from the C.O and X.O of the 501st, as well as the Reserve Witches for saving two of their own.

I selected the PG-7VR rockets for their armor killing abilities. I figured that the Dual Stage warheads would be more than enough to kill a Neuroi and since Mason and his fellow officers had been fighting a Guerilla-Style War against the Russians that occupied L.A, he and his compatriots had to have appropriated some to kill Russian armor with an added sense of irony.