Chapter 3
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London, Britannia 1944
Within the confines of a Britannian military base, Admiral Takano Isoroku was in a room filled with officers from the nations of Liberion, Suomos, Orrusia, Britannia, Gallia, Romanga and Karlsland. The officers from the major powers were gathered in a meeting room, staring at the admiral, who had called them there to propose a course of action that the other leaders were less than enthusiastic about. Fuso's acquisition of the Nagato had already been a major shift in power in favour of Fuso, which already had the advantage that it was neither under siege nor occupation at the hands of an alien power bent on eliminating all human life.
"...So... in other words," Admiral Nimitz of Liberion asked, "not only did you claim the strange ship Nagato for yourselves, but now you also want us to place our witches on board?" he scoffed. "Why on earth would we contribute? Britannia may be under attack, but Fuso has no need for any further witches."
"I understand your objections," Takano assured him, "and I would agree with your statements. However, I have an idea which, if successful, will benefit all of our nations."
"What I see," an Orussian naval admiral asked, "is you asking to put our resources onto your ship."
"As I said, I understand. However, with the approval of the Fuso Imperial Court, I propose that the Nagato be sent to aid in the European front."
That sent murmurs down through the meeting hall. Finally, a Gallian officer cleared his throat. "I... mean no disrespect, of course," he began, "But I fail to see how a battleship – a formidable one at that, but still a battleship – could do much against the Neuroi and warrant gathering us all here. I am sure you are aware that battleships are not quite as effective in the battle doctrines against the Neuroi."
"I do not intend to deploy the Nagato as a battleship." Takano replied, which sent even further murmurs down the hall.
"Then what?" A Karlslandian Officer stood. "A battleship that would not be deployed as such!? You might as well be sending extra liabilities then!" The Karlslander was followed by further outbursts from the European officers, but Admiral Nimitz turned to his Fuso counterpart, having a feeling he knew that Takano was going to suggest. "...a carrier, isn't it?"
That one phrase silenced the meeting room.
"That is correct." Takano smiled. "Gentlemen, as you are all aware, at the present moment the joint fighter wings are all based on the ground. The reason for this is simple – the ships of our time are, unfortunately, much too fragile in combat against the Neuroi. Losing their carrier ship would mean the loss of the strike witches as well, and that would be a major, perhaps even decisive defeat against the Neuroi.
And that is why I wish to use the Nagato." The Admiral continued. "The Nagato has been witnessed firsthand having capabilities far beyond what our ships could achieve. With this ship, the implementation of a single Joint Mobile Carrier Fleet is possible."
If the officers had doubts about the meeting before, they were gone now. The addition of a Joint Mobile Carrier Fleet, a Joint Fighter Wing acting as a force multiplier capable of rapidly relocating to respond to increased Neuroi pressure, was a very tempting prospect. The hostile attitude against Takano had completely disappeared, replaced by an enthusiastic will to turn this new proposal into action as soon as possible.
After working out the details and guidelines regarding the authority over the ship, Nimitz turned to the Fuso Admiral. "Well," he smiled. "do you have a specific witch wing on board?"
"I do."
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Nagato, en route to Britannian Base
"...Carrier? Our ship?"
It was midday, with the ship approaching the designated Britannian base. Noyuki and Hiroshi were on the bridge, reading new orders that had been sent allegedly directly from the Fuso Admiral himself.
"Yes Captain." the second in command nodded. "We are apparently to house several witches on board our ship. That is why we were asked to set aside ten or so rooms."
Noyuki hesitated. Although as an officer who had successfully graduated from the military academy he was competent in commanding carrier operations, he had never actually done so in live combat. However, he feared the alternative should he express his doubts about the orders, which would undoubtedly be the addition of a carrier commander on board to "guide" the ship.
Weighing the options of having an outsider be privy to the sensitive information on board the ship compared to taking a role he had minimal combat experience in, he decided that if he could preform miracles with a carrier in the academy, he could preform one here as well. "...I guess orders are orders, lieutenant." he sighed. "what about the arrangements? Quarters for the witches and service crew? Area in the helicopter hanger?"
"Already being taken care of." The lieutenant explained. "The men had taken the initiative and did everything they recognized as required for the addition of what we take to be the equivalent of a fighter wing."
Noyuki allowed himself a small smile, knowing his crewmen were still on top of their duties despite everything that had happened.
"The witch wing is ready to be brought on board already, and from the information we received on their dossiers they are quite the international team, with witches from Finland – erm, Suomos, and Orussia as well as Gallia and even Romania."
"Rome?" Noyuki asked, surprised the civilization had survived in this world.
"Italy, sir."
"Ahh..." Noyuki shook his head. "Sorry about that. I suppose it will take a while for me to get accustomed to the nations of this world."
"You've been working too hard, sir." the Lieutenant replied in worry. "Ever since we... we arrived in this world, you have been working yourself tired – and please don't lie to me sir, I've seen the lights on your room hours after you were off duty."
Noyuki remained silent, refusing to comment on the further any longer. It was true: since they had arrived in this world, he had spent most of his time studying the world's geography, history and battle doctrine. He could not allow himself to stay in the latter half of the century: this was 1940, and he felt a great need to get himself caught up. With this enemy known as "Neuroi", just like with the BETA a single mistake would cost lives – a cost too high for him to pay. Not only was there the problem that the crewmen of this world could not possibly operate the systems of the Nagato, to Noyuki letting his crewmen die was among the highest betrayal between Captain and crew he could think of.
"...why are you remaining silent, sir?" the Lieutenant asked for a while.
"Because you asked me not to lie."
There was a moment of silence, and then the two officers laughed, as did the bridge crew. It was a good feeling, relieving some of the stress that had plagued them ever since the loss of Sadogashima. After the laughter had someone subsided into chuckles, the lieutenant handed Noyuki a note.
"What's this?" he asked, a smile still on his face.
"A doctor's note." the lieutenant said. "Sleep."
Noyuki balked. Even though he was the captain of the ship, he still could not deny a health professional telling him that he was destroying his own health through a lack of sleep.
"We still have two days before reaching the base." Hiroshi reminded him. "You shouldn't present yourself with bags under your eyes."
Noyuki tried to think of something – anything to get him out of being essentially ordered by the ship's doctor into doing something, but at last he relented.
"I'll... get some hours in tonight." he conceded.
Hiroshi smiled. Even though he was the second in command and Noyuki was the captain, as the elder he still felt a bit of responsibility for Noyuki. "And don't bother trying to work with the lights off."
"You know me too well."
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A few days later
Britannian Military Base, Former Headquarters of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing
"...There it is." Mio called out, watching the horizon with her magical eye. "The Nagato is coming."
The rest of the girls peered, trying to find the ship that they had been mistakenly ordered to attack a few days prior. To them, it was an extremely strange and unprecedented situation: moving permanently onboard a ship was something that they had not expected a witch to be asked to do.
"But still," a tall Liberion girl with orange hair asked as she leaned back on a wall, "Are we really going to be based on a battleship? I mean, where will we even take off from?"
"The Nagato has a flat area on it's rear from which they launch their wingless aircraft." Mio explained. "If I'm correct, we'll be launching from there."
"I really have to wonder what they have on board that ship." Wing Commander Minna Wilcke pondered. "I mean, even from what we just saw on the outside, they seem to have things beyond our wildest imaginations."
The girls then turned to Mio, who they knew was the one who had actually been inside that ship. Quickly realizing that their attentions were on her, she sighed. "Well, hm... I did see glowing screens of sorts – I don't know, but I think that they have videos that are much more and much clearer than anything we have. I heard some sort of beeping in that medical wing of theirs, and it felt a lot cleaner too."
Just then, there was the sound of a blaring horn in the distance, and the girls looked up. "There it is!"
From the horizon, the Nagato came forward, it's shape – simple in comparison to the ships of their world – coming closer.
From the bridge of the Nagato, Noyuki could not help but gasp at the sight of the castle that was the headquarters of the witches. It was reminiscent of a gleaming fortress, with it's white walls perhaps disguising the actions that went on inside.
"Captain..." Hiroshi said, gesturing outside of their window, "Look, the witches are on the docks already."
Noyuki looked out the window to see the girls on the dock. He recognized them all – and it was not exactly a pleasant memory, with some of them having aimed weapons at his ship with the intention of harming his crew. However, that was in the past, and it was also an action that was caused by a mistake that was not theirs.
It was then that a thought came to mind. Getting on the intercom, he announced: "Attention, Lieutenant Kinoshita Minori, please report to the bridge. I repeat, Lieutenant Kinoshita, to the bridge."
A few minutes passed as the ship continued approaching the base before the commander of Dolphin unit arrived. "Reporting as ordered, Captain." she saluted.
Noyuki nodded. "Good. Thanks for coming, Lieutenant. When we welcome the witches on board, I want you to be with us."
There was a pause, during which Noyuki figured she was most likely trying to figure out why he would ask that of her. His reasoning was simple: Out of the officers on board this ship, she was the one who was closest to the witches and would most likely get along with them. After all, she was close to their age and was also a pilot.
Finally, she nodded. "Understood, captain."
"Alright." Noyuki smiled. "Stay on the bridge; we'll head down together.
The leader of Dolphin unit saluted, stepping back and heading to look out the window at the castle that was the Britannian base.
"Cut the engines." Noyuki ordered a few moments later. "Prepare to lower the anchor.
"Aye Captain." the helmsman turned the wheel, and the Nagato slid into the dock before coming to a stop, it's anchors lowering into the water and making a splash as it submerged. After hearing the reports from his bridge crew that everything was as it should be, he turned to Minori. "Now then, let's head down." he said as he headed out the door and began descending the stairs down the control tower.
"Yes sir." she said, following him down.
On the deck, Noyuki and Minori walked down the gangplank. When Minori had heard there would be a wing of witches on board, she had expected a group of complete strangers. However, when they set foot on the dock, dry land, she found that she recognized one.
The witch who was in front of the group stepped forward and saluted. "Wing Commander Minna Wilcke, 501st Strike Witches Joint Fighter Wing, reporting as ordered."
Noyuki nodded as he returned her salute. "At ease." he instructed, and both of them lowered their hands. He looked at the entire group. "Is that all of you?"
"Yes." the wing commander nodded.
"...No maintenance crews? No one to adjust your striker units as necessary?" Noyuki asked, making sure that there would be no problems that could not be fixed once the Nagato left port.
"We know how to take care of our own machines, Captain." the wing commander responded. "our striker units do not have problems that will require a complete repair." On the off chance that their striker units actually did develop problems, Minna was confident that Shirley would be able to deal with it.
"...I understand." Noyuki nodded. "I see that you are all packed up and ready to go, so let us not have any further distractions."
The wing commander snapped to attention again. "Permission to come aboard." she asked, following military protocol more than anything else now.
"Permission granted." Noyuki nodded, and together the group walked and stepped onto the deck of the Nagato. The girls of the 501st looked around, with some of them examining the metallic surroundings.
"Now then..." Noyuki turned towards the wing. "As airborne additions, you will be staying with the pilots of our ship's craft – namely, the pilots of our ship's aircraft." he explained. "Lieutenant Kinoshita here will be your guide on board this ship. If you have any questions, comments or concerns you can ask her."
The leader of Dolphin unit paled a bit when she realized that this was the reason the captain had called for her. Out of everyone on the ship, she had the three most closest similarities to the witches of this world: she was female, she was young and she was a pilot of sorts. Perhaps it was due to these three reasons that Noyuki expected her to be able to get along with the witches. However, the fact remained that these eleven girls were still strangers – and from a completely different world at that. They would not be any less awkward to speak to if they were green and came from Mars.
It didn't help that she was still curious as to why they didn't wear any pants.
Clearing those concerns away, she stepped forward to make her presence prominent to the group. "I'm Lieutenant Kinoshita Minori, Commander of Dolphin unit." she introduced herself.
"Wing Commander Minna Wilcke." the Karlslandian witch nodded. "We will be in your care, Lieutenant."
It had just occurred to Minori that this bloomer wearing woman was technically of a much higher rank than her. However, when she wondered whether she had superiority over Noyuki as well she recalled that a wing commander from the air branch of service was not higher than a naval captain, and it somewhat relieved her that someone she knew would be staying in charge. "Of course. I will do my best."
Noyuki then spoke up again. "I'm afraid I must return to the bridge now. Lieutenant, perhaps you could get them settled into their rooms and then give them a tour of the ship."
"Yes sir!" she saluted, and Noyuki headed back up the control tower The moment the door to the control tower closed, she turned back to the witches and faced a certain witch in particular. "Good to see you're back in action, flygirl." she smiled.
"It's been a while, Dolphin-Lead." Mio returned the smile, confusing the other witches with the sole exception of Yoshika. "Major," a brunette asked her, "Do you know her?"
"She's the leader of the pilots of those wingless aircraft I told you about." Mio explained. "They fly the skies just like us, although they protect lives by saving instead of fighting."
Turning back to the rest of the witches of the 501st, Minori smiled. "I'm sure we'll get to know each other later. Please, follow me. I will show you to your quarters."
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Compared to what could have been possible on board a ship, it was not so bad. Each witch had her own quarters, each with a bed, a table, a shelf, a lamp and a porthole they could open to look outside. At the very least, the witches could have their privacy.
After each witch had set their stuff down inside their rooms, they followed Minori around the ship.
"This here is the lounge." she said, opening the door to a medium sized room with several couches, a flat-screen tv with several dvds, a pool table and two people, one of whom was trying to enjoy a good book and another who was constantly enthusiastically speaking to the first, much to the first's annoyance. However, both of them looked up when they saw the group coming in.
"Hey, Minori," the man who was enthusiastically annoying his reading friend said, "are they the witches coming on board?"
"Yes they are." she replied.
"In that case, welcome aboard the Nagato." the man smiled. "I've always wondered this, but why don't you girls-"
The question was cut off by a swift uppercut right into the gut by Minori, who had a bulging vein on her head. The first man, who had put down his book, chuckled at the scene as the rest of the girls gasped in surprise.
"Don't mind him." Minori smiled at the girls even as the man she had struck in the gut fell to the floor, "he's insensitive like that. Anyways, this idiot kneeling on the ground right now is Flying officer Shirokawa, and the guy who is reading the book is Sergeant Sagawa."
"I remember the two of you." Mio remarked. "You three were on the helicopter."
"On a more important note..." one of the witches turned to Shirokawa, "Are you sure it's okay to strike a comrade like that?"
"Don't mind their antics, they're always like that." Sagawa assured the witches. "And before you ask about rank, Captain's rule: there are no ranks in the lounge."
Some of the girls were relieved that the captain did not seem to be an exceedingly strict man, while Barkhorn frowned on the lack of discipline that the captain allowed. That was to be expected, however. After all, for a soldier of Karlsland, the first rule was discipline, the second rule was discipline, and the third, fourth and fifth rules were also discipline.
Moving forward, the group arrived at the mess hall. At this time of the day, there were barely any sailors inside. However, something else caught the group's attention, particularly that of Yoshika and Mio. From the kitchens behind the counter, where the cooks were busy preparing the evening's meals, the very familiar scent of Fuso cuisine wafted into the noses of the witches. "U-um... Kinoshita-san?" the younger Fuso girl asked nervously.
"Yes?" she turned with a smile, trying to reassure girl she recognized as the one who recklessly took off from the Akagi.
"Um... is it... is it okay if we take a look at the kitchen?" Yoshika asked.
"Of course." Minori nodded. Taking them behind the counter, she pulled two curtains to the side, revealing the kitchens of the Nagato. Inside the kitchens of the battleship, the chefs were busy preparing grilled fish and miso soup, both of them traditional Fuso cuisine.
"It really is Fuso food..." Yoshika said in amazement. "I didn't think that your people would eat this sort of food."
"Well, from what the captain said," Minori said, "apparently our nation of Japan is pretty much Fuso in a different world, so you'll probably see a lot of similarities."
The group moved on, this time arriving at a location that brought a smile to the more enthusiastic witches on the wing: the training room.
Although some of the equipment were indeed strange and advanced, the heavy smell of sweat and odour, as well as the familiar sight of weights brought a familiar feeling to those of them who liked to train on their off time.
On the far side of the training room, Lieutenant Abasaki Hiroshi, Noyuki's second in command of the ship, was standing on a tatami floor dressed in full kendo gear. He had with him a wooden practice sword and was practising a few swings. Satisfied with his performance for now, he set his sword down and removed his helmet before turning to face the girls.
As his attention settled on the group, Minori snapped to attention and saluted the second in command of the ship. Hiroshi returned the salute before smiling. "The new wing, I presume? I'm Lieutenant Abasaki, second in command of the Nagato. On behalf of the crew, I welcome you aboard."
The group exchanged introductions with the lieutenant before heading towards their most important destination: the hangar bay.
The Nagato's hanger was a structure that was located under the shadow of the rear turret. Inside it, the three helicopters of Dolphin Unit were lying dormant, with several engineers working on them. Some of the girls were dubious about the aeronautic capabilities of the sea-king helicopters, questioning whether a vehicle with neither magic nor wings could really fly, but Mio, who had only recently been a passenger on one of the helicopters, assured them that the helicopters were just as air-worthy as the striker units.
The striker units themselves were lined up on the sides of the wall, therefore ensuring that the helicopters would still be able to exit the hanger and take off should the need arise without having to move the striker units away. At the same time, the girls could still sortie without any complications.
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"The equipment and supplies have been successfully loaded, captain." the supply officer reported to Noyuki on the bridge. Minori was still taking the girls on a tour around the ship, and there was still a while before the Nagato was to leave port for her first assignment as a Joint Mobile Carrier.
They were expecting relative peace for a while, hoping to slowly integrate the witches onto the ship and then slowly discuss the structure of command, as well as procedures, but then a sudden shout shattered any hope of a quiet afternoon.
"Captain! Bogey spotted on the radar! From the northwest, distance 200 km and closing in fast!"
Noyuki turned to the radar officer. "Are you certain?"
"No doubt about it; it has the same signature as the Neuroi we fought a few days ago!"
Noyuki nodded and then got on the radio. "Bogey spotted, bogey spotted. All hands, general quarters. This is not a drill. I repeat, this is not a drill! Strike Witches deploy, Dolphin unit remain on standby!"
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"What's going on?" Yoshika asked, startled by the sound of the blaring alarm.
"It's an enemy attack." Minori explained calmly. "I need to get to my helicopter."
Mio nodded. "Like the Captain ordered, we will deploy." And with that, the witches ran towards their striker units. As they got on, Minori and the rest of the hanger crew could not help but notice the magical circles that formed on the ground around the witches.
"Shinjirarenai,(I can't believe it)..." one of the mechanics muttered. "All of this crazy talk of magic... it was true!"
"We've seen strange things before, haven't we?" Minori reminded the mechanic as she got on the pilot seat of her helicopter. "Come on, man up. We've got a job to do."
And with that, she watched as the witches assumed formation within the hanger and flew off the moment the hanger doors opened wide enough.
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"Target is a medium-size Neuroi, moving at about 600 kilometres per hour." Noyuki's voice came over the headsets to each witch in a cool, professional voice. "Radar suggests that it is currently alone, and it's predicted course puts it right over the airbase."
"Roger." Mio replied over the radio as she and the rest of the wing flew towards the hostile witch. She was impressed – the last time she and the Nagato had been in a battle, the captain had no idea what he was facing, but this time he seemed to be much more confident, almost as if he had been fighting the Neuroi his entire life.
However, as much as she wanted to ask where the captain acquired his newfound confidence, now was not the time and she knew it. Soon, the Neuroi that was headed towards their base, a fast mover that looked like a large arrow, came within view.
"It's all alone." She said to the rest of the wing. "Surround it and eliminate it! Don't let it get any closer to the base!"
"Roger!"
It was supposed to end in a matter of seconds. A typical single Neuroi was standard opposition for the witches of the 501st, and there was nothing to suggest that this particular Neuroi would be any different.
Which was why it shocked the girls when the Neuroi split off into not two, not three, but seven different parts.
"It's a drone type!" Gertrude gasped in surprise. "We need to find it's main body!"
Mio removed her eyepatch, trying to see which of the pieces the Neuroi core was in. However, she was distracted when three of the drones threatened to plow right through her. Raising her altitude and avoiding the drones just in time, she saw that they were headed towards the base, and by extension the Nagato.
"Captain Hitsumiro!" she yelled into the radio, "The Neuroi broke into drones! Three of them are headed your way!"
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Back on the bridge of the Nagato, there was some nervous murmuring among the operators when they heard that the Neuroi produced drones, but Noyuki stayed calm. "Understood, Major. We'll take care of it. You girls try to take down the core as soon as possible."
Noyuki was not surprised - this was where his self inflicted sleep deprivation payed off. When reading through the mountain of documents he had forced himself to sit down and examine, he payed particular attention to the different types of Neuroi. As such, the existence of the drones did not throw him off guard.
"Orders captain?" Hiroshi, in his place as the second in command, asked.
"Activate the anti-air defences. Spin up the CIWS. Load the sea sparrows."
There were three drones headed their way, presumably hoping to destroy the base without any interference from the witches. And without the witches, they would have gotten away with it.
Well, if it wasn't for some meddling dimension travellers and their ship.
The bridge crew was on edge, waiting for the captain to give the order to launch the missiles, fire, anything. The tension was thick enough it felt like it could be cut with a knife.
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On one of the higher floors of the castle that was part of the Britannian base, Admiral Isoroku stood on a balcony, watching the harbour, the Nagato and, even further on the horizon, the three Neuroi drones headed this way.
"Admiral, sir!" a member of the Britannian guard detail insisted, "please, we need to get you to shelter!"
After the meeting discussing the formation of the joint carrier force, some of the admirals had returned to their homelands, but Takano knew that at least three other admirals remained – his counterparts from Liberion, Gallia and Britannia were still on the base, but they had left for shelter when the Neuroi alarm rang.
Takano, however, insisted on staying. He was the one who invited the Nagato into the Fuso navy, and now he felt a duty to stay, as if he felt compelled to watch over the young captain he knew was standing on the ship's bridge.
"I will be fine!" the admiral insisted. "Leave me and get to the shelter!"
The Britannian soldier hesitated, know that it would be a major international problem if the Fuso Admiral was killed in Britannia, but he saluted before heading down the stairs towards the shelter.
Now alone, Takano gave a small smile. Now, Nagato, he said, his curiosity rising, show me what you can do.
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Almost... almost...
Noyuki gripped his command console, his mind never straying from keeping it's attention on the distance between the three neuroi drones and the ship.
Then, there was a shout. "Track numbers 1901 and 1902, locked on!"
Now!
"Launch Sea-sparrows one and two!" he ordered.
"Launching sea-sparrow missiles!"
From the bridge windows, they could see two trails of smokes from the side from where the missiles launched. The two missiles streaked across the sky, hitting the two drones in front which disappeared in the explosion, not reappearing when the smoke cleared.
One more.
The third Neuroi drone continued heading directly towards the base, and the Nagato was forced to turn to her secondary weaponry to use against the threat. It's turret's spinning, all of the CIWS turrets on board the Nagato took aim and fired at the remaining drone.
It was a gamble and Noyuki knew it. If the CIWS failed in destroying the drone, it had a clear shot at the base, endangering any high ranking officer inside. He could not let that happen.
The drone approached closer and closer to the base, finally flying right over the Nagato. Unlike the first battle, the CIWS were incapable of keeping up with this new, much faster hostile.
"Damn!" Noyuki turned around and looked out the rear window. "Is the second salvo of sparrows ready yet!?"
"N-not yet, sir! Fifteen more seconds!"
"Fifteen!? The Neuroi will demolish the base in five!"
Noyuki watched helplessly as the drone's front portion glowed, ready to fire a beam of red light and perhaps bisecting the base, when all of a sudden it exploded into white shards which fell from the sky.
What-
It took him a moment to realize that the witches must have successfully destroyed the core. Noyuki sighed in relief.
That was too close. He scolded himself.
"Captain Hitsumiro," Mio's voice sounded in his headset, "enemy eliminated. How is it on your end?"
"Two drones shot down. A third nearly got there, but you girls stopped it just in time. Good work everyone, we're done."
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On the balcony, Takano smiled. He knew that the young captain had made the right choice in firing at the two drones in the lead. His curiosity was satisfied in seeing the Nagato fire her missiles, which he realized were the "streaks of light" so often talked about.
Assured of the Nagato's combat capabilities, Takano knew that the time had come. There had been discussion about it beforehand, even before the arrival of the Nagato, but her arrival had given them a possible trump card against the Neuroi.
The time to strike was now. In agreement with the other world leaders, the world was ready to attempt to liberate Gallia from the Neuroi threat.
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End of Chapter 3
