The Witch of the Neuroi
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for the OC's. I own all the OC's.
Ch.3: The Incoming Threat, the "Invincible Trio", and More Questions Raised
In the Gallian Hive the next morning, Yoshika woke up bright and early so that she can begin planning on how to handle the new threat. 'If what I know about the Neuroi King is correct, once he chooses a target, he doesn't let up until that specific target is eliminated. I need to report this to the Neuroi Queen right away.' With that thought, Yoshika went to the Hive's Core and made an emergency call to the Neuroi Queen through the hub.
Interestingly enough, the Neuroi also have their own "telephone line" of sorts, except that no actual phones are used, and it is impossible for the humans to intercept the calls in general. The only ones who can intercept the calls are Witches that have "Magic Antenna" (not like they can understand what the Neuroi are saying, unless they happen across one of Yoshika's calls [even though Yoshika can understand the Neuroi's language, she can't speak in said language]).
After waiting a few moments, the Neuroi Queen opened the connection from her end, making a screen with the Neuroi Queen's face pop up. Yoshika quickly bowed, and reported in. "My Queen, we have a serious problem."
The Neuroi Queen was worried; over the last four years, Yoshika and the Neuroi Queen had become close friends, up to the point that Yoshika sees the Neuroi Queen (who I will call Xeila from now on) as a big sister. Yoshika had proven herself time and time again in their struggle against humanity, and has earned Xeila's respect as a Commander. Xeila knew that Yoshika reported in only once a month to update her on the Gallian Hive's status, and had just reported the status six days ago. For Yoshika to report in so soon after the last transmission, it must be an emergency.
"What is it, Yoshika?" Xeila asked.
"The Hive located at Karlsland has been destroyed, but not by the humans. It was destroyed by Neuroi loyal to the Neuroi King, and a new Hive loyal to the Neuroi King has already been established at Karlsland." Yoshika reported.
Xeila "gasped" the best any Neuroi could. "This is troubling indeed. Is there anything else?" Xeila asked.
"There is one more thing…something that honestly scares me." Yoshika said, shivering slightly. "I have intercepted a transmission saying that the Neuroi King has sent a Super Hive to this planet, and that it will arrive in two months."
Xeila was close to panicking, but recomposed herself quickly. "I will send our own Super Hive in response to this. If I send it now, it should arrive two days after the one sent by the Neuroi King arrives." Xeila declared.
"Please do so. We will need all the firepower we can get." Yoshika said. "…Honestly, why can't this war just end already?" Yoshika asked to herself, but forgot to close the communication line when she said it.
Xeila "sighed". "I know. I want peace just as much as you do, Yoshika." Xeila said, and then cut the line from her end.
Yoshika closed the line from her end as well. "…Alright, it's time to start training." Yoshika said, before gathering up all the Neuroi in the Hive (both cloned and original), and started some more training; after she broke the news to the rest of them, that is.
With the Witches…
That morning, all the Witches were in the briefing room when Minna called them to attention.
"Everyone, I need your attention." Minna called, getting everybody's attention. "Sanya, Ursula and Eila all have something to report. They said that it was something that we all needed to know, and refused to tell Mio and me until now. Sanya, Ursula, Eila, if you would?"
The three Witches stood up, getting the attention of everyone else in the kitchen.
"It's about last night…" Sanya said.
"What happened?" Shirley asked.
"Well…we ran into the Neuroi that was spotted a few days ago last night, and we would have been killed, if we weren't saved at the last second." Eila continued.
"You were saved?" Mio asked. "Who was the Witch that saved you?"
"That's the thing." Ursula replied. "It wasn't a Witch…it was a Neuroi."
At first, silence. But then, "SAY WHAT?!"
"Why would a Neuroi save you?!" Trude asked.
"I don't know." Eila replied. "When I looked into the future with my magic regarding the matter, it was strange, because all I saw were red and purple beams all across the sky."
"The Neuroi that we went up against last night had purple markings and fired purple beams, instead of the usual red markings and beams." Ursula reported.
"The Neuroi that saved us, however, DID have red markings and beams." Eila continued.
"…I…I think there is more to this war than we know about…" Sanya said softly, but everyone heard her.
"I think you're right…" Ursula mused.
"This…is an interesting development." Mio said. "What did the Neuroi that saved you look like?"
"Oh, well, it looked like some kind of submarine." Eila said.
Mio paled; she knew what Neuroi Eila was talking about. "Wait a minute…" Mio said, pulling out a photo of a Neuroi on it. "Did it happen to look like this?" Mio asked, as she gave the photo to Sanya.
Sanya, looking at the picture, nodded. "Yes. It looked just like that." Sanya said.
"This isn't good…" Mio mused, which got the attention of the other Witches. "That specific Neuroi is one of the so-called "Invincible Trio", and everyone that faces off against those three have all lost. Interestingly enough, every Witch that the trio has defeated was never killed, and even though the three were present during the evacuation of Gallia, they never fired until all the civilians were evacuated."
"That's very unusual behavior for Neuroi, don't you think?" Trude asked.
"Yes, it is." Erica replied, wide awake.
That was when the door opened, and a man walked in. "I heard everything." The man said.
"Dr. Miyafuji, when did you get here?" Mio asked.
"Me and my family just got here a few minutes ago, but I heard everything." Ichiro replied. "What you just said is indeed strange behavior for the Neuroi. I need to look into this."
Ursula nodded. "Now that you're here, I can finally complete my research on rocket-powered Striker Units." Ursula said.
"I looked at the notes for the rocket Striker that you've sent me." Ichiro said, pulling out some papers. "The design is promising, and the top speed is extraordinary."
Shirley perked up. "What's the top speed?" Shirley asked.
"The top speed is 1137 km/h." Ichiro replied, getting wide eyes from Shirley. "But the Striker Unit itself has a fatal flaw; it sucks up magic far too quickly to be able to be sent into combat, unless it's point-defense."
Minna nodded, having already been notified about the prototype. "Very well. All Witches, dismissed!" Minna ordered.
All the Witches left the room, but Ichiro stayed behind. Seeing this, Mio stayed behind as well. "Is something wrong, Dr. Miyafuji?" Mio asked.
Ichiro pulled out another photo, one that had him, Sayaka, Akimoto, and a little girl on it. "Nothing. I'm just…thinking about my daughter." Ichiro replied.
Mio looked at the photo. "What's her name?" Mio asked.
"Her name is Yoshika Miyafuji." Ichiro replied. "Listen, Mio. What I'm about to tell you is classified as top secret. Under no circumstances are you to tell anyone else about this. Do I make myself clear?" Ichiro asked with a serious look on his face.
Mio nodded. "You have my word." Mio said.
"All right. You know how the 501st Joint Fighter Wing is the first JFW ever made?" Ichiro asked.
Mio nodded with a confused look on her face. "What are you talking about? Everyone knows that we are the first JFW ever made." Mio replied.
Ichiro shook his head. "Well, that's a lie." Ichiro said, earning a surprised look from Mio. "The TRUE first JFW that was ever made was in fact the 500th Joint Fighter Wing, also known as the Proto Witches. It was created only two months after the Neuroi invaded in 1939. "
"Where are you going with this?" Mio asked, not believing what she was hearing.
"Let me finish." Ichiro said. "The Proto Witches only had one Witch assigned to it at the time it was formed, and never got any other Witches assigned to it. My daughter, Yoshika Miyafuji, was the lone Witch assigned to the 500th JFW. She was a First Lieutenant and had 49 confirmed Neuroi destroyed." Ichiro explained, making Mio go wide-eyed. "Then, four years ago, Yoshika was killed in action. She was facing off against three Neuroi, the three which I believe are known as the "Invincible Trio". She was killed above Gallian airspace."
Mio was shocked, to say the least. She didn't know that Ichiro had a daughter, and that she was the only Witch in a top secret JFW, who was killed four years ago.
"That is why I throw myself into my work." Ichiro explained. "So that her death won't be in vain."
"Dr. Miyafuji…I didn't know. I'm sorry for the loss of your daughter." Mio said.
Ichiro shook his head. "It's all right. I'm sorry for making you listen to me." Ichiro apologized. "You would have gotten along with my daughter very well. Now, I need to go help Ursula." Ichiro said, and walked out of the room.
Mio stood where she was. 'So there was another Joint Fighter Wing before us? And it was top secret? Interesting…' With that thought, Mio left the room.
Far off in the distance, below the radar net and beyond Sanya's range of detection, Yoshika was flying just five feet above the water, observing the conversation using her "Telescoping Search Eye". Seeing that the conversation was finished, Yoshika turned off her ability to prevent herself from going blind with only seconds to spare. She then flew back to the Hive, all the while remaining under the radar net so as to avoid detection.
Back at the Hive, Axion, Ixia, and Xalia (aka, the "Invincible Trio") were waiting for their Commander. Seeing her approach, the three flew up to her. "What were you doing?" Ixia asked.
"I was spying on the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, aka the Strike Witches." Yoshika responded. "It seems as though they are confused at the moment, and that's what we want. If at least one of them decides to come here seeking answers, then that will be all the better for us, as it will give us the opportunity to show that Witch the truth."
The "Invincible Trio" agreed with their Commander's logic.
"So, what do we do about the Hive that's loyal to the Neuroi King?" Ixia asked.
"We will continue to observe them at the moment." Yoshika replied. "If that Hive sends out any Neuroi, then send out three of our own cloned Neuroi per enemy Neuroi to intercept them. If any of those Neuroi make a move to destroy the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, then I want you three to intercept and destroy those Neuroi. If we can shift their focus on us instead of the humans, then all the better."
"I see. That's a good strategy. I suppose the reason why you want to send out three of our own per one Neuroi that is loyal to the Neuroi King is because they will be ready for us the next time, is that right?" Xalia asked.
Yoshika nodded. "I see that I have trained you three well. Anyway, I overheard the humans referring to you three as the "Invincible Trio". If you ask me, that title seems rather fitting, don't you think?" Yoshika asked with a grin on her face.
The three chuckled, also agreeing with the nickname that the humans have given the trio.
Six Days Later, With the Witches…
The Neuroi alarm started blaring, causing all the Strike Witches to run to the briefing room.
"Reports indicate that three enemy craft are on their way here from Karlsland." Minna reported.
"Karlsland? The ones from the Hive there have never strayed this far before." Mio replied. "Although, besides that, the predictions were right for once."
"Yes. They're currently flying at 15,000 feet and straight for this base." Minna said.
Mio walked up to the front of the room. "All right. Our routine intercept pattern should suffice. Today's team will consist of Barkhorn and Erica at the fore and Perrine and Lynne at the rear. Ursula will be direct support for Minna and I. Shirley, Lucchini, Eila, and Sanya will remain at base on standby!" Mio explained.
"Holding down the fort! Holding down the fort!" Lucchini sang.
"Guess I'll tune my unit's settings…" Shirley said.
Sanya, predictably, was fast asleep.
"All right! Get ready!" Mio ordered, walking out of the room to the hangar, with Minna, Ursula, Trude, Erica, Perrine, and Lynne following.
Several minutes later, the seven Witches and took off.
"See you later!" Lucchini yelled, waving at them.
With the group, Mio saw three glints in the distance. "Targets sighted!" Mio exclaimed.
"What types are they?" Minna asked.
Mio lifted up her eye patch to reveal her "Magic Eye" and used it to zoom in on the three Neuroi, seeing that all three of them looked like cubes. It also showed that all three Neuroi had purple markings instead of the usual red, something Mio took note of. "All three of them are 300-meter class Neuroi! Our usual formation?" Mio asked.
"Yes!" Minna answered.
"Alright! Charge!" Mio ordered.
Erica and Trude dived in on the three Neuroi, and Perrine and Lynne did so as well but then the three Neuroi did something that none of the Witches expected.
They split into pieces.
"What?!" Trude asked, alarmed.
"They divided!" Mio exclaimed.
Minna used her magic ability, "Area Analysis", to determine the new number of Neuroi. "There's 240 on the right, 300 in the middle and 90 on the left!" Minna exclaimed, shocked at the number of Neuroi present.
"That's six hundred and thirty in all. We should all be getting the Medal of Honor after this one!" Mio exclaimed. "So, what's the plan?"
At that point, Shirley and Lucchini flew up to them. "The two of us figured you could use a hand after we heard how many there were." Shirley explained the reason she and Lucchini were there.
Minna nodded. "Mio, you look for the Core. Barkhorn's team will take the middle. Perrine's team will take the right. Shirley, Lucchini, and I will take the left. Ursula, you will act as direct support for Major Sakamoto." Minna ordered.
All the Witches present gave their confirmation.
"All right. All Witches, begin operation!" Minna ordered as she, Trude, Erica, Perrine, Lynne, Shirley, and Lucchini dived into the huge swarm of Neuroi.
With the Neuroi, at the Same Time…
Yoshika was training a group of Neuroi when another Neuroi approached her. "What is it?" Yoshika asked, making the group she was training stop what they were doing.
"Three Neuroi loyal to the Neuroi King have engaged the humans known as the Strike Witches." The messenger Neuroi reported. "All three are cube-types that can each split into 210 mini-cubes."
Yoshika's eyes widened, before she turned to the group she was training. "Training is cancelled for the day." Yoshika then turned towards the messenger Neuroi. "Get me Axion, Ixia, and Xalia, NOW!" Yoshika ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" the messenger Neuroi said, before rushing off to call the three Neuroi that his Commander wished to see.
Two minutes later, the "Invincible Trio" appeared before their Commander. "What is it that you need, Commander?" Ixia asked.
"Three cube-type Neuroi loyal to the Neuroi King have made a move to destroy the Strike Witches." Yoshika said, surprising the trio. "You three are on an emergency mission to destroy those cube-types. If we can save the Strike Witches, they will want to seek answers, and we can show them the truth behind this foolish war with the humans, a war we didn't even want in the first place. Be careful, each of those cube-types can split into 210 mini-cubes each, making a total of 630 Neuroi you have to go up against. Now, show them what makes you three to be feared so much to be known as the "Invincible Trio"!" Yoshika ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" the "Invincible Trio" exclaimed, and flew out of the Hive to complete their emergency mission.
With the Witches...
Down below, the fight was turning into what fighter pilots called a fur-ball. The Witches were moving constantly, firing on any Neuroi that they came across. Since there were 630 of them, there were plenty of targets to choose from.
"That's ten for me!" Erica said.
Trude flew next to her so they were back-to back. "I've got twelve!" Trude said. "Looks like this is a perfect chance to really up our kill-scores!
"Yeah, it's been really slow-going lately!" Erica exclaimed in agreement.
The two then separated as twelve Neuroi barreled in on them while firing purple beams.
Perrine and Lynne hovered above the fur-ball. "Listen, your gun isn't made for rapid firing! Fall back and aim!" Perrine ordered.
"Right!" Lynne said.
"You have my back!" Perrine said as she dived into the fray. Several Neuroi then surrounded her. Perrine grunted. "Using this always messes up my hair for the rest of the day…" Perrine complained while charging up her spell "Tonnerre!" Perrine yelled, firing off her electrical attack spell as it hit the surrounding Neuroi, destroying them. Perrine whipped some of her hair out of her face in an overdramatic way, unaware of a Neuroi sneaking up on her from behind. "For me, this is as easy as-" Perrine was cut off as the Neuroi, which was only two feet behind her and was about to fire a point-blank beam, was destroyed by a cannon shot. Perrine jumped (if that is even possible to do in a Striker Unit) in fright, then turned to see another Neuroi attempting to sneak up on her; but it too was destroyed by a cannon shot. Perrine looked up to see Lynne holding her sniper cannon, the end of the barrel smoking. "N-Not bad." Perrine said, and then emptied her gun to destroy a swarm of Neuroi, while Lynne emptied her sniper cannon by picking off the ones that went after Perrine.
Ursula looked at the battle raging below them. "They're all so good…" Ursula trailed off, before she noticed twenty-five Neuroi flying up at Mio, who was using her "Magic Eye" to look for the three that held the Cores, but wasn't having any luck. Right before they could fire, Ursula opened up with her gun, emptying it and taking out all twenty-five Neuroi.
"Keep it up!" Mio encouraged.
Shirley and Lucchini were flying around the swarm, shooting down every Neuroi they came across.
"Lucchini!" Shirley called, grabbing onto the Romagnan Witch. Using her magic, Shirley tossed Lucchini towards a large swarm of Neuroi.
Lucchini brought up five shields, progressing from the smallest in the front to the largest in the back, in preparation for her "Sunlight Strike" attack. Using her attack, Lucchini steamrolled through the large swarm of Neuroi, wiping them out. But then another swarm went after her and Shirley, putting them on the defensive. The duo quickly fired at the incoming swarms, emptying their guns as the two Witches destroyed them.
Erica, meanwhile, managed to get a good number of Neuroi on her tail and were all firing at her. Erica narrowed her eyes, and stopped in midair, allowing the Neuroi to overshoot her. Quickly catching up, Erica emptied her gun into the group, destroying them. "There's no end to them!" Erica exclaimed as she strapped her now empty gun to her back and was forced to use her "Strum" offensive spell as her only means left to attack the Neuroi, but she was quickly running out of magic due to using it over and over again.
"Where the hell are the Cores?!" Trude asked as she emptied both of her guns into two swarms of Neuroi, wiping them out. She was then forced to use her empty guns as clubs, batting away and destroying any Neuroi that she came across. But Trude was also becoming tired.
"Have you located the three Cores?" Minna asked, flying up to Mio after emptying her gun into a swarm of Neuroi.
Mio shook her head, noticing that all the other Witches have run out of ammo and were flying up to them. "No, not yet." Mio replied. "But it looks like all the other Witches have run out of ammo. There's just too many!"
"I know." Minna said grimly. "This may be it for us…"
At that point, all the other Witches were with them. "I've run out of ammo." Lynne said.
"Me, too." Shirley, Lucchini, and Erica said.
"I am out as well." Trude, Ursula, and Perrine said.
"So am I." Minna said. "I don't like it, girls…but I think this may be it for us…"
In total, the Witches were able to destroy 384 Neuroi, leaving 246 more Neuroi to kill, but they were all out of ammo.
All the surviving Neuroi, sensing this, surrounded the Witches and prepared to fire beams.
"Well, everyone. It was an honor to know you all…" Mio said, preparing for the end.
But then, something unexpected happened.
Suddenly, a barrage of red beams cut through the surrounding Neuroi, whom all screeched in surprise.
All the Witches were shocked as well, but Mio, thinking quickly, used her "Magic Eye" to see who fired the beams. Zooming into the distance, Mio saw three eerily familiar Neuroi. The "Invincible Trio" had arrived.
"Th-The "Invincible Trio"!" Mio called, surprising the rest of the Witches as the three newly arrived Neuroi (Axion, Ixia, and Xalia, in case you didn't know) fired more beams, destroying the three Neuroi that held the Cores, which were purple. This caused all the other Neuroi that had purple markings to shatter.
The Witches all looked at their unexpected saviors, which turned to face them, making them tense. But instead of firing at them like the Witches expected the "Invincible Trio" to do, the trio turned around and flew back to the Gallian Hive, confusing the Witches greatly.
"…So…Sanya, Eila, and Ursula were telling the truth the entire time…" Minna mused, stunned by what just happened.
"I told you so!" Ursula exclaimed.
"We need to get back." Mio said. "I have no doubt Dr. Miyafuji would want to hear about this."
The rest of the Witches agreed, and they all flew back to base, questions filling their minds, and they wanted answers.
They were unknowingly cooperating with Yoshika's plan on revealing the truth to them.
With the Neuroi, back at the Hive…
Ixia, Axion, and Xalia flew back to the Hive, where Yoshika was waiting for them.
"How was the mission?" Yoshika asked. "Sorry for giving it to you on such a short notice."
"No, it's all right." Axion replied. "The mission was successful."
"Excellent. Now, the Strike Witches will want answers even more." Yoshika said. "If we can lure them into the Hive, we can finally reveal the truth behind this damned war, and bring it to an end."
The "Invincible Trio" agreed; they also wanted the war with humanity to end, so that they can focus on the civil war against the Neuroi King.
A/N: Yup, I've decided to keep Dr. Ichiro Miyafuji alive in this fic. If you don't like it, then stop reading now, because he's going to stick around.
Anyways, review please!