Hello, and welcome to the third chapter of Strike Heroes 3: Global Revengeance.
Alright, in case you read the last entry for Strike Heroes: Himebana, there was a poll put up asking what story idea you guys wanted me to work on for the start of the third and final set of five for that story collection. Oddly enough, it ended in a four-way tie. So I've decided on my own which one I'd have the most fun working with, which is...
...Thought I'd spoil the surprise? Too bad, Waluigi-you know, I'm not doing that one right now. My throat's a bit sore right now...
...You're using words right now...
...I hate it when a fictitious being says something like that...
Anyways, let's get to the reviews:
Gamerman22: Yeah, it ended in a tie for now. There will be a point that Roland or the Witch Hunters will be able to shift the balance to their side, but it's going to take some time to see a clear victor. Until then, ties are better than nothing. Apart from that, thanks for the review.
kh2996: ...I lost count myself, but I think I've seen at least five humanoid Neuroi in the archives for this particular manga/anime on the site (if we're going by shapes and not purely being half-and-half: three are from a crossover in the SW fandom, one was from a story I had seen some time before I worked on my series...wish I could remember what it was called or who wrote it so I can at least know who inspired me, and the ones in the anime seasons. Again, lost count myself...) so far. I am trying to read other stories, but with things going on around here I'm lucky that I can at least work on mine at the moment. Plus, I think I wanted to try to think of ideas without trying to see how others are handling it.
kineke13: Can't confirm or deny your thoughts on Gamma's fate. Also, I have thought of making one for Draco, but it'd probably not be as detailed as Roland's. I am thinking of making a sort of interquel starring Draco, but I'm not sure. If you guys have any thoughts on the idea, let me know, but I won't be actively pursuing it unless I either have time or you guys like the idea. Apart from that, I will be working on a profile for Draco so that basic information is given at the moment. Plus, thanks for the review.
GeneralAshton: That's a valid point: Roland did say that he would tell more about WW2, but compared to that the world of SW seems much tamer. This would most likely result in some problems for them, but I'll have to think of a good time for Roland to explain a bit more about it. Or I can force him into a situation that forces him to explain it.
NickelOnTheChessBoard: Yeah, *chuckles nervously*...wrong series...but (and I'm not sure if I had said it before) this series was inspired by the Mass Effect games as well as the "Mass Vexations" series as well as other series that had a character from a world like ours being thrust into fictional universes. There's a closer answer for who would be the "Kai Leng" of the Strike Heroes series, but I won't spoil it at the moment.
...Now to address the other portions of your review: as I have said once before, I don't have much experience with seeing how Heidemarie acts, only having the movie, the "St. Trond's Thunder" OVA, and her entry on the Strike Witches wiki to work with, but I have to agree with you: I'm pretty sure that her reactions would have been better had I built up to it, but I feel like I did fine either way. I do read these entries many times before I publish them, even having someone read them to make sure things looked good away from my eyes. These entries might not be at their best sometimes, but I do take the time to make sure that they convey what I want to show. Even if I have to edit large sections to make things fit in more.
And I definitely see where you're coming from as far as Gamma's appearance is concerned, but I felt that how I portrayed it was the best at the time. Not sure if I'd change it, but I'm going to be paying more attention to how I do things like that. I can't guarantee that they will be perfect, but in my case I feel that "really good" is better than nothing.
Apart from that, thanks for the review, and I hope you continue to enjoy the story.
P.S.: What exactly do you refer to again? I looked through the last chapter as much as I could but couldn't make heads or tails of what you were referring to. I'm going to keep looking, but just in case do you mind telling me?
NCGaming: Thanks for the review.
...And there's the replies for now. I do want to apologize for the rather odd posting schedule, but with my classes starting back up soon, combined with trying to enjoy what's left of my break and working on stories as much as I can (I'm trying to write up the next arc at the moment currently) I will be trying my best to keep up with updates for this story at the least. Still, if I take a while please don't panic: I'm most likely working on the chapter as fast as I can (or in the next chapter's case, making sure it's the best I can make it). Only press your panic button if it's more than, say, a month. For those who don't have a panic button (or do and want to let me know), feel free to remind me via PM.
Now a new two-part arc is beginning...
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Chapter 3: Will to Protect (Part 1)
A few days after the reformation of the Strike Witches as well as the addition of Shizuka, Roland and the girls try getting used to life around the base. When a new type of Neuroi, titled "Witch Hunters", is revealed by one who tried attacking them, Roland and the others must be vigilant in order to avoid falling to this new type. Yet at the same time, a shadowy organization has its eyes on Roland. What can Roland do to survive the upcoming campaign?
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Mio's POV
"Commander Minna?" I asked as I poked my head through the doorway of Commander Minna's office late in the day, around eleven. The commander was busy dealing with paperwork. "Do you have a moment?"
"Yeah," the commander replied as I saw her put some papers down. "It's a bit exhausting right now, to be honest. Never thought I'd have this much trouble dealing with things around the base. The rooms are going to take a while to finish being prepared for the others, and to top it off I need to figure out a possible strategy to combat a Witch Hunter in the event one decides to show up again."
"I see your concern. While I'm not too concerned with myself considering my...well, you know, and Miyafuji's health record, the others can't really afford to stay in the hangar for too long without risking illnesses. At least, not during winter."
"I hope we're not waiting that long, but I do see your concern as well. I've been trying to figure out a plan that will accommodate our wing, but..."
I smiled slightly. "I know. It's odd that we have Sage on our side, but I'm afraid his new rank doesn't give him a lot of clout in getting things done. Speaking of that, how did Commodore Galland take the proposition about the joint second-in-command role?"
"She said that it's fine, at least for now. While Roland's not a major, his next rank is that, so she said that it wouldn't hurt to have him learn a bit from Major Heidemarie. If he does get the rank while we're dealing with our new objective, then she said that I have the choice to demote one of them from the position."
I smirked. "Will you?"
"Most likely not. I trust Roland to keep us safe, which is why I didn't object to the idea, but at the same time I know that he gets rather...angry. From what I've seen and read from reports depicting that sort of nature, it might stem back to what happened to Commander Ellios."
I raised an eyebrow. "Commander Ellios? Didn't we already burn that bridge?"
Commander Minna shook her head in disagreement. "Not yet. Roland's been rather good about keeping a level head about it, but..." She gave off a sigh. "Sometimes, I really wonder how much longer we'll have before something happens to him..."
"Like him dying or converting?"
"...Yeah..." The commander sounded hesitant. "I know it's the only choice if he does convert, but I just don't...I don't know if I can bring myself to do that to my boyfriend. If he converts..."
I nodded my head. "I understand. Sage and I haven't really interacted a lot personally, but now that I've worked with him twice...I wonder if I'll be able to go through with it as well."
Commander Minna blinked. "Mio?"
I shook my head. "It's nothing, commander. Anyways, I wanted to talk to you about an idea I've had just now."
Commander Minna raised an eyebrow. "What is it about?"
"Well, it involves a certain person..." I then proceeded to tell Minna about my idea, which only took a few minutes to flesh out the details.
Once we finished with my request, Commander Minna looked slightly confused as she asked, "You're sure you want him doing that? Why are you even asking me about the idea, now that I think about it?"
"Well..." I began.
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[Earlier, around 10 a.m.]
You know, this is surprisingly reminding me of the girls' first training session after we came back together in Romagna. Only without Sage or Striker Units.
In case you're wondering, I chose to take Miyafuji, Lynne, Perrine, and Hattori outside for some training to pass the time, but so far...well, it's about as much as you'd expect.
Miyafuji and Lynne were having some real difficulty dealing with the workout (while I could understand Miyafuji having problems due to not being a Witch for the two months she was without magic, Lynne was a different story entirely. At least, that's what I think), and Perrine was handling the exercises fine...if by that you mean that it looked like she was trying to overwork herself.
Hattori, not surprisingly, was performing the best at the moment. I'm thinking it's because of her similarity to Captain Barkhorn as far as her attitude towards training goes. Plus, I did train her a while before I went off to the Yamato.
At the moment, we had just finished with running a few laps around the base (I think I had them do about ten at the moment), and Miyafuji and Lynne were lying on the ground, the little Fuso Witch on top of the Britannian Witch as both were breathing heavily. Perrine was hunched over as her hands were on her knees but she was breathing better than the first two. Hattori was simply standing there with her arms behind her head to help recover from the running.
"I don't get it," I said as I looked at the four of them. "Miyafuji I can understand not handling the drills as well as I'd like, but you two?" I looked at Perrine and Lynne.
"Sorry, major," Perrine said.
"I'm sorry, ma'am," Lynne added as she and Miyafuji sat up. "We've been a little more focused on other things, so we never really got to keep super fit for duty."
I gave off a sigh as I directed my attention to Miyafuji. "Well, I'd say that you three are the only ones I'm disappointed in, but Sage didn't exactly do much in Fuso, did he, Miyafuji?"
"Not really, Major Sakamoto," Miyafuji informed me. "He did do some push-ups and things, but we only had him handle the lifting when we needed him to. He's a bit more prepared than me."
...
Hang on, I think I just thought of something.
"Alright," I told them. "Take a lap to cool down and you're free until further notice."
With that said, I turned and walked towards the base as I ran the idea through my head.
The idea I had was this: Sage had trained alongside Perrine, Lynne, and Miyafuji when he first rejoined the Strike Witches, and he's now a captain...
Aha! I've got it: since he needs to keep himself in shape, I should get him to train those three and Hattori. It'd get them back into a fit state and Sage can get used to handling drills as an instructor.
Now, just to ask Commander Minna for permission to implement that sort of plan...
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[Present]
"Okay," Commander Minna said once I finished telling her about how I came up with the idea, "that makes a lot more sense. Though...do you think Roland's going to approve of the idea?"
"Well, I'm still higher in rank than him, so it's not going to be as hard as you'd think," I told the commander. "Besides, I still have to gather the four in question before I get there."
"Alright, then I approve. Though...go easy on him for now if you have other ideas concerning it."
I chuckled. "Okay, I'll go easy on him."
Now to gather up his four "new students"...
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Roland's POV
"There," I said cheerfully as I finished loading up a magazine for my Browning HP pistol after cleaning out the gun (it kinda needed some cleaning, so I figured that I'd do it since we had some free time. This involved dismantling the pistol to the point where I couldn't simply pull the trigger and shoot something). "Now it's ready to be tested on some targets. Hopefully Neuroi-shaped targets."
I then grabbed the grip of the disassembled pistol and was about to work on putting it back together again when I heard someone say the following: "Hey, you busy right now, Sage?"
"Gah!" I shouted as I pointed the part I had in my right hand at the person behind me while turning to face the newcomer. Well, newcomers.
It was Mio, Yoshika, Lynette, Perrine, and Shizuka. The last four were looking like they were slightly lost while the major had a...grin?
"Don't scare me like that, major!" I added hastily.
"Or what, you're going to point a disassembled gun at me?" Mio tried.
With a slight redness to my face, I turned around and placed the part and the magazine on the table before turning back to face them.
"Sorry," Mio apologized. "Didn't really think you would be cleaning out a gun. Speaking of that, you know how to clean a gun?"
"Yes, major." I said that with a flat tone. "The Liberion Army taught me how to clean guns to perfection. More specifically, my stepdad showed me."
"I see. That's good to hear." That grin was still there.
Does she have something planned for me? "I do apologize for the following tone, but...why are you bugging me right now, major? I doubt it's because you've got good news for me." I said the rest of the words with an non-amused voice.
"I'd really be careful about acting like that right now, captain. I could be some gorgeous lady giving you a check for a million dollars."
"Doubtful." That remark, not surprisingly, scored a smack to the right side of my head with Mio's sheathed katana. The result of which I ended up rubbing my new injury to sooth my pain. "Ow...Anyways, why are you here?"
"Sometimes, I don't know what to do with you..." Mio, after putting the katana back on her back, then noticed my question and nodded to the girls with her. "Well, I've talked to Commander Minna about it and she approved, so as of now you're going to be training these four."
That's nice and all, Mio...wait... "You're kidding?" The look on Mio's face told me otherwise. Second time today I've seen that sort of look. "I don't exactly have a problem with it, but why wasn't I notified before now?"
"Because then it wouldn't be as much fun if you knew?"
...I hate you right now, Mio...
"Anyways," Mio told my new trainees. "Captain Sage will be training you four alongside me and the other captains. For now, I'll let him get you settled in for training."
"Hey, wait a second!" I shouted as the gravity of my new situation finally sank in properly. "What the hell am I supposed to do, major?"
Mio simply sighed. "You're the trainer, Sage. I trust you can figure it out. Don't worry about having them warm up; I've already handled that before we came over here. Anyways, I'll see you girls later." I then watched as Mio walked past the girls, whispered "And try not to break him, you four," to them, and strolled out of the hangar without a care in the world.
"I heard that!" I then looked at Yoshika, Lynette, Perrine, and Shizuka.
...Ironically, the only one who actually looked like they were looking forward to training was Yoshika, and even that's something I'm afraid of...
Anyways, how the hell am I supposed to train four girls? I can't show them how to use their Neuroi cores properly because...I"M THE ONLY ONE HERE WHO CAN DO THAT!
...Deep breaths, Roland...you can figure something out...first, though: you need to address that they're actually here.
And...check. All four present. Now to get some rules out in the open.
"Okay, ladies...and Shizuka," I started, sighing in the middle of the statement.
"Hey!" Shizuka complained quickly.
"Anyways, ladies, I guess that I am your new drill instructor. Of course, you know my name, Roland Sage. I personally don't mind what name you give me, but there are a few rules I want to lay on you four before we start: first, you are allowed to refer to each other and myself by whatever name you choose, but I don't want any bickering about what names the others pick; second, you are to perform to your best ability every time. While I know that we can't exercise for one straight hour without a break, I still want you to give it your all so that your breaks are more satisfying; third, what I say goes. Since you four are under eighteen, I won't make you do anything...naughty, but at the same time you're going to have to handle each other if a personal emergency occurs and it's not something I can easily handle. Some examples are that I can help you out if you sprained your ankle but if your chest hurts too much I'd recommend seeing Yoshika about it; and finally, anyone outside of you four can join us at any time, and the rules will apply to them when they do. Any questions?"
"Yeah..." Lynette asked timidly. "Um...what exactly are you going to have us do?"
"Good question, Lynne. What are your goals so I have a fair idea of what to expect from each of you?"
There was a moment of silence as the girls thought about a goal they wanted to complete.
"Well, I want to be able to fight on the same level as Captain Sage," Shizuka announced. "I know that none of us apart from you, our current instructor, has a Neuroi core inside them, but I still want to be able to keep up with you when you do your exercises, sir."
"That's a good point Hattori pointed out," Perrine added. "You share a sort of connection with us four in that you've got to build yourself back into shape. The only difference is that you do it in a different fashion, and I think we should see if that will make a difference when we train with someone else."
"I see," I told them. Looking at Yoshika and Lynette, I added, "And you two agree?"
"Yeah," Yoshika told me simply. "I promised myself that I'd be like you: I'll keep fighting and never look back. If this allows me to do that, then I'll gladly give it my all."
"Of course," Lynette added.
I smiled slightly. "Alright, so you four want to see what I deal with, huh? Well, you shouldn't be disappointed. For today, I'd like for you girls to do thirty push-ups, thirty sit-ups, and run around the base five times. Tomorrow, I'll introduce you to my exercising world."
"Yes, Roland/Roland-kun/Captain Sage!" the girls said as one, each one using whatever name they called me.
"Right," I clapped my hands together. "Now, thirty push-ups first. I'll train alongside you since I have some energy back from my training regiment earlier." As I watched the girls get into push-up position, I got into position myself. "Right, now let's get some of this done."
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Yoshika's POV
"Morning, Roland-kun!" I said cheerfully as Lynne, Shizuka, Perrine, Major Sakamoto, and I stepped inside Commander Minna's (and Roland's) room the next morning to fetch the Neuroi Witch for our training.
I was hoping for Roland to be standing there with a piece of paper or something. Or at least chatting with his girlfriend.
Instead, he was laying on their bed on his chest, still inside his usual gear (he didn't even seem to take off his weapons given that Commander Minna was busy slipping them off carefully so as not to wake him up).
"Oh, morning, Miyafuji," Commander Minna told us, "girls, and Major Sakamoto. What are you here for?"
"We were kinda hoping to have Sage work on these four's training session for a while," Major Sakamoto explained. Looking at Roland's sleeping form, she added, "I'm sorry, did we come at a bad time?"
"Not really. He came in around six-thirty and woke me up when he flopped into bed. I think it was his rifle that startled me." She then sighed. "Still a little sore, but it doesn't seem so bad."
"Oh," I decided to say, "I can take a look at it if you want, ma'am."
"I'm good right now, Miyafuji, but then again I think I'm going to be on my feet a lot today. I've got to deal with the resupply process, which means that I have to get Captain Barkhorn and Hartmann to go and pick up the supplies and bring it back. Could you please?"
I nodded happily. "Sure thing, ma'am!" I then walked over to her as she laid on her back next to Roland. I could see where Roland's BAR (now on the floor along with his sword, crowbar, and Browning HP) had smacked her left shin, on the left side and near her knee. I think she must have been sleeping on her side when she received the bruise. "Give me a moment, okay, ma'am?" I then called upon my familiar's tail and ears and focused on healing Commander Minna's injury. When I finished, I dismissed my familiar and gave off a smile as I added, "All good now, ma'am."
"Thanks." Commander Minna then got onto her feet as we all looked at Roland.
"Now what?" Perrine tried.
"Maybe we should let him sleep..." Lynne started.
Major Sakamoto shook her head as she replied with, "Probably not. I know he got done with night patrol alongside Sanya and Schnaufer, but he's got some sleep. Plus, he only has to forgo one night a week. I think about..." The major had to think about the time at the moment (it was around nine last I checked: we had breakfast around 8:30, and Shirley and Lucchini were starting to make some around eight. We were at least kind enough to leave him a plate with his portion, though it's probably cold by now). "three hours can work for the moment. We'll just not have him fly today just in case."
"Given Roland's habit," Commander Minna included, "that might be a little impossible, but you do bring up a valid point, major. How to wake him up, though..."
"No worries, I've got the perfect tool for the job." Major Sakamoto reached behind her back and, after hearing a slight snap of some string, pulled a bugle out from behind her back. "I was going to use this yesterday but wasn't able to, so I can make sure that it works for wake-up calls." She then glanced over at Major Schnaufer, who was sleeping on her bed. She was in her white undershirt from her military uniform and was wearing a pair of white panties. "Might want to make sure that Schnaufer isn't going to get jarred awake once I do this."
Lynne and I worked to cover the sleeping major's ears as best as we could, using a pair of earplugs Shizuka had in one of her pockets (the sergeant said something about going down to the shooting range or something to practice her marksmanship and had those just in case) to seal her ears.
"We're set," I said as Major Sakamoto got ready to play the bugle. Everyone else covered their ears just in case.
The major started playing the wake-up call before we watched as a green aura enveloped the bugle and was easily pulled out of Major Sakamoto's hands, followed by a sleepy-eyed, angry Roland sitting up and glaring at the major as the bugle floated next to the right side of his head.
"There had better be a good goddamn reason why you, of all people, are waking me up from my attempt at getting my night's worth of sleep back, Mio Sakamoto, and it better be damn good or so help your ancestors I will make your life a living hell when I'm back to normal," the Neuroi Witch said in a rather...grave tone as he stared at the major. His left eye was even giving off a red glow as his scars lit up.
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"Anyone else think it's a good idea if we don't wake Roland-kun up when he doesn't get any sleep after night patrol again anytime soon?" I tried as Shizuka, Lynne, Perrine, and I were standing in the hangar, looking at Roland, about a half hour later. During that timeframe, he had gotten up, wandered into the dining hall and took a seat as one of us brought him his breakfast. With a simple nod, he ate it as fast as he could and asked us (with some restraint evident in his voice. Must be trying to avoid snapping at us concerning Major Sakamoto waking him up...) to meet him in the hangar.
"Yep," Lynne told me really quickly.
"Definitely," Perrine added.
"Yeah, let's not, Miyafuji," Shizuka concluded.
The Neuroi Witch (the reason why I said what I said) was standing in front of us as he was busy drinking a bottle of cola (he had refused coffee and we didn't have any hot chocolate at the moment, so he seemed to have gone for cola. Something about being as good a source of caffeine for him as coffee is to Lynne, I think he said). Once he paused, he looked at us and added in an apologetic tone, "Sorry about earlier. I was really looking forward to getting a proper night's sleep, but I guess Mister Cola and I will have to get reacquainted with each other. Still not sure why we even have cola on this base." He then sighed. "Anyways, training...let's see, I did say that we'd start on my regiment, so..." He then glanced at each of us, like he was trying to size us up or something. "I've had Francesca-that's Ensign Lucchini, in case you didn't recognize the name, Shizuka-on my back as well as some of you girls while doing push-ups. That is what our ultimate goal will be, but for today we will need to get used to the idea of having something on your back, so..." He reached right next to him and grabbed a tool kit that had been sitting on the ground to his left. "Now, I asked Shirley if I could borrow her tool box for the moment, minus tools, so this shouldn't be too bad." I think he noticed our whitened faces (well, Shizuka didn't look fazed, but the rest of us were. Heck, I'm sure of myself) as he sighed and added, "Okay, maybe too much. I'll have to check the weight, but in the meantime..." He placed his right hand over his chin for a bit before he got an idea and, with a snap of his fingers, ran over and grabbed Lynne's anti-tank rifle, taking care to make sure the safety was on and taking out the magazine while checking the barrel of the rifle afterwards to ensure that no bullets were loaded. "This should work for getting used to having some weight on your back while doing push-ups. Now, who wants to go first?"
We looked at each other. We weren't too sure how tough it'd be, but I don't think any of us wanted to be the first one to try her hands with the idea.
Noting our lack of a decision, Roland yawned as he decided to choose someone.
"Right, I'll choose for now," he said as he looked at Shizuka. "Shizuka? You'll be our first contestant given you should be the best for showing these three how it's done."
"Right," Shizuka said as she walked over to Roland, who handed her the rifle. Placing it on her back, she then got into a push-up position and started on them, the rest of us watching as she went through them rather quickly.
It took her about five minutes before she fell onto her chest softly, panting.
"Not too bad," Roland told Shizuka as he helped her slide the rifle off her back. "I would have thought that you'd have given out after about two minutes of that." To the rest of us, he added, "Okay, who wants to try next?" He saw Lynne timidly raising her right hand. "Ah, Lynne. Alright. Let's go."
Once he helped her set up, Lynne barely lasted a minute before she got too tired, something Roland was confused about.
"Huh," he said carefully. "I thought you girls could hold a gun like that without magic support. Guess not." Getting on his knees as he helped Lynne get her weapon off her back, he told her, "It's alright, Lynne. I would have probably done the same thing if I was in your shoes."
After Lynne stood up and moved aside to take a break, I tried next but lasted about a second longer than the Britannian Witch (Roland had even confirmed it just in case). Finally, it was Perrine's turn, and she did better than the two of us though she was a minute short of beating Shizuka.
Taking another drink from his bottle of cola, the Neuroi Witch looked at us and said, "Okay, that didn't go very well. Not as bad as I'd have thought, though." He then yawned yet again. "Sorry for yawning so much. Trying to keep myself awake and all...anyways, let's do some sit-ups now. Nothing new to do, so let's see...how about...three hundred sit-ups?"
We then blinked. That sounded like something Major Sakamoto would have us do. Not Roland.
"Are you sure about that?" I tried.
Roland glared at me darkly as he replied with, "Would you like to test my sanity at the moment, Pilot Officer Miyafuji? If not, then get going before I make it six hundred."
I gulped. I think the major did a number on his mind by waking him up the way she did. "Y-Yes, R-Roland-kun, s-s-sir!"
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Roland's POV
While the girls did their three hundred sit-ups, I took another swig of cola and closed my eyes to focus on my current situation.
I didn't really want to say what I said to Yoshika but at the same time I do have a more complex anger issue with the core active inside me. I just thought that it'd be in their best interest to not try pushing my buttons at the moment. At least, not until I get a good night's sleep.
God knows how much I want to avoid a repeat of what happened with Hanna...
You didn't really have to make the threat of doubling their workload just because she asked you a question, Roland, Lionelis told me.
You think based on my current sleep levels? I replied. I've been on a night patrol and had barely gotten three hours of sleep before someone decided to wake me up, rather rudely too. I'm only still awake because I've got Mister Cola with me. And you, to an extent.
...That's a lame name to give a bottle of soda.
You name things your way, I'll name things mine.
Yeah, yeah...
I yawned for who knows which time now before opening my eyes and, looking at the girls, said, "Never mind the three hundred, just go to a hundred for now. I'll save three hundred for when we're more fit to do it." I then blinked: apparently, in the two minutes I had my eyes closed, Yoshika, Shizuka, Lynette, and Perrine were all laying on their backs, panting heavily. "Um...jeez, I didn't say you four had to kill yourselves doing them..."
"You're scary without much sleep, Roland-kun..." Yoshika said a minute after I said my line, having caught her breath.
"Sorry..." Lynette and Shizuka added.
"Thanks for the heads-up..." Perrine included, a little dazed.
"I'm afraid to ask, but...how much did you manage to do before you felt the repercussions?" I asked carefully.
"About eighty...we think..." the girls said as one.
At that speed, we would have thought they had died out around thirty... Lionelis mentioned.
You don't give them enough credit, I told him. They can go up to three hundred at some point. Just not right now.
Still, they've got nothing on you, Roland. You've got three sources of magic in you at the moment. The best any of them have right now is Yoshika's magic, and she's still growing in power. Her body, on the other hand...
I blinked. She's my friend, Lio! Where does a core get off commenting on the build of one of my friends and teammates? I could understand if he said that about Minna, but...Yoshika's too young for me! Wait, is it considered part of my thoughts if a core communicating with me mentally thinks up something like that?
Just an observation, Roland. We don't even have a physical body for anything you'd think we'd do, so why would we consider the possibilities?
Maybe because you're in my body.
...Good point. We're in your body at the moment, so...
...Why do I feel like I was going to hate life somewhere down the road?
"Roland-kun?" Yoshika asked as she and Shizuka managed to stand up. Lynette and Perrine, while they had seemed to recover from the speed run they all did, were only sitting on the ground. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" I asked in return as I blinked and focused on my trainees. "Oh, yeah. Completely fine!"
"Okay...you looked like you were lost in thought..."
"Anyways, what's next, sir?" Shizuka concluded.
"Erm..." I started as I thought of something I could have them do. Maybe some pull-ups...that could work... "I've got to get something set up, so take about twenty laps on the runway and come back to see me."
"Right!" the girls told me immediately.
XXXXXXXXXX
Gertrud's POV
Not quite sure if Sage is really ready to be dealing with training, what with his current lack of a proper night's sleep, but at least Commander Minna and Major Sakamoto decided to not have him take to the air (if at all possible; if things got really bad during an attack, I'm sure that not even sleep deprivation can stop an angry Neuroi Witch).
Speaking of the Neuroi Witch, Sage said something about running some laps to his trainees (Miyafuji, Bishop, Hattori, and Perrine) before he came into the hangar in search of something while the girls ran on the runway.
Wonder what he's looking for at this time?
"Gertrud?" he asked as he spotted me. "What are you doing here at the moment?"
"Hmm?" I sounded as I realized that he had spotted me. "Ah! I was wondering about how you were handling those four."
"Those four?" Sage climbed over the bars I was standing behind and took a stand to my right, a bottle of cola in his right hand. "Ah. I figured that I'd give them a taste of what I'd probably go through for the moment. I tried having them do push-ups with some weight on their backs."
Weight? Oh, right: like how one of us would sit on his back while he did them. "I see. And?"
Sage sighed. "They've got a long way to go before they get to my level, but I know Shizuka's got the best shot. Yoshika, however, has the most heart out of all of them."
"Wonder where she gets it from."
Sage must have blinked because I missed it, but his next line sounded like he was surprised. "It's not like that at all, Gertrud!"
"Relax, Sage-I mean, Roland." I barely remembered that he had ordered me to call him by his first name as part of being second-in-command. "It's not a bad thing. I mean, out of all of us you've done the most as far as influencing people goes. That, and Commander Minna with her leadership skills. I mean, you've gotten Eila to not beat you senseless after a while, and Miyafuji has become a little...attached to you, I guess."
"You're just saying that because you want her to be more attached to you as a sort of little sister, huh?"
What is he...?
Oh crap!
I backed away from him as my right hand flew over my mouth while I looked at him.
"I-I'm not thinking that at all!" I said quickly. "I'm j-just saying that she seems t-to have taken after you, that's a-all."
Sage lowered his eyebrows as he turned his head to look at me before he replied with, "Really? Why are you blushing then?"
"I'm not blushing!" Actually, I think I am, but it's not for what you think it's for!
"I think your face says otherwise, Gertrud." He then gave off a grin.
As I watched him take a sip from his bottle of cola, I couldn't help but notice that he looked a little more...
No! No! Stop that, Gertrud! You know he's already with Commander Minna!
...But why can't I figure out why I'm thinking like this?
"Not you too..." I groaned as my blush reddened a lot more.
"Sorry, had to do that," Sage told me as he chuckled. "You've really got to relax a little."
I blinked. "Is that an order as second-in-command, Roland?"
"Not really. Think of it as more of a request. I know that being disciplined is what makes you...you, but you've had a bit of a good twist of events going for you for about the last year. I mean, you've got Chris up and moving about, you've got a team that really trusts you, and you've got your homeland to look forward to. What more could you ask for?"
Don't say "a boyfriend". Don't say "a boyfriend". "Someone to look forward to meeting." That's about the same thing, you dummkoph!
Sage looked confused. "Look forward to? Erm...you can look forward to seeing Chris in Karlsland. I'm pretty sure you can't wait to tell her all about your struggle to free it."
...Oh my God, I forgot that he's a little oblivious sometimes. At least my feelings aren't being told to him. Hartmann, on the other hand... "Yeah, I do, don't I?"
"See? At least you've got family still." He smiled, but for some reason it looked a bit...faked.
Right, I forgot that he doesn't have any family in our world. I guess the closest he's got is probably the team and Miyafuji's mother and grandmother, but there's no one related to him for him to see. "Well, if you ever want to, I could introduce you to Chris. If I remember correctly, I think she said something about wanting to meet you for a while now. Must be the autograph or something."
"Don't worry. I'd love to meet Chris, don't get me wrong, but I don't want you to do something like that out of pity."
I sighed. "I know you're technically higher in command than me with your current position, but I've been a captain longer than you and I'm ordering you to come along with me the next time I go see Chris."
"But-"
"No 'buts', Roland. After all, you wouldn't want to disappoint me, right?" I remember that he cares about us deep down, no matter what his current relationship with Commander Minna means.
I must have triggered something in him because Sage looked a little surprised. "Oh! Alright, Gertrud. I'll go with you the next time you go."
Smiling, I sighed. "Now that that's done, don't you have something to do?"
"Oh, right! I need a pipe or something! Um...any idea where I could find one?"
"You could use one of those poles for what you're thinking." I pointed behind him and to a pile of poles that were just sitting there. "What are you planning on doing with one, anyways?"
"You'll see..."
XXXXXXXXXX
Yoshika's POV
A few minutes after we got done with our twenty laps on the runway, we went into the hangar to meet up with Roland, who had Barkhorn standing next to him as he had a pole of sorts laying on the ground in front of us.
"Um, what's the pole for?" I asked.
"It's for you girls," Roland replied.
I'm lost: what exactly are we going to do with a pole on the ground?
"You better not be thinking what I think you're thinking, Roland, my word," Perrine added as she was looking at the object in question.
"Orientation yesterday," the Neuroi Witch replied with a blank stare. "Rule number three, extra info, Perrine. Besides, you think I can hold a pole like that for a few minutes with my current sleep level?"
...Really lost here. What's Perrine getting at?
"You're better off not asking, Yoshika," Lynne whispered in my left ear. When I looked at her, she had a slight blush on her face.
Can someone please tell me what you three are getting at? Or at least tell me in a way that I can understand, please?
"Anyways, I have this pole here because we are going to do pull-ups," Roland concluded as he told us about what the pole was going to be used for. "Any questions?" I raised my right hand. "Yes, Yoshika?"
"What's a pull-up?" I asked, confused. I know that Major Sakamoto had us do some odd exercises, but what's a pull-up? Also, how do you do one?
Roland scratched the back of his head with his right hand as he looked puzzled. "I guess Major Sakamoto didn't have you guys do that, did she?"
"Not that I remember, no." Then again, we may have, but...sometimes my memory's not the greatest...like I learned that Lynne had an older sister and then forgot it until she reminded me a couple of times. Though...what was her name again? Oh well, it'll come back to me eventually. If Lynne doesn't remind me first.
"Alright. Gertrud? Care to demonstrate?"
"Sure," Barkhorn replied as we watched Roland lift the pole about six feet into the air horizontally using a green aura (I've seen him use Neuroi Mode so much I think I forgot that he has other magic abilities that don't rely on the core). "Anyways, ladies, I'll show you how a pull-up's done. Watch closely." She jumped up and, crossing her right shin behind her left as she bent her knees so that her feet pointed behind her, grabbed a hold of the pole. Roland gave off a quick grunt before he managed to recover from the increase in weight. She then proceeded to pull her body up so that her chin was over the pole before she counted off the attempt and lowered her body down, letting go and landing on her feet. "It's like that, Miyafuji."
"Pretty much. You could do it over- or under-handed. I think that's how you'd describe it. Basically, you can either do it so that your elbows either goes to the side, like how Captain Barkhorn did, or downwards, like an El." He then lowered the pole on the ground gently before he let go of it. "Alright, who wants to try first this time?"
"Erm, how much do you want us to do?" I asked.
"I'd think five, but just do at least one for now."
"I'll go first, Roland," Perrine told him.
"Alright, Perrine. Gimme a second to get ready." He then used his magic to get the pole back into the air. "Alright, hop on."
Perrine did so, and after the grunt of trying to strengthen his magic to compensate for the added weight came out of Roland's mouth, the Gallian Witch started on her turn.
She managed to do a couple but had apparently lost steam after the third one because she was struggling to perform the fourth before she just dropped onto the ground feet first after letting go.
"Three, not bad, Perrine," Roland told her.
"Just doing what I need to," Perrine told him, though a slight smirk crossed her face.
"Anyways, next?"
"I wanna give it a try!" I told him as I raced under the pole and jumped up to grab at it...before I realized that I wasn't exactly tall enough to just jump up and get it. At least, not very easily. "Um, Roland-kun?"
Roland sighed and, after considering my current stature, lowered it just enough for me to grab it after a jump up before he raised it back to its original height. I then tried to pull myself up but found myself unable to.
...I don't think it's as easy as Barkhorn and Perrine made it look like, at least not for the first one.
I spent the next few minutes kicking my legs about as I tried pulling myself up. I managed to get my chin to come up to the bar but before I could get it over to make it count my arms gave out, and I found myself falling. Thinking quickly, I prepared myself for any possible injuries before landing on my feet and falling onto my rear.
"Are you okay, Miyafuji?" Shizuka asked me as she and Lynne came over to me while I sat there.
"Yeah," I told her quickly as I rubbed the bruised area with my right hand. "I just hurt my rear, that's all. Ow..."
Once I moved, Lynne tried next but...
For some reason, she reminded me of a blanket or something because she wasn't even able to pull herself up at the moment. Roland, after a sigh, had to tell her to hang on for about a minute before she let go. At least she didn't fall onto her rear after landing.
Finally, it was Shizuka's turn, and she managed to do the five Roland had originally planned.
"Wow, Shizuka," I told her as Roland went to put the pole away for now. "I can't believe you actually managed to do that much."
Shizuka, for some strange reason, gained a slight blush as she replied with, "I-It wasn't a problem at all, Miyafuji. I had to do things like that in training, so it's really not as hard for me to perform. Plus, I'm rather fresh from training, so..."
For being two years younger than me, she's able to do more things than I could have done at that age.
"Anyways," Barkhorn decided to tell us (she was still standing there). "You four have the afternoon off, but I'll be your drill instructor in the evening. Hope you're ready for it."
"Yes, ma'am," we told her.
XXXXXXXXXX
Mio's POV
"Major, is there any reason why there's a katana sitting in my office from Fuso at the moment?" Commander Minna asked me as she had called me in some time after lunch. For some reason, there had been a delivery that had ended up in the commander's office, a katana. It had a tan scabbard with a white cap at the tip along with a thin white strip that seemed to act as the strap for the protective cover. The katana itself...it was hard to tell what exactly it was as far as blade color was concerned, but it did have a white hilt and a white hand guard.
"That?" I asked in return as I walked over to her desk, where the katana was resting at the moment. "I'm not sure...did it say where it's from?"
"According to the note I received, it came from Fuso. I didn't seem to get an address from where it came from there, just that it was sent to Saint Trond."
"Hmm..." I picked up the katana by the scabbard and examined it. I could use this as a backup weapon in the event I couldn't get to the Reppumaru, but then again I think I'm better off giving this to Miyafuji. I'm pretty sure it's time for her to learn how to use one in combat. "That's strange. I don't remember seeing this katana before. However, I don't believe it's a trap for us. Permission to hand it to Miyafuji?"
"Erm...why would she need a katana?"
I chuckled. "Commander Minna, she's from Fuso. Besides, without me to fly in and use the Reppumaru, she could try using it."
Commander Minna blinked. "And risk her using the Shin Reppuzan again? Are you sure it's a good idea to give her a weapon that would allow her to perform something like that?"
"I'm pretty sure. There are more spells than the Shin Reppuzan that she can use. For instance, she could use the Cloud Spark technique if she learned how to perform it. As for her using it again, I'm sure she wouldn't decide to use it again unless something dramatic occurred. And we barely started our services here, so I don't think that'll happen for a while."
Commander Minna sighed. "Alright. I'll let you give it to her. Promise me that you'll take full responsibility if she ends up losing her magic again."
"Don't worry so much, Minna. I'll be sure to ensure that she doesn't go and use up her magic again." I held the katana in my left hand as I saluted Commander Minna with my right hand. "Speaking of her, any idea where she is?"
XXXXXXXXXX
Roland's POV
"Tic-tac-toe!" I heard Yoshika shout as she and I finished with yet another game of Tic-tac-toe on one of my letter papers at the table in the hangar. "I win again!"
"I must be losing my touch at this point," I lamented slightly before I sighed and drew another hash tag to start another game. "I'm a lot better at this game than I'm being right now, and that's not even much."
"And you beating me at chess isn't?" Perrine added as she and Lynette were busy watching us play our game. The Gallian Witch was busy standing to my left as the Britannian Witch was watching from behind Yoshika.
Hey, that's a strategy game! You're using a strategy here, true, but how many different moves can you make in this game? I think it's about nine-factorial, which is...
Actually, that's a big number.
About 362,880, Lionelis informed me.
Exactly. In chess, you have way more than that for the possible moves.
...I hope so given the amount of pieces and squares the game and its board have.
"I can always try beating you three times in a row again, Perrine," I retorted playfully as I looked at her. "Or do you not recall that time we played chess in Britannia?"
I think Perrine blanched slightly. "Don't remind me...I still don't know how you managed to beat me that much back then."
I shrugged my shoulders. "Just got lucky, that's all it was." I then watched as Yoshika drew a circle in the center of the grid. I responded by crossing out the upper right corner.
"Hey there, you four," Mio's voice said suddenly.
"Major Sakamoto!" I heard Yoshika shout as we all turned around and saw Mio walking towards us, a katana in her left hand. She then gave off a salute. "Ma'am!"
"It's alright, Miyafuji," Mio told the little Fuso Witch. "You can relax." She then noticed what we had been doing. "Are you two playing tic-tac-toe or something?"
"We got bored after training, so Yoshika and I decided to play some of this," I replied. "Anyways...why are you toting around a second katana?" I could see that this katana was different from the one resting on her back: it was a tan scabbard with a white tip and a thin white strip to act as the strap for it. Resting inside the scabbard was a katana's blade (I assume steel-colored) with a white hilt and a white hand guard.
"Oh, this?" Mio held out the katana in front of her. "Commander Minna found this in her office earlier. It came from Fuso, that's all we know."
"Not even a return address?" I got up and, walking over to the Fuso major, took the katana in my hands. "Huh. A bit strange, if you ask me. It feels different from my sword, but let's see..." I gripped the hilt with my right hand as my left hand slid down the scabbard a bit as I tried pulling the katana out to examine the blade.
...
Nothing.
"Okay, what gives?" I asked as I tried again. The katana was still inside its scabbard, like it was glued into the cover.
"How do you not know how to pull out a katana?" Mio asked as she blinked in confusion.
"I do! It's just...stuck..." I continued pulling at it.
"Let me try." She grabbed it from me and tried to pull it out herself, getting the same results I had: nothing. "Strange. Usually a katana will slide right out."
"...Maybe it's a Japanese-sorry, Fuso version of Excalibur?"
"Roland, that legend only works if the sword was in the stone," Lynette informed me.
"Thanks, Lynne. Forgot you were a Britannian Witch. Anyways, why do you have it with you, major? I'd think that a katana that can't slide out of its own scabbard would be used more for a display case than actual combat."
"Well, I wanted to give it to Miyafuji," Mio said. "She's a Fuso Witch, so it'd be fitting for her to have a weapon our people would use."
"Wait, you want me to have it?" Yoshika asked the major. "But..."
"I think it's time you use a katana when you need to, Miyafuji. Plus, I can't have you try using the Reppumaru here again. At least with this I can prevent you from being harmed just by holding my katana."
"That's still a dangerous magic-sucker?" I asked quickly. How come she's still using it if she's got no more magic?
"Most likely is still. I can't feel the magic drain due to, you know...anyways, it's best if I keep a hold of it. I don't want anyone else on this team going through what I had while using it."
"Erm...alright..." Yoshika said timidly as she reached out and grabbed the new katana with her left hand. Resting it in both hands, the little Fuso Witch then decided to try pulling out herself (not sure if she tried because she wanted to test my theory or because she was curious to see why her superiors, who use bladed weapons themselves, couldn't unsheathe it), placing her right hand on the hilt and gripping it tight.
SHHH...
We watched as the katana's blade came out slowly before a familiar burst of blue aura came out of it. Yoshika froze as it surrounded her body, like she was afraid to do anything.
"Yoshika!" Lynette cried out.
Shit, I've gotta get that thing to stop!
"Sheathe it now!" I shouted as I ran up to her and gripped her right wrist with my right hand. What followed was the burst of pain I had felt back in Romagna. "Ah!" I let go quickly as I stumbled back a bit before I tried again. I won't let her faint this time! I've gotta stop this! "Sheath it now, pilot officer!" I grabbed her right wrist again and felt the pain return, but I persisted, placing my left hand on the scabbard. I managed to force her hand to slide the blade back into its cover, breaking the burst of blue aura. "There! Got it!" I then watched as Yoshika, now freed of the aura, loosened up a lot as she fell against my chest, the katana between us. I hugged her tightly to keep her as upright as I could. "Yoshika, you alright?"
"Yeah..." Yoshika replied weakly. "I'm fine..."
"Good...please, don't unsheathe that katana again. Not unless you have no other choice. I don't want you going through that again anytime soon."
"Yes...Roland-kun..."
"...Can you stand?"
"Yeah...a little..." I helped her onto her feet more securely and let go, watching her wobble a little before correcting herself completely. "I'm sorry..."
"Don't apologize, Yosh. No one could have predicted that happening again." I looked at Mio, who nodded, before I turned my attention back to the little Fuso Witch. "You are feeling alright at the moment, right?"
"Yeah." She then looked at her hands, like she had been expecting something to have happened to them, but they looked normal...for the most part. "No red marks..."
"Red marks?" I think she may have gotten some from the Reppumaru when she had tried "messing with it". "Like magic burns?"
Yoshika went silent for a bit. "...I guess..."
"...Maybe some rest will serve you well. You four go ahead and, I guess...go take a bath or something. I'm going to talk to Major Sakamoto for a bit before I go relax myself."
"Hai." To her teammates, Yoshika added, "You guys want to?"
"Sure," Lynette told her quickly.
"Might as well," Perrine added.
"...Sure, Miyafuji," Shizuka replied, a little hesitant.
"Yay!" the little Fuso Witch said cheerfully.
As Mio and I watched the girls walk off to go through with the idea I gave them, I turned to look at the Fuso major and, once they were out of earshot, asked, "Why did you give Yoshika the katana?"
"I wanted her to have her own," Mio said calmly. "I think I had some reservations about that happening to her again. I'm more worried about you, though. Why did you step in and touch her during that burst of energy once again? You knew that the energy would have sent you reeling, so why?"
"Because..." I sighed. "I didn't want to see Yosh in that sort of pain."
"Sage, you're not her father. Miyafuji is more than capable of handling her own. Remember that you never existed in this world if what you say about our world is true, so she'd probably be able to fight on her own without your help."
"You think I don't know that?" I sounded ticked. "You guys are able to handle yourselves, but...I can't..." I closed my eyes and sighed. "I want to protect you all with whatever I have. I have to atone for something, right? I mean, I've lied to you all. I let you get hurt, major. I've caused harm to those I wanted to protect..."
"Sage..." I heard footsteps before I felt Mio set a hand on my right shoulder. Opening my eyes and looking at her, I could see that she had lifted her eye patch up to show her hidden eye, which seemed to have a purple-colored iris. "You have nothing to atone for. What you and your core did before meeting us doesn't matter. Hell, we've already pretty much forgiven you for lying to us back then. If it wasn't for you willing to fire those cannons that day, it would have been me in your shoes then. If anything, I need to atone for letting you do that alone. Because of that, you and Miyafuji lost your magic and your body took a permanent hit. So...please...tell me what you think is the best way to make it up to you."
I blinked. "Wait, what? You want to make it up to me? Why?"
"...Weren't you listening? I couldn't stop or help you, so it's my fault."
"That's not true, and you know it!" Noting Mio's shocked look (note to self: never seen her actually being shocked by me shouting), I added in a calmer voice, "Sorry. Anyways, if you're truly going to go through with 'atoning', then...please teach Yoshika how to use her katana to your best ability. I know that she knows how to use it at a basic level, but if she's going to use it to fight Neuroi then she's going to need to rely on more than a Reppuzan if she has to use a spell like that."
Mio nodded in agreement. "Alright. I will do what I can. Without magic, I can't show her how to properly do those sorts of spells, but I can help her master how to use a katana. Don't worry, Sage, she's definitely in good hands."
"Alright, I trust you." Maybe I should ask Kuji about it when I fall asleep later on tonight.
XXXXXXXXXX
And there goes the next chapter in the story.
Again, sorry if this chapter took a while to get put up. I've found myself getting sidetracked, either via playing something, messing with a new software, or doing things around here. The chapter itself was ready for a while, about a while after I started the next entry, but this took a little while to go over due to the extra details I had to double-check.
But enough of that: time for some notes...
First on the agenda: the katana Yoshika's currently in possession of. I had seen a picture of Yoshika where she had a katana on her back, and when I decided to create this chapter I chose to describe that particular katana as best as I could. I have no idea if it's connected to Kuji, though: his entry doesn't really have a picture of what the katana he was bound to looked like. Anyways, if you happen to have any idea about it feel free to let me know.
Next, Roland's training drills. They look a bit normal at first, but as he pointed out the girls' ultimate goal is to try doing what the Neuroi Witch does for exercises. That's going to take a while, but I will be doing my best to make sure that it's good in its description.
Finally, a bit of help with this one: while I have the second part of this done (minus editing and the whole "read through it and make sure it looks good" process done) and am currently working on the next two-parter...I am having a bit of trouble with figuring out how exactly the Witches of the 506th JFW (or Noble Witches, if you know them by that name) are personality-wise. I have looked around the wiki and checked any link that seems to give me more information about them when I can, but if you happen to know how they would act would you mind helping me out with this one? I'll be putting up a forum topic in the SHDF (yes, the forum I have not updated in...no idea how long right now, but yeah) along with some more updates, so if you would like to impart some advice, suggestions, or help me get a clearer grasp of them, please stop by and leave me your thoughts.
Apart from that, please read and respond and let me know what you thought of this chapter. And please don't be afraid to point out something that doesn't make sense in the chapter at any point: some things from the previous stories have been pointed out, but so far I've got ideas based on those sorts of things. Plus, as there are OCs having met the canonical characters before the start of this series (and Roland's tales as the Ground/Neuroi Witch began), some things may have been adjusted to accommodate these sorts of things. However, if you think a character doesn't react in a way they'd usually react feel free to let me know.
Anyways, thanks for reading, and I'll see you guys later.