Chapter 3
"Typical Days of Australis (Part 1)"
March 16, 1963... Perth, Australis Airbase...
Julie opened her eyes on the new morning at 0600 hours. Even if it was a Saturday, she knew that she should stay vigilant and always be ready. She then sat up on her bed then breathed in and out calmly. 'Another day...' "Zhǔnbèi hǎo xīn de yītiān. (Ready for another day.)" She muttered before she turned to stand from her bed.
Time flew by as she was already jogging with her broadsword behind her and was making sure the weight makes a good weight. As she jogged past the barracks the second time, she was already heading to the hangars and passing by each one. There were staff rolling some equipment to the hangars and she nodded as they greeted her that morning. It was a new day, a new whole new chapter, in which she hopes would be good.
She took about 20 minutes of straight jogging around and she just walked. While heading to Hangar 2 where she put up the old mattress she once used for her bad prank, she knew that it was already there since last night. When she entered the hangar, she saw it was supported by a stand from behind, so it represents itself as a target. Julie pulled out her broadsword and smirked at her mattress. "Wǒ de è xíng de yuányīn, cóng nǐ kāishǐ. (The cause of my wrongdoings started from you.) Now... Be gone as you are now my past." She let her familiar features out and held her broadsword tightly as she focused. "Bǎi... jiàn... ZHǍN!" She suddenly sprinted forward and disappeared with her speed, and suddenly making slashes in a split second to the mattress. After two seconds with a 99 slashes made, she appeared in front of the mattress and did a horizontal slash to trim the top of the mattress. But as she finished her move, she stepped back for a while. At first, nothing happened. But after two seconds, part of the top was cut off and the rest from the bottom was split into fragments while making a small explosion due to the sudden split-second attack for 100 times. "I still got it." She smiled and looked at her broadsword. 'I guess I can't always be with you, right?'
Linda came in the hangar and Julie was aware of it. "So that's the culprit for the prank and the buckets in it."
Julie chuckled at the idea. "You were quite observant. If you were the one covered in sugar and feathers, I suppose you could have just been annoyed and left the base."
"Really? I thought I could have left the base and Gina could have killed you for it. I mean... She can go M.O.S on you."
"Her? Use Magic Overload on me? She's got no idea who she's going up against if that happens. But both of us don't want any bloodshed. It'll only be a matter of time if one of us DOES piss off the other."
The Liberion smiled before she approached Julie and glanced at the ripped apart mattress. "At least you're putting your past behind you. Every second counts and we can't just look back to where we have been. But what's your story anyway?"
"Is that a personal question?"
"It is, and it's best to be one."
The Xingiet looked and narrowed her eyes on Linda before she sighed in defeat. "I suppose there's no harm keeping it from you either."
"So the others know about it?"
"But you're wise in approaching me anyway. It's better I handle the pressure in telling a story than be someone too secretive." Then she sheathed her broadsword before she led Linda out of the hangar. "Let me tell you from the beginning."
FLASHBACK...
Julie - I was so young then. I was enjoying myself as a girl while I was 10 years old in Guangzhou Province in Xing. My stepfather, already aged like a grandfather, was my only guardian...
"Yéyé! Kàn wǒ zěnme xiūjiǎn wǒ de shù! (Grandfather! Look at how I trimmed my tree!)" Julie had shown her grandfather a Penzai one morning and he knelt to examine it. He saw the details of the trimming and he said she has it, but still needs a little more practice. "Xièxiè! Wǒ huì jìxù gèngjiā nǔlì! (Thanks! I'll keep trying harder!)" She replied with a smile before he put his hand on her gentle head and hair of her youth.
Julie - After rescuing me from a burning home, my stepfather, who I called 'Grandfather' that time became my only source of teaching and smiles too. My parents passed away from that fire and I didn't know their names. I never knew about them either, but I was living right with him. Back then, I didn't know much about the neuroi. But I knew so much about the war between Karlsland and Fuso, that even Xing got partly involved in it. My stepfather then was a retired colonel for the Xingiet dispatch forces. He was given amnesty by the Fusojin empire after he had been rebelling against them. But after the defeat of the Fusojins, my stepfather got back to Guangzhou where he belongs, but with me as well. I was an infant... A newborn. Then I grew under his care that I decided to try gaining my independence, so that I could take good care of him. He's old... And I can't let the old ones take care of me for too long...
The night came quite well after the week has ended for both Julie and her old stepfather that they decided to sleep early, as another day would come and he wished to get me to the spot where he usually does his Yang Style Tai Chi during his spare time in the weekends. He wanted me to see how he prolongs his health, and I knew that time that he needed it. I smiled in my life, but I was also concerned with my stepfather that time...
The night before I went with him to see him perform... It changed. It was raining. I was scared of the rain and thunder that it even woke me up in the middle of the night. A distant but very loud thunder work Julie up before she sat up and breathed heavily. 'It's... It's so loud...' Then she heard a growl from beside her and turned to see a leopard. This widened her eyes, knowing seeing big cats looking at seemed to be scary. But... This one seemed to be like a cub with its size. 'Wait... It's a leopard but...' The leopard then jumped on to her bed and softly growled at her. "Nín hǎo. Nǐ yào shānghài wǒ? (Hello. Are you going to harm me?)" She whispered to the leopard before the leopard gently shook its head. "Wǒ shì yīgè nǚwū? (Am I a sorceress?)" And the leopard neared its head to hers.
I called witches 'sorceresses' back then. I always knew that their magic is helpful in defending nations and lives of others. It was natural there were witches, and somehow, for some reason, I longed to be one. I could use it to find the reason why my parents died. Or... I could use it for the means of saving people's lives. My belief as a child brought me to the destiny that will unfold. I nodded on the leopard with determination and gently held its head before I neared my forehead to the gentle cub, and my body was filled with a force I once couldn't understand. I had to close my eyes and this raw but simple energy turned pure when my body adapted to it. Soon, after just several seconds, I opened my eyes to see no leopard. I looked around the room and I saw nothing. However... I knew it wasn't a dream. I went back to sleep...
END OF FLASHBACK...
"You just went back to sleep?" Linda asked while they were at the bath locker rooms and was looking away from Julie, who was currently dressing up in new clothes behind an open locker door.
"Yes. I didn't know the significance of the event, but what I did know was that power went in me as a result of that event. I was 10 years old, but I remember very well."
"So you didn't really take it seriously?"
Julie sighed. "No."
"Great. You were confusing me there for a second."
"I thought I'd just try making it good for you to hear."
"Hey, I like how you tell your story. Just be yourself."
"I'm relieved then. It seems it doesn't need to be dramatic." Julie said with a chuckle. "So there, the next day... I went with him to that grassy space with other elders during the morning. As they practiced their Tai Chi, I closed my eyes. Their movements... Their energy... They seem to be in sync. Chi, in your terms, means energy. But in my terms, it's energy that flows in the universe and in turn, flows in all of us."
"Ah."
"Don't treat it lightly, Melinda."
"Oh?"
"Call me Julie. But don't let that fool you. We're still rivals of sorts."
"Sure."
"Turn around. I'm done now." Julie ordered ahd Linda looked at her while in the Xingiet republic uniform. "Well, shall we continue?" And Linda nodded before they walked out of the locker room...
FLASHBACK...
Julie was at the grassy open space while his stepfather was conducting his Tai Chi with other elders. Her eyes are closed, knowing she has to sense the Chi coming from all of the elders.
Julie - That time, my belief was that sorceresses are rather not the kind of people I would take lightly, especially with myths and legends suggesting that they are dangerous as they wield magic. Because of this, cultures in Xing disregard magic as much as possible... And it's especially applied in Guangzhou. I kept watching my stepfather as the slowest moves made in Tai Chi seems to symbolize so much, but it's also meant to make sure their energy is peaked or should let them live longer. I know as I watched, there is Chi, but in what I experienced, I also sensed the same thing. In other words... The two things can't be far apart since I manifested. There's a connection. And I had to try seeing the bigger picture.
Julie opened her eyes and saw them still doing it, but something from her being a sorceress made her sense presences. For some reason, a fog had surrounded them and herself. The scene slowly changed into a bright day to a day which included fog and mystery. She saw forms of smoke come out from a few places far from the practicing elders. The forms of smoke partly formed into robed men with red eyes. And she knew what it meant. 'They're... Are they here in peace?' She thought, knowing they were visitors and not from this earth, because they don't any Chi at all. One of the robed men put his hand forward which then glowed red. Her eyes widened as she ran to him and eventually, she charged him and hit him before he fired a long beam by accident. Then the other robed men looked at her with hostility and she immediately glanced at her stepfather. "Yéyé! Dàjiā hǎo! Yùnxíng nín de shēnghuó! (Grandpa! Everyone! Run for your lives!)" But when she looked at the elders, they were still practicing the Tai Chi they've always been doing, and eventually, they all faded and disappeared. 'Wait... What happened to them?' She thought before the next thing she knew was standing up and seeing the robed men now surrounding her. She looked to see that all sides were filled with every single one of them, now hostile.
All I thought that time, was that it was my time to shine. My stepfather wasn't there... And I was alone. I asked myself if I had to do this alone, because at first, I was afraid. I was very afraid, whether I'd lose my life or just be held against my will. All these robed men to circle on me, measuring me. I don't know how I could react, but I knew they were going to attack them. And I'm sure, they would do the same to me. I thought they were different. But then I realized something... The aliens visiting us made me think of the same thing. They wanted our planet. They wanted to control us after they break us. And that's exactly what they'll do... They'll break us all until we are nothing to them.
She clenched her fists in the matter. "Bù! Wǒ bù huì ràng nǐ zǒu de shēnghuó. Wǒ jiāng tāmen bǎocún zài jǐn wǒ suǒ néng! (No! I will not let you take lives. I will save them in whatever way I can!)" And one of the robed men came forward with his arm and hand pointed at her out. 'Bring it on.' She then felt animal ears and a tail come out from her. His red hand glowed and it fired a beam, but she zipped left and sprinted at him before she grabbed his arm, used her free hand to break it, and kicked him forcefully letting him hit two other robed men. The others retaliated by firing beams at her from behind and she put up a shield.
Julie looked behind her. "Bèn rén. (Imbecile.)" She quickly glanced forward and sprinted towards other robed men with her hands glowing to fire beams before she glowed gold. 'If my Chi would help me, now is the time!' She screamed her battle cry before she jumped and kicked one of the robed men to push and make him stumble to the ground hard, before grabbing the arm of another and with momentum threw him to the other men. Without doubt she kept running and kept attacking the robed men who were about to attack her, and kept losing chances as she was faster than they are. 'If I keep this up, I can defeat all of them!' And she kept making sure she stops them all before they would hurt anyone else.
And when she kicked the last and downed robed man and got him to stumble far from her, she exhaled forcefully as she knew she was done. 'So it's done...' But as she turned around, horror filled her face. More robed men have shown themselves, and they raised their arms and hand, pointed at her. 'So many of them...? How would I be able to...?' Then she looked at her sides, seeing black figures. From what she could make out from the shapes of each figure, they were soldiers and other sorceresses with familiar ears and tails. All of them were facing the robed men together. 'So I can't always be alone, can I?' Then her gold glow made her notice it. 'No matter how sad it may be, I must keep myself going no matter what. All of us are together, but we die alone.'
'Still...' She walked forward with her other allies beside her. 'I'd want to see this through to the end!' As the robed men began to let their hands glow brighter. 'For all of us... Until the end!' She shouted while hearing other battle cries from the voice of other humans before they charged at their enemy. They all saw colors of red beams and blue shields clash in their battle.
And when I came to... My vision was first blurred, but then it cleared up. I saw my stepfather look at me with worry. "Yéyé? Yéyé? Wǒ zěnmeliǎo? (Grandpa? What happened to me?)" Julie said before she finally sat up on the grass. She heard a few gasps from other elders and she noticed it too well as she felt her ears and tail were out. She gasped in shock and immediately stood up to face her stepfather. "Duìbùqǐ! Wǒ hěn bàoqiàn! Wǒ bù zhīdào wǒ de lìliàng láizì! (I'm sorry! I'm very sorry! I don't know where my powers came from!)"
The stepfather was shocked to hear that she had powers, and they all believed in the history of the sorceresses in the past. Some of them feared her. Some of them felt pity on her. Some of them made sure to comfort her instead of fear her, and one of those people was her stepfather. He approached her and kneeled thanks to short height and eventually hugged her tightly. "Qǐng... Bù duō shuōle. (Please... Say no more.)" He clearly said to her, who seemed to send that message to her as a sign of being both proud, and glad to know she was a girl with magic.
As they got back to their home from that simple incident, he immediately brought out some scrolls and newspaper pieces. They were all about the history of magic in Xing, and the truth behind the ancestry of her family. He knows about her family the whole time, and he was waiting for the time she would be able to receive her powers.
The whole time... My stepfather was also known to be my guardian and servant for my parents. Apparently, my mother was also a sorceress like I am. The house was actually on fire due to the townsfolk from where I once lived in. They don't like sorceresses and they were just a curse to their culture and religion. That's what they cared about... Culture and Religion. It was why I had mixed views of them in the first place.
And after I've known this from him, there was actually a message left by my mother when I was still being prepared for departure from the now burnt home I once lived in. And it summarizes pretty well... 'Use your power for greatness or for your own strength. You are destined to wield magic. Be wise. Be strong. Don't falter and give up. Never turn back and make your future...' And I hugged him one more time before I decided that time in our home, that I would join the military on helping preserve peace...
END OF FLASHBACK...
The two of them finally arrived in the messhall and the other witches are there too. This time, unlike the last couple of months, Gina now stays together with Giraud, Narumi, and Montesano. This is a little of a surprise for Julie since they don't get along well. She smiled and approached the table they're at. "Finally sitting together now, aren't we?"
"Major!" They exclaimed.
"At ease, girls." Julie replied before she saw Gina surprised that Linda's with her. "Relax, Gina. There will be plenty of time with that duel to be prepared. Don't forget the reason we're really here."
"Um... That's not what I was thinking of, Major." Gina replied. "I was actually thinking of Linda's sudden closeness for some reason." Then she glanced at Linda. "Right?"
Linda shrugged. "You can put it that way." And the other witches gasped at it. This was the first time in some time that Linda and Julie were finally able to get along with each other. "Hey, frenemies, I guess? Friends in one occurence, and enemies in another?"
"Sure. That may have been the word." Gina said with a chuckle, even if the word didn't really exist at that time yet. And Julie sat together with Linda. "So, you two have been keeping quite the friendship or something?"
Julie replied on that question. "It seems so. I realized over the few moments of remembering what I really am here for, and how I'm treating my subordinates, that I actually saw a few flaws in my part. One is that I wanted to be a solo fighting witch. And the second is my disregard of others who I think have less skill."
"Ouch."
"I know. It hurts one other witch who may have the same qualification. I'll try not making it a habit. Sometimes, I just forget the difference between discipline and abuse towards another."
"Problem solved, huh?"
"I guess that puts away everything including some vented anger?" Giraud said who just took a spoonful of the soup she was eating.
"Well, there's still the matter of the duel." Julie said while she glanced at Linda, who was then smiling at her. "Seem confident?"
"You bet, major." Linda replied.
"To prove you're enough of a worth, I'm letting you go for a patrol today. Take Esmeralda with you for the meantime."
"Montesano?"
"I can try it with her." Ezmee said, thinking if she could do it. "I haven't gone on patrol with Williams yet. No será tan malo si no pasa nada grave. (It won't be that bad if nothing serious happens.)"
"I agree."
"You understand Spanish?"
"Yup."
"I'm starting to like you already." Ezmee said with a chilling excitement climbing inside her. "Te voy a mostrar mis habilidades durante nuestro turno! (I'll show you my abilities during our shift!)"
"¿No necesita algo a cambio? (Doesn't it need something in exchange?)"
"Muéstrame tus habilidades. (Show me your abilities.)"
"Tenemos un acuerdo. (We have a deal.) I'll blow you away easily, Ezmee. Hahaha." Linda heartily laughed.
Fye was just confused, since Linda and Ezmee just talked in Spanish together and decided to whisper to Ezmee. "Ezmee-chan, what did you talk about?"
"Nothing you'll know in your life, bully." Ezmee said in confidence to what she knows now.
"Launching!" Linda shouted while in her Air Arsenal aircraft form, the Super Hornet, before she made quite a boost of speed before she sped on the runway and eventually raised her nose to take off. She finally raised her gears and was in the air for her patrol. "A6 Tower, I'm off the ground."
"Acknowledged, Reaper One." A male Australian radioman responded.
"Montesano here! So, how are you liking the air so far?" Ezmee asked from the radio.
"I've been up in the air as much as I could remember from my past life, Ezmee."
"Stop calling me that. Now you're getting their fever for it too." She replied with a giggle before she's visible a few meters parallel to Linda's 10 O'Clock direction. "So how would we settle things?"
"First off... Tell me something about yourself and how you gained your power."
"Well, I can tell you I come from Hispania. The rest, it'll have to be off the comms. Wouldn't want to attract attention now, would we?"
"Good call. Anyway, you dont' know my other abilities in full yet, but I'd like to see yours."
"Of course." Montesano said before her visuals seemed to have dropped until she was no longer seen. "See me?"
"No. I don't detect you on radar and I can't visually see you. Nice."
"Visual Stealth Cloak lets me do two things. One is that I can use magic to be invisible to the naked eye. The second is use a standard camouflage based on some I've studied. Just like what I'll show now." She replied before she appeared in the sky with a camouflage outfit and painting on her skin. It looked like the blue sky with white clouds on it. "See? I got something suited for the occassion!"
"Whoa... Nice one."
"This requires studying of different patterns, Williams. So, I usually draw out designs for me to get used to them. Eventually, I'm able to get them all over my body. It affects my striker unit and my weapons too."
"Standard camouflage attribute. Nice skill."
"And yours?"
"It's what you're seeing now. Air Arsenal is a major ability which lets me do multiple things. Right now, I'm in my aircraft form, since Air Arsenal lets me turn into one. But it also lets me turn into a human with the properties of the aircraft I've chosen, so that I could have more maneuverable options to use whenever I fight and fly."
Esmeralda was simply stunned by it. "Well that's looking great! Mind if you transform to your human form now?"
"Gladly." Linda replied before her Super Hornet glowed a bright white color. Then the glow turned into breakable fragments, then removed quickly as the shape of the aircraft simply crumbled and was replaced by Linda, now flying with afterburner flames from her feet and currently in her sleeveless black fatigue. She flew closer to Ezmee. "So... Impressed yet?"
"That's amazing... I... You're using a futuristic aircraft... But moreover, your magic ability is incredible. It could... Oh... Dios mio... I can't put it up in words."
"It's something revolutionary. I know. It's what I'm afraid of, actually."
Ezmee raised an eyebrow. "Why? What's wrong?"
"You see... If this ability renders flying a striker just an option or useless, maybe others would use me."
"Non-sense, Linda!" And Linda was surprised of the name Ezmee called her. "Oh... Is it okay if I call you that?" And the Liberion nodded. "Anyway, nobody's going to dare use you for science and magic studies and take you away from combat forever!"
"No... It could be worse. They could use me for combat, but for selfish desires, Ezmee. Maybe they could point crosshairs at you. You never know. I could be at your tail ready to gun you down if ever you decide to run from the war too suddenly."
The color from Ezmee's face faded as she heard the horror in Linda's statement. "You... You wouldn't."
Then a scary atmosphere came from Linda. "Or maybe you could actually be hunted after being quite the bully to everyone else. You never know... If I'm used, I could be used to chase you like in a game of cat and mouse. I could always prowl and pounce on you like you're my prey. I could even gobble you up and..."
"GAAAAH!" Ezmee suddenly screamed and flew a little distant from Linda, snapping back to reality. "Seriously, Linda?!"
"What? I was just joking, you scaredy-cat."
"NOT FUNNY!"
"Oh." Linda said and looked forward, and eventually chuckled a little. "You gotta admit it's..." She looked at Ezmee only to see her glaring. Linda just looked forward and cleared her throat. "Moving on."
"PUT YOUR FUCKING BACKS INTO IT!" Gina shouted at Fye and Giraud, now doing pushups using the bars of the outdoor obstacle course. "You think the major's giving you the worst tortures?! HA! Let me tell you I've got experience in being a drill instructor before I got to be a fighting witch, and you guys are saying it's a piece of cake! I'll show you a whole cake and you won't even have a chance to take a break! GO, GO, GO! NO STOPPING UNTIL ONE OF YOU GIVES OUT! COME ON!" And after that, both Giraud and Fye let go at the same time, landing on the individual sandboxes for each bar... And it made Gina face-palm in disappointment. 'These two are the weakest in training and they still need to be sure to be in good condition. Oh... Who am I kidding? Fye's much worse!' Giraud was able to sit up on the sandbox while she saw Fye fainted on the sandbox she lied in.
"Whew." Giraud muttered before looking at Gina. "Geez, Harley. You made me do more, I almost collapsed."
"Uh... You just did."
"Yeah, but check out Fye."
"Ezmee-chan's breasts are a consolation prize... Sugoi..." Fye said in a trance, thinking about Ezmee and how Fye liked groping smaller breasts as a habit of her bullying.
Giraud then stood up. "Damn, she's having a good time. Hey, Harley. Wanna join her?"
"Me? Join her perverted mind? I'll pass."
"Aww... Vous ne pouvez pas gérer son esprit sale? (You can't handle her dirty mind?)" She asked in a seductive tone.
"Don't tempt me, pervert number two." Gina clenched her fists at that statement before the base siren rang out. "Crap."
"NEUROI!" Fye suddenly said while sat up on the sandbox.
Julie was running straight to the tower of the base. "Of all times, why so damn fucking early?!"
Linda was hearing bleeps in her system and accessed her radar, which widened her eyes. "Shit! Ezmee, I'm confirming multiple neuroi contacts!"
Esmeralda then took out her prototype CETME Model L assault rifle and cocked it. "Where?"
"BEHIND US!" Linda shouted before they both raised shields and blocked shields from a swarm of neuroi drones. "Damn Swarm Drones! And they're once cloaked too! Cover me! Flying up! Ready!"
"GO!" Esmeralda shouted out before they both went up and at a risky move removed their shields and got in front of Linda while the other fired internal MG's at their enemies, immediately killing off three before the drones pursued them both. "Linda, we have to split!"
"Split now!" Linda shouted and they both split as three drones come after each of them. "Typical days! Shit!" She muttered before she raised her palms in fury and fired her internal Hornet MG's. Then as she fired back and easily took out the three Swarm Drone neuroi, she getting more detections. 'Damn, more.' "Ezmee, I'm reading medium types, and one large-type coming straight for the base."
"Just our luck!"
"Just another day, huh?" Linda chuckled before looking at one direction where the medium-type neuroi were speeding in and the large-type neuroi behind them. "Just another day." She muttered before she spread her arms and shapeshifted into her Super Hornet form and sped towards the wave. "SHOWTIME!" She shouted before she fired her long burst from her weapon.
That day, she wished, wouldn't get worse, if fate allows it.
Short chapter, but you guys shouldn't expect too much now, would ya? :))
Hah... Also, I'm counting on my readers to suggest any new and unexpected things the Strike Witches Universes could have. For example... Hayane234's concept of using Naval Magical Discharge Cannon Systems on battleships or carriers makes a new leap into naval warfare. That's one solid concept that should be very notable as good ideas.
Readers, leave a review of this chapter. And if you got any answers to Strike Witches Universe unique development ideas, please PM me immediately and I'll discuss it with ya. ;)
Stay tuned! :)
