Jackie: Hello all! Jackie is here! You guys may be wondering why Ash isn't introducing this segment of the story. That is because he is sick.
*cough cough*
Jackie: Yup... still sick...
Anyways, He let me use the special bold-ifyer for today! Sweet! Let's get to some reviews:
Motown Scrapper: Thanks Motown! Glad you respect us infantry witches! Although, we do more than search-and-rescue! For example, one time we were tasked to recon this place for some air witches. I remember using my broadsword to chop up these unlucky neuroi blokes-
*cough* Jackie... please don't stray off... *cough cough*
Jackie: Hehe... right...
Gamermann22: Huh, I didn't know about those Liberions... wait... Ash, what are the Liberions called in your place?
*cough* Americans.
Jackie: Okay, Americans. Didn't know that they almost ruined their operation in Romagna... erm... Italy. I betcha us Brittainians would've done a better job! But they are still brave too!
RoguePizza: Thanks! Glad you are liking us infantry witches! And also, Lieutenant Hathcock is a pretty cool person. I can't believe he's killed tons of neuroi. Kinda makes me jealous.
Anyways. Reviews are done! It's time-
*ACHOOO!* *sniffle*
-to get to the story!
Chapter 4: I remember...
"Hartmann, a couple drones on your six o'clock!"
"I'm already on it!"
Erica looked over her shoulder to see three drones trailing behind her. As they fired their miasma at her, she performed a sharp turn upwards, increasing altitude and bled off speed. With ease, she looped around behind the neuroi. A quick succession of her MG-42 a the drones exploded into white shards.
Erica turned around to view her wingman. Trude was following three drones, while three others tailed her. Erica watched as Trude expertly weaved between beams, only propping her shield a couple times. She turned around to dispatch all three of her followers before making quick work of the drones in front of her with her MG-151's. Trude then reunited with Erica, flying side by side.
"I shot down 32. You?"
"Same here. Tied again."
Five more drones came into view. The drones fired their lasers at the Karlsland duo with rapid succession. Erica and Trude propped up their shields to deflect the blasts before firing off a few more rounds of hot lead. Erica scored two while Trude scored two. But before the last drone could be claimed by either, a quick burst of bullets decimated the last drone. Minna made her way to the two, flying alongside.
"Minna, I almost had it!" Trude exclaimed. Minna just gave a soft laugh.
"Sorry. I just wanted to drop by."
"And besides, I would've gotten to it first!" Erica exclaimed boldly.
"Such enthusiasm. Only if you were that enthusiastic in cleaning your side of the room as you are in combat." Trude said, leaving a grumbling Erica up to her thoughts.
"Also," Trude said. "What about the other three?"
The three Karlsland witches glanced over to their right. In the distance, Yoshika, Lynnette, and Perrine were taking care of a group of neuroi drones. Both Yoshika and Perrine quickly took out five drones, shattering them in a dazzling display of white confetti. Meanwhile, Lynnette fired off quick shots from her Anti-Armor rifle, successfully destroying three drones with pinpoint accuracy, two of them taken out with one shot.
"They've greatly improved since the Romagna." Minna said. The two other witches nodded in unison.
The three other witches flew next to the Karlslanders, forming a "Vee" formation. They flew in formation, flying above their main task, the 8th Joint Strike Force. The 501st was tasked with providing cover for the bomber witches as they made their daily bombing run in preparation of Operation Lumberjack, or the Allied push into Karlsland and over the Rhine. Unexpected numbers of neuroi were appearing from their previous bombing runs, proving too troublesome for the bomber witches and their heavier strikers to handle. So the 501st was asked to provide support for the 8th JSF as they came closer to the Karlsland border and their target.
Below, Minna could see the formation of bomber witches, continuing on their path unopposed. Immediately, the crackle of the radio filled the ears of the 501st.
"*This is Commander Doolittle, call-sign Barbie III. Thanks for the fighter support, 501st. Those neuroi were a bit feistier than usual.*"
"No problem." Minna replied. "After all, anything to help a fellow witch."
The two squadrons of witches flew. Thankfully, no more drones came to intercept the bomber witches, leaving them safe for the time being. The witches were then in a brief clearing from the clouds. The Karlsland ground below was visible, covered in a blanket of white snow and surrounded by pine trees. On the ground, there were small black spots that contrasted the snow.
"*This is Miss Pick Up! I got sights on neuroi bunkers!*" One of the Bomber Witches said.
"*Affirmative. Ladies, line up your sights!*" Commander Doolittle ordered.
The six members of the 501st watched from above as the 8th JSF began to prepare for their bombing run. Out of nowhere, blackish-red puffs of smoke and small explosions surrounded the area. Immediately, there was chatter filling the comms.
"*Crap! Neuroi flak!*" One of the bomber witches yelled.
"*Keep steady, ladies. We're almost there!*" Doolittle yelled through the radio.
The supercharged rounds of miasma were blasting around the group of witches. Even the 501st above were getting their first taste of the flak, encountering the occasional explosion near them. The witches were propping their shields to deflect the rounds of flak around them. The explosions continued at the 8th gained closer to their target: a massive bunker in the forest below.
"*NOW! DROP! DROP! DROP!*" Doolittle yelled.
Erica watched as the Bomber Witches dropped their payload of bombs onto the neuroi bunker below. The bunker flashed red, firing lasers of miasma. Some of the free-falling bombs exploded in midair as the laser cut through them before colliding into the shields of some of the bomber witches. But the rest landed their mark. The heavy thud of thousand-pound bombs exploding onto the ground below could be heard this high up. A massive cloud of snow and dirt erupted, followed by the familiar screech and 'ping' of the neuroi core being shattered. The bunker and its defenses exploded in a dazzling display from the green forest.
"*Haha! Down for the count!*" A bomber witch cheered. Erica faintly remembered her call-sign as Texas Raiders, fitting for the cowgirl apparel she wore.
"*Bunker is destroyed! Good work, ladies!*" The cheers of the 8th JFS were heard through the radio.
"*Alright ladies, let's head back home. 501st, we'd appreciate the cover back home, just to be safe.*" Doolittle said through the radio.
"No problem, Commander Doolittle. We'll keep an eye." Minna said. The witches began to turn back towards the direction of the Allied front in high spirits.
"Wow, those bomber witches are pretty amazing." Yoshika spoke.
"This is the first time we've been asked to provide cover for bomber witches." Minna said. "It surprises me how they face all this and land their targets dead-on."
"I'm impressed as well..." Trude added.
Suddenly the comms crackled back to life.
"*Commander, I count ten fighter neuroi coming to our position!*" Miss Pick Up exclaimed. Her voice was tense.
"*Affirmative, Samantha. A little strange why only ten though...*"
"*Wait! These ones are moving very fast!*" It was Minna's turn to enter the conversation.
"Commander Doolittle, I can agree." Minna said. Her spacial awareness detected the neuroi. "I too sense multiple neuroi closing in, going faster than usual. Maybe we-"
Minna was interrupted as three neuroi zoomed by, firing at the bomber witches. One bomber witch barely had enough time to deflect a bolt of miasma coming towards her with her shield. She struggled to hold it as the force of the blast almost made her collide into the witch next to her. The three neuroi zoomed past at remarkable speed, barely being seen except with a blur of red and black. The sound they emitted as they flew past was like a jet.
"Roberta!" One of the witches cried out.
"I-I'm okay Esther... but how are they so fast?!" The witch replied back. From witnessing what had happened, the 501st was already coming to the aid of the 8th, flying in formation next to the lead bomber witch.
"Commander Doolittle, we'll provide cover for all of you." Minna spoke. The other witch commander nodded before looking back towards her own witches.
"Alright everyone! Tight formation! We have no idea what these new neuroi can do besides being fast and flashy, so keep your guard up!"
The bomber witches nodded and tightened up their formation. As the next wave of fast neuroi fighters approached, the 501st broke off to engage. Flying in "Vee" formation, the six witches engaged their targets. The neuroi zoomed past at record speed, dodging the bullets the six fired. The back blast of wind almost blew them off balance as the roar of the jet-like neuroi hit their ears with ferocity.
"They're so fast! How is that even possible?!" Perrine shouted. She tried to fire her shots at a zooming neuroi, but the speed of the miasma-firing alien proved too difficult to land a shot.
"These are different neuroi than before!" Trude added. She fired her cannons and managed to clip the side of one of the neuroi. However, it regenerated with ease and continued to make passes on the witches.
"It's regenerating!" Perrine said. The typical run-of-the-mill drone couldn't regenerate. These were indeed a new type of neuroi they were encountering. The new information worried Minna. Were the neuroi evolving even more? If so, what else was out there?
"They're too fast to hit!" Erica shouted. She fired her bullets as she trailed her target, but the neuroi proved too fast to catch up. Erica immediately heard the screech of another neuroi. She barely had time to prop up her shield as red miasma slammed hard into her defense. The neuroi passed by with a loud 'whiz', stirring the air around it into a fast and furious frenzy. Keeping track of just these ten neuroi was dizzying enough for the six of them.
"Commander, what's the plan?" Lynnette asked between shots. Minna thought hard at the situation at hand. With a quick glance at one of the neuroi, an idea formulated. She could see the long turn radius the neuroi had. If they were like the jets and jet strikers, these neuroi would be slow in turning and only deadly in "boom-n-zoom" tactics. If they caught them as they turned, they could get the upper hand.
"Alright, I got a plan." Minna said. All eyes were on her. "The neuroi are just like the jets: they're slow in turning. Catch them as they turn to make attacks."
"Right!"
With a newly formed plan, the six witches continued to fend off the neuroi. The quick neuroi shot off at them with remarkable speed, firing their lasers. The witches propped up their shields to block the lasers before returning fire. Again, the neuroi dodged with ease before zooming past to make another round of attacks. At that moment was when the Brittainian witch shot. One neuroi exploded into crystals as the heavy round went through the armor of the alien.
"I got one!" Lynnette cheered. Everyone's hopes were now up.
The neuroi continued their passes once more, but the witches knew better. Dodging, the six fired off rounds to scatter the attackers away. The neuroi made their mistakes of turning to make more passes, only to be met with hot lead. As a result, two more neuroi fell victim, letting out their death screeches as they exploded.
As the battle pressed on, the Bomber Witches were steadily getting farther from view. The neuroi picked up on this. With their intended target growing farther away and these pesky witches now fighting them, their objective had failed. Rather than fall victim to these witches, they sped off back into their nearest hive.
"They're retreating..." Yoshika said in disbelief. This was the first time any of them witnessed the neuroi retreat. Erica didn't like that.
"Oh no they aren't!" With that, Erica sped after the neuroi. Trude and Minna watched in surprise as her wingman bashfully went off to pursue the neuroi. This wasn't like the neuroi.
"Hartmann, wait!" Trude called out before following the Karlsland witch.
Erica continued to follow the retreating neuroi. Although these neuroi were easily ahead, Erica mustered all her energy to get closer. Each minute, she could sense the neuroi getting closer to her sights. She focused on lining up her gun on one. With battle-hardened calmness, she locked down her sights on one of the neuroi.
That's when the neuroi fighter turned back.
"Huh?" Erica watched as two neuroi sharply turned to face her as the rest continued to retreat. Erica fired her machine gun, catching one of the neuroi. The remaining one went head-on with the blonde witch, firing more lasers. Erica swiftly propped up her shield to deflect the shots before returning fire. Her bullets only grazed the neuroi, clipping off chunks of it's black armor. However, it proved effective as the neuroi began to spin out of control at fast speeds.
Coming straight for her.
Erica felt the force of a train slam into her left leg as the striker unit exploded into metal shrapnel. The neuroi disintegrated into shards, leaving Erica's left striker unit in a total mess. Erica began to flat-spin, spiraling down towards the earth in a dizzying frenzy. The spinning world and amount of G-forces being pressed upon her was blurring her vision and making her nauseous. All she heard was the rush of wind and her radio in hysterical panic.
"*Hartmann!*"
"*Hartmann, pull up. You got to pull up!*"
Her head was hurting as she continued to spiral out of control. She was on the verge of passing out as she saw the world spinning in a blurry, darkened mess.
Was this it? The end?
"*Please Hartmann, pull up!*"
'No! I'm not going to die!'
Erica slowly began to straighten herself out. She stopped spinning and began to level herself. However, the ground was coming dangerously closer. She looked back at her left striker unit. The entire thing was in a mangled mess, smoking dangerously. With all her might, she began to straighten up. However, the ground was approaching closer and closer. She could make out the snowy ground and tall pines now.
'Crap, I'm going to crash if I don't pull up.'
"*Hartmann, what's happening?*" Erica heard Minna's voice over her earpiece.
"My striker is all busted! I think I'll have to make an emergency landing."
"*Alright. We'll be there to pick you back up-*"
"*Commander!*" Yoshika's voice yelled through the radio. "*More neuroi incoming!*"
Erica looked above to see more drones on route. Her eyes widened as she counted forty neuroi drones, accompanied with the same fast neuroi from before. They weren't retreating. They were regrouping. And she fell into their trap.
The wave of drones dived upon her. Erica had to dodge the bolts of red that flew around her. Her damaged striker was already making problems worse, sputtering smoke and oil as she fought. It didn't help that she was dangerously close to the tree line either.
"*Hartmann, we're almost there! Just hold on!*" Minna called out. Erica could see the five others in the distance, but how much longer can she hold?
Erica tried her best to fend off the swarm. Firing her MG-42, two drones fell victim. She propped up her shield to deflect a few more lasers before firing again. The swarm of neuroi didn't stop with their attacks, swarming around her like a cloud of wasps. She was panting heavily as more drones flew around her. She dodged more and more, but she couldn't keep up with her striker in disrepair. That was when one neuroi had a lucky shot. A beam of miasma hit Erica's right striker unit. It exploded, sending Erica spiraling downwards. She heard Trude's voice scream through the comms.
"*Erica!*"
Erica woke up. Her eyes darted around. It took her a second to realize that she wasn't in the cold, unforgiving snow.
'Huh? I'm in a cave...?'
She began to sit up, only to notice more things around her. The cave was warm and lit up as a campfire was slowly burning, illuminating the inside. Furthermore, she noticed the bandages and blanket wrapped around her, keeping her chilled body in soothing warmth. Then did she realize that she wasn't alone in the cave.
"She's awake!"
Erica turned her head to face a Liberion witch. Oddly to her, she was wearing a Liberion soldier uniform, with the familiar Red Cross of a medic. She even wore pants. She had blue eyes, glasses, brown hair, and freckles. Behind her was a Karlsland witch wearing the Karlsland paratrooper uniform. Both had looks of relief on their faces.
The squad began to crowd around Erica as she began to sit up. They all looked at her with a wave of relief and concern. Meanwhile, Erica gave confused looks back at everyone. Like how she got here, what was happening, and who these people were.
"Oberstleutnant Hartmann!" Fran said with relief. Erica gave her a confused look.
"W-Who are you people? And... where am I?"
"Don't worry ma'am." Captain Speirs assured. "We're the 45th Joint Reconnaissance Squad. We're your extraction team."
"Wait, you guys are here to rescue me?"
"That's correct, ma'am." Erica felt a wave of relief and joy from Captain Spiers' response.
"I'm so glad... I thought I was going to be stuck out here forever."
Erica tried to stand up, but immediately her muscles screamed out in pain. She grunted in pain before being safely lowered down to her blanket by Fran and Wilma.
"Lieutenant Hartmann, you shouldn't stand up! You're still suffering from injury and recuperating from mild hypothermia." Wilma explained. Fran was nodding feverishly behind the Liberion medic.
"R-Right. Sorry, I shouldn't have thought I would automatically be fine." Erica said.
"D-Don't worry about it, ma'am!" Fran stuttered with a salute and a gleam in her eyes. Erica sweatdropped at Fran, reminding her about a certain Karlsland witch...
Five Days ago...
The sharp pangs of pine branches and pine needles slammed into her. Then came the ground. With a loud 'thump', Erica felt mountains of snow and dirt slam into her. She cried out in pain as her body went into painful shock. Her head was dizzy. Touching her forehead, she felt a cut. She looked at the small river of red blood trickling down from her head to the bridge of her nose before wiping it off in a red smear. With painful movements, she exited her striker unit (or what was left of it) and began to weakly stand up.
She glanced around to grasp the situation. Her earpiece was no longer in her ear. Looking around, she couldn't find her MG-42. She was exhausted from how much magic she consumed. The striker was already in smoking ruins amongst the dirty snow. Next, she checked herself. Although everything was sore, nothing felt broken or sprained. Her mind has pounding in a dizzying manner and there were a few bruises and cuts, but otherwise she was perfectly fine. Until she heard the screech of the neuroi.
She looked up to see drones flying around the air above her. Although the trees provided enough cover for her, Erica was afraid. Without a weapon, striker, and no known way to signal help, she felt hopelessly exposed. The screeching of neuroi above her made her tense. It was then when a beam of red sliced the ground next to her.
The ground exploded in a flurry of snow and dirt, while pine trees ignites instantly upon contact. Erica immediately began to run from whatever neuroi spotted her. Where to? Anywhere safe and hidden. Finding a small log to hide under, she made herself small as possible as she heard the firefight above her. Through the trees, she witnessed the other five combat the neuroi. She watched while she hid in her little zone of comfort, hoping that they could wipe of the neuroi and rescue her. Everyone looked like specs compared to the blue sky above. Small explosions of white crystals emitted up above, giving some relief to herself. Then it immediately changed.
"Wait... no... no..." Erica watched in disbelief as the five specs in the sky began to fly away with the neuroi in tail. They were leaving her behind.
"No... the can't be..." Erica muttered to herself. They weren't leaving her, right?
Right?
The others above continued the trek going back home with the neuroi chasing behind them. Leaving her alone in the snowy Karlsland forest. Deep in neuroi territory.
"Guys! Wait! I'm here!" Erica shouted in desperation as she waved her hands. "I'm okay! I'm right here!" Nothing. The witches continued to fly back home.
'C'mon. They know I'm alive. Wait... they're probably just regrouping... that's right. Regrouping to find me later once they finish the neuroi off.' She though happily.
She sat on the log as she scanned the sky for her friends. But with each passing minute, her hopes were falling. It felt like at least an hour before she began to worry. With no sign of anyone from the 501st, she tediously scanned the sky.
Did they forget about her? No... that couldn't be it. Maybe they can't find her in this thick forest? Or maybe they thought she died? Was anyone coming back?
Erica paced the snow anxiously in her bare feet. The cold snow was chilling her toes, making they sting little by little the more she remained standing. Eventually, she decided to sit back down again to watch the sky above. Her thoughts went wild on many scenarios where they couldn't find her. She dreaded the thoughts of being stuck here forever, without anyone finding about her fate.
'C'mon Erica... calm down and think... they're most likely going to return to base and find you later... yeah... that sounds right. For now, you just got to make shelter and await for them to come back.'
With renewed energy, she quickly set off to find shelter. Remembering basic survival from training, she looked around for anything to start a fire. Gathering branches and pine needles, she laid them on a rather dry spot underneath a pine tree. With more scrounging, she found what appeared to be flint. With all her ingredients in place to make a fire, she began to start. With a couple of flicks with the two rocks she created sparks to make...
Nothing.
Erica was puzzled by this, then continued to strike the two rocks together once more. More sparks flew, yet they failed to ignite the timber.
Another strike.
Nothing.
Another.
Nothing.
"C'mon..." Erica said with frustration, striking the flint with more ferocity. Sparks flew and flew, but failed to ignite the flames. She wished that her magical ability was like Perrine's, where she could just zap some sparks to make a flame. Or, even better, just have a fire ability like that one bomber witch that she saw. She wondered how the first cave people pulled off a feat like this.
"Stupid rock!" Erica yelled.
She threw the rocks at the pile of timber in frustration, losing any hope to make a fire and just accepted freezing in the snow. Upon dumb luck, the two rocks collided against each other, sparking once more. With chemistry taking place, the sparks jumped to the dry foliage, heating it up. In that instant, the shrugs and twigs began to ignite into small embers.
"Eh?" Erica just looked in both confusion and awe at what just happened. She made fire. Without even trying. The proof of her accidental efforts were right in front of her, slowly crackling.
Immediately, she rushed to start blowing onto the embers. Within a few seconds, flames appeared. With quickness, she rushed to gather more kindling to keep the fire going. Soon, she had a nice, cozy fire in front of her. She put her freezing feet near the flames, feeling the rush of warmth bringing feeling back to her toes. Wiggling them, she sighed happily as the flames blanketed her in warmth against the cruel, cold forest around her. This must've been what the cavemen felt like after discovering fire.
However, fate thought otherwise. As the heated air from the flames rose, they collided into the thick branches of the pine above, which happened to be covered in snow. With basic thermochemistry taking place, the heated air mixed with the cold layers of snow above. Soon enough, the solidly compacted snow was beginning to soften up. The drops of newly-liquefied snow that fell to the ground went unnoticed to Erica, who continued to be at bliss with the fire's warmth. That's when it happened.
"Ahh!" Erica screamed in shock as a thick clump of soft, wet snow landed right on top of her. She felt chills around her body as she felt the wet snow cover her. But that wasn't what brought her to despair. In front of her, she witnessed an equally thick clump of snow land right on top of her fire, quickly smothering the flames.
Erica stared blankly at what once was her provider for warmth, now reduced to a wet pile of useless twigs and grass. She just trembled and casted a sigh in defeat. Once again, she was cold.
"G-Great..." She muttered. A slight breeze came to greet her. Shivering, she let out a sneeze. Even better. Now she was cold, wet, and sick. In the middle of neuroi-occupied Karlsland.
'N-No... I'm a witch! I'll never give up!' Erica thought. She stood up proudly, now with a sense of pride and determination on her face (and a slightly runny nose as well).
'Alright... think... maybe I should get a bearing on where I am. Yup, that's right!' She mentally patted herself on the back for remembering her training once more. Then again, remembering Marsielle challenging her constantly and Trude's fights with the former kinda brought bad memories. But that wasn't important. What was important was her survival training that she learned. After all, she was a proud Karlsland witch!
...
Okay, maybe she was beginning to feel a little too much like Trude for her liking.
Shrugging off that little weird moment in her head, she began to storm off to find her bearing inside this massive forest. She marched on through the snow. The cold snow was freezing her feet, but it didn't matter. She kept following a straight path in hopes to find some type of landmark to get a sense of direction. As she made the trek, the sun was progressively getting closer to the horizon as night began to fall. With that came the start of a snowstorm. Shivering, Erica wished she could find shelter before the brewing storm engulfed her.
Her luck was coming back. She stumbled upon a small village through the forest. With a new sense of hope, she rushed to the nearest house.
Carefully entering inside, she gave a peek around the small house. It was dark and dusty, yet surprisingly unscathed. It even seemed as if nature didn't even try to barge into this house or that the elements never affected it. She wiped off her feet on the welcome mat and began to search for things. To her surprise, she found a pair of snow boots. She immediately grabbed them and put them on. Despite the accumulated dust, they surprisingly were in good condition. Even a cozy fit. The insulated fur that lined the inside brought back warmth to her feet. Continuing to inspect the house, she found the items of the previous owner. Some pictures containing a wedded couple. More pictures of children and family. The last one caught her eye.
An elderly couple was framed in the center. An elderly man wearing a leather jacket and jeans. An elderly woman wearing a nice blouse. Erica felt a little bad for taking these new articles of clothing. They must have belonged to the elderly gentleman in the picture. She could only hope that these two were safe and made it out in the initial evacuation of Karlsland.
She looked around the house some more. There were only four rooms: a bedroom (must've been the elderly couple's room considering more pictures inside), a bathroom, a small kitchen, and another guest bedroom. She rummaged around the closet, but only found few clothes that remained. Most of which were summer ones, already collecting dust and moth-eaten. The kitchen contained no food anywhere.
Then again, Erica thought that any food that remained for this long wasn't going to taste very good. Or be good in general. She was hungry, but not desperate enough to eat moldy bread that was found laying around.
To her luck, there was some firewood available to heat the iron furnace/stove in the kitchen. With some careful rummaging, she found some matches. Taking a mental note of the two items, she looked some more. The house was fairly bare for the most part. A simple rocking chair was in the kitchen, and the beds in the two rooms seemed in decent condition. The bathroom was surprisingly clean as well, considering she played the scary image of millions of rats or spiders crawling out of this room as she opened the door. Even inside was a large washtub used for cleaning clothes. That gave her an idea.
With some effort, she lugged the washtub outside. She quickly filled the washtub with as much snow as possible. Now lugging the heavier, snow-filled washtub inside, she placed firewood inside the stove. With a strike of the match (she silently thanked that she wouldn't be dealing with stupid flint again), the stove began to start up. Although it took a while, the snow was reduced to steaming water that filled half the washtub. With a quick dip with her right index finger, she found the water soothing. She took off her boots and placed her feet inside the water while she sat in the rocking chair.. Although at first it was almost unbearably hot for her freezing feet, she began to relax as she got used to the water.
"Man... finally..." Erica sighed bubbly as the water soothed her frozen feet. She was beginning to feel her toes again.
Outside, she witnessed the snowstorm raging. She felt the snow pattering along the window accompanied with the howling wind. She hoped the the house could hold against the raging snowstorm.
Erica quietly sat. She was alone, inside a dimly-lit kitchen sitting on a old, wooden rocking chair. Not in her room back in St. Trond with the possible company of her squadron. She looked outside once more at the raging snowstorm before sighing to herself.
'I wonder how everyone's doing back at base...' Erica thought. She shifted her feet around in the warm water. She could see her reflection. Her face was sad. Gloomy even.
Her stomach grumbled. However, there was no dinner awaiting her. No warm room and bed for her to sleep in. And no one around to talk to. She was on her own from this point on. This fact scared her. To know any friends she had were miles away and that there was a very slim chance to get back home made her frightened.
Despite these thoughts, she didn't want to give up. She also thought about the impact on the squad if they came to face her death. Trude almost lost her life in Brittainia if not for Miyafuji's quick actions. And Major Sakamoto had almost died on two separate occasions. Yet, no one has been lost this entire war. The 501st remained strong and close like a family. She couldn't imagine how the entire squadron would feel.
Even with Trude and Minna. The three had been together in this war since the evacuation of Karlsland. How would they react? Trude has been her closest friend and wingman. Minna too is very close.
'No... I won't die. For them.' Erica thought with determination. She clenched her fist tightly. Looking outside once more, she held a goal in her hands.
She wasn't going to let her friends down.
"... and, in the morning, I just made my way out to find my way back. Looking back on it, I should've searched for warmer clothes. I was so cold and hungry that I just collapsed. I felt that I failed them. It was by pure luck that you guys found me." Erica said. She held in her hands a metal cup of instant coffee while an opened box of rations was laid out in front of her. The entire squad of infantry was sitting around her, listening to her story as they ate their rations this early in the morning.
"Wow... that's one hell of a story..." Danny said. Most of the 45th could agree to that.
"I will admit that you are one determined witch, but that was pretty reckless of you to just make your way towards the front in this snowstorm." Hathcock said between sips of his coffee. Erica just shrugged sheepishly before looking at her rations. She couldn't remember the last time she ate rations before, but she wasn't all to picky at the moment considering her circumstances.
With quickness, she began eating her rations (which she found out to be ham and eggs) and drinking her coffee. Everyone was amused to how energetic Erica was to eat her rations. Then again, you couldn't blame her after what she's been through.
"I'm glad to finally have actual food now..." Erica said with a content smile. Her rations were already gone, now left with an empty tin box and cup. Everyone laughed a bit.
"Ma'am, if you thought rubbery ham and cold eggs were good, you have to try Audrey's cooking." Danny said while elbowing the Faraway Land witch. Audrey just sheepishly smiled in embarrassment.
"Heh, I can make a mean Montreal-style smoked meat sandwich." Audrey embarrassingly admitted.
"Don't forget about your Lumberjack's Breakfast!" Danny added.
"Oh! And Poutine!" Jackie added enthusiastically.
"Poutine..." Audrey answered in an entranced, blissful manner. To the amusement of the squad, Audrey was beginning to drool at the image of tasty fries covered in gravy and cheese curds.
"Woah there, Audrey." Danny laughed. Everyone was laughing as Audrey came back to reality, having a bit of blush on her face. Erica liked the closeness of this squad of soldiers. However, there was one question that was bugging her.
"Erm, may I ask a question?" Erica asked. Everyone became silent after their little laugh.
"Sure ma'am." Audrey said.
"Well... you guys are witches?"
"Well, besides the Cap and Lieutenant, we all are witches." Danny answered.
"Okay... but you all are wearing regular infantry uniforms." Erica gave off a confused look.
"W-Well, you see oberstleutnant," Fran began. "we're a specialized infantry witches."
"Huh? Specialized Infantry Witches?" Erica asked. She knew about mechanized air infantry witches (such as herself) and the mechanized ground infantry witches. But this new type of witch was news to her.
"Y-Yes ma'am! We're... erm... special forces of sorts. We are tasked to do undercover missions, such as reconnaissance or sabotage. All trained from the special forces of each of our respective countries." Fran said.
"Yup. We're fairly new compared to the other witch divisions, but we can do our job well." Audrey added.
"Hell yeah! After all, we're the War Hounds!" Jackie said with pride.
"War Hounds?" Erica asked.
"That's us, ma'am." Hathcock said. "45th Joint Reconnaissance Squad, or as we like to be known as, The War Hounds."
Erica looked around at the faces of everyone in the squad. Everyone held up their title as an Infantry witch with pride. Upon closer look, she even could see the insignia they all wore: A snarling wolf with a witch broom in the background with the words 45th Joint Recon Squad. These soldiers loved their job, just like how she loved being a Strike Witch. Erica couldn't help but smile before addressing to everyone around her.
"Well, War Hounds, thanks for rescuing me." Erica said happily.
"Don't thank us yet, ma'am." Captain Spiers said. "Thank us once we get you back home. That's our objective, after all."
Outside, the sun was beginning to rise. The rays were shining through the tall pines, making the snow shine.
"Looks like it's already morning..." Wilma said.
"Time flies pretty fast." Jane added.
"Well, ladies," Captain Spiers said. "Looks like morning's here. Everyone, get your gear packed and ready. We're heading back home." The 45th smiled contently. Time to get back to work.
"Yes sir!"
Gertrude Barkhorn sat on her bed quietly. It was already five days since Erica went missing in the Karlsland forest. Everyone in the 501st was feeling the effects of one of their own now being gone. No one expected it. Erica was a top ace, after all. For her to now be missing in battle was a shock to everyone since the day it happened.
The Karlsland witch took it the hardest. Erica was her wingman, after all. She was her friend too. Despite their differences in personality, the two worked well together. Along with Minna, they were paired up since the invasion and evacuation of Karlsland, the fighting in Brittainia, the battles in Romagna and Venezia, and now in St. Trond. And now she was gone.
Trude looked at Erica's messy bedside. She remembered the last words she said to the blonde witch before they departed to their mission. It was another of her lectures on her laziness and her lack of organization (which has happened consistently since the two met). Looking back, she wished she said something else. She wished she was able to shoot those neuroi down earlier, or catch up to Hartmann before she sped off. Now, all that remained of her wingman was her empty bed and her belongings.
A knock on the door snapped Trude back to reality. Yet, she still sat in silence as the knocking continued. Finally, a voice spoke up.
"Trude, it's me, Minna. I'm going to come in." Trude just sat there as the door opened slowly for Minna to enter.
"Trude, you should exit you room and eat with everyone. You've been in your room since Erica..." Minna didn't finish the sentence, wanting to not bring more guilt on Barkhorn and sabotage her attempts to get the Karlsland witch out of her room.
"Look... I think you should get some fresh air." Minna tried to reassure Trude, but she silently sat on her bed. Minna just sighed in defeat before making for the door. Before she could grasp the door handle, Trude spoke out.
"Is... there any news about her?" Trude spoke in a low, monotone voice. It pained Minna to see her like this.
"So far... nothing yet. I only received confirmation that the rescue squad has landed in the forest." Minna said quietly. Trude clenched her bed sheet tightly.
"It's my fault... maybe if I shot those neuroi faster, Erica wouldn't-"
"That's enough of that!" Minna yelled. Trude didn't flinch at Minna's sudden order, only to still grip the bed sheet tightly.
"Trude, stop saying that to yourself! If it's anyone's fault, it's mine. It was my order to retreat back to safety." Minna said in a softer tone. Trude continued to remain silent, which worried Minna. She was like this when her sister Chris was injured and placed into a coma way back. Minna remembered Trude's silent and guilt-ridden face the days after Chris was injured. Only now, it was with Hartmann being missing in action.
Minna decided to leave Trude in peace, making her way out of the room. However, she wanted to say one final thing.
"Trude... please come out of your room. Everyone wants to see you well. I do too. We all believe Erica's going to be fine. Just promise us that you will come out of your room?"
Minna watched Trude hesitantly give a silent nod, remaining on her bed. Minna felt happy that she at least made some effort to comfort Trude. Once again, Trude was left alone as Minna slowly closed the door.
Trude watched the world outside her window. Somewhere, out there, was her wingman. She could only wish for her safety. Hoping that she was still out there.
'Hartmann...'
Finally done! Yay!
*cough cough*
Erm... I think I am better...
Anyways, let's go over some background info:
Neuroi Flak and supersonic fighters:
As the war progressed and the neuroi further began to be pushed closer and closer to their hives, the neuroi began to change their attacks slightly. As conventional miasma beams were easy to predict by witch forces in the air, the neuroi began to mimic some of the tactics of the Allies. One of which included the presence of neuroi flak, consisting of supercharged rounds of miasma that exploded at select altitudes, shooting out shards of red shrapnel in a cloud of red. The unpredictability of this method of attack proved difficult for most witches, who were used to conventional beams of miasma that only came at a single direction. However, neuroi flak is only found in certain areas that used to have human flak cannons (now re-neurified upon their capture). Furthermore, regular neuroi cannot recreate neuroi flak, sticking with regular miasma beams that supercharged miasma flak rounds.
Furthermore, new cases of neuroi began to appear. These neuroi mimicked the fast speeds of jets and jet strikers of the Allied forces, using similar tactics (and coincidentally, appearances) as well. These jet-neuroi were often used against bomber formations and bomber witches, using boom-n-zoom tactics to fight and evade witches. These new types of neuroi proved deadly, yet only few have been encountered.
(These neuroi have a morphed appearance similar to the Ho-229 and the Mig-15.)
Joint Reconnaissance Squads:
With Project Second Chance came the birth of three Joint Reconnaissance Squads: The 45th JRS "War Hounds" stationed in Europe (currently in Gallia), the 23rd JRS "Desert Foxes" stationed in Africa (currently in Tobruk), and the 52nd Saboteur Corps "Roaring Bears" stationed in Orussia (currently in the operational field of St. Petersburg). However, many concerns (and opposition) came up with the development of these special witch infantry force.
One big concern came about the regulations concerning interaction between regular infantry/personnel and witches. With the formation of co-infantry-witch squads, it would violate such rule that high-ranking witches and top generals had. This rule was eventually disregarded in favor for the new development of the Special Operations Infantry Witch (which was something some top-ranking officials didn't favor). Soldiers picked to fight alongside these witches were to be trusted, experienced veterans on the battlefield (something that put top-witch officers and pro-witch sympathizers at ease, knowing there was not going to be any case of mishaps between the soldiers and witches) However came another pressing issue: uniforms.
As witches in the armed forces are typically half-dressed, wearing only their undergarments below the waist, it also proved concern and speculation. Since the new special-infantry witches were not going to be using strikers, there was debate on whether these witches had, or even can, wear only underwear from the waist down in the presence of their fellow male soldiers. After some reconsideration, the project decided to equip their new witch recruits with full standard-issue infantry military uniforms that came from their respective countries. This helped ease the situation on pants-less witches fighting with their male soldiers on the battlefield. But the question remained: how will the new witches of Project Second Chance see this rule on uniforms?
Surprisingly, the witches that were recruited into the program didn't hesitate to don the similar uniforms of their fellow male infantrymen, including pants. Most welcomed the idea, feeling that it would be embarrassing to be "bare-bottomed in front of their commanding officers on the battlefield" and how uncomfortable it would be "to sit and fight in mud, sand, or snow in only your panties" as one infantry witch put it. However, there is some freedom on the uniforms amongst some of the infantry witches. An example comes from some of the witches of the 23rd JRS, where some of the witches wear knee-length skirts to combat the hot temperatures in Africa, giving them some breathing space from the regular standard-issue uniform pants.
Alongside, the infantry witches use standard weapons in the battlefield, which the primary weapon of most infantry witches are either submachine guns or rifles compared to the heavy machine guns or cannons that mechanized air and ground witches use. However, some witches vary and expand their arsenal of weapons they fight with. Some use heavy machine guns, such as the .50 caliber machine gun that Sergeant Vlug uses. Others are equipped with explosives, rocket launchers, and grenades. There have been some cases of infantry witches using melee weapons such as swords, which Sergeant Churchill uses.
Now done with my background info. How you like them, as I enjoy expanding my part of the SW universe with these little bits of information.
Furthermore, I would like to give a shoutout to Roberta Morgan for allowing me to use her OC's in my story as part of a little cameo to her. Those OC's rightfully belong to her. If you like the idea of bomber witches, check out her story at this link:
s/10784863/1/Bomber-Witches-Queens-Of-The-Sky
Believe me, it's really good!
Jackie: Is it?
Yes, it is. You don't trust me?
Jackie: Nah, I do.
I also like many others. Do you know AusFlyer and her adventures with the Sumous Misfit squad?
Jackie: Oh, yeah! That Rebecca girl has some spunk. And she has cannons! I want cannons!
Eh... we'll see, Jackie.
Jackie: Fine... at least I could hold my drink. I guess that's enough for me.
Audrey: Erm... Jackie, the last time you drank amongst us, you became drunk after two glasses. Also, shoutout to Miss Beurling! Farawayland strong!
Jackie: Audrey! Don't say that!
Huh? Oh, hello Audrey. And... Erica?
Erica: I am here! Miss me, Ash?
I... guess? Still sick, mind you. And Audrey, Beurling is from Ostmark.
Audrey: Well, she did train there. So it is close enough.
I... guess... ;-_-
Erica: Ash, guess what day it is?
Um... April 19?
Erica: Anything else?
Uh...I'm not sure to be exact...
Erica: Aw, how could you forget...
Just kidding. I know it's you're birthday. And I did get you a gift.
Erica: Really?!
Audrey: I didn't know it was your birthday, Ma'am. Happy Birthday!
Jackie: Agreed. Happy Birthday, luv!
Erica: Hehe... thanks. Anyways, waddya get me, Ash?
I got you a bag of chocolate and ice cream. Sorry I couldn't get you anything better...
Erica: It's fine. I love it! I love sweets!
Audrey: Huh... Mint Chocolate Chip? I never seen that flavor before in Liberion of Faraway Land.
Oh, erm... let's say it is an experimental flavor...
Erica: Awesome! I get to try out a brand new flavor!
You have no idea... Also, confirm with Ursula that she got my birthday gift as well.
Erica: You got it!
Anyways, we'll...
Erica: ...See...
Audrey: ...You...
Jackie: ...Next time! Cheers!
... what just happened? ._.