Authors Note: Hopefully this can be a long one so this may take some time, glad to see that people are enjoying the story. Maybe more plot development, I don't know. Anyway, onwards to the story!
Chapter 4: Settling in
School Ship Fleet
The president was looking out of the office bow window towards the approaching coastline. She could see the rolling green hills and the flocks of white that dotted the landscape. This place was so serene and beautiful it was hard to believe that a war was being fought here. Miho came alongside her.
"It looks pretty."
"Yeah, it's a shame that people are dying to defend it."
"What Minna said back there, you realize that we can't rely on the support of these people forever, or until we can get back."
"Allocating resources to protect us, I can see their reasons, us being teenage girls and all."
"But in this world, girls are slowly becoming the last line of defense to the point they are recruiting adolescents." Miho said with a disturbed expression.
"There has to be a reason behind it, I'll ask Minna when we get to Dover."
A Naval Studies student appeared at the door way.
"President, we're about to reach Dover in about 30 minutes."
"Good, tell the crew to begin docking procedures."
"Yes ma'am"
Anzu turned to Miho.
"Nishizumi, head back down to the school and inform the girls about the situation and to pack their things, we'll be changing scenery soon."
"Will do Pres."
"And Nishizumi…"
"Yes."
"Cut with that formal stuff, just call me Angie."
"Um… okay."
Miho exited the council room and headed towards the school were the rest were hanging around. She walked through the main doors and was immediately rushed by Yukari.
"Nishizumi-Dono, what happened? Is everything okay? What did they do to you?"
Miho gestured to Yukari for some space in which she gives.
"I'm fine and there is no need for alarm, it turns out that those girls are on our side but where are the rest? I'll explain in detail when everyone is around."
"They're in the gym waiting for you."
The two proceeded to reunite with the rest of their classmates. As they enter she is greeted with massive sighs of relief. Saori ran towards her and gave her a big embrace and moved aside for Maho to do the same, Hana just gave a bow and thanked the gods. Mako was fast asleep on the gym mats along with some of the Arcade and freshmen teams.
"Everyone, I have something to tell you." Miho exclaimed to the crowd.
Everyone's attention was already fixated on her.
"It may be kind of hard to believe but we have seemed to travel back in time to the 1940's. But not only that, it's an entirely different reality to what we are used to."
The girls had wide eyed expressions and some were whispering to each other.
"The girls that were seen flying down before us earlier are actually soldiers from different nations defending against an alien race that is taking over the world."
"ALIENS!"
"YOU CAN'T BE SERIOUS!"
"DOES THAT MEAN WE'RE GOING TO DIE?"
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN! LET MIHO EXPLAIN!" Maho screamed.
Miho was dumbfounded at her sister's sudden outburst but decided to continue.
"They have agreed to protect us and we are heading to their base in England but in this world it's called Britannia. Now I must remind you that in this reality, the nation names are different but you can determine by the city names. So I need you guys to pack the things you need to sustain yourselves and any creature comforts as we will be disembarking soon."
Saori raised her hand.
"What about our tanks?"
Miho pondered,
"We'll take them with us."
Dover, Britannia
501st JFW Base
"How far are they Mio?"
"I estimate 20 minutes, shall I alert the ground crews?"
"Please do, command has been alerted and they are sending reinforcements to help with the efforts."
Jeeps, trucks, and assorted engineering vehicles were lined up at shoreline, tugboats were out and about, ready to nestle the massive ships to the shore. The first ship to dock was the Oarai Ship and the gangplank was attached and soldiers moved in to help evacuate the civilians. The three other ships lined up next to it until there was a perfect row of green and grey. Large columns of people were coming down the gang planks and being forwarded to trucks. Next to the pedestrian gang plank was the vehicle gang plank and a Panzer IV, Tiger I, M4 Sherman, and Churchill I rumbled down onto the sand. Yukari was looking out of the side turret hatch, she was admiring the ocean breeze and the cold air as well as the soldiers, vehicles and AA guns that dotted the land. Miho was doing the same but she was keeping an eye on her sister who was behind her. All of a sudden a soldier flagged down Miho's vehicle.
"Excuse me ma'am, are you Nishizumi Miho?"
"Yes I'am."
"Commander needs to see you, she's over there." The soldier gestured to Minna who was waiting not far ahead.
"Thank you sir," Miho Replied as the soldier saluted and walk away.
Minna watched as the 4 tanks parked themselves in an orderly line and watched as the crews unbuttoned and dismounted. She saw Miho being accompanied by 3 other girls, wearing somewhat military uniforms.
"Evening Miss Nishizumi."
"Evening to you Commander Wilcke."
"Just call me Minna like everyone else."
"Just hard for me to be on a first name basis with anyone."
"Ah I see, who are these three?" Minna gestured to the three girls by Miho's side.
"These are the other Tankery team commanders, the one in the black is my sister Nishizumi Maho, the one with the unzipped jacket is Kay, she is the Saunders Tankery commander, and the one in the red is Darjeeling."
"Nice to meet you three." As Minna extends her hand.
"Likewise ma'am" Maho said while firmly shaking her hand.
"Nice to meets you." Kay said excitingly
"It's my pleasure." Darjeeling said with a polite bow.
"Now you four are probably wondering why I called you down here today."
"The situation is as follows, with your arrival the allied command has tasked us with your protection until you are able to return to your time but with that comes with complications. Due to recent neuroi raids, Dover is now vulnerable to attack. So in lieu of an effective fighter screen, the neuroi can land forces on the eastern coast and we do not have efficient ground forces to deal with the threat."
Miho had a confused look on her face until she said,
"What are you getting at?"
"We discovered that during this moment you four have armored combat vehicles sufficient enough to deal with any land types that we will come across. We need you to provide your own ground protection."
"You expect us to fight those things?" Maho said with disbelief.
"The survival of this nation depends on this base and if the neuroi take Britannia, it's over for humanity."
"YOU EXPECT ME TO PUT MY GIRLS LIVES AT RISK!" Maho shot back.
"Onee-chan…"
"Miho, you really think that we can fight an enemy that we haven't even seen before let alone fought."
"My witches will try their best to protect you as much as possible, even if it means giving up their lives."
"YOU MUST BE CRAZY IF YOU THINK I'M PUTTING MY CREWS LIVES AT RISK!"
"AS A COMMANDER, I KNOW WHAT SACRIFICE MEANS! I'M A SOLDIER, AND I KNOW THE RISK OF BEING ONE AND I KNOW THE RISK IN BEING IN CHARGE OF SOLDIERS, I DO NOT TAKE THIS POSITION LIGHTLY BUT WE NEED YOU."
Maho relented and fell back into the line.
"I'm sorry ma'am for my behavior."
"Likewise, soldiers tend to do that when entering combat for the first time."
"Um… Minna."
"Yes Miss Nishizumi."
"If you can guarantee our protection, all we have to do is fight back?
"Yes."
"Maho, we have do what we can to help, I trust their ability to protect us and we have to thank them in a way for finding us."
"You're okay with this Miho?"
"It's the right to do."
"Yeah Maho! Why not lend a hand?" Kay added
"If we don't end war, war will end us."
"H.G. Wells?" Minna replied.
Darjeeling nodded.
Maho sighed.
"If you feel so strongly about it, I guess I have to agree with your notion."
"Thank you girls, we are forever in your debt." As a smiled formed on Minna's face.
"We should thank you for finding us." Miho replied,
"We should tell the girls Miho."
"Onee-chan… we don't have to."
The group of four looked behind them and were awed at the sight. The entire inventories of tanks from all four schools were behind them. From the Chi-nu, to the Matilda's, to the Sherman's, even the mighty King Tigers of Black Forest Peak were out there, fully crewed with girls with smiling faces. Yukari emerged from the hatch of the Panzer IV and started to yell,
"WE SORT OF OVERHEARD YOU SO IT LOOKED LIKE YOU NEEDED HELP!"
"Girls…" Miho said shyly
"YOUR ORDERS COMMANDER!"
Minna stood next to Miho and placed her hand on her shoulder. "We have accommodations for the crews and we have maintenance crews on hand to tend to your vehicles. Plus, feel free to talk to any of the 501st members, better get your crews associated with them because they will need each other." Minna gestured to a soldier. "Corporal, lead the column to the women's barracks and get them squared away."
The soldier saluted and rallied his men and began to motion the tanks down the main road. Each passing tank glanced at their commanders, Anzu passed Miho in her Hetzer and gave a peace symbol as they passed by. Miho then remounted her vehicle and got into formation with the rest of the convoy.
The sight of the massive tower was inspiring. Miho thought this was more of a castle than a military base, the vehicles were arranged in a parking lot manner along the main airstrip that protruded out of the hanger. The hanger had a badge on the top of it, 5 brooms arranged in a concentric ring with the words Strike Witches above that. Miho was admiring the sight when she felt a slight tug on her shoulder. It was Yukari, she had something to say.
"What do we do now? Nishizumi-Dono,"
"I guess we wait for the members of this place to come greet us." Miho replied,
"Uhh… Nishizumi-Dono,"
"Hm?"
"Are we ever going to get back?"
"I pretty sure we can, don't worry about it, everyone will be okay."
Yukari face formed into a slight grin and she threw her arms in the air. "I'LL BE WAITING RIGHT HERE! THANKS MISS NISHIZUMI!"
Miho smiled at her friend's happiness but her attention quickly switched to the sounds of a sliding door, it was coming from the hanger.
"EVERYONE! FORM UP!" She ordered.
All the girls from the schools began to line up in columns and rows as 11 figures are seen emerging out of the hanger. It was none other than Minna, Mio, Hartmann, Barkhorn, Elia, Sanya, Lynette, Shirley accompanied by Lucchini on her back, Perrine, and lastly Yoshika Miyafuji.
"Hm… Impressive," Mio remarked at the sight of the girls standing at attention.
"I like this, Hartmann why can't you be like this? I don't even know these people and I like them already." Barkhorn glanced at Hartmann.
"Look there is Miss Nishizumi," Minna gestured at the young girl among her friends.
The witches approached and stop in the middle of the massive formation. Minna then stepped out. "WILL THE COMMANDERS OF EACH OF YOU STEP OUT PLEASE?"
Miho, Maho, Kay, and Darjeeling approached Minna, standing to attention as soon as they got in front of her.
"Evening, ladies, and at ease."
The four fell back down to a casual state. Minna then began to speak.
"ATTENTION EVERYONE! YOU MAY BE WONDERING WHERE YOU ARE? WHO WE ARE? AND WHAT YOU'RE DOING HERE. IT HAS BEEN MADE APPARENT THAT YOU HAVE FOUND YOURSELF IN A DIFFERENT REALITY OF YOUR WORLD."
The girls still remained silent, the sight was eerie indeed. Minna continued,
"IN THIS WORLD WE ARE FIGHTING A WAR."
She could see some girls tense up but still maintain form.
"THE ENEMY IS AN ALIEN RACE CALLED THE NEUROI, THEY ARRIVED AND BEGAN TO WAGE WAR ON HUMANITY. THIS BASE IS PART OF A MULTINATIONAL EFFORT TO STEM THE TIDE. IN ORDER TO HELP STEM THAT TIDE, WE NEED ASSISTANCE. WE TALKED TO YOUR COMMANDERS AND I'M SURE THEY DISCUSSED THIS WITH YOU BUT I WANTED TO TELL YOU IN PERSON. BUT JUDGING BY WHAT I'M SEEING HERE THERE LITTLE I HAVE TO SAY. IF ANY YOU HAVE ANY DOUBTS OR FEARS, PLEASE STEP OUT, IT'S OKAY TO DO SO, I KNOW THIS IS A HARD DECISION TO PUT ON ANYBODY."
Minna scanned the massive group for any slight movement. There was none, everyone was completely still, the four commanders looked around at their respective teams with disbelief.
"I see… WE BEGIN NOW, IF ANYBODY HAS ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE FEEL FREE TO ASK ANY OF US. ALSO, PLEASE FEEL FREE TO COME AND MEET ANY MEMBER OF MY SQUADRON, THEY'RE EXCITED TO SEE ALL OF YOU."
The formation began to disband into conversations and the girls began milling about and returning to their vehicles, the majority of them approached the group of 11 witches.
"DO YOU ACTUALLY USE MAGIC?"
"IS FIGHTING THOSE THINGS SCARY?"
"WHY DON'T YOU WEAR PANTS?" Shouted one girl.
"It's simple, objects such as pants would obstruct the magic flow and it would reduce the effectiveness of our striker units." Gertrud explained
"You guys sure are curious, are you all Fusoan?" Miyafuji asked.
They all shot Miyafuji a puzzled look.
"We're from Japan." Said one girl.
"But all your names are fusoan."
"Miyafuji, they are not yet accustomed to the names of our nations as they are not from this world, but Fuso is what you call Japan in your world girls." Mio corrected.
The students nodded in understanding and continued on the conversations with the witches. Miho was standing next to Maho; she leaned against her sister's shoulder. Maho looked down to her younger sister and smiled.
"Onee-chan, you be safe okay?"
"Don't worry about me; it's me that needs to worry about you."
Miho laughed lightly and embraced her sister in which she did in return.
"ALL RIGHT GIRLS, GET SQUARED AWAY! FOLLOW LT. LITYVAK AND TO THE BARRACKS, GROUND CREWS, MAN THE TANKS AND BRING THEM INSIDE THE HANGER ON THE DOUBLE!" Mio barked.
The girls formed two rows and began following the two witches while their tanks were being shuttled into the hanger. Minna was overlooking the sight until Mio stood beside her.
"For people that were dropped into a situation that was out of their control, they seem to adapt quickly." Mio remarked.
"We won't know until the neuroi show up. I'm just concerned for their protection, if any of them were to be hurt or killed, the grief would be enormous." Minna had a concerned look on her face.
"There is nothing a witch can do," Mio laughed heartily.
"And something about those girls is different, they're a different kind."
"I hope you're right Mio."
As the day drew to a close, Miho and her friends, along with the rest of the students were in the barracks well inside the base. Miho put down her bag on the floor as she entered the room, her bandaged teddy bears flopped out of the open bag. Mako immediately flopped down to the bed and began to snore, Miho chuckled at the sight.
"AH MAKO! NOT AGAIN!" Saori whined.
"Oh Mako, will you ever stay up past seven?" Hana said with a smile.
She stilled continued to snore and finally, Saori sighed and placed her blanket on top of her. Then a knock on the door.
"I'm glad to see you're settling in?"
"Commander Minna!" Miho shot back, shocked to see Minna standing at the frame of the door
"Just checking, where is your friend? Miss Akiyama." Minna asked.
"She went to talk to Miss Yeager, she overheard her talking about engines so she decided to chime in, she'll be back."
"That's good to hear, make yourselves comfortable, if you have any questions just call me, the phone is right there."
"Yes ma'am." The group said collectively.
Minna left the room and the girls continued to unpack their things. After changing the room the girls changed into their nightwear and got into their beds. Mako was on a cushion on the floor, Saori was sharing a bed with Hana, Yukari was sleeping on her own cot that she brought while Miho slept in a bed, clutching her bandaged teddy bear, the rest being lined up against the window. As the moon showed itself, activity at the base was dying down. Sanya was flying around the base on her normal night patrol. The first day was over but when the sun rises above the base, a new chapter begins.
Authors Notes: Things are slowly starting to turn. Glad to see that people are enjoying this, you may be wondering why you are seeing chapters coming out very frequently. As a high school student I have a lot of time on my hands so I usually do this out of boredom. Anyway, stay tuned for more and please review and critique, it's always appreciated!