Alright, I'm back with the next chapter in Strike Heroes 2: Roland's Return!
Okay, to start things off, I'll do what I usually do: answer reviews.
Dragonman75: Yeah, that seems to be the pattern for Roland, sadly. Then again, he was the sucker who decided to go with Minna to become a Strike Witch (though, to be fair, he's had an interesting time so far, so maybe not so much of a sucker?). Anyways, thanks for the review, and I hope you enjoy this chapter.
fuji92: Don't worry. Roland will have time to shine with presenting information that the girls don't even know about, though he's not the definitive expert on everything. He can only go off of what he knows, seen, did, or heard about. Other than that, thanks for the review.
jaku uzumaki: Knowing Roland, he should make a full recovery. Well, "full" in the sense of "for the moment".
Anyways, with the reviews answered...it's time to check into the infirmary where the injured Neuroi Witch was taken to...
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Chapter 7: Hard, Fast, Amazing! (Part 2)
Roland's POV
I opened my eyes slowly and felt the oncoming rush of pain, forcing me to close my eyes again rapidly as I gave off a groan.
"Roland?"
I groaned again as I opened my eyes again, this time a little faster. Everything seemed so..blurry. Like I was watching a movie where the guy whose point of view they were filming from was barely recovering from some sort of trauma or something of that nature.
I barely caught red before I was soon smothered by someone hugging me tightly. I could feel the arms behind my neck as a head was on top of my left shoulder.
"Roland! Thank God you're alright!"
I grimaced in pain as I lied there, my eyes finally seeing clearly.
"We thought you weren't going to wake up!" I heard Minna's voice say as the hug tightened a little. "I'm so glad you're okay!"
"...Commander?" I groaned.
I think Minna was a little confused by me calling her name. "Roland?"
"You think you could...you know...let me...go?" I said that last word in a strained tone.
"Huh?" Minna's hug stopped tightening briefly. "Oh! Sorry!" She let go instantly, and I took in a breath of air as I lifted my head, squinting my eyes a little from the bright light above my head. I noticed that she was standing on the right side of me, Yoshika and Mio standing on my left.
"Thanks, ma'am. Now..." I groaned in pain again. "What happened? I feel like I got hit by a train or something."
"That's not too far from the truth," Mio informed me. "Barkhorn crashed into you while coming in, and the result was you suffering from a broken skull."
"Barkhorn?" I blinked. "Uh, you sure?"
"Pretty sure. If it wasn't for Miyafuji you'd have died about a few minutes after the crash."
"Okay..." What had happened to give me the pain I was feeling finally clicked. "Oh! Oh shit!" I tried sitting up so that I could move but found myself falling back on my back, making a soft thud. "Ah!"
"You're not completely recovered," Yoshika decided to tell me. "It's been about three hours, and you still need your energy."
"Now you tell me..." I groaned that sentence.
Ow, I feel achy all over...
"I'd say get some rest," Mio said. "You survived being incapacitated for perhaps the rest of your life if not nearly killed for your idiocy. Some rest will serve you well now."
"Sorry, major," I said as I sat up again, this time succeeding but closing my eyes in pain as I felt my body tense up. "I want to make sure that Captain Barkhorn's alright first."
"But you need your rest, lieutenant!"
The commander raised her hand, catching our attention.
"While I don't think it's a good idea," Minna began, "I think Roland should at least make sure that Barkhorn's okay."
"What?" Mio asked her. "But Commander Minna, Sage needs as much rest as he can get! What if a Neuroi attacks tomorrow or even right now?"
"Roland's state of mind is more important right now. If we keep him from seeing the captain, then he might start worrying about her. This way, we can at least ensure that he's got a clear mind for resting."
Mio looked like she was about to retort with something else but sighed instead. "Alright. It is a bad idea for Sage to try resting without feeling comfortable. Miyafuji, can you check Sage to see if he can be cleared for moving?"
"Sure thing!" Yoshika told the major as she grabbed my head and turned it gently so that the back was facing her. I felt her fingers trace an area around the back of my head gently. "You feeling any pain when I touch around here?"
"I've got pain in general, Yosh," I told her. "I'm a little light-headed and my body aches a lot, but I don't think I have anything else wrong."
"I see...well, you seem to be experiencing the effects of your injuries. I don't see anything wrong with your body. No broken bones, nothing. So I guess you can go. At least as far as I can tell."
I looked at Minna as she nodded her head. "Alright. I'll tell the doctors that you can go. But I want you to report back here after dinner and get some more rest. Understood, lieutenant?"
I nodded my head. "Crystal, ma'am." I then remembered something. "Oh, is the Jet Striker alright?"
"For now. I don't want anyone trying to use the Jet Striker, especially Barkhorn."
I nodded again. "Alright. No using the Jet Striker. Understood."
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Gertrud's POV
I have to say, this was not how I was planning to spend my peace and quiet right now.
I mean, there wasn't much to do in this room aside from the mess Hartmann had made. I swear, I put down a line to divide our room since the beds in here were separate, and already there was some of it going over said line.
I'm so going to give Hartmann a lecture on cleanliness if this keeps up.
Anyways, with nothing else to do, I decided to do some exercises to keep in shape.
I was doing some sit-ups when I heard a knock on the door.
"Who is it?" I asked as I sat up and looked at the door.
"It's the pizza man," I heard Sage's voice say. "It's me, Barkhorn. Can I come in?"
"Yeah. I guess."
The door opened up as Sage entered carrying a plate holding two slices of pizza. Two rather big slices. "I brought dinner for us, if that's cool with you."
I blinked. "Dinner?"
"Yeah. Figured I'd take a page out of Sanya's book and bring you a meal while you're stuck in your room. At least, the one she used when I was in this situation."
I stood up and took a seat on my bed as Sage sat down next to me, and, after he handed me a plate, we ate. The plate he had was sitting precariously on his lap.
"Wow," Sage said as he whistled softly while looking at Hartmann's side of the room. "Erica-I mean, Hartmann's not very good at cleaning up, is she?"
"She's not," I said simply.
"I see." More silence followed before Sage added, "Well, asides from that...you feeling fine?"
I glared at the lieutenant. "I could ask you the same question. You're supposed to be in the infirmary until further notice."
"I got permission from Minna herself to leave. At least for now. I wanted to make sure you were doing fine."
I stopped eating as I looked at the ground. "Why? It's my fault you ended up being hurt."
"Don't say that, ma'am...you mind if we talk casually?"
"Sure, I guess." I took another bite as I resumed my meal. "So, Sage...how'd you deal with being stuck in your room back in Britannia?"
"That?" Sage blinked. "Oh! That! Uh, I...well, I just threw a sword against the wall, had a quick conversation with Sanya, and got the idea of going after the Neuroi we had saw earlier. At the time, mind you."
"I see. All I can do is stay in shape."
"Relaxing is sometimes the best thing to do."
I looked at Sage, who was smiling. "Meaning...?"
"You worry about being ready a lot and you're sometimes unprepared for things."
I frowned. "That can't be right. Discipline means that you're ready for everything."
Sage shook his head. "Take it from someone who's used his knowledge to read the future. Even if you're ready for all possibilities, there's almost always a loophole for someone or something to exploit."
"Read the future...you honestly believe that I buy what you said about not knowing what's going on now?"
Sage blinked. "What do you mean?"
"When we were storming the base, you said that you were unable to tell what will happen after we beat the Warlock. Yet based on the phrases you utter sometimes, you seem like you have more to hide than you're letting on."
"Gertrud, I'm being honest about it. I don't know what anyone's going to do. If I did, then I would have taken precautions to check for possible threats to your lives."
"Or so you claim..." I let my right hand release the plate as my left hand held it still, and the free hand curled up into a fist.
Sage's eyebrows raised themselves. "Ma'am?"
Instinctively, I slugged Roland across the cheeks, making him fall off the bed and land on his knees as he looked at me in shock. The plate on his lap had crashed onto the floor and had broken into pieces.
"Gertrud..." Sage tried before he looked down at the floor. "I'm sorry, but I'm telling you the truth. I don't know what's going to happen."
"Save your breath," I said as I placed my plate on the bed, stood up, and picked him up before slamming him against the wall. Backing up as he stood on his own, I started throwing punches at the Neuroi Witch.
I was hoping that he would be able to defend himself as I attacked him. Instead, the boy simply took the hits as they landed inside his chest.
"Why aren't you fighting back?" I asked him as I backed off, panting from venting my anger.
"Why should I?" Sage told me as he was also panting and nearly doubled over in pain. "I deserve every punch you've got. I don't think I've had enough punishment for my deception last time, so come on and give me everything you've got."
I clenched my fist to throw another one at him, but I stopped myself. Why am I even acting like this? I mean, Hartmann and I were the ones who had tried getting Commander Minna to rethink the way she had treated him after his secret was revealed to us. He's also been doing everything he could to make sure we're alright. Why am I choosing now to do this? Why is he saying that he deserves every punch I gave him?
Besides, Sage had just gotten out of the infirmary. I didn't want him to go back in and have to be in there longer because I lost my temper.
Softening my fists, I sighed and said, "Look, I've got a lot to think about. Just leave."
Sage closed his eyes in pain before he said, "Sure thing, ma'am."
As I watched him stumble out of the room, I sat back on the bed and stared at the broken plate.
I think beating Sage up in anger just gave me an idea...
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Charlotte's POV
I don't really know why exactly my guts was feeling like it hurt. Really.
I guess it had something to do with the fact that Barkhorn and Roland had nearly been killed when the Karlsland Witch crashed into him while coming in.
I mean, she was the one who started pushing herself too hard and becoming unconscious. Besides, she really wanted to fly it, so I took Lucchini's suggestion and decided to allow her to fly it.
Hmm...maybe that's why I feel like this right now.
Either that, or those dumplings were coming back to haunt me.
I shook my head. Nah, that couldn't be right...
Right, where was I?
Oh yeah. I was sitting inside the hangar as I was tinkering with my Striker Unit, a small red toolbox sitting to my left.
After pitting my Striker Unit against the Jet Striker, I was a little disappointed that the prototype was able to outperform Merlin like it was nothing.
"This goes here..." I said as I was putting some parts back inside it. "And this goes there..."
"Hey, Shirley," I heard someone's voice say from behind me.
In surprise, I stopped what I was doing, and a piece shot out past my head. Turning around and ready to apologize for the piece hitting the person behind me, I soon saw Draco as he stood there, holding the piece (a screw).
"You know," Draco said as he tossed the screw back to me. I caught it with my left hand, my right hand holding a screwdriver currently. "I didn't really expect to be greeted like this again."
I turned around and started to put the screw back into Merlin as I said, "What is it you want, Draco?"
"Is that any way to treat a friend?"
"Sorry, but I don't have time to talk." I soon found myself fighting to put the screw back in completely. "Stupid thing...just go in like a good little screw."
A hand touched mine, and I looked over my right shoulder as I saw Draco's head. His right hand was on top of mine, and it was soon joined by his left hand as he helped me screw in the misbehaving piece.
"Something's eating at you," Draco told me as he let go and backed off.
Standing up and facing him, I fired back with, "Nothing's up with me, Draco!"
"I beg to differ. Come on, Shirley. We're friends, aren't we? Been that way since we first met each other."
I blinked as I somehow thought about the first time I met Draco...
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I had been riding a bicycle down a road, trying to see how fast it would go. I was young and rather reckless at the time, and I didn't see where I was going.
I struck something, and before I knew it I was falling off my bike as I tried to correct it. I remembered feeling a lot of pain as I lied there on my chest.
I've seen a lot of Witches, especially Roland, take hits and keep going, but when you were only nine it was difficult to keep from crying in pain. Probably because I had never really felt it like this.
When I had gained enough energy to try moving, I felt my right knee ache, and when I looked at it I saw that I had received a rather nasty scrape across it.
I closed my eyes as I tried to avoid looking at it, and soon I could hear a voice.
"Hey, miss," a young boy's voice said as I opened my eyes, looked ahead of me, and saw a boy in a yellow shirt, blue overalls, and brown work boots. "Are you okay?"
"Huh?" I asked as I looked at him before I remembered my knee. "I hurt my knee..."
"Hold on." The boy reached into a pocket and pulled out a white handkerchief. "I know it's not much, but it'll help stop the bleeding." He helped me sit on my rear before he reached into his pocket again and pulled out a small canteen. Opening it up, I watched as he poured water onto the wound. I tried crying out in pain, but the boy simply moved himself closer to my right side. "If you need something to grip, just use my shoulder, okay?"
I only nodded as I grabbed his left shoulder while he continued pouring the water, trying to keep from crying out in pain. When he felt that it was ready to be covered, he took the handkerchief and wrapped it around my knee, tying it tightly so as not to let the wound be exposed.
"I think it'll do for now," he said as he stood up. "Let me take you to my mom. She knows more about treating injuries than I do."
"Uh, sure," I said as I tried standing up. However, I felt my right leg unable to do much due to the pain, and the boy helped me onto my feet as he slung my right arm over his shoulders. "Thanks..."
"No problem." As we started walking, the boy took a look at my bike. It just sat there on the side of the road, rather useless and a little banged-up. "Sorry about your bike."
"It's fine."
"I can come back when I drop you off and bring it there."
We walked a little bit in silence before I added, "Shirley."
"Huh?" The boy sounded surprised.
"My name is Charlotte Eldwood Yeager, but you could call me Shirley if you want."
"Charlotte, huh? I'm Draco Leonardo Dracon, but friends call me by Leo sometimes."
I don't quite know why, but I had smiled.
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"I guess you have," I said as I returned to the present. "Well..." I sat down and leaned against Merlin gently. "I'm a little bummed-out about what happened."
"Bummed-out?" Draco asked me. "What about?"
I sighed. "I feel like it was my fault that Barkhorn fainted and nearly killed herself and Roland. Especially when Lucchini told me not to try to fly it myself."
"So you think that by telling Barkhorn that she could test it out instead, you feel that you were the reason why Lieutenant Sage is in the infirmary for the night?"
"Yeah." I looked at the boy. "What do you think?"
"Personally? I think you're taking this a little too far by trying to blame yourself. We're all responsible for our own actions. You, me, Barkhorn-it doesn't matter. What we do is up to us and us alone."
I looked at Draco as he gave off a warm smile and couldn't help but give off a faint smile of my own. Maybe I was over-reacting. I mean, Roland must have dealt with this sort of feeling the first time around. Then again... "Thanks, Draco. That actually sounds like something Roland would say." I looked down again, my smile fading. "But I'm still upset that Merlin couldn't compete with the Jet Striker."
"Come on, you're Glamorous Shirley. What problems involving performance can't you solve? We used to fix car engines when we helped my dad with his line of work. Hell, we did a lot together." I looked up and watched as Draco knelt down so that he could look at me more closely. "So don't think for a second that you can't make Merlin better than that thing. Whoever built the Jet Striker may have built an advanced piece of equipment, but they don't know the most important thing about building things..." He placed his left hand on my right shoulder and looked at me with a smile. "It's not your ability to put it together that determines the performance. It's the heart you put into making it do what you want it to."
I smiled slightly once again. "You know, I forgot that you can be thoughtful sometimes, Draco." I then nodded my head. "But you're right. Just because I can't beat the Jet Striker now doesn't mean that I can't make Merlin able to perform alongside it if not overshadow that piece of Karlsland technology." I turned around and got on my knees as I resumed tinkering with Merlin. "Thanks again, Draco."
"No problem. Mind if I help?"
I looked at the toolbox and, reaching inside with my left hand, tossed him a second screwdriver. "Help yourself."
"Thanks." He knelt down next to me as I smiled more.
"Hope you like staying up a little late." At this rate, I may have to run some quick tests with it to make sure that it's getting better, and if I wasn't satisfied with it then it'd be a long night. Though with Roland in the infirmary for a while it might not be a good idea, so I'll just put Merlin back together and pick up on where I left off later.
"Not a problem, Shirley."
Maybe I should call him by his nickname.
Leo...
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Roland's POV
"Morning, Roland," Minna said as she and Mio stepped into the infirmary just as I was waking up the next morning.
"Morning, ladies," I said sleepily as I stretched my arms over my head. "What's up for today? Other than me being sore, that is."
"Not much for you, unfortunately. Due to the incident yesterday, Captain Barkhorn is inside her quarters until further notice. As for you, I wanted to ask you to not do anything that could strain your body."
"While Miyafuji managed to heal you," Mio went on to say, "your body did have a few injuries from the crash." When I groaned in pain as I grabbed the back of my head with both hands, she continued with, "Most notably, the back of your head."
"You do remember everything that's happened to you up to this point, from the Ascension incident to your...visit to Barkhorn's room, right?"
I groaned.
Right, that's probably why I feel like crap right now. Gertrud turned me into a human punching bag temporarily while we were eating dinner in her room. That, and my head was killing me right now. Maybe I slept on it funny?
"I can't make any promises," I said as I shook my head to clear the pain. "I did say that I'd have no idea what's going to happen after our battle with the Warlock."
"Noted," Minna said in return. "But try to take it easy, okay?"
"I'll do my best. Again, no promises." I got out of bed slowly and felt my body correct itself to keep me from tumbling onto the floor, though my arms were flailing about before I found my center of gravity. "So anything else?"
"Not that we know of. Just relax for today."
"Can do, ma'am."
"Come on, Sage," Mio said as she beckoned me to follow her. "I know just how to let you relax."
"Uh, sure?" What did she have planned for me?
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Showers, Mio Sakamoto's way.
Probably not what Minna meant by "relaxing".
Then again, it was so like Mio to just drag me into the showers.
Right, if you have no idea what the shower room looked like here, just imagine a simple shower set and multiply it by about fifteen.
Good thing these ones come with curtains behind me and five-foot-high walls to my left and right. The major, Yoshika, Lynette, and Perrine were on either side of me, the little Fuso Witch in the stall on my left, the major on her left, the Britannian Witch in the stall on my right, and the Gallian Witch on her right.
From bathing by myself at Anna's to having to take a shower with the girls (to a degree)...I wonder how much more messed up my day can get.
"And here I thought you were going to give me a break from having to bathe with you girls," I said, referring to Mio. I said that rather sarcastically.
"Be glad you at least have a curtain to use along with these walls, lieutenant," Mio countered.
Actually, she's right: at least I do have a curtain protecting my eyes.
Still doesn't help when I can simply peek over the walls, but I wouldn't do that.
Not sure about anyone else in my position, though...
"How are you holding up, Roland?" Lynette asked.
"Rather fine," I said as I washed my hair. "Other than a headache and some lingering aches, I'm fine."
"That's good to hear," Perrine added. "We'd hate to be down a Witch. Especially a Witch with a Neuroi core inside him."
"Thanks for reminding me, though I'm not flying for the day. At least, that's what Commander Minna told me."
"That she did," Mio said before she thought of something. "Yesterday, you were saying something about jets in your world. What exactly do you mean?"
I blinked. "Jets? Oh, right! Well, I'm not too sure about planes in particular, but the first jet fighter I can remember was the Eff-Fourteen Tomcat. Back when I was a kid, way before I was forced here, my mom, step-dad, and siblings went to the air museum in Atwater. There was this jet there; I think it was a Eff-Fourteen Dee variation. Anyways, it was in use until about 2006, when the United States retired it from their active fleet. The decals on my Striker unit, if you pay attention to them, show a skull-and-crossbones pattern. It's the squadron insignia of the Jolly Rogers squadron. There were others, but I'd have to remember them." I then placed my right index finger on my lips. "Though I'm wondering what the Jet Striker's based on..."
"Probably this Eff-Fourteen you talked about."
"Naw. The Eff-Fourteen program wasn't really born until...about the late 1960s, I believe. Way after this decade."
Mio nodded. "Makes sense. You think we'll end up with a Striker Unit like that?"
"That's not like mine?" I shrugged my shoulders. "Don't know. Hell, the Neuroi would probably be gone by then. Who knows, right?" I then removed my finger from my mouth and noticed that there were soap on it still. I licked my lips and was soon spitting the soapy mess I had placed inside my mouth. "Ugh, God! Why'd you let me do that?"
"You should pay more attention, my word," I heard Perrine say as I continued trying to rid my mouth of the soapiness.
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A while later, and I lied down on my bed, sighing in relief.
"Finally," I said calmly. "Nothing to worry about...wonder if this is what being in heaven feels like?"
In case you ask, I did not want to die. At least, not of shock while seeing something I wasn't supposed to.
You know, now that I think about it...it's probably a bad omen if I ended up in an anime. I mean, I've seen Rosario + Vampire, and I'm aware of the idea of a harem-
Wait a second!
Don't tell me...I'm going to end up like that...
It doesn't sound bad, honestly, but the main problem is that it'd be hard to keep everyone happy. Besides, I'm over eighteen, so it would be a small harem legally (if it's even legal in the first place).
...I'd rather leave the chance of getting a headache alone and try not to go down that path.
Of course, it doesn't help my sanity one bit when the alarm starts ringing.
"Dammit," I said as I sat up and looked at the door. "I was wanting to get some sleep, not listen to the sounds of something coming from an alarm clock." I poked my head out the door and was greeted by Minna running by. "Hey, commander."
"Oh, hey, lieutenant," Minna said as she came to a stop in front of me. "Good. You're staying put. Listen: I want you to keep an eye on Barkhorn. Make sure she stays put and gets some rest."
Get some rest, huh? Knowing Gertrud, she's probably working out right now. "I'll see what I can do. Don't die out there, okay?"
"Not heading out there, but I'll be sure to tell the others you said that. Now, get some rest and if you have any concerns come to the command room." Minna ran off.
Command room...got it...better check up on Gertrud first before trying to sleep again...
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Okay, she wasn't in her room. I should know: I just checked in there.
Something's odd around here. She's not in her room (as she should be)...
Maybe she snuck off to get something to eat.
I headed into the dining hall and kitchen and looked around.
I didn't see her there either.
Okay...showers?
I shook my head violently. Being dragged in by Mio was one thing, but I was damned if I actually stepped in to see Gertrud while she was taking a shower intentionally.
Okay, so "no" on the room, the dining hall, the kitchen, and the showers.
Where else could she be?
I then had a strange thought: if I knew Gertrud correctly, she probably wanted to use the Jet Striker again. And that was inside the...hangar...
Blinking very quickly, I took off toward the hangar, hoping that I was wrong and that the Karlsland captain wouldn't do something that stupid.
I burst into the hangar and made a beeline for the Jet Striker, which had no one inside it thankfully. However, for some reason I couldn't put my finger on there were those four machine gun things and the cannon designed for the Jet Striker.
I didn't think about it too much: at least Gertrud wasn't here and trying to go into battle.
"Whew," I said as I sighed in relief. "I thought that she would get in and-"
My aura senses flared up, and I soon ducked under a chop aimed at the back of my neck. Turning around quickly, I had to sidestep a kick before I backed off and looked at my assailant, one Gertrud Barkhorn.
"Captain!" I shouted in surprise. The captain was standing there, looking determined to do something. "What are you doing?"
"I'm not letting them take on that Neuroi alone," Gertrud said as she swung a kick at me, forcing me to duck once again. "I need to get back in the Jet Striker."
I got into a defensive position, arms ready to block. "No way, ma'am! If you get in that Jet Striker, there's no telling if you'll even live to see the end of this engagement."
"I'll take that risk, now get out of my way!" Gertrud threw a punch that I barely avoided by rolling behind her.
Man, she's really determined. Ten points for guts...minus perhaps several million for idiocy. "Even so, I was told to keep an eye on you. I'm not letting you fly off this base!" I tried throwing myself at her to pin her down, but I made a bad decision.
One reason was because, since I was up against someone whose power was being able to increase her strength, I soon found myself being easily swung over her left shoulder and thrown onto the ground back first, landing in a pile.
A second reason was due to the fact that there were a lot of spare parts in the pile, which made the landing worse for my back.
"Awk!" I shouted in pain as I rolled off it and lifted my head, unable to get up until I could gather up some strength and move again. I could see Gertrud as she dusted her hands off and walked toward the Jet Striker. "Gertrud...don't do this..."
Gertrud stopped and looked at me. I swore she looked a little sad. Only a little.
"I'm sorry, Sage," she told me softly. "I'm going to help protect them. I hope you understand..." She jumped into the Jet Striker and, powering it up while grabbing the cannon only, took off down the runway.
I know how Gertrud must feel right now: I've been feeling like that since the being showed me the alternate ending that would have occurred had we failed to defeat the Warlock that day.
But that doesn't excuse her using the Jet Striker to go in and fight! Especially against Minna's orders!
I tried getting onto my feet, but the injuries I had received were too much, and I crashed onto the ground chest first.
"I'm sorry..." I said to myself. "Minna..."
Everything went dark...
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Charlotte's POV
"Man," I said as I used a BAR to fire at one of these stupid rockets the Neuroi had decided to launch at us. "You'd think it would fire lasers at us or something."
"Must be getting smarter," Draco included as he fired behind me and shot down a rocket. "Lasers are cool and all, but nothing really beats a good old-fashioned rocket coming right behind you while you're distracted."
"Not helping, Draco." I shot down a pair of missiles coming toward us from behind Draco's back.
"Just a thought."
We were all trying our best to fire at the Neuroi, but in addition to its rockets (which begs the question of how much more ammo it actually has) it had a quick reaction time. Plus, it was one of those "fly-in-any-direction" ones.
Yeah. Annoying at best.
"I'd help us out a little if Lieutenant Roland-kun was here with us," Lucchini added as I watched her, Eila, and Yoshika help Lynne pick off rockets.
"Yeah," Eila retorted. "Not to be mean to the lieutenant, but I doubt he'd come up with a plan before we got our rears handed to us."
"I'm not sure," Yoshika added. "Roland-kun has made some good ideas, and he can think outside the box."
"Sounds like a jack-in-the-box," Draco joked.
"What does a toy have to do with Roland-kun?" Yoshika looked a little confused.
"He just pops out an idea, right?"
"Yeah," I added light-heartedly. "Just like you pop out things like that."
Soon, we could hear more rockets coming toward us.
"Crap," Draco said as we split up. "Gotta move and keep focused."
"Shirley!" the major shouted out. "Behind you!"
"Huh?" I asked as I turned around and was soon looking at a rocket coming toward me. I hastily aimed my gun at it and blasted it away before it could collide with me, but a second one had gotten around my blind spot and was closing in for the blow...
Until a loud shot broke right through it.
"Barkhorn?" I asked as I turned to look at Barkhorn as she was utilizing the Jet Striker.
Wait, she was using the Jet Striker again? I thought Commander Minna told us not to use it!
"Wait a second!" Minna's voice said through the radio. "Barkhorn's in the air?"
I think Barkhorn said something, but I don't believe she had a radio in her ears, though she could have not wanted us to hear her words right now. Anyways, she was firing her cannon at the Neuroi rockets, destroying them. She then aimed for the main unit, which spat out a core once she made a bullet hit it. With quick reflexes, she fired a round that pierced through the core, destroying it while flying past me.
"You okay, Shirley?" Draco asked me as he flew to join me.
"Yeah," I told him. "I'm fine."
"Good. I was worried for a second there..."
I then looked at the Karlsland captain with a slight smile.
"Way to go, Barkhorn!" I shouted into the radio.
There were no responses, something that got me a little worried.
"Barkhorn?" I asked. "Can you hear me?"
Still no response.
"What's going on?" I asked the others through the radio. "She's not responding and she's not slowing down."
"That's not good," Major Sakamoto's voice said. "The Jet Striker's out of control! She's using up all her magic!"
What? The Jet Striker's what now?
"Shirley!" Minna said quickly. "Go!"
"On it!" I said as Draco and I picked up speed. While Draco was trying his best to keep up, I ended up leaving him behind. When I got close enough to try getting to Barkhorn, I raised a hand and tried reaching for her, but the Jet Striker picked up speed suddenly. I found myself getting angry. "Damn you!"
"Come on, Shirley!" Draco's voice said through the radio. "You've got this!"
I could hear Merlin give everything it had to build up speed, and soon I was reaching close to the speed of sound. With this boost in speed, I managed to catch up with Barkhorn and put my arms under hers. I reached out for something on the Jet Striker. "Unhand her!"
I pulled the emergency switch, and the Jet Striker stopped before sliding off the unconscious captain's legs and plummeting into the ocean. I soon slowed us down a lot as I stopped our motion.
Sighing in relief, I soon looked down at the captain, who had her head against my chest as her right hand laid on one of my breasts. I think the captain looked a little content as we floated there.
"Augh!" I heard Lucchini's voice say as I looked at the others. "My boobies! My boobies! Get your face out of her rack!"
"You think you could say that any louder?" Draco's voice said over the radio. "I know you like to snuggle up in them, but announcing that they're yours out loud?!"
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Roland's POV
Eila, Sanya, Draco, and I blinked as we looked at what had happened to the Jet Striker as a result of Charlotte's action. It was pretty much broken beyond repair. Even if you could get the salt water out of it, I'm fairly certain that this is just about done for.
Though it was actually interesting to see the inside of the device.
I was rather thankful that someone picked up on Gertrud's antics because after Minna gave the orders to return to the base the girls found me unconscious. A quick body check by Yoshika along with some minor healing (for the fall-on-spare-parts damages) later, and I was able to move again. Though my body's sore once again.
Jeez, you think I've had enough of being sore for the last two days?
"Why does everything exciting happen while you're asleep?" Eila asked Sanya, who was standing next to her.
Considering that she was referring to Sanya's habit of sleeping during the day, I couldn't blame her for asking that. However, there have been a few exciting things that occurred when she was awake. Namely the battle against the Warlock.
"It's in pieces," Sanya noted.
"I consider it a blessing," Perrine, who was standing at a table behind us, added. "That thing was out of control."
"Still a hell of a way for a prototype to go," I said to myself. "Falling into the ocean..."
You know, the last time some Striker Unit was falling towards the ocean it was Charlotte's back in Britannia.
"Yes," Minna added in a more serious tone. "And so was the person who used it." She was with Mio, Erica, and Perrine at the table, though from my memory they were looking at Gertrud and Charlotte, the latter of whom looked like she was relaxing.
"Yeah," Charlotte said in Gertrud's defense, "but she was the reason why we beat that Neuroi. You could go a little easier on her."
"I agree with Shirley," Draco said as he picked at a bit of the Jet Striker's protruding body fragments. "if it wasn't for Barkhorn, I doubt we would have been able to beat it.
"Rules are rules, sorry," Minna concluded.
"Ah, come on," I decided to say as I walked over to the group. I believe that Gertrud's punishment for the whole thing was peeling potatoes. "Lighten up. She's not the only one who's done something stupid before."
"She threw you onto a pile of parts, and you're defending her?" Minna looked both confused and slightly ticked at the same time.
How does she manage to look like that? "Not really..."
"Besides," Mio added as Gertrud put a peeled potato into a bowl with other peeled potatoes and started on another one. You know, I think this is a rare sight to see: a rather saddened Karlsland captain. "It was the first time she's ever disobeyed a direct order, isn't it?"
Not sure if you'd call it a direct order...
"I'm so sorry for all the trouble, everyone," a new voice said.
Every one of us at the table except for Gertrud (focused on peeling) looked at the owner of the new voice, who was standing behind Mio. For some reason, she looked like Erica...
Hang on, that wasn't Erica.
I mean, she had close to the same jacket as Erica, but there were a few differences that I was trying to get my head around. Namely the glasses.
"Why are you apologizing?" Mio asked.
"This has nothing to do with you, Hartmann," Charlotte added.
Hartmann? Oh, so that's why she looked a little similar to Erica...
Wait, she doesn't look a little like the Karlsland lieutenant I know. She looks a lot like Erica!
"Oh, no, actually..." the one named Hartmann apparently started before I could hear Yoshika and Lynette push in a cart carrying dinner. Like before the testing, the Britannian Witch had a apron on.
"Okay, girls, Draco, and Roland," Lynette said as they pushed the cart into the hangar. "We've got food if you're hungry."
"We just received a lot of potatoes, so I tried to make a bunch of different dishes out of them," Yoshika added. I then watched as Yohsika handed Hartmann a packet of fries. "These are fries, Hartmann."
"Oh, thank you," the newcomer said as she grabbed a fry.
I think Yoshika either noticed the change in the voice or just now thought about the fact that her appearance didn't really match that of Erica's. "Wait, you've always worn glasses?"
Uh, no. Unless Erica was secretly blind. In which case, yes.
"Yes, I have," Hartmann said in return.
I cocked my head to the right in confusion.
...Okay, I don't think she was helping the situation, even if she wasn't sure of it. Hard to tell; I've never met her before, and I don't recall Erica telling me about a twin sister. Or any sister for that matter.
"Yummy!" Erica said as she jumped and grabbed Yoshika's shoulders from behind.
"Oh, Hartmann!" Yoshika said as she turned around to face the other Hartmann. "You can have some if you want."
Lynette looked a little surprised, and I wouldn't blame her.
Suddenly, I think everyone (excluding me; I was trying to put the pieces together here) gasped as we all looked at the two look-a-likes.
You know, odd time to think about it, but you think that song from the old Sonic the Hedgehog movie, "Look-A-Like" could apply here?
"Hello there, Erica," the newcomer said calmly. "Good to see you."
"Ursula," Erica greeted while munching on a fry a little. "Hey, sister."
Okay, now I'm really confused: Erica Hartmann has a sister, and her name's Ursula?
"Sister?" everyone asked at once.
Minna grabbed Ursula's shoulders from behind and began with, "I'd like for you to meet Lieutenant Ursula Hartmann, otherwise known as Erica Hartmann's twin sister."
"Twin sister?" we all asked again, with me putting an emphasis of the word "twin".
Okay, I think I arrived at that conclusion myself, but at least Minna was nice enough to confirm my thoughts.
"She's a member of the staff that developed the Jet Striker," Minna continued.
While everyone else gave off a sound of understanding, I walked up to Ursula and examined her very closely. For some reason, I decided to check something: I found myself removing the girl's glasses from her face a little before sliding it back on, noticing what I saw.
Funny how those two could fool people into thinking they were really themselves if all they did was switch glasses. But that was for changing looks: I'm sure people could tell who was the real Erica based on personality.
I think I slid the glasses back and forth about twenty times before I placed them back on her face gently and said, "Sorry. Let my curiosity get the better of me."
"It's okay," Ursula said calmly. "It's nice to see that someone from the maintenance crew's down here to assess the damage to the Jet Striker."
I blinked in slight horror.
...What?
Oh no...don't tell me we're going to have a repeat of what happened when I met Adolfine for the first time...
I am not a member of the maintenance crew! Do I look like I could look good in overalls? I know I look odd enough due to wearing pants and everything, but come on! I don't even know how the hell a Striker Unit gets put together!
"Oh," Minna decided to say for me (funny how she probably sensed my inner annoyance). "Right. Ursula, that is Lieutenant Roland Sage, otherwise known as the Neuroi Witch. He's a member of our wing."
Ursula adjusted her glasses a little as she looked at me.
"Ah, so this is the Neuroi Witch?" she asked. She blinked and, without even sounding panicked due to possibly pissing off a potential ally, added, "I'm sorry. I thought you were a part of maintenance. Please excuse my oversight."
I waved my hand in front of me.
"Sure thing," I said neutrally. "Not like you're the first to say something like that." Adolfine beat her to the punch already.
Speaking of her, I wonder how she's doing...
Ursula then walked over to Gertrud and continued with, "I wanted to apologize. Captain Barkhorn, I'm sorry for any trouble we may have caused. And...please know we were completely unaware of the Jet Striker's apparent fatal flaw."
"You had no way of knowing that anyways," I said with a slight smile.
"Oh, hell," Gertrud added as she waved off the matter with a free hand. "It was just a prototype anyways. So don't worry. I feel like I should apologize to you for destroying it."
"Not at all," Ursula answered. "I'm just relieved that you're alright. I'll take the remains back to our homeland."
"You came all the way here to get that?" Charlotte asked.
"Yes, although there's not much left. But I also brought potatoes as an apology for the trouble."
More potatoes, huh? I know at least two of us are going to love this...
XXXXXXXXXX
Anyways, a while later and we were standing there as Charlotte and Gertrud reached for the fry on top of the pile.
"Hey, that's my fry!" Gertrud said quickly. "You better let go!"
"No way!" Charlotte said as she forced the fry into the air. As it fell back down, the two of them grabbed for it and caught it, once again beginning the tug-of-war. "This is from a Liberion recipe, so I'll eat it!"
"I don't care where it's from, I need to replenish my energy if I wanna regain my strength."
Uh, why does this sound familiar? Maybe it's because it's almost how this whole mess with the Jet Striker started!
"Come on!" Charlotte said as the two girls tugged at the fry. "Admit you like it!"
"Well, it could be worse," Gertrud replied with a straight face.
"Geez," Yoshika said as we looked on. "We made so many, why are they fighting over one?"
Good question. Let's ask these two-oh wait, we can't right now!
"That's their thing," Erica told the little Fuso Witch. "It's what they do. Don't worry about it."
Charlotte and Gertrud decided to go for a scary-face/staring contest using the table as their stage. Soon, they pulled at it yet again, but it never came back down because I decided to interfere.
"Jeez," I said as I used my gyrokinesis to grab the fry and make it come to me, catching it with my right index finger, right middle finger and right thumb. "You two really need to lighten up more often." I waved the piece of food in question a little.
A quick look of what I could only call anger from them a split second later, and I found myself gulping.
This was going to hurt...a lot...
And the hounds of hell were unleashed as the captains charged at me. I tried making a break for it to save myself, but I was too slow for the speed freak.
Soon, I could feel a lot of nails clawing at me and overall tug-of-war fighting as they grabbed at the fry in my hand.
"Stop it, you two!" I shouted. "It's just a measly fry!"
"I fought hard to get that fry!" Gertrud said.
"I reached for it first!" Charlotte added.
"Give it back, you jerk!" both of them said at once.
"Wah!" I could only cry out as I was soon engulfed in pain while the girls tried to get the food back.
Why me?
XXXXXXXXXX
Roland: Next time on Strike Heroes 2: Roland's Return-
Francesca: When it comes to yummy Romagna food, there's-
Roland: Sorry to interrupt, but what the hell?
Francesca: It's a great time! It's a trip to the city of Roma.
Roland: And what makes this trip oh so special?
Francesca: You'll have to wait and see! Next time: My Romagna.
Roland: Dammit, Francesca! You're not exactly helping me with the pre-
XXXXXXXXXX
Alright, there's the end of the current arc.
Just for those who are curious about Draco, I plan on working on his past with Charlotte as the story develops because, to me at least, it doesn't seem to be a good idea to let the cat out of the bag immediately. I figure that I'd take it a bit at a time, so stay tuned for more about it.
Speaking of his past, I tried looking up something that could have worked based on Charlotte's history, but I couldn't find anything concerning her childhood. Not even something that could have conflicted with the fact that Draco was in active service for the six months before this story started. So I thought I'd try my hands at making something that made sense.
And because I never thought to say this when I began the current story, let me repeat something I put in my first story's beginning chapter: I'm not perfect at getting details right. Those who read and responded to Strike Heroes as the chapters were being updated probably know, but now that I'm getting more people reading this...if there's something you feel I got wrong in the story (character's personality, event that occurred, etc.), don't be afraid to let me know. I'm always open to any corrections, comments, and critique you guys can think of. :)
Anyways, please read and respond with how you felt about the chapter, and get ready for the next arc of the story.
Thanks, and I'll see you in the next chapter.
