"C-Commander-In-Chief?! Excuse us, sir! We didn't mean any disrespect!" Shirley said, at attention. The other girls, not including the Minna, Mio or Perrine snapped to. They set their salute and kept it there, waiting for any sort of recognition from the man.
John stood by the door, eyes scanning each girl. After about 5 minutes of staring, he returned the salute, allowing the girls to rest their arms. "At ease, girls. Next time, though, I hope you can follow orders." John sighed. "Ignore the rifle for now, girls. Commander?"
Wing Commander Minna nodded as she pointed at the table. The witches gathered round it to see what she was pointing at. Some gasped while one just looked away. "This is our position now. This is the last recorded enemy location during our last recon. This is the projected enemy position for 24 hours. As you can see, we have-" Minna stopped to check her pocket watch. "-18 hours to get our infantry in position to defend this base. I need all of you to get rested up. We will need every available personnel on this one. Now is 1800 hours. Assemble at the Briefing Room at 0530 hours tomorrow. Dissmissed." The witches saluted once before turning to leave, including Perrine.
John watched for a bit before turning to Minna. "Commander, have the commanding officers of the two infantry battallions and the Tank Commanders for the Light and Medium Tanks come in. We need to discuss their locations and send them out ASAP." He pulled out his TACPAD to communicate wordlessly with Captain Locke who was still in the hangar.
TACPAD Conversation #1
Start Conversation
"James, I need some help."
"Sure thing, Wipe. What can I do for you?"
"I need you to set up a showcase for our heavy weapons. Im afraid we have to give the Witches some guns."
"Yes sir. What about the War Pig sir?"
"Not that, that's still a one-of-a-kind gun. I'll see you later, Captain"
End Conversation
John looked up just in time to see Minna drop her landline. He turned slightly to see Bug wolfing down the scones that Perrine left. Shaking his head, he walks over and grabs his shoulder. "Hey Lt, Captain Locke needs some help downstairs. Something about the War pi-!" John didn't manage to finish as Bug dashed out the room at the sound of his precious gun being handled.
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Sorry, I can't write strategy on ground units. So this is a time skip until I get my secondary writer to get on it.
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2 Hours Later
"Right, you have your orders, I expect all units to be in position in 12 hours time. Carry every single heavy weapon you can get hands on and every single vehicle you can man." John finished as he withdrew his hands from the table. "Dismissed"
The 3 men saluted. John returned it and they walked out the room. Sighing, he turned to the girls. "Right then, anything else before we leave for the Hangar? Got some hardware to show you. Might give ya the upper hand on the Neuroi."
The girls shook their heads as John picked up the rifle, and turned around, walking towards the hangar.
At the hangar, John knocked the door twice before giving a swift rap. A reply of 2 raps and 3 knocks was heard before the door slid open a little bit, just enough to let John, Minna and Mio in.
Inside, the once barren Hangar now contained some of the most advanced tech in the world. A load of rifles, pistols, shotguns and rocket launchers sat on display atop some tables with camoflauge netting. A couple of special weapons also sat but they were seperated from the clump of commons. 2 crates sat in a corner, the top broken off to reveal Ammunition and Grenades. Another crate sat in the middle of the room but it was still sealed.
Locke came running up to the trio, his rifle slung on his back. "Sir! We got almost all out, just the Theshir is left in the crate. We are ready to begin demonstration."
John nodded as he walked over to the first table, where David sat, cradling an M60, which he named 'War Pig'. "Hey, get up. Time to show our guests what we have to offer."
"Right-o! Come round, you two! This first one is the K-4 Automatic Pistol. Fires a HE .45 caliber round and holds 32 rounds in a magazine. 800 rounds per minute. Very effective against light to medium armour opponents." David picks up a very blocky looking pistol. After ejecting and showing them a round, he reloads the pistol and places it back down. "Don't worry, we will go through shooting it later. Now on to the next pistol. This is HR-008. Its similar to the one Wipeout uses but his is a tad bit more powerful. This one fires a .50 caliber HEAP round and has 8 rounds in a magazine. It has a low rate of fire at 400 rounds per minute so be careful. Effective against all types of units."
John nods and walks over to the next table, knowing that we have only 2 pistols. Seeing the rifles, he smiled. "And over here, sorry Dav, im taking over for now, are some the most powerful rifles you'll ever see. This is a personal favorite, Good for short to long range combat. M44 Enhanced Combat Rifle. Fires a 12.7mm by 68mm FMJ round and has 30 rounds in a magazine. A high rate of fire of 750 rounds per minute. It can also load 12.7mm by 68mm HEIAP rounds but those are harder to find. But you're not here for the light stuff." John replaces the Rifle with an even longer rifle. "This is the Vas-180. Fires a 30mm by 99mm HEIAP round and has 6 rounds in a magazine. A very slow rate of fire at 240 rounds per minute, but still manageble.
This continued on for another hour but finally managed to finish and the witches bid farewell to retire to their beds. The soldiers of Ghost Division thought the same as all 5 of them walked up to their individual rooms.
John paced around his room in worry, his mind straying to the thoughts of his girls back in CV3. When he left 2 years ago, he made it clear to Nagato that she was authorized to do as an Admiral would, same with Fubuki, should anything happen to Nagato. It hadn't occurred to him that the fleet would not do well under the other two's command. He had known Nagato for a long time and knows that she is one of the most capable shipgirls around. While Fubuki had been newer, he had no doubt that she would do well. "Oh, just 2 more days until I can get them over here where its somewhat safer."
Next Day, 0500 hours
Briefing Room
The Witches of the 501st began filing into the Briefing Room, half an hour early. Each of them with eyes shining with anticipation. Commander-In-Chief Wipeout and Wing Commander Minna stood at the front of the room, hands behind their backs, standing in attention. By 0515 hours, every single witch in the building, along with the other 4 members of Ghost Division stood at attention infront of their selected seats. John looked around the room and when satisfied, he saluted. The rest of the assembly returned the salute and sat down at his order. John gestures to Minna to begin the Briefing while he steps down.
"Good morning and thank you for coming in early. This, as you have seen yesterday, is the map and position of Neuroi Forces." Minna says as she unfolds a battle map onto the large table. She places small Neuroi-shaped figures to signify their position. She then places small green tanks and infantry and pushes them to the desired position. "Now as you all know, we have 2 Infantry Battalions and a Tank Column assigned to us. They have already set out for the field yesterday and should be in the positions as shown."
Minna then takes out a small button the shape of an 'X'. "This will signify civilian area, as the battle shall commence a mere 6km away from a village. While I have already instructed the Infantry Battalions to evacuate the village, there are sure to be some defenders who do not wish to leave their homes. Do not force them to leave, but try your best to divert enemy fire away from them."
"There will be 3 three-man teams that will join this battle. First, the lead team, Flight Lieutenant Gertrud, Flying Officer Erica and me. The second team, which will support the lead, is Major Mio, Sergeant Yoshika and Flight Sergeant Lynnette. The third team will support the ground forces against land Neuroi will be Flight Lieutenant Shirley, Pilot Officer Francesca and Flying Officer Perrine. Sanya and Eila, please guard the base." Minna finished "If there are no questions, dismissed. Grab some breakfast, we leave at 0615 hours."
Minna stepped down from the raised platform in which was infront of the table. Seeing that John had tossed her a bottle of water, she drank deeply and held for a long time. She finished the entire bottle and sat down in a chair.
"You know, it's not good for the body if you drink a full bottle of water like that." John berated Minna.
Minna sighed. "Commander, you know as much as I do that these things makes you really thirsty. Besides, I need water for hydration, hadn't had any since yesterday's breakfast."
"Well then, how about we go grab a bite to eat?"
Minna nodded as she pushed herself off the chair. "Alright but I don't think there is any food yet, after all, we only just dismissed Miyafuji and Bishop."
John simply hummed a song, not really listening to what Minna just said. He began his walk to the dining room, leaving Minna to follow him. The 2 walked down the hallway, passing by dorm rooms and the like. They entered the dining room to smell toast. Apparently, to save time, Yoshika decided to just make some toast along with some jam. She was serving a tray of it when the 2 came in. "Ah, John-san, Minna-san! Please sit down, I'll get some food for you!"
"I…don't remember letting her call me that…not that I mind, we aren't on duty right now." John said quietly to Minna.
Minna just smiled in response. She gestured to John to take a seat as she took hers opposite to John. "She's like that. Don't let it get to you, she's still 16, but she needs work with her social callouts."
John looked down sadly. "I hate this…"
Confused, Minna asked, "You hate…what?"
"I hate having to employ girls like you on the field. Don't get me wrong, I don't hate you, but I hate to make girls as young as 12 to fight on a field meant for adults. While I respect the fact that you girls are willing to spare your lives for humanity, it's still not right. Back where im from, the minimum age to join the militart is 18. Even then, you would go though at least 2 years of training before getting on the field." John replied. "Soon, we must finish this as fast as possible. I can't have more blood on my hands, no more!"
The occupants of the room all looked at John as he slammed his hands of the table. Noticing this, he stands up and excuses himself, leaving the room in a swift controlled manner. He once out, he dashes towards the hangar, where the rest of his team were sitting, getting ready.
"All of you form up! I want the set up ready by yesterday!" John shouts as he enters the place. Equipping his black Ronin Chest Rig, he loads up on as many magazines he could carry. Pulling a primary rifle, the AVH-08, he slings it on his back as he equips his shield gauntlet. Then, he walks over to the still sealed crate and opens it with 2 shots of his pistol. Inside, a katana sat, but it was glowing purple.
"Ah, Theshir, I see you are ready for combat. Come, we shall have fun today." John says to the sword. Any sane man would believe the Commander to be mad, but this blade is different. It holds the soul of a demon. Not just any demon, the Demon Lord of the Border, also known as Theshir. It was known to be of the 'Black Demon Series' weapons. John attaches the sheath to his left hip. He turns around to see the rest loaded up as well.
David a.k.a. Bug had his M60 'War Pig' out and a M3202 Auto-Shotgun with Forest camoflauge on his back. A K-4 pistol rested on his hip holster.
James a.k.a. Grinder has a M44 ECR with an ACOG scope and a mounted 20mm grenade launcher equipped with AP grenades. A Multi-Lock Missile Launcher sat on his back, and a M3032 Shotgun without a stock loaded with AP Slugs rested on his leg.
Benjamin a.k.a. Kaku is using a long barrel variant of the Vas-180. A K-4 pistol with a Holographic Sight and a laser sight sat on his right leg holster.
Kenneth a.k.a. Ember had a M44 ECR with a Holographic Sight and a Silencer. A single-handed Longsword sat on his back while a HR-008 with a silencer on his leg holster.
John nodded in satisfaction as they all headed out to the main hangar to meet with Minna and the Witches.
