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Legendary Witches 3: Cross World Battle
Chapter 9: Battle's Eve
-April 11th, 1953-
Over the next few days, Toshiro trained and drilled with the various members of the Strike Witches, as well as a few of the mortalized immortals, to better learn their fighting style and work on teamwork.
His most prominent teachers were Yoshika, Kye, and Mio. Yoshika, being the most defensive fighter, showed him how her favorite methods involve small teams of two to four where she protects them so they can focus completely on the offensive. Kye, being the most balanced fighter, showed him her own methods where she prefers small teams, but can easily split off into solo combat while balancing defense and offense. Mio, being the most offensive fighter, focused on methods including combination, flanking, and weak point offensives.
Toshiro absorbed the knowledge. He practiced flying with Minna, Erica, and Trudy, working on formations that were impossible with strikers, but doable with the Air Band and SFS units. Minna taught him how to find the most dangerous targets in a large force, and despite his greater size Erica managed to teach him how to weave through targets and pick off those dangerous ones. Trudy, along with her great grandchildren, Lion and Rose, taught him something only they could teach since he had Super Strength magic. The Barkhorn group taught him a Blitzkrieg offensive that relied heavily on raining down a barrage of gunfire, followed up with powerful unarmed strikes on larger opponents with two or more super strength users flanking and striking a target in tandem, which would virtually disintegrate the target.
He practiced high speed combat with the resident speed expert, Shirley. Although he couldn't copy her magic, he was able to learn some of her style, nonetheless. Lucchini, having an idea about Toshiro's Sacred Flame, worked with him on using it as an offensive ability, and they developed an ultimate level ability with Sacred Flame in the process. He could throw fire at targets and burn them. Not only that, but Lucchini taught him to take a large fireball, compact it, throw it, and watch as it exploded on contact.
"My fireball exploded?" Toshiro asked.
"If you are as smart as you say you are, you should know what an explosion is. An explosion is basically a super-fast burn," Lucchini explained.
"Physics 101."
"And I would know since explosions are my thing. And boobs."
"I somehow knew you would add boobs in there."
After his training with Lucchini, he moved on to Sanya and Eila for nighttime tactics. Certain tactics could only be performed with the SFS, such as the "Death from Above" tactic where they hovered at an ultra-high altitude until the opportune moment and descended rapidly, attacking their opponent from above with overwhelming force. They also covered several three person strategies for dispatching both large numbers quickly and large targets quickly at night. Since their SFS units provided a degree of stealth, they told him how Neuroi are not able to detect them at night so long as they keep their power in check. This made guerrilla tactics much more viable at night.
Lynne, being the resident sniping expert, worked with Toshiro for long distance combat. He was surprised at how experienced she was with not only a sniper rifle, but cannons as well. Perrine worked with him on using his Sacred Flame with his sword, similar to how she uses her lightning magic with her enchanted rapier.
Rei, being the only one that preferred and had complete mastery over dual-wield combat, trained Toshiro in methods using two swords. He learned a lot of various dual-wield techniques training with her, including the Twin Reppuzan, Spinning Dragon, and Dance of Death techniques.
After his training with the various members of the 501st, he finally had his sparring match with Kaylie. She pushed him hard and showed him several techniques that could be used with time dilution magic, something only the two of them could use effectively. He took a lot out of his sparring match and ended up training with Kaylie for several hours. It wasn't until Layla showed up that the two stopped. Layla didn't have much to offer him, since her magic was extraordinarily rare, even among mortals, but she did teach him a few things about using a bow.
Something Toshiro wasn't expecting was to learn from Liliana's shy sister, Shadow. While in training, she was a completely different person. Toshiro couldn't tell she was shy at all during her course. Since Toshiro was capable of using stealth abilities, Shadow worked with him to better that ability, and although Toshiro's abilities couldn't compare with her Shadow Magic, he did manage to learn how to conceal his magic signature so well and use his invisibility to the point where he could sneak up on targets and use the nighttime guerrilla tactics that he learned from Sanya and Eila during the day.
One of the training sessions Toshiro was looking forward to the most was the one with Liliana. She explained to him that all immortals were able to read minds to some extent, but only a few possessed full blown telepathy. The difference was explained to him that those with actual telepathy could influence the mind of others and freely communicate with others through their mind. Toshiro agreed with Liliana that silent communication like that could come in handy in combat since a message spoken in the mind could be delivered instantaneously, whereas a message spoken by mouth took a few seconds, and that could be the difference between life and death in some situations. Toshiro emerged from his training sessions with Liliana with the ability to block basic mind probes from normal mind reading, though it was impossible to block Telepathic Magic, though since only Liliana and Shadow were capable of Telepathic magic, they gave him peace of mind in telling him that they would only use their superior mind power on him if the situation called for it, such as the need to communicate silently in battle.
During the last day of the preparation week, after everyone gathered for breakfast, Kye gave an order for everyone to relax for the day since the simulation was set to start the next day. After the hardcore training he had gone through, he took a deep breath, leaned back, and decided to take it easy.
"Whew!" he said while lying on a beach chair at the beach south of the base. He grew curious about what it was like to go to the beach as a woman, so he asked the Goddess Kye to transform him female again for the day. She provided him with a black bikini.
Kaylie was laying on a beach chair to his right in a dark green bikini, and Layla was to his left in a dark blue bikini, also laying on a beach chair.
"So Toshiro," Kaylie said, "how do you like it?"
"What are you referring to, exactly?"
"Laying out here in the sun as a girl. Listening to the water crash lightly against the shore."
"Well... It's a real whirl. It's definitely not a bore."
"Haha, nice rhyming there."
"I must say, this body is very sensitive. Is that because it's new or what?"
"Nope," Layla answered. "The female body is far more sensitive than the male body."
"That gives me an idea," Toshiro said. "I've had sex as a man plenty of times, and your dear mother got me drilled by a man copy of myself while I was a woman the other day, but I wonder what it's like to have sex with a girl as a girl."
"You could always ask Sanya and Eila," Kaylie suggested.
"What about you two? Kaylie, you mentioned the other day..."
"Kaylie..." Layla rose up and glared at her sister.
"What?" she said nonchalantly.
"You damn well know what. Are you trying to volunteer the both of us in a threesome again?"
"Hey, that last time was your idea."
"Whatever," Layla pouted. She turned to Toshiro. "Sorry, bucko, but we're not lesbian."
"But you two could be considered bi, right?" Toshiro asked. "And possibly incestuous?"
"No on the first and definitely not on the second," Kaylie said.
"We have rules when we have a threesome," Layla explained. "Kaylie and I never kiss, we never touch our mouths to any part of each other, and we never touch each other down there."
"You don't even suck each other's tits?" Toshiro asked honestly.
"Never!" Kaylie said adamantly. She turned toward him and gave him a wry smile, something Layla did not miss. "But trust me, we're good at what we do."
"So if I was to have your dear old mother turn me back to a man, we could get it on right now?"
"What makes you think I would go for it?" Layla asked.
"'Cause I'm big?" Toshiro asked with a straight face.
Layla just smirked and laid back down on her back. "Funny. You'll have to do better than that if you want in my pants."
"To be honest, Toshiro, if you are serious about having a threesome with us, you're not going to convince either of us very easily."
"But you... In my room the other day..."
"I'm a good tease, right?"
"You gave me a boner."
"Would you like me to take care of that?"
"Nah, I want Layla to take care of that."
"Even though you don't have a dick right now?" Layla added.
"Touché."
"I'm curious, Toshiro. Do conversations with you always turn sexual?" Layla asked.
"Eh, only most of the time."
Roughly an hour later, the Goddess Kye appeared in front of Toshiro, Kaylie, and Layla, clad in a dark purple bikini of her own.
"Do you have to just poof like that?"
She shrugged.
"You can't just..." Toshiro started
"Appear somewhere else and walk over?" Kye spoke in tandem with him. She giggled before answering him. "That's no fun."
"So what's up? You here to de-vag me?"
"Nah, you can stay a girl for the whole day." Kye snapped her fingers. "Though if you want to be a man again, just pleasure yourself."
"You mean...?"
Kye held up two of her fingers. "Sure. If nothing else, you'll wake up tomorrow as a man... Unless you want to participate in the simulation as a female. It's up to you. I'll let you have the same power either way."
"Hmm," Toshiro mused. "I'll have to think about that one."
"So anyway, you three, come." She gestured at them to come toward her, but instead of waiting for them to get up and move, she just teleported all of them to the north side of the base, still in their swimwear.
Lucchini saw the female Toshiro in the black bikini appear in front of everyone and immediately charged. "Toshiko!"
Toshiro found himself with a pair of grabby hands glued to his chest, which was only protected by the thin layer of fabric that comprised his bikini top. "Gods dammit! Francesca!"
"Heehee! Weeeee!" She squealed.
Toshiro diluted time and pulled a reversal on Lucchini before resuming time. Instead of the expected reaction, Lucchini just stood proud with Toshiro's hands on her breasts.
"The best!"
Really...?
Toshiro sighed and released her.
"If you're done..." the Goddess Kye said.
"Yeah, yeah."
"Alright." The Goddess floated into the air as an intense aura of rainbow energy suddenly flared from her body. She held her hands outward and up slightly. As she did, a thin pillar of rainbow energy appeared roughly one hundred kilometers behind her to the north and rose high into the sky. From the top of the pillar, the rainbow energy extended outward, effectively creating a spherical ceiling over the entire planet. A wall of rainbow energy shot outward from the pillar and encircled the entire base, creating a circle with a two hundred kilometer diameter. Soon, nothing could be seen past the wall or above the ceiling.
"When this veil of True Zen Energy falls, this planet will have been remade to be the same size as Earth. A moon will now also light the night sky. On this planet there will be two continents. The one you are standing on now will be initially controlled by your faction. You may name your faction whatever you wish if you feel you need it named. The Neuroi will control the other continent, which is located on the opposite side of the world. The atmosphere is the same as Earth's.
"The goal of this simulation is complete domination. The simulated war will not end until one faction controls the entire planet. The simulation does not have a time limit. You can end it in an hour, a day, a week, a month, a year, a decade, and so on. You could even take a million years to fight this war. You will not age while this simulation is taking place. If you die in this simulation you will be removed and placed in a viewing center. You will not be returned to Earth until the simulation is over. When the simulation ends, you will be returned to Earth on the same day you left, albeit at the end of the day at sundown. Anyone who joined us after the initial trip here was pulled from Earth on April 5th. If you want to know how I'm doing this, I'm the Goddess of the Seven Stars. I can do whatever the hell I want, whenever I want, and however I want.
"Also when the True Zen Energy veil is lifted, you will find that your speed capabilities are reduced. You will find that the SFS Mark 2 and SFS Mark 3 Prototype will only increase your speed by up to two times. Some of you are capable of flying upwards of Mach 4 unassisted by technology, so you will find your maximum will be Mach 8. The reason for this is because I don't give a fuck. Flying at Mach 50 is overkill." The Goddess shot her mortal incarnation a glance with a raised eyebrow. "And because circumnavigating the globe isn't the point of this simulation. This limit is only effective during the simulation. You speed freaks can have all the fun you want flying at Mach Over 9000 when you go home."
"Over 9000?" several people wondered out loud.
"You're better off not knowing what that means..." the Goddess said. "Anyway, the Neuroi will be present on their continent as soon as the veil is lifted, though they will not be hostile until tomorrow at twelve hundred hours. If you jump the gun and fly over there ahead of time, they won't take too kindly to your presence. Just in case you didn't pick up on the hint I gave you, be stealthy if you decide to do some recon. I would ask if anyone had questions, but I'm omniscient and already know most of you don't. Only Toshiro has one… Two actually, so have at it."
"Yeah, actually," Toshiro said. "First, can you bring Amaterasu here? I need to talk to her."
Kye opened a portal and gestured into it. Amaterasu stepped out. "I'll stop time for you two, so take as long as you need."
The world lost its color, only the Goddess Kye, Amaterasu, and Toshiro retaining their color.
"Amaterasu, in this world, I need to know the situation with the god particle."
"You will not be able to use it while in this world, regardless of the six month in between timer," she said. "With your temporary power-up, you also don't need it."
"Simple and to the point. That was quick," Toshiro said.
Amaterasu turned to the Goddess Kye. "Must you keep turning him into a female?"
"You don't like Toshiko?"
Amaterasu sighed. "He does look nice..."
"Ami, you know... He does want to have sex with a god," the Goddess teased her. "If you like your Chosen One so much, why don't you get a little intimate? You can even choose his gender!"
Amaterasu only gave her a look of annoyance.
"You're no fun. Toshiro, good luck! Oh, and when you make up your mind about what gender you want to be during the simulation, just think my name real loud and I'll... Well you know the drill."
"Yeah. Bye, Kye. Bye, Amaterasu… Wait, Kye, second question!"
"You'll get your emblem, don't worry. Let's say it's a little token of appreciation." She winked.
The two waved just before vanishing. Color returned to the world and the rainbow energy veil slowly disappeared.
Toshiro cracked his fingers and looked to the mortal Kye. The two bumped fists and spoke in unison. "Time to kick ass."
