The Witch of the Neuroi
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except the OC's. I own all the OC's.
Chapter 9: The Skies of Britannia
"Hooooaahmm..." Yoshika yawned as she woke up.
She looked out of the window and it is but dark.
'Maybe I should continue training those magic skills I have not mastered...' She thought to herself.
She exited her room and the house quietly and went in the direction of the forest.
On a plain spot surrounded by trees, she sat in a meditating position.
'Core running on optimum output.'
'Magic is stable.'
'Let's see...' she thought as she focused around her.
She sent faint magic waves around her. She tried to sense everything in the biggest radius possible.
This is actually her first attempt in trying to imitate the magic radar only a few Witches are born with. She tried to copy it but to no avail. She set her magic too faintly to get a clear reading.
Her focus is unstable... forcing herself wouldn't make it work.
'So... it must be inherited after all.' She thought while resting. 'Then I will just train what I can. As usual... focus...' She thought as she focused to her surroundings.
This time... she focused on certain parts.
'Air...' she thought as the winds dance.
'Water...' she thought as water flowed.
'Fire...' she thought as flames burst to life.
'Earth...' she thought as rocks around her lifted.
'Lightning...' she thought as electricity crackled to life.
'Light...' she thought as light suddenly shined in the dark forest.
'Darkness...' she thought as the brightness died down.
'That's the basics... now... the hard part.' Yoshika thought to herself.
'Fuse...' she focused.
The elements around here moved and collided to each other.
Fire and Water made steam.
Water and Wind made ice.
Wind and Earth made sharp knives.
Earth and Fire made molten lava.
Lightning, Light and Darkness complimented the other.
She released her focus and all fell down from its hovering state.
'Magic sure is deep... it can be used for almost anything...' She thought as she admired the laws of magic. 'Now... pure power...' she thought to herself.
She erected her plasma barrier to full power and materialized it fully, covering her completely.
She activated her magic to maximum lightning the dark space with light of magic.
She tried to keep that state for a long time.
She focused… and focused… and focused…
Don! Don! Don!
She heard someone hit on her shield...
Losing her concentration, her magic falls silent.
She dematerialized her shield and asked, "Who's there?"
She found Mio outside.
"Sakamoto-san?" Yoshika asked.
"Yoshika, what are you doing? It's still a little bit more till sunrise." She asked.
"Training." Yoshika replied.
"Oho? Training... what are you training?" Mio asked, interested.
"Well... magic control." Yoshika answered.
"Control?" Mio asked.
"My Neuroi Core and my own magic function differently from each other, so I need to increase my control over them so that they don't go off." Yoshika explained.
"Ahahahaha!" Mio laughed as she doesn't understand. "If we work hard we can do anything! There's nothing a Witch can't do, after all!" She shouted.
"Ahaha..." Miyafuji laughed a little at the remark.
Then they went in the direction of the beach since Mio want to do her daily morning training and Yoshika just wanted to see.
When they arrived, they noticed two figures flying in their direction.
"Sanya-san~ Eila-san~" Miyafuji exclaimed as she waved.
"Ah..." Sanya said and waved back shyly.
"Ara... Yoshika and Major Sakamoto." Eila said quite shocked.
"What are you doing?" Yoshika asked.
"Finished the night patrol... so sleepy..." Eila replied.
"Oh, right... I forgot..." Yoshika said as she remembered their usual duties.
"Well, see ya Yoshika." Eila said as she headed to the hangar.
"See you..." Sanya said shyly as she too headed to the hangar.
"Night patrol..." Yoshika thought out loud.
"Want to try?" Mio asked.
"Huh?" Yoshika asked shocked.
"Want to go on a patrol with them?" Mio asked.
"But..." Yoshika said with reluctance.
"Don't worry! You can do it after we went back from Britannia." Mio replied.
"But..." Yoshika said, still reluctant.
"Sei!" Mio shouts as she swings her bokken.
Miyafuji thought that she couldn't do anything about it and left towards the cafeteria.
As she nears the cafeteria she smelled a sweet smell.
When she enters the cafeteria she was surprised at finding her mother at the kitchen... not Lynette...
"Mom?" Yoshika asked.
"Ara... Yoshika." Sayaka said as she is stirring a broth.
"What are you cooking?" Yoshika asked.
"It's been quite a while, right, since you've eaten any Fuso food?" Sayaka asked.
"Right..." Yoshika answered.
"So Ichiro asked me to cook to for you. I even asked Mio for permission." Sayaka said. "I am making tempura, yakitori, soba and miso soup. I even have your favorite; natto!"
'Natto...' Yoshika thought as she started drooling.
"Wait a little bit more okay~ you will need the energy!" Sayaka said.
"Ah... yes." Yoshika said, stunned.
After the best breakfast she had in a long time, Yoshika assembled the Witches and so they could head to London.
The Witches waited in the airspace as Yoshika went to get the three to join them.
The three however know better about her and waited her halfway from the Hive to the base.
After regrouping ant putting on her mask Yoshika and the witches flew towards London.
They will be going to London en route Glasgow, Carlisle, and Liverpool.
The Queen's Witches will be waiting around Edinburg.
"So slooooooow!" Xalia shouted in boredom.
"Xalia!" Axion replied.
"It's no matter" Yoshika said, expecting the result.
Ixia is silent all the time.
"What speed do you fly at usually?" Shirley asked.
"Speed? Want to know?" Yoshika asked back.
"YES! I WANT TO KNOW!" Shirley replied with anticipation.
"Heh... Axion!" Yoshika called him.
"Yes? Why did you call me?" Axion asked with confusion.
"Well..." Yoshika said as she looked at Shirley.
"I want to know how fast you can go!" Shirley said quickly.
"Well... using human speed calculations... around Mach 2, I guess." Axion replied
This speed shocked all the Witches present.
"But... we've never seen a Neuroi flying that fast before…" Ursula said.
"It's because we need processing power to scan the atmosphere." Axion replied.
The witches were confused at the statement.
"We aren't here to attack. We want co-existence, so we want to find out about the land, air, composition, life, lifestyle and more." Axion tried to explain.
"So?" Shirley asked even more confused.
"We use most of our processing power to get data." Ixia suddenly said.
"Aaaahhhh..." The Witches all said together, starting to understand.
"Using beams is the bare limit while scanning." Ixia said.
"The data will be in our consciousness before we reach the Hive, so..." Axion said.
"We have always hindered you work." Minna said.
"Right." Axion replied.
"How about Yoshika?" Shirley asked as she thought she couldn't hear.
"I can hear that you know..." Yoshika said as she suddenly looked back.
"I... can maybe fly around Mach 1..." Yoshika said reluctantly.
"While sleeping." Xalia teased.
"Xalia!" Axion said as he bumped his back.
"Mach 1 or more?" Shirley asked, confused.
"All right, all right! My average speed is Mach 5!" Yoshika exclaimed, giving up.
This shocked the Witches present... Yoshika could fly at Mach speed and faster than a Neuroi.
"But… how?" Shirley asked, dumbfounded.
"Magic." Yoshika said as if it's obvious. She then tensed up. "Someone is looking at us." Yoshika suddenly said.
"I can hear some people there." Sanya said.
The Witches suddenly tensed.
"Are these the Glorious Witches?" Yoshika asked.
Bzzz… bzzz... there are sounds in the intercom.
"I am Squadron Leader Dolores Bader… bzzz… we are here to escort the Neuroi." The voice who identified herself as Dolores Bader said.
The group flew closer.
"We are the Majesty the Queen's Witches." She said. "By direct order of our queen we are to escort the diplomat to the palace." She said as she looked at the Neuroi with distaste.
"Is that so… this is my escort?" Yoshika said shocking the new Witches.
They were confused at the humanoid Neuroi... they doubted that it is a Neuroi for a moment.
"You three, return to base." Yoshika screeched at the three.
This shocked the Glorious Witches again... and now they believed that this being is a Neuroi.
The three complied and left at supersonic speed.
'So fast... they're not lying after all... can I... ride on top of their backs sometime?' Shirley thought for a moment.
"Aren't we going?" Yoshika asked.
"I don't want this to end before the night falls..." Yoshika said.
"Chi." Some of the Glorious Witches wore angry and loathsome faces.
They're pissed... seriously pissed.
They all flew towards London silently since then.
Tension is in the air. The Strike Witches do not dare to make conversation.
After a few hours, they stopped at Liverpool for rest.
The sun is high. They have flown for 4 to 5 hours non-stop.
So they will be resting for a while and have lunch.
Yoshika however just stayed afloat, watching the perimeter.
Suddenly, she intercepted a comm. channel to the Queen's Witches.
"Bzzz... bzzz… squad bzzz... can you hear… bzzzt... e bzzt... purple Neuroi... heading to London!" The communication officer said. "Heading th... bzzzt gh Norwich bzzt... origin is Karlsland Hive."
"So, the Karlsland Hive have started moving against me" Yoshika said as Lynette ran towards her in a panic.
"Yoshika-chan~!" Lynne shouted.
"Lynne-chan? What's wrong?" Yoshika asked, surprised.
"Norwich! It's my hometown... some of my brothers and sisters are still there." Lynne exclaimed.
"Don't worry... evacuation is going on." Yoshika said.
"But... but..." Lynne continued panicking.
"Is that so... then we will take care of it ourselves." Yoshika said.
"But I can't! Without Commander Minna's order, I can't fly!" Lynne exclaimed.
"Yoshika! Do you hear me?" Minna asked over the comm. line.
"Speak of the devil... yes, Minna-san?" Yoshika asked.
"There's a Neuroi heading to London from Karlsland! The escorts will be intercepting them! The Strike Witches will act as support! Sergeant Bishop! You are a sniper, so you are the one that will fly!" Minna ordered.
"Do you hear that?" Yoshika asked.
"Eh, hear what?" Lynne asked.
"You have just been allowed to fly." Yoshika said.
"Why me alone!?" Lynne wailed while flying towards the Queen's Witches who flew first.
Soon, she can see the Neuroi and the Witches battling on the ocean sky.
She unlocked her safety and aimed. 'Aim and shoot...' Lynne thought as she tried to calm herself down. She tried to aim at the Neuroi using the reticule. 'Aim and shoot…' she continued to try to aim at the Neuroi. But the Neuroi is too fast. 'How do I shoot at something that fast?!' she thought, still panicking.
The Neuroi suddenly noticed the unmoving figure and shot a beam at it. Lynne could barely dodge the shot and flew away.
The Neuroi however shot another beam.
Not evading fully, one of her Strikers are hit. Though not so badly, it will be unable to be stable while firing.
'I can't do it after all…' she thought to herself.
"Don't give up!" Yoshika said from behind, shocking her. "Here; I'll help!" Yoshika said as she raised Lynne on her back. "Its stable now, right?" Yoshika asked to her.
"Un! But... I can't aim at something that fast…" Lynne said with disappointment.
"Calm down... that Neuroi is a Runner-class... a scout type..." Yoshika explained. "Its armor is quite weak… and don't you see a flying pattern there?" Yoshika asked.
"Eh?" Lynne thought out loud.
"Try looking at it slowly..." Yoshika told her.
Lynette calmed herself down and looked at the battle again.
The Neuroi is fast. It evaded most of the bullets that the Queen's Witches were firing. Then she noticed that it flew in an asymmetrical way.
'Is that?' Lynne thought.
"That's it... you almost got it." Yoshika said. "Now just pull the trigger."
"Yes!" Lynne said as she pulled the trigger.
With a deafening sound the anti-armor bullet pierced through the back of the Neuroi. It screeched in pain and, because of the severe damage, slowed down greatly.
The Witches now could shoot at it.
The Neuroi that slowed down no took on heavy barrages of bullets from them.
"Don't let them take the credit!" Yoshika exclaimed. She activated her eyes and looked for the Core. She found it after a few moments of searching. "The Core is in its head... can you do it?" Yoshika asked her.
"Yes!" Lynne said as she aimed.
But the Neuroi fired several beams at Lynne in retaliation.
For a moment, Lynne started panicking again.
Yoshika just raised her shoulders and her wings flew outwards and stopped at a position. "Barrier." She said as dark opaque film spread from the wings surrounding them with a film of protection.
The beam just bent off the shield without any resistance.
Yoshika then turned off the shield as Lynne started firing.
The first shot destroyed the head making the Core visible. The second shot caused its body to bend greatly. The last shot destroyed the Core completely.
"Ah... I did it... I did it, Yoshika-chan~!" She shouted and tried to hug Yoshika.
To her surprise, Yoshika is not there.
'Where is she?' Lynne thought, confused.
"Good work, Lynette!" Mio shouted over the comm.
"Not bad~" Erica said.
Trude only said "Humph!"
Lynne flew back towards them in Liverpool with the Glorious Witches at her back.
"That was some fine shooting!" one of them said.
"Splendid!" Another one exclaimed.
"Ahahaha…" Lynne laughed in embarrassment.
She was happy... She could do something...
'Thank you, Yoshika-chan.' Lynne thought to herself.
Yoshika activated her P-Stealth, which is state-of-the-art optical camouflage and flew away at high speed before Lynette noticed. She returned to where the others were waiting. She deactivated her decoy and looked at the sky, waiting for her friend to come back.
When the fighting Witches landed, Yoshika walked to where the Witches are and asked, "When are we going to go?"
"We are leaving now!" The squad leader replied in irritation.
And so, the group flew towards London.
A/N: This fic is a collaboration fic between me and P4Nd0RaS, so please thank him too!
