I felt like I left the last chapter with a lot of un-introduced new things that we'll be seeing in the coming future. So I made this. Yes, I know it's short, and yes, I know you've all been waiting a VERY long time. Sit tight. I'll get back on track. The life of a college student transferring into another university is not without its busy days, you know…

Chapter 9.5: Níl Sé'n Lá

1800 Hours, October 22, 2015

HMS Prince of Wales, Somewhere in the Irish Sea

The newly-completed HMS Prince of Wales plied through the waters on her way back to her home port HMNB Clyde from her shakedown cruise. She traveled with a light escort of three Type 45 destroyers, and took on a small air group, the 575th Air Test and Evaluation Squadron, also known as "the Haiku Witches". Children and youth populated the decks of the Prince of Wales, a situation only magnified by the presence of the 575th and its attached team of UPASRC engineers, and it seemed that the only real adults were the officers.

A product of the "Very Young Witches Evaluation Experiment", or the "VYWEE Project", the 575th consists completely of young witches from ages five to eleven, with a couple of 14-year-old witches as observers and aggressor flyers. It was formed to study and evaluate the possibility of recruiting very young witches in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm; younger witches meant smaller witches and smaller Strikers, which in turn meant that you could theoretically fit more witches aboard aircraft carriers.

Many top brass had their doubts, as they were concerned that exposing little girls to the horrors of the Neuroi wars at such an early age would traumatize them. Nevertheless, the Conch Republic, who has experience in the use of very young witches, stepped forward and offered their support for the Project. Through a careful selection process, young girls were picked from different countries, and they were all brought to RNAS Culdrose. Which led them to going through various tests. Which now landed them on the Prince of Wales.

The naval operations portion of the VYWEE Project went off without a hitch, as did the Prince of Wales's shakedown cruise, so the mood was pretty festive aboard the carrier. With their last day at sea drawing to a close, the sailors and witches danced, sang, ate, and drank the night away in a huge party. Four of the 575th witches even began performing in the mess hall. They sang a festive song in Gaelic and Britannian.

Chuaigh mé isteach i dteach aréir
is d'iarr mé cairde ar mhnaoi an leanna.
Is é dúirt sí liom "Ní bhfaighidh tú deor.
Buail an bóthar is gabh abhaile

I came by a house last night
And told the woman I am staying
I said to her: "The moon is bright
and my fiddles tuned for playing"

Tell me that the night is long
Tell me that the moon is glowing
Fill my glass, I'll sing a song
And will start the music flowing
Never mind the rising light
There's no sign of day or dawning
In my heart it's still the night
And we'll stay here till the morning

Inside the ship, men and girls danced the evening away. As the sun dipped below the horizon, the air was filled with the sounds of festive Gaelic.

Same time, Same day

Kiel-Holtenau Naval Airbase

Glacia Aurora Locklear placed the last box of her clothes and belongings into the truck. Finally, she was done packing up everything. She sat down on the floor, leaning back against the wall, and strummed her Flying V guitar. Suddenly, her phone rang. She scrambled to pick it up; it was Jenell Adlersflügel, a pilot from her unit, Marinefliegergeschwader 0. "Hello?" says Glacia, answering the phone. "Yeah….yeah….of course….No, I'm not that irresponsible….yeah….I know…got it….understood….thank you. Oh, and tell the rest of the girls about that, as well….thank you….okay, goodbye."

Glacia hung up the phone, and smiled. "Jesus, Jenell," she said, "I'm not that irresponsible now, am I?"

She set about doing one last check through her room to ensure that she had packed and shipped everything she needed. RNAS Culdrose was going to be fun.

[End of Chapter 9.5]

So yeah, just a little snippet to intro some new characters and units. I'll think about putting their rosters in the character "Story".

The title and lyrics belong to the song Níl Sé'n Lá, sung by Celtic Woman.