Chapter 10 – Battle hard…

Kamyshin

Lenin St.

Katie parked the enormous ZiL on the sidewalk and the two jumped out of the truck.

"This should be it… At least according to Kola and what that constable that gave us directions." Ellie said while looking at the gray tenement house. "Almost like home, huh?"

"Well, our dear befriended country sent us supplies after all, huh?" Katie snickered.

"Haha! Let's go inside."

The smell of mold attacked their nostrils once they opened the yellow door. A dim, 40-watt light bulb was shining on the first floor, barely highlighting the beige paint peeling off the walls en masse.

"Slava kamunizma (Glory to communism)…" Katie mumbled and spat to her side.

Both scaled the concrete stairs to the fourth floor and arrived before a solid door with the number eight under the peephole.

"This is it," Ellie said and knocked two times and once after a second of pause.

They waited only ten seconds and a gruff voice asked, "Chto (What)?"

Ellie sighed and said the password, "Den'gi ne vonyayet (Money doesn't stink)…"

"Skol'ko (How much)?"

Ellie pulled out the five hundred-dollar bill and put them up to the peephole.

"Podozhdite (Wait)."

Ellie looked with an irritated look at Katie, who gave her back the same.

Five fifty-ruble bills suddenly popped out under the door. Ellie kneeled and tried to pull them, but they were held back. She heard the man clear his throat ostentatiously behind the door. Ellie shook her head and slid the five hundred dollars under the door in a similar way and it quickly disappeared. She took the rubles and stuffed it into her pocket.

"Fucking scalper…" Ellie cussed quietly but furiously.

"Hoo, this is rare… You are swearing?"

"We basically lost two hundred fifty rubles because we wanted to do it off grid. But whatever, let's go."

"Yeah… But better that than the military jumping on our asses for having private foreign currency, right?"

"Indeed…"

Air Base

Commander's office

"Boooooooring…" Aya moaned.

"Why don't you look at what Sieglinde is doing?" Angela asked.

"Oh? I think I could… But what… what if she's with the others?"

"What then? We're one unit Aya, and we share much similarities. And if Sieglinde is there, she won't let you get hurt in any way, right?"

"Heh… I guess so… Okay, I'm going then."

"Atta girl," Angela smiled.

Aya stood up and went on down the corridor.

"Errr… Now where should I go? I believe Sigi was talking about exercising…"

She slowly strolled down the corridor and just as she was about to open the door to the gym, it burst open with Sieglinde standing in it with fury written all over her face.

"Waaaaaaaah!" Aya shouted and hid herself behind the door leading to the bath.

"Aya! Aya, sorry for scaring you! I was just about to go your way!" Sieglinde shouted from behind the door.

"R-Really?"

"Yeah, come out, everything's okay."

Aya slowly peeked out and saw Sieglinde still a bit irritated, but definitely not furious.

"Are you mad at something, Sigi?"

"Come with me, Aya," Sieglinde waved Aya in, adding a frown to it.

"O-Okay."

Aya followed her into the gym and saw that everyone was doing something. Except for Shinobu, who was simply leaning against a wall.

"Using Aya against me? You won't stop from nothing, huh?" Shinobu asked with a sour face.

Aya only tilted her head in wonder.

"Aya, this stubborn Fusojin blockhead refuses to train under my command."

"Oh? But everyone else is…"

"Motivating them was a piece of cake, believe me. But this… this… stubborn oaf just won't do anything!"

Aya approached Shinobu and asked, "Shino, why aren't you training?"

"Because she's not my boss. I have to set things straight here."

"Oh but Shino… Sigi want's only the best for you… Look at her. Don't you think somebody with that body doesn't deserve some respect and recognition when it comes to PE?" Aya asked with a cutesy voice.

"Hnnnnngg… Aya, please, that's cheating!"

"Mmmmuuu, Shinooooo… Please listen to Sigi… She's working very hard to be fit; maybe she could even give you some pointers…" Aya said and looked towards Sieglinde. "Right, Sigi?"

"Well, if YOU are asking…"

"So what will it be, Shino?"

"Okay, okay! I give in! What should I do, Sieglinde?"

"First I have to evaluate you, and then we'll see."

"Okay…" Shinobu sighed. "But only because Aya insisted!"

"If you want to stay with that… Ah, Aya, thanks for helping!"

"No problem," Aya smiled, but then, just for a second, the world got black for her.

Ten seconds earlier

"I hope you're hands are strong, cuz this one you won't parry!" Elsa shouted. "Atomschuss!"

Elsa glowed and her right foot headed straight towards the soccer ball at her feet after a brief run up. Somehow, she slipped with her left foot, rotating her body ninety degrees to the left. Alas, her right foot hit its target, and the ball went soaring across the gym. With bathed breath, Elsa watched as the balled smacked Aya straight in the face and knocking her off her feet and a good meter back.

Elsa's jaw wanted to drop right now but she quickly ran up to Aya to which Sieglinde was tending right now.

"Aya! Aya! Are you okay?!" Elsa shouted.

"Uuuuuurrrrmmmmggg…" Aya mumbled and reached to her nose. "Oooooowwww…" she hissed and hey eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Aya, I'm so sorry, I…"

Aya looked at Elsa, her eyes overflowing with tears before she finally exploded.

"WAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!" she cried like a little girl.

Elsa's right shoulder was suddenly weighed down, and she looked to her side, only to see Sieglinde with eyes that only needed a real flame in them to complete the picture of rage.

"Elsa… I give you ten fucking seconds to stop Aya from crying, or I'll kick you so hard you'll remember how you took your first dump on the potty…" Sieglinde said with a voice cold as the snowy plains of the Antarctic.

Elsa nodded frantically and she quickly hugged Aya while patting her on the head at the same time.

"Sssssh, Aya, shuuush… It's okaaaay… It was only a ball that hit you… It was an accident… I'm sorry…"

Instead of crying, Elsa could only hear sniveling right now, and she felt as she was hugged in return.

"Okay…" Aya said silently.

"Will I live, Sieglinde?" Elsa asked sarcastically.

"Just by hair's width. How the fuck did this happen?"

"I slipped while trying to shoot a penalty towards Nami…"

"Ugh, you klutz…" Sieglinde sighed.

"Aya, is your nose okay?" Marie asked.

"Oh… Um… Yes… Yes… I… My r-regenerative abilities w-will take over s-soon…"

"Convenient," Marie smiled.

"I'll go back to Angela now…" Aya said and stood up. "I'm s-sorry for disturbing."

She turned around and walked away.

Elsa sighed deeply from relief, but she felt as her hair started raising itself on her neck. She looked around and saw Sieglinde, Shinobu, and Nami glaring angrily at her.

"Eeeeehhh… I guess I'm getting a whooping?"

"Bingo…" Shinobu growled.

Commander's office

The door opened slowly and Angela saw Aya coming in with slightly red eyes and a bit less red face with a hexagonal pattern on it.

"Lieber Gott, Aya! What happened?!" Angela jumped off the chair.

"Oh… I got hit by a soccer ball…"

"Ouch… How did that happen?"

"Elsie fumbled when she was playing with Nami…"

"That bonehead… I'll show her!" Angela shouted and started moving towards the door.

Aya however put her hand before her and said, "No, no! Please, you don't have to do anything, Angela… She apologized, and she even hugged me… And I have the fleeting sensation that the girls are taking care of her already…"

"Ah, okay then… Then I'll only fetch some ice on that snout of yours, kay?"

"If you wish… But that will heal in a bit by itself…"

"Oh shush already, I'm going."

"Heehee… Thanks…"

An hour later

"Okay girls - that's it for today!" Sieglinde shouted. "Good job, everyone! I'll talk with everyone individually later! Now, hit the showers!"

She saw that Elwyn twitched when she said "showers."

"Oh? Is she some kind of hydrophobe or what? Ah, right, Angela wanted to get behind why that Liberian doesn't change. Perfect timing!"

She waited for everyone to pass, and just when Elwyn was moving her way forward, Sieglinde said, "Liberion, wait a moment."

"Yeah?"

"I want to talk to you now."

"Hummm… Well, whatever now."

They both waited for everyone to disappear in the shower room, and Sieglinde started.

"Why aren't you changing your clothes, Liberion?"

"Oh, this again…" Elwyn made a sour face. "Do we HAVE to have this talk?"

"Yes. We don't want you to be a walking stink bomb."

"I'll change my top just… I need some privacy…"

"Hmm? We're all girls here, nothing to be afraid of.

"There's still that Kola guy."

"If he comes anywhere near us when we're revealing even a millimeter of our strategic parts, I'll wipe the floor with him."

"Still…"

"Ugh, just tell me what the fuck is wrong already…" Sieglinde shook her head while grabbing her forehead.

Elwyn took a deep breath and pulled of her t-shirt. Her whole chest area was wrapped up tightly with bandages.

"Oh… Are you covering up… burn scars perhaps?" the Karlslander asked baffled.

"No… It's something more… trivial…"

"Huh?"

"You see… My tits are REALLY entitled to be called so… I… I wrap them up so they become smaller…"

"Were you bullied because of the size of your breasts?"

"Yes…" Elwyn mumbled.

"Aya also had some trouble with bullies, but on a different level… Come on Liberion! Let your pairs breathe! Look at mine! Double fucking D's!" Sieglinde said and grabbed her breasts clad in a sport bra.

"Bigger…"

"What?"

"Mine are bigger…" Elwyn mumbled with a red face.

"Just how much?"

"34F…"

"Jesus!"

"Right..."

"Still, I assure you that nobody will pick on you because the size of your breasts once you tell them your story."

"Are you sure?"

"Sure I'm sure. I chipped off some knowledge of psychology from Angela to handle Aya better."

"Ah, thanks… But… I have a request…"

"What is it?"

"Could you stop calling me Liberion?"

"Well… Okay then, Clarke."

"Much better," Elwyn smiled.

They entered the shower room and Sieglinde said, "Girls, Clarke here has an announcement."

The showers stopped and everyone looked towards Elwyn. With trembling hands, she undid her bandages, revealing breasts of unparalleled size. Giulietta looked as if she was going to have a stroke.

"Nice announcement…" Giulietta said with a dry throat. "Can I…"

"N-No! Shoo!" Elwyn shouted and covered her breasts.

"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwwww… No fun…"

"So… Why did you wrap those up?" Shinobu asked.

"The other girls often bullied me because I had breasts at least two sizes bigger than anyone… Envy is a really big thing amongst pre-adolescent girls in Liberion…"

"Hey, you don't need to worry about that here, right?" Nami asked everyone around.

The girls nodded affirmatively.

"Although, I would look out for the Romagnan, now that she knows you have the biggest knockers in a kilometer radius…" Sieglinde said with a wry smile.

"Crap… Well, I took it upon myself. But thanks, Sieglinde."

"And who let you call me that?"

"Oh come on…" Elsa mumbled.

"Oh whatever, have at it…" Sieglinde sighed.

Elwyn looked at the sad Giulietta, sitting on the cold tiles with puffed cheeks.

"Hey, boob devil," Elwyn said.

Giulietta immediately raised her head.

"Come on, just this once."

"REALLY?!"

"Sure. It's not like you'll be the first one to fondle them."

"Oh?" Giulietta tilted her head.

"Heheh… That will be a story for another time," she winked.

Giulietta rubbed her hands together and indulged herself in her favorite past time activity.

Kamyshin

2 hours later

"Damn, we should have taken Kola… My arms are failing me…" Katie moaned as she was loading the last crate onto the truck parked before the warehouse near Volgogradskaya Street.

"Well, we had some exercise, hah!"

"Yeah, yeah… How much more stuff to get?"

"Only two stops and we're going back home."

"Phew… Good…"

"And we still have room on the truck!"

"Baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaawwww…" Katie moaned so loud the cat looking at them scooted off.

Commander's office

1 hour later

"The commanders are sure taking their time…" Angela sighed. "And nobody gives a shit about entertaining us…"

"Maybe it's for the best…"

Aya's sentence was interrupted by a knock on the door.

"Enter," Angela said.

The door opened and the big hulk Kola entered.

"Oh, you sure were invisible all this time," Angela said.

"I was doing some work outside, maintaining the lamp posts. Everything should work now."

"Ah, yes… I believe the lamps outside were dead last night… Well, as the acting commander, I hereby give you praise," Angela said with a wry smile.

"Oh thank you, tovarishch leytnant, heheh…" Kola answered with similar wryness and looked at Aya.

He saw that she was looking at him both mesmerized and afraid, and her internal conflict somehow didn't let her look the other way.

"Okay, big guy, enough with eyeing Aya. Either find yourself some occupation or go rest."

"I think I'll take the second option, since I have a hunch I'll be busy after our dear commander returns."

"Whatever now."

Kola went out of the room, and Angela immediately asked, "Aya, fallen in love already?"

"W-What?! N-No! I-I-I…"

"Come on, admit it! Your heart started pounding faster when you saw him, huh?"

Aya was rubbing her knees together with the color of her face intensifying.

"Heh nailed it. I won't tell anybody, okay?"

"O-Okay… T-Thanks…"

"You know, if you hooked up with that whole Kola guy, you would be just like your grandparents…"

"Humm?"

"Small girl falls in love with a guy at least a head higher than her…" Angela chuckled.

"Heehee… I'm not that small, proportionally… My Grandma was a meter fifty when she met grandpa, and he already stopped growing, so he was a stable meter ninety five."

"So forty five centimeters disproportion."

"Uhum. But Grandma has a fantastic growth spurt, and she finished on a meter sixty five at the age of eighteen."

"Thirty centimeters dead at your age. That Kola guy looks like he's almost two meters… So the gap is not THAT big…"

Aya started giggling suddenly with great intensity.

"Aya, what's up now?"

"Heheheh… You know, we're talking about a man like two normal girls our age, heehee…"

"Oh yeah, you're right. Speaking of girls, I wonder what they're doing…"

The phone on the desk rang suddenly, making Aya jump on her chair. Angela picked up the receiver, and with a firm voice she said, "777th IFW."

She listened a second and answered, "Lieutenant Angela Bauer, currently acting commander… Yes, she is absent… Supply run… Yes… Wait, how many?! Okay sir! Affirmative!"

Aya looked tensely at Angela, and the latter calmly said, "Full combat alert, Aya. Twenty I-2's coming in from three-one-zero towards Kamyshin. Assemble everyone and move out."

Aya jumped off her chair, slammed her right foot against the floor, and saluted.

"Roger!" she shouted with a ferocious voice

She quickly ran up to the PA panel and tried to turn it on but the light beside the switch didn't come on.

"Fuck! I have to do it manually!"

"Go! I'm staying here."

Aya ran out of the room and zipped along the corridor shouting, "Combat alert!"

The first one to run out into the corridor was Sieglinde, already clothed for flight.

"Real deal?"

"Yes! Come and get everyone with me!"

"Roger, Aya!"

They quickly checked the gym, dining hall and bath, and the girls finally all assembled in the main lobby.

"The situation is as follows – 20 I-2 Type Neuroi are heading from the northwest towards Kamyshin. I don't have to clarify who's there?"

"Oh fuck…" Elwyn said.

"Indeed. Come on, we'll load ourselves upon the two cars that are left and go to the hangar. We'll take our basic weaponry, since we should be economic on the special ammunition. On me, girls!"

"Roger!" the girls responded immediately.

Five of them loaded into the 3151 and the other five into the 469, the first being driven by Aya and the second by Sieglinde.

Inside the UAZ-469

"Hey, Sieglinde?" Elwyn asked.

"Yeah?"

"What got into Aya?"

"Heh… You see, in combat she's a total demon. In a battle of willpower and confidence, you would lose straight out. She'll probably try to kill all the Neuroi by herself, but I'll try to lead her away from that idea."

"Oh... Sounds… Odd…"

"Odd or not, that's just how Aya is. You all didn't even question her authority when she commanded you," Sieglinde made a smug face.

"Damn… You're right!"

"Heheh… Aya has that influence in battle."

"Just how powerful is she?" Elizabeth asked.

"That is a state secret. If Aya decides to go full out, your jaws will come off."

"Admirable…" Elizabeth murmured.

Inside the UAZ-3151

"Aya?" Elsa asked.

"Yes?"

"I hope you won't kill all the Neuroi by yourself, riiiiiiiiiight?"

"If the situation needs it, I will do it, Elsa," Aya responded with a cold voice.

"Baw, bother… Don't be such a spoilsport…"

"Wait, killing twenty Neuroi alone?" Shinobu asked. "What kind of sorcery is that?"

"Aya may be socially awkward to the point that looking at her struggle to say a word may be painful, but in combat, hahah! You're in for a treat!"

"Reaaaaaally now? Then maybe let's make it a competition?"

"What's the bet?" Aya asked indifferently.

"The looser give the winner a foot rub."

"Pfff… Okay, deal. In case of a tie, we give our breasts to Giulietta for a bit of action."

"Woah, really?!" Giulietta cheered with sparkling eyes.

"A bit farfetched, but I agree," Shinobu said with a wide grin. "There's no way it will be a tie!"

Both the jeeps arrived before the hangar and the ten girls ran inside. Aya quickly found the panel and began opening the main doors. When they were mounting the Strikers, Tatiana threw a remark, "Good that we don't need control panels anymore, like those first generation jets. That would be a bother…"

"I have to," Aya said and pulled out a slightly bigger watch from her Launch Unit. "It's a prototype tailored especially for me, so I have to take heed when flying it," Aya explained with a monotone voice.

"No time for fucking around, ladies!" Sieglinde shouted. "If you've got any questions, ask them later! Arm yourselves and let's go!"

All of them quickly took their primary weapons and the hangar was filled with the sound of turbojets warming up.

"Witches, launch!" Aya roared and shot out of the hangar first, breaching the sound barrier in a matter of seconds.

"Aya, slow down, don't be so eager! There are others in the unit wanting some action!" Sieglinde said through the transponder.

"Okay…" Aya mumbled and stopped accelerating.

The rest caught up to her quickly.

"Wow! That was fast, Ayaya!" Nami cheered.

Aya didn't respond with a single word.

Nami tilted her head in wonder, but Elsa quickly flew up to her and whispered to her ear, "Aya's not exactly social when she's in battle mode…"

"Oh… Okay, thanks for the tip."

"No problem. A friend of Aya's is also my friend," Elsa grinned and flew away.

Not even a minute of flight later, they saw the Neuroi about twenty kilometers away on a high altitude. Aya looked at Shinobu, which in turn returned a fierce glare. They both nodded to each other and boomed forward. The enemy noticed their movement, and the jet plane shaped Neuroi quickly split.

"Not on my watch!" Aya yelled and disappeared from Shinobu's vision.

A split second later, two of the Neuroi exploded, and Aya appeared a kilometer farther.

"Cheater!" Shinobu shouted and pulled out Masakuni out of its saya.

The sword started glowing blue, and Shinobu started evading incoming fire. When the distance was right, she raised the sword and yelled, "UNYOU!"

She cut the Neuroi before her in half, but another one was lined up behind it, so using the momentum, Shinobu cut it too.

"Two-two!" Shinobu said to the transponder.

Three more sudden explosions bloomed in the air, and Aya once again changed her location abruptly.

"You were saying?"

"Damn it, fuck, shit!" Shinobu swore aloud and grabbed the hilt of her other sword. "No… Not now… Too soon…" she whispered to herself.

An orange tracer round flew by her and hit one of the Neuroi, destroying it instantly.

"Woah, good job, Elizabeth!" Elsa cheered on the comms.

Sieglinde now zipped passed her and flared up in a tempest of magic. Two Neuroi that were close to each other were firing at her, but the beams plinked off her shields.

"STURM!" she roared and ripped the two enemies apart.

"Wow, they aren't pushovers…" Shinobu mumbled to herself. "Woah, shit, I'm three in the hole!"

Aya suddenly appeared beside her and pointed out to her right.

"Five," she said.

"All gods on Earth, what the fuck?!"

"I treat combat more seriously than you can imagine, Shinobu. But please, there's one heading for you from dead up, why don't you reduce that little gap in our score now?"

"What?" Shinobu said and looked up. "Woah shit!" she shouted and quickly shot a volley from her M2.

"Good job," Aya said. "Elsa, how about you show what you're made of?"

"Roger, Aya!"

The Karlslander shot forward with the two MG3 H1's raised. She picked out the swarm of the remaining seven Neuroi and shot a barrage straight into it. Afterwards, she managed to destroy three enemies and damage two other severely. Elizabeth took her chance and she shot the two down with two quick subsequent shots from her Light Fifty.

"I'll be damned…" Shinobu said quietly.

Tatiana finally kicked in as she raised the optics of her launcher to her eyes. A trained eye could hear the electronic low-pitched buzz coming from a single speaker mounted near the optics. After two seconds, the buzz became a shriek, and Tatiana pulled the trigger. A single 9M39S air-to-air rocket was launched with a deafening roar. It soared through the air with the speed of 700 meters per second and ripped a Neuroi to shreds.

The two remaining Neuroi took a course for Aina and Marie. Aina drew her enormous revolver and steadily aimed at one of the enemies.

"Do you feel lucky today, punk?" Aina said with a gruff voice and pulled the trigger.

It recoiled fiercely, but the .44 caliber round hit the Neuroi dead in the core on the tip of its nose, making it explode.

"Pow! Right in the kisser!" Aina cheered. "Hey, what is it, Marie?"

"I… I never fought a Neuroi directly… I'm scared…" Marie said as she shivered on her whole body.

"Perkele!" Aina shouted and quickly grabbed Marie by the hands, adjusting them into a firing position. "Adjust your sights and just shoot the damn thing in the nose, come on!"

"But…"

"No buts, I'll keep you safe!"

"Okay!"

Marie looked through the iron sights of her FAMAS and shot a quick burst at the enemy. The bullets hit everywhere but at the core.

"One more!"

Marie shot another volley at the Neuroi, this time missing completely. Aina was already raising her revolver, but the Neuroi suddenly exploded, ripped apart from a hail of bullets from Elwyn's M60E2.

"Early bird gets the worm, gals!" she smirked.

"No more enemies in our proximity," Aya said on the comms. "Unit, back to base."

"It's over…" Shinobu mumbled. "I guess I lost fair and square," she said and looked towards Aya.

"Um… Yes…" Aya said shyly.

"I guess you have reverted to your everyday personality. I'll give you such a foot rub that you'll squeal for more!" Shinobu shouted.

"Heehee… You don't have to do it, you know… I was actually joking…"

"Joke or not, a bet is a bet," Shinobu said firmly.

"Then… Um… Maybe we give a foot rub to each other?"

"If you insist…"

Aya's smile disarmed Shinobu and she turned around hastily.

"Hey, Aya, is that you and the girls over our position?" Ellie's voice sounded suddenly on the comms.

Aya quickly looked to the ground and saw the ZIL-131 down under on the road.

"Um, yes, ma'am…"

"Nice fireworks show, good job!"

Despite not being praised face-to-face, Aya almost burned up on her face immediately.

"T-T-T-Thank y-you ma'am!"

"When I'll get back in a few minutes, I'm awaiting a full report from you, okay?"

"Y-Yes ma'am! R-Returning to b-base immediately!"

"Hohoooo, I guess our dear commanders witnessed the battle involuntarily…" Elsa said.

"Mhm… L-Let's go back."

"What Aya said!" Sieglinde shouted. "Let's go back and greet our commanders properly!"

"Roger!" the girls responded and zipped back to the base.

9M39S missile – basically an improved Igla missile

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