Alright, here comes the next chapter in "Strike Heroes".

Now, as usual, here comes the review-responding:

fuji92: Possibilities of reconciling and rule-tossing aside, Roland and Minna fighting seemed like a strange point, given their interactions up until now. But somehow I felt that it gets the idea of Roland trying to argue against the rule's existence. Besides, he's a male and a Witch. If he can't interact with the Witches because he's a male, then how is he even supposed to work with the rule?

GAT-X105VividPanzer: Don't worry too much with the pairings. I'm just trying to see what some people can come up with. As for the characters involved...well, that's all I can say, really. Oh, and welcome to the site. Hope you do well with your story-telling.

Dragonman75: Given their stances, it's probably no true surprise. However, I think that it was probably one of the shocking things that occurred in this story...though there's plenty more to come, so keep an eye out.

Anonymous: Thanks for the review.

Okay, with that out of the way, it's time to conclude this pair of chapters...

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Chapter 14: I Won't Forget You (Part 2)

Roland's POV

I stepped into the dining hall the next day to get some breakfast before everyone else. As usual, I found Yoshika and Lynette cooking up something, and luckily there was no one at the table yet.

Perfect, I thought to myself as I walked up to the girls.

"Morning, Roland," Lynette said as she turned around to see who it was.

"Oh," Yoshika said as she looked as well. "Good morning, Roland-kun..." Somehow, she looked like something was bothering her.

"Morning to you too, girls," I said as I leaned on the counter between the kitchen and the dining hall. "What's for breakfast?"

"Oh, some oatmeal."

"Oatmeal?"

"Yeah," Lynette added, "My uncle shipped us another batch of blueberries, and when we checked what we received for refilling our supplies, we found some oats."

"I'm...hoping that you two know how to make it?"

"Well, it's not too difficult. All you have to do is-"

"Uh, Lynne?" I pinched the bridge of my nose in slight annoyance.

"Yes, Roland?"

"Please don't go into the details right now. I'm still a little stressed..."

"About what happened between you and the commander?" Yoshika decided to ask.

I frowned. "I guess you heard that?"

"Not intentionally...I was walking by after that sailor handed me the letter when you two started."

"Uh...how much did you hear?"

Yoshika looked sad as she thought about it. "I think I heard the whole thing. Roland-kun, are you and the commander alright?"

I sighed. "I don't know, Yoshika. I just...don't know..." So I think I get it for this case: I tell the sailor to hand Yoshika the letter, the little Fuso Witch receives the letter, I think Minna talks to the sailor in question, Minna comes over to me to chew me out, bada bing, bada boom...and we're at this point.

"Hey," Lynette said as she checked the oatmeal. "The food's ready."

"Huh?" Yoshika asked as she turned around. "Oh, right. Well, let's get ready to serve." The little Fuso Witch sounded happier, like she decided to not worry about it.

I started to move to help get things ready, but then I stopped. I remembered the rule (given that Minna and I argued over it) but did the whole "breakfast, lunch, and dinner" thing mean as in talking or helping serve or what? I couldn't remember that particular bit too well.

...Then again, why am I thinking about it?

Soon, Lynette was kind enough to serve me a bowl of oatmeal with some blueberries already placed inside.

"Thanks, Lynne," I said.

"You're welcome, Roland," Lynette said.

I took the bowl and made for the exit. I didn't want to deal with any more drama right now...

...Until I found Minna at the door. She was just standing there, under the frame.

"Lieutenant," she told me simply.

"Excuse me, commander," I replied as I carefully scooted past her. Once that was done, I made a beeline for my room.

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I was busy trying to draw something. It wasn't anything too fancy, but I wanted to avoid trying to explain what was currently going on inside a letter that I could never mail to anyone I missed. I just doodled until somehow that statement Minna said about why she had set the rule crept into my mind.

I already lost one boy in my life, and I am not about to let you become the next one!

I put the pencil I had down as I got up from the small table that had my lamp (I had pushed it just enough to draw). The bowl that had the oatmeal was sitting on the floor, at my feet.

You okay? the little voice that just appeared in my head asked as I flopped onto my bed.

I don't want to talk about it, I said as I lied there.

Well, I want to. I think you were being a little too rough on the commander…

I sighed as I stopped what I was doing. Apparently, I was going to be arguing with myself. Hey, the commander was trying to explain to me why the rule was set up. How else did you expect me to react before that?

Well, you have to look at it from her standpoint. She lost someone, and a man nonetheless.

So? I've seen people dying. So what? I had a strong case: I had Commander Ellios die in my arms. Plus, Yoshika lost her father (still not sure about that, but I don't time to dwell on it). What makes this guy in Minna's life so special?

Roland, I'm talking about a man who was close to her.

I thought about it. …A lover?

Possibly. It's a bit difficult to figure it out, but I think that's the reason why.

That still doesn't give her the right to set up the rule. Many have died since the Neuroi came. Obviously. Why am I thinking about this again?

...Can't argue with that. But the point is, you should have let the commander explain it and then got pissed off with her.

I blinked. Uh...am I going insane here?

The voice didn't answer, and I blinked again.

Sighing, I was about to take a nap when the sirens for the Neuroi attack rang throughout the base. I got up and was about to get ready to fight before I remembered that I had been grounded by Minna.

I then got a strange idea...

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"Commander," I heard Mio say over the radio.

I was sitting inside the command room, which conveniently had a radio inside. I was using that to listen in on the conversation and to gauge what was going on.

That probably doesn't sound good, I said to myself.

"This thing is getting way out of hand," I heard Minna say. "If we can't find out where the core is, we're done for."

Done for? I asked mentally.

"Commander Minna," Lynne said. "Where's Lieutenant Roland?"

"Yeah," Francesca decided to add. "Where's Lieutenant Roland-kun?"

Lieutenant Roland-kun? that little voice asked while trying not to laugh.

"Lieutenant Roland-kun?" Mio asked.

Yeah, I want to know about that too, dammit! I could understand the "Roland-kun" part if Francesca heard Yoshika using it, but adding my rank next to it? Really?! I sounded like a soldier who wasn't even sure if his name was right or not by the words she used.

"We don't need him," Minna said quickly.

I heard some gunfire before hearing laser fire from the Neuroi.

That's it, I thought as I heard Yoshika scream in shock. I am not letting any of them get killed out there. I'm going whether Minna likes it or not.

I ran out of the room, ready to figure out a plan to help out.

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Minna's POV

"Damn," I heard Major Sakamoto say as we dodged another laser from it. "Whatever it's after it wants it badly."

"I can't believe the Neuroi are getting more complex with strategies," I added. We were having a problem right now: apparently, this Neuroi had the ability to split itself into multiple copies. Not only did this make more Neuroi that could kill us, but it also made it rather difficult to even kill it: every time one Neuroi fell, one of its copies decided to make another one. We had five to deal with, and luckily they weren't making more than that.

Suddenly, I felt something coming toward us from the rear.

"What is it?" Major Sakamoto decided to ask.

"There's something coming from behind us," I said without thinking.

"What? Even the Neuroi can't do something like that, can they?"

"I don't think it's a Neuroi…it feels like one of us."

"Hey, ladies?" Roland said over the link. "You might want to move over 'cause I'm not stopping at all until I get there."

Suddenly, he zoomed past us, his Striker Unit sounding like he was kicking it into overdrive as he flew into the battlefield. He was carrying all his weapons with him: the crowbar, his sword, a BAR, and a Browning HP.

"Lieutenant?" I asked in shock. "What are you doing? I thought—"

"You know," Roland said as he applied the brakes and floated in front of the Neuroi, "I gave it some serious thought as I got geared up, and other than the obvious 'Up the rule's ass' response, I also realized something: you're all my friends…" He got into a fighting stance as his body flashed a bright red aura. "…and I protect my friends, no questions asked. Now, let me deal with this annoyance my way."

The Neuroi seemed to regard him with some curiosity for a while before coming to the conclusion that the male Witch near it was a threat.

He pointed the index finger on his right hand at the Neuroi and remarked, "You better turn tail and run or else there isn't going to be any scrap metal for us to use when I'm done with you."

We already knew the Neuroi's response: it fired a laser at Roland, which was instantly stopped by a well-timed barrier he erected.

"Fine," Roland said as he waved my right hand dismissively. "Have it your way."

"We need to attack them all at once," I said. "And we have to do it fast enough that they can't multiply. Got it?"

"Right!" the others said as we split up into small groups. The major was with me, Barkhorn and Hartman were a team, Shirley and Lucchini stuck together, Perrine teamed up with Eila, and Yoshika and Lynne covered each other's backs.

Which left Roland by himself...

"Lieutenant," I told him over the radio. "You're with the sergeants."

"Okay," Roland said as we flew into battle with a Neuroi each. Well, Barkhorn and Hartmann ended up helping us with the one we had.

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Roland's POV

"Roland, look out!" Lynette shouted as she put up a barrier to keep a laser from blasting me out of the sky.

"Thanks, Lynne," I told her as I reloaded my BAR with a fresh clip.

"You're welcome."

I looked around and saw that the others were busy trying to keep their respective Neuroi from attacking someone else. I aimed at the one we had and fired into it, expending all my bullets. It didn't do much, but it did distract the Neuroi from shooting down Erica, who flew past us.

I gritted my teeth. I won't let anyone fall because of you bastards...not after what happened with Ellios...

I felt the red aura from just before this surround me again, but it felt...different. I then felt the Striker Unit open up as I floated there, some strange energy surrounding me.

I couldn't hear anything from my teammates, but I was aware of my actions: I looked at my body (at least, the parts that were exposed. That would be my arms at the very least), which started giving off red lines. What the hell was going on? Was I going to perform a Boson Jump like In Martian Successor Nadesico?

I didn't have time to think about it, for I was soon attacked by one Neuroi from behind, but some red barrier surrounded me entirely as I felt the beam hit it.

Huh?

I blinked mentally in surprise. How the hell did I make that barrier knowing that I didn't know where it was coming from?

I could feel all eyes on me, which I didn't blame them for: I was just as confused on what the hell was going on.

Looks like this was my big battle scene, though, and I slung my gun onto my back as I slapped the heels of my hands together and held them out, ready to cast a spell.

I felt a large orb of red energy form in front of my hands. It felt a little comforting...the glow, I mean. I don't know why, but somehow it felt like that to me. Then again, I have no idea how the hell I managed to

I fired the attack into a nearby Neuroi, which soon exploded out of existence. I then summoned a red energy blade on the top of my right wrist, and without being in control of myself I charged into two copies that had lined up in a good position. I barrelled into them quickly as I set the blade ahead of me, and before I left through the bottom of the second Neuroi the first one had exploded. As the second one exploded, I counted two more Neuroi left, and I let loose another Neuroi Cannon that slammed into one of them. The survivor fired a beam at me, but at this rate it might as well have just sealed its own fate. I flew in and ripped through the hull with the energy blade I had produced. When I caught sight of the core, I jammed my melee weapon into it, pulling it out and flying away slightly as the enemy exploded into nonexistence.

I was just floating there, too stunned as I saw the lines fade from my body. The strangest thing was that I was nowhere near being tired after all that. In fact, I felt more energetic, especially as I watched the Striker Unit close back up.

My mind finally grasped what had happened.

Ho...ly...sh...shit! What happened that I activated that? How long have I had that sort of power? How the hell did I even get that power? Actually, I had to think about that last question. What was inside the prototype I was using? And how did they put it inside?

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Minna's POV

I sat inside my office as I read a few more papers. It was doing a rather good job at making me not think about the whole argument from yesterday.

KNOCK KNOCK!

"Come in," I said without looking up.

I heard the door open up.

"Commander Minna?" I heard Roland ask as I heard him approach me. When I looked up, his hands were at the ready to defend in case of an emergency.

"Oh, lieutenant." Why was he in here? "What is it?"

"Um…listen, I'm sorry."

"Sorry for what?" I turned away from him.

"I'm sorry that I didn't know what your feelings toward the rule was like. I guess all I was concerned about was trying to find out why you were keeping me on the ground. I mean, if you want me to never fly into a battle again…"

"It's not your fault." Minna looked at me again. "I guess I was the one that got carried away. In my haste to make the rule I forgot that you're one of the main reasons we're truly like a family."

I'm one of the main reasons? "Why's that, Commander?"

"We each have our feelings about the world, but you…you have this thing with us. If you're calm, we don't seem to worry about it. If you get defensive, we understand somehow that you're just trying to protect us. If you get angry, we try to understand why you're that way. I guess that I should be the one saying sorry to you. You've done more than enough to show how loyal you are to your own team." I flashed Roland a weak smile. "Besides, you really want proof that you belong on the team? Look at all that you've been involved in."

I turned around and watched as Roland gave off a weak smile. He had his right hand on the back of his head. "I'm not sure if that means that I can fly into battle again, but with my track record I don't think it really matters."

"Thanks. Did you want to talk about something else?"

"Yeah. The boy you lost. Who was he to you?"

"He was…a friend."

"I think I understand. But I still can't see why you were adamant on keeping me grounded."

Minna looked at me carefully. "He was like a big brother to me. When he died in a battle, I felt devastated. When I first saw you that day, I felt like you would have been like him."

"…I see. I'm sorry if I made you remember him in a bad way."

"It's okay, Lieutenant Roland. It's not the end of the world for us."

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Roland's POV

I looked at her again. Somehow, she looked more…innocent.

"Right, I wanted to tell you something," I started.

"What is it?" Minna asked me.

"See, I know what it was like to lose someone dear to me."

"Of course. You lost Commander Ellios during the attack on the Ascension…"

"But I hadn't let that stop me, did I?"

"...I guess you haven't." She closed her eyes and looked like she was thinking of something. "Alright, I guess it's time to worry less about losing people and worry more about keeping them safe. I'm lifting the rule on the interactions, for starters." She then got up. "Come on. We've got something to do."

"What is it?" I asked.

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I flopped into bed, dead tired.

Minna had asked me to help her with organizing a farewell gift to the crew of the Akagi. I, after trying to figure out why she was doing it, was told that she wanted to make it up to Yoshika and the other men.

Overall, it was rather cool: I actually heard Minna singing for the first time, and I was almost mesmerized. Her voice sounded beautiful, almost like she could have been a singer if the Neuroi hadn't attacked. That, and the dress she wore...well, it looked red...and it looked like it glittered...well, that's the best I could do with the look...

What? You wanted something else? Well, too bad. I'm too tired to even answer that question.

After the men had sailed off, it was time for dinner. However, I was cooking that time, and I decided to make some things for burritos. I even got some help from Yoshika and Lynne with cutting up the lettuce and tomatoes. Hell, I even made pico de gallo for them since they had the ingredients. When they finished eating, they told me that the food was good and that they hoped to have it again in the future.

Which brings us to now…

"Ah," I sighed as I lied on my back. "I can finally get some well-deserved rest."

Then something odd caught my attention.

"Hang on…" I told myself as I sat up again, slowly due to my fatigue. "If Commander Minna made the rule now, and they just fought the Neuroi…"

Huge surprise...very huge surprise...

"I need to get there now!"

I ran out of the room and raced over to where Minna's office was, the whole way with a source of energy I didn't even know I had left untapped. I knocked on the door a few times, but no one replied to it. So I simply opened the door, rather slowly in case it was an ambush.

I could see no one in there as I closed the door, and I walked in slowly. I had barely taken a few steps when I felt two fields of aura flare up behind me, and I was about to turn around before I heard a pistol's safety click and the edge of a blade rested gently against the back of my neck.

Shit...

I glanced out of the corner of my eyes and saw Mio behind and to the right of me, her katana hanging dangerously close to my neck. I also saw Minna as she had a Walther PPK trained at my head, though she was about a few feet away, as she walked to the front of me.

I was being held at gunpoint and by the edge of my life...

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Roland: Alright, next up on Strike Heroes...

Mio: It's strange how you activated whatever you used to finish off those Neuroi.

Minna: Is there anything we should be aware of?

Roland: Uh, no? Besides, what about Yoshika and Perrine?

Yoshika: I can handle myself, Roland-kun. Next time: What We Want to Protect...

Mio: How far will you go to defend everyone?

Roland: ...

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Whoa, now things are getting more and more complex for Roland by the second. What secret does he not know about? Will he be able to handle this without revealing the secret about his origins? As Mio said, how far will he go to protect everyone? Would he end up being hurt or worse?

So many questions...hang in there...

Anyways, that's the end of the arc. I hope you like that particular development in the story, but let me know in the reviews.

Other than that, please read and respond. Thanks.