Ember's POV:
Rooms were sought out after Minna gave the word that the Strike Witches are reformed and I was granted the one of the larger ones after some negotiations went down with Minna and the Neuroi and they were to be living with me. Blaze was bunking with Sanya to Eila's dismay but she settled down since it makes sense that the two Night Witches should be together. I got the room furthest from anybody else as it was the second biggest, and two rooms on either side of mine were beyond any repair and on one side was a wall that ended the living quarters. Shirley got a room next to mine and inside mine was only one bed in my room for myself, a desk, and a large, empty shelf which the other Neuroi members took for themselves as they pulled back into their cores placing themselves on each of the shelves. Minna came in to check if I needed anything else for the night but stopped as she looked at the shelf. Thirteen Neuroi cores were stacked in the empty shelf, all different colors matching the Neuroi that lives in each one of them.
"Well... That's not something you see every day..." Minna commented when one of the red ones jiggled slightly before floating in the air. Stepping back a bit freaked out, the core soon flashed brightly and in it's place was Xala.
"I'm sorry if I disturbed you, Commander."
"No... It's fine, Xala. I'm still trying to get used to the fact that we even have Neuroi that will fight with us... Though I've been meaning to ask... The 504th reported that there was a humanoid Neuroi they encountered just before that new hive appeared and destroyed that hive and the Neuroi... Do you have any information pertaining to this case?"
Xala sat down next to me on my bed looking down slightly before up at Minna.
"Her name was... Zanith, and that was one of the hives that turned towards the rebellion side but... The main Neuroi force reacted quicker than we could and destroyed the hive and Zanith in the process." Minna face held some confusion as she mulled with the information when it looked like she finally came to a conclusion.
"That extra bit of information makes the whole situation clearer. Thank you, Xala."
"You're welcome, Commander."
"As for the reason for why I'm here is to see if there's anything that needs to be changed in your room."
"Nothing as of now, Minna. Though I'd also like to address my new rank within in the unit. Recognizing that we now have two Majors in the unit now, what is my new position going to be looking like?"
"Well, being a Major gives you the responsibility for a squadron and gives you a bit more leeway with your subordinates, but for the nonce, you'll be learning from Mio since she has more experience in this position. Other than that, I will be expecting you to assist in the paper work from time to time and don't worry, I will teach you the ropes during the appropriate times."
"Thank you, Minna. Good night."
"Good night to you, Ember." Xala turned back into her core form and floated back into her little spot to rest as Minna left and I crawled into my bed and fell asleep. The next morning, I woke and stumbled around before I found what must be the established kitchen zone where Lynne was working diligently on breakfast alone.
"Where's Yoshika?" I asked looking around the room which lacked the faithful Fusojin.
"She and Ms. Sakamoto left early this morning with supplies that were destined for the 504th base," Lynne explained to me as I washed my hands going in to assist her with breakfast. A slow, yet consistent, trickle of people soon entered the room and each one of them was served a simple Britannian breakfast. After breakfast was served, the dishes were dumped into a bin to be cleaned later as the actual dinning room was still being refurbished for use. Today I think it was to be done as well so the rest of us all decided to explore the base. At the same time of exploring, I can tell that Minna was having plans for what each room could be used for. In that short time, I spotted what looked would be the common room, the radar room, briefing with a table already set up for use, and another room that was caved in. There wasn't actually much to see around anyway since most of it was blocked off by decay and debris. As we finished up, some of the Neuroi were also starting to become more active as I saw a group stretched out on the grass in the sun.
"Are my eyes deceiving me, or are Neuroi sun bathing?" Shirley asked peering over my shoulder.
"Kind of... They take energy from this to help them through the day, but it's not mandatory for them to do it."
"So they're like what... Plants?"
"Beats me."
"So you're half plant?"
"Come on Char..." I bonked her head before she kissed me playfully with a smile when I took notice to a truck coming back to base. "Oh, they're back already."
"That is seems." I decided to go down and meet them when Mio called for Lynne and Perrine to show up for training and out to training they went. Around the base they began to run while I stood by Minna and Mio, I watched as the trio ran by once, twice, and thrice around the base when Lynne stopped for breath.
'Impending Witch collision...' I thought to myself as Yoshika kept on steaming forward before the inevitable happened with Yoshika crashing into Lynne and the two ended up on the ground just as Perrine came up breathing hard as well.
"They're painfully out of shape..." Minna sighed as she looked at them.
"Those three have been inactive since the Battle of Britannia. It's been over six months since they've seen active duty," Mio commented
"And those three had nothing but issues during morning flight training, too... Oy vey..." Trude stepped in as well. "Major-"
"Which one?"
"Don't be that person, Ember..."
"Still can't take a joke..." I sighed as she continued.
"Major Sakamoto, as it stands, it's too dangerous to send them back into battle."
"You're right. Get up you two."
"Sakamoto."
"Major!"
"Miyafuji, Lynne, Perrine... You're going to retrain from scratch!"
"Y-Yes, ma'am!"
"By the end of this, I'm expecting you to grow just as strong as Ember here is! If you don't come back with abs, then you're getting sent back until you do!"
"YES, MA'AM!"
"Um... Mio..."
"I know Ember... Just an exaggeration on my part... Though it's still kind of weird for you to come back after six months looking like this..."
"Four months with Xala can do things to a person..."
"Well, we don't have four months so I will be sending you three to an instructor I know. Mount up and I'll be giving you a map to her location." The three of them left quickly when I looked at Minna.
"Commander, permission to go with them? I'm curious to see what they will be going through."
"Well... I see no problem with that. Though come back once you know they've made it to their instructor.."
"Understood." Jogging off, I reached the hanger to the surprise of the three.
"Ember? What are you doing here?"
"Curious to see what will be happened with you three," I explained simply as I got into my Striker taking my Mg 151for this run. Up into the skies we went before orienting ourselves to the map and flying to the destination. About half an hour of flying, and a few minutes of Perrine staring at the map, we found the location to be a small island with a house on it. Landing there, we hovered in position looking around.
"I wouldn't mind training here..." I mumbled, my hand on my chin.
"Is this really where we'll be training?" Lynne asked looking around
"It's the place marked on the map the Major gave us."
"But there's no one here..." Yoshika mumbled.
"Uuummm... What's up there?" Lynne asked, pointing up at the sky. Crowding around her, we looked up where she was pointing when it hit us that it was a large pan falling.
"WAH!" Scattering as it hit the ground, instincts took over as I held my gun up at the ready, scanning around for any targets of opportunity.
"A Neuroi!" Perrine yelled when i heard the voice of an old lady.
"Who're you calling a Neuroi?"
"I-It spoke!?"
'... Is she talking to the pan or to the lady?... Meh.'
"Sneaking onto my property, not even introducing yourselves... Young people these days have no manners!"
"N-Nice to meet you!" Yoshika said, bowing slightly.
"Might you be Anna Ferrara?" Lynne asked.
"Of course I am."
"Excuse us. We came here to train, per Major Sakamoto's orders! She said we can't return until we pass!"
"Ugh... Start by taking off those things on your legs. You can use that shed over there to store them," she gestured with her head and the four of us off our Strikers. Perrine, Lynne, and Yoshika stuffed theirs into the hay while I laid my gun and Striker against the wall before coming out. Outside, each of them were given a bucket and I stood back observing.
"Buckets?" Yoshika questioned.
"First, I need you to bring me water for supper and baths."
"Bring water?"
"Um..." Looking around, Yoshika tried to find the well when Anna pointed it out.
"The well's over there," she pointed to a cliff quite some ways away.
"Huh? But it's so far..."
"We're an island in the sea. That's the only location with fresh water."
"Oh! Well, if we put on our Strikers..." Lynne brightened up at the idea, though I had a sneaking suspicion this wasn't going to be part of their training.
"Yeah!"
"Good idea. With our Strikers on, it won't take long at all." Perrine completed Lynne's sentence and walked off to her Striker when Anna stepped in front of her.
"Who said you could use those things?"
"Huh?"
"Here. Use these." She handed the three of them brooms confusing me slightly.
'Brooms?'
"You don't mean... Brooms?" the three of them questioned at the same time. Each of them grabbed one and stuck their bucket at the end before "mounting" their broom sticks.
"I guess now you can tell your friends that one day you became a true witch by riding your broom around," I chuckled as the ground bellow each one of them glowed blue with magical energy.
"Away we go!" Yoshika yelled as the three of them started to levitate into the air. I heard it was possible to fly on a broom, but now I'm seeing it with my two eyes three more Witches doing it... Though the three look rather uncomfortable.
"I-It hurts..."
"I-It's riding between my legs..." Yoshika seemed to be losing control as her broom dipped suddenly while Lynne's started to fly upwards and around. Perrine out of the three looked like she had the most control... Rather front heavy though.
"You guys gonna stay on the ground all day? Get flying or you won't make it in time for supper!" Up in the air they went with Perrine the only one going forward as Yoshika and Lynne started to spin in the air. Perrine had taken two steps forward... And now had taken about sixteen backwards while Lynne fell off her broom. "Just pathetic! And you call yourselves Witches..."
"Well, I know that they are in good hands," I said, turning around to leave when she stopped me.
"And where do you think you're going?"
"Um... Back to my base?"
"Major Sakamoto told me that she was sending over some Witches to train and I won't let you leave until I've let you pass!" she said. Sweat dropping slightly as she gave me a broom and a bucket, I looked at the broom quite uneasily.
'I... I've never done this before!' I yelled in my mind as I mounted my new flying... Vehicle.
"You're the top Ace from Liberion and the one news paper headings have been calling, 'Liberions Neuroi.' I'm sure you can handle a simple task like this?" Neurifying the broom, I began to take off slightly when she hit me in the back of the head with her broom. "No cheating!"
Grumbling, as I landed and deneurified the stick, I focused magic into it when it started to float up into the air and my god is this VERY uncomfortable. The other three were looking at me now as I floated up higher, though the expression on my face told my whole story as started to fight the new weight on the end of the broom. Making it forward only a few feet did I lose concentration and fell off the broom.
"How has humanity not gone to extinction by now..." Anna commented. "Your balance is off due to the extra weight you're carrying." She informed Lynne groping her chest. "How long are you gonna sit there, spinning?" She questioned Yoshika who for some reason has been spinning in the air the whole time... How the bucket is still there beats me.
"A-Ask the broom!" Becoming dizzy she let go of the broom and landed in the bush while Perrine seemed like the only one to be pulling off the flying thing... Somewhat.
"Th-This is nothing for a Witch! It's... It's... It's a piece of cake!"
'She's gonna break...'
"A piece of cake, eh?" Tapping the back of the broom, Anna caused it to tilt forward.
"Wah! I-I-It's rubbing in between my legs!"
'Oy vey...'
"I don't think you four will ever pass."
"N-No!"
"Nowadays, Witches never use brooms! There's a limit to how far back in time you can go! I refuse to do this!" Perrine objected, throwing her broom away.
"Oh? Throwing in the towel already, are we?"
"Anna! I want to know! Will training like this really make us stronger?"
"Depends. Do you wish to be stronger?"
"Of course!"
"Why?"
"I want to be strong and protect the world from the Neuroi! I want to save those in trouble." Yoshika had that same determined glint on her eyes from way back when we fought together in Britannia.
"Observe..." Anna whispered slightly as she mounted her broom and up she went with ease, ascending into the blue sky.
"Anna..."
"She left..."
"And made leaving look so easy..."
"Hmph! I hope she doesn't come back."
"Speak of the devil..."
"She's back!"
"Eh!?" Looking up at the sky, Anna returned again this time with that pan filled with water.
"You brought all that back?"
"B-By yourself?"
"That's amazing!"
"But... Will we really get stronger doing this?"
"You doubt me? What if I told you that your instructor once trained here before becoming a real Witch?"
"Eh? Instructor...?"
"Major Sakamoto?!"
"Yes! And she was such an obedient girl...Right from the start, she respected me and strained her butt off. And by doing so, she grew into a top-notch Witch!" Anna explained to us all
"So Sakamoto went through this training, too!"
"And u-um... Wh-Which broom did Major Sakamoto sue, exactly?" Perrine asked tentatively.
"The one you just threw away."
"EH!? That was hers!? Ohmyohmyohmyohmyohmy!"
"Eh... there she goes again..."
"Ah, this is the broom she used..."
"... The hell?"
"Don't question it to much..." Picking up my broom and bucket, we returned to the house and we just had enough water to make dinner before we headed off to bed. I asked Anna if I could make a call and she said yes so I made a call back to base and explained to Minna what my situation was.
"I thought you were there to observe," she said quite confused.
"I was... Then i got dragged into training... Which I don't mind. I think I will get something valuable from this."
"All right. I'm sure we can manage easily while you're out but this puts a road block into my plan with some training of my own."
"Don't worry, Minna. I will try to not waste much time here. Have a nice night."
"As do you." I heard a click in the receiver and I placed the phone down, yawning slightly as I walked to the room I'm sharing with the other three. Since there was only one bed in the room we were staying in, I just took a blanket and a pillow and hit the floor. There were some protests, but I convinced them that the bed's theirs. It got to the point where I pulled rank on them... And I kind of enjoyed it slightly. Early next morning, I woke up on my own accord and it was still quite dark outside. My internal clock says it's five in the morning and the girls were still sleeping so I used my powers to float across the room and silently opened the door before going outside. Looking around, I paced around searching for a suitable spot to start off with when I evoke Xelarion into my hand and sheaths. Starting off in a ready position, I closed my eyes as I prepared myself before starting with a horizontal slash at a charing enemy. Using the momentum of the slash, I sprung forward cutting another opponent down when I turned around drawing the sword from my left sheath parrying a strike following that block up with a strike from my second sword. Crossing the two of them, I jumped backwards after I blocked a slash and combined the two pieces before jumping back at him, sword in full swing. This went on for a while longer and I started zoning out to a point where I nearly skewered our instructor. I was in a middle of a lunge, jabbing my sword out when she cleared her throat bringing me back to reality. Quickly dispelling Xelarion, it returned to my neck as a scarf as I landed, skidding slightly and breathing hard, sweat dripping from my head.
"And what are you doing this early in the morning?"
"Training...?" I asked with a slight question and she only stared at me a bit harder before throwing me a towel.
"Wipe off that sweat and assist me making breakfast for those other three," she said turning around back into her house. Doing as she asked, we used the rest of the water to make breakfast as the girls started to walk in. Later that day after breakfast, back out again we went onto the brooms. Yoshika managed to make it down the bridge, the whole time acting like a pinball machine bounced from wall to wall while Lynne started to fall off... And then fell off clinging to the side of the bridge. Perrine was hopping along quite literally and it didn't look to comfortable. I on the other hand, wasn't doing great as the others as I flew along rather uncomfortably when it jerked up suddenly. Sliding my whole body up and down the stick, I laid against it as it evened out when I slipped upside down. Looking bellow me, I saw I was over water when my broom decided to dip down causing me to slip off. Neurifying, I grabbed the broom and floated back to the beginning to start again.
"Sheesh... Come here, you four," Anna ordered and we all lined up in front of her, brooms between our legs. "You each have more than enough magic power to do this. What you lack is control. You need to start controlling your own movements, in place of the machines you've relied on." She walked over and raised the end of Yoshika's broom causing her to squeal.
"Hng! Th-That hurts, Anaa!"
"It hurts because all your weight is pushing on the broom!" She walked down the line lifting up the broom ends causing all of us to squeak in some way. "Listen up. You have become completely reliant on those Striker Unit things. You must unlearn that reliance and become one with the broom."
"One with the broom?"
"You're not riding the broom. It should feel like an extension of your body!"
'Extension of your body...? Kind of like surfing...' I thought.
"Then, while picturing that, take one step forward and focus your magic. It should be trivial for a real Witch to do."
"One step..." We all mumbled as we focussed.
"Forward..." Yoshika said aloud when she started to float up into the air. "W-Wah! I-I'm flying!"
"Me too!"
"I'm flying!"
"Well I'll be damned..." I mumbled when the three took off forward. Looking around, I remembered back to my previous thought and tentatively got my feet up on the broom when I slowly stood up. I was a bit wobbly at first since it's been years since I've last surfed but it came back naturally as I flew up next to Perrine, Lynne, and Yoshika.
"This is amazing! Lynne, Perrine, Ember, this is absolutely amazing! We're flying on brooms!" "Yeah!"
"N-Naturally... Though you don't need to show off Ember..." Perrine mumbled as I stood there on my broom.
"The breeze feels different than when we fly the Striker Units. It feels so good!"
"Yeah, it sure does!" Lynne agreed with her as I stood there looking up at the sky feeling the wind against my face.
"T-Though... It's still rubbing... A little..."
"How long you gonna just hover there?" Anna yelled as she flew up even to us. "Hurry and get the water, before the sun sets!"
"W-We were just going!"
"Be right back!" We yelled as we flew off towards the well. We made multiple trips back and forth when the sky started to turn orange. We managed to fill the large pan with just about half way.
"Okay, that's probably enough for today."
"All right!"
"Great work."
"But of course, this was hardly any trouble at all." Perrine commented with a smile. That night, we had a very delicious stew that Anna prepared with some salad and bread.
"Thanks for supper!" Digging in, I smiled as I've missed a good home made stew. "It's so good!"
"... Just eat and take your baths!" she nagged. Finishing the meal, we took what water we needed for the bath and took it out to this outdoor bath house. Though with the amount of water that we had left didn't really fill up the bath much.
"It's like bathing in a puddle... I guess we didn't fetch enough water... Oh well. We'll have to keep at it till this is filled." Yoshika commented as I just leaned back since I hadn't enjoyed a bath like this in six months. Though with my eyes closed, I can still feeling the other three giving me quick glances towards my hands and legs when Yoshika pipped up.
"U-Um... Ember, do those... Hurt?" she asked me and I chucked as I looked at them.
"It doesn't hurt at all... Though how I got them did..."
"What happened?" Lynne asked this time.
"It happened back in Africa... About a month ago," I started off mellow as I recounted the events. "This was during our last operation in Africa so all of the units were taking part. Everything was going smoothly with destruction of all the Neuroi when Neuroi reinforcements came out suddenly causing the number of casualty to rise... Among one of them was a child hood friend... Her name was Audrey Dalton and she died protecting her platoon... After that, everything is blurry when I came back to find that I've Neurified further." Lifting my hand even to my head, I opened my fingers seeing how my hands are completely Neurified with it's black material along with some of my wrist.
"Oh..."
"Ah, sorry for making things heavy... Oh, Perrine, aren't you going to join us?" I asked her, noticing that she was still standing.
"Eh? O-Oh! Of course I am," she said, walking down into the water. Sitting down she suddenly yelled and sat back up. "Wah! I-It stings down there!"
"Y-You scared me."
"Are you all right, Perrine?"
The rest of the bath went on just fine. Yoshika insisted that she use her magical powers on Perrine and said person was embarrassed beyond belief. Though it smoothed out as she got to relax in the water. Finishing, we got into out pajamas and sat on the bridge outside of Anna's house.
"This breeze feels so nice," Lynne commented.
"Yeah. It's crazy to think all Witches once flew on brooms, before Striker units were made."
"My mom said she used one, too." Lynne informed us all when Perrine sighed slightly.
"But, will merely flying on brooms truly make us stronger?" Perrine questioned.
"You four have no confidence in me," Anna's voice surprised us.
"A-Anna."
"I told you we're starting early tomorrow. That also means no early training for you, Ember. What are you doing up here?"
"We were checking out this bridge." Yoshika explained as she stood up.
"This bridge? What about it?"
"Well, I was thinking that you probably don't need it, given that you're an expert flyer."
"... My daughter can't use magic," she said suddenly, looking down slightly. "Many years ago, she got married and moved away, but a few times a year, she still visits with the grandkids. And she uses this bridge to get here."
"Where does your daughter live?"
"Venezia."
"Venezia!"
"The Neuroi invaded them," Perrine said worriedly.
"They're fine! I got word that they whole family escaped unscathed," she reassured us causing us to let out some pent up breath. "They're on their way here, as we speak."
"I hope they arrive soon."
"Me, too."
"Agreed."
"Just hurry and get off to bed!" she nagged us again. "Training starts again tomorrow, bright and early!" she turned and left and I chuckled lightly.
"Come on you three, lets hit the hay," I said. We got up and got into our room before falling asleep. The next day as we got up, I did a quick check up on our Strikers since they haven't been running in some time and I was quite impressed. Both Perrine and Lynne were using new Strikers and Lynne's Spitfire Mk 22 is packing some power with those Griffon power plants. Only Yoshika was using her old Striker, an A6M3 which surprised me slightly. I thought that she would get an upgrade sooner or later but I guess not at the moment. Getting the brooms out, Lynne had the brilliant idea of taking the large pan with us instead of just a bucket. We would do this by strapping together one end of the bucket to each of our brooms. Filling it up, we began to fly back and my god, why didn't we think of this beforehand?
"We should have carried it like this from the start," Yoshika said aloud.
"Today, let's fill the bath all the way up."
"Yeah, all the way to our shoulders. Right, Perrine?"
"Huh? I'm fine either way... Eh? Ember, you all right?" I had my head looking off to the right as I felt something over there when I saw a glint in the sun.
"What is that?" Perrine questioned.
"It couldn't be..."
"Is it a Neuroi?" Yoshika asked when I nodded my head.
"It's a Neuroi! Come on, we have to land now!" Diving down with some care, we dumped the bucket and our brooms as we ran inside of the house.
"Anna, help! The Neuroi are coming this way!" Yoshika warned her as she put down her phone.
"Your base just contacted me."
"Are they sending someone here to fight it?"
"They said any troops deployed now wouldn't make it in time."
"Shirley coming here at supersonic speeds won't get here in time to intercept..." I mumbled.
"Then I'll have to abandon this house," Anna said a bit depressed.
"No way..." Turning around, we dropped our brooms and ran out to the edge of the island to see where the Neuroi is going.
"It's heading straight in this direction," Yoshika said as the Neuroi fired off a random beam into the water.
"Then both the island and the bridge..."
"... Will be entirely destroyed." I moved my head side to side cracking my neck as I grinned.
"It's been a while since I've fought a Neuroi." I turned and left, walking past Anna/
"What are you girls doing? Hurry and escape!"
"Sorry, can't do that ma'am," I said. "We're Witches. Our job is to fight the Neuroi and protect any land that isn't occupied by the Neuroi force. Lieutenant Clostermann, Master Sergeant Bishop, Sergeant Miyafuji," I turned around and looked at the three who tensed up slightly, "Mount up. We're going to intercept the Neuroi threat."
"Of course we are," Perrine said proudly. "This is the house your family's coming home to. Also, if the bridge is taken out, when they arrive, your grandchildren won't know what to look for." I rushed to the shed were we kept our Striker units and the other three rushed in grabbing their weapons as they jumped into their Strikers. Jumping into my own, I cranked them over after having the engine sit for a while now. Giving it some throttle, I waved my arm signaling for the three of them to take off.
"Taking off!" Covering my face slightly as they threw up a dust and hey into the air. Grabbing my gun, I chased after them as they angled towards the Neuroi. Splitting down the center, I came up from the rear and took position at the front. Yoshika was off to my left while Perrine and Lynne were to my right just as we got within visual range of the target.
"Perrine, you and Lynne are going to fly in formation and attack that thing. Yoshika, you're covering them with me! If you spot the core, take it out as quickly as you can!"
"Roger! Lynne!"
"Got it!" Both Perrine and Lynne spearheaded the attack when they got into firing range. "Commencing attack!" She popped a few rounds off before pushing higher as the Neuroi directed some beams towards her. Lynne followed behind as Yoshika and I drew it's attention lower. 20mm shot after 20mm shot went into the Neuroi, but this Neuroi was a though nut to crack. Even Lynne's Boys Anti-Tank rifle was having a hard time penetrating it's armor.
"This armor is tough!"
"We're going to need more firepower to penetrate this armor."
"Then lets all attack it together!" Yoshika suggested.
"Three-person attacks are hard enough, but four?" Lynne questioned.
"We can do it! The four of us can definitely do it," Yoshika said confidently inspiring us all.
"All right then! Form up on me!" I yelled. Forming up in a diamond formation, we started to dive down on the Neuroi as it fired it's beams quite frantically. Weaving through the beams, I started to notice that there was something different to how I was flying... No, it was how we all were flying. Hitting the deck, we came in bellow the Neuroi and started to shoot at it, moving in sync with each other to avoid a mid air collision.
"I can follow all your moves!" Lynne suddenly shouted as I crossed paths with her dodging a beam.
"We're dodging the beams!" Perrine excitedly shouted.
"It's all thanks to those brooms!" Yoshika said when I finally put the pieces together. Focusing on the target, I aimed carefully and shot out a single 20mm isolating and exposing the core.
"The core's exposed!"
"But it's already regenerating."
"Lynne, hit that thing!"
"R-Roger!" She took aim and shot off a round missing the target by inches. "Too late!"
"Watch out Lynne!" The Neuroi began to retaliate as it started to shoot at Lynne who was rather slow to respond and got her propeller shot off on her left Striker leg.
"Lynne!" Yoshika dived down at her as Perrine and myself continued to engage. Bellow, Yoshika came up again with Lynne on her shoulders surprising us.
"You're flying together?!"
"My shield will get us in close. Lynne, aim for the core!"
"I'll distract the Neuroi to make it easier to get in close!" I yelled, zooming off to harass the Neuroi, shooting the rest of my magazine before reloading. "Last mag..."
"It's nearly reached the island!" Perrine joined up with my as Yoshika and Lynne moved in when I exposed the core again."
"Lynne!"
"Got it!" She popped off a round and a split second later, the Neuroi blew up into small white fragments.
"You did it! You did it, Lynne!"
"Yeah! We were able to defend Anna's home and bridge!" The four of us stood there in awe, looking at the white fragments when I was suddenly pulled into a group hug by the three. Landing, we were told that we were to be packing up our things for we passed her test. She even said that we could take our brooms we trained on with us. Saying our good bye, I told Lynne to jump on my back for the ride home since she's down to half power and my Striker unit still has an excessive amount of power to carry her the rest of the way home with no problem. As we passed overhead, I even saw a car start to drive in towards the island before crossing the bridge and I was happy.
'Just in time for them to arrive.' I thought. The flight was nice since with this new found knowledge, I could even feel how my Striker unit was doing a bit better. Landing back at base, I helped Lynne dock into her launcher and then into mine before questioned why Mio was panting on the ground with Eve, Ene, Xala, Xana, Xera and Xeris.
"What did you do two these three?" I asked as some of them turned into the cores, clinking slightly as they hit the ground when Xala explained.
"Mio wanted to test how we will fair in combat, and she put us through some training exercises."
"Did you get anything from those tests?"
"Plenty," she panted. "Xala here really knows how to use a sword." She said, resting enough as she got up from the ground. "I will need to test the rest of the Neuroi forces tomorrow."
Eve and Xala were the only ones that had enough strength to stand up and walk normally so I helped her get the others back into my room and onto the shelf again so they can rest and said people also joined them. Leaning my broom up against the wall, I smiled slightly before heading down for dinner. Blaze and Sanya were both up by now, getting dinner before their night patrol and both Lynne and Yoshika got something cooking rather quickly since they got back on base. Some questions were asked about our adventures with Anna as dinner was finished our meal. Sanya and Blaze bid farewell to us as they left for their night patrol. Yawning, I said good night to everyone and went to my room. Plopping onto my bed, I kind of missed how soft it is compared to sleeping on the ground. Looking sideways at the broom I used, I gave a silent thanks to Anna as I rolled over and fell asleep.
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