Chapter 29 – Broken Arrow
Two days after visiting Patton's base, Toshiro woke up in the morning as usual. Yesterday the unit got word that today a military operation will commence near Fort Maddalena, which was southwest of Gabr Saleh, in the same distance as the Tobruk base to the Gabr Saleh. And as usual, he saw Francesca 'caring' about Shirley's breasts in the sleep.
He walked out of his tent, and saw Matilda waiting for him, as usual.
"Good morning, Toshiro. A fine day for combat, don't you think?"
"A day like any other, Matilda. We just have to standby in case they need us."
"Ah well, I won't be in combat today anyway, since Fort Maddalena is such a long way away. I would have to move out now to get there by noon."
"But that's like fifteen minutes of flight at most."
"Ah… No…"
"No what?"
"Uh, well… I resent flying… I feel much safer in a Land Striker…"
"You don't know what you are missing out, Matilda…"
"I'm content with firm land under my feet, thank you…" She mumbled.
"Whatever… Let's jog."
After an hour of jogging, Matilda and Toshiro drank their usual glass of cold milk.
"Aaaah… How can something as simple as cold water with some lactose and proteins give such a relief after the morning jog?"
"Hahaha… That's why I love the world, Toshiro. There are so many mysteries and wonders around, that you can have something to ponder about each day."
"True, Matilda…"
Toshiro returned to his tent and turned on the radio equipment. He sat on the chair, put on the headphones and dozed off.
Firm poking in his rib took him out of the land of dreams. As he opened his eyes, he saw the ever-happy face of Francesca. He took of the headphones.
"Hey, To-shi-ro! Wake up!"
"Huh… What…"
"Food time, stupid!"
"Don't make such a big deal out of it, sheesh…"
"Oh pssh, I just wanted to wake you before…"
Suddenly a red lightning struck through the tent flap.
"Cousin dearest!"
"…that…" Francesca ended her sentence.
"Cousin, why are you still here, its food time!"
"It's way past seven, sleepy face. Just saying."
"Oh, okay… Why is everyone bullying me about eating today…"
"Because we are on standby, Toshiro." Shirley explained. "And the next second could be the one in which a broadcast for help comes in."
"Eat while you can, and sleep while you can… It seems all armies teach this universal truth…" Toshiro said. "Eh, time to go then."
The four of them went into the tent. Toshiro's nasal cavity quickly filled with the aroma of fried potatoes.
"Hmmm… Mami, are you doing what I think you're doing?" Toshiro asked.
"If you mean chips, then yes!"
"Hah, cool!" Shirley shouted. "Any ketchup to that?"
"Nope."
"Awww…" Shirley sighed disappointed.
As Toshiro sat at the table, he saw that Keiko was missing.
"Huh, where's Keiko?" Toshiro wondered aloud.
"Sitting in her tent and listening to the radio." Tina answered. "Someone has to."
"Then I should give her something to eat, if she can't dine with us."
"Good idea, Toshiro." Tina said.
Mami pulled out the first portion of the chips, and put in on a big platter. She then pulled out a smaller plate, took some chips and placed them on it. Mami sprinkled some salt on the chips and said "Toshiro, take this to Kei then."
"Okay."
He took the food and went to her tent, not bothering about knocking.
"Oh, Toshiro. Is that for me?" She asked.
"Yup. Eat up. Just don't chew to loud, or you'll miss something."
"Oh shush… I've been up since six, listening to the damn radio… I hope that we get into the action soon…"
"I'd prefer not going into action, but whatever… I'll send Mami to get the plate."
"Yeah. Thanks."
"No problem."
He returned to the dining tent, just in time. While he was eating, he saw that Tina's hands were shaking. The shaking was small, but visible to a good observer.
I have to ask her about the cause… But I have a hunch…
After breakfast, Toshiro approached Tina as she was going to her tent.
"Is it the time already?" Toshiro asked.
Not turning her head, she responded with a neutral voice, "Not here. Follow me inside."
She led him to the couch, and told him to sit beside her.
"Yes, Toshiro. I feel I am starting to lose it slowly… How did you notice?"
"Your hands trembled slightly during breakfast. I assumed that it wasn't because of pre-battle anxiety, because knowing you, you could rush head over heels into the fray at any time of day."
"Hahah! Yeah… You are right… So… Will you do the same as you did to Matilda?"
"Yes. If you want of course… The alternative would be you smoking weed…"
"I'll try your method first, Toshiro. But do we have to hug? I'm not exactly a fan of hugging…"
"I can just place my hands on your head…"
"Then come on, let's do it."
Toshiro's body got enveloped in white flames, and he placed his hands on her head. At first, she relaxed and closed her eyes, but after a minute, tears started flowing from under her closed eyelids.
"Tina?" Toshiro asked concerned.
"Please… Don't stop now…" She whispered
Toshiro felt somebody observing him. He looked to his left and saw Matilda observing them from the entrance.
After two minutes, Tina suddenly hugged Toshiro with brutal strength. Her big breasts pressed against his chest, giving off a pleasant sensation.
"Thank you… Thank you… Thank you so much, Toshiro…"
"Hurrrgh… What gives, Tina?"
She let him go and opened her teary eyes. He could see peace and satisfaction in them.
"So… What happened?" Toshiro asked.
"My familiar spoke to me… He… He… He thanked me for being his father's partner, and he promised that he will put more effort into being my familiar."
"That's… Nice… How do you know he's a 'he'?"
"Well, he told me his name… It's Yari."
"Well, a nice name I must say… So, did I help in terms of your… condition?"
"Yes, yes… I feel like I was born yesterday! I could probably defeat a hundred Neuroi right now!"
"Mistress, don't go too far in your assumptions." Matilda said suddenly.
"Oh, Matilda! You're here?" Tina said surprised. "You saw everything…" She blushed violently.
"Yes, Mistress. And you don't have to be ashamed of anything; emotions are what differentiate people from wild beasts."
"Heh… Well, I suppose so… You can go now, Toshiro."
"Der Mohr hat seine Arbeit getan; der Mohr kann gehen (The Moor did his job, the Moor can go)…"
"Don't feel like that, Toshiro… And nice that you've read Schiller…"
"Nah, I'm just shitting you, Tina. Have a nice day."
"You too, Toshiro."
About two hours later, Toshiro was sitting on the chair with the headphones on. Just as he was about to take a break, he heard one of the worst things a radio op could hear.
"This is hzzz Patton! I'm declaring hzzz arrow! I hzzz Broken Arrow!"
Broken Arrow, a distress signal to call in close air support. If one calls such a signal, it means that they are overwhelmed by the enemy. Fuck!
Toshiro rushed off his chair, not saying a word. He stormed into Keiko's tent.
"Oh, Toshiro, I heard some voice through the static but…"
Toshiro grabbed the mic of the PA system, turned it on.
"Everyone, scramble! Patton called Broken Arrow! Man your Strikers!"
"Holy shit, Toshiro!" Keiko shouted. "Let's go!"
As Toshiro was running out, he saw that Keiko took her camera. Once outside, he saw that the girls ran out of their tents. He fixed his eyes on Matilda and shouted, "Matilda, you will be going to, arm yourself. And no buts! Be it brute force or rank, I'm superior to you!"
She furled her eyebrows, but then she gave of a sly smile.
"Okay, let's see what you've got in store for me." She said and went back into the tent.
"The rest of you, Strikers, weapons, GO GO GO!" Toshiro commanded.
Toshiro waited a few seconds, and Matilda came out with a spear, and shield in her hands, a sling in her breast pocket and a sword probably hidden on her back.
"Going full contact?" Toshiro asked.
"Yes. But how will I get there on such a short notice?"
"Hehehehe…. MWAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Toshiro grabbed Matilda's hand; it was soft and firm at the same time. He ran off with her in the direction of the runway.
"Toshiro, what the hell are you planning!"
"You'll see!"
As they arrived, most of the girls were combat ready. Only Mami stood there like a dunce.
"Mami, what is it?" Toshiro asked.
"I can't decide if I should take a Bofors or the 88…"
"Take the 88; I'll carry ammo for you."
"Oh, cool!"
She picked up the enormous cannon. It had two recoil buffers mounted under main body of the cannon, and one over it. It only had iron sights on the side, and no autoloader to be sighted, because the breech was exposed. An ammo tray was protruding from the back of the cannon. The proportion of gun-to-barrel length was about 1:1.5, which Toshiro found weird, since everything was shorter that the barrel of his cannon.
"Cousin, those canisters." She pointed out to the big square canisters lying on the ground. Each one had a strap on it.
"Okay, wait a second."
Toshiro loaded the ammo backpack, loaded it, put it on his back, took his MG and cannon and said "Okay, tie a few canisters to the backpack, so I can pull shells out with one hand.
"Right!"
It took a minute, and four canisters, each with four SpGr. 39 HE shells were dangling from the backpack.
Toshiro and Mami boarded their Strikers.
"Matilda, get in the land Striker, and drive forward along the runway. Extend your hands to the side, and don't look back."
"I don't like this one bit, but supposedly you are a genius… You want to know something that will make you smile?"
"Yeah?"
"My Striker is a Britannian Matilda."
"Hahahahaha!"
As Matilda was mounting a Striker, Keiko started briefing them.
"Okay, Tina, Rai – you do your boom and zoom tactics as usual. Mami and Toshiro, you wreck hell from afar. And… Matilda?"
"She'll also take part, Keiko." Toshiro said.
"Oh… Well, she knows what to do."
"Oh, what about us?!" Shirley shouted. "We took the radio just in case!"
"Oh, you two… Yeager, you assist Tina. Lucchini, you'll be assisting Yeager. Give me the radio."
"Roger!" The two responded.
Matilda moved at a steady speed along the runway, and stopped in a position Toshiro told her too.
"Keiko, everything's ready it seems." Toshiro said.
"Then let's go! Everyone, go!"
The rumbling of the started Striker engines filled the desert air. Toshiro went first, grabbing Matilda from behind in her waist.
"Ho… Waaah! What are you doing!" She protested.
"Giving you a lift you stubborn lass!"
"I did not sign up for this when I became the Mistresses guardian!"
After thirteen minutes, they could the scale of the conflict. Multiple tank divisions were defending the fort from a mass of Neuroi, which would need someone with Area Analysis to count quickly. Keiko took the receiver of the radio and started reporting in.
"General Patton, come in! The cavalry has arrived!"
Despite the wind furling in Toshiro's earlobes, he could clearly hear Patton through the radio.
"Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeehaaw! About damn time! We are holed up in the fort, give those fuckers hell!"
"Yes sir!" She put the receiver back and shouted. "31st! Into battle!"
"Yeah!" They all shouted.
"Toshiro, let me go." Matilda said.
"Right now, letting you drop like a rock?"
"Yes. I'll be fine."
"Okay then… Bombs away!"
Toshiro let Matilda loose, and she soared down in with an arced trajectory, down to the ground. When she hit it, she made a big cloud of sand. She didn't wait for it to settle down, and she rushed out of the cloud, at the nearest Turtle Neuroi. It fired a beam at her, but she deflected it with a shield bash, and rammed her spear into its body. The Turtle exploded, and Matilda turned around. She gave everyone a thumb up, and went on to the next enemy.
Tina and Raisa flared up into the sky, followed by Shirley and Francesca. The two pairs then dived sharply, shooting an unholy amount of bullets at the enemies, bringing down five of them.
"So, Mami… Let the big guns roar!"
"Yes, Toshiro!"
She fired the first shot. The 88mm cannon spat fire, and soon a Turtle exploded.. She opened the breech, picked up a shell from a canister on her back and rammed it into the breach.
"Oh, you've never seen me shoot this gun, right, cousin?"
"Nope. But now I understand why you were looking at my cannon with such eyes."
"Heheheh… Well, guilty as charged. But now, please, start shooting!"
Toshiro pulled up the sights. There was an abundance of targets, but he picked those closest to the fort. He shot one round, and destroyed one Neuroi, he shot another one, and another Neuroi was destroyed. He repeated that thrice, until the mag went empty.
"Hoohoo, cousin… Now I want that gun even more!"
"Be a good girl, maybe I'll beg out one at uncle for ya, okay?"
"Okay!"
She fired another round and two more.
"Toshiro, I need a canister!"
"I got a better idea! I'll load with my left, and shoot with my right!"
"Crazy!"
"But it will work!"
"Right?"
"It should… I'll take the cannon then."
Toshiro reloaded his own cannon, and flew up to Mami. He pulled out a shell from one of the canisters on his back, opened the breech, placed the shell on the tray and rammed in the shell. All in a split second, thanks to Yuki.
"Loaded!"
"Who, what, why?!"
"Just shoot!"
Mami took aim and another Neuroi bit the dust. The Yuki controlled part of Toshiro nabbed two kills in the meantime, and then a third enemy was destroyed. Suddenly, a swarm of chalice shaped enemies burst out of the sand.
"Flying Goblets! Toshiro, protect me! Those shits are agile!"
"Right!"
"Yuki, no more fun with the cannon…"
"Awww…"
Toshiro holstered his cannon, and grabbed the MG. For added effect, he summoned Aganaimaru in to his left hand. He waited for some Goblets to pack together, and released a powered up Rending Gale, killing five Goblets. Toshiro started shooting at the rest with his MG, but as they say 'Nec Hercules contra plures'.
"Tina, get your shapely ass over here! We're being swarmed by Goblets!" Toshiro shouted through the transponder.
"Already on it! Look behind you!"
Toshiro looked back and saw Tina and Raisa sweeping through the sky and shooting at the Goblets, destroying the remainders that Toshiro couldn't bag.
She flew up to him, and with a snicker, she said, "So, even you need help?"
"I'm just conserving my energy, mind you…" Toshiro said while looking at the mass of enemies with the Hebigan active. "There, two heavies, a Scorpion and Turtle. I'll take them both on."
"Alone?"
"Pff, what is this to me…" Toshiro turned around to Mami. "Here, catch." He threw her his MG.
"Okay, thanks! What are you planning?"
"See for yourself!"
Toshiro dived down in the direction of the Heavy Turtle. A layer of five shields appeared before him, tightly packed. The first shield was in the shape of a prong. He drew his sword, and loaded it with magical energy, as a precaution. The Neuroi saw him, and fired its beams at him, but the prong shaped shield deflected the beams valiantly. Then, with a speed of about 1200 km/h, he rammed through the Neuroi, destroying it into pieces. The last shield was left intact, and his sword didn't need to be used. At least not yet, because he made a tight turn and went on to the Scorpion. It also shot beams at Toshiro, but thanks to Yuki's powers, Toshiro simply evaded them.
A hundred meters before the enemy, Toshiro released a Reppuzan. It cut the Neuroi exactly in half, and it exploded.
The rest of the Neuroi seemingly started to panic, as they started retreating from the walls of the fort. The 31st and Patton's tank battalion used the occasion, and peppered their hinds with lead. The sight of the T30 firing it is enormous, ground shaking cannon was worth the effort.
"Cannon to right of them,
Cannon to left of them,
Cannon in front of them
Volley'd and thunder'd;
Storm'd at with shot and shell,
Boldly they rode and well,
Into the jaws of Death,
Into the mouth of Hell
Rode the six hundred."
"Remembering another poem, Toshiro?"
"I thought it fitted the mood…"
"It does… It does…"
After everything calmed down, the girls flew down to Toshiro.
"So that was what you meant by sword techniques… Not bad…" Keiko said with respect.
"Two heavies in one go! Blasphemer! Show off!" Tina pouted.
"Hahah! My cousin! You da man!" Mami cheered.
"Good job, Toshiro." Raisa congratulated him with dignity.
"WHAT ABOUT ME?!" A voice was heard from the ground.
Everyone looked down, and they saw Matilda with a broken spear and her sword.
"How much?" Tina asked.
"Twenty, Mistress!" Matilda answered proudly.
"With a spear, shield and a bent sword… I'm going to cry…" Tina mumbled.
"Will you all shut the fuck up and come over here already?!" A male voice was heard from the direction of the fort.
They all looked there, and saw Patton standing on the wall. They flew up to the wall where he stood.
"You girls sure know how to make some noise, I'll be damned… And you son, seriously, please, don't be my enemy, never!"
"Of course, General, hahaha!" Toshiro laughed.
"Thanks to the immediate backup of you lot, we managed to survive with minimal casualties. God bless you all. Now scram, I have to tend to my soldiers."
"Moors… Moors I say…" Toshiro muttered.
"Oh shush…" Tina said and nudged him in the ribs.
"Okay gang, let's get back. Toshiro, pick up Matilda please."
"Kay."
Toshiro flew down to Matilda, and seeing him, she already assumed position.
"You are a fast learner, Matilda."
"I just don't want to make this any longer…"
The whole unit returned to the base, where they celebrated yet another victory over the enemy.
Of course the name of Tina's familiar is 100% non-canon.
The name of the poem that Toshiro was 'reciting' is 'The Charge of the Light Brigade'. asqwerty3345, where are you, you derp?!
And if you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]
