Chapter 43: Surprise.

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We returned by the same road that took us to this district, until we reached the river; Then I thought there might be a better way to get to Metz. Town that Frau Katze had mentioned to be the place where we would give the last push to the land army of the neuroi, for that reason it should not be precisely near Paris.

I opened the browser once more and checked the straight line distance that separated us from Metz; almost two hundred and ninety-two kilometers, if the trip from Chartres to Paris was almost ninety and it took us all morning to get there, it would take us a week to reach Metze since there would almost certainly there be enemies in between.

If we add the possible skirmishes with the enormous distance we had to travel, it will take us at least a month, but Frau Katze had given us a month to complete the investigation mission, get to Metz and retake it and push the remaining neurois out of the border. We just didn't have time to do all of that. And knowing Frau Katze, I had surely already assured the fallschirmjager commanders that we would arrive in time and enough to join the front.

So I had to think of an alternative, the clearest was to find a way to cross the distance that separated us from our objective as quickly and stealthily as possible; the only one I could think of was to use the country's rivers and some roads when it suited us best to traverse the land at travel speed. But that had a clear obstacle; none of my companions knew how to execute any of the spells involved in the "travel form".

Sybilla, is it possible to connect directly to another supervisor?
Not for you. What has occurred to you? I still don't have full access to all of your consciousness.
Take note. It is not possible for me, but what about you?
For me yes, perfectly possible. In fact the three supervisors maintain a connection to communicate and maintain the times of the plan for the mission. What do you want to transmit?
Could you pass on all the basics of travel form spells to be "taught" to their linnet soldiers in the same way that you taught me languages?
Don't call it that, it sounds really bad. They are soldiers but not linnet.
What would you call them, is it possible what I asked you?
It is, you would have to prepare the communication channel because there is a lot of data; But it can. And I have already told you that the official term is "chosen" not linnet.
If it is a yes, hurry up and carry out the transmission of knowledge. My team should have learned all of that before, and in fact we should have crossed the English Channel without joining the invasion a long time ago. Learning it today will return us to a point in time for what is to come. This will come in handy.
I agree but maybe you should explain what is going to happen, or do you want me to remind you of what it hurt to learn Karlslander?
Ugh. No, it's not necessary. I will notify you, but nothing I say will prepare you for the download of information.

-Let's see guys, let's stop for a moment.-
-Weren't we in a hurry to get to Metz?- Georgie asks.
-Yes but at the current speed we would not arrive even next month if we go on the roads so you are going to learn the basics of the way of traveling and, with this, we will go through the rivers until you can go no further, then we will go to the roads.-

The twins jumped together and clasped hands while they were in the air.

-Yes! We will learn the travel form. Finally it is over taking eight hours to go from one place to another.- exclaims Tommy excitedly.
-Right? We could even use the travel form to visit other distant countries. Can we go to Fuso? - Iona asks even more excited than her brother.
-Yes but not today. Today I need you to calm down for a moment and sit down. Because today's session is going to be "intense" .- I informed everyone making the quotation marks with my fingers.
-What does that mean?- Georgie asks, somewhat irritated.
-Do you remember the arrest we spent in that bunker in Britannia, as this could even hurt.-

Georgie went pale, and sat up immediately, which made the twins follow her lead and sit on the floor as well.

There you have it. All yours, your turn.
I think you should have told them directly.
It can, but it would have taken more than an hour for them to understand, however if your supervisor tells you it will only be a couple of seconds at most. Start the broadcast and have the supervisors explain what will happen.
Aye aye, my captain.
Don't hesitate, Sybilla ...
Hahahaha, I will continue doing it all your life; It is one of the few pleasures I have left.
As you like…

I lean against the stone railing platform of the bridge while I hope that the "extraction" of the lesson is not as painful as the discharge that my classmates will feel.

Before I get ready I watch Georgie open her eyes wide and the twins turn red like tomatoes as they hold hands and squeeze hard; I can hear some bones creak and I hurry to release them and have my hands caught in my gauntlets to avoid hurting each other.

The twins have more physical strength than they appear, my gauntlets are made of hardened steel and withstand the force but I can feel the pressure from their fingers. I turn to check Georgie's condition, she's tense and stiff as a plank; this situation lasts for a few more seconds, then Georgie begins to relax his posture and regain color.

For their part, the twins stop exerting pressure, Tommy has tears in his eyes and Iona's tears run down her cheeks.

-Sorry guys. But it was the only way to get it on time. Could you forgive me?-
-Only if you travel next to me while sailing on the Seine.- Georgie responds with renewed strength.
-Of course, I see no problem.- In fact, if I manage to lose all fear of navigating over the water that I had during my first then it is done. Wait for everyone to recover. -Now we will go to the river and cross the city by the water, then we will turn off into a tributary; the Marne, and we will go up the river to a town called Recy, there we will take the road that leads to Metz. Since the neurois avoid water, practically all the way can be traveled without setbacks, then in the last stage of the road we may have to fight but it will be the odd quick skirmish like the ones we had when we jumped off the plane a week ago. I do not expect to break the barrier with you but if I achieve a decent speed of two or three hundred kilometers per hour, which will reduce our journey to two or three hours until we take the land route and then everything will depend on the number of enemies that we find before we get to Metz. Any questions?-

Iona raised her hand and waited for me to give the word with a gesture. -It is the first time that we are going to use this spell or technique, could you not give us time to get used to it?-

-Yes, my sister is right, I don't think even you have thought about this technique and you have thrown yourself directly on a trip over the water without first testing the limits.- Tommy added agreeing with his sister.
-Partly you are right and partly you are wrong Tommy. I did try it before taking the long trip but not as extensively as you think. In fact, I still don't know what the limit is. And I haven't been able to use it much lately to check the limit.-
-Then if you don't mind, I'll practice on the shore trying not to sink into the water.- Then he will have to keep his promise.- Georgie said a little nervous at the moment.
-I have not promised you anything but I will shake your hand throughout the trip if that makes you feel calmer.- I replied to Georgie making it clear that I was not going to commit to anything unusual but that I would be there to give her the support he needed .

Accompany my team to the riverbank to test the aquatic sustentation spell without sinking more than ten centimeters.

As expected Tommy and Iona managed it in just half an hour, of course, with all the theoretical basis that had been passed on to everyone. But it was normal, this kind of phenomenon is studied in the institute in our time; while at the time we were in today they may not even have taught us how to calculate square roots or the equation of the function of the second degree.

The twins had a broader and more stable theoretical base than Georgie, who was limited by her time.

-Come on, Georgie.- Georgie looked at Iona who held her thumb up to reassure her. Georgie finally approached me. -Think or remember when you pour fine sugar on the tea, if you spread it over the entire surface of the liquid it will keep floating but if you accumulate more than the account at one point everything will sink. It is the same principle. If you apply mana to the contact surface of your units you get the resistance of the water to increase and you will not sink in the water, in the river; for being of non-salty water; you will have to use more mana than in the sea. Salt improves buoyancy.- I instructed Georgie with the calmest tone and the most didactic speech I could assemble.
-I understand, it makes sense. I'll try. But take me by the hand, I don't want to sink.- Georgie replied with an embarrassed tone.
-If you sink it will only be about ten centimeters of water, it is not as if you were going to drown in the river.- I noticed a penetrating look behind me, when I turned I saw the twins looking at me very hard. Maybe I had overtaken her. Should I treat Georgie with more tenderness? I sighed. -Okay, I'll take you from the hand if that calms you down and makes you focus better on your experimentation.-Georgie's face soon lit up, although it didn't last long, because when I took her hand under her gaze and she blushed.

Georgie sank down to the first wheel of her unit as soon as she got into the water, I recommended that she watch me while I was performing the technique, and then I took off the gauntlets and held her hand so I could watch and feel the flow of mana in my Body. And so I could better understand the principle. She turned so red when I took her hand that I thought she had a fever.

I asked her to focus on hardening my voice a little. She closed her eyes and little by little the redness subsided until she was in her original skin tone, then she opened her eyes and her gaze was now of complete decision.

She tried again and only sank two centimeters into the water, she was definitely floating but still not good enough for a three hundred kilometer trip.

I asked her again to focus and try to ignore my behavior. I approached her from behind and grabbed her by the hips, then activated my own version of the spell but through her own; forcing the mana to go where it should.

When I parted Georgie tried it herself and she did it. Her face was one of complete happiness and illusion, like that of a child who passes a final exam after months of study.

When we were all ready we activated our respective forms of travel.

-Okay, guys, as we do not know what the maximum speed of each unit will be, we will try to stay together until we reach the maximum speed, then we equate ourselves to the slowest.-
-It's the same. We already know who will be the fastest and the slowest.- Iona intervened with a confident smile and looked at Georgie's huge units.
-Oh yeah? Tell me then who occupy those positions if you see it so clearly.-
-It's normal.- Tommy answered giving himself an air of greatness.- My sister or I will be the fastest and Georgie the slowest.-
-The first time I made a trip by sea they were a little more than four thousand kilometers and I traveled approximately half of them to Mach 4. Do you think you can overcome that speed?- Tommy and Iona closed their mouths instantly. -I said that we would go at the speed of the slowest, the slowest will be the one that cannot derive more energy from its units. It is normal that you think that it will be Georgie but not for wearing a churchill but because it is the only one that can use shields. Must I remind you that he can also perform reconnaissance work at the ninja level with her huge, heavy and noisy unit?- That was a low blow but he couldn't let them belittle a component of the team, we each have different abilities; that was the thing that made us a good team and that is the usual problem in witch corps squads; all or almost all witches are equal in abilities and skills.

With everything ready I gave them a few more minutes to "play" with their new technique, perfecting the use, thus they managed to get used to its use and the technique itself with practice.

After a few minutes with the twins doing their own number of "water skating" in pairs and a walk with Georgie and I holding hands I thought we were ready to travel the river at full speed.

I soon accelerated from the thrill of being able to travel a distance over water at high speed again. Pulling on Georgie, who had no choice but to accelerate equally. We arrive at a pleasant one hundred and eighty kilometers per hour, we continue meandering through the meanders of the Seine river while the twins crossed our path and crossing in front and behind making quick passes with aircraft or, in this case aerial witches.

In a few minutes we reached the bridge where the radios had been mounted and which he had visited two days ago. Accelerating the pace to exceed two hundred kilometers, Georgie seemed to have a hard time applying the friction spell and I forced the mana of her body to learn the technique in the same way that she had learned before with the aquatic lift.

Then gradually she applies it too and we arrive at a more than decent speed.

An aerial witch goes down to the river level and equates her speed with ours, is the woman who lifted me up in the tower.

-Hello colonel. What brings you to the river today? - Ask amused by the situation generated.
-I could ask that, Captain. But before that, how can you do this? - The witch asked pointing to our units on the water and without any trace of magic, or at least not visibly.
-Hahaha. This is just one of the techniques of the first battalion but applied for a more practical purpose.- I answered while laughing.
-No, I meant. How? - The woman seemed confused. As if I've never seen anything like this. In his squad there must have been only Liberian witches, if he had been in contact with Fuso witches this did not seem I would miss nothing.
-I have no answer to that, Colonel. After all these techniques are not available to the witches of the League.-
-Where are you going? We can escort you.- The woman offered. It was already the third or fourth time she offered me help, why was she being so heavy on the escort or help issue?
-Colonel, that won't be necessary. After all the enemies avoid contact with the water, if we stay in the river everything will be fine until our destination.- I avoided having to tell her where we were going or what our mission was. Why was the Liberian trying to find out where we were going or what mission we had?
-You hasn't answered where you are going yet.- The flying woman replies annoyed.
-I don't know why I should answer, ma'am.- Now she seemed upset when I called her "madam."
-Because I have a higher graduation than you, and I am still nobody's lady.- The heavy witch that did not leave us in peace responded annoyed and with an exasperated tone. We were near the turnoff to the River Marne.
-I received orders directly from Frau Katze, if you have not received similar orders then you must stay here. And I refuse to call a woman older than me miss.- Like that last comment was superfluous, because it made the witch's face change from annoyance to anger.
-I'm not much older than you, captain. And where do I come from if an officer asks you a question, you answer him.- The witch blurts out on the edge of her patience.
-Where do I come from, an officer doesn't ask you that kind of question because he's supposed to either not know it or he already knows what orders each unit has. That is the difference between Karlsland organization and Liberion's free will.-
-This conversation is over, captain. I will write a warning to your "Fradu kache". Or whatever your superior colonel's name is. -The witch started to walk away.
-It's Frau Katze, it means "catwoman" is the nickname of General Galland, our direct superior. And have a good day, Colonel. - With that answer, the face of the annoying witch soon changed to amazement and pallor when she heard that our superior, who gave us the orders and to whom we responded directly, was the general chairwoman of the organization to which she also belonged.

Then we began to increase the distance between her and our squad and, although she followed us from the air as we veered off the tributary, we soon left her behind.

The witch seemed reluctant to leave contact. Tommy suggested that we adopt it, that we ask Galland to make it our personal air support. Take a mental note, it might be a good idea to get more help, just I wouldn't ask for that particular witch to be.

We use all the flow of the river to relax and enjoy the trip. During the journey we saw several turtle-type enemies that simply pointed their strange guns at us but seemed to keep their distance from the water and, obviously, from us.

At some points we simply skip the meanders and take small detours temporarily going overland to return to the water a few meters later, all with the purpose of shortening the path.

When we reached the village in question, through which we had to turn off to take the road to Marne, a turtle was waiting for us. It seemed as if they knew where we were going and simply waited patiently for us.

Using the tactical advantage that the river offered us, we fired as soon as we set a target, knocking down all the enemies even before making landing again.

We arrived at the town called La Veuve, four houses that were also three of them half-destroyed or had been taken by nature. One seemed intact but when we got closer we discovered that only the wall that we could see was intact; the rest had disappeared.

Bad news for families who have been evacuated from this area.

A quick glance at the area informed us that a huge number of turtles were marching towards Metz, and like us they were following the main path.

It goes without saying what the action plan would be. We all assumed combat positions and began chasing a large group of enemies who were probably going to try to clamp down on Metz's forces.

We were not going to allow something like this, especially when the enemy force was right in front of us.

We apply the "hit and run" tactic successively as the main body becomes disorganized, finally when we have eliminated about thirty percent of the forces, all the enemies suddenly stop and turn around. Apparently they finally considered us a greater threat than the forces stationed at Metz.

The turtles soon began to form in defensive formations to try to end the threat from the rear. The good thing is that among the rattle of hundreds of legs we also begin to hear the roar of propeller motors. The reinforcements had arrived, well for us they were reinforcements but they really must be the intercepting force that was coming to prevent most of the turtles from reaching Metz.

The sound of the engines began to grow louder and louder and some turtles turned around in total confusion when they noticed that the same tactic was going to be applied to them. Moment used by the twins to destroy the turtles that were stupid enough to turn their backs in front of an enemy.

Something fell from the sky and four turtles exploded. Something or someone was bombarding the turtles, then that "something" took flight again and we understood that it was a witch.

The witch had swooped down and used the kinetic energy accumulated in the descent to shoot the turtles down and then rise again from the ground. This witch was followed shortly after by others and confusion prevailed among the turtles, at all times taken advantage of by me and my companions to cause the greatest possible destruction.

We all started the attack together and in a few minutes we finished with the last of the enemies. Then we continue on towards Metz escorted by these witches Karlslanders or at least closely followed by them.

In a few more minutes, almost an hour, we reached Metz. It was fortified, dozens of sandbags and concrete blocks "adorned" its streets and buildings.

As we arrived at the "gate" of the town, land witches equipped with einhorn units made way for us by stepping aside. One of the witches with einhorn units approached us, this witch seemed much more mature than the rest of the girls, not that she was taller or better formed but that she simply had another face; there was also the fact that the collar of her uniform had the stripes of leutnant; lieutenant.

-We were waiting for you. General Galland announced your arrival, but we did not expect you to be in such a hurry to arrive. Anyway, welcome to Metz. - Then the witch stepped aside and kindly offered us the address, pointing with one hand towards the center of town.

We thank her for the kind treatment and we continue on.

As we advanced we saw how the Karlslanders had transformed the town into a small fortress. We heard the engines of the witches who came to meet the force we were following from La Veuve. They had used one of the widest streets as a makeshift airstrip for witches.

A girl landed, got rid of her units as quickly and efficiently as possible, and since I knew how the situation was going to end, I said goodbye to my team and told them I would look for the command post to report before that witch approached. Even my team asked how a boy used units. I left Tommy alone with the good problem, he was not alone; he had two young ladies to escort him and give him support.

I asked one of the mechanics, I chose an older one to minimize the possibility that he had never seen one like me and thus avoid the uncomfortable situation.

It worked, the man was surprised to see another like me, he said that it had been a long time since he saw one like me; Then he showed me the way to the command post.

About fifteen minutes later, I somehow managed to get to the command post. Established in the town hall, very appropriate.

I entered the building asking for someone from the witch corps command. A man in a panzer corps uniform approached me, he held the same rank as me.

-Herr Hauptmann, we were waiting for you although I must say not so soon. Follow me around here please.- I followed the man and we went up the stairs to another floor, halfway the man stopped and turned round towards me.- Ohh, you don't need to take the equipped units. You can also leave them in the repair area, there they will treat it as it should.
-No, I'll take them with me. If necessary now I will leave them in the hall but then they will come with me. You do not think that you entrust your panzer to anyone who does not know.- The man understood immediately and waited for me, allowing me to unbalance the units and then I returned with him. The height difference was brutal.
-I understand, Herr Hauptmann. I also wouldn't leave my panzer in someone's hands without knowing that person personally. Now follow me please. I have to give you some documents. The General entrusted the delivery to me and my crew.-
-What is it about? To have to give me the documents in hand it must be important or serious.-
-Important yes, it is personal. So it must be delivered by hand.- The man entered a room full of piles of papers and folders, I stood on the threshold of the door before such disorder.
-It must be very important for them to hand that over to me, don't you think?-

The man began to search through the multiple piles of papers, folders, and packages. He returned shortly to where I had stayed, he had a wide smile on his face.

-Congratulations. It may seem a little late. More after everything that should have happened, but it's never too late for this kind of thing. Isn't it?-

The man gave me a very large envelope. Instead of looking at the sender or the stamps I simply opened it and extracted the content; some sheets stapled together. I tried to read something but did not understand anything of what it said.

What the hell does put it here? It is as if it is in an alien language.
It's Suomi, the Finns here. I can translate it for you… Ohhh. Congratulations Erik.
And why is that?

-I see. You don't understand anything.- The man looked at my face, his gaze was affective and full of understanding.- Then, nothing more to say.-
-What? No, come tell me what you put on these pages. Or at least tell me what this is all about. Earlier you congratulated me and said it was personal and important for what Frau Katze must have told you was this envelope. Please Herr Hauptmann.- I implored the man.
-Frau Katze, I see. I will call her that as well from now on.- The man shortened the distance between us.- Well, you see that is a notification of adoption. Now you have a family. Unfortunately I cannot read what it says there either so I cannot be of more help.-

I thanked the captain and, with the same face that had remained after receiving the news, I went to my units on the ground floor. I outfitted them, sighed heavily, and put the papers in my backpack. Now I had a reason to get on Suomus during the permission that Frau Katze would grant us after the operation in this town.


Okay, this is all. Apparently he'll give me another chapter before the interlude.
Write if you want me to answer a question.