The work was written for entertainment purposes and all characters belong to their respective owners.

Chapter 7: Memories

Moscow, Russian Federation

February 1, 2026

"So we are going to lose the war, aren't we Nicholai?" Nicholai sighed as his sister looked at him, fear and worry evident. They were at her favorite cafe but what would usually be a busy time for people to relax and enjoy, it was pretty much empty. Most people did not venture outside much anymore for fear of a NATO bombing raid or many of them were already on the frontlines, either still there or already dead.

"NATO is pushing us out of Poland, Estonia, and Lithuania. The front in Finland is at a stalemate but that will not last long and our Far East defensive line that we had with the Chinese and North Koreans is crumbling," Nicholai replied, taking a gulp from his coffee. He had just returned from the Far East defensive line and what he saw there was nothing good: desperate soldiers trying to hold back the Americans and their allies, the defeat of the Chinese fleet in the South China Sea, the fall of Pyongyang, and more embarrassingly the fall of Vladivostok to the Americans.

"But the news said….."

"The news are just saying what the politicians want them to say! Do you think they would tell the public that we are losing the war those fools gambled on," Nicholai exclaimed.

"Nicholai, please keep quiet," his sister tried to hush him as she looked around to see that not many people were paying them any attention.

"This war is lost… and now all we can do is make sure the capitalists do not reach Moscow or worse," Nicholai stated, quieter this time.

"How can we do that? If what you are saying is true, then NATO will be preparing to launch an invasion on the Motherland," his sister replied.

"There is one way…." Nicholai didn't finish his sentence as he looked at his sister but his eyes told her all she needed to know.

Her eyes widened and then looked down, gripping her skirt. There was silence amongst the two before she was the one to say something first.

"What you are suggesting is treason Nicholai," his sister stated quietly.

"There are many who do not want to see the Motherland suffer like it did during the Great Patriotic War. Father even said before that one must make difficult and hard decisions for our nation to survive. Which is why I am asking that you and your family leave Moscow," Nicholai replied back.

His sister looked at him with a sad smile, "And where would we go? Moscow has always been our home and we do not have many relatives outside of Moscow and St. Petersburg." Nicholai grimaced at that. St. Petersburg was the subject of NATO bombing last month and was the last place that Nicholai wanted his sister and her family to go.

"If that is the case, then please be careful. If you run into any issues, let me know so I can see if I can have someone to look after your family," Nicholai stated.

His sister nodded and then took a look at her watch, "I should be going now. Anya should be getting out of school soon so I have to go pick her up."

Nicholai nodded as the two got up. The two then embraced each other to say their good-byes.

"Stay safe and good luck Nicholai," His sister told him.

"And you as well Lisichka," Nicholai replied, using the nickname their father gave her as a kid.


"Nicholai!" Nicholai opened his eyes. He looked around and saw that he was not in Moscow but in an aircraft. He shook his head to clear his head and remembered where he was. He was in an F-4 fighter and they had just landed from their recent engagement. He had passed out after shutting off the engines. He looked up to see Andrew was looking at him with a worried look.

"You ok? Alexa called out to say you passed out so I ran over as soon as I parked my Tomcat," Andrew said, offering Nicholai a hand. He took it and Andrew helped Nicholai out of the aircraft.

"I am fine. Just my old age is tiring me out," Nicholai replied. Andrew took a look at Nicholai's face and could tell that was not it but let it slide.

"Ok then. Well, now that we have the Orussians coming here, we can finally get your Fulcrum fixed now," Andrew said, motioning with his head. Nicholai turned just in time to see two Orussian MIG-29S Fulcrums landing and closely behind it an IL-78 Midas landing with them.

"I heard the Orussians are currently flying air convoys to here and other bases in the region. We should also be seeing other squadrons and reinforcements from Liberion, Karlsland and Romagna. Other nations are sending reinforcements but they will arrive later," Andrew stated. Nicholai nodded at those words. It was in their briefing they got the other day but all of that was not that important to Nicholai.

What was important were the two witches approaching them.

One of them was wearing the standard issue tanned uniform of the Soviet Army during this time. It was a short sleeved shirt with the air force shoulder boards on. She had a greenish tie with a tie holder near the top. On her hip was a holster, probably for her pistol, and another containing an extra magazine. She has black stockings on along with dark greyish knee-high boots. She also wore the officer cap with her blond hair tied up into a ponytail.

Next to her was another witch but instead of the tan uniform it was in a much more dark grey color. She had on a grey garrison cap and a grey tie with a tie holder on it as well. Her shoulder boards and insignia were different from the other witch but that just could be the uniform difference. She also had black stockings and both witches had the Red Star on both of their caps.

But what got most of Andrew and Nicholai's attention was that the witch had a big burn scar on the left of her face.

Andrew signaled Yusuke, who was walking over to hurry while Alexa got out of the phantom and got next to Nicholai.

"Nicholai, she looks like-"

"I know," Nicholai stated firmly. Alexa gulped and stopped there. It has been a long time since she has seen him this on edge.

The two witches approached the group and the one in the tan uniform asked, "Would you all be the ones that flew on the recent mission?"

"That would be us ma'am. Lieutenant Commander Andrew W. Vandegrift," Andrew stated, giving her a salute as seeing she is higher in rank from him. The others also saluted her as well when they saw andrew doing it. The witch smiled and saluted them back.

"I am Lieutenant Colonel Anna Valentinova Vaschenko of the Orussian Federation Air Force 13th Independent Imperial Flying Guard Group, commander of the 14th Air Witch Brigade. This is Senior Lieutenant Dina Danilovna Denisova, she is my wingman. We would both like to commend you for holding out as well as apologize for arriving a bit late," Anna said.

The moment Andrew heard who the second person was, he stiffened. He had heard the name before, as a certain Russian told him about his past when he first joined the squadron. He glanced over to Nicholai who showed little emotion on his face but Andrew could see in his eyes that he was holding back the emotions.

Of course, this did not go unnoticed by Dina who also glanced over to Nicholai. For some reason, she felt a familiarity with this man. He even used the old nickname that her father gave her when she was little. How did this man know this?

"If I may ask," Dina spoke up, getting everyone's attention and then looking at Nicholai, "Were you the one I talked to?"

"Yes, that would be me. I am Senior Lieutenant Nicholai Ivanov," Nicholai introduced himself.

Time froze for DIna as she recognized that name. How could she not as it has been years since she had heard of that name. The last time she heard that name was so many years ago, back when….

Dina took a step back as she shook her head.

"No, it can't be…. You…."

"Lieutenant?" Anna asked, getting worried. For all the years she had known Dina, it has been a long time since she saw her like this.

"It just can't be…." DIna muttered. It was then Andrew chimed in.

"I think we owe an explanation for this. Um, how about we go inside first? Get a cup of coffee and sit down. This could take awhile," Andrew suggested. When he got nods from both witches, the group went inside, away from any prying eyes.


A few hours later

Anna sighed as she sat on her bed. On her lap, Dina was sleeping though from the red eyes she had been crying for some time. Anna still couldn't wrap her head around it even after asking and getting confirmation from the Britannian witch officer on this base.

Those 4 pilots were from a different universe and that Nicholai was Dina's long dead brother.

Anna sighed as she remembered how Dina reacted: first doubt, then denial and then anger with a mix of sadness as she actually attacked Nicholai when he tried to calm her down. Dina is usually quiet in nature, given her past but this was the first time that she had seen Dina show that much emotion, They eventually were able to get her off but then she ran out the room right after. Dina went after her and eventually found her crouched down outside a hangar. She approached Dina and saw her shaking. Anna stayed with her until she finally just passed out from the emotional and physical strain. Anna then helped carry Dina back to their room that was assigned to them and has stayed with the girl until now.

"Poor girl. She lost everything, went through so much hardships and when she finally was able to put her horrible past behind, it just came back," Dina said to herself. She doesn't blame Nicholai, the man was being honest and Anna can tell he wasn't lying given the hurt look on his face when Dina ran, but she just still couldn't wrap her head around it.

Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Anna gently removed Dina from her lap and went to the door. When she opened it, she saw that it was Major Annabelle Mcguiness of the Britannian witch squadron stationed here.

"Good evening Lt. Col. I hope I did not arrive at a bad time?" Annabelle asked.

"Oh, not at all major. Please, come in," Anna replied. She stood by to let Annabelle walk in. She then closed the door and took a seat on the bed while Annabelle sat on a chair in the room.

"I am here to tell you that Lt. Commander Vandegrift and Senior Lieutenant Ivanov wish to express a humble apology to you and to Lt. Denisova," Annabelle began. Anna then held up a hand.

"Major, please, that is not necessary. They are not at fault for anything. It is just that, it is a lot to take in. For them to be from a different universe or even one of them being Dina's brother was just a lot to take in," Anna replied.

"I must admit that I too had some doubts about where they came from. But as they explained it and from what I can see, they are indeed from another world. They have information regarding some projects that even many of us do not know and their aircraft are vastly superior to ours. I have not seen a Tomcat go as fast and maneuver as well as the one the Lt. Commander flies," Annabelle explained. Anna nodded to this as well. From what she was able to see, she saw how the Tomcat was able to maneuver as well as accelerate at a quick rate. From her knowledge, the F-14As that the Liberions and Fuso have do not have powerful enough engines to do those maneuvers.

"I admit, I was a bit curious when I first saw the Tomcat. It's just surreal. People from a world where there are no Neuroi but instead people fighting each other. If that were to happen here…." Anna didn't finish that sentence. The thought of having to fight another human being, another witch…. That was something Anna did not want to think about.

"I know, I feel the same way too. But from what I can tell, these pilots also do not wish to see that here as well. They volunteered to help even when they are not obligated to. That is why I can trust them. And that is why they also wish to apologize since they really do not mean any mean will towards Lt. Denisova," Annabelle replied.

Anna thought about that. When they were trying to explain their world, Andrew and Nicholai would do their best to use words to not anger her and Dina. Their words and their actions showed that they really are just trying to explain their world to them.

"I have no ill will towards them. They do seem like nice people. And they have done what they can to help us in this world. So, they are good people, it is just a lot of information to take in," Anna noted.

"I understand. I was the same as well," Annabelle then took a look at her watch, "It is getting late now so I should leave."

"Oh, let me walk you out," Anna said. Both girls got up and walked to the door. As Annabell walked out, she turned back to Anna.

"We have a morning briefing at 0900 hours for the day's mission. The mess hall opens at 0600 hours so that should give you enough time to get some dinner."

"Thank you for that information and have a nice evening Major," Anna replied with a smile. They both saluted and Anna closed the door. She then made her way back to her bed and looked at DIna, who was sleeping.

"Sleep well, Dina. I have a feeling this mission will be an exciting one," Anna said to herself.


At the same time

Off the cost of the Kingdom of Jazira

Elisa sat at her desk, writing condolences to the families of the crew that had died in the attack. After finishing the last one, she leaned in her seat and sighed.

"I still can't believe how lucky we got," Elisa said to herself. She then looked over to her computer, which had footage of the Missouri. They also had a missile that was targeted at them and they were able to destroy it before it reached them. However, the captain of the battleship sent her a video showing what had happened. She watched the video, she couldn't believe it herself. The missile was actively avoiding the CIWS fire and it took the ship's HELIOS Laser Weapon System to destroy it. She watched as the laser directed itself towards the missile and then shot a laser at it. After a few seconds, the missile exploded but instead of the fireball that she is used to seeing, it instead exploded into white particles that harmlessly hit the battleship.

"So, at least this can also confirm what those girls are saying is true then: we really are dealing with aliens," Elisa said. She then leaned into her seat and sighed, recalling the odd debriefing earlier in the day.


A few hours before

"The fires have pretty much out now. We are working on repairs on certain electronics but so far, everything seems to be ok," Elisa listened to one of the engineers as she made her way to the flight deck. As she walked, she passed by engineers and electricians working on the ship to get the systems that are not working back online as fast as possible.

"And the destroyed aircraft?" Elisa asked.

"They have been pushed overboard. We used one of the side elevators to push them off the ship," the engineer replied. Elisa nodded as they climbed a set of stairs. Once they reached the top, there was a door that led to the flight deck. Elisa opened it and what appeared before her was a surprising view.

The damage to the flight deck was not that severe so the Kestrel was able to recover their aircraft. As she saw, one of Mako's Tomcats was being towed to the elevator to return to the hangar but instead the crew and the pilots in the Tomcat were looking at something else. As Elisa looked around, the rest of the crew were also looking in one direction, their faces either surprised or slightly worried. Elisa looked at the direction and she can see why. There near catapult #2 were ten girls of various ages, all wearing a variation of a white navy uniform. Some of the girls had baseball caps while others had none. However, those were all a bit minor as Elisa realized something a bit more important: none of the girls are wearing any pants!

"Um," the engineer started but Elisa held up her hand.

"Not one word," Elisa said, sighing. She then took a deep breath and walked over to the group. As she made her way to them, she was flanked by two marines from the ship's security detachment, not wanting to take any chances as the girls were all armed to the teeth.

As Elisa approached one of the older girls noticed her approaching and then, seeing her rank, stood at attention.

"Officer on deck!" The girl yelled. All the other girls who were talking amongst themselves or not paying attention all stood at attention and as one saluted Elisa.

'They have excellent discipline,' Elisa thought to herself as she glanced over the girls. All of them had some sort of combat webbing, an electronic bracelet and glasses that Elisa deduced could be their version of an aircraft's HUD.

Elisa also noticed that most of the girls were carrying older Howa Type 64 rifles, with a few carrying Type 89s with one carrying a Type 64 that has a scope on it and a machine gun that looks like a beefed up Type 62 machine gun.

"I am Captain Elisa, captain of the UNFS Kestrel. May I ask who is in charge of all of you?" Elisa asked. She saw one of the girls raise her hand.

"That would be me, I am Lieutenant Commander Akiko Masuda. I am the commanding officer of Vanguard squadron, attached to the carrier Yoryu of the Imperial Fuso Navy," Akiko replied. Elisa's eyes widened as did the engineers. The marines were better at containing it but one did raise an eyebrow at the information.

"Um, ok. May I ask how old you are?" Elisa asked.

"I am 18 ma'am," Akiko replied without hesitation.

'How the hell is a 18 year old a lieutenant commander?!' Elisa thought in her head. She then just took a deep breath and nodded.

"Right, ok. We will escort you to the debriefing room. However, I ask that you please hand over your weapons to my marines for safe keeping," Elisa said, motioning to the two marines. Behind her, another pair of marines approached to help as well.

One of the witches, a girl with dark blue hair underneath a baseball cap and ponytail, frowned and glared, "Why? We aren't a threat to you guys? And we aren't some recruits or newbies who would make a simple mistake." The witch then stepped forward.

"Watanabe-" Akiko warned but was cut off by 4 clicks. She turned and to her surprise saw that the 4 marines that flanks the captain are now pointing their rifles at Watanabe and Akiko can truly see these people were different as their rifles had more accessories on them than standard rifles she is used to seeing.

The other witches were also surprised with Watanabe also being shocked. Though she recovered quickly as she growled and swung her Type 89 rifle and pointed it at the marines as well.

"Watanabe, stand down now!" Akiko yelled as she began to become nervous. She looked around and everyone on the flight deck was looking their way.

Elisa, for her part, didn't flinch. She stepped forward and placed her hands on the two marine's rifles, lowering them. She then walked in front of Watanabe's rifle.

"I understand that you are a bit defensive on this but understand from our perspective. We do not know who you are and my ship got hit by a missile. Most of my sailors and marines are a bit on edge right now. Plus, while 3 of you girls did help us and I am grateful for that, it would be best that your weapons are stored in one location. This isn't about me trusting you but it is for safety concerns. Outside of the marine guards, all of our weapons are usually stored in a weapons locker. So, in this case, we will be placing your weapons near your um… fighters," Elisa said as she glanced over to the side. There she saw 9 things that looked like F-14s with one looking like an E-2, their landing gear out so that it could stand up on its own.

Akiko walked over to Watanabe and placed her hand on her rifle and lowered it, saying, "Watanabe, these people aren't hostile. Plus, we just helped them with a Neuroi raid and as you can tell, they got hit by one of their missiles. So, think about what they are thinking right now." Watanabe hesitated for a minute before finally and reluctantly lowering her weapon.

"Thank you Asami," Akiko whispered to her before turning back to Elisa.

"I apologize for my subordinates' behaviour. However, do we have your word that there will be no harm to us?"

Elisa nodded, "On my honor and as captain of the Kestrel, I swear that there will be no harm done on you or your squadmates and if there is, then those who did it will be punished severely." Akiko looked into Elisa's eyes and saw there was no hesitation or wavering. She meant those words.

"Everyone, hand over your weapons," Akiko ordered. Elisa gave a small smile and nodded in thanks. The witches began disarming themselves, handing over their rifles, and pistols to them.

However, there was a small hiccup.

'C'mon sweetie, just hand the sword over," One of the marines asked Shino, who was holding onto her katana tightly and shaking her head.

"I already handed you my rifle. I-I-I won't use it, I swear!," Shino stated, her grip not loosening.

"Shino, I know you don't want to, but this is their ship and we have to abide by their rules," Akiko tried to reason. She knew why Shino did not want to part from her katana but she did not want to divulge the information yet.

"But…." Shino tried to reason but she couldn't come up with a good response.

"Oi, just give them the damn katana. Or what, is little miss princess afraid away from the katana her daddy gave her," Watanabe quipped, causing some of the witches to glare at her and the marines to be a bit uncomfortable as well as annoyed that Watanabe was not helping the situation.

"Watanabe, shut it!" Akiko scowled. Meanwhile, Elisa looked at Shino a bit more closely. Unlike the other witches, Shino was wearing more formal attire. She wasn't wearing the sailor or officer uniforms like the others but instead the more formal uniform. She also has white gloves on when the other witches do not and her katana looks more elaborate than any Elisa has seen before.

Elisa heard a cough and turned up to see Kakizaki, the witch Elisa saw in the CDC, approach her as she took off her cap.

"Captain, may I speak with you for a second privately? Also, Lieutenant Commander Masuda, can you join in as well?"

"Ok, we can talk over here," Elisa said. She, along with Kaizaki and Akiko went over to where catapult number 3 was.

There was a slight awkward silence as the marines and the witches waited as their commanders were talking. The marines were anxious as these girls were something they have not seen before: being able to fly fighters strapped to their legs and operate rifles and machine guns. While for the witches, they were nervous as these "marines' ' were some of the heavily armed marines they had seen. Their weapons and gear are not what they are used to and these marines looked more menacing since two of them had balaclavas on, hiding their faces.

While there was this tension, one of the witches stepped forward. She wore a short-sleeved white shirt and since she was not wearing any pants, was short enough that one can see her body suit underneath the shirt. She has short blonde hair and glasses over her brown eyes. She, like some of the other witches, has a baseball cap over her head with their carrier on it. One other thing that made her different from the others is that she was fairly tanner than the rest of her fellow witches.

"Um, is it possible if I can take a look at your rifle?" The witch asked one of the marines.

"Uh…." the marine replied, not sure if he should or not. He glanced over to his sergeant for help. The sergeant looked at the girl and for some reason, did not see or have any feeling that the girl would be hostile or anything to them.

"Ok, but remove the mag first," the sergeant stated. The marine nodded as he then ejected the magazine, cleared his weapon and once he was sure that the gun was safe, he handed it over to the girl. She took the rifle and examined it. It was a M27 Infantry Automatic Rifle, or IAR. A derivative of the HK416 made for the U.S Marine Corp. The assault rifle was designed to replace the older M249 SAWs and eventually became the standard issue rifle for the U.S Marine Corp as well as the standard issue rifle for the marine forces with the UN. The M27 in this case was equipped with an ACOG Squad Day Optic with a collapsible buttstock and the front sight being down.

However, the marines were surprised to see that the girl handled the rifle expertly. She worked the charging hand back to take a look inside the breach, before letting it go to allow the bolt to be pushed back up. She then looked through the scope and messed around with it. She also displayed great trigger discipline as her trigger finger was not on the trigger and she was pointing the rifle down on the deck and not at someone. After a few more minutes, she looked up and the marines swore they all saw stars in her eyes.

"What is this rifle?! It looks like a CAR-15 but it's heavier! Also, the scope is a lot different from anything I have seen. It has the main scope but also a mini one on top of it! Is this standard issue?! When did it come out?!" The girl barraged the marine with questions. The marine was overwhelmed by the wave of questions that the sergeant, who was doing her best to contain her laugh, stepped in.

"Easy there kid. You are overwhelming the private a bit. Now, I don't mind answering your question but probably let's wait until things are in order ms…." the sergeant couldn't finish her sentence as she did not know the witch's name.

"Petty Officer Second Class Kaida Nishida, Fuso Maritime Self Defense Force. I'm sorry, it's just I really like guns," Kaida replied.

"Really? Well, that cae, I don't mind talking with you about guns later," The sergeant replied, smiling and then held out her, "I'm Sergeant Sofia Sanchez. Nice to meet you." Kaida smiled and shook Elizabeth's hand.

"Well, at least some of them are getting along," Everyone turned to see Elisa, Akiko and Kakizaki walking back to them.

"Sergeant, you can let the little one keep her sword. I will explain later but for now let it be," Elisa stated to Sofia.

"Understood ma'am," Sofia replied. Elisa nodded and then looked at Kaida who was still holding the M27 and raised an eyebrow.

"She wanted to check the weapon out ma'am, so I allowed it with the mag removed," Sofia replied as she knew what Elisa was about to ask.

"Uh-huh," Elisa replied. Kaida then blushed and handed the assault rifle back to the private who then reinserted the magazine.

"Ok, well, now that all of that is taken care of, let's head to the debriefing room. We have already spent too much time on the deck as it is," Elisa stated, motioning her head. Everyone looked to see that a F/A-18F Super Hornet was waiting for them to clear the deck so that it could launch. This prompted everyone to leave as the deck crew worked out on transporting the striker units down into the hangar.

As they approached the door to head into the carrier, Akiko went up next to Elisa and asked, "Excuse me Captain, but what is that fighter? It looks like a Hornet but the intakes look different and it is a lot bigger. "

"That is the F/A-18F Rhino. It's actually the upgraded version of the old Hornets," Elisa replied as they reached the door.

"But I thought the most recent model is the F/A-18C and those are just coming to the Liberion fleet," Kakizaki stated. Elisa's hand stopped at the latch. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Let's just head to the debriefing room. We can sort all of this there," Elisa finally replied, opening the door. The group walked through the door and began their trek through the carrier. As they made their way through the ship, some of the ship's sailors saluted Elisa while also giving the witches surprised and worried looks. Some of the witches noticed and also felt a bit embarrassed from their reactions.

They finally arrived at the debriefing room, which was the standard briefing room for one of the squadrons and Elisa opened the door.

"Officer on deck!" Someone in the room yelled. As Elisa walked in, she saw 10 pilots all standing up at attention.

"As you were. We will now begin the debriefing but first there will be a few people who will be joining us," Elisa stated. She then motioned the witches in and all of them entered the room.

"Take a seat in the empty row in front girls," Elisa said, motioning to the empty chairs. As they took their seats, there were a few murmurs amongst the other pilots. Elisa could only make out some of the words but she got the idea of what they were saying.

"Who the hell are these girls?"

"I recognize those two. Are they the ones that helped us shoot those bombers?"

"Why the fuck are they not wearing any pants?"

In the back, Elisa saw Yuna and her wingman were also present in the room. She nodded at Yuna who nodded back.

"Alright, let us begin this debriefing. As many of you in this room know, we were attacked by an unknown force. Our escort ships engaged the missiles and managed to destroy a good number of them. However, as you can tell, one got through and hit the carrier. Now, the real question is: who or what attacked us? And we may have that answer." Elisa then looked at Akiko and nodded. Akiko stood up and approached Elisa.

"This is Lieutenant Commander Akiko Masuda. She was one of the girls who helped Mako flight attack the unknown contacts. She will now explain to us who engaged us and what seems to be going on at the moment." Elisa said as she took a step back and Akiko took to the podium.

As Akiko started, Elisa had no idea what she was going to hear.


"And that is the current situation," Akiko finally finished. It took about 30 minutes for her to explain the current world situation but she was surprised to see that many pilots were either looking at her like she was crazy while some looked at her seriously, to see if she was lying or not.

Behind her, Elisa massaged her forehead from the impending headache that was coming.

"So, you are saying that we were just engaged by aliens who have been fighting humanity for decades?" One of the pilots spoke up.

"Well, that is a more simplified way of saying it, yes," Akiko replied.

One of the pilots looked over to Elisa and said, "Is this true ma'am? This sounds like some sci-fi shit more than anything."

"It does seem hard to believe but what she just said does explain this," Elisa motioned Akiko to sit down. Shen then pressed a few buttons on the way and a screen dropped down behind her. She then went to a computer near the podium and typed on it. Soon, a video appeared on the screen.

"This was sent to us from the Missouri a few minutes after the attack. I was able to take a look at it before meeting these girls. Look carefully at the missile," Elisa stated. Everyone watched as the Phalanx CIWS rotated and then fired its burst. Minus the witches, the pilots were shocked to see that the missile began to evade the incoming fire. It was as if the missile was trying to self preserve itself. The room was silent as they watched the CIWS continue to track and try to kill the missile. It wasn't until the ship activated the HELIOS laser system that the ship was able to destroy the missile.

"What was that? It didn't shoot anything," One of the witches asked.

"You telling me that you never heard of the HELIOS laser system? That is on almost every ship in the fleet," One of the pilots stated.

"Helios? What is that? An experimental weapon?" Kaida asked, curious.

"Ok I think I can deduce what could be happening here," Elisa said as she turned off the computer. She then turned towards the witches and asked, "Do any of you know anything about the multiverse theory."

There was silence as the girls tried to comprehend what Elisa said. Soon, a hand was raised. Elisa looked over and saw the one raising her hand was a girl that looked to bne 15 years old. She had long brown hair tied into braids and wore glasses over her black eyes. She was wearing, among other things, a traditional sailor's uniform, unlike the other witches who wore the white shirt version.

"Please state your name and rank for the record," Elisa asked.

"Ma'am," The witch then stood up, "I am Lieutenant Junior Grade Yuriko Takamoto. The multiverse is a theory in which it is believed that there are multiple universes out there, with some happening at the same time."

"Leave it to the book worm to know that," Asami muttered, earning her a glare from Akiko to be quiet.

"Precisely. Now, given our current situation, where you girls do not know what the HELIOs is and we do not know what the Neuroi are, I will give you girls a moment to let that sink in."

"Wait, are you saying that you all are from the future or something?!" Asami exclaimed, jumping out of her seat.

"That would explain how we are here. While the nature of our mission in our world is….. On a need to know basis, we were transported all the way across the ocean to another part of the world. Not only that, we do not have witches in our world and anyone who tries to recruit kids will be violating basic civil liberties and be tried as war criminals," Elisa stated. This caused many of the witches to gasp.

"Are you implying that anyone from Fuso is a war criminal simply because they would allow us to fight for humanity?!" Asami replied back.

"I am not saying that. All I am saying is that would be the case in our world. From the looks of things and from what your CO was saying, I can guess that this world was pretty much in desperation when they decided on this," Elisa replied calmly.

"Yes, humanity was on the brink of destruction when the witches were first introduced years ago. SInce then, we have been relied upon to help hold the line. It has been tough but we have been managing until now," Akiko stated.

"Uh huh. Well, we can go about that tomorrow. Is there anything else anyone wants to add?" Elisa asked the room. She was met with silence for a few minutes before a voice called out.

"I have a question." Elisa turned to the voice to see a hand raised. The pilot who raised his hand was a lot older, probably the oldest in the room at the age of 55. He had brown hair in a crew cut but you can see hints of white on the edges. His face had some wrinkles on it and he had a scar running over his right eye. He was still wearing his flight suit and on the left side of his chest had an emblem of a shark smoking a cigar with its arms folded, a tattoo of an anchor on its arm as well.

"Captain Franken," Elisa acknowledged. Captain Alexander Franken was the Carrier's Air Wing Commander or "CAG" and the commander of VFA-116 "Mako", the same squadron that met up with Akiko and Shino bto shoot down the Neuroi. And since he was the same rank as Elisa, he did not have to salute her.

"If I may, can I ask these girls who were the ones that helped us intercept these Neuroi? I couldn't see their faces really well at the time," Alexander asked.

Akiko stood up as did Shino and turned to face Franken.

"That would be me and Shino here," Akiko replied. Alexander looked at both Akiko and Shino with a look that Akiko can describe as gentle yet stern, almost like a father figure.

"And can I assume that you were the one that yelled over the radio?" Alexander asked, pointing at Shino.

"Um…. Yes sir," Shino replied in a small voice. Standing at 6 foot 4, Alexander is a lot taller than most men that Shino or any of the witches have met, causing him to look more intimidating. Alexander then began to walk towards Shino.

"Hey skipper…." One of the pilots said before being stopped by his fellow aviator. As Alexander walked up to Shino, Akiko reflectively shielded the young girl.

"Captain, I ask that you please forgive my subordinate. She was just…" Akiko didn't finish as Alexander gently, but firmly placed a hand on her shoulder and moved her away. Shino was shaking like a leaf as she heard him approaching, her head bowed and eyes shut. She then felt a hand being placed on her head as she looked up to see that Alexander had placed his hand on her head and rubbed it.

"I don't know what you went through but from what you said, it must have been traumatizing," He told her in a gentle voice. Shino began to tear up and then nodded.

"Ok, I say that is enough for one day," Elisa interjected, "You girls are more than welcome to stay on the ship. We do have some spare rooms available. I will need one of you to follow me to the bridge so that we can set course to your fleet."

"I can help with that ma'am," Kakizaki replied.

"Excellent," Elisa said as she glanced at the door and saw a marine look at her and nodded, "The marines will not escort you all to your temp rooms and will also escort you to the mess for dinner later. Welcome to the Lucky Leviathan."


Present Day

"God, that was stressful," Elisa muttered as she rubbed her head. Thankfully, there weren't any more issues and now she was in her room, trying her best to wrap her head around the situation as well as writing letters to the families of the dead so that she can give it to them once they return to their world…. If they can.

There was a knock on her door, causing Elisa to look at the door.

"Come in," Elisa stated. The door opens and in walks Captain Franken and another officer. This officer was a young female with short red hair tied into a ponytail. She has green eyes and her features show that she has mixed blood of Asian and European descent. She was wearing the digital woodland camouflage that is found on the U.S Marines, which makes sense for her considering she was one before joining the U.N forces. She is Captain Erika Kurashima, former member of the U.S Marine Corp Force Reconnaissance and now in charge of the Special Forces Unit on board the Leviathan.

"So, how were our guests?" Elisa asked as the two took their seats in front of Elisa's desk.

"So far, so good. They mainly talked amongst themselves but nothing significant. Though, a lot of the crew did give them odd looks," Alexander replied.

"Well, that is to be expected since I am still trying to wrap my head around it," Elisa stated, then looked over to Erika, "What about you captain? What are your thoughts?"

"To be frank, I didn't believe it at first. I mean, kids fighting aliens? That sounds like a bad indy film or anime. But," Erika didn't finish as it looked like she was hesitating.

"Go on," Elisa encouraged.

"I talked to one of the girls. I think she was Shino and well, I told her that if she was being forced to do this, that she can just stay on the ship and we can help her. The thing is, she got angry and told me that she volunteered for this. My marines asked too and so far, it looks like no one was forced to do this, they all volunteered. And from what I can see, none of them are lying either."

Elisa thought of that statement. A part of her thought that maybe they were forced to do this and thus wanted to see if she can offer some sort of out for the girls. The fact that they were adamant tells her that they were telling the truth earlier.

"It still doesn't sit well for me. Kids being used to fight against aliens. Whoever thought this was a good idea, I want to shoot them," Elisa noted.

"To be fair, when you are pushed against the wall, you want to use every tool at your disposal. I am not defending it, but we need to see it from their perspective here," Alexander reasoned.

"I mean, sure but still…" Erika replied, unsure what to really think about this since while she was against seeing kids fighting in a war, she also sympathize with their want to do their part.

"Let me put it this way: the same thing we are worried about can be said about what other nations did during the war or have you forgotten the 'Universal Conscription' law that Japan instituted during the war," Alexander pointed. Elisa groaned as she covered her face. During the war, Japan was in desperate need of soldiers from its losses so it passed the "Universal Conscription" Law, allowing the JSDF to recruit kids as young as 14 to fight. This was heavily controversial but given the tactical situation at the time, there was no choice.

"We didn't recruit kids as young as 10 though," Elisa tried to counter but failed.

"Still, it was controversial enough that many people started hiding their kids," Alexander then leaned back in his seat and continued, "What I am trying to say here is: We can not judge them on what they do, considering that we have done something similar when our backs are against the wall. The same can be said for this world."

"Well, when you put it that way, I can agree with this though I suggest we keep an eye out for anything. While I trust these girls, I am a bit hesitant on trusting their superiors," Erika pointed out.

"Were you able to get anything?" Elisa asked. She had discreetly ordered the witch's rooms to be bugged so that they can get some information on this world. While Elisa didn't want to do this, the safety of her crew and the fleet is her first priority.

'So far, they have been wondering about us. They seem to be surprised about how advanced the carrier is. Some are a bit hesitant to really trust us but their commander, Akiko, said that we can be trusted since we did help them. I say we try not to antagonize them as I rather not see what they are capable of from what I saw in the videos," Erika stated. She had watched the gun cameras on the fighters and the thought that some of them can wield heavy rifles and weapons without issue is a scary thought.

"Alright, for now, we continue on this course. From the coordinates one of the witches gave us, we should be on the right track. We are maintaining radio silence for now. I do not know if these Neuroi will intercept any transmission but I am not going to take the risk," Elisa stated.

"Shouldn't we at least contact their fleet to let them know that their witches are safe with us?" Alexander asked.

"Kakizaki-san already sent a message while she was helping us maintain a defense over the fleet. She said that their fleet also wants to link up with us. I talked to Admiral Anderson and he agreed that it would be best that we link up with this Fuso fleet. That way, we have more safety in numbers," Elisa replied.

"So, we are now involved in this war?" Erika asked.

"These Neuroi started this by attacking us. Besides, we need to figure out a way to get back home so our best bet will be to meet up with this fleet and see if they can help us get home or not," Elisa stated.

"Do we know who is in charge of their fleet? Might be good to know who we will have to talk to?" Alexander asked.

"Yeah, I asked Akiko about that earlier. I think I wrote it down," Elisa then fished a small notebook out of her breast pocket and flipped a few pages, "Ah, here it is. The person in charge of their fleet is Vice Admiral Mio Hijikata."

So, this one took a long time to write. Hope you guys enjoyed it and sorry about not having much action here as this chapter was mainly filler. Don't worry, we are going to start seeing some action in the next chapter. Also, I think I finally revised the fleet from the modern-day as I recently watched a few naval videos. This will be the final list of ships in the fleet.

3 Aircraft Carriers

(3 x Nimitz-Class Carriers: UNFS Kestrel, Albatross, and Vulture)

2 Iowa-Class Battleships

(USS Missouri and USS Wisconsin)

6 Guided Missile Destroyers

( 2 x Arleigh-Burke Class Destroyers: USS Kidd and USS Mahan)

( 2 x Type 45 Class Destroyers: HMS Dragon and HMS Daring)

( 2 x Atago Class Destroyers: JS Atago and JS Ashigara)

6 Guided Missile Cruisers

( 4 x Ticonderoga Class Cruisers: USS Hue City, USS Anzio, USS Shiloh, and USS Lake Erie)

( 2 x Slava Class Cruisers: Varyag and Moskva)

2 Frigates (Anti-Air Role)

(2 x Sachsen class frigates: Hamburg and Hessen)

4 Frigates (Anti-Submarine):

(4 x Constellation Class Frigates: UNFS Constellation, UNFS Aurora, UNFS Stalker, and UNFS Trinity)

10 Transport Vessels

4 Amphibious Ships

( 1 x Wasp Class amphibious assault ship: USS Boxer)

( 1 x America Class amphibious assault ship: USS Tripoli)

( 2 x Izumo Class "Helicopter Destroyer": JS Kaga and JS Akagi)

Ground Element:

1 U.S MEU

1 UK Royal Marine Commando Unit

5 Tank Battalions (2 German, 1 American and 2 Japanese)

1 Rapid Deployment Regiment (Japanese w/Type 10 MCV)

Special Forces Contingent (Various Nations)

This will be the final makeup of the future force. If anyone has any questions, please feel free to PM me, see you all next time.