Alright, we're getting near the end of the arc. I hope you've enjoyed the little twists that I have put on the story so far and that you continue to read on as I post more chapters. Please let me know how you think I'm doing (in a constructive way, of course).
The next morning, most of the members gathered around a military truck to say goodbye to Hikari. In a few minutes, that truck would take Hikari to the train station, where she would catch a train to Kauhava in Suomus. There, she would join up with her newly assigned unit. Most, like Daniel, gave Hikari words of encouragement and advice. Others gave her small gifts, like some food and drink for the journey, or in Krupinski's case, a tiny pistol with one shot in it for good luck.
After she left, the group gathered in the briefing room to discuss the details of the upcoming operation with Marshal von Manstein. They were all told what their roles would be and what the main body of the Neuroi nest looked like. Most importantly, they went over how they would coordinate with the ground forces, including the two giant rail guns, dubbed Gustav and Dora, which would deliver the blows needed to destroy the nest. Daniel took the opportunity to remind the Field Marshal of his reserve supply of photon torpedoes, which could be used in place of the rail guns if needed.
The entire unit knew what was at stake – if they failed, they would lose St. Petersburg, so they were determined to keep fighting until Grigori was destroyed. As they made their approach, they caught a glimpse of the rail guns for the first time – and saw just how big they were! Daniel then saw the Neuroi nest coming up in the distance. It was similar to the one he had seen over Gallia, but he could also see that the clouds surrounding the main body were much more volatile.
As the ground forces began their assault, the 502nd came within range of the nest, and they were met with the full force of Grigori, as it launched smaller fighter Neuroi and fired laser shots from seemingly every direction. Once it was in position, rail gun Gustav fired a super HE round at the nest, and was able to disperse the volatile clouds. So far, so good.
As the soldiers prepared Dora to fire the special magic AP round, Takumi was able to use her Precision Eye magic to provide the coordinates of the nest's core. However, Grigori was able to figure out what was happening, and before Dora was able to fire, the Grigori was able to get a shot through the witches series of shields and shoot a hole in the barrel, making the gun inoperable. Grigori then moved in the direction of St. Petersburg, and with the time it would take to prepare Gustav, it would be too late to save St. Petersburg at the rate it was going.
It was then that Takumi decided to try to deliver the AP round to its target by hand, but it was too heavy for her to lift alone. Luckily, everyone else saw what she was doing and decided to help her out. Being inside his fighter, Daniel promised to keep everyone covered until they were able to deliver the AP round. Only together were the witches able to lift the AP round off the ground. After they dropped the round, Takumi stayed a few moments longer to make sure it hit, with everyone else making sure she wasn't interfered with.
At first, it looked like a direct hit, and that the day had been won. However, Grigori soon began to regenerate. Takumi then saw that Grigori was also hiding a true core within its bigger core. She tried to give the coordinates, but Grigori started blocking her ability to see the true core. Now the situation was becoming even more desperate. Not only could they not get the precise target lock they needed, but now Grigori was headed towards Gustav – it knew that the gun was key to the army's plans.
Daniel then saw Takumi start to charge the Neuroi and glow red – her Absolute Eye ability that would enhance her location and targeting abilities, but at the cost of her defensive capabilities. Just when it looked like she would be overwhelmed, the rest of the unit got in front of her and used their shields to protect her. They had all been briefed on Takumi's absolute eye ability, with Commander Rall certain that she would use it during the operation (even if she was told not to).
From a train somewhere traveling towards Suomus, Hikari was able to hear a voice, seemingly from nowhere that no one else could hear, saying to her, "You know where you have to be. You know what you have to do." To the surprise of Eila and Sanya, who were escorting her, she ran to the very back of the train, and when she saw that there was no striker unit there, she jumped off the train and ran in the direction of the battle.
Once everyone else was in position, Takumi once again activated her Absolute Eye ability and was finally, with some effort, able to give the coordinates of the true core to the soldiers below. However, the line of shields wasn't able to block everything, and a single shot was able to graze her just as she finished, sending her falling to earth. This time, however, Georgette was able to catch her and immediately began to heal her using her magic while bringing her gently to the ground.
With the coordinates in hand, the army was able to fire Gustav's AP round towards Grigori. However, right before the AP round reached the main body, the cloud covering started to regenerate and served as an energy barrier to stop the AP shell, shattering it. As everyone, including Daniel, witnessed this from the ground while looking after Takumi, they knew that this was a disaster.
Daniel was about to volunteer his photon torpedoes for the job when they all heard someone coming towards them screaming Takumi's name – it was Hikari coming seemingly out of nowhere! "Hikari – not that I'm complaining, but how in the world did you even get here?" Daniel asked. She replied, "I was on the train listening to what was going on over the radio, and it was as though I could hear someone or something telling me in my head that I had to be here - so I jumped off the train and just ran as fast as I could." All this despite the fact that she didn't have a striker unit. While Daniel was curious about how Hikari knew she had to be there, he decided to put that aside for the time being, as there were more important matters at hand.
The next moment, they watched as Grigori completely obliterated both Gustav and Dora, ending any hope for the army to destroy the nest from the ground. Once again, Daniel volunteered to use his torpedoes, but Commander Rall hesitated, as there was no guarantee that the torpedoes could even get to the main body. All seemed lost when Commander Rall saw that significant portions of the cores for the HE and AP shells were still intact. She then came up with an idea.
Marshal von Manstein then gave the order to retreat, but Rall told him to hold on – that they had a plan to pull this off. Seeing as there was no other option, the Field Marshal let her go forward with it. The first part of the plan involved finding the biggest piece of the HE core possible and firing it using conventional methods to create as big a hole in the Neuroi clouds as possible for them all to pass through. For this, Rall decided to attach it to one of the photon torpedoes in Daniel's fighter, which would theoretically give it an extra power boost.
The second part involved taking the energy from the core of the AP round and infusing it into Kanno's right hand – specifically her right glove. However, she did not have her gloves on her! As luck would have it, Hikari had them on her, as Kanno had given them to her as a going away gift. Hikari handed them over, and as Kanno held her hand over the AP round, her right hand began to glow brighter than any of them had ever seen before!
They would only have one shot at this, so they had to make it count. Plus, Daniel would accompany Kanno and Hikari – with Hikari finding the core with the Contact Eye – and back them up with his laser cannons and his torpedoes if needed. As Takumi and Georgette stayed behind and watched, the rest of the 502nd, with Hikari using her sister's unit, took off towards Grigori.
As they headed in, everyone joked about how foolish they were all being, and Daniel quipped, "Well, you know what they say, God protects fools and…and something else I can't remember at the moment. But since we're fools, we should be alright."
When they got in range, Sasha was able to use her Visual Memorization magic to remember the coordinates of the cloud formation's weakest point, where Daniel fired the torpedo with the attached HE core piece. Once it hit, the extra power from the photon torpedo caused the entire storm cloud formation to once again disperse completely, providing the members of 502nd a clear path to the main body. However, they calculated that they only had about 15 minutes to get the job done before St. Petersburg was enveloped.
As they approached, they were immediately met with laser fire from Grigori's main body. As Hikari, Kanno, and Daniel headed towards the main portion of the structure, everyone else provided as much cover fire and support as they could to ensure they got through with a few problems as possible. Soon, Hikari was able to make contact with the Neuroi body and locate the exact position of the core. As she flew towards the core's position, Daniel noticed that she was anticipating the Neuroi's moves much more deftly.
With Hikari taking the lead, and Kanno and Daniel following, they soon reached the spot they needed to be at. While Daniel was protecting Hikari and Kanno from attack, Kanno gave everything she had in her right fist to make as hard contact with the core as she could. She had almost completed the job when her energy completely left her, and she began to fall. Hikari quickly caught her, and Daniel prepared to use another torpedoe to finish the job himself when he saw a brief, brilliant flash come from Hikari, fired in the direction of the Neuroi core.
The next moment, the 502nd was enveloped in a brilliant light before it shattered before their eyes. As they and the remaining ground forces looked in awe, they saw Hikari carrying Kanno, with Daniel right by their side. Now, it was finally over. They had won the day! 'Oh, thank you God!' he thought to himself.
As Daniel reached the ground to land, he saw Takumi giving Hikari a big hug, and he knew that Takumi was just so proud of her younger sister for everything she had accomplished. As Takumi, Kanno, and now Georgette were all out of magic and couldn't fly back to base in striker units, they were carried back by Krupinski, Hikari, and Shimohara, respectively.
As they were flying back, they began to notice the toll the battle had taken on their units. At first, it was just Nipa's unit acting up again, but soon, most of the other units began acting up as well. Even Daniel's fighter probably needed more maintenance than usual the next time around. Hikari then joked that they would all have to subject themselves to kneeling punishment.
When they arrived back to base, they began to celebrate in earnest – of a job very well done. This fact was even recognized by Marshal von Manstein, something that Daniel took note of. 'At least this guy seems to truly understand how important they are,' he thought to himself, as he was offered a handshake by said officer.
Daniel was observing the rest of the unit, and particularly Hikari and Takumi, celebrating their hard-earned victory when he decided to take a more direct approach to an unresolved issue. He then asked Commander Rall and Marshal von Manstein if there was a phone he could use. They directed him to the commander's office, where there was a phone on the desk.
Daniel then placed a call to the operator. "Hello?...Can you connect me to Major Mio Sakamoto of the Fuso Navy at the Yokosuka Naval Base?...My name is Captain Daniel Horowitz. I'm a student of hers…Thanks." He then waited a few moments before he was connected to the base. When he identified himself, the base personnel immediately got Major Sakamoto on the line. "Hello, Major? It's Daniel…I'm doing well, thanks…Actually, I was wondering if you could help me with a small favor…"
A couple of weeks later, they all learned that Hikari would be staying on with the 502nd. Unfortunately, that meant that Takumi would be sent elsewhere, per the latest orders. While Hikari was a bit sad to see her sister go, she knew that her place was here. As Takumi told her to get going, she began running towards her comrades, including Kanno, Nipa, Shimohara, Georgette, Krupinski, and Sasha. When they all met in the middle, it became one gigantic group hug.
As Daniel watched the happy reunion alongside Meister Rossman and Commander Rall, the commander commented, "Looks like the younger Karibuchi really found her place here. You both should be proud of your student." Daniel smiled and replied, "I am. Plus, that isn't the only good news Hikari's going to get today." Both Rall and Rossman looked at Daniel in confusion as Rossman asked, "What do you mean?"
Daniel then pointed at where Takumi was standing with the naval officer, when another officer came running up to them and handed Takumi a piece of paper. As she read it, her eyes widened in surprise, as she showed the officers the contents. The next moment, she beamed a big smile as she ran towards Hikari and the rest of the group with her arms wide open. After witnessing this, Rall and Rossman turned back to Daniel, with looks of confusion still on their faces.
Daniel smiled and said, "I got them to reassign Takumi to the 502nd permanently." The other two witches' eyes widened in surprise as Commander Rall exclaimed, "How did you manage to pull THAT off?" Daniel continued to smile as he explained, "Apparently, being the world's only Jedi knight gives you a bit of influence, particularly with the Fuso military. Besides, what I was asking for wasn't unreasonable."
As the trio now witnessed Takumi joining the rest of the group in even more revelry and celebration, Commander Rall chuckled and said to Daniel, "You did good, captain. You did good." Daniel just stood there, happy that his student was able to get her wish of serving in battle right alongside her sister.
So there you have my little twist to the end of the Brave Witches arc. I really didn't like the ending where only Hikari was assigned to the 502nd, especially considering that they were on the front lines with multiple Neuroi nests still to take care of. Come on, man…they need every witch they can get! The next chapter will begin the next arc. Until next time…