Alright – it's time for the 501st to get back together and do what they need to do to save the world. They have a job to do, so let's get on with it!
April 1945
Dutchy of Romagna
The next couple of weeks became a classic case of 'hurry up and wait' for Daniel. While his specific role in the failed operation had been completed, allied command would not grant him permission to return to his previous assignment until they figured out what to do next. With the 504th Joint Fighter Wing unable to do anything more than engage in minor skirmishes, Daniel was stuck in Romagna with essentially nothing to do. While he enjoyed the company of the witches in Romagna well enough, he really missed being with Sasha. However, he had no choice but to wait and see what happened.
One day, Daniel was hanging around the communications room, waiting – praying – for something to do when the radio operator received a distress call. When he heard the contents of the message, his eyes widened with shock and horror. It was Sergeant Hijikata calling from a military transport plane – a plane that was also carrying Major Sakamoto and Yoshika! They were under attack from a Neuroi just off the Romagnan coast over the Adriatic Sea and they needed assistance ASAP or else they would probably be shot down. Further, there was a fleet of Romagnan naval vessels nearby that was also in danger.
While the radio operator informed Sergeant Hijikata that the 504th was unable to provide assistance due to the damage they had already taken, Daniel knew that he couldn't just sit around and do nothing – not when his friends needed help! He immediately suited up and went straight to Captain Taki, asking for permission to provide assistance on his own. Taki was reluctant at first, but when Daniel told her that Mio was on the transport, Taki relented and allowed him to go. As soon as his fighter was fueled up, he took off as fast as the fighter would allow.
By the time he reached their position, Daniel could see immediately that the situation was dire – not only was the giant bug-looking Neuroi picking of the Romagnan naval vessels one by one as though they were ants, but the transport plane was struggling to stay in the air after taking some damage itself. As he listened to the transport continue to broadcast its distress call, he saw the Neuroi fire at the transport, only to have it blocked by a giant shield. There was only one person he knew who could produce a shield like that!
Daniel then broadcast over the primary comm channel, "Hello there! I heard you may need some help. I hope you don't mind if I drop in." He then heard Hijikata ask, "Thank you pilot. Can you please identify yourself?" He immediately replied, "This is Captain Daniel Horowitz at your service!"
"Daniel! You're here?" Yoshika exclaimed. "Thank goodness – we can really use some assistance here!" said the major. Mio then started giving orders over the comm, "Daniel – we don't have a lot of time, so listen. Yoshika is on her way to protect the Romangnan fleet. If you could provide the transport with cover, that would be a great help!" Daniel immediately replied, "You got it!" He then witnessed Yoshika as she used her shield once again, this time to block the Neuroi from continuing its attack on the Romagnan fleet.
As Daniel watched the transport and the Neuroi, he saw Major Sakamoto climb to the roof of the plane and jump straight at the Neuroi. If that wasn't crazy enough, the only weapon she had on her was her katana – which she promptly used to slice the Neuroi in half, appearing to destroy it in one go. However, Mio continued to fall from the sky, though she appeared calm about it. A few moments later, Yoshika caught her – well before she fell to a watery grave.
As Daniel saw Yoshika lightly scold Mio for jumping into battle like that, Daniel radioed her directly over the comm. "Major, you are truly the craziest person I have ever met in my life! You're going to give us all a heart attack!" Mio just laughed her trademark laugh and explained that with her sword, which she had named Repummaru, she could fight the Neuroi even without a shield.
The transport landed in the water, as it had flotation capabilities, and Mio and Yoshika were preparing to get back on board when the Neuroi started to regenerate. This was unexpected, as a Neuroi didn't usually regenerate after that much time had passed. Daniel and Yoshika tried to finish the job before it fully regenerated, but they weren't having any effect. Mio then figured out what was going on and radioed to Daniel and Yoshika that the core was moving around and evading their attacks. Not only that – it was now regenerating more quickly than usual!
Once the Neuroi fully regenerated, the two struggled to keep the Neuroi at bay as more and more laser beams came at them from different directions. The next moment, a long range rifle shot came screaming and punched through the Neuroi, distracting it and allowing for Daniel and Yoshika to regroup. When they looked to see who had fired the shot, Shirley came racing at the Neuroi guns a blazing, with Francesca not far behind. When they expressed confusion over why their attacks weren't working, Yoshika explained that the Neuroi was simply regenerating faster.
An anti-armor rifle was then heard firing, with a shot going straight through the Neuroi – meaning that now Lynne and Perrine, coming all the way from Gallia, had joined the fight. The group then saw rockets attack the Neuroi. When they followed the path, they saw Eila and Sanya quickly approaching. Now they had the firepower to fight this Neuroi. A few moments later, the group was complete as Commander Minna, Barkhorn, and Hartmann came in to join the fight.
Although the group was in its best form, the Neuroi continued to resist all of the attacks they were throwing at it. Finally, they were able to expose the core, and Mio launched from the transport, heading straight for the Neuroi. To everyone's amazement, she was able to deftly dodge the Neuroi's laser attacks as she approached. Finally, the Neuroi combined its powers to create on giant laser beam that even Mio couldn't dodge. Just when it looked like she would be obliterated, she used her katana to literally slice through the laser beam and straight through the Neuroi – including the core – taking the Neuroi down in one fell swoop.
After the battle was over, the group gathered together at a nearby base that was being refurbished for immediate use – complete with quarters and a runway. Yoshika and Lynne embraced at seeing each other again after so many months – the two best friends acting like long lost sisters, while Minna spoke with Mio about her refurbished sword, and the rest explaining how they ended up there.
As they were all chatting and enjoying each other's company, Sanya then asked Daniel, "By the way, how's Sasha doing?" Eila looked up at this and added, "Hey, yeah. How's it going with the two of you?" Overhearing the conversation, Yoshika then chipped in, "Oh, yeah. That's right! You have a girlfriend now, don't you?"
As Daniel attempted to answer the question, Erica came up from behind him and grabbed his shoulders while exclaiming in a teasing manner, "Wait – what's this I'm hearing? Our beloved resident Jedi has fallen in love with someone?" Shirley then sniffed mock tears as she also teased, "Oh, my! He's growing up so fast!" Everyone else got a chuckle out of that routine.
After everyone got their laughs in, Erica then asked in a more serious, but still cheerful manner, "So Daniel – who's the lucky girl?" Daniel then took out his iPhone from his pocket and pulled up the photo of him and Sasha as everyone else gathered around to see while he told them about her.
"Oh, yeah! I've heard about her – it seems you have good taste, Daniel," Barkhorn commented. "Oh, wow! What a lovely picture," Lynne exclaimed. "You two make a very cute couple." Everyone else nodded in agreement with this comment, with Francesca adding, "She's pretty!" At this, Perrine gave a slightly disapproving look at Francesca, stating, "Come on, now. It's not like it's a picture of the major." Daniel just rolled his eyes at this comment, thinking to himself, 'I guess some things will never change.'
Minna then gathered everyone around and read their new orders from Major General Galland, reinstating the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, and assigning them to be the main force protecting Romagna. At first, Daniel was really excited about this turn of events. 'Alright!' he thought, 'We're getting the band back together!' Then he realized what else this meant – it meant he was NOT going back to St. Petersburg for quite some time.
'Ahhhh, Dammit!" he thought to himself. Daniel then turned to Commander Minna and asked, "Commander, can I use the phone in your office? There's someone I need to make a call to."
As you can probably tell, we are now into Season 2 of the main series (with Daniel coming on the scene in the middle of episode 2). So it's back to the grind of being a member of the 501st – with shenanigans galore! (Well, maybe not SO much in my story) There's a big surprise awaiting Daniel very soon, though. Tune in to the next chapter to find out what it is.