The battle has now become even more personal for Daniel and Yoshika. For Daniel, there is even more at stake here: the safety of his teacher – the person who gave him his chance to live in this world – and the safety of his adopted little sister. Will he be able to protect them both? Read on to find out.
The next morning, the 501st gathered for a final briefing before taking off to join up with the Fuso fleet near Venezia. For Daniel and Yoshika, it was about making sure their beloved teacher not only stayed safe, but also kept her pride as a warrior, knowing that she only had so much power left in her.
As they approached Venezia, they saw the superhive completely tower above the city, casting a shadow over it, as well as the surrounding areas. As they got closer, the superhive launched a fleet of saucer-shaped Neuroi to attack them. There seemed to be no end to them, as everyone was fighting at least several Neuroi units at once. Soon, the fleet in the ocean below was providing backup as the number of Neuroi units slowly began to dwindle. At one point, Mio tried to attack one of the drones, but her sword's attack simply bounced off it harmlessly as it flew out of her hand.
Once the drones were cleared, the Fuso fleet activated the Yamato's Neuroi dynamo system to change it into a Neuroi they could then control for 10 minutes and hopefully deliver the final blow to the superhive. The 501st watched in awe as the Yamato rose from the ocean and flew towards the superhive with little problem. At this point, the 501st's official mission was done, but Minna was still trying to console Mio for the loss of her powers. While the witches landed on the carrier Amagi, Daniel stayed in the air, just in case something happened and he needed to act on a moment's notice.
Once the Yamato reached the superhive's core, something went amiss. It was there, but it wasn't firing like it was supposed to. Sure enough, as the Yamato came under heavy fire, Captain Sugita announced that the Yamato's Neuroi dynamo system had gone offline and that the mission had failed. As Daniel tried to think of SOMETHING that he could do to help the situation, Mio exclaimed, "This battle isn't over yet – and nether am I!" She then flew off at top speed in the direction of the Yamato and the superhive core, explaining, "I have just enough power left to get over there and restart the dynamo."
Everyone screamed for her to come back – that what she was proposing was suicide. Minna tried to intervene directly, flying into her path and blocking the way, trying to force Mio back. However, she could not be dissuaded, and Minna eventually (with serious reservations) relented and let her go. She knew that she might never see her friend again, but she also knew that Mio had to do this for her own sense of self-worth.
Even Daniel knew that he shouldn't try to stop her, even if that was exactly what he wanted to do at that moment. He did, however, contact her over the comm, "Major – don't you dare try to kill yourself out there! If you did, there would be a lot of people who would be devastated – me, included." Mio gave a chuckle as she replied, "Understood. I'll do my best to come back to you all."
With nothing else to do but watch and pray, the witches all kept vigil from the deck of the Amagi, while Daniel remained in his X-wing hovering in midair, standing by in case he was needed. After a few minutes, they received a signal indicating that the Neuroi dynamo system was responding and online – Mio had made it! Now all that was left to do was to see if Mio could get the guns to fire. Moments later, a giant fireball appeared as the Yamato fired it's guns at the Neuroi sphere that comprised the superhive. It seemed as though Mio had done it – but what had become of Major Sakamoto?
The Amagi then got a signal that the Yamato was still intact, and they saw the ship coming back towards them, but they noticed that the Yamato still looked like a Neuroi. When the smoke cleared completely, they saw that the Neuroi hadn't been destroyed – the gigantic core was still intact and floating in the air, and drones were regenerating around it. Even worse, Mio was unconscious and trapped on the core's surface, with her arms and legs being restrained. The fleet tried to free her through the use of their new anti-Neuroi weapons, but the core put up a shield to completely deflect all incoming weapons. Things had now gone from bad to worse – not only was Mio trapped, but the Neuroi was using her remaining powers to produce a shield against the fleet!
With the witches seemingly having used up their magic before, it looked as though there was nothing they could do to prevent their destruction. Yoshika then got a determined look in her eyes, as though she had an idea brewing in her head. She went immediately to the cargo hold, where the witches' striker units were being held. She got into her Shinden unit, and prepared to take off. Daniel couldn't tell what she was doing, but she was arguing with the rest of the girls to go off and try to save the major. In any case, he was prepared to help in any way possible.
After Yoshika successfully took off and cleared the Amagi, he radioed her. "Hey, Yoshika! Just what are you planning to do here?" She immediately replied, "I'm planning on saving the major using the shin reppusan." Daniel was confused, as Yoshika didn't have the proper weapon for this technique. "Without a sword?" he asked. "No," she said, "I'm going to use the Reppumaru. It's there on the Yamato." As Daniel looked in the direction she was pointing, he could just make out the outline of a katana on the deck of the Neuroi-infused Yamato – so it hadn't been lost to the sea, after all!
Still, Daniel was a bit wary of this plan. Not only was there no guarantee of success if they executed it right, but what would happen to Yoshika as a result? He was her big brother now, and he needed to look out for her. He then asked, "Are you absolutely sure about this?" Again, she immediately replied. "Yes, I am," she said. "Plus, we don't have any other options." Daniel had to admit, she was right. He sighed and said over the comm, "Alright then, I'll cover you!"
As they flew towards the giant Neuroi core, they were met with a barrage of attacks from the drones. Even with Yoshika's shields and Daniel's weaponry, there were too many of them to handle on their own. During this time, Mio regained consciousness and tried to tell Yoshika and Daniel off, saying that it was useless. They wouldn't listen, however, as they were determined to help their teacher get free. Moments later, several drones were destroyed by multiple sources of weapons fire. As Yoshika and Daniel turned back to see what had happened, they saw that the rest of the 501st had joined them to provide all the backup they needed!
With all the cover fire in place, Daniel followed Yoshika as she flew towards the Yamato, dodging fire from all around them as they went. She arrived where the Reppumaru was and pulled with all her strength to free it – like King Arthur and the sword in the stone! However, Daniel also provided a little help – using the Force to add an extra hand to Yoshika's in pulling the sword free. In addition, Daniel could tell in his gut that he was about to witness something spectacular, and chose that moment to turn on the digital video recorder on his fighter. After several moments, she successfully pulled out the sword and began flying towards the core. As she got closer, Daniel could see that she was glowing extremely brightly – the sword was already starting to drain her magic.
He could hear Mio again try to warn Yoshika off, saying that the Repummaru would drain all of her magic. Over the comm, Daniel could hear, "It doesn't matter! All I want is to make sure that everyone is safe!" He couldn't help but feel very proud of her and he continued to provide cover – making sure that her actions wouldn't be in vain. Moments later, Yoshika brought down the final blow of the shin reppusan as she fed all of her magic energy into the sword. She was able to slice through the shields and cut through the core, filling the entire sky with a blinding light.
As everyone watched in absolute awe, the Yamato lost its Neuroi infusion as it crashed into the sea. The Neuroi were now completely gone, but where were Yoshika and the major? A moment later, Lynne was able to spot them as they were falling from high up in the sky towards the ocean. The rest of the unit flew immediately towards them, catching them well before they landed. While both Mio and Yoshika had been drained of their magic, they were both otherwise alright, and the Neuroi were now gone from Venezia. All in all, a very good outcome, though Daniel knew that losing Mio and Yoshika as witches would be a big blow to the unit – possibly even beyond that.
When they returned to base, they were informed that once again, the 501st Joint Fighter Wing was being disbanded, much to Daniel's annoyance. 'How can you keep disbanding your best fighting unit?' he thought. While it was true that their mission in Romagna and Venezia was now complete, they could just be sent somewhere they WOULD be needed! Nevertheless, allied command decided after the Mars operation to put the 504th Joint Fighter Wing back in charge of defending Romagna and Venezia. As for the members of the 501st, they were assigned the following:
The Karlsland trio of Commander Minna, Captain Barkhorn, and Lieutenant Hartmann were sent to St. Trond base in Belgica, where they would head up operations on the Western front.
Perrine and Lynne were sent back to Gallia to take charge of the restoration efforts there, as well as military operations to keep the civilian population safe.
Shirley and Francesca were assigned to remain in Venezia and assist with rebuilding and defense operations on the peninsula.
Eila and Sanya were assigned temporarily to join up with the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing in St. Petersburg, as they were still engaged in operations there. Additionally, Eila was awarded a promotion to lieutenant.
Daniel, meanwhile, was told to join Eila and Sanya in St. Petersburg, though his assignment to the 502nd would be on an indefinite basis.
As they were no longer able to use magic, Mio and Yoshika were both sent back to Fuso, with Mio being asked to stay on as an academy instructor, and Yoshika receiving an honorable discharge. In fact, Yoshika was awarded a medal and a promotion to ensign for her bravery and actions during the Mars operation.
Before Yoshika and Mio departed for Fuso, Daniel made sure to give them each a proper goodbye. He thanked Mio for everything she had done for him up to that point, and promised to keep going with his Jedi training. As for Yoshika, while she was disappointed that Daniel wasn't coming home with her, she understood that he had to stay. As they hugged each other goodbye, he whispered into her ear, "I am so proud of you – you really are a remarkable person." She smiled as she waived goodbye. Daniel then gave a final shout as she got on board the ship, "Give everyone my love!" to which Yoshika waved and nodded.
Although Daniel was annoyed at how allied command constantly moved around the members of the 501st, he had to admit that his assignment was the best possible alternative outcome from his perspective. Now he would get to reunited with his beloved Sasha! Plus, he also got to have Eila and Sanya around as a bonus – he had to admit, he enjoyed their company (when Eila wasn't in protective/jealous mode). The next morning, the three of them gathered their things and flew off to St. Petersburg.
Alright readers! We're now done with the Romagna/Venezia arc – also known as Season 2! Now Daniel gets to be with his girlfriend again (at least for the time being) – not a bad setup for him. As always, please review if you feel the need to do so. I hope you've all been enjoying this so far! Until next time…