Hello, readers – welcome back! Daniel is once again reunited with his comrades in the 501st Joint Fighter Wing (sans Major Sakamoto). As the title hints, Daniel will be getting a big surprise in this chapter, and will be making an even bigger decision regarding his future. Read on to find out the details…
Once the 501st got themselves settled into their new base, Commander Minna called for a general briefing the next morning so that they could formally welcome Shizuka into the unit. Minna arrived at the base in the late afternoon after a meeting with allied higher ups regarding the strategy for the time being. When Minna mentioned that she and Mio had been meeting with Generals Omar Bradley and George Patton, Daniel's jaw dropped immediately.
"General Bradley…and General Patton? As in General George 'Blood and Guts' Patton?" he asked somewhat excitedly. "Yes, why?" Minna replied. Daniel then explained that Patton and Bradley were two of the most well-known figures from this period of history in his country from his world. "Would it be possible to take me next time you plan to meet with them? I kinda want to see them in person." Minna smiled in amusement as she said, "Sure." Daniel then asked, "So Minna, is General Patton as volatile as the stories say he is?" Minna replied, "Oh yeah – definitely," as she smiled nervously.
When the 501st had gathered, Minna stood in the front of the briefing room and began by stating that the operation to retake Berlin was on indefinite hold, much to the disappointment of everyone else in the room. Therefore, they were going to be in charge of front-line operations in the region in the meantime. Minna then formally introduced Shizuka to the rest of the group and had her make her grand entrance…which immediately became auspicious and memorable for reasons one wouldn't want it to be. While dealing with her sudden embarrassment, Yoshika and Daniel came up to her to help her back on her feet, saying that stuff like this happens to everyone. "Don't worry about it. Welcome aboard the 501st," said Yoshika.
As the three of them started to head back to their seats Minna then stated, "Hold on, Daniel. I have something here for you, as well." Daniel looked quizzically at Minna and simply asked, "Me?" Minna nodded and then began to explain. "Since Major Sakamoto is no longer with us, this unit is going to need a new second-in-command. I have decided that role will be filled by you, Daniel." Daniel's eyes widened in shock. Not only hadn't he expected such a thing, but he also felt a little guilty for possibly taking a slot that would have otherwise been meant for one of the actual witches. He stated both his deep gratitude for having been considered for the position and his concerns, stating, "I'm honored that you have such confidence in me, but I would have thought that Trude would have been your first choice. I don't want to take away something that is rightfully hers." Trude immediately responded with, "Nonsense – you've earned this! Besides, Minna discussed this with me beforehand, and we both have complete faith in you." As Daniel looked around the room, everyone else nodded in agreement – even Perrine gave her ascent.
"Very well," Daniel stated. "Thank you all. I will do my best to justify the immense faith you all have in me." Minna then continued her speech. "As such, under the recommendation of both Major Sakamoto and myself, the U.S. Army Air Force has hereby promoted you to the rank of major, with all the rights and privileges therewithin." She then handed him a small box, which contained his new major's rank insignia to place on his uniform. Minna had one other surprise in store. "Additionally, in recognition of your contributions to the war effort in multiple theatres, both on the battlefield and the technological one, allied command has seen fit to award you the Distinguished Service Medal." She handed him a second box containing the medal.
"Thank you, Minna," Daniel stated afterwards, "and thank you for not making this a huge public spectacle." Minna then smiled nervously as she replied, "Actually, allied command requested a formal ceremony in front of the press where I would pin the new insignia and medal on your uniform. I hope that isn't too bad." Daniel sighed as he said, "Fine, I'll do it."
Later that afternoon, Daniel was observing as Yoshika, Lynne, Perrine, and Shizuka were training in a mock battle. Yoshika's powers were in top form, and she was helping Shizuka get in sync with everyone else. Everything was going smoothly when she lost power momentarily, seemingly out of a lack of concentration. However, when she didn't activate her striker unit after several moments, the rest knew that something was very wrong. This time, it wasn't the unit's fault, as it was top of the line and fresh from the factory.
Minna gathered everyone for an emergency briefing to explain the situation. As it turned out, Yoshika was experiencing a drop in magic pressure, which meant that she couldn't properly fly her striker unit and perform all of the functions needed in battle. The assumption was that this was a result of Yoshika having gained back her magic so suddenly the month before. Since no one was sure exactly how the problem could be resolved, all that could be done for the time being was for Yoshika to try to train to get her magic back. In the meantime, Yoshika wouldn't be a part of any combat or flying missions.
After the meeting adjourned, Daniel gave the situation some thought. He had some success in increasing a witch's magical strength through training Hikari, maybe he could do something similar for Yoshika! He then approached both Yoshika and Minna with the idea, explaining what he had done with Hikari during his time with the 502nd. Seeing as no one really knew how to fix this problem, Minna was willing to endorse the idea, and Yoshika enthusiastically agreed to it.
Early the next morning, Daniel was waiting in the hangar for Yoshika so they could begin. When they arrived, Shizuka was with her, and asked if she could join in. Thinking on it a moment, Daniel couldn't see any reason why not. "Sure thing, Hattori," he said, "If you feel like you could benefit from this as well, I don't see a problem." Shizuka then bowed to Daniel while saying, "Thank you very much, major. It's such an honor to be able to train under you!" Daniel chuckled nervously before replying, "Easy, Hattori. Outside combat and more formal situations, just call me Daniel." With that, he got them started with the meditation exercises to become in tune with their powers before moving on to the martial arts movements to regulate the flow of their powers more efficiently, very similar to what he had done with Hikari.
However, despite the amount of training she put herself through, Shizuka was having a hard time keeping up with Lynne and Perrine during their normal training exercises. In addition, while Yoshika was feeling better, she was still having a hard time getting her magic to flow into her striker unit. A few days later, an attack was launched on the base, with two Neuroi initially detected coming at the base from opposite directions. With Yoshika and Shizuka unable to fight on their own, and Minna and Daniel staying behind as the last line of defense, the remaining witches divided into two teams to engage the Neuroi. Strangely, the two Neuroi began to evade the attack teams and head away from the base.
The radar unit then detected a third Neuroi coming at the base, having avoided detection until the other teams were too far away to make it back in time. As Minna and Daniel prepared to engage, Yoshika and Shizuka requested to go as well. Minna was initially going to deny the request, but relented when they said that they would fight as one unit. "Talk about major déjà vu, right Minna?" said Daniel.
As they engaged the Neuroi, Minna and Daniel were determined to not allow it to get to the base as they laid down fire to force it in another direction. Yoshika and Shizuka then came swooping in, with Shizuka flying and Yoshika providing the shields. Together, they were able to overwhelm the Neuroi and soon the core was exposed before Shizuka delivered the final blow, as this Neuroi was the primary – which meant the other two were also destroyed at the same time. As they seemed to be relaxing a bit in midair, Shizuka suddenly began scolding Yoshika, saying something about how she was going to make sure that Yoshika was going to get into flying shape again as her superior officer.
Both Daniel and Yoshika were confused by this, as they were both under the impression that Yoshika was an ensign as well. When Shizuka said that Yoshika's ensign rank was only as a medic, Daniel asked Minna, "Is that actually true? I've never heard of someone having a separate officer's and medic's rank simultaneously." Minna just smiled at the scene in front of her and said, "Looks like it's going to be a rough road." Daniel just sighed, not having gotten an actual answer to his question.
Over the next few weeks, Daniel was continuing to provide modified Jedi training to both Yoshika and Shizuka. Although he also offered it to everyone else who was interested, no one else took him up on the offer. One morning, as he was performing his usual maintenance on his X-wing, he heard a loud scream coming from Shirley as she was reading a newspaper. Apparently, someone back in the United States had broken the land speed record she had set a few years back. Now, she was determined to get it back and keep it for a long time to come!
She then brought out the motorcycle she had used to set the record to begin with – a red aerodynamic racing motorcycle with white racing stripes and Shirley's signature white rabbit logo on the front. While Daniel wasn't a bike guy, he definitely recognized and appreciated good craftmanship when he saw it. "That's a really sweet bike!" he exclaimed. "I know – isn't it?" Shirley replied, "I'm not going to let some new hotshot beat us!" Daniel then added, "You know, if you had this bike around in my world, there would be people clamoring over it. It really IS a beauty." Shirley just grinned as she got to work modifying it.
Over the next several days, Shirley and Francesca continued to work on the bike, while Minna, Daniel, and Trude discussed how the operation to retake Berlin was proceeding – which was not good at the moment. As per usual, Trude was frustrated both at the delay in the operation and at Shirley for working on her bike on the front lines. Within a few more days, Shirley was able to make enough adjustments and modifications to get her bike up to 188 MPH, which beat the new record-holder's mark by 3 MPH. However, this was not enough for Shirley, as she wanted to hold the record for a long time. She decided to go for 200 MPH – a mark considered impossible for a single bike motor at the time.
During the next Neuroi attack, the Neuroi's speed had increased dramatically, as no one could keep up with it or predict its moves. In addition, it was a bomber-type, meaning it was able to cause serious damage to the base's hangar. In order to try to remedy the situation, Minna had an advanced P-51 H-type model striker unit brought in for Shirley. In exchange for putting it through its paces, Minna agreed to let Shirley continue her bike project.
The next day, Daniel was stunned as Shirley and Francesca refused to speak with each other for most of the day. Apparently, Francesca tried to help with the project in a manner that Shirley really didn't want. Still, this behavior was not normal for them. However, by the end of the day, they were talking again and happily working on Shirley's bike in preparation for going for the 200 MPH mark. They even spent the night in the hangar out of excitement for the next day. Daniel later learned that Trude had talked to Francesca alone about it. He was impressed – just when he thought he had Trude figured out, she still had the ability to surprise him.
Early the next morning, another Neuroi was detected – the same type as the last time. As Daniel and the other witches scrambled to get into battle, Daniel saw that despite her improvement, Yoshika still couldn't fly right. As Shizuka caught Yoshika and fell back to protect her, Francesca came zooming in flying in Shirley's new unit! While she was undoubtedly faster than in her regular unit, she couldn't control this one and soon got herself into trouble as she struggled to defend herself from the Neuroi attack. Soon, she lost control completely, and fell towards the ocean after being hit. However, Shirley was able to come swooping in on her bike and caught Francesca before she hit the water, but at the price of having her bike destroyed by the Neuroi. Trude was then able to catch the both of them before they landed in the sea. Before the bike was destroyed, however, Daniel's sensors picked up something very interesting. Daniel knew that it would especially interest Shirley, so he stored the data in the fighter's computer for later.
Once in midair, Shirley put on her striker unit from Francesca while the young ensign was carried on Minna's back. With her natural abilities and new, faster unit, Shirley was able to easily catch up to the Neuroi and take it out. Daniel smiled when he saw their cheerful reunion, filled with laughter. He then called out to Shirley, saying, "Hey Shirley – I think I have some information that you will want to know." Shirley looked at him with a questioning look. "Oh, and what would that be?" Daniel then grinned as he replied, "Before your bike got blasted by the Neuroi, my sensors were able to measure the speed you were going when you jumped – congratulations, you now have a land speed record of 200 miles per hour!"
Shirley jumped for joy with Francesca still hanging on to her, shouting, "Alright! Wooohooo!" Francesca even added, "Yay, Shirley!" But then Shirley thought of something, and said sadly, "Too bad I don't have any proof." Daniel continued to grin at her as he replied, "Oh yes, you do! My sensors recorded it, and I saved the data in my fighter's computer. If you need me to, I'll show it to the proper people myself." Shirley then gave Daniel a big hug in gratitude, at which point Daniel had to gently, but firmly, push her off as he couldn't breathe.
A couple of weeks later, Perrine was sent on a mission at the request of the Queen of Nederland herself, and took Yoshika and Shizuka along with her. With no expected Neuroi activity or training to give, he decided to request a day pass from Minna to go into Amsterdam. Seeing how it was quiet it was and how Daniel didn't have any urgent duties at the moment, Minna granted the request.
When he got into town, he decided to take in the sights like the canals and the beautiful architecture. It was a pleasant day, and he had a good time walking around losing himself in the city. He was able to be a tourist – if only for the day. After lunch, he passed by a large foodstuffs store, where they were offering Saturnus packages to send to military personnel stationed around the world – to be delivered on or around Saturnus. He decided to take advantage of the deal being offered, and purchased a crate of holiday goodies for the entire 501st as a gift, as well as similar packages for the 502nd and 504th, to be sent to St. Petersburg and Venezia, respectively. When they recognized Daniel, they even provided him a discount. After thanking them, he decided to do his individual Saturnus gift shopping early, as he was already there and didn't know when or if he would get back before the holiday.
Eventually, he found himself in a department store, where he was able to find a nice cashmere scarf for Sasha – ocean blue with a tasteful yellow-gold pattern woven in – and a personalized bluish-green medic's bag for Yoshika. The clerk was even nice enough to embroider her name on it in kanji (which Daniel provided on a slip of paper). After making his purchases, Daniel walked down the street towards the downtown spot where he would meet his ride back to the base when he passed a small shop. In the window of this shop, something caught Daniel's eye – something that made him really consider what it was he wanted for his future after the war.
Soon enough, he was riding in a military jeep on his way back to the base with his gifts and with a small object in his pocket. It was something that he would make sure to keep safe until the end of the war, when he would use it to hopefully bring the future he wanted.
So, what is it that Daniel saw – and bought – in that shop? The answer will be revealed towards the end of the story. Some of you may be asking, "How does Daniel have the money to buy all of these things?" The answer is that he has been serving on the front lines for more than a year (minus the one month he spent in Fuso) on captain's pay (now major's pay) without anything else to spend it on – what else is he going to do with it right now? Tune in for the next installment…