The next day…
501st JFW Home base, Britannia
Everyone was gathered all bright and early to discuss the escort mission set to begin that day, everyone in the squadron is at the briefing room with Minna ready to explain.
"Alright everyone our mission for today is to provide escort to the 98th Liberion bomber group set to attack a position in the rhineland just close to the Belgican border, we are set to rendezvous with them in their approach alongside an escort squadron of Karlsland ME-109s from JG-77 who will help accompany us at a later time." Minna explained by pointing at a map pinned on the board showing the bombers and their route to the target.
"Colonel?" Gertrude raised her hand.
"Yes captain Barkhorn?"
"If its possible what are we to expect once we crossed into Karlsland airspace? Is it a new type of Neuroi?"
"The Neuroi are unpredictable there have been varying types throughout the campaign and the fighters are one, the ones that ambushed the bombers shown by the general were the most aggressive and lately its been increasing since the air campaign began so expect them to very dangerous."
"We were given new strikers and fuel tanks for a reason ladies, we will complete this mission and make sure that those men get home alive! Understood?!" Major Sakamoto stood up proudly.
"Yes ma'am!" everyone in the room replied in unison.
Several hours later…
Somewhere above Belgica
The cloud cover was thick and the 501st were taking the correct route in intercepting the bombers since takeoff but there were speculations that they might get lost.
Sakamoto,Miyafuji,Lynnette are at the front of the formation whilst Barkhorn and Erica hold the left. Perrine,Shirley,Lucchinni,Sanya and Eilla are at the middle with some signal interference limiting the range of Sanya's antenna to locate the bombers.
"This so boooring, where the heck are they? Im getting so sleepy just from flying around in these clouds forever!" Erica complained of which Gertrude snapped.
"A true soldier of Karlsland never complains! Keep your guard up!" Trude held her MG-42 up before scanning the horizon.
"Major! There they are! 9 o'clock low!" Yoshika said spotting the massive B-17 bomber fleet down in front of them, she was amazed at the sight.
"Lucchinni! Head on over to the bomber leader let them know we are friendlies." Sakamoto told her, Lucchinni responded with a mischievous smile doing a barrel roll heading towards the fleet.
Meanwhile…
"Bogeys! Three high! Counting close to 10 chicks! Got one coming down! " the tail gunner called out spotting a tiny figure racing towards them, the alerted crew scrambled manning the guns aboard.
"Everybody on your guns!" the captain aboard ordered as the guns were readied and aimed for the mysterious visitor who flew a feet away from the lead bomber. The captain scrambled to get a better view, he took a pair of binoculars to spot the bogey.
"Hold your fire! Their ours! 501st? Says it on the markings" the captain said as Lucchinni showed off by blowing a kiss at them.
"Yeah right!" his first officer said sarcastically.
"Hell if i'm joking! Look!" he handed the binoculars to him.
"Jesus christ, it can't be the them! The same 501st that took down the nest at Romagna and Nederland? I don't believe it! What the hell do we do?" as he muttered those words Lucchinni gave a wave before flying above them to cover more area.
"Windy city to all planes! Everybody's eyes open! I don't think our witch escort is gonna be much help this trip." The captain announced on his radio for the other planes, the 501st squadron soon joined them with Major Sakamoto and Miyafuji stationed alongside the lead bomber.
Soon thereafter the Luftwaffe 109 squadron catched up to them joining the mission, the bomber fleet and their escorts soon crossed over to Karlsland airspace but they are watched by the Neuroi creeping up behind them in the skies.
The Neuroi decoy squadron dove in attempting to lure away the Luftwaffe squadron which the squadron leader is tempted to give chase.
"Neuroi! 4 o'clock!" the 109 squadron leader uttered pulling his stick to the right but Sakamoto intervened by flying in his path.
"They aren't attacking let them go." Sakamoto said.
"Let them go?!"
"Our orders are to stay with the bombers lieutenant! Forget the prize and save the lives!" Mio yelled at him and reluctantly the 109 squadron and the 501st stayed put with the bomber fleet.
"Will ya look at that? Those witches are staying put, giving up glory to save our asses!" The lead bomber captain said glancing at the fighter escort and Yoshika flying by his leftside window.
Not long thereafter the main Neuroi squadron numbering at least a 100 dove in engaging the Witches and me-109 squadron, the formation broke as Yoshika and Lynn engaged the Neuroi stragglers inside the bomber fleet.
"Here we go ladies! Keep them off the bombers! Lieutenant! Try to lure them away as much as you can and take them out!" Sakamoto told the luftwaffe squadron leader as his fighter wing lured the Neuroi away and engaging them.
Yoshika banked a left and dove in straight to a Neuroi who was creeping behind a bomber killing them, Lynn banked a right and shot her bren piercing a Neuroi diving towards a bomber from the front. Trude fired her MG-42 taking out at least 6 Neuroi forming to attack a trio of bombers impressing the crew of the saved bomber, Erica did a rolled manuever dodging fire from a Neuroi to lure him out in the open before doing a top roll firing her gun as the Neuroi shot his laser missing her.
Shirley was all too fast for her Neuroi opponent her speed made them miss as she raced through the formation taking out a Neuroi or two with Lucchinni covering just from behind.
Perrine and Major Sakamoto were side by side as they chased down two Neuroi's intent on taking out another bomber at the righmost formation shooting their guns in a hail of bullets effectively destroying them.
Eilla and Sanya are just above the fleet shooting down any stragglers that might have the slightest idea of attacking from there. However it wasn't all that smooth when a Neuroi landed his shot on a B-17 the shrapnel from the fire Injured a waist gunner and blowing a small hole in the fuselage.
Yoshika noticed the affected bomber as she dove in with Lynn chasing her from behind covering her.
"Yoshika! Where are you going?!"
"I wanna help that bomber! Cover me!" Yoshika ignored her partner's pleas and raced forward to the damaged bomber heading inside the fuselage with her striker unit. The bomber's tail section the small hole was just above the waist position but its large enough for Yoshika to squeeze through and to join the crew. Two airmen cradled one of their own heavily wounded sprawled on the floor, one of the airmen cradled his friends head panic stricken while another is putting out the fires inside with an extinguisher.
"Hank! Hank! Stay with me! You're gonna be fine!" a panic stricken airman pleaded as his friend is knocked unconscious with a piece of shrapnel lodged on his stomach and blood flowing out, Yoshika let her striker unit go as she looked at the damage.
"Hey! Who the hell are you?!" an airman said pointing at their witch visitor as he tried to apply bandages and dressings on the wound.
"That doesn't matter! Let me help!" Yoshika rushed forward and began focusing her healing magic on the wounded airman while his comrades watched in awe.
The battle rages on outside but the bombers are nearing their target as Neuroi flak descends upon them with laser beams firing harder than ever from the ground. The witches and Luftwaffe squadron held on with one Neuroi after the other shot down without as much as single bomber lost although some are lightly damaged.
Racking up the kills on the stragglers were Shirley and Lucchinni when they chased down a trio of Neuroi attempting to flee but the hail of gunfire they descended upon them were great, this was met with some cheers from some of the bomber crew.
"Hey! These Neuroi aren't so tough after all!" Shirley reloaded her BAR before glancing at an B-17 waist gunner cheering them on.
"Looks like our fans up here are impressed! Lets mop em up now!" Lucchinni gave a grin as they mop up any resistance.
Trude and Erica fought off some stragglers but then Erica spotted a Bf-109 chased by two Neuroi fighters as it seems the troubled pilot is struggling to avoid their blasts.
"Hey! That pilot needs our help! We oughta do something!" Erica told her companion as they took down another two.
"Alright! I'll be right behind you!"
They flew forwards matching the speed of the attacking Neuroi creeping up from behind as they rolled out some standard steering manuevers. The chase went on as the 109 pilot tried his hardest to avoid their blasts steering the fighter left to right and doing some rolls, the witch duo crept up even closer and closer tightening their aim.
The Neuroi had their beams powered up but as they drew closer to the 109 so did they in the crosshairs of the witches. The moment finally when they were inside the crosshairs, Erica and Trude pulled the triggers on ther MG-42s with a hailstorm of bullets flying in the Neuroi disintegrated, the 109 pilot can breathe a sigh of relief thankful at his saviors.
Neuroi fighters were falling left and right disintegrating and destroyed soon the bomber fleet and formation reached their target and not long after the flak fire opened up with lasers firing high in the sky. The attacking Neuroi squadron waived off away from the bombers escaping the flak soon the witch squadron and the luftwaffe squadron are left by their lonesome.
"The Neuroi are hightailing out of here, the flak's getting thick too." Trude said seeing the Neuroi flying away.
"Everyone break off! Circle clear of the flak and we'll regroup with the bombers once its clear!" Mio announced making an aileron roll hooking right followed by Yoshika and Lynnette.
"Good luck boys!" Shirley winked giving a thumbs up to the bombardiers before following the others.
The bombers are now left by their lonesome oncemore as their escorts flew away to steer clear of the flak, their fate rests on their own shoulders again flying over their target. The lead bomber has to release the first set of bombs so the pressure was on to the bombardier as he look down the bomb sights. The pilot opened the bomb bay doors open and due to the fact they have to fly in a straight line and cannot move there is a risk that they could get randomly shot and their payload to explode.
"Steady does it…" the bombardier uttered looking straight down the bomb sights on the Neuroi target as the flak got even thicker, obscuring his view of the target slightly. The sharp eyed bombardier managed to spot an opening through the flak seeing their target, with the flip of a switch they unleashed their devastating payload of bombs followed by the rest of the B-17s in the fleet.
The whistle of bombs heading downwards sparked terror among the Neuroi on the ground as they disintegrate and burn. Explosions then rock the earth reducing the Neuroi defences into nothing more than just burnt ashes and rubble.
"All bombs away! Lets get the hell outta here." the bombardier told the pilot as they bank for a right turn, prepping their flight path of going back to base to Britannia. The 501st and the luftwaffe squadron soon linked their flight path with the bombers,
The battle soon resumed with the witches sticking to their guns flying in differing patterns avoiding shots with the Neuroi while protecting the bombers. Two Neuroi were on Yoshika's tail when she pulled a steep dive before using the Neuroi's speed against them by executing a pulled manuever upwards shooting them both as they are disintegrated.
A fast Neuroi was on the tail of another ME-109 fighter with the pilot panickly shifting left to right in attempting to avoid the lasers, Barkhorn followed behind trying to get a killshot.
"Condor 2! You're in the way! Get outta there. i'll take him!" She aimed the MG42 right at the reticle of the Neuroi but she couldn't get a shot.
"Where is he?! I can't see him!" the 109 pilot yelled before a laser burst hit his portside wing causing fuel to leak then ignite and sending his plane spiraling downwards, Trude fired her gun soon after disintegrating the Neuroi.
"Werner!" one of his fellow wingmen called out watching in horror as the plane descended downwards but at the last moment and some quick thinking the pilot managed to open his canopy and jumping out.
The pilot descended down to the earth struggling to get his parachute to open but the release was jammed as he tried to force it open, he was panicking as he fell fast but at the last moment Trude ditched her MG-42s and raced her thrusters towards the falling pilot.
"Trude look out!" Erica called out firing a burst from her MP-40 hitting a Neuroi fighter that was tailing her but she didn't lose her focus of trying to save the pilot. The falling pilot and Trude disappeared in the clouds, Erika held her breath looking on seeing her friend vanish in the clouds.
All wasn't lost as a few minutes later, Trude held the pilot by the arm dragging him behind but otherwise unharmed as Erika lit up with joy.
"Mein gott! You're heavier than you look!" Trude yelled as she struggled to hold the downed pilot, he didn't take notice since he passed out as she carried him all the way to Yoshika in the Bomber.
"Trude! I thought i lost you!" Erika called out with a sigh of relief.
"It takes more than that to take down a soldier of Karlsland!" She set the unconscious pilot inside the bomber as Yoshika took a look at him.
"What the hell happened to him? Looks like he flew through a hurricane" an airman asked looking at the unconscious pilot who has his uniform shredded from the fall.
"Never mind that! Yoshika! Help him out!" Trude held out her spare MP40 on her back as she joined up with the rest of the squadron, Yoshika used her healing magic on the downed pilot who started breathing steadily thanks to her.
"Are you an angel ma'am?" a young Liberion airman asked her, mesmerised by the display of her magic making Yoshika blush a bit.
"N-n-no i'm just a witch." she tried to hide her embarrassed face focusing back on healing the downed pilot.
An hour and a half later…
The leg of the journey wasn't too long as the B-17 fleet finally reached their safe point in Allied controlled airspace, they didn't lose a single plane despite everything the Neuroi threw against them although some airmen are wounded but they are all otherwise alive thanks to the efforts of the 501st.
"Alright ladies, the bombers have reached their safe point and our mission is over. Let's go home!" Major Sakamoto said banking a left turn giving a thumbs up to the bomber leader, who replied with a thumbs up back.
"Look at that, i just hope we meet the strike witches again next time." The lead bomber first officer said.
"Yeah but these aint like the Britannian girls back at the ranch, don't go tryin shit now." the captain said to the first officer who subsequently laughed at his remark.
The luftwaffe squadron followed suite with the 501st as they make their turn back to their respective bases but not long before the squadron leader exchanged a few words with Sakamoto.
"Hell of a mission Major" the pilot said as the Major smugged.
"Yeah but next time make sure you think more of the lives than the scalps, your squadron did well today lieutenant."
"I appreciate the kind words ma'am, hope you have a safe journey" the pilot proceeded to deliver a salute to the Major, who returned it in response.
They subsequently went their own ways with the Luftwaffe squadron heading west and the 501st heading north back at their base.