A/N: Before starting the story, special thanks to SeekerMeeker, gvintheodore, SuperSwanky69 and MadCinder for their OC submission when I asked them. I hope your characters are portrayed well enough. And don't worry MadCinder, your own character will get some screen time too!
Answering to reviews: E: The sister Azarin mentions is Anzu's older sister. Centi and Henry will play a big role in America. As for Elpida killing the twins and how the Ooarai girs will escape, I guess you will find out in the next chapter.
The Ether Conflict
Chapter 22: The Battle of Tokyo
Altitude: 10 km
Distance to Tokyo: 100 km
First Blackout Air Squadron
In an altitude of about 10 km, fly three jets painted sky blue. The inscription 'Night Witches' is painted on the right of each jet's cockpit, while the insignia of the squad is painted on the left. The insignia is the female symbol inside a circle, with a missile on its left and a broom on its right, everything black in color.
The 'Night Witches', an elite squad that consists of three female pilots with incredible skills, is one of the most prized elite squads Blackout has. The skills these pilots have, allow them to accomplish incredible things and pull off incredible stunts that aren't possible by a normal pilot.
The first member is named Katyusha Zyatsev from Russia, nicknamed Katy by her friends. Her background is not known and many rumors surround it, but the only thing sure is her skills are befit of the title of Ace Pilot. She is cheerful, bright, sunny and always wants to throw a party. She has long brown hair that have been braided to the side and her eyes are dark brown. When not flying, she wears an aviator's jacket above Blackout's standard uniform, which is gray for pilots, along with matching sunglasses. Though she always avoids telling her age, which is 24.
The second member is named Karolin and is 28 years old. She is a tall girl, with long black hair tied up in a bun, black eyes, with an eyepatch on her right eye, and she is from Estonia. Her friends have given her the nickname Grumpy Cat, since she is always grumpy. Because of her past, she appears to be cold and uncaring, and hates the notion of family, as she never had one, but she does care for her friends on the inside, even if she won't admit it.
The third girl is named Abrielle Tank and she is 17 years old, one of the few underage girls in Blackout that can fight. She is from Germany and her friends have given her the nickname "Tanklot",which derives from her last name Tank and being a pilot. She is a very tall girl, with brown hair and blue eyes; two strands spike out like four horns. She likes to hide them with a peak hat, because she is embarrassed by her old friends, who called her "Horny Heroine."
"I am bored!" Katy say loudly through the comms to her rest of her team.
"Come on Katy, don't be like that. We even promised you a party after this mission," Abrielle says with a smile.
"Yay, party!" Katy says cheerfully, raising both of her hands as much as she can inside the cockpit of her jet she is currently flying.
"Why am I still with you?" Karolin sighs, shaking her head.
"Muu, you are such a party pooper, Grumpy Cat," Katy pouts, this time crossing her hands and knocking the guidance stick slightly to the right, causing the plane to tilt slightly and move to the right, before hastily leveling it.
"Be careful Katyusha," Abrielle warns with a stern voice. "You shouldn't be moving your arms inside the cockpit too much."
"Fiiine," she pouts for a moment, before becoming cheerful again." So, what is our mission again?"
"I know that you are an idiot, but can't you remember something for more than an hour?" Karolin grumbles with a grumpy look, not very fond of Kate's selective memory.
"Karolin, talk better to Katyusha. She is your friend and calling her idiot is unacceptable," Abrielle reprimands Karolin, who just ignores her for the most part.
"Thanks Tanklot!" Katy says cheerfully, unfazed by Karolin's comment and glad Abrielle is defending her.
"Anyway, our mission is to provide close air support to the forces that will be attacking Tokyo. We should link with Raptor and Eagle squads in about five minutes and then proceed to Tokyo. We will receive target coordinates from the squad leaders down on the ground. Does that cover you Katy?" Abrielle asks, having simplified the mission briefing for Katyusha.
"Yes, thanks a lot!" Katy says cheerfully.
"I can't believe this girl is 24 years old and behaves like she is 6," Karolin mumbles to herself.
"So, Karolin, how is the new plane?" Abrielle asks, wanting to somehow pass her time.
"If you take into consideration that they are experimental and this will be their first field test, they are pretty good. Handling is not that great for my tastes, the armaments seem adequate, VTOL capabilities are actually very good and speed is okay," she responds, always keeping a grumpy look on her face.
"I think these new planes are awesome! You can do so many tricks!" Katy says loudly as she rolls her plane once.
"Is that why you named them Brooms?" Karolin grumbles...again, not fond of the name Katy registered their planes with.
"We are supposed to be a family of witches, and every witch needs a broom to fly!" Katy responds proudly, puffing her chest lightly.
"We are not a family Katyusha and we are not witches either," Karolin says with a cold tone, which causes Katy to start crying.
"Tanklot, the Grumpy Cat says we aren't a family!" Katy cries loudly.
"Look what you did Karolin! Why are you so adamant about us not being a family?!" Abrielle says in disbelief.
"You know why Abrielle, so don't play the ignorant one," Karolin snaps at her.
"And I saw my father getting murdered in front of me. Should I be cold and harsh towards everyone else because of that, Karolin? Is it so difficult to grasp the concept of family just because you never had one?!" Abrielle shouts at Karolin, Karolin's comment making her angry.
"You two, don't fight!" Katy yells, tears still flowing from her eyes.
As the three "elite" pilots continue to argue, a transmission comes through the open channel.
"To any available forces this Raptor-3! We are under attack by three enemy jets. Eagle squad has been annihilated and-" A sudden explosion is heard, before static feels the open channel.
"Raptor-3 come in," Abrielle says quickly, her voice full of concern.
"Raptor-3, do you copy?" she says again, but only silence greets her.
"They are dead and the enemy jets will probably come for us," Karolin says, her voice as cold as the snow.
A monotone beep starts beeping in Kate's cockpit, indicating a missile lock in her airplane. "I have been locked, evasive maneuvers!" she yells and her fighter dives towards the ground, a smoke trail following her.
"They are already here!?" Karolin says surprised, a beeping noise echoing in her cockpit, forcing her to tilt her fighter to the right and dive to the ground.
"The enemy must be above us!" Abrielle yells, seeing the smoke trail from the missile that is tracking Katy originating from above her. Pulling the guidance stick backwards and causing the plane to rise, she scans the sunny sky. Sure enough, three jets painted white with red lines on their wings dive towards her, their machine guns opening fire and scratching the glass of her cockpit. Abrielle rolls the fighter in the nick of time, passing mere centimeters away from the diving fighters. Gritting her teeth, she pulls the stick as hard as she can and airbrakes the plane, forcing it to do an 180 degrees turn, the G-forces threatening to make her faint. As the plane's speed reaches zero and the stall warning goes off, she acquires a lock in one of the jets and fires a missile, which shoots towards its target. The enemy fighter disperses flares, but the missile ignores them, colliding with its body and a fireball consumes it, only burnt metal falling towards the earth.
"Katy, Karolin, acquire targets and gun them down, we don't have lots of time to spare!" Abrielle yells, as she pursuits another one of the enemies, which performs a barrel roll to avoid her machine gun rounds.
"Roger!" both Katy and Karolin respond, having successfully evaded the missiles that were chasing them. Joining Abrielle, they start hunting a target each, and after a few minutes, the remaining enemy planes fall to the ground as burning wrecks of metal.
"Daddy, why you and Mommy have to go?"
"Sorry sweetie, but it's our job."
"Just be careful out there Ryuu. I'll take care of your daughter until you come back."
"Thanks mother."
"Ryuu, let's go."
"Ryuu."
"Ryuu."
"Ryuu!"
Snapping his eyes open, Ryuu looks frantically around him. He is currently inside a crater that was created by artillery shells and his head is pounding like a truck just hit him. Clutching it with his left hand, he shakes it a bit, before looking around him. He spots a woman with long black hair and green eyes peeking over the edge of the crater and firing her weapon blindly, as bullets skim across her hands and the top of her head.
"About fucking time you woke up!" she yells at him, ducking inside the crater to reload her weapon.
"Sorry sweetie, but the last thing I remember are artillery shells exploding everywhere," he groans, grabbing his weapon and crouching next to the woman.
"So you conveniently forgot that I dragged your sorry ass in here, while under enemy fire!" she shouts, peeking over the edge again, but this time aiming her sights and firing.
"What can I say, I was knocked out at that time. Knowing you, you just kicked me at the edge and let me roll in here," he grins, peeking out of the edge too to fire his gun. Everywhere he looks, there are soldiers and tanks, both friendly and hostile.
Most have helmets with orange lights, advancing while laying suppressive fire to any Blackout forces. Raising his gun, he starts hitting the advancing soldiers, spending three to four bullets for each one.
"Ten years of marriage and this is what you tell me you ungrateful bastard?!" she yells at him, throwing at his arm her empty magazine.
"Ungrateful?! Listen here-"
"Squad five, this is Bastion, what's your status, over," a voice from his earpiece interrupts him.
"This is Squad five leader, Satomi Moe reporting! All but two members are alive, including me, over!" she yells over the gunfire.
"Acknowledged Squad five. Squads seven, thirteen and twenty-two are en route to reinforce you. Hold your position until then, over."
"Understood Bastion, over and out!"
"So, Moe, ready to kick some ass?" Ryuu asks as he points to some Angel units that hover over the middle of the battlefield.
"Shut up Ryuu!" she snaps back at him. Raising her weapon, she fires a small burst of bullets, before one of the Angel units makes a dive to the ground and explodes on impact.
"One down, another dozen to go," she grins, aiming at the next Angel unit that keeps firing on the soldiers below them.
"Duck!" Ryuu yells and tackles Moe to the ground, a shell passing from where her head was mere moments ago. The shell slams at the other side of the crater and explodes, with dirt and metal bits raining everywhere.
"You know, we have a house for those things," she jokes, pushing Ryuu on her side and rising.
"No time like the present!" he smirks, causing Moe to make a short laugh.
"So, what will we do with the tank?" she points at one of the enemy tanks, its gun pointed at them. Before it can fire though, a missile slams on the turret's roof and causes the tank to explode, its turret rising on the air for a brief moment. Tracing the missile's smoke trail, they spot a squad of Blackout soldiers approaching them.
"Seems like reinforcements arrived," Ryuu says as five soldiers get inside the crater.
"Are you Squad five?" one of the soldiers asks, raising his gun to fire at the remaining Angel units.
"What's left of them," Moe answers back.
"We have orders to replace you at this point, you need to go back to HQ and after that you are to go to the right flank."
"OK, good luck guys!" Ryuu shouts and along with Moe, they start retreating towards the HQ. As they are running to the back lines, mortar shells slam all over around them for a brief moment, dirt getting flung all over the place and them.
"I wonder what could possibly flatten such a huge city," Ryuu wonders aloud. Everywhere he looks, he sees nothing but a flat wasteland, with the occasional buildings popping out of the ground. Only the Tokyo Tower and Sky Tree, along with some other smaller buildings, are still standing.
"It wasn't a nuke, or we would be boiling by now. Maybe a huge non-nuclear weapon?" Moe suggests, thinking about it for a moment, before dismissing the subject for another time. As they are running, a huge explosion occurs behind them, its shockwave throwing them on the ground.
"What the hell was that?!" Moe screams, keeping her head down to avoid any shrapnel from hitting her. Huge chunks of ground and concrete, along with strong wings and body parts pass above her, thankfully missing her.
"A huge air-fuel bomb!" Ryuu yells back, eyeing the sideways mushroom that the air-fuel bomb leaves behind after it explodes.
Rising to her feet, she looks with awe at the explosion. As she looks at it though, her danger sense goes off and she dives to her left, the metallic blade from one of the Phantom units cutting some strands of her hair. As she stands up, the Phantom's head jerks sideways and its body falls to the ground, blood gushing from the single bullet hole its head has. At a distance of about five meters stands Ryuu with his pistol smoking.
"Nice reflexes," he says, quickly approaching Moe to see if she is fine.
"I'm fine Ryuu, you don't have to worry," she says, scanning her surroundings for any additional enemies. "Uhm...we may be in trouble," she whispers as her face grows pale.
"What do you mean?" he asks. Following her gaze, he too feels his face being drain from any blood it has. At the distance, a huge tank lumbers slowly towards them, its turret aiming its two massive 150mm cannons at their direction. Flanking it are at least a dozen enemy soldiers, along with four Phantoms and two Angels.
"We are so screwed..." he says, waiting for his inevitable death to come. Instead, several small explosions litter the area where the tank and the enemy forces are, leaving none alive.
"To all Squad leaders, this is the Witch Squadron, awaiting coordinates for close air support," both Moe and Ryuu hear a voice saying through their earpieces.
"Thank God, they made it on time," Ryuu sighs in relief, glad he gets to live another day.
"Unless you want to test your luck again, I'd suggest you move it," Moe shouts at him, already retreating further into Blackout controlled territory.
"Good job Katy, enemy forces destroyed," Abrielle informs Katy, having witnessed her cluster bomb separating and destroying a mass of enemy soldiers and a tank.
"Yay!" Katy says cheerfully.
"Witches, this is Bastion, how copy?" a voice blades through the radio.
"We copy you Bastion. We are ready to receive target coordinates for bombing and close air support," Abrielle informs Bastion.
"We will need one of you at the left, right and center of the frontline. You will receive target coordinates from the squads down on the field."
"Affirmative Bastion, over and out," Abrielle says. "Katy, take the left flank. Karolin, you take the right; I'll take the center."
"Yay, more fun!" Katy shouts in excitement, tilting her plane left and moving to support the left flank.
"About time we got some action," Karolin grumbles, leaving formation to join the forces on the right flank.
"Guess that leaves me with the center," Abrielle mumbles to herself.
Reaching the frontlines, she spots a squad of five men trying to advance between two fallen buildings. Behind them, a black Type 89 supports them, firing its machine gun and cannon to the enemy squads. Suddenly, the Type 89 goes up in flames and an enemy tank appears behind the enemy squads, who seem like they will overwhelm the five Blackout soldiers at any moment. Slowing the airplane and changing to VTOL mode, she hovers over the five men. Acquiring a lock at the tank, she fires an ASM at it and uses its machine gun to shred most of the enemy soldiers to meat chunks and bloody mist.
"Thanks a lot for the help! There are two squads thirty meters to the West stalling enemy forces, but they have taken heavy losses!" the leader of the squad Abrielle saved, informs her.
"Roger that, moving to provide close air support," she says, still staying into VTOL mode.
"Seriously now, why are the enemy jets target only me?!" Karolin grumbles, trying to shake off two enemy jets that are in pursuit. The moment she reached the right flank, two enemy jets appeared from nowhere and started hunting her, so as to limit her from providing close air support to the units below.
"Abrielle, Katy, I have two enemy jets on my tail, can you assist?" she asks over the comms, her plane performing rolls, barrel rolls and sharp turns to throw the enemy's aim off.
"I am still providing CAS to a squad, so I cannot help you right now," Abrielle says.
"I am coming Grumpy Cat, ETA one minute!" Katy says.
"Don't call me Grumpy Cat," Karolin grumbles. "And thanks Katy. Sorry about what I told you earlier."
"It's fine, no problem. Oh, I am right in front of you," she says as she spots Karolin's fighter flying straight to her. "Make a half-roll and pull up on about three seconds!"
"But we will colli-" she tries to protest, but gets interrupted by Katy.
"Now!" Katy yells and Karolin performs a half-roll, pushes the guidance stick down and narrowly avoids a collision as her plane passes on top of Katy's. As she passes above Katy's cockpit, Katy winks at her and Karolin just looks at her with a grumpy expression.
"Game over!" Katy exclaims with a grin as she fires two missiles at Karolin's pursuers. The enemy jets explode into two fireballs and Katy has to rotate her airplane 90 degrees to avoid the flaming wrecks that almost graze her and fall to the ground, only for them to strike the Tokyo Tower and damage it slightly.
"That was fun!" she yells excitedly as she goes back to the left flank to assist the rest of Blackout's forces.
"I think you might need mental help," Karolin says at Katy, who conveniently ignores the comment.
Inside a large tent sit in front of desks several of Blackout's information specialists, monitoring the progress of the frontline, the squads that are currently deployed and giving directions to how the squads will move, all the while updating a tactical map that is being displayed in the middle of the tent, showing with red the enemy units and with blue the friendly ones.
In front of the tactical map that is being displayed stands Teruo, observing it carefully and shooting orders nonstop.
"Have Squads 55, 23 and 34 fall back slightly and have Squad 35 flank from the left," he orders, using a tablet to draw the fallback line and the movement of the squads. "What's the status of the Second Armored Squad?"
"They are currently moving to the center of the frontline to provide support," one of the specialists responds, checking the status of the Second Armored Squad, along with several other infantry squads that are assigned to him.
"Have the AA units deployed yet?"
"They should be arriving on their designated positions shortly."
Wiping his forehead slightly, he notices a separate window appearing on the tablet he holds. It shows a blue bar and the phrase "Hack Successful" flashing in blue and white colors.
"Overlord, this is Bastion. We have successfully taken control of the orbital weapons platform "Odin"," he says, but keeps looking at the tactical map. Slowly but surely, the flanks of the frontline start taking ground, pushing the enemy back.
"Bastion, this is Night Witches. We are rerouting to the closest base for refueling and re-arming, ETA 30 minutes," a transmission comes through.
"Acknowledged Night Witches, good job out there." He says, as he gets a transmission from Blackout's main base.
"Bastion this is Overlord, good job on acquiring Odin. Have it target the Institute's HQ but do not fire; it will be our bargaining chip with them," Overlord, the Director's callsign, says to Teruo, keeping an eye on the tactical map Teruo is looking at the moment, back at his office.
Suddenly, an alarm appears on the tablet, its screen flashing red.
"Sir, we have been locked out of Odin's systems," a woman says with a calm voice.
"Can you recover control?" he asks quickly, as a separate screen pops over and shows a silhouette of Odin and it's different systems.
"Impossible. When we took over Odin, a final command was executed and locked us out," another man says, typing on his keyboard as fast as he can.
"Do we know what the command was?"
"It seems the command was for Odin to fire one of its payload at a predetermined set of coordinates..." the man trails off as he checks the coordinates.
"The coordinates are for the underground lab," he manages to say and everyone falls silent.
"Get in touch with the Insertion Force and have them withdraw immediately! What's the status of the hacking progress?" he asks quickly, focusing temporary on Odin's status.
"We managed to take control of Odin again, but the payload has been launched, ETA 2 minutes!" a woman says loudly.
"Have you managed to make contact with the Insertion Force?"
"Negative. It seems the enemy is jamming their signal," the woman responds.
"Bastion, this is Overlord. Continue with the assault in Tokyo; I'm sure the Insertion Force got the transmission and is withdrawing as we speak," the Director says and everyone goes back to focus on the forces assaulting the city.
"As you order," Teruo says and dismisses the window that shows Odin's systems, focusing on the Tactical Map once again.
I just hope the kids will be alright, he thinks, before turning his full attention on commanding the units that are on the battlefield.
"Are you sure about that?" Misako asks the Director with a concerned expression.
"Are you worried about them, Misako?" the Director asks. Both of them are looking at a small screen that shows Miho and the modified Type 10 from a bird's eyes view. They are currently fighting above the underground lab, trying to thin out the enemy forces that have been sent to stop them.
"Of course I would be! A tungsten rod that has been shot from outer space will hit them in less than a minute and somehow you expect me to believe they'll survive?!" she asks incredulously. Realizing that she has raised her voice to her boss, she quickly lowers her gaze to the floor, her face getting flustered. "I-I am deeply sorry."
"For goodness sake, how many times do I have to tell you I don't mind if you speak to me casually, as long as it's just me, you and Teruo. We are childhood friends after all," he smiles at her and she reluctantly smiles back.
"You just have been knowing me since I have been a baby. You are more than just a childhood friend, you are family," she smiles serenely.
The Director says nothing, but chuckles in response to that. Turning his attention back at the small screen on his desk, he let's another chuckle. "Now, let's see the true power of an Ether user," he smirks in anticipation as the tungsten rod that was launched from Odin hits its target.
A/N: Yay, an early chapter upload! I know it is small, but I wanted to cut it there. Next chapter will have Odysseus' battle, Miho's lab entrance and the Ooarai teams escape. Don't worry, the battle of Tokyo is far from over and we still have to see what the spec ops are doing. So, will Miho survive Odin's strike, or will she perish?