Chapter 3: Welcome to Pescara, girls…and men
Aces' World
10th May 1945
Brno, Czechoslovakia
It was huge panic as the German personnel both airmen and ground crew evacuated from the airbase to avoid Soviet capture. Any planes that could still fly were ordered into the sky and head west. In the sky was a lone Junkers Ju-52 that was heading for the West. This Ju-52 was special as it had taken out five fighter planes, which is quite the achievement for a plane that is a transport plane but if you knew the pilot, you wouldn't be surprised. It was Hauptmann Marcus Gerhard von Richthofen who was the younger brother of Manfred von Richthofen. He took out those planes without firing a shot but by tipping the I-16s and I-15s off balance. Two more were shot with the MG 131 on the dorsal mounting manned by his daughter, seventeen year old, Hanna Eva von Richthofen who was an honorary Offiziersanwärter of the unit because of her bravery.
"Father, where are we going now?" Hanna asked as she sat in her seat in the co-pilot seat.
"We will try to escape West, Hanna" Marcus said as he stared ahead to the clear skies that lay ahead. However this all changed when a large storm cloud engulfed the Junkers. "Hang on!"
This storm was a violent one as it made the Ju-52 rock and pitch. This was dangerous as they had a lot cargo inside the cargo plane which can cause it to lose balance.
"Aah!" Erica cried as she gripped her seat hard as the plane rocked even more. Suddenly a bright light appeared in front of the Ju-52.
"Please keep me daughter safe" Marcus whispered as the plane was engulfed by the light.
15th September 1945
Northern Pacific Ocean
Enroute to Okinawa
The war was over now but it was still a tense situation as a Funshiki Shinden was being escorted by four P-51 Mustangs. The pilot in the Funshiki Shinden is Major Riki Ogawa of the Japanese Imperial Air Force. He was an ace with seven kills to his name. He was testing the jet powered Shinden when he heard of the Japanese surrender; he turned himself in to the Americans in his Funshiki Shinden.
"Japanese pilot, we will be arriving in Kadena Air Base soon" An American pilot radioed angrily.
"Roger" Riki radioed.
"Hey Mack, can you ease up a bit? The war is over" Another pilot said.
"Mack's pissed because he isn't going to get to see his girlfriend before she get shipped back to the states, don't you remember Greg?" Another American pilot asked.
"You mean Alice right, Don…Oh yeah, sorry, Mack" Greg radioed.
"It's alright, I said bye to Alice before we went up, I am sorry as well" Mack radioed.
"It is alright" Greg radioed.
"Hey Greg, go take a photo of the Jap pilot" Don said.
"I think we should call him, a Japanese Don, the war is over" Greg radioed.
"Alright, take a picture of the Japanese pilot" Don said.
"Alright, I'll take the picture" Greg said as he flew closer to the jet powered Shinden. Riki looked to his right and looked at Greg.
"Gregory-san?" Riki radioed.
"Riki?" Greg replied.
"Wait you two know each other?" Mack asked.
"Yeah, we meet before the war, I was in Japan for a few years as my father worked in Japan as a historic advisor in Tokyo's museum" Gregory said. Gregory is a fighter pilot slash battlefield reporter for the New York Times. He is not really good at his job as a reporter but he is an excellent pilot with seven planes to his name, three of which were German. He was called the "Pictureman" as he always took pictures of his missions especially when he or his fellow airmen shots a plane down.
"It is good to see you again, Gregory-san" Riki said. Suddenly a storm cloud appeared and engulfed the two planes.
"What the hell?" Greg said as the storm battered the two planes.
"This storm is so strong" Riki said as he struggled against the wind.
"Hang on, Riki" Greg said as he too struggled with his P-51 in the strong wind. Then a bright light appeared.
"My god" Riki said.
"Holy shit" Greg said as the light swallowed the two planes whole.
September 16th 1945
South East Asia
Jakarta
A pair of old Ki-43 Hayabusa "Oscar" fighters was patrolling the skies over Jakarta. The lead plane was a KI-43 Mark 3 b and its pilot was a veteran flier with five Dutch planes shot down under her belt. The pilot is called the "Lethal Lily of the Sunda Sea" by the Royal Netherlands Air Force while the Indonesians call her "Little Lily". Her name is Lily Widodo.
"Hey Widodo, how are things on your end?" Lily's wingman radioed.
"Everything is all green on my end, how about you?" Lily replied.
"I am good, but my flaps are sluggish" Her wingman radioed.
"Well better hope we don't get sucked into a dogfight" Lily said.
"True that" Her wingman said. Suddenly the sky was filled with flak.
"Aw, shit, we must have strayed into Dutch held territory" Lily barked.
"Let's go up" Her wingman radioed when suddenly a round smashed through his wing.
"Leman!" Lily shouted.
"I am still can fly, Lily, it is just a little hole in the wing" Leman said.
"No you can't, let's get out of here" Lily said. Just then another flak cloud exploded just centimetres from her cockpit. Her cockpit was shattered by the shrapnel and she was covered by glass and metal scrap.
"Lily! Are you alright?" Leman asked.
"My body is riddled with holes, I am leaking blood like water flowing through sieve and my plane now has a natural air conditioner besides than that I am fine" Lily sarcastically said.
"Can you still fly?" Leman asked.
"I still can but I need to land fast" Lily replied.
"Alright, let's go home" Leman said. However, suddenly Lily's Oscar was gobbled up by a strange storm cloud.
"What the hell?" Lily said as she battled against the winds. After what felt like an eternity, a bright light appeared and began swallowing her plane, "I am going to heaven?"
Strike Witches' World
July 5th 1945
Mediterranean Sea
Enroute to Pescara, Romagna
The 501st JFW with the Combined Fighter Squadron in tow were heading towards Pescara Air Base where the 501st has been ordered to report to.
"So why are we heading to Pescara?" Minna asked.
"Well, we have been ordered to report there" Katherine said.
"Come on Katherine, I know that you know why we are heading there" Mio asked.
"Maybe, you are right" Katherine smiled.
"You are so enigmatic" Mio grumbled. Suddenly a radio message came in
"This is Hauptmann Marcus Gerhard von Richthofen of the Jagdgeschwader 52 to anyone, can you hear me?" A voice said.
"Wait, that is Marcus" Erich said.
"Who is Marcus?" Minna asked.
"He is the younger brother of Manfred von Richthofen and he is a mechanic and a Ju-52 pilot in my unit" Erich answered.
"Wait the Marcus? The one who knocked out five planes with a Ju-52; we are talking about that Marcus?" Gerhard asked.
"Yeah, that's the one, he is also a good friend of mine" Erich said.
"That is surprising, I had a similar friend, and she was Marie Gertrud von Richthofen who is the sister of Minna von Richthofen, she flies Ju-52 strikers and is a mechanic and is a part of my old unit the JG-52" Erica said.
"So what do we do sekarang?" Amirah asked.
"We get him into the formation so we can get a grasp of the situation" Katherine said.
"Who do you want to go to get him?" Minna asked.
"Major Erich, Erica, you two go and get the Ju-52" Katherine ordered.
"Roger" Erica said as she turned northwards.
"Jawohl" Erich said as he followed Erica. Just moments after the two left, another radio message came in.
With the Ju-52
Hanna Eva's POV
My father was looking for landmarks as he flew our Ju-52; I was checking the cargo in bay.
"How is the cargo?" My father asked. I looked at the cargo that we had loaded into the Ju-52 before we departed from Brno which mostly all our personal effects on board along with parts of a dismantled plane as well.
"Everything is still in its place, vater, the storm did nothing" I said as I walked back into the cockpit.
"That is good to hear" My father said.
"Hallo, this is Major Erich Hartmann to Hauptmann Marcus Gerhard von Richthofen, what is your status" Marcus heard the radio come to life. I was surprised to hear Uncle Bubi was alright, seeing that he disappeared for two days now.
"Erich Hartmann? Bubi, is that you?" My father asked as he frantically grabbed the radio. I giggled at his reaction
"Yeah, Marcus, it is me, it is good to see hear you again?" Erich radioed.
"Yes, it is good to hear you too, Bubi" My father radioed as we saw a Bf 109 appear from the south. I also noticed something else as well, flying alongside the Bf 109.
"Vater, there is something flying alongside the Bf 109" I said.
"Ja, I see it too, dear" My father said. Soon the figure that flew next to the Bf 109 became more distinguishable and I was surprised to see that it was a short haired blond girl who was carrying a MG42 and she had metal contraptions wrapping her legs.
"What is that?" I asked.
"Who is flying alongside you, Erich?" My father asked.
"Oh, hallo, I am Flight Lieutenant Erica Hartmann of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing" I heard a girl's voice.
"Erich, when did you have a sister?" I asked.
"I don't" Erich said.
"Then why does Erica have the same name?" I asked back. I could see the girl look to the Bf 109.
"We are not sure really why but let's head for an airbase in Romagna where we can clear things up" Erica answered. Romagna? I have never heard of a place like that. Where are we?
"Romagna? Where is that? I have never heard of it before" My father said. Erich's Bf 109 and the girl flew past us and then formed up with us on either side of our Ju-52.
"Same here, this is the first time I am hearing this too" Erich said.
"What? How can you not know Romagna? It was once the centre of the Great Roman Empire that stretched across Europe" Erica said.
"That sounds like Italy" My father said.
"Italy? What is Italy?" Erica asked. This is strange, how can she not know Italy? Is she German? I looked at her and saw that her metal leggings had a strange roundel; it was not the black cross that I had seen on all Luftwaffe planes, "Hey your roundel is different than that on my strikers"
"Strikers? What are those?" My father asked.
"What? You don't know strikers either! Where have you been living?" Erica asked before suddenly she had a face of realization, "Wait…I think I know what is going on!"
"What is it, Erica" Erich asked. I was curious on what was Erica's mind.
"You all are from another world! That is why you don't know what strikers or Romagna are, because you have had never heard of it, you come from an alternate world where the countries, timeline, people are different but are similar in certain aspects so I can say that your Italy is my world's Romagna counterpart" Erica said.
"That makes sense because we have not heard of Romagna before and you of Italy" My father said.
"Oh I just realized something as well" Erica said.
"What is that?" I asked.
"I am this world version of you, Erich Hartmann" Erica answered.
"Well that would explain why you feel so familiar, why your strikers look like my plane and why our names are roughly the same and that means that everyone on both the Combined Fighter Squadron and the 501st Joint Fighter Wing are the same people but from different worlds" Erich deduced.
"Combined Fighter Squadron?" My father asked.
"It is the unit that I formed with a group of fighter pilots who are also in this world" Erich answered.
"So there is an opposite gender version of us in this world?" My father asked. I immediately imagined a male version of me walking around and I cringed.
"I think there might be exceptions, is Rommel a girl in your world?" Erica asked.
"No, he is a man" Erich said.
"There is your proof" Erica said. I sighed with relief as I don't need to worry about meeting a gender bent me in this world. Just then the radio came alive.
"Hallo? This is Leutnant Marie Gertrud von Richthofen with Offiziersanwärter Eva Helma von Richthofen of the JG 52; do you know where Glavnyy marshal aviatsii Katherine Litvyak is? I have been ordered to report to her" I heard the voice. I looked at my father who at the same time looked at me and he had a wide eyed expression on his face.
"Wow, that was unexpected" Erica simply said. I looked to
"Um, this is Erich Hartmann of the Combined Fighter Squadron, please follow us, we will guide you two in, what direction are you approaching us?" Erich asked.
"Roger, we are coming from the north east" Marie replied.
"This is Offiziersanwärter Eva Helma von Richthofen, I have a question" Eva radioed.
"What is it?" Erich asked.
"Are you related to Erica Hartmann?" Eva asked.
"In a sense yes" Erich said.
"Is she alright?" Eva asked.
"She is the pink of health, she is right next to me in fact" Erich said.
"Hey, Eva, it is nice to hear you again" Erica smiled.
"Auntie Erica" Eva shouted as she raced towards Erica and hugged her, "It is good to see you again and you look so cool"
"It is good to see you too, squirt" Erica smiled.
"You remind me of my daughter when she was younger" My father said.
"I wasn't like that" I said.
"Aw, does that mean you don't like your Uncle Erich now?" Erich asked. I felt guilty for hurting Uncle Bubi's heart. I loved him because he was an awesome guy. He thought me how to fly a fighter plane and how to handle myself in a dogfight.
"Well, she is growing up, soon enough, she might dislike flying" My father said. I looked at him and he shrugged. I will never let go of flying, it is so cool and I want to be like my father and uncles.
"Uncle Erich! I still love you" I cried into the radio.
"Oh that is alright, I was joking alright" Erich radioed.
"Uncle" I shouted while Erich and Erica laughed.
"Who was that?" Eva asked.
"That is my daughter, Hanna Eva von Richthofen, ersatz niece of Erich Hartmann and actual niece of Manfred Richthofen" My father said.
"That sounds like my daughter" Marie said.
"Well, what the coincidences, we have now" My father said.
"Alright, let's get going" Erich said. We agreed and began heading towards the air base that Erica was leading us to. Erica gave us a simple definition of the strikers she, Marie and Eva were wearing.
"They are a special contraption that let us fly, they work with magic which allow me to do this" Erica explained before she made cone of swirling air around her and dashed forward, "There are many different type of magical ability"
I looked at the strikers that Marie wore and saw that they really do look like our Junkers Ju-52. I saw that she had a large bag on her shoulders while attached to her strikers was a large box. She also had a MG 131 in her arms.
"Hello? Hello? This is Captain Gregory Tyson of the United States of America Army Air Force to anyone out there; I am with Major Riki Ogawa of the Imperial Japanese Air Force, we need some help, we are not aware of our location" Another voice said. I then saw a pair of aircraft in the distance, a silver one and a green one.
"Wait that was an American, why is he with a Japanese pilot? Aren't they on opposite sides?" I asked.
"I think the Japanese surrendered and they were escorting the Japanese pilot when he and the Japanese pilots were teleported to this world" My father said.
"That would make sense" I said.
"This is Major Erich Hartmann of the Combined Fighter Squadron; I have you in my rear sights, can you head over to the formation of planes to your south west" Erich radioed.
"Um, roger, wait are you a German convoy?" Gregory asked.
"Yes we are, in a sense" Erich said, "Do not worry, we are heading to a base where everything will be clear"
"Alright but if you try anything funny, I will not hesitate to open fire" Gregory said.
"Alright but you do know that you are outnumbered" Erich answered.
"Damn, you got me there" Gregory said, "Wait, and why are there girls with animal ears and tails with metal thingamabobs on their legs and flying?"
"That will all be explained in due time, right now we need to focus on getting to the airbase" Erich said.
"Alright but you have a lot of explaining to do" Gregory said.
"I agree this too confusing" Riki said for the first time.
"Hey, this is Captain Georgina Tyson of the Liberion 532nd Reconnaissance Wing; can you help me find where the 501st JFW are? I don't really know where they are" Yet another voice said. We saw two more witches come into view from the north after the American and Japanese formed up with us.
"Yeah, can I also get assistance? I am Major Reina Ogawa of the Fusoan 67th Fighter Wing, I too need to find the 501st JFW" Another voice said.
"This is Lieutenant Amy Widodo of the Fusoan 45th Interceptor Wing, can I tag along? I was ordered to report to the 501st JFW" One more voice said.
"Alright, everyone that just arrived, I am Major Erich Hartmann of the Combine Fighter Squadron, the girl on my left is Erica Hartmann of the 501st JFW, the Ju-52 behind me is piloted by Hauptmann Marcus Gerhard von Richthofen with his daughter Hanna Eva von Richthofen, the woman with the large crate is Leutnant Marie Gertrud von Richthofen while the girl on the other side of the Ju-52 is Offiziersanwärter Eva Helma von Richthofen and the P-51 pilot is Captain Gregory Tyson while the pilot in the Funshiki Shinden is Major Riki Ogawa and before you ask any questions, we head to the airbase where the 501st JFW is heading for, Ja?" Erich said.
"Yes sir" Everyone else said. We soon came over a large castle which had a runway extended into the sea. I was amazed to see such a castle was a military base.
"Wow that is one hell of an air base" Gregory said.
"It is a beautiful sight" Riki said. I looked at the castle and saw planes on the shoulders of the runway.
"Hey, Erica, what took you so long?" a new voice said.
"Oh, sorry command but there was more company that came" Erica answered.
"That is acceptable, now get your feet on the ground" The voice said.
"So this is Pescara Air Base?" Erica asked.
"Yes" The voice said.
"Alright, everyone begin landing preparing" Erich ordered.
Erich's POV
I decided to go down first because I was low on fuel; I lined up my Bf 109 with the centre of the runway. I lowered my speed and I made contact with the ground but I didn't feel the usual thud of landing and I noticed that there was a dull glow of blue light coming from the ground.
"What the hell?" I said as I wondered what was the light was so against all the safety lines I opened my cockpit and leaned over to see what was causing the light and I saw a large blue circle that was as large as my plane underneath it. I saw that circle had a series of smaller circles overlapping it or inside it and it had some ancient cryptic letters along the rim of the ring.
"This is interesting" I said to myself as I turned my vision back to the front of my plane and taxied it to the left hand shoulder of the runway. I then jumped out of my plane and watched everyone else that came with me come in for a landing.
"Alright, can I have everyone gathered in the hangar" I heard a voice said. I saw that it was one of the witches and I am guessing she is the most senior officer as her uniform is just like who I think is Katherov's uniform. I decided to walk up to where she was. Soon everyone was gathered in the hangar. I found it funny that all the witches were on one side while we, the pilots were on the other side.
"Minna, you wanted to know why we are here right" The female officer asked.
"Yes, Katherine" A red haired girl said.
"Here, this will answer your question" Katherine said as she handed the redhead, Minna an envelope. She opened it and looked at the letter in. Her eyes immediately widened.
"Katherine" Minna said but Katherine interrupted her.
"Read out the letter, Oberstleutnant" Katherine ordered.
"Jawohl, Glavnyy marshal aviatsii, By the order of the Allied Supreme Command, the 501st "Strike Witches" Joint Fighter Wing will be reinstated and all former members are to be called back into the unit. The unit will also receive five new members, Major Reina Ogawa, Captain Georgina Tyson, Leutnant Marie Gertrud von Richthofen, Lieutenant Amy Widodo and Offiziersanwärter Eva Helma von Richthofen. Additional, all former members will be promoted a rank up, effective immediately" Minna said.
"Alright now, let's see what we are going to do with you lot" Katherine said as she turned to us pilots. "Something tells me that you all are not from around here"
"Well it is because we are not from here or anywhere from this world" I said.
"What do you mean?" Another girl, this time she had brown hair in twintails asked.
"I can explain" Erica said, "These pilots are from another world where there is no magic and they have a different timeline"
"What is that timeline?" Minna asked.
"Ask them, I don't know" Erica said. We, pilots looked at each other and soon they all looked at me. I knew what that meant and I sighed.
"I will answer that but I need a world map of both your and ours" I asked.
"I have a world map in my satchel" A black haired girl said as she took out a folded piece of paper, "Nah"
"Thank you" I said.
"Here, I have one" Amir said as he handed me a map.
"Thank you, Amir" I said as I took his map. I laid down both maps on the ground and soon it became very clear how different yet how similar our worlds are.
"What the hell happened to the American continents" Chuck said as he looked at the map the girl gave. I examined both maps and found that the witches' world is like our world prior World War I as there were the equivalents of the German, Austro-Hungarian, Russian and Ottoman Empires where there was Germany, Poland, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Austria, Yugoslavia and Romania on our world's map. I saw that the Italian equivalent in the witches' world was made up of two countries. I then looked at where the Americas were and I was surprised to how warped it was compared the Americas that I or any of the pilots knew. Let's start with the North American equivalent, in the witches' world its eastern and western coast protruded into the Atlantic and Pacific respectively. Many of the islands that were located north of Canada were all joined together with the continent. The land between Alaska and Canada was squeezed. The Central American land bridged that narrowed near South America was replaced by a thick piece of land. The Panama Canal was further north in an area controlled by the US equivalent in the witches' world. In the Pacific, everything was mostly the same except there was a large island in the middle of it under the girls' world equivalent of Japan called the South Pacific Island.
"Alright, as you can tell, we are from another world, now to compare I will point out the nations in our world, this is Britain…" I began listing every major nation in our world map. I could see that the girls were paying close attention.
"Okay, now that you explained your world, let me tell you ours" Erica said.
"That would be best as we are in your world" Wolf said.
"Alright, this is the Duchy of Romagna, the country we are currently stationed, north of that is the Duchy of Venezia…" Erica pointed out the location of Gallia, their world version of France; Britannia, their world version of Great Britain; Netherlands is still the same surprisingly; Belgica, their version of Belgium; Karlsland, their version of the old German Empire; Baltland, their version of Denmark, Norway and Sweden; Suomus, their version of Finland; Orussia is their version of old Russian Empire; Ostmark is their version of the old Austro-Hungarian Empire; Dacia, their version of Romania; Moesia, their version of Bulgaria; Hispania, their version of Spain; Portugal is the same; United States of Liberion, their version of the USA; Farawayland (Okay, who the fuck was the bastard who thought Farawayland was a good name) is their version of Canada; Fuso was their version of Japan; Australis, their version of Australia and Aoteroa is their version of New Zealand. The colonies kept their names both in our worlds.
"Alright, now that we know what each other worlds' nations are; what is the situation of your world?" Katherine asked.
"Our world is currently or to be precise, nearing the end of a war that was the most destructive war our world has ever seen, it was worse than all the previous wars combined…" I said. We, pilots took turns describing the atrocities and destruction of the war that we fought or lost and we could tell how shocked and dismayed they were.
"Wait does this mean that you all were on opposing sides?" Minna asked.
"Yes we were, in fact some of us probably were saved from death by being teleported to this world" Muto said.
"So wait, we never got your names" A black haired girl who had an eye patch over her right eye said.
"Alright let's start from the highest rank" Katherov said as he placed his hand on his chest, "I am Air Chief Marshal Katherov Ivan Litvyak of the Soviet Union's Air Forces"
"I am Colonel Wolf-Dietrich Wolf of the Germany' Luftwaffe" Wolf said.
"I am Major Erich Alfred Hartmann of the German Luftwaffe" I said.
"Kon'nichiwa, I am Major Riki Ogawa of the Imperial Japanese Air Force" Riki said.
"I am Hauptmann or Captain Gerhard Barkhorn of the Luftwaffe of German" Gerhard said.
"I am Hauptmann Marcus Gerhard von Richthofen of the German Luftwaffe" Marcus said.
"Hey, I am Captain Charles E. Yeager of the Army Air Forces of the United States of America, also please call me Chuck" Chuck said.
"Hi, I am Captain Gregory "Greg" Tyson also from the USAAF, I also work for the New York Times well in my world anyway" Gregory said.
"Bonjour everyone, I am Captain Pierre Clostermann of the Free French Air Forces" Pierre said.
"I am Captain Muto Kaneyoshi of the Imperial Japanese Navy, it is a pleasure to meet all of you girls" Muto smiled as he bowed.
"I am Captain Saburo Sakai of the Imperial Japanese Navy, I hope we can work together" Sakai said.
"Apa khabar? I am Flight Lieutenant Amirul Ashraf bin Sulaiman of the British Royal Air Force, I am happy to meet you all" Amirul beamed.
"Greeting chaps, I am Flight Lieutenant Arthur Bishop also from the British Royal Air Force, it is nice to meet you" Arthur said.
"Well halo, I am Flight Officer Franco Lucchini of the Italian Regia Aeronautica, I hope we can have a good time together" Franco smiled.
"Oh, it is me now; I am Flight Officer Eino Ilmari Juutilainen of the Finnish Air Force, I am ready to serve alongside you" Eino gave a small smile.
"Privet comrades, I am Pilot Officer Lydia Vladimirovna of the Soviet Air Forces and da, I am the younger sister of Katherov Ivan Litvyak" Lydia announced.
"Halo, I am Offiziersanwärter Hanna Eva von Richthofen of the German Luftwaffe and my father is Hauptmann von Richthofen" Hanna saluted. I smiled at my ersatz niece's antics.
"Alright, let me start, I am Air Chief Marshal Katherine Iyana Litvyak of the Imperial Orussian Air Forces" Katherine introduced herself.
"I am Colonel Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke and I am Karlslander" Minna said.
"I am Commander Mio Sakamoto, I am Fusoan" Mio said.
"I am Major Gertrude Barkhorn, I am a Karlslander" Gertrude said.
"Well, I am Major Charlotte E. Yeager but please call me Shirley and I am Liberion" Shirley said.
"I am Major Reina Ogawa, I am Fusoan" Reina said.
"I am Captain Erica Hartmann and I am a Karlslander" Erica said.
"I am Captain Georgina Tyson of Liberion, nice to meet you" Georgina said.
"Assalamualaikum, I am Flight Lieutenant Amirah Aisyah of the Britannian Royal Air Force but I am from Malaya" Amirah smiled.
"I am Flight Officer Perrine Clostermann and I hail from Gallia" Perrine said.
"I am Flight Officer Francesca Lucchini and I am from Romagna!" Francesca cheered.
"I am Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen, Flight Officer of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, I am from Suomus" Eila said.
"I am Leutnant Marie Gertrude von Richthofen, I am a Karlslander" Marie said.
"I am Flight Officer Sanya Litvyak, I am Orussian" Sanya said.
"I am Pilot Officer…Lynette B…Bishop and I am a Britannian" Lynette stuttered.
"I am Sub-lieutenant Yoshika Miyafuji and I am Fusoan" Yoshika said as she waved.
"Oh, I am Officer Cadet Eva Helma von Richthofen of Karlsland" Eva said.
"Hey our names are roughly the same" Shirley pointed up.
"There is a good reason for that" I said.
"And what reason is that?" Katherine asked.
"It is because we are our world's version of you and you are your world version of us" I said.
"So we are each other's twins?" Minna asked.
"Yes it is" I said.
"That is why our nose art look similar" Chuck said.
"Yeah, although there are key differences" Shirley said.
"That is true" Chuck said.
"I have a question" Greg asked.
"What is it?" I asked.
"Why are you girls half naked?" Greg asked.
"It is because…" Erica began explaining about magic, strikers, magic abilities, and their reasons for wearing pants, "… because the neuroi attacks can as random as ever and we need to have skin contact in order to use our strikers effectively, we had forgo pants and just go bare from the waist down"
"Oh, it is because it is to cut time from off duty to in the air ready to kill" Greg said.
"Yes" Erica said.
"So what is a neuroi, well other that it being a big black flying object that fire red beams that can wipe out anything" Chuck asked.
"Well, neuroi are not exactly just the thing that we fought, they can either be ground variant which are often four legged creatures but there have been instances especially on the Eastern European Front and the Pacific Front of neuroi resembling tanks while the other variant is the aerial variant which come in all sorts of shapes and sizes and they are very unpredictable" Katherine said.
"Now I have a question" Mio said.
"What is it?" I asked. She then stood in front of me and Sakai who were so happened to standing to my left.
"How did the two of you use magic?" She asked while glaring at us.
"Um…" Sakai uttered.
"Well, I think it is safe to say that we don't know" I said.
"So you don't know how you did it?" Mio asked.
"No, it just happened" Sakai said.
"Okay, why don't you two try again" Mio asked. Sakai and I looked at each other before looking at Mio.
"How?" Sakai asked.
"Okay try concentrating" Mio suggested.
"Okay" I said.
"If you say so" Sakai said. I began concentrating and I began thinking about having a tornado in my hand. I felt something protrude from between my shirt and pants
"Hey, Bubi, your sideburns are black now" Gerhard said.
"Wooh, look at that twister in your hand, Erich" Marcus said. I looked at my hand and there was a small tornado spinning the palm of my hand and it looked spectacular but I decided not to waste energy so I stopped it by clapping my hands.
"Well, Sakai, I guessing that you are happy that you can see through your right eye now" I said.
"Yes, it is good to be able to see with my right eye again, now I can be more effective in battle" Sakai said.
"Okay how do we turn these OOOOFFFF?!" I shouted as I felt someone pull something on my back. I turned around to see Franco standing behind me. I saw that attached to my rear was a tail that reminded me of a dachshund's tail.
"Um…sorry, I thought it was a bug" Franco sheepishly said. I looked at him and just sighed.
"So how do you turn them off" I asked as I rubbed my back where it hurts.
"You just think about it" Minna said. Sakai and I did that and we turned off our magic.
"So, what now, Katherine" Minna asked.
"Well, we have no other choice but to let them be a part of the team because they are basically us just older and with balls" Katherine said, "If they agree that is"
"We have no problem as long we are given proper basic needs and proper care" Wolf said.
"Well, it is agreed then, Combined Fighter Squadron, you are all part of the 501st JFW, all new pilots, you are now a part of the Combined Fighter Squadron" Katherine said.
"Yes ma'am" The new pilots saluted to her.
"Wait is alright that we can do something just like that?" Eva asked.
"You forget, I am the Commander in Chief of all Allied Air Forces in Europe, I can do whatever I want as long it is under my jurisdiction and not damaging the war effort" Katherine puffed out her chest.
"Oh right, no wonder you could promote us and get us new witches" Mio said.
"Well everyone, welcome to Pescara" Katherine announced. I could tell that this will be one hell of an adventure.