Chapter 5: The Chivalrous and the Devious
The next day
501st JFW Base
Lily's POV
I was surprised to hear that I was to be trained again but I didn't really mind as it means I get to be with my favourite instructor. I love Muto as he was fun guy and he is a great, no he is an excellent trainer.
"So Lily, are you ready for more training" Muto asked. I looked at him as he walked next to me. He was grinning while he looked forward.
"Yes I am" I said.
"Alright, let's go for a jog" Muto said.
"What?" I asked as I thought I heard him wrong.
"You heard me, a jog up and down the runway; don't stop until I do" Muto smiled.
"Okay, let's go" I said.
"I see you are training her already, Muto" I turned to see the eye patched Mio approaching us. I was still amazed that she can still fly with just one eye but she did say that a witch could do anything.
"Yes I am, Mio, care to join us?" Muto asked.
"Sure, a jog does do the body good" She said and joined us as we jog up and down the runway. We did fifteen laps and I was barely broke a sweat.
"Hmm, I see that you are doing great" Muto said.
"Well, I continued to run after you kept drilling me to do them" I said.
"Hey, they are good for the body and it helps warm up your body after waking up" Muto said.
"That is true and it also gets the heart pumping" Mio said.
"So what do we do now?" I asked.
"We take to the skies" Muto smiled. I was glad to be flying with Muto again.
"YES SIR" I gleefully smiled as I ran for my Oscar.
"Eager, are you?" Muto asked.
"I missed having you teaching me, Muto" I said.
"Muto? You let your trainee to call you by your first name?" Mio asked. I wasn't paying attention to their conversation until Muto spoke
"Well, I had to be different with Lily because she is different, she has that "can do" attitude as the Americans call it, hell she is a fantastic girl" Muto said. Muto was unaware but I heard all of that and I felt embarrassed as he called me a fantastic girl.
"He called me fantastic" I whispered to myself.
"Alright, just wait for me to get into my plane, Mio do you want to join us?" Muto asked.
"No you two go on ahead, I need to see that my own trainees are ready for a trip, remember?" Mio said.
"Alright, until next time" Muto said. I watched him climb into his plane, the N1K-J Shiden.
"So do I go ahead?" I asked.
"Well, I have to judge your take offs too so I know you haven't gotten sloppy" Muto asked.
"Okay" I said as I taxied to the end of the runway. I revved my engine as I readied to take off. My Oscar began to race down the tarmac. I noticed a blue glow from beneath my plane. I was surprised at first but remembered about what Muto and the other pilots said. I also felt something pocking out of my flight uniform and I could feel my "familiar" touch the canopy as well. They feel like bird wings.
"If you see blue light underneath your plane when you take off or land, do not panic, that is your magic working" They said.
"I am going up" I said.
"Alright, I am coming up as well" Muto said as I watched him race down the runway and up into the sky. I saw a large blue circle form underneath his plane as he raced down the runway. I noticed that his ascent was steep
"That was one steep ascent, Muto" I pointed out.
"I wanted to see if I remember how to take off from carriers and it seems I do" Muto said.
"Well, it sure does" I said.
"Alright, let's get started" Muto said. I could almost see his grin.
Aces' World
Coast of Northern Germany
December
1943
One of the most chivalrous acts of the war had just taken place here as a crippled B-17 was escorted by a Bf-109 out of German air space. The Bf 109 was flown by none other than Franz Stigler, a German ace who if had shot down the bomber would be awarded the Knight's Cross however he decided not to as it was like kicking someone who is already down.
"I hope they make it back to England safely" Franz said as he turned around away from the B-17 called Ye Old Pub. He flew back towards Germany while thinking what to say to his base commander, "I just tell him that I couldn't find any enemy B-17 and tell them that it was a captured B-17"
Suddenly a storm appeared in front of him and swallowed his Bf 109.
"What the hell?" Franz said as he struggled to control his Bf 109 in the rough weather, then he remembered about the battered B-17 and hoped the storm didn't get to it. Then a bright light appeared. "Mein Gott, I hope the B-17 makes it out alright".
The light swallowed the Messerschmitt and left nothing behind.
Mindoro, Philippines
25th October
1944
He was the highest scoring ace in the Japanese Imperial Navy and he was Nishizawa Hiroyoshi. His kill score was 87 planes though many argue that he had more. However he wasn't flying today, he was stuck in base.
"This is boring as hell!" Nishizawa barked as he stamped his feet on the ground.
"Hey can you calm down, Nishi?" His good friend Sakai Saburo said as he looked at Hiroyoshi. Sakai was visiting from Japan after being treated after sustaining wounds from gunfire from an American torpedo bomber which included his right eye. He was now stationed on the same base with Nishizawa but it was going to be a short venture as Sakai will be leaving in a few minutes for Japan as he was still not ready for active service.
"I want to be in the air, Sakai! I hate being on base without anything to do" Nishizawa said.
"Well you have to days like these to enjoy your days in the air" Sakai said. Nishizawa looked at him and sighed.
"It is true, I suppose" Nishizawa said. Just then a soldier came into the room.
"I am sorry to disturb you two sirs but Sub-Lieutenant Sakai Saburo, your plane is ready" The soldier said.
"Well I best be off, Nishizawa, I hope to see you when the day is bright" Sakai said as he got up.
"Alright see you another time" Nishizawa said.
"Okay" Sakai smiled before hitting the door frame, "Ah damn it, I wished I could see with my right eye"
"Ha, ha, hey you gave something smile about" Nishizawa said. Sakai smiled and left the room. He soon heard the droning of engines and the sounds of a plane taking off. Nishizawa then became bored and decided to take a walk. He strolled into the jungle to see what he could see. "I wish something would happen especially since I got that premonition why does it say I have to die?"
Suddenly the ground underneath him began to glow and he was stunned.
"NANI? What is going on here?" Nishizawa said before the glow blinds him.
Witches World
Skies over Pescara
"Excellent flying, Lily, I see the Dutch pilots were not being push overs" Muto smiled as he turned his plane to chase Lily.
"Well, I did learn from the best, I know all of your tricks" Lily replied.
"Okay" Muto said as he flew in front of Lily and spiralled upwards then he shot up higher into the sky. Lily chased her up. He then began flip over.
"What is he doing?" Lily slowed down as she didn't want fly into Muto but as she flipped over, her plane began to dive however she dived first while Muto dived second. Lily soon found that Muto was not in front of her but was now behind her.
"Not all my tricks, Lily" Muto said as he chased Lily's Hayabusha.
"Damn it!" Lily said as she saw that she couldn't run from Muto as she was in a middle of a dive which meant she could turn away as she feared the wings would tear off from the excess stress but she didn't know what Erich found out that her plane could now take the extra stress but Muto knew as after the briefing yesterday, he and Erich had a chat.
"I won" Muto smiled.
"Well, at least I survived longer this time" Lily said.
"And against a superior aircraft at that" Muto said.
"That was excellent flying, Muto and great job on your evasion skills, Widodo" Mio said.
"Why thank you Mio" Muto said.
"Thank you for the compliment, ma'am" Lily said.
"This is Franciscka Stigler of the Jagdgeschwader 27 to any allied units! I have a Liberion bomber witch who is in need of serious medical care, hang on, Charlotte" A witch radioed.
"This is Captain Muto Kaneyoshi of the 501st JFWSF, where are you?" Muto asked.
"We are currently on course for Pescara Air Base, approaching from the northwest" Franciscka said.
"Don't worry we are coming" Muto said.
"Roger, please hurry" Franciscka said.
"Rojā; Lily, we are going to save some witches" Muto said.
"Yes, sir" Lily replied.
"I will inform the base, you two head out now" Mio said.
"Hai" Muto and Lily replied as the Shiden and the Hayabusha raced off to meet the incoming witches.
Franciscka's POV
I was trying my best to carry my badly wounded friend, Charlotte "Charlie" Brown to Pescara but it was difficult as she was quite heavy and her strikers were barely able stay together. I was flying with her towards Pescara as we were told to join the 501st. However we were attacked by a neuroi as we were crossing the Adriatic Sea. We managed to take the neuroi down but Charlie got hit hard by a neuroi beam as she tried to fly above so to drop her bombs on it. Now, I was propping her up but she was bleeding badly.
"I am feeling cold, Franny" Charlie said, her voice was barely audible. I was really scared as I didn't want to lose my good friend.
"Hold on Charlie, help is on the way" I said softly.
"I am sorry Franny, for getting your clean uniform dirty" Charlie apologized. What is she saying?
"Why are you apologizing for…? No. No! NO! NO! NO! DON"T DIE ON ME, CHARLIE! DON'T LEAVE ME! DON'T DIE, PLEASE!" I shouted.
"This is Muto Kaneyoshi of the 501st JFWFS, I see you two" I heard a male voice said. I was surprised to hear a pilot respond to us but better someone than no one.
"This is Franciscka Stigler, I am can also see you" I said as I saw two fighters planes approach from the direction of Pescara. I was surprised to see these to fighter planes. Then I saw a witch behind them so I was partly relieved.
"Hold on tight, we are going to fly past you" Muto radioed and I saw the two Fusoan fighters fly straight past me and Charlie. I saw the witch and it was Mio Sakamoto of the 501st, the famous witch unit, Charlie and I were assigned to head to.
"Ma'am" I exclaimed, surprised to see her here.
"No time for formalities, what is her condition?" Mio asked pointed to Charlie.
"She is in really bad condition ma'am, I don't know how long she can hold" I said.
"Damn, Miyafuji is not on base" Mio said. Just then the Fusoan fighter planes came back and flew alongside us. I noticed they had different roundels but I didn't think much about it as I had more pressing matters to attend to.
"Hey, I have suggestion" Muto said.
"What is it Muto? We can really use one right now" Mio said.
"We can place her on my wing" Muto said. What is he talking about? We need to heal her not drop her.
"What are you talking about Muto?" Mio asked looking to the bigger fighter plane.
"Just do it" Muto replied.
"I outrank you, you know" Mio said, displeased with Muto's attitude.
"No, I am a Navy captain and you are commander which means I outrank you" Muto rebutted.
"Damn, that is true" Mio said as she turned to me, "Do what he said"
"Are you sure, ma'am? What is he trying to do?" I asked, worried for my friend's safety.
"It will be alright, Muto knows what he is doing" Another voice said, this time a female. I turned to the second plane and looked at the pilot and saw it was a girl. I was surprised to a girl flying a plane. Was she out of magic or did she suffer an injury or did her unit ran out of strikers? But I didn't think more about it.
"Who are you?" I asked,
"I am Warrant Officer Lily Widodo, nice to meet you" The female pilot said.
"Trust him, Fran" I heard Charlie's soft voice. I was torn but I decided to follow the order. I flew to the plane of the male pilot. I then slowly and carefully placed her on the wing so she wouldn't fly off the wing.
"What are you going to do sir?" I asked, curious with his plan.
"I want to try something" Muto said. Suddenly, I saw his flight cap bulge up and his plane began to glow. I was taken aback by this as I didn't expect to see his plane to glow.
"What are you doing Muto?" Mio asked. I was surprised that Mio didn't know anything about this.
"I am healing your friend here, look, she is getting better already" Muto said. I looked at Charlie and she was getting better. Just then, a radio message was being broadcasted.
"Hallo? This is Oberleutnant Franz Stigler to Japanese aircraft; can you help me find my bearings?" A man radioed. I scanned my horizons and saw a Bf 109 approaching from the north.
"His name sounds like mine" I said.
"This is Warrant officer Lily Widodo to Oberleutnant Franz Stigler; you can join our formation so that we guide you to an Allied airbase" I heard Lily radio.
"Roger, just a question where are we?" Franz asked.
"This is Oberleutnant Franciscka Stigler; we are currently over the Adriatic Sea on course to Pescara Air Base" I said.
"A lady? Wait why are there two girls flying without a plane and what is on your wing?" Franz asked as he flew in behind us.
"Alright, let me give the situation report, we are in…" I heard Muto began to give an explanation on us witches, magic.
"So you and a bunch of pilots from a multitude of countries have been teleported from our world to this one where all the nations are united against an alien race that is invincible to normal weapons except in the hands of a witch which either are flying like this or use striker versions of tanks and also that we have witch versions of ourselves like Franciscka and I" Franz said.
"Yes as you said" Muto said.
"So in technical terms, he is my brother" I said.
"Twin to be exact but you get the idea" Muto said.
"*Groan* Where am I?" I heard my friend Charlie beginning to stir.
"Charlie, Oh I thought I lost you" I said as I picked her up and hugged her.
"Well, it is good to back with the living" Charlie smiled. I then turned to Mio.
"Thank you for saving her" I said.
"Hey, don't thank me, thank Captain Muto there" Mio said.
"Then, thank you, Captain Muto" I said.
"No problem, I was glad to help anyway" Muto smiled.
"Hey, sorry to interrupt but my fuel tanks are quite low, can we land" Franz asked.
"Of course, alright, let's head for Pescara" Mio said. We then turned for Pescara.
Meanwhile
Pescara Air Base
Minna's POV
I was sitting in office with Katherine, Dimitri, Katherov, Wolf and Erich. We had finished our paperwork quite some time ago, the power of teamwork I suppose. We were just sitting at our desks doing our own tasks. I was reading some newspaper while Wolf unconsciously playing the piano on his table. Katherine was chatting with Dimitri who at the same time was writing something. Katherov was munching on a sandwich he had made earlier. Erich meanwhile was also writing into a journal that he had gotten from the shelves. Just then a rifleman came in and I was surprised to see it was a Liberion private with his rifle in his hands. Wolf and Erich looked up, went wide-eyed and suddenly pulled out their handguns and pointed to the private.
"Stehen bleiben! Waffe runter!" Erich barked at the Liberion who immediately froze and threw his hand into the air. His rifle dropped onto the floor.
"Don't shoot!" The Liberion begged. I was surprised to see this reaction but then I remembered; Erich and Wolf were at war against the Americans which were their world's version of the Liberions. I was about to say something but Katherine was faster.
"Stand down! Erich, Wolf, what the hell is wrong with you two? That is a Liberion private not an American!" Katherine said. Erich and Wolf seem to snap out of it and lowered their pistols. I could see their face blush bright red at their error. Erich then walked up the private and stood in front of him. The private was sweating bullets. Erich then crouched down and picked up the rifle and gave it to the soldier.
"Sorry about that, just wanted to check our reflexes, sorry for scaring you like that" Erich apologized while lying to cover up his own blunder.
"No sir, I am sorry sir for not knocking" The private said.
"So what is your name, private?" Wolf asked.
"I am Private John Anderson, sirs and ma'ams" The private said.
"What is your purpose here?" I decided to speak.
"What? Oh yes, there is a Mitsubishi Jeep at the gates and the driver is asking permission to enter the base" Anderson said.
"Who is in the vehicle?" I asked.
"She said that she is the wandering sky warrior and she would like to stick with your unit" Anderson said.
"Oh I know who that is" Katherine said.
"Who is it?" Katherov asked.
"Let her in first" Katherine smiled.
"Alright, let her in" I sighed.
"Yes, ma'am" Anderson said before he left the office. Erich and Wolf just stood there for a moment before Erich holstered his pistol.
"I am going to take some fresh air" Erich said as he left the office.
"I will go to the common room and take my mind off" Wolf said as he walked out the door as well.
"Well, at least we know those two are good quick drawers" Katherov said.
"That is true" Dimitri said.
"Now, let's go meet our visitor" Katherine said as she stood up.
"Let's" I said as I stood up as well and we all left the office.
Courtyard
Erich's POV
"Damn it! How could I forget that I was not in my world? I had Katherov right there in the room and he was a Soviet officer for god sakes" I grumbled as I paced in the courtyard. I then decided to walk to front of the base by going around it. I was still thinking about what had happened when I bumped into someone. It must have been a small person because I didn't move back as much. I looked down and saw it was short haired brunette is attire that reminded me of Yoshika only she had a skirt one. She also had a scarf wrapped around her neck.
"What the hell? Watch where… Who the hell are you?" The person I hit asked as she rubbed her head.
"I am Major Erich Hartmann of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing Fighter Squadron and who are you?" I asked as I extended my hand to help the girl up.
"Oh I am Yoshiko Nishizawa and I am here to join the 501st" Yoshiko grinned as she pulled herself up.
"Well it is nice to meet a new comrade" I smiled.
"So I will be working with the girls with you and your pilots?" Yoshiko asked.
"It looks like it" I smiled. I then noticed that something was glowing in the small patch of trees in the area behind Yoshiko. I pulled out my Walther P-38 again from my holster again and I drew it towards the area where the glow was. I also motioned Yoshiko to move behind me but she pulled out a Nambu 96 pistol and aimed to the same direction. I was surprised she had a gun on her as all I saw was her sword which looked like the ones both Kaneyoshi and Saburo had as well. I glanced over to her and saw a holster attached to the back of her skirt.
"What now" Yoshiko asked.
"Shush" I said as I slowly moved to the area, just then a man walked out of the small tree arrangements and he held his head. I could see that he was a Japanese navy pilot judging from his attire.
"God damn it, that was one hell of a light show…wait, where am I?" The man said. He then turned towards me and Yoshiko. He immediately threw his hands up, "Hey don't shoot"
"Nishizawa" I heard someone said. I glanced over and saw it was Sakai. He had the face someone gets they meet someone they haven't seen in years.
"Sakai? Holy shit, it is you!" The new man exclaimed. I watched as the two men ran to each other and hugged each other.
"How did you survive the plane crash?" Sakai asked.
"What plane crash?" The man asked.
"I heard that you were on a Ki-49 that was shot down the day after I returned to Japan" Sakai said.
"What? That can't be, I was brought to wherever this is just minutes after you left for Japan" Nishizawa said.
"Hm, it seems that history has changed well at least it is good to see you again" Sakai smiled.
"Yes, it is good to see…Hey, how did you get your right eye back?" Nishizawa asked.
"It is because I have magic now running through my veins" Sakai smiled. He then called on his familiar and his right eye turned purple.
"My god, that is incredible but how did you unlock this ability" Nishizawa said.
"Well, it was because…" Sakai began to explain about how they were in another world where the all the nations were united to fight an alien force that has swept through most of Europe, North Africa and Asia. He then explained about witches and how there were witches versions of themselves. He then realized that I was there as well.
"Oh, I must introduce my battle commander, which is Major Erich Alfred Hartmann" Sakai pointed to me.
"Greetings" I smiled.
"It is a pleasure to meet you, I am Hiroyoshi Nishizawa" Hiroyoshi smiled
"Hey, that is like my name!" Yoshiko said.
"And what is yours?" Hiroyoshi asked.
"I am Yoshiko Nishizawa!" Yoshiko smiled.
"Then that means you are this world version of me" Hiroyoshi smiled. Then I saw Minna, Katherine, Wolf, Katherov and Dimitri approaching the courtyard.
"So you have arrived, Yoshiko" Katherine greeted.
"Well, why would I turn down an offer from a good friend" Yoshiko said.
"Wait you brought Yoshiko down to Romagna to fight alongside us?" Minna asked.
"We have big operations planned in the Mediterranean so I thought we should get as much firepower we could muster so I called in favours and they agreed to send witches over from units in the rear" Katherine said.
"That is something I would do" Katherov said.
"Is that so?" Wolf asked.
"Da, during the push through the Seelow Heights, I called up my comrade air force commanders asked for any free ground attack or bomber squadrons so I could help ease the battle Marshal Zhukov's men were fighting, no offense" Katherov said.
"None taken, besides when I came it was 1943 so what happened after that is not really my concern" Wolf said.
"So you are friends with Zhukov? He is a great friend" Katherine said.
"Da, he was" Katherov smiled.
"Anyway, it seems like we have a new pilot as well" Minna said.
"So what is your name?" Dimitri asked. I could see that Nishizawa was unnerved by the fact that to him Germans and Soviets talking to each other if there was no war between them.
"Wait, aren't you …oh wait, Sakai told me that we are in another world…anyway sorry about that, my name is Lieutenant Hiroyoshi Nishizawa" Hiroyoshi said.
"Nice to meet you, Lieutenant, I am Colonel Wolf-Dietrich Wilcke, commander of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing's Fighter Squadron" Wolf said.
"Hallo, I am Colonel Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke, commander of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing" Minna greeted.
"General Dimitri Petrenko, commander of all Orussian ground forces in Romagna" Dimitri said.
"Air Chief Marshal Katherov Ivan Litvyak, commander of all alternate world pilots and commander of all ground attack assets of the Allied Air Forces in the Mediterranean" Katherov smiled.
"Air Chief Marshal Katherine Ivana Litvyak, commander of all Allied Air Forces in Europe, nice to meet you" Katherine smiled. I then saw Chuck running towards the courtyard.
"Hey guys! Come quick!" Chuck shouted.
"What is it, Chuck?" Minna asked.
"Calm down, Yank, where is the fire?" I asked.
"We were looking around the base and the area around just to see what we got around here and found a bunch of interesting stuff" Chuck said.
"What interesting stuff?" Minna asked.
"Come with me… oh I didn't realized that we have guests, sorry for not introducing myself, I was too caught with the discovery, I am Captain Charles E. Yeager of the USAAF but do call me Chuck" Chuck smiled. Hiroyoshi looked at Chuck for about a second and smiled.
"And I am Lieutenant Hiroyoshi Nishizawa, nice to meet an American I like" Hiroyoshi said.
"It is good to hear" Chuck smiled back, "And who are you?"
"I am Warrant Officer Yoshiko Nishizawa" Yoshiko said.
"So Hiroyoshi, when did you arrive because I didn't see a plane land on the runway" Chuck said.
"Plane? I didn't get here by plane, I got here by some glowing circle that appeared underneath me and I ended up here" Hiroyoshi said.
"So you don't have a plane" I said.
"Afraid not, unless there is a spare but from what Sakai told me, that would be none" Hiroyoshi said.
"That is bad, we now have a pilot but no plane" Wolf said.
"Maybe, what we discovered might help" Chuck said.
"What are you talking about?" Minna asked.
"Follow me" Chuck said. We followed Chuck to a woodland area just adjacent to the base.
"So what is it that you wanted to show us?" I asked as we made our way through the forest.
"Well I was in the hangar helping Marcus, Marie and Shirley in building a fighter plane when Franco and Francesca came running in all excited which made us wonder so we agreed to follow them and we found something extra ordinary" Chuck said.
"And what is that?" Wolf asked.
"Wait until we get there" Chuck smiled. We then came to a patch of clear area and there was a pair of planes in American markings sitting pretty in the sun. However this pair of planes didn't look American.
"It can't be…" Sakai said. I turned to see a Sakai with the face of pure astonishment.
"What is it Sakai? You know these aircraft?" Minna asked.
"Yes, I know these aircraft as they are Japanese aircraft; it is the Mitsubishi A7M2 Reppū and the Kawanishi N1K4-A Shinden Kai, they were late war fighter projects the Imperial Japanese Navy but the war ended before they could put to use" Sakai said.
"Just like what our Fatherland tried to produce to beat the Allies but it seems our nations had the same fate" I said.
"Yes, it seems that way" Sakai said.
"It looks like the Americans captured these two" Hiroyoshi said.
"But I thought the N1K4-A Shinden Kai was never built" Sakai said.
"That is because it was built in secrecy" We turned to see Riki, Reina, Gregory and Georgina who had followed us here.
"Eh! Riki, you are here too?" Hiroyoshi said. This surprised me and the rest.
"Wait, you know him?" Katherov asked.
"Of course, I know him, he is my nephew and one of my trainees before I handed him to Muto" Hiroyoshi said.
"Wait but why didn't Muto act like he knew you" Sakai asked.
"Because the training Muto gave me was in secret so we acted like we didn't know each other, the only person that knew about this was Hiroyoshi" Riki said.
"Wait if that is the case in our world, does that mean that Reina is Yoshiko's niece" Wolf said.
"Yes, Reina here is my niece" Yoshiko said.
"Ok now back to the earlier topic, you are saying that the N1K4-A was actually built" I said.
"Yes, it was built in a secret location in Northern Honshu" Riki said.
"So now we have two planes for you to choose" I said.
"Yeah that is good to know, now how do we get to the base?" Hiroyoshi asked.
"We can carry them to base" Shirley said.
"Are you sure, they are heavy" Hiroyoshi said.
"Hey, we are witches, there is nothing we can't do" Yoshiko said.
"Alright, let see these planes get a new lease on life" Hiroyoshi said.
"Alright, let's go Georgina" Shirley said as the two ran back to base. Soon they flew overhead and they picked up the planes and flew over to the hangar. We all then went to the hangar to see the planes closer. Immediately Chuck, Shirley, Marcus and Marie began to look into the aircraft.
"Now, let's see the condition of the planes" Shirley said as she removed the engine covers on the A7M2.
"Yeah, we need to make sure that these planes are fit to fly" Marcus said as he inspected the rudder. The four mechanics began their inspection of the two Japanese aircraft.
"Look at the grease monkeys in their element" Wolf said.
"You say that but these same grease monkeys will be the reason why our planes are still flying" I said. Just then we heard the drone of engines. We turned and saw three planes and four witches come down for landing.
"It looks like Muto, Mio & Lily are coming back from their training flight and they brought another pilot with them" Sakai said.
"Wait, Muto is here as well? That is going to be great!" Hiroyoshi said. Then Muto came over the radio.
"Hey guys, we have a new pilot and two new witches" Muto radioed. We were able to hear the radio thanks to the transponders the witches gave to us which worked on magic. I didn't mind as it helped me hear better since I accidentally burst my ear drums doing some evasive manoeuvres. I saw that the new pilot was a German as he flew a Bf-109.
"So it seems that we have another fellow German pilot with us" I said.
"Ja, it does seem so" Wolf said. We watched as the three planes and three witches land on the runway. Muto, Lily and the German pilot taxied to the side of the runway. The witches just taxied into the hangar however had to avoid the mechanics four.
"Hey, are those new planes I see?" Muto asked.
"Yes they are, Muto; they were found in a woodland area just about 500 m from here" Sakai said.
"That is…Hiroyoshi? Is that you, my god! It is you, good to see you again" Muto said as he grabbed Hiroyoshi and hugged him.
"Do you know him, Muto?" Lily asked.
"Oh Lily, meet my friend, Nishizawa" Muto said.
"Hello, sir" Lily bowed.
"It is nice to meet a trainee of Muto, so how is he in the air, still flying circles around you?" Hiroyoshi asked.
"Yes, yes he was" Lily said. I saw Muto look at Riki who nodded.
"So I can assume that you told everyone about Riki's relation with me huh, Hiroyoshi?" Muto asked. I noticed that the German pilot had a shocked face when he saw me.
"So who are you Kamerad? I did not get your name" I asked.
"Oh I am Oberleutnant Franz Stigler" The other pilot said.
"Well Stigler, do not fear, you are in good hands, all the pilots you see here and will see on this base are friends" I said.
"Jawohl… it is really an honour to meet an ace like you sir" Franz said.
"Oh I am just a pilot just like you, Franz" I smiled.
"But sir" Franz said but I waved him off.
"Please, just call me Erich" I said.
"Yes s-Erich" Franz said.
"Now" I said as I turned to the planes in the hangar. I was wondering how we are going to handle this problem. It was not helping that Marcus was building another aircraft. Wait…his daughter is a flier…Marcus, you sly dog, you are building a plane for your daughter. Anyway, that would at least even the number of fliers we got but now we need to figure which planes to keep as reserve, "So what are we going to do about planes assignment?"
"I have a suggestion" Muto said.
"What is it, Muto?" Minna asked.
"Well, Hiroyoshi, which of the planes here do you want to fly?" Muto asked.
"I would like to fly the Zero really as that is the plane I am trained on" Hiroyoshi said.
"And Sakai, you flew the A7M Reppu, right?" Muto asked.
"Yes, I have, so you want Hiroyoshi to take my Zero and I take the Reppu?" Sakai asked.
"Yes, if it alright with you" Muto said.
"Well, it wouldn't be fair to have Hiroyoshi in a plane, he is not familiar with so yes, he can take my plane" Sakai said.
"Splendid, now since I am taking the N1K4-A Shiden, that my N1K-J Shiden is empty" Muto said.
"What are you implying, Muto? That Lily gets a new plane" Katherine asked.
"Wait, does that mean" Lily said as she looked at Muto.
"Yes, you get my plane" Muto smiled.
"Thank you Senpai! Thank you!" Lily said as she hugged Muto who just smiled.
"Well, I thought it was time that you got a better plane, don't you think" Muto said.
"Well, with that settled, let's get some lunch" Katherine said. We agreed and we headed for the dining hall. I decided to cook for the entire group. I was a good cook and I have Marcus and Hanna to testify for me. After that Muto and Lily left so that Lily can get used to flying the Zero. The day went on pretty much event less. I decided to go a spin in my Bf-109 as well. I came back down to earth just in time to watch Sanya and Lydia get ready to take off for the night patrol.