Hello again, it's Generalfeldmarschall with the fifteen chapter of the Encounter Remixed, it has been a fucking long time hasn't it. Sorry for the god damn long delay all due to exams, rough patches in life, sudden inspiration for new stories, internet and pure laziness but now I am back and time to bring this story back into gear.
Chapter 15: Blood and Guts & Flying Once Again
1945
December 8th
Mannheim-Käfertal, Germany
The war was now over, the Axis has been crushed and now begins the time to rebuild and start anew. In the American sector of Germany, a staff car was waiting for a train to past. In this staff car was General George S. Patton, formerly commander of the US Third Army, the same one that led the charge across France but now is commander of the US Fifteenth Army. He had decided to take his Chief of Staff, Major General Hobart Gay's invitation to go pheasant hunting. Patton also had with him, his 19 year old daughter, Amelia Samantha Patton who REALLY wanted to spend her time with her father and no one but her father was going to stop her, not even the US Army. She was a tall girl with a slightly muscular figure, something not common among girls or women of the time. While other girls would play around and light chores, Amelia would be doing heavy work around the house and neighbourhood and get into fights with her brother, George S. Patton IV between each other and other boys around town. Right now she was dress up as a rifleman and had a rifle on her because she was taking part in the hunt as well.
"So dad, now the war is over, will you be joining me and mom back in the states?" Amelia asked.
"Yes so that I can discuss with your mother after we decide how to punish you for trying to impersonate a man to join the army with you brother at West Point" Patton said as he looked at his daughter.
"But dad, it is not fair! Why can he join and I can't?" Amelia said.
"That's not the problem here, Amelia" Patton said, "Frankly your mother and I have no trouble you joining the Army, go but the fact that you tried to impersonate someone you are not; that is what we don't like, you are you and don't ever change that"
"Yes dad" Amelia said sadly.
"Don't worry; your brother will get a fair share of the punishment for helping you" Patton smiled.
"Okay dad" Amelia said.
"Well, Patton, I can see you genes will thrive" Gay joked. Patton smiled but then he looked at the derelict cars that sat at side of the road, "Woodring, drive"
"Yes sir" Woodring answered as he drove across the tracks as the train was gone.
"How awful war is. Think of the waste" Patton said as he looked outside.
"Well dad, it is war and you said it yourself, it is hell" Amelia said. Just then a truck in front of them was hit by something and flipped over towards the car.
"OH FUCK!" Woodring shouted as he tried to avoid the truck.
"Shit!" Gay shouted as he braced.
"Get down, Amelia!" Patton shouted as he shoved Amelia down. The truck missed the car but whatever was behind it didn't. It smashed into the rear of Patton's staff car.
"Dad, What's going on?!" Amelia cried.
"I don't know, just hold on!" Patton said as a bright light engulfed them.
"Holy fuck!" Gay said as he got up from his lowered position, "Patton!"
"Shit, they are gone" Woodring looked at the rear of the car which had been completely gutted without signs of Patton, Amelia or whatever that hit him.
"What the hell hit us?" Gay asked.
Unknown date
Unknown place
Unknown world
Amelia's POV
Damn, that was like being kicked by a horse but worse.
"Ah, that was sore as hell" I groaned as I rubbed my head as I found myself in a grassy field. I tried to stand up but I ended up falling on my ass, "What the hell?"
I looked down and saw my legs were encased in P-47 strikers…
"Wait? When did I know that?" I asked myself. I then checked my body there anything wrong with me when I felt a tail underneath my skirt and I had dog ears on my head, "What the fuck? What is going with me?"
"*Grunts* Argh, my head" I heard my father grunt and I turned to see he was just two feet away from me.
"Dad! Are you okay? Are you hurt?" I asked as I crawled over to him.
"I am fine, just a little around the neck" My dad said as he sat up, "More important, what happened to you? You look like an officer now and what the hell are those things on your head and legs?"
"I don't know, they were there when I woke up" I said.
"Alright, let's see if we can get them off your legs" My dad said as he grabbed one of them and pulled and surprisingly it came off quite easily, "Well, that was easy, now for the other one"
"Wow, those are some long socks" I said as I looked at my legs now in long black socks, "Now, I wonder if the tail and ears can come off as well"
"And what do you know, your dog ears are gone now" My dad said.
"Well that was easy, now there is the question" I asked as I looked around, "Where are we?"
"That is something we are going to have to find out."My dad said. We looked around and soon found a jeep on the side of the road that was filled with gas. We were about to walk up to the jeep when I tripped on something.
"What the hell?!" I growled when I found that it was a heavy machine gun, a M2 Browning to exact, "Why is this here?"
"Not sure but I think we better take it along, just in case." My dad said.
"Okay" I said as I picked it up and carried it to the jeep and loaded it into the back of the jeep.
"Alright, let's get going, we need to find out where we are." My dad said as he got into the driver's seat and then started the car and we headed down the road. Soon we were driving down the road when we drove into a town which was apparently called Pescara. We were then directed by the townspeople to the nearby air base. We were surprised to see this massive castle and were quite amazed that it was a base.
"Wow, this is one hell of an airbase." My dad said.
"Well maybe we can find some help, dad" I suggested.
"Good idea" My dad said as we rolled up to the gates. I was surprised to see an American soldier chatting with a Italian soldier at the gate but dad told me that the Italians changed sides.
"General Patton and Captain Patton? What a surprise, welcome to Pescara Air Base, I am Sergeant Richard Nixon, now what's your purpose of visiting the base, sir?" The American soldier asked.
"Well we were lost and we were told by the townsfolk to come here as this is the only military base in the area." My dad said.
"Well sir, you come to the right place, this is the home base of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing and the 501st Joint Squadron" The sergeant said.
"Sounds like a unit I would like to meet." My dad said.
"Well sir, let me inform the base commander of your arrival" The sergeant said as he heads off to the booth. It was then did I saw something that worried me, it was a German soldier and he was walking up to the booth where the American sergeant was and I watched him sit down right next to the American sergeant.
"Dad, do you think the sarge will be okay?" I asked.
"Don't worry, this German must be an MP, you have seen those guys around remember." My dad said. Before I could say anything, the sergeant came back.
"Well, the base commander, say you are good to go in but they want you two to head to the hangar, there is where most of the fliers are located." Richard said.
"Thank you sergeant," My dad said.
"You're welcome sir," Richard said, "Lift the gate."
"Well see you another time then," My dad said as he started driving again
"See you again, and also," Richard smiled as he shouted, "Welcome to the Witches' World"
"What did he say?" I said.
"I don't know but I have a feeling we are about to find out." My dad said as he drove around the castle to the hangar where we were surprised to see all sorts of planes but we were more surprised to see planes from Russia, Japan, Germany and Italy as well.
"How are these planes here?" I asked.
"I don't know, Amelia" My dad said as he drove around the large bomber which looks like a B-17 on to the runway then we headed to the hangar where we saw a lot of pilots and surprising girls all around my age in the hangar.
Witches' Side
"So now we have your Allied counterpart here now and looks like he too has a daughter" Erich said.
"And she looks like my age too" Angela said.
"Yes, it seems we have many similarities." Rommel said as he looked at the jeep as it came into the hangar. Everyone in the hangar looked at the occupants of the jeep. Some couldn't believe their eyes as here in front of them is General George S. Patton and it was clearly apparent it was the American Patton as the stars and stripes on the side of the jeep. Then there was her daughter who was in a American Army uniform. Chuck and Gregory greeted the two officers.
"Welcome to Pescara Air Base, General Patton." Chuck said, "Now you have a lot of questions but let me put this out, all the people you see in this hangar are all friends and there is a reason for the girls to not be wearing any pants or skirts."
"Alright, I am listening." Patton said as he got off the jeep with his daughter. Chuck and Gregory began explaining at length about this world, the witches, magic, the country and the current state of the war. Patton was surprised to hear there was a Witch World version of himself. His daughter was surprised and like Angela and Hanna was relieved that her counterpart was also a girl. Patton nodded to Chuck and Greg's explanation.
"So everyone here are brothers in arms fighting a good fight? Sounds like my kind of world" Patton grinned.
"Well I am glad to hear that," Rommel said as he stood up and walked up to the jeep.
"Well, well, if it ain't the fox himself," Patton said as he turned towards Rommel with a grin on his face as he stuck his hand out, "It's a fucking pleasure to finally meet you even if it is not on the battlefield but I will take what I can get."
"Well I must say the same to you, Patton, I finally get to meet the man the Allies brought to challenge me and I like what I see," Rommel smiled as he took and shook Patton's hand.
"So how did you get here?" Patton asked.
"I got here when the car I was in, got hit by a burning plane which brought me and my daughter here." Rommel answered, "How about you?"
"I got here when something slammed into the back of my staff car and brought my baby girl and me here." Patton said.
"That reminds me, what is your daughter's name?" Rommel asked.
"My name is Amelia Samantha Patton, sir" Amelia answered.
"Well nice to meet you, Amelia," Rommel smiled, "How are you? You look like you are about 18 just like my daughter."
"Yes I am 18 years old" Amelia asked.
"Wow, what of the odds, I am 18 years old and I am Angela Michelle Rommel and nice to meet you" Angela said as she stuck her hand out.
"Well nice to meet you too" Amelia smiled as she gripped Angela's hand and shook it firmly.
"Nice grip," Angela said.
"Same to you," Amelia smiled.
The aces and the witches then introduced themselves to Patton and Amelia, and they began to socialize.
"So you're are in command of this castle of a base?" Patton asked.
"That's right, that is because there is already a Rommel here in this world and I don't want to cause too much confusion for the Allies. Imagine having a report for me in Romagna but instead it ends up with Rommel in Africa.
"Well, if that is the case, I think I will be your deputy and stick here with you. Besides I feel like I need a break from the fighting back in our world." Patton said.
"Well that is a good idea, I could use an extra hand" Rommel said, "But don't worry, there isn't much paperwork to begin with, well most of the time."
"That is true unless you are in command of a section of the Allied Air Forces like me" Katherov said.
"I don't know about you lot but I promised my daughter that we were going hunting so I think I will head out to do just that." Patton said.
"Hunting? I haven't done that in some time." Rommel said, "Do you mind if I joined you as well?"
"I don't see a problem with that, heck you can bring your daughter along as well." Patton said.
"Excellent idea, it will help with her accuracy along the way." Rommel said.
"Well, now we need rifles because machine guns will be cheating." Patton said as he gestured to the heavy machine gun in the jeep.
"Yes, that takes the fun out of the hunt," Rommel said, "Right, I will get some rifles for our hunt then."
"And I will get these strikers and the machine gun offloaded from the jeep and we can get on our way" Patton said.
"Gut, give me a few minutes then." Rommel said as he headed to the armoury, "Come Angela, let's get some rifles."
"Yes father" Angela said as she followed suit.
"Right, let's get these strikers unloaded, come on Amelia, help your old man with these strikers." Patton said.
"Sure thing, dad." Amelia said.
"Excuse me but before you do so, Captain Patton, what is your magic ability?" Mio asked.
"My magic ability?" Amelia asked as she picked up her Thunderbolt strikers, " I don't know"
"Well after you are done with unloading your strikers, come with me" Mio said.
"Okay," Amelia said before she set her strikers against the wall of the hangar, her father laid the M2 Browning right next to them, "Done now, so where to?"
"To a clearing, that way we don't damage anything." Mio said as she started walking out of the hangar. Amelia and Patton followed suit. The other witches decided to follow as well.
"Well then," Wolf said, "Seeing how we haven't had some combat missions and training for two days now, we are going to have a war game to make sure our skills are still good for a fight."
"I agree, we need to make sure our skills are as sharp as they should be." Erich nodded.
"Right, I have an idea, we have a mock mission where it is an escort mission." Muto suggested.
"I know what bomber we are using." Charles said.
"Yep." Wolf said, "However Marcus will be joining as an one of the escorted as well."
"No problem with that" Marcus said.
"Now we have 24 aircraft so we will split it in half." Erich said as he then pulled out a list from his pocket, "Now here are everyone's names and their planes. Those in odd numbers, you will be in Team Alpha, those are on even numbers will be Team Beta."
"Katherov, you don't mind joining us right?" Wolf asked.
"Sure, I haven't done some flying and I need to get away from the paperwork" Katherov said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Great, let's get ourselves organized and ready for the war game then" Wolf said and the pilots headed off to get their planes ready.
Meanwhile, in a nearby clearing
"Alright Amelia, activate your magic" Mio said.
"Okay, here goes nothing." Amelia said as she activated her familiar, this time intentionally.
"So you got Dalmatian familiars" Shirley pointed out.
"Alright," Mio said, "Let's see find out what's your magic ability is."
"Yes ma'am." Amelia said.
"For this, we will need Amirah's help" Mio said to which Amirah nodded as she walked up to Amelia.
"Question, why?" Amelia asked.
"This is because the Malays have a method to discovering out the magic ability of witch if the witch doesn't know their magic ability. This method can only be done by witches however Malay witches are the best at detecting and identifying witches' abilities and powers." Mio said.
"Yes ma'am." Amelia said.
"And if you are still unsure, Amirah helped discover Angela's magic ability" Shirley said.
"Right now, hold out both your hands for me." Amirah requested.
"Right." Amelia said as she stretched her arms out to Amirah who looked at them before she gripped both hands but she grabbed the opposite hands, her left hand on Amelia's left and her right hand on Amelia's right.
"Calm down, I won't hurt you, this is just how it is done." Amirah explained, "Now please relax and calm yourself."
"Okay" Amelia said as she takes a deep breath. Amirah then closed her eyes while she held Amelia's hand.
"Wahai dunia alam keliling kami, aku minta pertolongan daripada engkau, aku dan rakanku Amelia, ingin tahu apa kuasa ajaibnya." Amirah chanted. Amelia watched as Amirah had a blue glow around her body and she saw the glow moving towards her own arms. Amelia tried to move away however her body wasn't listening to her and it stayed there.
"Just stay calm, Amelia, this won't harm you." Amirah said.
"Okay." Amelia said as she calmed down again. Soon the blue magic aura was radiating from both witches. Amirah then suddenly opened her eyes and they were glowing bright brown.
"Terima kasih, dunia sekitar kami." Amirah said as the glow died down, "Amelia Samantha Patton, your magic ability is Hurricane."
"Hurricane? What is that?" Amelia asked.
"That is a powerful wind magic ability where you create very powerful winds that throw your opponents around however you must using with care as it may get your friends into trouble if they get caught in the wind plus using it can be quite draining for you." Amirah explained.
"Wow, that is so cool." Amelia said.
"Well, now you are really going to blow your enemies away," Patton smiled.
"Alright, now that is done, let's get you started on your training," Mio said.
"Eh? Training?" Amelia asked.
"Well, you need to get a grip on your magic ability." Mio said.
"Oh okay, when do we start?" Amelia asked.
"Tomorrow," said Mio as a Bf-109 and a P-51 zoomed overhead, "Hope you can keep up."
"Don't worry major, I can handle anything you throw at me." Amelia smiled.
"*Laughter* Good to hear," Mio said, "Now, let's get started on your body."
"Alright," Patton said, gaining everyone's attention, "Now if you may excuse me but I need to take my daughter as I promised her to go on a hunting trip."
"Well of course, General Patton." Mio said.
"Come on Amelia, let's go hunting." Patton said.
"Coming dad." Amelia said as she followed her father to where the jeep was where Rommel and Angela were already waiting.
"Ah good, you two have finally arrived." Rommel said as he got into the forward passenger seat.
"Yeah, the… battle commander wanted to know what Amelia's magic ability was." Patton said as he got into the driver's seat.
"So Amelia, what magic ability do you have?" Angela inquired.
"Apparently I got the magic ability called Hurricane which they say is a strong wind magic." Amelia answered, "What about yours?"
"My magic ability is Thunder which it is a strong electric or lightning magic." Angela replied.
The four then headed out to go hunting for the afternoon and they were able to bag two deer, one bagged by Amelia with the other being bagged by Angela while their fathers shot down two birds. That night it was feast as everyone enjoyed deer meat cooked by Eino and Eila.
The next day
"Oh… my… god…" Amelia panted heavily as she was on her knees as she just finished the training given by Mio. Around her, were the other captains of the 501st JFW, who except for Angela who was training with Amelia..
"Well you said you can take whatever she was going throw at you and to be truthful, you have quite well, Angela was flat on the floor exhausted after her first day." Gertrude said.
"Sorry but now, you two got combat training, next" Amirah said.
"Now?" Amelia asked as she looked at Amirah.
"Yes but you are going with me for gun training," Gertrude said, "While Angela has melee combat training with Amirah."
"Oh no…" Angela grimaced.
At the arsenal/firing range
Amelia was amazed at the weaponry that was available on base, from handguns to anti-tank guns. They were also crates upon crates of ammo for the guns. There were also workbenches and machining tools in the arsenal area.
"Wow, you sure are well equipped." Amelia said.
"Yes, because we will need to be prepared for any situation that comes up, however with that said, only Amirah and to a lesser extent, me and Erwin have been the ones to use anything besides our usual guns." Gertrude said.
"Oh, so what about those workbenches and machining tools in that corner? Do you do your own weapon maintenance?" Amelia asked.
"No, that is done by our in-house gunsmith, Amirah. In fact, Amirah is the only one that you would almost constantly find in this part of the base, always working on a project of hers."
"So what are we shooting today, Captain Barkhorn?" Amelia asked.
"Just call me Gertrude, we are of the same rank," Gertrude said, "That said, we will start with light machine guns seeing how good you are with rifles."
"Okay, so what are we going to work with?" Amelia asked.
" Well, you will be firing various light machine guns that you would find on the battlefield so you are at least familiar with them so that if you need to use another weapon." Gertrude said, "Now Amirah has kindly let us use guns from her collection. But all she ask is that you take care when you fire them."
"I will take care, Gertrude." Amelia said.
"Alright, come up to the table" Gertrude said as she stood next to the desk while Amelia made her way to the table, "Now pick up the the M1919 Browning."
"Roger" Amelia said as she grabbed the Browning machine gun and tried to lift it up, "Wow it is heavy."
"Well that is not a surprise, it is 14 kg heavy." Gertrude said, "Now, set it into the post at the firing range."
"Okay." Amelia said as she set the machine gun into the post that was at the firing range, "I am done."
"That was fast." Gertrude said, "Where did you learn to set up a machine gun?"
"Don't tell my dad but I helped his soldiers and before he found out I was in his army, they taught me how to use some of their equipment, this includes their machine guns." Amelia said, "Heck there was one time, I manned an artillery gun before."
"Well, that is a wealth of skills you got there." Gertrude said.
"Thanks" Amelia said.
"Now, fire a few bursts at the disabled tank over there, focus on the red circles painted on the tank." Gertrude said.
"Sure thing, Gertrude." Amelia said as she loaded a belt of ammo into the machine gun and fired several bursts at the disabled tank. She noticed the circles were located at different spot of the tank which were varying in their difficulty of hitting them. However she fired until she ran out of ammunition.
"How did I do?" Amelia asked.
"Not bad, not bad" Gertrude said. Amelia continued her firearms training by going through various light machine guns and Gertrude found Amelia was a very capable shooter. She then had Amelia train on her standard armament which was the Browning M2HB machine gun for a bit before she handed Amelia to Amirah for hand to hand combat. Shirley on the other hand trained, Amelia in how to fly her strikers and how to do basic manoeuvres while Erica educated her in combat. Mio would teach Amelia how to operate in tangent with the rest of the witches and pilots, usually in simulated combat missions. In all Amelia was becoming a capable witch. Soon Minna and Wolf agreed that soon Amelia will soon be able to join in combat action with the rest.
On an interesting side note, two days after Patton and Amelia arrived in Pescara Air Base, the Strike World version (SW) of Rommel and Patton showed up as to meet World War 2 Rommel and SW Patton was quite surprised to see his counterpart there as well. He also was surprised to see WW2 Amelia being a P-47 witch as his own daughter was a tank witch. It was quite an interesting meeting as the four generals chatted for hours on tactics, colleagues and war stories.
A day after the Pattons and Rommels meet up, Amirah went to Taranto with Ember to get a pair of Oerlikon 20 mm auto-cannons. Amirah had decided to upgrade her armament from her Hispano-Suiza 20 mm cannons especially after how it more shots for her to kill neuroi than it should during her time in North Africa with Shirley and Francesca. She almost wanted to open the distance between her and her targets and the low muzzle velocity of the Hispanos made it harder for her to accurately hit targets beyond 300 meters.
Amirah then spent a considerable amount of times modifying both cannons so they could fired like a machine gun but in two days, she was finished and she was happy with her results though she nearly lost a finger when test firing the gun as she accidentally put her hand over the where the recoil spring was located and slid a finger in there while firing it from the hip. If it wasn't for Yoshika, Amirah would have nine fingers instead of the usual ten.
Three Days later
It was calm dawn as Yoshika walked through the base. She had woken up early and had decided to take some fresh air. She soon found herself in the hangar where she found Amirah doing push ups with one of her 20 mm cannon on her back. Yoshika didn't want to disturb Amirah but the Malay witch had noticed her there.
"Good morning Yoshika" Amirah greeted as she paused in her push up.
"Oh, good morning Amirah-san," Yoshika replied.
"So how are you today?" Amirah inquired.
"I am feeling good, Amirah-san." Yoshika answered as Amirah stood up slowly and catching her 20 mm gun before it fell to the floor. Yoshika looked at Amirah's cannon and saw it one of was her new ones and it was the one that nearly crushed Amirah's finger.
"That's good to hear." Amirah smiled as she walked up to Yoshika and ruffled her hair, "Well what's your plan for this morning?"
"Um… I am looking for Sakamoto-san, do you know where I can find her?" Yoshika asked.
"That's easy" Amirah answered as she wiped her brow, "She's over at the half buried just a fair distance from the runway, not too far, 5 minutes walk really."
"Thank you, Amirah-san." Yoshika bowed before heading towards the beach. Amirah watched as Yoshika left the hangar before she glanced at Yoshika's strikers before looking to her hand, the o one she used to ruffle Yoshika's hair before glancing back to Yoshika's strikers.
"I hope your new strikers work for her" Amirah said before she got back to doing exercises.
At the beach
Mio was standing on of the many stone pillars that were half buried along the beach. She had her sword held high. Yoshika could tell she was focusing all she had but she didn't know what the major was focusing on but she saw the sword was glowing slightly.
"Sakamoto-san?" Yoshika uttered. She then saw Mio raise her sword over her head.
"REPPUZAN!" Mio barked as she slashed downwards and created a crest of water out to sea. Yoshika watched it race out to sea for a long time and she guessed it was as long as the runway but it continued beyond that. Back on shore, Sakamoto was panting heavily.
"Incredible." Yoshika uttered. Sakamoto continued to pant heavily before realizing there was someone there.
"Miyafuji?" Sakamoto guessed as she turned around to see it was the Sergeant.
"Y-Your Reppuzan is such a powerful attack." Yoshika complimented.
"It's weak." Mio refuted, "I'm trying to learn a Reppuzan that'll top the…the "True Reppuzan"."
"True Reppuzan?" Yoshika repeated.
"Yes, It's a secret technique passed down in the Fusoan Empire since time immemorial." Mio answered, "If I'm able to master it, I'll be able to obliterate even the strongest neuroi in one strike."
"Sakamoto-san! Please teach me the Reppuzan too!" Yoshika requested. "I want to destroy the Neuroi and bring peace to the world as quickly as possible."
"That's impossible." Mio denied, "A rookie like you could never use such an attack."
"I'll try my best!" Yoshika tried to persuade Mio, "So please, teach it to me!"
"No." Mio stood to her decision. Unknown to them, two other were observing the conversation.
"Reppuzan…" Sakai said, "Oh I have a bad feeling about this."
"So do I, now let's get going, it's almost time for breakfast." Muto said.
Later that morning.
Mess hall
Yoshika arrived at the mess hall where everyone else was already there. Shirley, Chuck, Francesca and Franco were in the kitchen finishing up before servicing out breakfast.
"Oh Miyafuji, you're late." Shirley said.
"We were almost about to start without you." Chuck said.
"Tonight is zuppa di farro and vongole bianco!" Francesca turned around.
"It's morning, little Francesca." Franco pointed out.
"Oops, sorry." Francesca scratched the back of her head, "Anyway, we made it."
"That's right." Franco nodded.
"Okay." Yoshika nodded downheartedly.
"Huh?" Shirley and Francesca uttered at Yoshika's reply.
"Well somebody has a bad morning." Chuck said.
"You got that right." Franco said.
"Are you alright, Yoshika?" Amirah asked.
"Something wrong, Yoshika." Muto asked.
"What's wrong, Yoshika?" Lynette asked, "Are you not feeling well?"
"Oh, that's not it, I feel great." Yoshika answered.
"Are you sure?" Amirah asked.
"Then eat!" Gertrude barked, "Even if you're not hungry. You think someone who doesn't fuel themselves will be 100 percent ready to fight in an emergency."
"U-Understood." Yoshika replied dejectedly.
"Fuel?" Shirley muttered.
"Still find it funny coming for her." Chuck said. Erich and Gerhard made no comment as they both continued to eat.
"Geez… I don't wanna hear army lectures every waking moment." Erica grumbled.
"Hartmann! How can you act like this? You are a Karlslander soldier and you should know that we must be always ready to engage the enemy."
"Ja that is true however remember Gertrude, even soldiers need to rest." Gerhard said.
"Or we all would have gone insane." Erich said.
"That is true." Amirul nodded as he pulled out his pipe. Amirul also had begun smoking a pipe like Amirah when he became fed up with people taking his cigarette which coincidentally was Amirah's reason as well.
"Amir!" Emily slapped him on the shoulder.
"What?" Amirul yelped in response.
"No smoking at the table." Emily scolded.
"Yes mother." Amirul said as he got up and excused himself from the table with a smirking Emily following close behind.
"Don't even." Ember said.
"Wasn't even thinking of it." Amirah replied.
Later
Mio decided that for training for the day was to be mock dogfights. It was decided that Perrine and Yoshika were to be paired up while Lynette faced Franciscka. Amelia and Angela faced each other. The dogfights started normally but it was found that Yoshika was having trouble.
"It almost looks like she is having engine troubles." Amirul pointed out he and Amirah watched the girls engage each other. Yoshika seems to be unable to perform as well as she usually does.
"That's true..." Amirah said as she held her pipe. If Amirul had looked at Amirah when she said that, she would have noticed the glowing runes around her eyes, predominately her right eye. It was another thing Malay witches were able to do is sense the magic strength of other witches and recently wizards. Damn, I hope what you got planned works Ichiro, your tab just got bigger.
"What do you think is the cause?" Emily asked as she joined in the conversation.
"Don't know, probably something in the engine is out of whack." Amirul suggested.
"It could be a health problem." Amirah implied.
"That could be true." Mio said as she came up to the three fliers, "Okay! That's enough for today."
"Yes ma'am." The duelling witches answered as they all came down to land. However Yoshika was stopped by Mio.
"Yoshika, I want you to head to the infirmary. I want you to get checked out." Mio ordered.
"H-Hai" Yoshika responded though she sounded dejected.
"Oh, don't worry, everyone has a bad day, even myself." Amirah said.
Infirmary
"I don't see anything wrong with Sergeant Miyafuji, she is in good health." The chief medical officer said as he concluded his report, "By all accounts, she is as fit as she can be."
"Thank you doctor." Mio said as she left the infirmary with Yoshika, "This is rather strange... Miyafuji, I think it is best that we ground you until further notice, just until we can figure out what's wrong."
"Hai." Yoshika sadly replied. Yoshika left the infirmary wondering what was wrong with her.
Later
Command Office
"Yes sir, we will make sure to keep her safe." Minna said before she put the phone down.
"What was that about?" Patton asked.
"That was Captain Sugita of the Imperial Fusoan Navy, he was reaffirming that we will be on call to help defend his taskforce as it heads towards Taranto." Minna answered.
"Oh? What's in the fleet?" Rommel asked.
"Well I have the list" Minna said as she took out a sheet of paper, "It is the aircraft carrier Amagi, Chitose, Chiyoda, Ark Royal and Princeton; the battleships Yamato, Nagato, Bismarck, Tirpitz, Dunkerque, Richelieu, Warspite, Malaya, Anson, Prince of Wales, Roma, Littorio, Texas, North Carolina and Wisconsin; heavy cruisers, Takao, Maya, Hipper, Prinz Eugen, Baltimore, Augusta, Colbert, Foch, Pola, Zara, London and Kent; light cruisers Agano, Sakawa, Cleveland, Montpelier, Karlsruhe, Leipzig, Duca degli Abruzzi, Giuseppe Garibaldi, Belfast and Sydney and several destroyers."
"Wow, that is an impressive number of ships." Rommel said.
"So the Augusta is still afloat? Oh I remember my time on that cruiser, not a bad ship." Patton recollected on his experience on the Northampton class cruiser.
"Well that is something I can't say anything about as I have never been on warship myself." Rommel said.
"Looks like we do have our differences." Patton grinned.
"Well I am not surprised, there is bound to be differences between you two." Katherov said.
That night
Yoshika sneaked into the striker hangar late that night especially since Amirah was sleeping at her workbench. She had been tirelessly checking on the guns of the unit and now was slouched onto her workbench while snoring lightly. Yoshika quietly headed where the brooms were stored and picked one. She attempted to ride one however just as she starts to take off, the bristles of the broom explode and she fall onto her bottom. The explosion made Amirah jolt as she jumped up and took out her handgun and was about to shoot when she saw Yoshika on the floor, petrified stiff.
"Yoshika? Is that you?" Amirah groggily asked.
"H-Hai" Yoshika replied nervously.
"What are you doing here at this time of night?" Amirah asked as she shook the sleepiness out of her eyes as she realized that she was aiming her gun straight at Yoshika, she immediately holstered it and extended hand to Yoshika.
"Sorry for scaring you, Yoshika, it is a force-instinct" Amirah said but she seem to correct herself. Yoshika noticed but she didn't say anything about it.
"No I should be sorry, I woke you up." Yoshika said as she used Amirah to pull herself up, "But that doesn't excuse you from where you slept, your back will in serious pain."
"Okay, okay, I will go to bed as well." Amirah said before yawning as the two headed back to their dorms though Yoshika glanced over to the broken broom on the floor. Unknown to both of them, there was a certain Gallian witch who had overheard and saw everything.
The next day…
"What? The Yamato had an explosion?!" Mio gasped after Wolf came into the common room to inform Mio and Sakai.
"Yes and they say that their medical staff are overwhelmed by the casualties and they are requesting assistance from us." Wolf said.
"Damn, the only person that can go is Yoshika, she's our best healer beside Muto but he and Arthur are on patrol to the north." Mio said.
"I say we let her go but not without assistance." Sakai said.
"That's true because Yoshika is not entirely fit to fly." Mio said.
"I heard but this is not the time for the lives of many to be pushed aside." Sakai said, "If it still bothers you, have Amelia and Lynette accompany her."
"Alright, that would probably do." Mio said.
Several minutes later
Mediterranean Sea
"Wow, my first non-training mission and I get to fly with my friends." Amelia said as she flew alongside Yoshika and Lynette however Yoshika seems to be having problems with her strikers.
"This is Captain Sugita of the Yamato to incoming fliers, oh glad we are to have your help." Sugita radioed.
"We are glad to help, sir." Yoshika said. The trio soon landed on the aft deck of the massive battleship. Yoshika and Lynette headed to the medical bay while Amelia stayed with their strikers.
Yoshika, upon arriving at the medical bay, immediately began work on healing the sailors. She surprised the corpsmen on board by healing all the wounded and had barely broken a sweat. This surprised Yoshika who thought that her flying problem was due to her magic but now it didn't seem to be the case now.
"I can't thank you enough." The chief medical officer thanked.
"Isn't that great, Yoshika?" Lynette asked.
"Yeah." Yoshika nodded.
On the Bridge
"I see, So they are recovering." Sugita sighed in relief.
"After an accident of that proportion, it's a downright miracle" His adjutant said.
"Miyafuji saved us again." Sugita said.
"How shall we thank this time?" His adjutant asked to which Sugita laughed in response.
"We sent her a Fusoan Army doll last time." Sugita recalled before a buzzer sounded, alerting the bridge.
"A report from the radar room! A neuroi has been detected at 340 degrees, 60 kilometers out" A sailor relayed.
"That's impossible! These are supposed to be safe waters." Sugita gasped.
"Captain!" The adjutant said and Sugita knew what he wanted.
"All ships, prepare for battle!" Sugita barked.
In the Medical Bay
"GENERAL QUARTERS! GENERAL QUARTERS!" A loudspeaker barked.
"Neuroi!" Lynette gasped.
"Let's go, Lynne-chan!" Yoshika said.
"Okay!" Lynette nodded.
Pescara Air Base
"Commanders, neuroi spotted on radar!" A radar operator telephoned the main office.
"Where is it?" Mio asked.
"Grid D-15, Moving at 165 degrees." The radar operator replied.
"Grid D-15…" Wolf looked at the plotting board, "Hold on… That would put it in the vicinity of…"
"The naval taskforce." Sakai said as he looked at the board as well, specifically at the Grid D-15 where Taskforce 56's latest position.
"That can't be." Minna said, "They are more than 500 km away from Venezia, the closest Neuroi hive."
"Yeah, they've never strayed that far away before." Mio said, Mio glanced to Patton who looked visibly nervous and she knows why, his daughter is there with the naval taskforce.
"But they have, they're heading towards the Allied fleet." Erica pointed out.
"Well, they must be trying something new." Wolf said. But why now? There must be something to do with the taskforce.
"Where is Erich, Erica?" Wolf asked.
"He is on patrol over Rome with Amirul." Erica replied.
"Damn it." Mio growled.
With Taskforce 56
Hellcats, Wildcats, Seafires and Zeroes were coming off the flattops in the taskforce to engage the neuroi but it was a fruitless effort as scores of them were shot down.
"Holy fuck! They got the skipper!" A Hellcat pilot screamed into the radio.
"Fuck! The bastard got my wing! I am going down!" A Zero pilot barked.
"Blimey, it's a fucking slaughter." A Seafire pilot uttered.
Bridge of the Yamato
"All ships, prepare for anti-air action!" Sugita ordered, "Ready main cannons!"
"Cannons readied." A sailor answered.
"Sir, the other battleship report their main cannons are ready to fire as well." A radioman said.
"Aim guns seventy degrees starboard!" Sugita ordered.
"Roger, aiming gun seventy starboard, 3-0-0" The gunnery officer relayed.
Soon the two massive main forward turrets of the Yamato and the secondary forward turret traversed to the right and their guns raised. Other battleships in the fleet followed suit and aimed their guns at the large neuroi.
"God damn neuroi." Sugita scowled, "You're about to find out how Yamato's forty six centimetre cannons taste like."
"Distance, 2-5-0!" A sailor barked.
"Guns ready to fire!" The gunnery officer announced.
"Open fire!" Sugita ordered and the Yamato complied, immediately followed by the other battleships in the fleet.
"Did you see that? That is the power of the Yamato." Sugita smirked.
In the stern of the ship
Yoshika was checking on Lynette who had collapsed to her knees when the Yamato fired her guns.
"Are you okay, Lynne-chan?" Yoshika asked.
"Yeah, what was that sound?" Lynette asked.
In the hangar of the Yamato
"Holy shit that was one hell of an explosion!" Amelia said as she clung to the striker holding unit, "Now where are Yoshika and Lynette, I don't know what to do."
With Yoshika and Lynette
"It was so loud." Yoshika said, "Can you stand?"
"Yeah." Lynette answered.
"Let's go!" Yoshika said as she got up and ran with Lynette humming her affirmation.
Yamato's Bridge
"First turret clear! Second turret clear! Loading main cannons" The gunnery officer relayed when a neuroi beam landed just to Yamato's starboard, the impact rocking the ship.
"Damn…" Sugita uttered as he steadied himself, "What incredible force…"
"A direct hit!" The gunnery officer barked as the Yamato replied with her cannons.
"Did we get it?" Sugita asked. However he didn't like the answer as the neuroi was regenerating as the smoke cleared. It then gave it's reply.
"TAKAO is hit!" A sailor reported.
"Pola is hit as well!" Another replied.
"Damn it… They regenerate too fast for us." Sugita grumbled.
At the same time
Yamato's Hangar
Yoshika, Lynette and Amelia were not getting ready to take off. Amelia started up her strikers just fine and so did Lynette however Yoshika was having problems, her strikers were quitting on her and they chose the worst time to do so.
"Huh?" Yoshika uttered at her striker's malfunction and attempts to feed more magic into her strikers but it made it worse as her strikers sputtered and died, "Why? Why won't they fly?"
"Yoshika?" Lynette asked.
"What's wrong Yoshika?" Amelia asked.
"H-Hold on a second," Yoshika asked as she then tries to feed magic into her strikers but she was getting squat. Please… Fly!
Just then the Yamato rocked again and everyone looked up in fear.
"Takao and Pola has been badly hit!" said the loudspeaker.
"Damn it," Amelia growled, "Sorry Yoshika but I am going first."
"Amelia-chan?" Yoshika uttered as Amelia took off.
"Yoshika, I'm going in first as well." Lynette said before she took off as well, leaving Yoshika behind.
"Huh?" Yoshika uttered before she turned to watch Lynette leave while screaming, "Lynne-chan!Wait! I said wait! Lynne-chan!"
Yamato's Bridge
Sugita and his adjutant watched on helplessly as the Takao erupted into fire and smoke while Pola began to list to port and was also engulfed in fires.
"This is bad. Takao and Pola both has been rendered immobilized." Sugita said.
"They'll be a sitting duck" His adjutant said and as if to prove his point, the neuroi moved to in front of the stricken cruisers.
"Damn, it's going to sink her!" Sugita growled.
"Oh no you don't!" A voice said.
"Who?!" Sugita said before a pair of shields appeared in front of the beam, saving the Takao and Pola.
"It's Bishop!" Sugita said as he looked at the Britannian witch with his binoculars, he also saw another witch beside Lynette.
"Can you all hear me?" Lynette radioed, "Retreat now while Amelia and I block it's attacks!"
"What are you saying, Lynne-chan?" Yoshika said from the stern of the Yamato.
"We can only buy a little time!" Lynette radioed.
"So you better start moving now!" Amelia barked.
"Hurry and retreat!" Lynette added.
"Our presence is crucial to the war effort here." Sugita said, "We cannot afford to lose the Yamato today. All ships full speed to port! All ships full speed retreat!"
All the warships of Taskforce 56 immediately turned port and headed away from Romagna, meanwhile Yoshika watched helplessly as Amelia and Lynette desperately try to block the neuroi beams with their shields.
"Lynne-chan! Amelia-chan!" Yoshika shouted as she ran back to the hangar to her strikers. She jumped in and tried to get them to start, "Please… fly. Please… let me fly!"
With Lynette and Amelia
"Damn, this is one tough sonabitch" Amelia growled as she and Lynette blocked another wave of neuroi beams from the large neuroi. Lynette then glanced over her shoulder to see the fleet retreating out of range of the neuroi.
"Thank god," Lynette said, "Amelia, you can attack now."
"Roger!" Amelia said as she unslung her M2HB machine gun, "Time to eat lead, you bastard."
Lynette readied her Boys AT rifle and the two open fire however they soon realized their shots were not doing anything.
"It is not working." Lynette gasped as the two were immediately put on the defensive as the neuroi fired it's beams again.
Pescara Air Base
Mio along with Sakai, Gertrude, Gerhard, Ember, Emily, Erica, Eino, Eila, Shirley, Chuck, Charlie, Franciscka, Franz, Francesca, Franco, Pierre, Perrine, Georgina and Gregory were now taking off to assist Taskforce 56, they were delayed as Charles's B-17 had stalled at the entrance of the runway.
"Where the hell is Amirah?" Gertrude asked, "She was on base wasn't she?"
"She was but she said she had an errand to run so she left but that was before the neuroi showed up." Shirley said.
"Mio, it seems the fleet is turning away from the neuroi." Minna relayed.
"What? How is that possible?" Mio radioed.
"It seems Lynette and Amelia have been shielding them.
"Eh?" Perrine uttered in surprise.
Yamato's Hangar.
"Why… Why won't you let me fly?" Yoshika asked dejectedly as she sat in front of her strikers. She felt useless as she sat there while two of her friends tried to desperately fight the neuroi. She then recalled a time when her father said something to her.
"Yoshika, yo have a power that exceeds that both of your mother and grandmother. Grow up, and use your power to protect others from harm." Her father's voice echoed though Yoshika felt it sounded real.
"Okay! I promise," Yoshika's younger self said.
"I'm sorry, Father… I can't keep my promise." Yoshika said tearfully, "I can't fly anymore! I can't protect anyone anymore! Lynne-chan, Amelia-chan…"
"Don't cry Yoshika," said the voice of Yoshika's father, "You haven't lost the ability to fly"
"Huh?" Yoshika perked up upon hearing her father's voice.
"These will be your new wings." said the voice of Yoshika's father as an striker holder unit elevator rose and on it was a SHU with a new striker model.
"A striker unit?" Yoshika gasped in surprise.
One deck below
"I am still amazed that you can do that, Boss." A Britannian soldier said as he held his cigar.
"Well Price, give enough practice, you do any voice," A witch replied in the Britannian soldier's voice.
"That is creepy as hell, Boss" A Liberion soldier said.
"Yes it is," The witch said, "Now prove me you can, Yoshika."
Yamato's Bridge
"Distance from neuroi is 15 nautical miles, we are out of their attack range." Sugita's adjutant said.
"Even if we defended the Yamato, we left two witches alone on the front lines." Sugita sighed, "As a sailor of the Fusoan Imperial Navy, I feel deeply ashamed."
"Captain, one of the aft hangar doors is open." A spotter said.
"What?!" Sugita exclaimed.
Aft deck of the Yamato
Sailors watched as the elevator rose revealing a SHU with a striker wearing witch. It was Yoshika.
"Hold on, Lynne and Amelia" Yoshika said in her head, "I am on my way!"
Bridge
"Ah, that's the prototype…" Sugita's adjutant said.
"Radio Miyafuji now!" Sugita barked, "Tell her that the striker has not even test flown yet!"
"Aye-aye captain!" The radioman replied, "She's not responding sir."
"What?" Sugita gasped as he and his adjutant turned to see Yoshika feed magic into her strikers before launching off the catapult.
USS North Carolina
"Wow, look at the size of that magic circle!" A marine said.
KMS Bismarck
"Mein Gott, I never seen a witch take off that fast, that almost like a rocket." A spotter said.
Yamato Bridge
"My god, she just took off without a hitch." Sugita gasped.
Yoshika zoomed past the warships in a beeline for Lynette and Amelia's position.
With Lynette and Amelia
The neuroi was not making it easy for Lynette and Amelia to line a shot on the neuroi. Worse, Amelia was beginning to run low on magic and was becoming tired.
"Damn it… Can't keep this up for much longer." Amelia panted.
"I wonder if Yoshika and the sailors escaped safely…" Lynette pondered as she tried to catch her breath before she dropped in altitude, "My shield is weakening."
The neuroi turned its attention to Lynette and fired its beam at her. Lynette barely manages to get a shield up if wasn't for Amelia shouted at her.
"Lynette! The bastard is going to shoot!" Amelia shouted.
"HNGH!" Lynette tried to hold the shield by in her tired state, her shield shattered and Lynette tumbled out of the sky.
"LYNETTE!" Amelia shouted as she tried to fly down to catch the falling witch but the neuroi forced her to stay put.
"Yoshika, sorry" were Lynette's thoughts as she fell out the sky.
"LYNNE-CHAN!" came the familiar voice as Yoshika came in and caught Lynne just a few hundred meter from the sea.
"About time you showed up." Amelia said as she flew down to their level, "What took you so long?"
"I am sorry Amelia, Lynette, for taking so long." Yoshika apologized.
"Ah, no harm no foul." Amelia smiled.
"Are you two okay?" Yoshika asked, "Can you fly?"
"I am okay but just." Amelia answered.
"Yeah…" Lynette said tiredly.
"Um guys…" Amelia uttered as she looked behind to find the large neuroi right behind them, ready to fire.
"How dare you… HOW DARE YOU ATTACK MY FRIENDS!" Yoshika raised her voiced as she turned around and deployed a massive shield.
"Oh my god, that is big!" Amelia just gasped and the next thing she knew was Yoshika was drilling straight through the neuroi like a hot knife through butter.
The neuroi gave one final screech before it exploded into a million white fragments.
"Now that's some fireworks." Amelia said.
"Yoshika!" Lynette cried out as she hugged Yoshika.
"Lynne-chan" Yoshika smiled.
"Best thing I have seen so far, Yoshika." Amelia smiled as she joined the two.
"Amelia-chan." Yoshika smiled.
"We did it, Yoshika" Lynette smiled.
"Yeah" Yoshika agreed as the two hugged.
"Count me in." Amelia hugged the two as well.
"Thank you father" Yoshika thanked her father.
Meanwhile
"That light… Could that be the neuroi's shattered pieces?" Gertrude asked.
"Well, looks like we won't be needed." Gerhard said but there was a smile on his face.
"Yeah, looks like they destroyed it." Mio said.
"Major, are those three…" Perrine asked.
"Relax, they are all fine." Mio said.
"Say, Mio, do you notice anything different about Miyafuji's strikers?"Sakai asked.
"Huh?" Mio asked as she looked at Yoshika's strikers, "Those strikers… Shinden? They completed it?"
On the aft deck of the Yamato
"Well looks like they done it. Looks like you were right again, Boss." Price said.
"Yeah but I just gave her the tools, she did the rest." The witch said.
"Humble as always, Boss." Price smiled.
"Well let's get going, I am needed elsewhere." The witch said.
Later that night
Pescara Air Base
"This is the new Fusoan unit?" Minna asked.
"Looks beautiful that's for sure." Erich said.
"J7W1, Magnificent Lightning." Mio said.
"Huh, never thought I would see this bird fly." Muto said.
"Well, I heard they had a roadblock in its production, said there was a missing part or something like that." Mio said, "but due to Dr. Miyafuji's letter, they were able to complete it."
"The doctor's letter?" Minna asked.
"Wait, you mean the doctor you said that passed away four years ago right?" Wolf asked.
"Yes that doctor." Mio said.
"Strange that a dead man's letter helped production of a machine four years later." Erich said.
"Lucky I suppose." Muto said.
"But, that said, it's almost like it was custom-built for her." Minna said, "Speaking of which, how are our three battle heroes?"
"They passed out as soon as they got back." Mio said.
"Yep, they are sleeping like babies right now." Erich said.
"Well, they used up all their magic today so it is understandable." Mio said.
"Well, to think one can grow more powerful, that is just incredible." Wolf said.
"Yeah, Miyafuji's magic grew too powerful for her old strikers so they couldn't handle her anymore." Minna said.
"Yeah, it is because there is a limiter installed to prevent damage to the magic engine." Mio said.
"I bet they work just like an engine governor for tanks." Wolf said.
"Yes but the Shinden should let her magic reach its true potential." Mio said.
"She might not be a rookie anymore." Minna smiled. Mio didn't respond but just huffed.
"Is that what Amirah meant during the training session?" Mio thought as she recalled Amirah uttering about how Yoshika had grown, "We will have wait and see."
Well, hope you enjoyed this chapter. Sorry if it seems rushed, it is kind of hard to continue on a chapter left halfway.
And I can imagine it won't be hard to tell who the mystery witch on the Yamato is, if it is, I recommend reading kh2996's Strike Witches: 501st Disciple, Demon Lord of the Strike Witches and Strike Witches Infinity, they will have your answer.
Anyway, until next chapter I hope you guys are doing great.