Well, here is chapter 16, hope you enjoy.
Chapter 16: Secrets Revealed
A week since the battle south of Romagna
Pescara Air Base
The morning sun slowly rose from the sea, showering the land and sea however this calm will not last.
Mess Hall
"Bloody hell, Price, this information would have been useful earlier." Amirah snapped as she held the transmitter to the radio in the room.
"Sorry Boss but Foley had to wait until they passed his position before he could radio it in." Price replied.
"*Sigh* How fast can you get the rest of the Taskforce here?" Amirah demanded, annoyance evident in her voice.
"Five minutes at best, Boss." Price replied.
"I want you here in four." Amirah ordered.
"Yes Boss, we will move out now" Price radioed back.
"God damn it, I wished it didn't have to come to this." Amirah growled as she readied her weapons.
Gatehouse
Two of the base guards were manning the gate when they heard something coming down the road. They looked out but they couldn't see anything until one of the guards noticed a set of tracks in the road and he followed the tracks to a miniature tank in front of them.
"Hey, isn't this a Golia-" The soldier never finished as he was consumed by the explosion. Soon more explosions rocked the area around the base.
Command Office
"What the hell was that?" Wolf jumped to his feet from the sound of the explosions.
"I don't know but that doesn't sound like a neuroi attack, there is no screeching." Minna said. Just then the internal phone rang and Rommel picked it up.
"Who is this?" Rommel asked.
"Herr Generalfeldmarschall! We are under heavy attack!" Came the panicked caller. It was Lieutenant Maya.
"Calm down, what is going on?" Rommel requested.
"We are under heavy attack! It seems to be artillery fire! Scheiße!" Maya shouted in horror as Rommel can now hear shooting.
"What is going on, Leutnant?" Rommel barked to get the frightened lieutenant's attention, he did.
"Now there are halftracks and trucks in the ancient arena and their are unloading men and they are shooting the guards and the anti-air gunners!" Maya replied fearfully.
"What? Can you describe what they look like?" Rommel demanded.
"They are wearing camouflaged uniforms, sir with a black patch on their helmets." Maya replied, "Sir, what do I do?"
"Where is your commander?" Rommel asked.
"He's wounded sir! Hit by shrapnel, sir." Maya replied.
"Okay listen carefully, leutnant, take as many men as you can and get them armed and into defensive positions near the path between the arena and the main island." Rommel said, "Be prepared to open fire on hostile troops."
"But sir, at our own countrymen?" Maya asked.
"If they are shooting up a Witches' base, they are no countrymen of yours." Rommel barked.
"J-Jawohl Herr Generalfeldmarschall" Maya shakily complied before the phone went silent.
"What's the situation, sir?" Wolf asked.
"We are under attack by what appear to be Schutzstaffel soldiers" Rommel said, "And judging from what Lieutenant Maya reported, they have already reached the old arena, basically cutting us off from the rest of Romagna."
"Schutzstaffel? Who are they?" Minna asked.
"They, in our world were the Paramilitary branch of the NSDAP party in Germany during World War 2 and they were known for many inhumane acts against those we conquered during the war." Rommel said as he glanced out the window to see smoke and fire from the ancient arena, "And it appears they are here as well in this world."
"You don't think they are…" Minna said but Wolf and Rommel nodded in agreement.
"They must be in the same faction as that squadron." Wolf said, "Damn bastards."
Just then Patton and Erich burst in the room, panic and anger in their eyes.
"We got trouble, big trouble, SS bastards are making landings on the dockyard and the beach!" Erich barked.
"We need to do something now or the Kraut bastards will have this base." Patton added, his hand already wielding one of his revolvers. The officers looked at each other as they thought of their next course of action but Minna was at a lost as to what to do and the others could see why, this is the first time the witches were attacked by their fellow men in their lives.
"Sound the alarm Wolf, and you and Minna have the girls moved to the common room now!" Rommel barked.
"Jawohl." Wolf nodded before he left with Minna.
"Patton, you and I are to stay here and coordinate the defense." Rommel said.
"Fine by me." Patton said though begrudgingly.
"Erich, get the pilots and head to the armoury and grab guns, we are not letting them have this base without a fight." Rommel ordered.
"Yes, uncle." Erich said as he left to get more help.
"This is going to be hell." Patton uttered.
"You are not wrong." Rommel muttered.
At the primary entrance to the main island
"Hold your ground! Hold your ground! We need to protect the witches!" A Britannian lieutenant barked.
"Why the hell is this happening?" A Britannian private asked.
"Not now Yates! Just keep firing!" His sergeant barked.
"Take cover! MG42!" A Liberion soldier shouted as the SS soldiers opened up with the machine gun.
"Holy shit, I never thought I would be at the firing end of that thing!" A Farawaylander soldier remarked.
In the base
Wolf and Minna were rushing to the rooms when they realized they were might be too late as they heard screaming.
"That sounded like Bishop!" Minna shouted.
"Shit, we need to hurry." Wolf said as they ran down the hallway but soon they heard gunfire and screaming down the corner and feared the worst but they were surprised to find that Lynette, Perrine and Yoshika were not only safe but that Amirah was there and her pistol was smoking and there was a knife in the back of one of the six dead soldiers. Wolf noticed that Amirah was in a SAS uniform, well the witch version anyway.
"Amirah…?" Minna asked in disbelief. Amirah looked up to Wolf and Minna.
"Minna, Wolf, take Yoshika, Lynette and Perrine somewhere safe." Amirah said with authority as she reloaded her M1911, I got a bone to pick with these SS bastards."
"R-Right." Minna responded.
"Wait, when were you part of the SAS?" Wolf asked.
"Not now but I will explain later." Amirah said, "Wait, arm yourselves. I don't want you lot to get jumped by the attackers."
"Right." Wolf said as he grabbed a MP40 and several magazines from one of the dead soldiers, "Girls, I am sorry to ask this but grab a gun, we need you to be able to defend yourself."
"B-But, these are not neuroi! These are people!" Perrine argued.
"Yes they are human but they want to do harm to you, and most likely kill you." Amirah said, "So if you want to see Gallia return to her former self, pick up a gun and ready yourself."
"R-Right." Perrine said as she realized what Amirah said was true. Amirah then went to Yoshika and Lynette, the former seemed to try burrow into the latter to distance herself from Amirah.
"STAY AWAY!" Yoshika barked, "You are a killer!"
"Yoshika, I am sorry you had to see this side of me but I want you to know that even if you hate me, I want you to know that I will still watch you, I promised your father that" Amirah said before she got up, "Now get going, all of you. I will see you once this all over."
"Right, good luck to you, Amirah." Wolf said to which Amirah nodded and she ran down the hallway, "Girls, get up, we are taking you to somewhere safe."
"H-Hai." Yoshika said as she stood up but she threw glances to the hallway Amirah ran down.
"Yoshika, are you okay?" Lynette asked.
"H-Hai…" Yoshika said.
"Girls, come on, we need to go!" Wolf barked.
Hangar
Erich had managed to get the other World War 2 pilots armed and now were moving in groups of four to five to fight the invaders.
"Keep an eye out, we got to assume they already in the base." Erich said as he aimed his MP40 down the hallway.
"That's for certain." Arthur said as he slammed another stripper clip down into the SMLE rifle.
"This is Blake to Pescara, what the hell is going on out there?I see smoke rising from the base." Erich heard from his transponder, it was Blake which meant the night patrol was now coming in.
"Blake, this is Erich, we got a bit of a situation, the base is under attack from SS troops." Erich radioed back.
"Shit, is my sister alright?" Blake asked.
"She's okay, she's with Amirul, Chuck and Greg." Erich answered before an idea popped up, "Say, Blake, did you, Blaze, Lydia and Sanya engage anything during your patrol?"
"No, we are still good on ammunition." Blake replied.
"Good, now can you fly CAS for us." Erich said.
"Understood, we will give them a scare." Blake said.
In the air above Pescara Air Base
"Blake, what is going on?" Blaze asked.
"Our base is under attack from hostile troops and Erich had ordered that we conduct Close Air Support for them." Blake replied.
"But, we never fired on human soldiers before." Sanya said.
"Yes but Sanya, our comrades are fighting to defend the base and we need to help them any way possible even if means ending someone's life." Lydia said.
"R-Right." Sanya said nervously.
"So what do we do?" Blaze asked.
"Now? Now we attack." Blake said as he rolled his plane over into an attack dive. "Everyone, choose your targets and engage."
"Roger!" The other night patrol fliers replied.
"Eat lead you bastards!" Lydia barked as she unleashed a hell storm of rockets and gunfire from her Yak into the ancient arena where many of the hostile forces were located.
"Go to hell!" Blake barked as he fired his cannons at the artillery that was firing on their base.
"You will not harm our friends!" Blaze barked as she fired off her heavy machine gun at the attackers.
Near the mess
"This is one way to wake up!" Shirley said as she fired her pistol at the SS troops coming from the direction of the bath.
"Not now Yeager! Just keep shooting." Gertrude barked as she fired from her captured G-43, "Just how many of these bastards are there?"
"Too many, Trude, too many." Erica answered as she fired her captured MP-40.
"I second that sentiment." a voice said which prompted the three to turn and they saw Erich, Gerhard, Franz, Peter and Hiroyoshi coming up from the direction of the common room.
"Glad to see some friendly faces." Shirley said.
"Well, I am glad to see you two are still in good condition." Gerhard said as he kneeled down with a MG42 in hand.
"Well, we jumped on some of these assholes who were threatening Francesca" Shirley said.
"Where is she?" Erich asked.
"She went to the common room with the rest. We are here to make sure they don't get any further." Gertrude answered.
"Now we push them back." Hiroyoshi declared as he stood up and charged, "TENNO HEIKA BANZAI!"
"Mein Gott, Hiroyoshi!" Erich shouted as he tried to stop Hiroyoshi but the Japanese Ace had already in full stride, "Provide him covering fire!"
"Use your shield you damn idiot!" Gerhard barked and Hiroyoshi heard as he used his shield as a pseudo-battering ram.
"Mein Gott…" Peter said.
"He's insane." Franz gasped.
"Ja but we can't let him go alone." Erich said as he headed to help Hiroyoshi.
Main Entrance
"Sarge! We are running low on ammo! They will break through soon!" A Liberion corporal barked.
"We are nearly out of Bazooka rockets!" Another soldier declared.
"God damn if only we can get support!" The sergeant said. Then to make matters worse, two SS Panthers rolled up to the entrance. "Oh god…"
Suddenly the two tanks exploded and the SS soldiers assaulting the entrance were being riddled with gunfire.
"Bloody hell." A Britannian sergeant gasped as he saw the carnage. Then a convoy of jeeps with three tank witches in tow were seen approaching the base guard's barricade. The soldiers readied their guns as they were didn't know who these newcomers were.
"Don't open fire on them!" The soldiers turned to see Amirah approach the barricade, "They are friendly!"
"How do you know what, ma'am?" A Karlslander lieutenant asked.
"Easy, they are from Taskforce 141 and they are with me." Amirah answered before she turned to a SAS officer who came towards her, "About time Price. I almost thought you didn't want to join."
"Sorry, Boss but we had to destroy reinforcements the SS were trying to bring into the fight." Price apologized.
"Well better late than never." Amirah said, "Now let's get going."
"Yes Boss." Price nodded, "Come on boys, time to give the SS hell."
After three hours
The Battle of Pescara Air Base was won by the defenders but it had cost them fifty six soldiers dead and sixty four wounded however none of the fliers were hurt however there some explanation needed.
Common Room
"Amirah." Minna said, "Explain why did our base come under attack?"
"Right." Amirah said, gaining the attention of everyone in the common room which were the fliers of the 501st and the soldiers of Taskforce 141.
"What is your story?" Mio asked.
"Minna, it is because they wanted revenge on me and also capture the boys." Amirah answered.
"Wait, why would they want revenge on you?" Mio asked.
"That is because, I am not only a flier of the Britannian Royal Air Force but I am also a member of the Britannian Special Air Service and I am in command of the Allied Special Forces Unit, Taskforce 141 and my missions have been to stop Anti-Witch Forces like the Schutzstaffel from conducting their operations. This includes sabotage, raids and prisoner rescue." Amirah answered, "Therefore, I have become a thorn in their side which they try desperately to get rid off but fail."
"Who else knew about your SAS occupation?" Minna asked.
"The only ones that knew of my SAS work is King George VI, Churchill, the top of the United Nations Armed Forces Command, Patton, Rommel, Montgomery, Galland, Ember and Blaze" Amirah answered.
"So my sister knew?" Sanya asked.
"Yes, she did." Amirah said.
"Wait! You said Ember and Blaze, how did they know?" Shirley asked.
"That is simple, they are part of Taskforce 141." Amirah answered.
"She's not lying." Ember said, "In fact, Amirah requested for the two of us to be transferred to the 501st."
"So does that explain those times where you are not on base for hours or days at a time?" Gertrude asked.
"Yes, and that includes Operation Overlord, I was in Normandy, taking out neuroi defenses to make it easier for the landing forces." Amirah answered as she then went on to explain about how in a mission done in Siberia 1943 inside of Amirah is a blue neuroi core and a neuroi called Aisyah whom came out to prove Amirah's story.
"Wow… That is just, wow" Peter said.
"Wait does that mean that Amirul is an SAS operative as well?" Pierre asked.
"Yes I am, however unlike Amirah, my role has been to disrupt Nazi operations though my other job is to recover downed Allied airmen, Chuck and Emily can attest to that." Amirul said to which Chuck and Emily nodded in acknowledgement.
"Amirah, now my question is why did the Schutzstaffel go into so much effort to do what they did?" Erica asked.
"That is because Amirah is no average soldier, she's a killing machine." Price spoke up, "She is one of the best SAS operative I have ever seen, and one of the best in close quarters and hand to hand combat. There is a reason her nickname is Lady of the Knives."
"And who are you?" Patton asked.
"I am Captain John Price of the SAS, sir," Price said, "I am the vice commander of the 141, sir."
"Who here are part of the 141?" Rommel asked.
"Captain Simon "Ghost" Riley, SAS"
"Captain John "Soap" MacTavish, SAS"
"Lieutenant Gary "Roach" Sanderson, SAS"
"Lieutenant James "Archer" Harington, SAS"
"Lieutenant Thomas "Toad" Tarkington, SAS"
"Corporal Albert MacGregor, Britannian Army"
"Lieutenant Ronald Speirs, Liberion Airborne"
"Lieutenant James "Sandman" Hartmann, Devil's Brigade"
"Master Sergeant Marcus "Truck" Johnson, Devil's Brigade"
"Master Sergeant Talbert "Grinch" Honduras, Devil's Brigade"
"Sergeant Derek "Frost" Westbrook, Devil's Brigade"
"Staff Sergeant Jack Foley, Liberion Rangers"
"Corporal Henry Dunn, Liberion Rangers"
"Private James Ramirez, Liberion Rangers"
"Lieutenant Tom Sullivan, Liberion Marines"
"Sergeant Joe Roebuck, Liberion Marines"
"Corporal Eric Polonsky, Liberion Marines"
"Corporal James Miller, Liberion Marines"
"Private Oliver "Tank" Dempsey, Liberion Marines"
"Captain Noel Seiker, Liberion Army"
"Captain John Miller, Liberion Army"
"Captain Yang Xia Long, Liberion Army"
"Lieutenant Ruby Rose, Liberion Army"
"Lieutenant Hermann von Luck, Karlslander Gebirgsjager"
"Captain Erwin Richtofen, Karlslander Army"
"Lieutenant Ludwig Maxis, Karlslander Army"
"Lieutenant Samantha Maxis, Karlslander Army"
"Captain Simo Häyhä, Suomish Army"
"Lieutenant Ivan Nikolai, Orussian Red Air Forces"
"Captain Vasily Zaytsev, Orussian Red Army"
"Captain Lyudmila Pavlichenko, Orussian Red Army"
"Captain Viktor Reznov, Orussian Red Army"
"Lieutenant Dmitry Petrenko, Orussian Red Army"
"First Lieutenant Nicki Orlovsky, Orussian Red Army"
"Sergeant Iosif Chernov, Orussian Red Army"
"Private Nikolai Belinski, Orussian Red Army"
"Captain Shinji Takeo, Imperial Fusoan Army"
"Lieutenant Junta "Joey" Tanaka, Imperial Fusoan Army" The soldiers said.
"Wow, you got soldiers from all over the place, Amirah" Chuck said.
"Yes well, they were the best and I want them on my team." Amirah said before she sighed"I am sorry, everyone, if it wasn't for me being here, the base would not be attacked, I understand if any of you feel betrayed and angry that I kept this secret from you and I understand that you all feel sick by the fact that my hands have ended other people's lives and if you want me to leave the unit, it is okay, I understand."
"No, don't go!" Yoshika said as she hugged Amirah's waist as she stood up, "You're like a mother to me and I don't want you to leave."
"But Yoshika, I kill people, you protect them." Amirah said.
"No, you do protect people, you protect those from evil people like the ones that attacked us earlier." Yoshika said.
"Amirah, you helped save our base and more importantly our lives." Minna said.
"You are a great friend, Amirah, you can't leave." Erica said.
"Amirah, without you, we can't be the Captain Trio." Shirley said.
"I have to agree with Shirley, the three of us make a very good team." Gertrude added.
"Yeah! You were so cool earlier!" Francesca said.
"But…" Amirah tried to find words to argue.
"Amirah, they accept you." Aisyah said.
"Amirah, you are a flier I have not seen before in my years of flying, there is no way you are going." Mio said.
"But what about what I said?!" Amirah shouted as she started to tear up, "I told you I have a neuroi core in me and I-I"
"Don't cry, Amirah, don't cry" Yoshika soothed as she hugged the crying Malay.
"Amirah, don't cry we love you no matter who you are." Minna said as she and the other girls hugged Amirah. It was hard not to find a smile or a dry eye in the room.
Well, looks like Amirah's secret is out now let's see what this brings. Next up is time for some treasure hunting. See you next time.