Hi, this is General again, sorry for being off the air for so long, I have been busy with university and writer's block has been a bitch. Also, I might be off for a while, my laptop is starting to act up. So in the meantime, I will try to finish as much as I can before that happens. Anyways, on with the story.

Chapter 18: Meet the Sulaimans and here why never mess with them

A week after the Beach Day

Adriatic Sea

HMS Illustrious

"So will you be okay with me going?" A Fleet Air Arm Witch asked, "I will be away for a while you know."

"It will alright, Merry, we will be able to hold our own, you trained us." A younger witch said.

"Right, I best be going then." The older witch said as she readied to take off, "Bridge, I am ready to go."

"Aye-aye, Lieutenant Commander, flight deck is clear, have a safe trip."

"Thank you, bridge." The witch said as she took off, heading north.

Bridge

"I haven't seen her this eager to take off before" commented the vice-captain.

"Well you would be if you knew where she was heading." The captain replied.

"Oh? Where is she off to, captain?" The vice-captain asked.

"Family, she's off to see family" The captain replied.

Central Romagna

Mountain Pass

A WC-51 was making its way down the pass heading east, it had three occupants whom were officers from the Britannian Army while they had a few bags in the cargo bay where the third occupant was also sitting.

"So how much before we get there?" The back-seat rider asked.

"About 10 to 15 minutes, give or take." The driver replied as he glanced at his watch, "We are making good time."

"That's good to hear because I don't want to be late." The passenger said.

"Trust neither do we." The driver smiled.

"It has been a while since we all met up hasn't?" The passenger said.

"Yeah the last time we met up was in 1942 and that was before you meet this girl." The passenger playful poked at the front passenger.

"Well that was because we were in different units and we only married last year" The front passenger said as she gently rubbed her ringed finger, "But now we are together, well now I am a part of it all as well."

"Oh come on now, you are part of the family now, don't be shy." The driver smiled as the truck headed east.

Adriatic Sea

A lone SC Seahawk was flying northward along the Romagnan coast, there was only one man in the entire plane which was rare but given who the pilot was, it was not uncommon for him to go solo but this time it was slightly different as he had a companion. It was a witch in Hawker Fury strikers.

"I am still amazed you were able to acquire this plane." said the companion as she looked around the Liberion seaplane.

"Well what can I say?" asked the pilot, "I have a lot of friends in high places."

"That's true" The companion said, "God, I am nervous, what if they don't like me?"

"Don't worry, they will like you, I know it." The pilot said.

"If you say so." The witch said as the Seahawk continued flying north up the Romagnan coast.

Sky over Romagna

A lone Spitfire was flying over the Romagnan countryside with a witch in Lancaster strikers flying alongside.

"How much farther do we have to go?" The witch moaned.

"Not much more, darling, we are less than 50 kilometres from our destination." The pilot said before he reached down and grabbed a bottle of Coke, "Hey, do you want one?"

"Yes please!" The witch said as she flew up the cockpit of the Spitfire, "Give me, give me!"

"Hold your horses," The pilot laughed, "Let me open my cockpit first."

The pilot opened his cockpit and handed the girl a bottle of Coke.

"Thanks." The witch said before she drank from the bottle, "Ah… So refreshing."

"Now can you fly to the base?" The pilot asked.

"Of course I can!" The witch smiled.

"Good." The pilot smiled as these two continued to fly southward.

In another sector of the sky

A Hawker Tempest was flying in the direction of north east over the Romagnan Mountains and along side the fighter was a witch flying in Mosquito Fighter Bomber strikers.

"I am so happy that soon we will be able to see everyone again." The witch smiled, "They must have grown so much since we last saw them."

"Well it has been a few years since we last met them, dear." The pilot of the Tempest replied.

"It was nice of high command to let us all to be temporarily attached to the same unit." The witch said.

"Well you know very well, dear that when we all are gathered together, we become near unstoppable." The pilot smiled.

"Right, now let's get going, I really want to see them again! It has been far too long!" The witch shouted as she sped up.

"Hey, wait up dear!" The pilot shouted as he increased the throttle to his fighter.

Road on eastern coast of Romagna, heading south

A lone M24 Chaffee was rumbling down the coast road of Romagna, it had a pair of strikers strapped tightly to the side of the turret of the tank. The tank didn't have a full crew as it only had a driver and a commander but it didn't need a full crew, it has been modified to only need three crew members as it has an auto-loading system and the hull machine gun was removed to make space for more ammunition for the 75 mm cannon. That said, the crew of the tank was an odd pair, one was the driver which was in a Royal Marines uniform while in the turret was a Britannian Army Witch.

"So how much before the next town?" The Royal Marine asked.

"About seventy kilometers more, just keep to this road." The Britannian Army witch answered.

"Okay." The driver replied, "Say, what do you feel about meeting up with the rest?"

"Me? Well I am looking forward to it to be honest, it has been a while since we all been together." The witch answered, "What about you?"

"Well, I think it would be fun for the short time we will be together." The driver said, "At least we will the memories for this temporary assignment."

"Right." The witch smiled as she open the hatch and stuck her head out, "Memories for when we are older."

Town of Pescara

Irina was in town to pick up some groceries that Yoshika had asked her to pick up since she couldn't drive herself and she was busy training with Mio.

"Right… That's flour done, now what else did Yoshika want me to pick up" Irina said as she looked at the list that Yoshika had given to her for the shopping list, "Oh looks like I am done, time to go home "

Just as Irina was about to move out, a truck rolled up next to her. She looked up and was surprised to see who was driving the truck, it was an officer and it was not a low ranking officer but a brigadier general and he wasn't alone, there were two witches in the truck with the one in the passenger seat was a major general while the one in the back was a lieutenant colonel. It then clicked in Irina's head that the driver was looking at her.

"Excuse me?" The brigadier general asked.

"Yes, sir?" Irina saluted.

"At ease, you're not in trouble, just need to ask you a question."

"What is it sir?"

"Do you know what is the name of this town?"

"This is Pescara, sir."

"Well, looks like we are in the right town after all" The lieutenant colonel said.

"I told you." The brigadier general said.

"Well I am sorry,"

"Well thanks for the answer."

"Glad to be of service, sir." Irina saluted again.

"Well time to go then" The brigadier smiled as he saluted Irina and drove off. Irina watched him and noticed that he was heading for Pescara Air Base.

"Huh? Is he an inspector?" Irina guessed as she got her motorcycle started. It was then she noticed that she heard the engines of planes overhead and looked overhead and saw several planes and witches flying overhead.

"Who are those? And why are they heading for the base?" Irina asked herself, "Well time to find out"

Irina headed back for base to find out who was coming in.

Pescara Air Base

Arthur was in the hangar with Chuck working on his Spitfire when they noticed there was the droning of several aircraft. They first thought it was one of the patrols returning home but they immediately dismissed that when they remembered that Emily and Amirul had only left a few minutes ago.

"Who could be the ones coming in?" Arthur asked.

"I have no idea but who ever it is, there are quite a few of them." Chuck said.

"How can you tell?" Arthur asked.

"Because there are different engine noises" Chuck pointed out and Arthur realized that Chuck was right, there were a number of planes coming in. Soon they saw what was flying in. There was a Typhoon, a witch in a pair of Hellcat strikers, a witch in Hawker Fury strikers, a witch in Lancaster strikers, a Hawker Tempest and a witch with Mosquito strikers. Then there was a Seahawk seaplane and it landed near the runway. Peter, Pierre and Franco came into the hangar because they were curious of the fliers that had come to the base.

"Wow, that's quite a number of fliers." Chuck said.

"And they are all Britannian fliers too." Pierre added. The four pilots watched as these pilots and witches taxi to the entrance of the hangar, parking their planes to the sides of the runway or headed for the empty SSUs in the hangar. It was here did they realized that one of the witches didn't look as young as the rest.

"Hey Arthur, doesn't that witch look more she in her 40s?" Franco asked softly.

"I am not sure but she does look older than twenty years old." Arthur said.

"Hey Irina is back." Peter mentioned as the pilots turned to see Irina riding her motorcycle into the hangar but right behind her was a WC-51 and a M24 Chaffee rumbled on to the tarmac.

"And she has brought more guests." Pierre commented.

"I wonder who are all these people." Franco said what was on all our minds.

"Irina, how are you?" Peter welcomed Irina back.

"I am good but do you know why we got officers coming to visit?" Irina asked.

"Not a clue" Peter said before he noticed the bags of groceries on Irina's motorcycle, "But let me help with those groceries."

"Still the gentleman I see." Irina smiled as she parked and climbed off her bike .

"I am just lending a hand." Peter said as he took some of the grocery bags while Irina took another set of bags and the pair left for the pantry. However this meant that Arthur, Pierre, Chuck and Franco were the ones to greet these newcomers who have sat all together, chatting happily with each other.

"Excuse me" Arthur asked when he approached the group, "Sorry for asking but what is the reason for all you arriving here?"

"Looks like Katherine didn't tell you lot," The older RAF pilot sighed, "Should have known but anyway…"

"AYAH!" A voice shouted and the next thing was a blue blur tackling the RAF pilot Arthur was talking too.

"Amirah?" Arthur uttered in surprise.

"Hah, hidup juga anak perempuan aku." The older RAF pilot smiled as he hugged Amirah, "How are you doing, my darling?"

"I am doing fine, Ayah but why are you here?" Amirah asked.

"What? You don't want us here?" The Britannian Army officer jokingly asked.

"Mana ada! I was just asking?" Amirah pouted in defense.

"Dah, dah, jangan gaduh." 'Ayah' said, "Well to answer your question, why don't we go ask Katherine, she knows the answer."

"Okay." Amirah said, "Let's go."

"There is no need for that, I am already here." The group turned to see that Katherine was at the door, "Everyone is at the briefing room, only waiting on you lot."

"So is this for an operation?" Chuck asked.

"Head to the briefing room and you will know." Katherine said.

Briefing Room

Arthur and those in the hangar made their way to the Briefing Room and they took their seats but Arthur noticed that Amir couldn't stop glancing over to the new arrivals. Katherine, Katherov and the rest of the commanders of 501st were standing at the front at the stage. Behind them was a map of the Central Mediterranean with an emphasis on the island of Malta.

"Alright everyone, listen up" Katherine said, catching everyone's attention, "Because this will be your first major operation where we are on the offensive. Our target is the island of Malta and our mission is to destroy the neuroi that is sitting on that rock. For those who aren't aware, Malta is in the middle of the Mediterranean that so happens to situated in the choke point for all shipping in the Mediterranean and this is hindering our supply chain as everything we need has to go around Africa and this is limiting our combat operations."

"Now this is where the 501st comes in." Katherov took over, "Your mission will be to destroy the neuroi on the island however that was the original plan as when a reconnaissance flight flew over the area, they made a disturbing discovery. There is more neuroi on the island and they have strengthened the fortification on the island. Therefore it was decided to bring in more reinforcements and firepower. So for now on until the end of the end of the operation, we will be having additional personnel on base. Now if they can kindly introduce themselves"

Everyone in the base turned as the new arrivals who all stood up, there were eleven from nearly every branch of the Britannian Armed Forces.

"Greetings everyone, I am Group Captain Sulaiman bin Hassan of the Royal Air Force and I must say it will be a pleasure working with you all." The older RAF officer saluted.

"Hello everyone, I am Wing Commander Rahanah binti Mat Jaafar of the Royal Air Force, I can assure you that we are going to have a fun time together." The older RAF witch smiled to which Arthur noticed had a very motherly aura about her.

"Hello, my name is Brigadier General Amiruddin Arif bin Sulaiman, Britannian Army, glad to be of service with you." A Britannian Army officer grinned.

"Hey there, my name is Squadron Leader Amirul Azlan bin Sulaiman, Royal Air Force, this will be fun times, I am sure of that." The younger RAF pilot beamed and Arthur could have swore he heard Amirah groaning behind him.

"Well everyone, my name is Captain Ameera Aina binti Sulaiman, Royal Navy, if you need any help, I will gladly provide it and one note, call me Mira, it is much easier." The Fleet Air Arm witch saluted.

"My turn, it seems, well my name is Captain Ammar Akmal bin Sulaiman of the Royal Marines, hopefully things won't get too out of hand," The Royal Marine officer smiled softly.

"And now it is me, I am Captain Alisa Aurora binti Sulaiman of the Royal Marines, let's get along and we will have a great time." The Royal Marine witch grinned.

"Now it is my turn and I am Captain Aiman Aykal bin Sulaiman of the Royal Navy, It will be a pleasure working with you all." said the young Royal Navy officer before he adjusted his monocle that sat in front of his left eye.

"Not last this time, nice." said the young Britannian Army witch, "Anyways, I am Captain Alia Anastasia binti Sulaiman of the Britannian Army, glad to be here."

"Major Cecila G. Miles, Britannian Army, at your service." The blonde Britannian Army witch saluted.

"Good morning, I am Flight Lieutenant Melissa Stanton of the Royal Air Force Bomber Command, what do you need bombed?" The brunette RAF witch smiled confidently.

"Ensign Selena binti Abdul Rahim of the Fleet Air Arm, reporting for duty!" The young Royal Navy witch saluted.

"Yes these twelve plus another two more arriving in a few days will be assisting us in destroying the neuroi on Malta." Katherine said before giving way to Minna and Wolf.

"Now that said, they will be staying with us so I suggest you get along with them, remember teamwork wins wars" Minna said.

"Furthermore, until the end of the operation, there will be changes in the schedules of the patrols and training so make sure you are on the ball for those changes." Wolf said, "Erich and Mio, you may have the floor."

"Right." Mio said as she and Erich took their place on the stage, "Because of the coming operation, we will be conducting more training and they will be harder, so make sure you can keep up."

"That goes to the pilots as well, we may be aces but that doesn't mean we don't need to train." Erich declared, "So expect clocking up more hours in your planes."

"Great…" Hiroyoshi groaned.

"You are so going to enjoy this aren't you, Mio?" Yoshiko jokingly asked.

The meeting was soon dismissed but no one left the briefing room as the 501st introduced themselves to the newcomers.

"Well, what a wealth of fliers we have here, looks like this operation will not be too hard a fight." Sulaiman commented.

"That is right." Rahanah said before she noticed that Francesca was looking at her with bewilderment on her face, "My dear, if you have something to ask, please do ask."

"How are you still a witch?" Francesca asked.

"F-Francesca! That is not something nice to say!" Yoshika blurted.

"It is fine, my dear" Rahanah giggled, "Unlike most women, I don't mind that question. But to answer your question, Malay witches are a tad different from witches in Europe and Liberion as our hold on magic last longer."

"How much longer?" asked a curious Irina.

"Until we die." Rahanah answered.

"Wow… so that means Amirah here will continue to have magic even if she grows old?" Francesca asked.

"Yes she will." Ameera replied, "Though she acts like she is already dead. Susah sangat nak tulis surat"

"Maaf-lah, saya asyik lupa nak tulis."

"You are forgetful, nasib payudara kau tak boleh tanggal, kalau tak, tu pun kau boleh lupa."

"Oui! Don't say that in front of the young ones." Sulaiman barked.

"Amirul, are you okay?" Emily asked.

"I am fine, Emily, it is just that… they… look like my family." Amirul answered.

"Well, in one sense, we are your family" a voice said from behind, the pair turned to see Amiruddin standing there.

"W-what?" Amirul asked.

"I said that we are your family because you are Amirah as a guy." Amiruddin said.

"Wait, that means that you all are Amirah's family?" Peter asked.

"Yes we are." Amirul Azlan said.

"Wait, how close are you related to Amirah?" Arthur asked.

"Well I am her father," Sulaiman said.

"I am her mother." Rahanah smiled.

"I am her twin brother." Amiruddin said.

"I too am her twin brother," Amirul Azlan grinned.

"I am her twin sister." Ameera stated.

"Her younger brother, is what I am." Ammar said.

"Ammar's twin sister." Alisa said.

"Amirah's youngest brother." Aiman said.

"Her youngest sister." Alia said.

"I am Amiruddin's wife." Cecila said.

"I am Amirul's girlfriend." Melissa smiled.

"I am Aiman's girlfriend." Selena smiled shyly.

The witches and pilots were surprised that Amirah's family was a large family with ten members in total. But there was another thing that was a surprise for them.

"Wait, since, you three said that you are twins to Amirah so that means you four are quadruplets?" Erica asked.

"Yes you are right, we are quadruplets." Amirah said.

"Just like my family" Amirul said.

"Curious, Amirul" Emily asked, "Who is in your family?"

"Well," Amirul said as he pulled out a picture of him and his family, "There is my father Squadron Leader Sulaiman bin Hassan, my mother, Flight Lieutenant Rahanah binti Mat Jaafar, Colonel Amiruddin Arif, Flying Lieutenant Amirah Aisyah, Lieutenant Commander Ameera Aina, Lieutenant Ammar Akmal, Lieutenant Alisa Aurora, Ensign Aiman Aikal and Sergeant Alia Anastasia."

"Well, they look just like us." Sulaiman said.

"But Amirul's Aiman doesn't wear a monocle." Aiman pointed out.

"Well he probably never had the injury you had from that runaway firework rocket." Amirul Azlan pointed out.

"Well that's interesting to note." Arthur said.

"Now." Rahanah clapped her hands, "Who is hungry for some lunch? I would like to cook you all lunch."

"YES!" Amirah cheered as she hugged Amiruddin who just laughed. Arthur could already tell that they loved their mother's cooking.

"Us included?" Yoshika asked.

"Of course, you are all friends of my daughter and son so you too get to eat my cooking." Rahanah smiled.

"Masak apa, Umi?" Amirul Azlan asked.

"Kalau saya masak nasi goreng, ada masalah?" Rahanah asked.

"Eh?! Mana ada Umi!" Amirul Azlan replied.

"Kita makan apa yang Umi masak." Ameera beamed.

"Kalau begitu," Rahanah turned to Amirah, "Can you show me the kitchen, Amirah?"

"Why yes, Umi." Amirah grinned, "Come on everyone, my mom is going to cook us a great dish."

"Count me in." Muto smiled.

"Sounds good to me." Lily said. The entire group headed to the dining room which now had two long rows of tables and three connecting them together in the shape of a U so to accommodate all the fliers and commanders on base and for any guests that so happen to come. Everyone began taking their seats while Rahanah walked into the kitchen with Yoshika and Muto and soon she began cooking with their help. Soon everyone was chowing down on Rahanah's cooking and they could immediately see why Amirah was so upbeat upon hearing that her mother was cooking lunch for them.

"Blimey… That was one hell of a lunch, one of the best ones I had." Arthur declared, "I mean no offence to you Yoshika and Lynette."

"It is okay, Arthur, we agree as well." Lynette said while Yoshika nodded in agreement.

"Well I am glad you all enjoyed my cooking." Rahanah smiled. However before anything else could be said, the siren went off.

"Bloody hell, we just finished a meal." Amiruddin grumbled.

"Come on now, Amir, let's get going." Amirah said as she got up from her seat.

"Let's show them what Sulaimans can do." Sulaiman grinned as the family raced to the hangar followed by the rest of the fliers.

"Wow they are fast on their feet." Amelia said.

"Really fast." Emily Earhart agreed.

"Radar room, what is the composition of the neuroi forces?" Minna asked.

"Enemy force consists a large aerial force and a sizable ground force, they are to the north of Pescara, heading south." The radar operator answered.

"Radio Pescara, tell the town to start evacuating citizens." Minna ordered.

"Yes ma'am." The radar operator replied. The fliers arrive to see the Sulaimans readying to take off.

"This is Sulaiman, I am taking off now!" Sulaiman said as he took off in his Tempest followed by Rahanah in her Mosquito strikers, Amirul in his Spiteful, Amirah in her Spiteful strikers, Ameera in her Hellcat strikers, Amirul Azlan in his Typhoon, Melissa in her Avro Lancaster strikers, Selena in her Hawker Fury strikers and Aiman in his Seahawk. Meanwhile Amiruddin and Ammar climbed into the M24 Chaffee, Alisa got into her M10 Achilles strikers, Alia got into her Sherman strikers and Cecila in her Churchill strikers and they took seats on the back of the Chaffee which headed off towards the fight.

"Wow, they move fast." Shirley said, "I am liking them already."

"You can be impressed later, Yeager, we still need to get into the air." Gertrude said as she climbed into her strikers.

"Right." Shirley said as she hopped into her strikers.

"Right, let's give the neuroi a warm welcome." Amelia said as she climbed into her Corsair and soon the witches and the aces took off to catch up with the Sulaimans. It wasn't very hard, just listen to sounds of guns and explosions.

North of Pescara

Road heading into Pescara

The neuroi forces was making its way towards Pescara if it wasn't for the Sulaimans causing havoc.

"Alright girls, here we are!" Amir shouted as he briefly open the hatch before closing it down again once the tank witches got off the Chaffee.

"Alright girls, engage at will!" Cecila barked as she open fire with her 75 mm gun.

"Firing!" Alisa shouted as she fired her 17 pounder at the neuroi.

"Eat lead you bastards!" Alia snapped as she fired with her 75 mm gun.

"Stay clear! Firing!" Amir barked as he fired a shot from the autocannon at the ground neuroi.

"Musuh depan! Jangan bagi mereka bolos!" Sulaiman shouted.

"Faham!" The rest of the Sulaiman fliers said while at the same time, the rest of the 501st was arriving to the battle.

"Have some of these!" Amirah shouted as she fired her 20 mm cannons into a neuroi while Amirul Azlan swooped below and launched his rockets and bombs at the land neuroi.

"Didn't think a seaplane could be this agile, did you?" Aiman laughed as he chased a neuroi in his Liberion Seahawk.

"Ha-ha! How do you like those gifts?" Amirul Azlan laughed as he zoomed past the devastation he left on the road.

"Good but let your mother show it how it is done." Rahanah said as she rolled over and tore into the land neuroi, leaving a dent in their number.

"I am impressed." Katherov commented as he watched Rahanah's handiwork.

"Melissa here, dropping ordnance on the bastards!" Melissa said as the bomb bays in her strikers opened up and unleashed their payload upon the neuroi.

"Amirul, two neuroi on your tail!" Emily shouted.

"Celaka!" Amirul shouted as he began to take evasive actions but the neuroi were stuck to his tail.

"Hold on!" Ameera shouted as she peered down her sight on her 20 mm cannon before she fired a shot that pierced both neuroi.

"Good shot! Good shot!" Emily radioed.

"Thank you, but we still got more neuroi to worry about." Ameera said while Sulaiman flew past chasing a medium neuroi, firing periodically at the neuroi.

"Where are you going? We just met." Sulaiman said as he opened up with his Tempest's 20 mm cannons.

"Fuck" Amir grumbled, "We need to pick the pace! We are twenty kilometers from Pescara!"

"Come on everyone, we can't do this alone." Amirah said.

"You heard the lady, dive into the attack." Muto shouted as he rolled into the fight with his blazing at a neuroi.

"Let me show you bastards what a pair of Nishizawas can do." Hiroyoshi laughed he and Yoshiko latched to the tail of a medium neuroi and they let him know that their guns were working.

"Hello," Chuck smiled as he left his Brownings sing, "And good riddance."

"Bombs away! Bombs away!" Charlie barked as she unloaded her B-17 strikers of their load.

"Ordnance are on the way." William exclaimed as let the bombs of the Ye Olde Pub out.

"Cover me, I'm reloading." Alia shouted as she ducked behind a rock to reload her gun.

"Roger" Amir shouted as he began engaging the land neuroi when he noticed something. "Wait… Those are Shermans! The bloody bastards are using our own tanks against us."

"Well let's put an end to that." Alisa said, "Keep firing!"

"Engaging the enemy." Cecila barked as she fired another shot. It didn't take long for the entire neuroi force both air and land to be destroyed and just in the nick of time. The defenders were just five kilometers from the town.

"Good work, you saved Pescara and halted the neuroi advance." Minna radioed from the base, "Now return home."

The rest of the day was uneventful besides Amirah catching up with her family and them mingling with the rest of the 501st. The following three days as they waited for the rest of the fliers coming in for the operation, they were put through their paces, with training from physical exercises to mock dogfights, almost around the clock. However for some reason, Gertrude and Erica had a bad feeling about the incoming fliers.

Well hope you enjoyed this chapter.

Now for those who are wondering what some of the lines are, here is their English translation:

1. AYAH! = FATHER! (Note this is not the only Malay word for father.)

2. Hah, hidup juga anak perempuan aku = So, my daughter is alive

3. Mana ada = Where got (This is Malay slang)

4. Dah, dah, jangan gaduh. = There, there, no fighting ('Dah' actually means 'done' as it is the short version of 'sudah' but in this context it means, there or hey depending on the context)

5. nasib payudara kau tak boleh tanggal, kalau tak, tu pun kau boleh lupa = Lucky your breasts aren't detachable, or not those you will forget as well. (You can guess what payudara means *Winks*)

Well that's all from me for now. This is General signing off.