The Clock Tower

by Archive keeper

After a series of vivid visions of a world at war with itself, Elia and the rest of the 501st are transported to the MW universe where they have to fight to survive the invasion of America. They team up with Metal Team and the 141 in order to find a way home however nothing is as it seems as the fate of both worlds may be tied to the will of a single man re posted with permission

24. Chapter 24 When Trumpets Fade

Hey guys i am back for the first time in a long time. most of my readers will know that this was originally a completely different chapter that involved an air battle between the Black Knives and the Neuori. well after rereading the chapter i felt like although it was good it wasn't great... i felt that i could do better so i decided to rewrite the chapter completely. The way it is now i think makes it much better than it originally was because i believe that it adds a lot more emotional weight to the story. Additionally because one character who died in the first version survives now, i also had to do minor changes to every full chapter since bag and drag to the most recent chapter. the changes are just solely related to the parts involving the Black Knives. anyway without further adue here is my rewritten chapter

---

When Trumpets Fade

On the bridge of the USS Abraham Lincoln in range of Europe Atlantic Ocean

Admiral George Alston

05:45

Local time

Admiral George Alston stood on the Bridge of the Black Pearl; the mighty nuclear powered Nimitz class aircraft carrier the USS Abraham Lincoln. Accompanying the Abe were eleven other ships, directly behind the Lincoln was the logistics ship the USS Gopher State; a class of supply vessel carrying tons of fuel and munitions to help supply the Carrier Battle Group for the upcoming war in Europe. The Gopher State was an old and venerable ship but it was still viable for the role that it was assigned. George remembered back to his youth as a young officer service aboard an Oliver Hazard Perry class frigate during the Cold War when many of times either the Gopher State or one of its two sister ships resupplied his ship during a combat tour.

Directly to George's left and right were the Ticonderoga Class Guide Missile Cruisers, the USS Gettysburg and the USS Anzio, both were highly capable warships capable of launching a withering hail of Tomahawk cruise missiles at any targets on land or at sea; and the powerful RIM-162A ESSM missiles were more than capable of dealing with any aerial threat. Along with the two cruisers were four Arleigh Burke Class Destroyers and four Oliver Hazard Perry Class Frigates rounding out the fleet's defenses. In all the Abraham Lincoln Battle Group was a dozen ship and one hundred aircraft strong when you counted the helicopters carried aboard the various warships. Most small nations on earth would be quickly overwhelmed by the firepower that Admiral Alston could unleash; but today he wasn't going up against a small third world nation to defeat a cell of terrorists. No today he was facing off against the world's second largest army. An army of fanatical battle hardened soldiers who had slaughtered their way across George's homeland and now had laid waste to Europe.

But his opponents were about to learn a hard lesson. You do not go to war with America or its Allies, because if you do; you brought forth the wrath of the most technologically advanced military on the planet.

Admiral Alston looked down at the flight deck below to see dozens of aircraft loaded up and ready for takeoff to take the fight to the Russians. Captain Bartlett readied his fellow airmen and women to load up and take off for an Alpha Strike Mission. An Alpha Strike was a mission type that called for an aircraft carrier to deploy all of its available aircraft to carry out a concentrated strike against the enemy. The firepower unleashed upon the intended target would be withering but it would also leave the aircraft carrier the aircraft launched from completely vulnerable to retaliation making it a risky strategy.

"Sir I just got word from the European Union Combined Army. Our forces have pushed the Russians out of Paris and the French Army along with the Lyons Garrison, are counterattacking." Petty Officer Melvina Vidya Advani the young Australian Communications Officer informed George who nodded his head and looked to Melvina.

"Understood. Tell the European Commanders as well as our ground troops that reinforcements are on the way." Admiral Alston told Melvina who nodded and started to speak to the European Forces. Admiral Alston looked down on the assembled aircraft on the flight deck. The USS Abraham Lincoln had eighty combat aircraft and six helicopters onboard. After this mission, how many would return?

Onboard the USS America

Sergeant Yoshika Miyafuji

10:00 local time

"Alright ladies and gentlemen listen up." Captain Price said to the assembled members of Task Force 141. He stood atop a vehicle so he could be easily seen by the crowd of people below him. "I just got word from Metal Team on Makarov's location. Makarov is in a hotel in Prague where he is holding court with his top advisors. We have never had a better shot at taking this guy and his leadership out for good. This is a one time opportunity so we can't screw this up." Captain Price said to the assembled soldiers. "Kamarov is already moving ahead of us to make contact with the Czech resistance and we will be following shortly after. This will be a stealth mission so only a handful of us will be heading down range." He told them. Price then looked to Soap. "The people who I want on this assignment are I, Soap, Yuri, Cryska and Lynette." With that thought Yoshika's heart sunk. Lynne was going into the heart of enemy territory along with Price. Yoshika shot up her hand.

"Sir I want to go on this mission to!" She shouted to the British commando who shook his head.

"Negative we have enough people as it is. The more people who go on this mission the higher chance we have of getting spotted." Captain Price told her. Lynne put her hand on Yoshika's shoulder.

"It's ok Yoshika everything will be fine." She said to her. Yoshika didn't feel very convinced by this which Lynnette noticed and gave her a hug of reassurance. "I promise you I will make it back from this mission alive." She said to Yoshika with a smile.

"Alright just please stay safe I don't know what I would do if I lost you Lynne." Yoshika confessed. Lynne kissed her and smiled. Then Captain Price spoke.

"The Russians have total air supremacy over The Czech Republic so we will be going in without drone coverage." He warned. "Alright people dismissed, gather your kits and prepare for the mission." He told the group. Yoshika then walked over to Captain Price.

"Hey Captain can I ask you something?" She asked Price who was getting off of the vehicle he was standing on.

"Sure what is it?" He asked her. Yoshika formulated the words in her head as she thought about what she was going to say to the leader of the Task Force.

"Sir why did you shoot Waraabe?" She asked him. Price raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't I already tell you why?" He said to the young witch who nodded her head.

"Yes but I mean why did you really shoot him. We should have brought him in so he could pay for his crimes; so he could be reformed and become a good person again." Yoshika said to the British Captain.

"What makes you think that we could have reformed him? How do you know that the second we didn't let him out of prison he would go back to his old ways of terrorizing people and selling weapons to terrorists?" Captain Price asked her.

"Because people are by nature good not evil Captain; The only time people act evil is when they are misguided or circumstances have made them the way that they are. We need to reform people by showing them the errors of their ways and treating them with kindness and respect; and we can't do that if we keep killing those people." Yoshika told Price who sighed and shook his head.

"Oh Yoshika…" he trailed off for a moment before speaking. "Do you honestly believe that people like Makarov and Shepherd had any shred of goodness in them? No they were evil to the core and no matter what we do we can't change that. Yoshika I hate to break it to you but people are not by nature good; the truth is people are bastards through and through. There is no changing that; you can never reform these peoples you can never help them become better people. The only way you can deal with people like Waraabe or Makarov or any of the others is by killing them before they can kill you. I have lived for over a half century and have been serving my country for most of my life. I have seen people do truly monstrous things and I have had horrible things done to myself personally. Trust me Yoshika there is no good in humanity's heart… just nothing but endless darkness and that is the sad truth of the world." He told Yoshika who nearly wanted to cry for poor Captain Price. How could the world have warped a man as good as he was into having the philosophy he did?

"I don't know what is sadder Captain. A world where that statement is true or a world that made you believe that it is true." She said to Captain Price her voice a little shaky from her melancholy. Captain Price frowned for a bit and stood up.

"I have to go and get ready for the operation." He simply stated as he began to walk off.

"Tell me Price if there truly is no good in this world why do you fight?" She shouted after him. He looked back at her and looked like he was about to say something but the words were caught in his throat. "Surely there has to be a reason? You don't strike me as a man who fights simply for the sake of fighting." Yoshika said to Captain Price.

"I fight to protect people like you Yoshika. The people who still have some innocence and goodness in their hearts; and I fight for the people who can't defend themselves. That is why I fight Yoshika." He simply stated to her. With that Yoshika sat down on the floor of the loading bay. Part of her wanted to cry and the other part of her wanted to run over to Price and give him a big hug.

"This world… there is so much death… so much sorrow… so many people hurting… I… I don't know if I can really help any of them..." Yoshika said aloud to herself. "But I still want to try… I am a witch and there is nothing a witch can't do." She said to herself quietly.

504th Base of Operations Romagna

Flight Lieutenant Junko Takei

09:43 local time

Junko walked through the halls of the base on her way to Squadron Leader Federica Doglio's office. Junko wanted to inform the Sqaudron leader of a recon report that sited a battalion sized Neuroi ground forces wandering around Venezia aimlessly. Nearly five thousand Neuroi combat forms were just milling about. It was almost like they were waiting for something to happen. The Neuroi weren't making a B-line for Romagna which was a small blessing because a force of that size would easily destroy any and all mundane units on the frontline trying to block the Neuroi's advance. Normally a witch unit would be sent to destroy the Neuroi but considering the distance from the Neuroi's current location to that of the nearest witch unit, it seems unlikely that anyone would be dispatched. Besides the Neuroi were in the middle of their territory and it would be a good four hour flight to reach their current location. Even with drop tanks that would still be pushing it for the range of the 504th's striker units. Besides that they would have also needed to get permission from high command to conduct a mission behind enemy lines. Normally that sort of assignment was deemed too much of a risk to conduct. Junko looked to her right and saw two of the 78th Tame Witches kissing each other passionately.

"I love you my little Orussian snowflake." The taller Liberion witch said to the younger and shorter Orussian.

"I love you to my Liberion Flame." The younger witch replied as they continued to make out with each other. Junko smiled inwardly a bit. Part of her wanted to have a man or woman to love that much but the other part of her knew that her work made romance near impossible. Just then Angela the Hispanian Sniper walked up beside her.

"Hello Lieutenant." Angela said to her politely. Junko nodded to Angela as she continued on to Federica's office.

"Hello Angela how are you doing?" She asked the eighteen year old witch who had only recently returned to active duty after receiving a nasty injury a few months ago protecting some civilians from the Neuroi's onslaught.

"I am alright I just wanted to report to you that all of the Tame Witches have been assigned their duties and have been given their quarters." Angela said to Junko who nodded. Angela then gestured to the two witches in the midst of making out. "Ugh those two or so lovey-dovey with each other; they manage to make Dom and Jane look absolutely prudish with each other." Angela said with some frustration in her voice. Junko smiled a bit, as Angela talked about the two Liberion Witches in the 504th who had gotten married a month ago.

"Well they are two young ladies in the midst of love it is to be expected I guess." Junko said to Angela who snorted.

"Well I would never be so overt in my displays of affection towards the one I love." Angela said with some measure of satisfaction. Junko thought to herself on how fallacious of a statement that was; Angela would melt like butter in front of anyone who used words like cute or pretty directed at her.

"Right well let's go see our commander I need to tell her about the radar contacts we have sighted. Come on you can come to." Junko said to Angela who nodded. They stepped inside Federica's office and saluted to which she saluted back.

"Hey you two how is it going?" Federica said with a smile that could melt the iciest heart. Federica was a twenty year old Romangan witch with olive skin and long dark brown hair. She had a body fit for a goddess that whispered that it could satisfy every carnal desire and Federica's eyes and lips tempted that they could do so much more than that. This fact was not lost on Federica who had gotten finished with being a model for the "504th's sexy calendar 1945" Federica initially wanted all of the witches in the 504th to pose for the calendar but Junko managed to shut that down leaving only Federica to pose for the calendar.

"We have a situation ma'am. A recon team has detected that a large group of Neuroi one Battalion in strength is currently active inside Venezia. The Neuroi is roughly ninety seven percent ground forces with a small amount of Flying Goblets for top cover.

"Do we know if they are going to attack somewhere?" She asked Junko who shook her head.

"No ma'am it appears that they are just wandering aimlessly in their territory. It doesn't appear that they have an objective in mind." Junko told Federica who nodded her head.

"Alright I will head to the communications room with you two and we will observe this Neuroi force to see what they do. If they make a move against a civilian or military target we will have to intercept them. Make sure to tell Lieutenant Marwick to standby with her 78th Tame Witches we will need the additional Air Infantry Units to assist if we are forced to intercept them." Federica told Junko. Something deep down told Junko that today was going to be an interesting day.

Onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

Second Lieutenant Lilia Kjellberg

06:01 local time

Lilia along with the rest of her flight stood in the crowded hanger below the flight deck of the Abraham Lincoln. Dozens of ground crew members loaded and fueled up the variety of aircraft assembled for the mission. Currently Lilia watched as the four F/A-18Cs Hornets of the Black Knives were each loaded with two 450kg bombs, two AMRAAM mounted on the either side of the fuselage under the wing, two wingtip mounted AIM-9X Sidewinders and two 127mm Zuni rocket pods loaded with HEAT warheads meant for tank busting. In addition to the impressive array of weapons slung under the aircraft's wings and body, her Hornet along with every other Hornet was loaded with an M61A1 Vulcan 20mm rotary cannon loaded with several hundred rounds of ammo. Wilbert came up behind Lilia with a spare cup of coffee and handed it to her.

"I thought you might want some more coffee." Wilbert said to her as he handed her the fresh mug of coffee. Lilia smiled and took the cup.

"Thanks Wilbert I need this." Lilia replied to Wilbert as she took a sip of her coffee.

"Hey no problem." Wilbert responded. Just then Colonel Graham Rosenberg looked to them and spoke.

"Well this is it you two. You are about to go on your first real combat mission of the war. Right now I think it is important for us to remember why we are here fighting in this war and why each one of us chose to join the United States Marine Corps." Graham told both Lilia and Wilbert who looked to their flight leader.

"Ah yeah I guess that is a good idea to talk about." Wilbert said to everyone. Lilia nodded her head.

"Yeah I guess it helps keep us focused." Lilia replied. "So who wants to go first then?" Lilia asked the other members of her flight. Daryl shrugged.

"Hell I guess I will go first." Daryl stated. "Well I guess I joined because I wanted to prove something to myself. I wanted to show myself that I could do anything I put my mind to and more importantly I wanted to show all of those assholes who said a woman couldn't fight that I could." Daryl told the group. Lilia cocked her head to the side in confusion.

"Really what do you mean Captain?" Lilia asked Daryl who shrugged.

"Well you know there have always been guys who have not liked the idea of a woman in uniform. That is why when we were allowed to serve in the military originally we were in nothing but support roles. But when women asked to be able to fight on the frontlines these same assholes who told us no the first time came back and said that we couldn't. Well back in the 90s the government authorized women to fight in combat aircraft and the voices died down a bit when we proved that we could fight in the air. That being said when I joined the Marines a few years ago I had a lot of hazing from some of the guys at Annapolis; they would make jokes about how was I suppose to fit into a flight suit when my breasts are so big and such." Daryl told the group and touched her rather ample breasts for emphasis. "well I wanted to show those assholes that I could be just as good of a pilot as they were so I studied hard, trained hard and fought hard to prove to them that I could be just as good of a marine as they could. And you know what when I graduated I was at the top of my class and I got the first pick of the type of aircraft I got to fly. After that when I was sent to Afghanistan for the first time I proved myself again to those misogynists that I was a good pilot and I had the highest mission completion over anyone else." Daryl told the group. It was rather disconcerting for Lilia to here that woman were hazed so often in the military. When she joined the Marines she was harassed a bit by some of her male classmates, but she thought it was because she was a foreigner but apparently it was actually because she was a woman. Lilia gritted her teeth; men like that really pissed her off; she hated the idea that people would discriminate against her for being a woman.

"Wow I had no idea it was that bad for women in the military. I had a few women in my graduation class but I never gave them any flak." Wilbert told Daryl who nodded.

"It's ok Wilbert I got through it; and besides I know you aren't sexist. If you were you wouldn't even be in this squadron." Daryl replied. Daryl then gestured to Wilbert. "Alright you're up next son why did you join the Corps?" Daryl asked the young Marine Corps pilot.

"Well I was still young when 9/11 happened. I wanted to serve my country and protect people to make sure shit like that day never happened again. So when I came of age I went to college on an MCROTC scholarship and joined the military." Wilbert simply replied.

"So it was just patriotism that made you join up then?" Lilia asked him. Wilbert nodded.

"Yup I guess it's a pretty simple reason but I just want to serve my country and protect those who can't protect themselves. I wanted to be a marine so I could help people you know?" Wilbert stated to the group. Lilia smiled. Wilbert had a kind heart; that was one of the reasons she liked him as much as she did.

"Ok well how about you Lilia; why did you come all the way from Sweden to join the American military?" Wilbert inquired.

"Well after I got out of high school in Sweden I didn't really know what I wanted to do in my life. So after a little soul searching I decided that I wanted to join the military and that I wanted to see some combat; real combat you know I didn't want to be some pencil pushing U.N. peacekeeper. So I contacted the American embassy and asked if I could sign up. Well I got approved and they gave me an aptitude test and I was sent to flight school." Lilia told her flight. She had to admit she probably wasn't the most normal girl growing up due to her tomboyish tendencies; however when she came to America and joined the military she truly found a home filled with people who would accept her for the way that she was. Graham nodded his head.

"Hey looking for adventure is as good of a reason as any to sign up. Well I guess that just leaves me then." Graham said to Lilia and the other marines. "When I got out of college I had gotten myself a pilot's licenses for recreational purposes. When I was younger I just wanted to have a little fun and I thought what better way to do it then to get myself my own little airplane and fly around a bit. Well after a while of searching for a job with no luck I came across a Marine Corps recruiting station and I spoke to the guy at the front desk and the next thing I knew I was in basic training waiting to transfer into Officer's Candidate School. After a while I found myself sent to the frontlines." Graham told the group.

"So in other words it was pure chance that you joined the military then?" Wilbert asked Graham who nodded his head.

"Looks that way." He simply replied to Wilbert. Just then a ground crew member came up to them and started to speak.

"Sir, Colonel Rosenberg." He stated as he saluted everyone. Lilia and the others saluted the ground crew member back. "Your flight's aircraft are all fueled and armed up. They are ready to launch. Admiral Alston wants all of you to suit up and prepare to sortie." The ground crew member told them.

"Understood, tell the Admiral we will be ready in fifteen mikes." Graham told the crew member who nodded and darted off. Graham then looked to the other members of his flight and spoke. "Ok people this is it; time to suit up." He told them. Lilia nodded and started to turn to head towards the locker room to put on her flight suit.

"Let's go show these red bastards what the United States Marine Corps can do." Daryl chuckled as she started to head towards the locker room. Lilia was about to enter combat for the first time in her life; her heart pounded in anticipation for battle. This was it the time had finally arrived. But little did Lilia know that even though she would indeed see combat today, she would not be fighting the Russians, no she was about to cross blades with an enemy far worse and an enemy far more terrifying than she could ever have imagined.

Prague Czech Republic

Yuri

21:36 local time

"Welcome to Prague ladies and gentlemen." Price said as he took one last drag on his cigar and tossed it into the sewer. Lightening shot overhead and rain splashed the ground. Soap cocked his rifle and spoke.

"The city is locked down tight we will have to move fast." He told the group. Cryska and Lynnette loaded their sniper rifles and hopped in the water after Soap and Price. Yuri followed suit. The Task Force operators swan down the dirty water into the open. Yuri saw up ahead a few dozen Russian soldiers rounding up civilians on the pier ahead and to his left on the bridge he saw two BTRs and a platoon of Russians crossing the bridge.

"Hold up." Price said to the group as they stopped in the middle of the water.

"They've already taken prisoners. They're moving fast." Soap simply stated.

"We need to be faster then." Price replied. Price then looked back to the group. "Keep it tight people and use the boats for cover." He ordered them as they moved forward. Yuri swam around the boats. They got closer to the pier and Price spoke again. "Move under the docks; the storm will keep us quite." He ordered them. Dogs barked in the faces of prisoners and Russian soldiers shouted at the prisoners. The Task Force moved under the docks. Yuri heard one of the soldiers shout and two gunshots rang out and a body was tossed into the water. "Easy." Price said as he held up his hand. "Let them pass." He said; then Lynne then spoke.

"Price are we really going to let this happen? Can't we do something to help these people?" Lynnette whispered.

"We have no choice; if we do anything we will blow our cover." Price replied. Then Cryska grumbled her disapproval but otherwise stayed silent. The Russian soldiers gunned down a few more civilians to which Yuri noticed caused Lynnette to flinch visibly. "Ok move up." Price ordered and the group moved forward. Yuri swam past a few bodies in the river that the Russians had killed, but he ignored them. They moved into a sewer system and Yuri saw Kamarov waiting for them.

"What took you so long?" Kamarov asked them as he helped Price up onto the ledge. Then Soap spoke.

"Your intel was off. You said this area would be clear." Soap replied. Kamarov shrugged.

"I am sure that it was nothing that you couldn't handle." He said to them as he lit up a flare and gestured for them to follow him. "Do you know what had to be done to get you this far?" Kamarov asked them.

"Enough chit chat. Soap, Yuri, Cryska and Lynnette you best be on your way. We'll meet you at the rally point." Price said as he darted off down another tunnel.

"Let's go people." Soap said to the group and they moved forward. Soap turned right and Yuri followed after him. There were several dozen members of the resistance hiding out in the tunnels. Yuri wondered how many of them would survive to see the end of this war.

On the bridge of the USS Abraham Lincoln

Admiral George Alston

06:30 local time

"Sir, Captain Bartlett says that his squadron is in the air and will take up a holding pattern to wait for the other aircraft." Petty Officer Advani told George who nodded and looked back to the flight deck where he watched the last F-35s of Nightingale squadron take off. Currently all but fifteen aircraft of the CAG were either on the flight deck or in the air waiting their comrades to join them. On the deck dozens of ground crew members scurried about checking the planes one last time before takeoff. Times like this always made George nervous: seeing his flight deck filled with fully loaded and fueled aircraft put him in the mind of the Battle of Midway when the Japanese Carriers were fully loaded and fueled for a strike against the American Fleet when squadrons of Dauntless dive bombers dove down and sunk three of the carriers. George was always wary of the potential for a repeat of history so he always had his fingers crossed until the deck was cleared. George sighed; sometimes he wished he didn't pay as much attention in history class as he did. Melvina then started to speak to someone on the other end of the radio. "Huh what's that?" She said to whoever she was speaking to. "Ok I will tell him." She said before turning once again to face George. "Sir there appears to be a mix up at the elevator, Colonel Graham's aircraft from the Black Knives, and Commander Johnson's aircraft from the Raging Busters are on the elevator moving up to the flight deck now. It appears that someone made a mistake and somehow they loaded the wrong aircraft on the elevator. What should I tell them sir?" Melvina asked George who gritted his teeth in frustration. Sometimes this happened during a major operation. The aircraft were brought up to the flight deck out of sequence. Normally the thought was to load aircraft from the same squadron two at a time onto the elevator that way when they reached the flight deck the squadron could be launched in sequence so that all aircraft with have roughly the same amount of fuel. When aircraft from two different squadrons were brought up at the same time it only led to confusion for all parties involved.

"Tell Colonel Graham to wait for the rest of his flight to be brought up. Make sure those knuckle heads load the right aircraft next time." George told Melvina to relay to the crew chiefs below. George shook his head. Usually when something like this happened it was with two aircraft of the same type but from different squadrons. This time however they had two completely different aircraft loaded on the elevator at the same time. Honestly how did they not notice that? George should have just become a chef like his father said he should. George then looked back to the flight deck and watched as the two different aircraft from two different squadrons arrived on deck and started to move into position; very frustrating indeed. George then looked to the front of the carrier and saw two Marine Corps F/A-18Ds loaded up onto the catapult. One of the catapult operators got ready to give the signal to launch when suddenly a storm cloud appeared. "What the hell." Was all George could say as he saw the cloud form far faster than what could be naturally possible? The cloud was a sickly greenish blue color and lightening spewed forth from the strange cloud. All hands on deck stopped and stared at the cloud in amazement. Then without warning lightening shot out from the cloud striking each ship in the fleet. In a brilliant flash of light night turned to day and the USS Abraham Lincoln listed from left to right. "What the fuck just happened!?" George swore to no one in particular. Then one of the other Bridge crew members spoke.

"HOLY SHIT WHERE THE FUCK DID THAT COM…" The crew member was cut off as George looked to his left to see a massive two hundred and fifty meter tall tidal wave smash into them throwing George and whoever else was standing to the ground. The USS Abraham Lincoln listed heavily to the right as the wave struck them tossing aircraft and crew members off the flight deck like they were plastic toys. George watched as the USS Anzio smashed into one of the Oliver Hazard Perry frigates destroying both ships; the USS Gridley was then capsized by the force of the wave along with two of the other frigates. The force of the wave carried the mighty aircraft carrier towards the swiftly approaching shore with so much force; the mighty Nimitz class carrier might as well have been a little toy boat in a white water rapid. Then the aircraft carrier smashed into the shore with enough force to tear a ten meter wide hole in the starboard side of the ship and completely beach the aircraft carrier. George saw the USS John S. McCain get beached one hundred meters further down the shoreline.

"Get me a damage report STAT!" George shouted to the bridge crew before turning to Melvina. "Petty Officer, get me a connection with Allied Command tell them we need immediate assistance!" He shouted to the young girl who nodded and started to search the frequencies to contact Allied Command. Then one of the crewmen spoke.

"Sir we have a hull breach on the starboard side and we have been beached. All aircraft and crewmen on deck have fallen overboard." He told George who swore.

"What about the catapults are they still operational? And what of the aircraft still below deck what is their status!?" George demanded.

"Sir the catapults are still operational and the thirteen remaining aircraft from the Raging Busters, Black Knives, and a lone F/A-18F from the Sky Knights are intact. However it appears the pilots of the Sky Knights' Super Hornet were tossed overboard." The Crew member told George who nodded his head. At least he had that much left. Just then he heard another bridge hand speak and gesture to the shore below. George walked over to the window and stared in horror below as nearly a dozen aircraft and a hundred broken mangled bodies washed ashore. How could this have happened? Was it a new Russian super weapon? George thought to himself. Just then Melvina spoke.

"Sir I am unable to reach any Allied Forces' Commanders and it appears that all satellite communication is down." Melvina told George who cursed again.

"What is the status of the remaining ships in the fleet how many did we lose?" George asked Melvina who contacted the other ships.

"Sir we have only six ships remaining including our own. The USS Gettysburg, the USS John S. McCain which has also been beached but is otherwise operational with minimal causalities, the USS Gopher State, the USS Cole, and the USS Simpson are still in the water and have suffered minimal damage." Melvina informed him. George's heart sank, six ships lost in an instant. It was the greatest loss of USN ships since Pearl Harbor. If you wanted to not count the current situation with the Abraham Lincoln and the McCain. Right now what was left of the fleet was a sitting duck for Russian bombers to pound into dust with cruise missiles or even iron bombs. Just then one of the crew men spoke.

"Where the hell are we?" He stated more than asked. George looked upon the land below him and saw that it was nothing but grey sands and a forest with literally every single tree dead. It was rather surreal to say the least.

"I am not sure but we are about to find out. Contact Master Chief Stinson and tell him to get his SEALs to recon the surrounding areas I want to get to the bottom of this." George informed the crew. He then looked to Melvina. "Petty Officer, patch me through to the rest of the fleet tell them to send their XOs to the Lincoln immediately." He ordered her. "After that send word that I want all available personnel to assemble in the briefing room ASAP I need to address the crew and the remaining pilots of this ship." George told Melvina who quickly got on the radio with the other ships. George didn't know where on earth they were, or for that matter if they were even still on earth. But George was going to do his damnedest to find out just what the hell happened.

504th Base of Operations Romagna

Flight Lieutenant Junko Takei

10:11 local time

"Commander we just detected a magical anomaly in Grid Sector C7!" Shouted one of the radar operators on base to Federica.

"What? That is right in the middle of Neuroi territory!" Federica exclaimed before looking to the map and putting her finger on the grid location. The grid in question was a sector that was within two kilometers of the Venezian coast. "It is a three hour flight from our base if we fly at top speed and use drop tanks." Federica informed Junko who nodded.

"Yes ma'am do we have any scouts in the area who can observe the object?" Junko asked Federica who looked to the radar operator.

"Well we do have one submarine the U-571 which should be right now within visual range of the anomaly." Federica said to Junko. "Warrant Officer see if you can get a hold of the commander of that U-boat." Federica ordered the young Warrant Officer in charge of communications.

"Roger!" He replied as he started to search the radio frequencies to see if he could reach the captain of the Karlsland submarine.

"This is Captain Helmut Möhlmann we have eyes on the location of the magical event… and you aren't going to believe what we see." Captain Helmut Möhlmann of the U-571 said over the intercom. Federica took hold of the microphone and spoke.

"This is Squadron leader Doglio of the 504th Ardor Witches what is it that you see?" Federica asked of the Karlslander.

"We see ships! Human ships but of unknown type. They were hit with a massive tidal wave that appeared out of nowhere and beached two of the vessels. One is an aircraft carrier bigger than anything I have ever seen before and the other appears to be some class of escort ship. The vessel is as big as a light cruiser but I only can count three guns on it. The remaining four ships appear to be one cargo ship, one heavy cruiser, one more light cruiser and a destroyer. All of the ships afloat seem to be dead in the water." The Karlslander told Federica.

"Understood do you think you can continue to monitor the ships undetected?" Federica asked the U-boat captain.

"Yes ma'am we will monitor the ships for any signs of… wait hold on… the escort vessels that were still afloat just launched aircraft of unknown types… they seem to be able to launch vertically and are heading towards the beached carrier." The Captain told them.

"Understood U-571 keep monitoring them for any more activity." Federica ordered the Captain.

"Yes ma'am." The Captain replied to Federica who turned to Junko.

"Well it appears we have had an interesting development now haven't we." Federica stated to Junko who nodded her head.

"Indeed it appears so. Now the only question is what do we do about this?" Junko asked Federica, but before she could answer the radar operator spoke again.

"Ma'am the Neuroi have turned towards the unknown human vessels; at their current speed they should be within contact range of the unknown craft in four and a half hours!" He exclaimed to her.

"Damn!" Federica said as she gritted her teeth. "No way any human force can hold out against that many Neuroi even if the majority of them are smaller classes. Inform Allied Command about the situation and tell them that we are requesting authorization to provide assistance." Federica ordered the radio man, before turning to Junko. "Junko, inform Clotilda to assemble her Tame Witches, and gather all of our witches. I want them in the briefing room in ten minutes." Federica ordered Junko who nodded and started to head off to find the Lieutenant of the Tame Witches. Junko gritted her teeth; she hoped that whoever these people were they could hold out against the Neuroi for a few hours.

Onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln Venezia

Second Lieutenant Lilia Kjellberg

10:35 local time

Lilia sat in the briefing room with Wilbert, Daryl and Melvina who sat next to her. Melvina rested her head and had her arm wrapped around Lilia's arm while she pressed her body closer towards Lilia's.

"Lilia I am scared… I don't know what is going on here." Melvina confessed to Lilia who smiled and rubbed the back of Melvina's head.

"It's alright I am here for you Melvina." Lilia told the young communication's officer who pressed her body tighter against Lilia's.

"Damn ground crew… if it wasn't for their screw up Graham would still be alive." Daryl said aloud.

"I know but we can't change that now. All we can do is try and figure out where we are and what to do next." Wilbert said to Daryl who nodded but grumbled. Just then Admiral Alston walked up to the podium in the briefing room and looked to the assembled crew members. Admiral Alston cleared his throat before starting to speak.

"Alright people listen up. As of one hour ago we encountered some kind of anomaly. We don't know what it was but we do know that it transported us some where we weren't before. We have no satellite communication and no radio contact with anyone outside of the remaining ships in this carrier battle group. That means one of two things. Either we are the only survivors of the fleet; or more than likely that we are somewhere not of our home. We could be sometime in Earth's past, before radio communication, which we think is unlikely given the current geography that we are seeing outside, or that we may be on an entirely different planet altogether. Either way that isn't what is important right now. Outside this ship washed up on the shore, are the bodies of your fellow sailors and airmen. We need to recover and bury the bodies; give them the proper funeral that they deserve." Admiral Alston told the assembled crewmen and woman, as he paused for a moment and lowered his eyes. "It is the least we can do for them." He told the group taking in a deep breath regaining his composure. "I want the flight and ground crew members, and other nonessential personnel to gather up the corpses and prepare them for burial. Meanwhile I want the marines and the security detail, of this ship to start setting up a perimeter to secure this beach, for the immediate future this beach is going to be our home. We have enough food and water to last all of our surviving crewmembers for a few months, and the Black Pearl is still capable of launching fighters, which still hold the bulk of our firepower. Until we can find a more suitable location to establish a permanent base this will serve as our temporary FOB. Other crew members keep checking the radars for any incoming boogies, and establish a supply station for us to distribute supplies between ships." Admiral Alston ordered the crew members assembled in the briefing room. "I ordered the SEAL team under Master Chief Stinson to recon the area and see if they can find any other humans or to see if we can figure out where we are. Tomorrow I will want a flight of volunteers to scan the nearby area and see if they can find anything of interest for us. I know it has been a hard day for us all but we will get through this people. Dismissed." The Admiral dismissed everyone who started to get up and start to leave the briefing room to carry out their assigned duties. Lilia then turned to Melvina and spoke.

"Hey we will talk later tonight ok?" Lilia told the young Australian girl, who nodded her head.

"Ok my shift ends at twenty one hundred tonight… or well when the clock says twenty one hundred anyways." Melvina told Lilia who nodded her head.

"Alright, if I am off by then you can visit with me in the recreation room." Lilia said to Melvina who nodded and started to walk off; before she left she turned to face Lilia.

"Hey thanks Lilia it means a lot that you are willing to talk to me about this." Melvina told Lilia who smiled.

"Of course what are friends for? I will see you later." Lilia said to Melvina who smiled and said her goodbye. Then Lilia turned to face her two wingmen.

"Well you heard the Admiral's orders, get in your BDUs and head down to the shore we have a duty to do." Daryl told both Lilia and Wilbert.

"Yes Ma'am." Both Wilbert and Daryl said as they saluted their new flight leader and turned to head towards the locker room to change into their BDUs.

One hour later on the beach

"We got another body over here!" Shouted one of the sailors on collection detail. Lilia looked to her left to see two sailors picking up the corpse of one of the deck hands who had fallen overboard and drowned. Lilia grimaced; this was horrible absolutely unforgiveable. Never in all of Lilia's life had she seen so many bodies. It had only been forty five minutes since she had arrived at the beach and she, Daryl and Wilbert had already collected over two dozen bodies and delivered them to the collection station, where navy corpsmen prepared the bodies for burial. Lilia then went over to one of the wreckages of an F/A-18 and went towards the cockpit. She examined the remains of the pilot inside who never even stood a chance when he and his aircraft were tossed overboard. Lilia's heart then sank.

"No…Graham." Was all she could say as she looked upon the corpse of her flight leader a look of horror and fear in his eyes; and his neck was twisted at an odd angle. Daryl went up behind Lilia with Wilbert following after.

"Damn it…" Was all Daryl could say as she clenched her fists in frustration and anger at seeing her commander dead in his aircraft.

"We are Marine Corps aviators; we fight in conditions that no one else would fly into… but that being said no pilot deserves to die like this…" Wilbert trailed off. "How could this happen to us…" Wilbert exclaimed in frustration.

"I don't know but I swear… when I find the bastard who did this… I will fucking kill him." Lilia growled in anger.

"Get in line hon." Daryl said to Lilia. "I knew Graham for the last three years, he was a good man; he didn't deserve to die like this." Daryl said to Lilia who nodded. Wilbert then pulled out a saw and spoke.

"Well all we can do for him now is cut him out of there and give him the burial that he deserves." Wilbert said to them. Lilia nodded her head and Wilbert bent down and started to cut away at the cockpit of the destroyed aircraft. Lilia winced at the sound of the buzz saw cutting into the cockpit. After a few minutes Will had cut off the top of the aircraft's cockpit and Lilia used her combat knife to cut the straps on Graham chair pulling him out of the cockpit. Daryl then pulled of Graham's helmet and shut his eyes.

"Rest easy Colonel, your long tour down range is finally over." She said aloud.

"It was an honor sir." Lilia said to Graham's body.

"We will never forget you sir." Wilbert simply stated. Daryl then looked to Lilia and Wilbert and spoke.

"Ok we have said our goodbyes… come on let's get him over to the corpsmen." Daryl said to her two companions who nodded and began to carry Graham's body over to the corpsmen station where dozens of other bodies were already interned. There wasn't many more corpses left to recover off of the beach as of now. But who knew how many more bodies would wash up on the shore in the next few days. Lilia frowned; half of the fleet was destroyed in the tidal wave, and most of the Carrier Air Group had been either in the air or on deck when all of this started. Lilia didn't know what happened to the aircraft who were in the air when the… transition occurred but she knew that everyone who was on deck when the wave hit was promptly killed by the tidal wave when they were either thrown or washed overboard. Just then Wilbert shook her from her thoughts.

"Hey ladies, do you think we are ever going to make it back home?" Wilbert asked them. Daryl turned to face him and Lilia.

"To be honest I don't think we will… what are the odds that whatever took us here would take us back home to our world… or wherever we are. I think we may be permanently stuck here in this world. In other words I hope you didn't have a lot back home that you were two attached too much back home because odds are we aren't going to see it again. Me personally I don't care about getting back all that much other than to serve my country. All I have waiting back home for me is a messy divorce and some lonely nights with a six pack of beer to keep me warm at night. " Daryl explained to them. Lilia frowned and thought for a moment… other than a handful of friends that she knew outside of the Corps, and her mother she didn't have a lot that attached her to her old life… other than her love of country, both Sweden and America of course. And with her she had Wilbert the man that she… well she knew that he was a good friend that was for sure… and she had Daryl and Melvina here with her. But that being said she still wanted to get back home… to fight to defend her homelands from the Russians. She wanted to one day see her mother again and to perhaps even start a family with someone. Lilia then looked over to Wilbert. Well that last part was still possible even in this world.

"Well I think we will one day get back to our own world. I still want to have faith that we will… it is what keeps me going you know. So you might not have much faith ma'am but I certainly do; and I am going to do whatever possible to get home. We still have comrades who are fighting on the frontlines there and more importantly we need to tell our fellow countrymen and women what happened to those who didn't make it." Lilia stated to Daryl and Wilbert. Daryl smirked at Lilia and spoke.

"Always the hot blooded idealist, aren't you Lilia?" Daryl stated to Lilia who despite the circumstances smiled back.

"I try to be." Lilia simply replied. Then Wilbert spoke.

"Well I think I am with Lilia on this one. I think that we may one day make it back home to our families and loved ones." Wilbert said to them. Daryl and Lilia smiled.

"I am glad that I am not the only one who thinks that way." Lilia told Wilbert who smirked and nodded his head. Just then two other marines carried in a corpse to the corpsmen station and spoke.

"Well that is the last one guys, the beach is all clear after this." One of the Marines stated to the corpsmen who nodded.

"Alright I will prep the bodies for burial as soon as I can, then I will inform the Admiral and I am sure he will make an announcement telling us to get in our dress uniforms for the funerals for these men and women." The corpsmen explained to the marine who nodded and walked out of the tent.

"Well you heard them, I guess we are going to wait to hear from the Admiral then we will probably have to get in uniform for the funeral… we will probably be on honor guard detail for this one so I hope you packed an M1 Grand or something for the funeral." Daryl said to Lilia and Wilbert who nodded.

"Yeah I made sure mine is in the armory with the other weapons onboard the Black Pearl." Wilbert said to Daryl who nodded and looked to Lilia.

"What about you Viking; did you bring yours?" Daryl asked Lilia who nodded.

"Yeah I did it's in the armory with Wilbert's" Lilia stated to Daryl who nodded.

"Alright then I guess, all we have to do now is wait." Daryl sighed. Lilia frowned to herself. This was her first military funeral… now the only question was would this be her last.

Dead Forrest Venezia

Master Chief John Stinson

13:41 local time

"This is Titan 1 to all units, status report." John whispered over the radio to his SEALs as he was perched in a tree at the edge of this dead forest.

"Titan 2, in position two hundred meters to your left." Titan 2 the units SAW gunner said to John.

"Titan 3 four hundred meters south of you waiting for orders." Titan 3 the deadly and silent marksmen of the unit informed John.

"Titan 4, thirty meters to your right, Titan 1." Titan 4 informed him. Titan 4 was his Demolitions expert who had served alongside John for the last ten years as part of SEAL team 3.

"Understood what do you see gentlemen?" John asked his squad who were all silent for a few minutes.

"Not a whole lot more than you can see Lead. Nothing but a desolate plain with some hills approximately twenty kilometers out." Titan 4 replied to John who kept his vision fixed in front of him waiting to see if any movement would occur on the horizon. In this kind of terrain any advance by a potential hostile could be see for kilometers out.

"Fuck me I am starting to think that this was a waste of time." Titan 2 said to no one in particular.

"Ditto that." Titan 3 replied.

"Stow it you two we were given orders to recon the area and that what we have done. Just because we are SEALs doesn't mean that some recon duty is beneath us." John told his compatriots who grumbled. John had to admit though part of him felt like they had wasted their time. They had been ordered to recon the area to see if they could find some people or to at least find some distinct feature to tell them where they might have been but so far they found nothing on both ends. The one think that was to be seen was the desolate dead forest and the lifeless grey landscape that seemed as if the very world itself had died. John and the rest of his team had no idea where on earth they could have been and the growing consensus was that they might not have been on earth anymore. Indeed for all they knew they could be on an alien planet. Just then John saw a small black object fly over the hills. "Hey I got eyes on something cresting the hill everyone have eyes on it?" John asked his SEALs who all gave the affirmative. John then took out his binoculars and focused in on the object. It looked like some kind of flying water tower or like sputnik satellite but it was jet black with some small red hexagons on its body.

"What the hell is that thing?" Titan 4 asked.

"I got no clue." John replied. Just then a dozen more of the strange aircraft crested the hill. "Looks like we got more of them." John stated, then to his horror hundreds then thousands of strange jet black metallic looking creatures crested the hill. Some clearly had weapons bladed arms or limbs with integrated firearms. Others appeared to be more like vehicles with some appearing to be SPAAGs or Self Propelled Anti Aircraft Guns, others were four legged insect like walkers with what was clearly some kind of cannon located under its body. "Whatever they are they are clearly hostile." John stated deadpan.

"Yeah and they are making a bee-line to the fleet." Titan 3 stated. John hopped down from his perch and cocked his SCAR-L and looked to his men.

"Alright SEALs we have to warn the fleet as soon as we can. At the current rate they're going they should be on this location in ten or maybe fifteen mikes. And it will be a forty minute sprint for us to get back to the Black Pearl. Right now we have to triple time it back to the carrier and warn Castle to get everyone to general quarters. Alright people kick off your high heels and let's move!" John stated to his men as they started to sprint back towards the carrier.

On the beach in front of the stranded USS Abraham Lincoln Venezia

Second Lieutenant Lilia Kjellberg

14:01 local time

"Crew… Attention!" Admiral Alston shouted to the assembled crewmen of the USS John S. McCain and the USS Abraham Lincoln. A dozen sets of American flag wrapped caskets were being carried by their Marine and Navy Honor Guards in full dress uniform. Lilia had her M1 Grand rifle shouldered as she stood to the right of the assembled graves for the fallen servicemen and women; Lilia was facing towards the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln who stood in two columns with a path made for the Honor Guards to carry the bodies of the fallen two their final resting place. A Navy bugler played taps as the Marine and Navy Honor Guard started to carry the caskets through the column of assembled crewmen of the two American vessels. "Salute!" Admiral Alston shouted as one the assembled American servicemen and women saluted. Lilia raised her left hand and extended it then moved it towards the rifle placing it just below the ejector port of the M1, in a classic rifle salute. The Honor Guard pasted Lilia and the others and moved towards the waiting graves of the fallen. Just then Captain McManus, the leader of the ones assembled for the twenty one gun salute spoke.

"Squad… Left Face!" She shouted and Lilia pivoted to face the Honor Guard who were now carefully folding up the American flags and lowering the caskets into the ground with gentle care. After the last of the Honor Guard lowered the remaining caskets into the ground they left to move back in formation. "Ready!" Daryl shouted and Lilia and the others raised their rifles to the sky. "Fire!" She shouted and Lilia fired her rifle along with the other six remaining Marines. Lilia pulled back the charging handle of her rifle, and moved to port arms. "Ready!" Daryl shouted again, Lilia and the others raised their rifles. "Fire!" Daryl Shouted and again Lilia fired, then pulled back the charging handle and went to port arms. "Ready!" Daryl shouted one more time. Lilia again raised her rifle along with the others. "Fire!" Daryl shouted and Lilia once again fired her rifle and pulled back the charging handle and moved to port arms. "Squad right face!" Daryl shouted and Lilia and the others turned to face the crew of the USS Abraham Lincoln and those of the USS John S. McCain. Lilia's gut twisted into knots thinking that they were going to need to repeat the process several more times before the day was done. There was just so many bodies… so many fallen comrades… it was almost too much for Lilia to bear.

"Men and Women of the United States Military; today has been a difficult day for us all. We have lost so much… not only have we lost our course and our ship… but more importantly we have lost many of our comrades. I stand before you as one with you in your sorrow. We will never forget the men and women who lost their lives today. They will be forever in our hearts… forever in our mind… and forever in our prayers." Admiral Alston said to his men and women. Lilia stood and faced the crew stoically trying to not show any emotion on her face at the loss of her comrades. "We will never forget them… any of them… Marines like, Colonel Graham Rosenberg… Sergeant Fredrick M. Steiner… Private… Jack M. Rodriguez..." Admiral Alston read off the list of names for another ten minutes… then something unexpected happened.

"ALL HANDS GENERAL QUARTERS MAN YOUR BATTLE STATIONS!" The XO of the Abraham Lincoln stated as alarms went off over the loud speak. Admiral Alston put his finger to his intercom and spoke to the bridge before turning to start to head up the ramp to get back on board the ship.

"What the enemy… the Russians are all the way out here!?" Lilia shouted as she started to heads towards the ramp. Then Admiral Alston turned to face the young marine pilot and spoke.

"No it's not the Russians… it's something else entirely." Admiral Alston stated ominously.

504th Base of Operations Romagna

Flight Lieutenant Junko Takei

14:31 local time

"The unknown ships… they… they are firing some kind of rockets towards the land!" The Captain of the U-571 spoke over the radio. "I think they are engaging the Neuroi…" The Captain stated to Federica.

"What that is impossible the Neuroi can't be in visual range at this point!" Federica shouted over the radio.

"Perhaps so but they are doing it anyway. Wait I see them bringing some aircraft on deck… they look like they are some kind of advanced fighter jets!" The U-571 Captain told her.

"Continue to monitor the ships we are about to sortie to help these people!" Federica informed the Captain before turning to Junko. "Junko, warn the others that we are going to scramble to intervene." Federica ordered the Fusoan witch who nodded.

"Yes ma'am!" Junko replied as she turned to inform the others.

Bridge of the USS Abraham Lincoln Venezia

Admiral George Alston

14:38 local time

"Admiral I just got word from the USS Cole they say they have spotted an unknown submarine with their sonar fifteen kilometers away from their location." Melvina informed Admiral Alston who gritted his teeth. Just what we need an enemy submarine.

"Have they identified its class?" Admiral Alston inquired. Melvina nodded her head.

"Yes sir but… you won't believe it… they say that it is a German Type VIIC class submarine. Those haven't been used since World War Two!" Melvina exclaimed.

"What the hell… what is the German Submarine doing?" George asked Melvina who then spoke over the radio.

"They say that it is just sitting dead in the water… like it is observing us." Melvina stated. "Sir they want to know what your orders are." Melvina asked George who thought for a minute. A Type VIIC was a Nazi U-Boat used during the Second World War… but it made no sense for it to be here of all places. A modern Destroyer would sink the U-Boat with ease but… perhaps he could force it to surface later and see if he might be able to get some answers from them.

"Tell them to keep the U-Boat in their sights if it makes a hostile move sink it with a VL-ASROC." George ordered Melvina to relay to the USS Cole. That was something he could deal with later… for now he had another issue to deal with… apparently from the UAV footage that he had just obtained an army of something… aliens maybe were charging towards them and they looked very hostile… the first priority was to destroy these things… then he would deal with the last of the Raging Busters got into the air and the three Marine Corps Hornets arrived on deck and were towed to the catapults. George just hoped that human weapons would work against these aliens.

On the flight deck of the USS Abraham Lincoln Venezia

Second Lieutenant Lilia Kjellberg

14:45 local time

"The unidentified hostiles are approaching the Lincoln now. The enemy is mostly ground forces with light air cover. Their approximate strength appears to be roughly five thousand." Melvina told the Black Knives as they were getting ready for takeoff. Daryl had already launched while Lilia and Wilbert had been towed up to the catapult.

"Do we have any idea who these guys are?" Wilbert asked Melvina who took a second to respond.

"No but we know that they aren't human." Melvina informed Wilbert. The enemy was not human; those were words Lilia thought that she would never hear. Deep down Lilia wondered if the weapons that they were using would be able to kill these inhuman foes. But it mattered not, Lilia's friends were onboard this ship and she would fight and die to defend them. "You are cleared for takeoff… good luck." Melvina said to them. Just then the catapult operator signaled for them to takeoff. Lilia put her hands on the handles in her cockpit letting the catapult crew know that she had her hands off the flight stick. The catapult operator then activated her catapult and she was shot forward and into the air. Lilia then put her hand on the stick and accelerated to Mach 1.2 and started to ascend to five thousand meters to join up with Daryl and the Super Hornets from the Raging Busters. Wilbert lifted off of the deck after her ascending to join her. Lilia looked below her to see the remaining warships of the fleet firing off Tomahawk missiles towards the unidentified hostiles; and on the shore, marines and sailors set up defensive positions to await the enemy coming within visual range. Lilia and Wilbert joined up with the remaining twelve aircraft and started to head towards the incoming hostiles as cruise missiles streak towards the enemy from below them.

"This is Buster 1-1 to Knife 1-1; we are armed with Maverick anti-tank missiles, so we will handle the enemy armor. Take out the smaller creatures with your bombs and rockets." The Commander of the Navy squadron informed Daryl.

"Roger that we will follow your lead." Daryl replied to the Navy pilot. Lilia checked her weapons load it was the same as it had been before; 127mm laser guided Zuni rockets, 450kg bombs, two AMRAAMs, two AIM-9s and five hundred and seventy eight rounds of 20mm cannon ammo for her M61A1. Lilia looked down at the drone video feed that was just starting to come in. The enemy appeared to be an army of jet black machine like creatures. Some were roughly the size of men with spider like legs and arms ending in blades or guns, others appeared to be large spider or crab like creatures advancing on four legs, others appeared to look like hovercraft with mounted AA guns on the top of them, and finally there were a few dozen flying aliens that resembled flying water towers.

"Hey Captain, Will, are you seeing this?" Lilia asked her two wingmen. Daryl was the first to respond.

"Yeah I am seeing it… what the hell are these things?" Daryl stated as she stared at the incoming hostiles.

"I don't know I just hope that we have enough firepower to stop them is all." Wilbert stated in response. Just then the Tomahawks smashed into the front of the alien formation obliterating a handful of them with each detonation. A series of cheers went out from the airmen and women approaching the hostiles. "Well at least we know that we can kill them that's good." Will stated as more missiles struck the enemy destroying more of the alien creatures. However they kept coming… for everyone that was killed more took its place.

"Ok people let's not get cocky here. We are about to come up on them. Arm your weapons and prepare to engage." The Commander of the Navy squadron said over the radio as they began to pass overhead of the enemy formation. Lilia looked down and saw that it was like a massive army of ants descending on the carrier; just nothing but a solid black mass like a slick of oil moving forward. Explosions from Tomahawks detonating in their ranks but still they pressed on heedless of their losses.

"This is Knife 1 roger that Buster 1." Daryl said to the leader of the Raging Busters. Each one of the Super hornets turned over and began to dive towards the enemy. Lilia and the rest of the three remaining Black Knives did the same turning over as she selected her two iron bombs. Each one of the nine Raging Busters fired an AGM-65 at the aliens below them. Each missile fired struck one of the many black crab like walkers. Some exploded into white shards, others were blown in half or had their legs ripped off. The Super Hornets pulled up out of their dive and accelerated to make another pass. Lilia and the other Black Knives tossed both of their bombs into the mass of aliens below detonating in the midst of the smaller man sized types. Six thunderous explosions from the 450kg Mk83 bombs; in the ensuing explosions dozens of smaller creatures were atomized by the force of the blast. As she pulled out of the dive Lilia then looked back to see in her horror that the creatures that had been damaged in the first pass but not killed had begun to regenerate the battle damage. Then Lilia spoke over the radio.

"This is Knife 3 the enemy appears to be able to regenerate battle damage that doesn't kill it. Next pass we have to make sure we finish off these aliens to make sure they stay down." She informed everyone over an open radio.

"Roger that Knife 3 I will relay the information to the other forces." Melvina onboard the Lincoln replied to her. Then Daryl spoke.

"You heard the Viking girl. Make sure you down these fuckers on the first pass otherwise they will get back up and keep moving towards our boys and girls on the ground." Daryl said over the radio. Lilia watched in front of her as the Raging Busters turned around to make another pass at the enemy. The aliens had now come in range of the fleet's deck guns as 127mm shells started to fall amongst them adding to the destruction caused by the Tomahawks. Lilia then turned to face the aliens arming her rockets and preparing to fire into the mass of alien creatures. Tracer fire started to shoot towards the diving Navy Super Hornets who fired their Mavericks before pulling up.

"Shit watch out they got AA with them." One of the Navy pilots stated. Lilia spotted some of the AA guns and aimed the laser designator on it she fired a rocket which streaked towards the SPAAG and struck dead center of the alien vehicle causing it to explode into white shards of shrapnel. Wilbert and Daryl fired their rockets into the alien anti-aircraft guns and destroyed two more. Lilia pulled up as she saw black tracers fly up towards her. Lilia then saw the flying aliens turn to face them and start pursing. They were slow probably not much faster than a helicopter was but they were gaining altitude. Lilia pulled back hard on her flight stick as she pushed the throttle forward for extra speed. Lilia then selected her Sidewinders and used her helmet mounted sight to put one of the flying aliens in her sights. She let out a curse in Swedish as she failed to receive a lock. Lilia then switched to her cannon and completed her flip and put the incoming alien in her sights. Lilia gave a half second squeeze of the trigger sending a stream of shells towards the alien smashing into it blowing off metal fragments and exposing a jewel like reactor buried beneath the armor. Just then she got a heat signature on the alien just before more of her shells smashed into the reactor and destroyed it which caused the alien to explode into white fragments.

"It appears that in each of the aliens is some red colored reactor… I think you need to destroy that to kill them otherwise they will regenerate." Lilia explained to the other pilots as she pulled up. Lilia then watched as Wilbert dove down between the enemy aircraft after destroying one with his cannon. Tracer fire from AA guns and the alien aircraft chased after him. Wilbert fire walled the throttle as he pulled up and to the left avoiding the enemy fire. Daryl fired a Sidewinder at an alien aircraft that had its reactor exposed killing it in a brilliant explosion. The nine Super Hornets from the Navy fired more Mavericks at the enemy AA guns destroying another set of them before pulling up and preparing to make another pass. Lilia then armed her AMRAAMs and fired at two of the alien aircraft. The first missile struck dead center of the enemy aircraft causing it to explode into white fragments; while the other missile missed the enemy aircraft by four meters but its proximity fuse detonated ripping the enemy aircraft open and exposing the reactor. Lilia then fired one of her Sidewinders into the enemy aircraft which flew straight and true towards the damaged aircraft detonating one meter away from the exposed reactor that was desperately trying to cover itself with its rapidly repairing armor. The missile detonated and destroyed the enemy aircraft. Lilia pulled up and started to fly in the direction of the fleet which she could now easily see just beyond the tree line. The aliens were going to be on the fleet any second now. Every gun in the fleet was firing towards the aliens. 127mm deck guns, 20mm CIWS Phalanx guns, even the lone 76mm OTO cannon onboard the USS Simpson all fired towards the incoming aliens. Lilia once again turned to face the Neuroi and dove low firing a long burst from her Vulcan destroying or damaging a few of the aliens. Lilia pulled up to see the aliens reach the beach. Now the battle for the Abraham Lincoln had truly begun.

On the beach in front of the USS Abraham Lincoln Venezia

Master Chief John Stinson

15:02 local time

A lone Hornet roared overhead as the aliens rushed out of the dead forest. The USS John S. McCain fired its guns directly onto the aliens at point blank range. And as one the assembled, Marines, Sailors and John's own SEAL team opened fire. John fired his SCAR-L into the aliens the 5.56mm rounds smashing against the alien's body but not doing a whole lot of damage. Bright red beams of light fired from the cannons slung under some of the alien walkers smashing into the USS John S. McCain. Armor melted away from the hull of the ship and turned molten orange as the ship was struck again and again. Two of the Navy Super Hornets fired Mavericks into the walkers attacking the McCain destroying one of them and damaging the other. One of the Phalanx CIWS aboard the Lincoln fired into the damaged walker destroying it. Another Walker fired a laser beam into the bridge of the McCain killing whoever was closest to that side of the bridge and probably wounding everyone else. The alien infantry continued to advance towards the carrier firing arm mounted lasers into the human lines. To John's left a laser struck a sailor in the chest causing him to explode into a bright red mist that showered two of his comrades in boiling blood. John then fired at that alien emptying twenty rounds into him before a bright red reactor (or was this the alien's heart or brain) was exposed. John sent another three rounds into the reactor destroying the alien.

"Aim for the chest! That is where their weak point is!" John shouted to the sailors and marines fighting alongside him. Above him the three Marine Corps Hornets performed another strafing run with their rockets this time killing some of the bigger walkers, as nine 127mm rockets smashed into the aliens blowing some apart and sending others flying through the air. Two SH-60s flew across the alien's lines firing door mounted .50cals and miniguns. A barrage of lasers struck one of the Seahawks ripping off the tail and causing the aircraft to spiral into the ground and smash into the beach. The CIWS on the John S. McCain tried to cover the crew of the downed helicopter destroying some of the aliens that were advancing on the wreckage; but there were simply too many enemies to kill. Alien infantry reached the downed helicopter and one of the pilots was ripped out of the cockpit then run through with the blade mounted on one of the alien's arms. The other pilot (who appeared to be a young woman) was pulled from the cockpit and was tossed into the alien ranks and promptly torn limp from limp by the aliens. The poor girl screamed in agony and terror as she died her blood painting the black bodies of the aliens which seemed to take a savage glee in killing her. A marine with an M203 mounted under her M4A1 fired a 40mm into the group of aliens blowing two apart and tearing the legs off another who she promptly finished off with her carbine. The other helicopter that was brave enough to directly attack the aliens turned to retreat as four alien aircraft turned to attack it. The USS John S. McCain fired its 127mm at the alien craft destroying two of the aircraft before another laser destroyed the deck gun. The two remaining alien aircraft fired their machineguns into the fleeing Seahawk. Bullets ripped through the rotors and detonated inside the aircraft turning the crew into hamburger meat and causing the aircraft to swerve to the left before smashing into one of the machine gun emplacements the marines had set up. The marines and sailors tried to flee the crashing helicopter but were none the less crushed by the skidding helicopter. The remaining alien aircraft then turned to fire at the human infantry in front of them. Explosive bullets ripped men and women apart as sailors and marines tried to get to cover.

"Titan 4, use your LAW!" John shouted over the radio. Titan 4 grabbed his LAW rocket launcher and fired an anti-tank rocket at one of the enemy aircraft. The 66mm rocket smashed into the alien aircraft and send a jet of molten metal straight through its body and breaching the reactor causing it to explode into white fragments. One of the F/A-18Fs then flew low overhead and fired an AMRAAM at the alien destroying it instantly. Shells from the three remaining ships continued to smash into the alien lines destroying more and more with each detonation. But despite this the aliens kept coming. Laser fire from the alien infantry smashed into the concrete barrier that John hid behind and a laser from an alien soldier struck one of the marines near him bisecting him. John aimed his rifle at the alien foot soldier and emptied an entire clip into its chest killing it. Tomahawks loaded with cluster munitions flew over the alien forces spewing dozens of sub-munitions on the alien's heads. The F/A-18s from both the Marines and Navy flew overhead and fired their cannons into the alien lines tearing more apart. John looked behind him to see four MH-60 helicopters from the USS Gettysburg and USS Cole take off their wings loaded down with Hellfire missiles. Each helicopter ripple fired two AGM-114s apiece which rose higher into the sky before falling to the earth diagonally.

"EASE!" John shouted to all those who could hear him. He opened his mouth shut his eyes and covered his ears. Likewise all of those around him did the same. Four massive fuel air detonations tore through the alien lines. The explosive change in air pressure would have been enough to burst everyone's ear drums if they hadn't opened their mouths and covered their ears. More Hellfire missiles detonated amongst the alien ranks along with more shells from the deck guns aboard the warship. Thirty seconds later the series of Fuel-Air detonations ended and John leaned out of cover and fired his SCAR-L at one of the remaining aliens killing it. Phalanx guns opened fire and destroyed a small handful of remaining aliens. Then everything was silent. Eerily so… the aliens had been defeated… they were all dead… the Lincoln and her battle group had survived. John then looked around him to see all of the exploded corpses of human sailors and soldiers… they had won, but at what cost.

In the Skies over Romagna

Flight Lieutenant Junko Takei

15:23 local time

Junko and the rest of the 504th along with the Air Infantry component of the 78th Tame Witches flew at max speed towards the site of the battle between the unknown humans and the Neuroi. Junko knew that for this mission they were even with drop tanks skirting the edge of their maximum range. Just then over the radio the Captain of the U-571 spoke.

"I don't believe it… these mundane forces they… held off the Neuroi… no they completely destroyed the Neuroi ground forces with a volley of… I have no idea some kind of super rockets or something." The Captain state with clear amazement in his voice.

"Say again, these forces managed to defeat the Neuroi!?" Federica asked the Captain.

"Ja, they did… however one of the ships that was beached… the cruiser… was heavily damaged I don't think it is operational anymore." The Captain stated. Just then the radio operator back at the base spoke.

"Ma'am the unknown forces have another wave of Neuroi approaching them. Four medium flyers and roughly thirty interceptors and fighter bomber class Neuroi approaching at high speeds; destroyer class and ground forces are advancing with them not far behind." The Radioman told them.

"Roger that we will continue to make haste towards them." Federica replied. Just then the leader of the Tame Witches Lieutenant Clotilda Marwick spoke.

"Destroyer class… I have had bad experiences with that particular class." Lieutenant Marwick stated to no one in particular. Just then Patricia spoke to her.

"Huh, why is that?" Patricia asked Clotilda, who took a second to respond.

"The first time we ever sighted one of those things it wiped out my entire unit... I lost my wingman and two others… and my dumbass flight leader nearly lost her arm to that thing. Damn thing was just too fast for us to hit I still don't know how I managed to survive that battle and shoot that bastard down." Clotilda replied with clear frustration in her voice.

"Really they were that bad? And we have to fight how many of them?" Jane asked nervously.

"It doesn't matter we will knock them flat on their asses with our one two punch!" Dominica stated over the radio.

"Don't underestimate them… they are a tough class to deal with; same thing with the interceptor and fighter bomber class Neuroi, they move at supersonic speeds the only way we can kill them is to get them in a slow moving dogfight or if we manage to get them head on. So be prepared and make sure that you conserve your ammo." Junko told the assembled witches who gave confirmation. Whoever these people were they needed to hold out for just a little longer… could they do it or… would the Neuroi destroy them. It didn't matter now all Junko could do was to fly as fast as she could towards the unknown forces.

Onboard the USS Abraham Lincoln

Admiral George Alston

15:32 local time

"How many did we lose?" George asked solemnly to Melvina who read through the after action report displayed on the computer screen in front of her.

"We lost 87 sailors and marines, along with two SH-60s and had the USS John S. McCain heavily damaged. Onboard the McCain they had a dozen sailors wounded including the Captain. The USS John S. McCain is no longer combat effective and the XO says that he recommends that we strip the ship of all useful parts to increase the lifetime of the remaining ships." Melvina informed George who nodded his head.

"See to it." George told her.

"Yes sir." Melvina stated as she started to type the message to the crew of the USS John McCain. Eighty seven sailors and marines dead, and a dozen wounded. The loss of two helicopters and one destroyer damaged beyond their capability to repair; it was a staggering loss for this first engagement. Worse yet was Admiral Alston knew that they had used many of their Tomahawks and all of the Fuel Air Explosive Hellfire missiles they had brought with them. The fleet had been prepared for Anti-Submarine and Anti-Ship warfare; it was not expected that they would have had to face ground targets this close to the shore. If more battles like this were on the way then the fleet would be out of munitions in the very near future. And once that happened they would be literally defenseless against the enemy. George then turned towards the sea and looked out a pair of binoculars spotting the raised and moving periscope of the German Type VIIC U-Boat. George had half a mind to force the U-Boat to surface and demand answers from those Krauts but for now it might be best to just pretend that the submarine was unnoticed. Just then a warning blared from the radar station.

"Captain, we have several unidentified aircraft and ground targets approaching us at high speeds. It appears to be several aircraft roughly the size of a strategic bomber, and thirty four aircraft roughly the size of fighters. It looks like they are going to hit us from the air and ground this time as more enemy ground troops are moving to attack us." The radar operator told him. George slammed his first on the terminal in front of him in frustration.

"How soon will they arrive and how quickly can we get our aircraft refueled and rearmed for air-to-air combat?" George demanded of the flight control officer.

"We can get them armed up in thirty minutes and it will take us about fifteen to get them in the air." The flight controller explained. Then the radar operator spoke.

"Sir the enemy will arrive here in about fifty minutes, maybe an hour tops." The radar operator stated.

"Alright sound general quarters get those Hornets in the air and prepare all ships for Anti-Air combat, ready Phalanx and Sea Sparrows, fire up the RIM launchers and prepare to deal with the possibility for an ALCM attack!" George ordered the crew who began to conduct their duties. Melvina gave the warning to the remaining ships and George saw as the ground crews brought up AMRAAMs and Sidewinders for the aircraft; along with more fuel and ammo for the cannons. "As soon as the enemy gets in range fire our long range SAMs against them!" George ordered the crew who acknowledged his order. They had been here less than a day, and yet they had been attacked twice by these aliens, at this rate they wouldn't last another week.

In the air above the USS Abraham Lincoln

Second Lieutenant Lilia Kjellberg

16:09 local time

Lilia watched as the last few aircraft of the Raging Busters climbed into the air to meet them. Below her the Destroyer USS Cole and the USS Gettysburg fired long ranged SAMs at the approaching alien aircraft. Her body ached from the maneuvers she pulled during the last battle but she ignored them. Lilia looked on her radar to see that over forty enemy aircraft were approaching the fleet missiles had started to strike the enemy aircraft knocking down a few but they still kept coming regardless of the loss. Lilia selected her AMRAAMs and got into formation with Daryl and Wilbert.

"Alright people this is it we are about to enter missile range for the enemy select your targets and fire when ready!" Shouted Daryl over the radio.

"Yes ma'am!" shouted Wilbert and Lilia in unison. Lilia selected one of the incoming enemy fighters and began to track the target which was now displayed on her HUD. Her Hornet cruised forward at Mach 1.2 trying to put as much distance between her and the fleet as possible. If they could engage the enemy farther away from the fleet that minimized the damage that they could potentially cause. Lilia then got a lock on her target and spoke.

"Knife 3 FOX 3!" She shouted as she pulled the trigger on her flight stick sending an AIM-120C-7 towards the enemy aircraft. She heard and saw as every other aircraft fired a missile towards the incoming enemy aircraft. Lilia watched on her HUD and radar as the enemy aircraft began to make evasive maneuvers and try to shake the missile lock, but to no avail each of the twelve missiles fired from the human aircraft struck home, ten enemy aircraft disappeared from radar while two more were damaged but quickly repaired themselves.

"This is Buster 1 to all aircraft pick targets and fire at will!" The leader of the Navy Squadron and overall CAG Leader yelled over the radio. She switched targets and fired another AMRAAM. Which headed towards the enemy aircraft at Mach 4. Lilia watched as she saw explosions on the horizon as missiles from both the fighters and the fleet began to strike their targets. Just then more enemy aircraft appeared on radar joining the fight. Another ten aircraft were moving towards the fleet at Mach 2. She then saw her missile impact and destroy her target which was just coming within visual range now. She could make out that the fighter aircraft looked either like a flying diamond with a V-tail design almost like a more streamlined looking F-117 or they were short and stubby resembling a Natter interceptor from World War Two. The bombers on the other hand looked more like flying stingrays with big red hexagons on the wings and body. Lilia saw as missiles struck the bombers but had little effect. The damage that they inflicted on the bombers seemed to have little effect. The damage that they did do was easily regenerated. The two formations of aircraft closed the distance on each other rapidly. And Lilia fired one more missile before the aliens could retaliate this time the missile only damaged the target rather than kill it. One of the diamond shaped alien craft fired two lasers from atop its wings which smashed into one of the Super Hornets obliterating the aircraft and killing both pilot and WSO.

"All aircraft break formation!" Daryl shouted over the radio as she rose out of formation to attack her targets from above. Lilia shot through the enemy ranks and turned hard the right, the G-force of the turn pushed down on her body as she turned to attack the enemy. One of the smaller looking alien craft turned to engage her, but she switched to her cannon and watched as the alien craft drifted towards her gun sight. Lilia squeezed the trigger sending one hundred rounds of armor piercing incendiary shells in front of the target which promptly flew through the stream of shells and was obliterated. She then reversed the direction of her turn to attack an alien craft that was on the six o'clock of one of the Raging Busters. Lilia selected her AMRAAMs and fired, this missile headed straight for her target and smashed into the enemy aircraft center mass blowing it apart and sending the white shards towards the ground below. Lilia saw as the battle was migrating towards the fleet which was still sending up a stream of SAMs to meet the enemy aircraft. The bombers continued on towards the carrier and the rest of the fleet, heedless of the direct hits from multiple Sea-Sparrow and SM-6 missiles stuck the front lower section of the bombers. One of the Raging Busters closed in on the bombers ripple firing its AMRAAMs at the alien craft. The missiles struck home inflicting little damage, the bomber then retaliated sending a laser beam towards the Super Hornet blowing the aircraft apart as the fuel exploded. Lilia saw one of the hexagons on the bomber glow, Lilia then performed a Split S turn as a laser beam passed by.

"Careful the bombers can shoot back!" Lilia shouted over the radio. Lilia saw a diamond shaped enemy aircraft approaching head on. She fired a Sidewinder as the enemy charged up its laser. The Sidewinder detecting the increase in heat then turned towards the enemy and smashed into it annihilating the enemy aircraft. Just then Castle the callsign for the Abraham Lincoln spoke over the radio.

"All pilots we are about to fire ESSMs stay mobile and look out above you!" Castle shouted to them. Lilia watched as the USS Gettysburg and the USS Cole fired a large volley of Evolved Sea Sparrow Missiles at the incoming bombers.

Most standard SAMs will attack a target from below as they take a direct path towards their targets. However the ESSM is different, this missile was designed to take out sea skimming anti-ship missiles and as such is designed to attack a target from above; and in this case it was going to strike the Neuroi bombers right where their cores were located. Lilia watched as two dozen ESSMs smashed into the tops of the enemy bombers causing two to explode into white fragments while the remaining two alien bombers were heavily damaged and wobbled from side to side.

One of the Neuroi bombers then fired a barrage of lasers towards the USS John S. McCain which struck center mass and directly on the forward VLS unit causing the remaining ammo and fuel to detonate in a thunderous explosion killing everyone on board instantly. Lilia growled in rage as she climbed to ten thousand meters and dove on one of the alien bombers. Lilia fired one of her AMRAAMs smashing into the damaged top section of the bomber exposing the reactor. Lilia saw the hexagons on the top of the wings light up, She then barrel rolled dogging the incoming lasers while simultaneously switching to her remaining Sidewinder locking onto the heat signature of the reactor. Lilia fired her last Sidewinder which shot towards the target and detonated causing the bomber to explode into white shards.

"The reactor for the bombers is on the top rear section of the aircraft, right where the wing ends and the tail begins. You have to attack it from above to kill it!" Lilia shouted as she dived down past the remaining bomber.

"Roger that, Wilbert follow me we are going to attack the remaining bomber from above!" Daryl shouted over the radio.

"Yes ma'am!" Wilbert shouted over the radio as he and Daryl climbed above the bomber in their Hornets. Daryl was the first to dive firing her remaining AMRAAMs at the enemy bomber blowing away the armor around the reactor. Wilbert fired a long burst from his cannon sending a stream of shells towards the enemy bomber's reactor. The shells exploded against the bright red jewel like reactor causing a critical breach and destroying the alien bomber. Lilia watched as SAMs from the USS Cole and USS Gettysburg along with flak shells from the deck guns of all three remaining warships fired at the remaining fighter aircraft destroying the handful that remaining enemy fighters.

"It looks like we got them all." Said one of the pilots from the Raging Busters. Lilia looked down below her to see ten Y shaped black aircraft flying nap of the earth towards the fleet.

"Were not out of the woods yet! Ten aircraft moving at mach two flying NOE towards the fleet!" Lilia shouted over the radio. Lilia dove down on the aircraft along with all of the remaining American aircraft. Lilia had two remaining AMRAAMs left. She selected one of the incoming aircraft and fired; the Advanced Medium Ranged Air to Air Missile shot towards the enemy aircraft and detonated one meter above and in front of the enemy aircraft showering it with shrapnel and destroying the aircraft. Phalanx fire from the carrier started to shoot towards the enemy aircraft knocking one more down. The aircraft didn't break formation, instead they pressed on. Missiles from the remaining fighters fired at the enemy shooting down three more. Just then one of the enemy aircraft peeled off and headed towards the USS Simpson. Energy conducted itself along the front of the aircraft and a large ball of crimson colored energy built up one meter in front of the aircraft. Then a bright thick beam of red light shot towards the USS Simpson that was desperately trying to defend itself with its 76mm and CIWS, but it was to no avail as the laser split the ship in half, then to Lilia's horror the energy from the direct hit from the laser started to build up again this time into a ball of energy which then exploded and eradicated the frigate. Lilia swore and started to chase after this alien aircraft. Lilia then watched momentarily from the corner of her eye one of these alien ground attack craft get destroyed by an ESSM from the Gettysburg. Then She heard Wilbert over the radio.

"Wait what is that one doing? It's glowing red and heading for the Gopher State!" He shouted over the radio. Lilia turned her head just in time to see the alien aircraft smash into the Gopher State and explode causing a catastrophic chain reaction in the Gopher State detonating all of the stored up fuel and ammo, in a tremendous explosion that rocked both the USS Cole and Gettysburg. Lilia then dove low after the remaining enemy attacker. Lilia flew NOE towards her target waiting to close the distance to four kilometers before she fired her last AMRAAM sending it straight into the Y shaped craft causing it to explode.

"That is for the Simpson you bastard." Lilia growled as she began to pull up. Just then Lilia saw the approaching alien ground forces and saw a SPAAG. A barrage of black shells flew towards her aircraft and it shook violently as several shells struck the aircraft knocking out the right engine. She then pulled up and turned for the carrier. "MAYDAY MAYDAY MAYDAY!" Lilia shouted over the radio. "This is Knife 3 I have been hit and am requesting emergency landing!" Lilia shouted over the radio.

"Lilia!" Lilia heard Melvina shout over the radio with panic in her voice.

"It's alright Melvina I am ok but my aircraft took a bad hit, and needs to be repaired." Lilia said to Melvina who she could hear sigh in relief.

"Thank God…" Was all Melvina could say before the flight controller spoke over the radio.

"This is Castle permission granted we will have emergency crews at the ready for you." He stated over the radio.

"Lilia are you ok?" Asked Wilbert with clear worry in his voice. Lilia smiled and blushed a bit.

"Yeah I am ok… thanks Will." Lilia replied.

"Hey Viking Girl… don't crash on landing ok!?" Daryl shouted over the radio.

"Yes ma'am." Lilia replied as she turned to begin her approach towards the carrier. Lilia saw as the remaining two warships fired their deck guns at the incoming ground forces that were attacking the carrier. There weren't many ground units coming so no doubt the USS Cole and Gettysburg could handle them. Lilia then lowered her landing gear and tail hook before starting to gradually descend. Lilia watched as the carrier came into view, Lilia then braced herself for the impact of a controlled crash landing. Lilia's Hornet touched down and the carrier and skidded to a halt catching the arresting wires of the carrier and smashing into the net. Emergency crews began spraying fire retardant on her aircraft as Lilia opened the canopy and they helped her out. She began to get clear of the aircraft as they put out the fires and towed her aircraft out of the way as the remaining aircraft stacked up to land. Her Hornet probably could fly again but it would be out of action for a while. However if these aliens attacked again odds are she would not get the chance to fly in it again, and she would have to be fighting as infantry.

On the bridge of the USS Abraham Lincoln

Admiral George Alston

17:01 local time

The first attack had been bad… that much was for sure. But the second attack from the air this time was far worse. Three ships destroyed, four if you counted the McCain and two Super Hornets lost and one more out of action for the near future. However they had survived. They did manage to destroy a numerically superior foe, so perhaps that was a sign that they for now could pull through. However that left the question of what to do when they had suffered enough casualties to make them combat ineffective? What should he do when they ran out of fuel or ammo? With the Gopher State destroyed that meant that they only had the few remaining missiles that were part of the USS Cole and Gettysburg's war stocks, and they only had a limited amount of fuel and ammo left for the aircraft onboard the Lincoln. At the rate of munitions depletion they would only have enough ammo for two more engagements. Admiral Alston tried to turn his thoughts away from his current dilemma and focus on the present. Coming up to the bridge now were the three Marine pilots of the VMFA-318 Black Knives to discuss what they know about these new enemies. Or rather perhaps what they have learned about them from fighting them at close range. The three pilots walked on the bridge and saluted George who returned the Salute.

"At ease Ladies and Gentleman." Admiral Alston told them. The marines went to ease and George started to speak. "So the three of you were the ones who took down the last two enemy bombers and after examining your audio logs from combat it appears that you have been the ones to catch on the fastest on how to beat these things. So is there anything on note that you can tell me about these… things?" George asked the Marines, their Captain, Daryl if memory served was the first to speak.

"Sir I think the most important thing that we have learned about our enemy is that they…" She was cut off as Petty Officer Advani let out a scream. George and the others turned to face the communications officer to see that the consol she stood at turned black and her arms were be absorbed by the black alien metal of the consol.

"MELVINA!" Lilia shouted as she tried to go over to her friend before Wilbert restrained her. Melvina's eyes turned blood red and she stopped screaming. Her arms turned to the same onyx colored metal that coated the alien machines.

"Ah that's better…" Melvina stated in a voice that seemed… different from the one she normally had. Melvina was a shy little wallflower when she wasn't being mischievous and you could tell that in her voice. But now the voice she used seemed smug… very self important and confident to an absurd degree. "I guess that it is fitting that it is a communications officer I possess for what I am to do." Melvina… or whatever was possessing her stated. Melvina then turned to face Admiral Alston. "Hello… Admiral…" Melvina chuckled. "I hear that you want to know about us don't you; and for that matter I imagine that you would like to know why you are here in this world don't you?" Melvina asked Admiral Alston.

"Who are you and what have you done to my communication's officer?" George demanded of this thing that was turning one of his crew into a puppet. Melvina chuckled smugly.

"Who I am is unimportant… who WE are on the other hand is much more significant." It told Admiral Alston. "We are the Neuroi Empire… we are beings older than time itself… older than death itself… We are the ones who have come to harvest you and your world's for our own benefits and amusement. That is who WE are Admiral." Melvina replied smugly. "Oh and don't worry your communication's officer…" Melvina looked down at herself. "This little slut is and will be fine… in fact she is completely aware of everything that is happening to her now… she is perfectly conscious but has no control over anything she does. The fear that she feels is most amusing." Melvina laughed with pure malice. Lilia gritted her teeth and growled.

"I don't know what you are doing but you better damn well let my friend go you bastard." Lilia said to this Neuroi. Melvina laughed again.

"No your place girl, you are in no position to order me around Lilia." Melvina said to Lilia who took a step back.

"How…how… did you.." Lilia started to say before Melvina cut her off.

"Oh how did I know your name? Well I know everything Melvina knows. After all I am inside her head." Then Melvina got a sadistic smile on her face. "In fact did you know that Melvina thinks about you a lot Lilia? In fact this little slut touches herself every night thinking of you." Melvina said with a devilish grin on her face. "She always bites her lip as she thinks about you coming into her room and ravaging her, she wants you to fuck her cute little brains out each and every night." The thing that was possessing Melvina told Lilia. Just then Melvina started to cry, but her facial expression stayed the same sadistic, and smug look that she had worn just a moment ago. "Oh it seems that I have made this little slut cry… I guess she really didn't want you to know that." Melvina laughed. Lilia clenched her fists.

"I swear… when I find you… wherever you are… I am going to fucking kill you… you sack of shit." Lilia growled at whatever it was that had control of Melvina, who laughed out loud.

"Oh will you now? Well I doubt that will happen, in fact…" Melvina then touched her petite frame and smirked. "I like the body on this little human slut… I think I will take her for myself… fuck her every night and every day for as long as I please. I am going to make this little human whore scream as I force my tendrils inside that tight little virgin cunt of hers. And just when she starts to like it after I have shattered her mind and soul…" It paused for dramatic effect. "I am going to rip her apart. I just wanted to let you know that Lilia…" Melvina then laughed, Lilia started to cry tears of rage. "I bet this little slut probably likes it up the ass to." Whatever controlled Melvina joked. Just then Melvina blushed. "Oh it looks like I was right! Most enticing." It laughed. Just then one of the sailors on the bridge tried to make a move to pull Melvina away from the consol. Before he could get there the creature forced Melvina to pull out her sidearm and put it to her chin. "Take one more step and I blow this little slut's head off." It stated to the sailor. Admiral Alston gestured for the sailor to stand down. "Well I guess that is enough fooling around for today… back to business. Now the reason I sent you and this little fleet down here to this world is I wanted to see what kind of technology you had compared to the technology in this world. Now that I have seen what you can do I can find a way to counter your technology. It might take a while but it will be done for the glory of the Empire. I have to say your technology is much more advanced then the pathetic humans of this world. most of them haven't even become industrialized yet. If it wasn't for those… well I don't need to say anything else you get the point of what I am trying to say don't you?" It stated. Just then the radar operator spoke.

"Sir massive enemy force approaching they will arrive here in fifty minutes. Damn things are being led by a massive aircraft… it has to be at least as big as this carrier is sir." The operator stated.

"Well I guess that is my warriors coming to finish you off then, so I will take my leave." The thing possessing Melvina stated smugly. It then looked to Lilia. "And don't worry Lilia I will make sure I take your little slut friend alive so I can keep her as my personal plaything." It stated. Just then Daryl the leader of Black Knives flight spoke through gritted teeth.

"For what you have done to one of my comrades… no my friend… first I am going to kill all of your men then… I am going to kill you" Daryl snarled to the alien controlling Melvina who just laughed haughtily.

"Of course you will…" The alien stated sarcastically. Then Wilbert spoke.

"Yeah we fucking will one day… maybe not today but eventually we will find you and kill you. We are United States Marines and we don't take kindly to people hurting our comrades." Wilbert stated to the alien who just laughed. Then the alien metal left Melvina's body revealing her normal coffee colored skin and her eyes went from being blood red to her normal turquoise color. Melvina then collapsed in her seat. Lilia then cried out and grabbed her friend holding her close to her body. George went over to them and checked Melvina's pulse.

"She will be alright she is just unconscious." George told the Marine pilot who nodded. George thought to himself for a minute. They had a spare F/A-18F in the hanger… and Lilia was a pilot without an aircraft. And now Melvina was someone who had direct contact with the Neuroi… or whatever these monsters were. Then George made a tough call.

"Lieutenant Kjellberg… change Petty Officer Advani into a G-Suit and fly her as far away from this carrier as you can. Take the remaining Super Hornet from the Sky Knights'; we will load it up with as much fuel as possible, and for that matter take the SIM card with your gun camera footage with you to show these people what we have seen." George ordered the Swedish American Marine.

"What but… I can' abandon you!" Lilia pleaded. George then looked to Wilbert.

"Lieutenant Collins I want you to provide escort for her. Make sure Lieutenant Kjellberg and Petty Officer Advani make it to safety." George ordered Wilbert who nodded. George then looked to Lilia and spoke. "I know this is hard but we won't hold out for another attack, and humanity needs to know what we have learned. Please do this for us." George told Lilia who then looked to both Melvina and Wilbert. She then turned to George and nodded.

"I will send help as soon as I can." Lilia told George who nodded. Soon it would be all up to fate to see if he and his sailors would survive to see nightfall.

In the skies above the Abraham Lincoln Venezia

First Lieutenant Wilbert D. Collins

18:00 local time

Wilbert watched as the remaining five Raging Busters dueled with the Neuroi fighters in the sky. Two more had been shot down since this battle began. The massive Neuroi aircraft appeared over the water as missiles fired from the two warships smashed into it causing no damage. The large Neuroi fired two laser beams which vaporized the USS Cole and the USS Gettysburg in an instant. Wilbert saw Daryl take down another Neuroi fighter. Lilia and Melvina rose into the air just in time as a laser beam destroyed the catapults on the Lincoln. Wilbert then dove on a Neuroi fighter diving to attack an exposed Lilia. A stream of shells from his 20mm cannon destroyed the Neuroi. Lilia and Wilbert turned south following the coastline away from the enemy. Wilbert took one last look behind him to see another of the Raging Busters destroyed and Neuroi ground forces pouring into the Lincoln. Wilbert thought about all of his comrades aboard the Lincoln, then looked to see the skies in front of them were clear of enemies, and Lilia had two wing mounted drop tanks and a centerline drop tank on her Super Hornet along with four AMRAAMs and two Sidewinders. He then thought of his commander who was fighting for her life about the Lincoln. Wilbert shook his head and then spoke over the radio.

"Knife 3 this is Knife 2 I am experiencing some trouble with the left engine, I won't be able to provide you with escort. I am turning back to the Lincoln to provide air cover." Wilbert told Lilia.

"What!? No Will you can't!" Lilia pleaded over the radio. Wilbert smiled as he turned his aircraft back towards the Lincoln.

"Listen Lilia get yourself and Melvina to safety I will be ok. Just worry about yourself." Wilbert told Lilia who he could tell was starting to hold back tears.

"Ok… I will send help as soon as I can… and I will be back for you…" Lilia told Wilbert who smiled and spoke to his friend one last time.

"I know you will… just get Melvina to safety promise me that." Wilbert told Lilia.

"I will." Lilia simply stated as she continued south. Daryl then spoke over the radio to Wilbert.

"You aren't experiencing engine trouble are you?" Daryl asked through strained breath as she pulled air combat maneuvers. Wilbert chuckled.

"I wouldn't miss this last stand for the world ma'am." Wilbert replied as he armed his AMRAAMs and fire at one of the Neuroi.

On the bridge of the USS Abraham Lincoln Venezia

Admiral George Alston

18:20 local time

"His crew had been slaughters, to the last man and woman. George along with the few survivors on the bridge along with Master Chief Stinson and a few marines were all that were left of the Abraham Lincoln Battle Group. On the security cameras, Admiral Alston watched as his crew was massacred by the Neuroi torn limb from limb, eaten alive or laser to death. It was a sickening sight, but now he was about to meet the same fate. On the bulkhead to the bridge the Neuroi outside pounded away trying to get in. George heard the sounds of jet engines from the remaining two Hornets outside. At least they were still fighting for survival.

"Well ladies and gentlemen it has been my honor to serve with all of you." George told the assembled surviving crew members. "I wish I could have saved you all… and I hope that you can forgive me for leading you into the fate that you have been led into." George told his crew. John the SEAL was the first to speak.

"Hey its ok sir… we knew the risks when we signed up. I just wish that we would have gotten to fight the Russians rather than these fucking monsters." John told George who chuckled.

"Yeah and I feel the same way." George stated. "Damn I should have taken that job offer as a chef when I could." George stated thinking back to his post high school days when the Culinary Institute of America offered him a job. John looked to George with a rather amused look on his face.

"You could have been a chef?" He asked George who smiled.

"Yeah I was on Iron Chef one season between deployments back in the 90s." George told the leader of the SEAL unit. "I lost though, the Chef from Japan beat me, had the home field advantage though so I guess I can't be too surprised." George fondly recalled the night of the season finally when he and his opponent were preparing rabbit stew, George lost just barely though. Just then a chainsaw blade burst through the bulk head and the sickening sound of metal on metal grinded away. The Neuroi cut away at the door trying to peel back the metal and breach the room. Admiral Alston raised his pistol just as he saw the blood red eyes of one of the Neuroi. He heard the snarl of the beast as it finally peeled enough metal to pull off the door. Alston put the Neuroi in his sights and opened fire along with everyone else on the bridge.

Above the Unidentified Naval Vessels Venezia

Flight Lieutenant Junko Takei

18:35 local time

Junko saw as two remaining jet fighters from the unknown forces dueled with a single Neuroi fighter bomber in the distance. Below the air battle the carrier that had been beached was burning in multiple areas. The Super Heavy Flyer class Neuroi flew overhead almost as if it was observing the air battle below them. Whoever these people were they had faced off and beat back two waves of Neuroi attack… though the third wave proved to be too much for them to bear and they were finally defeated.

"Holy shit… look at those jets… I have never seen anything fly quite like that before!" Morgan one of the Tame Witches spoke over the radio. Just then the Neuroi fighter bomber shot a laser into the first jet blowing it apart while it reversed direction. The remaining jet fighter turned to attack the Neuroi head on firing its machine gun. The Neuroi fired its laser obliterating the human aircraft. Junko swore as she watched the wreckage spiral to the ground in flames and saw the Neuroi circle its kill to confirm it.

"All units engage the Neuroi. I want us Ardor Witches to take on the Super Heavy Flyer Neuroi; Tame Witches you are on ground attack duty take out the Neuroi you see on the ground!" Federica shouted over the radio; a chorus of acknowledgement rung out from the witches who moved to engage their targets. Junko and the other members of the 504th ascended to attack the Super Heavy. Junko saw the lone fighter bomber that seemed to have a red tear going across its body teleported away from the battle. However the Super Heavy turned to face them and fire its powerful lasers. Junko raised her shield as laser beams impacted her shield. Junko then closed the distance with the Neuroi and raised her machinegun. Junko let out a long burst of 7.7mm rounds at the Neuroi her magically enhanced bullets tearing into the body of the Neuroi and ripping off white chunks of metal. The Neuroi let out a scream in pain as it returned fire with more laser beams. Angela fired her Anti-Tank rifle at the Neuroi sending a magically enhanced explosive round through its body blowing away a large chunk of armor with the explosion. Dominica and Jane attacked the Neuroi from above with their Thompson M1s sending .45cal rounds through its body tearing it apart. The other members of the Tame Witches opened fire as well tearing into the Neuroi super heavy and exposing the core. Then Nishiki aimed her Type 99 Machinegun at the exposed core and opened fire tearing it apart with her shells. The Neuroi exploded into white fragments and started to descend towards the ground. Junko looked below to see the Tame Witches led by Clotilda and her XO Ludwiga firing at the Neuroi ground units who after seeing their support lost chose to retire from the field and teleport from the battlefield. Junko looked to the ground below and saw the hundreds of human bodies left in the wake of the Neuroi attack. She grimaced in frustration.

"If only we had gotten here sooner." Junko muttered aloud. Federica nodded her head and then looked to the other Ardor Witches and spoke.

"Come on let's get to ground and survey the damage." Federica stated as she started to descend to the ground to get a closer look at the remains of the battlefield. Junko and the others followed suit. Junko got to ground level and examined some of the bodies. Even in the fading light she could see how some wore dark blue and black patterned uniforms with the words United States Navy written on them, while others wore tan colored combat uniforms with the words USMC written on it. Each of these mysterious soldiers carried some kind of rifle or machinegun, that looked far to advanced to be from this time. Just then one of the Tame Witches spoke.

"Comrade Lieutenant look… is that a woman soldier?" asked a young Orussian Night Witch from the 78th as she pointed to a corpse that was sliced in half. Junko looked at the corpses and flew over to it bending down to get a closer look. Junko pulled off the Soldiers helmet and saw that it was indeed a pretty young girl from South Liberion. Junko looked to the Night Witch and spoke.

"Yes it appears so… this soldier, along with others are women… and they fought alongside their male counterparts." Junko told the witches who were around her. Just then a young witch from Australis spoke.

"How is that possible I thought you Liberions didn't let women serve in the mundane military." The witch who was named Alannah spoke to Clotilda who nodded her head.

"Yeah we don't let mundane women in the military… its only men or witches that serve the United States Army, Marines and Navy." Clotilda explained, Just then one of the other Tame Witches, the XO Ludwiga spoke as she held up a flag that although similar to the Liberion flag was different. This flag had a blue background with fifty white stars instead of a white background with one blue star in the middle. Junko looked over to see that Ludwiga was standing by a collection of caskets with flags draped over them that had been overturned and desecrated along with some half finished graves.

"I don't think these men… and women were Liberions, look." She stated as she held up the flag. Then Luciana spoke as she held up a pair of dog tags.

"Hey according to this guys tags he belongs to the United States of America… whatever that is.

"Maybe these America, guys are from an alternate world." Morgan of the Tame Witches said. Just then Alannah spoke.

"Oh come on you read to much science fiction stories in that Astounding magazine. There is no way that these guys came from an alternate world." Alannah stated to Morgan before Clotilda shut them both down.

"Quite you two." Clotilda stated as she looked to the caskets and graves that had been trampled by the Neuroi. "It looks like the Neuroi attacked them when they were in the middle of a funeral." Clotilda stated. Ludwiga then spoke.

"Indeed… it appears nothing is sacred to our enemies." Ludwiga simply stated. Then Federica spoke.

"Alright let's see if we can see anything on the bridge of this ship. Follow me." Federica stated as she started to fly up towards the bridge. Junko, Clotilda and Ludwiga followed suit and flew directly outside the bridge, what they saw made them sick to their stomachs. The bridge was covered in gore, body parts and spilled guts, these men were killed in the most horrific ways imaginable.

"It is like Central Gallia all over again." Clotilda stated. Ludwiga nodded her head. Just then Federica spoke.

"It makes me wonder what they must have been thinking when the Neuroi attacked them." Federica stated as she looked at the carnage on the bridge.

"For some, it appeared to be fear, others, perhaps anger or confusion… but I guess we will never really know now." Ludwiga stated to Federica and the other witches. Then over the radio the 504th's base spoke.

"Commander you have to get back to base ASAP… one of the aircraft from the unidentified fleet… its heading this way!" The Radar operator spoke to them.

Near the 504th's base Romagna

Second Lieutenant Lilia Kjellberg

19:17 local time

Lilia lowered the landing gear on her Super Hornet as she descended towards this mysterious airbase that she had found. She didn't know who it belonged to, but if it was a human airbase it didn't really matter. She needed to tell everyone what she knew and get help sent to her comrades stat. Lilia then looked back to Melvina; and she needed to get Melvina medical treatment as fast as possible. Lila put down her flaps and slowed down landing her aircraft on the concrete runway of the airbase. She then saw as ground personnel scurried about as she taxied towards the hangars. Lilia opened up the canopy of her aircraft and undid her safety harness standing up and looking back to Melvina and pulling off her harness to. Lilia pulled off her helmet and put it in the pilot seat while she pulled off Melvina's helmet before she picked up the young Australian girl and jumped down from her aircraft. Her body felt weak, hours of constant combat had taken its toll on her body. She only hoped that Melvina who hadn't been trained to withstand G-Force was alright. Lilia legs felt like jelly as she walked towards the hangar. Then to her surprise and confusion a group of girls wearing no pants and strange devices on their legs and World War Two era military uniforms approached her. One of them spoke.

"Wait you're a woman!" a blonde looking American wearing a US Marine uniform spoke. Lilia ignored that comment.

"Please this girl… she needs help… and my comrades they are being attacked by being called… Neuroi and we can't hold out much longer! We need assistance!" Lilia pleaded to them as she felt to one knee her exhaustion getting the better of her. Lilia then fell to the ground and her vision began to fade exhaustion taking hold.

"Erzsi get over here! We need your magic stat!" Another America girl spoke, as Lilia lost consciousness.

Prague Czech Republic

Sergeant Lynnette Bishop

23:00 local time

They had fought their way through the city; the bleeding and cankerous wound that it had become. The Russian army was killing everyone they found and the resistance was to out gunned to fight tanks and helicopters. Lynne had watched in mute horror as Russian tanks gunned down fleeing resistance fighters and crushed their bodies under their treads. But despite all of this they had made it to the church that the resistance had set up as a safe zone. Now Soap and Yuri were in the bell tower getting ready to snipe Makarov; while Lynne and Cryska were in the rafters above the church waiting for the signal for the operation to begin. They had sat in silence for a while looking out over the street below them. Lynne thought to herself she hardly knew anything about Cryska other than she was a loyalist and apparently had never served in the military before. So Lynne decided to start asking about Cryska.

"So Cryska do you have any family?" Lynnette inquired of the white haired Russian woman who shook her head.

"No I don't anymore." She said with a cold steely voice she seemed to have every time they went out on a mission. Lynnette frowned.

"Well what happened to them?" Lynne asked Cryska which just seemed to anger the Russian woman.

"I don't want to talk about it ok." She simply stated. Lynne grimaced as she ran the possibilities of what had happened to Cryska's family through her head. None of the results involved happy endings.

"Well you know I don't even know what your last name is do you mind telling me what it is. Mine is Bishop… my name is Lynnette Bishop." Lynnette said to Cryska whose frown became more of a scowl.

"I would rather not be referred to by my last name Lynnette. Just call me Cryska got it?" Cryska practically growled. Lynne turned away a bit and nodded. She didn't realize that she would have gotten Cryska that mad with such an innocent little question like that. Cryska then sighed.

"Look… I am sorry I don't mean to come off as rude but I just really don't like talking about my past. I like you Lynnette so don't take it personally I am like this with everyone." She simply stated to Lynne who nodded.

"Ok." Lynnette shyly replied. Cryska didn't say anything; her steely purple eyes just stared out into the distance. That is when Lynnette knew that whatever happened in Cryska's past was a bleeding wound that had yet to heal.

504th Base of Operation Romagna

Flight Lieutenant Junko Takei

22:12 local time

Junko looked at these two girls from this "America" fleet. Both were currently unconscious and sleeping in the medical bay. Both girls had been examined by both Fernandia and the Tame Witches healing magic user and Junko had been informed that would be fine they were just suffering from Exhaustion. Junko had also seen their aircraft which was a sight to behold; it was more advanced and sophisticated than anything she had ever seen before. Who were these America people and how did they get to this world? Junko looked over these two girls; the younger one was a cute girl with black, hair coffee colored skin and a petite body type. She appeared to be of Indian ethnicity. Age wise she appeared to be no older than perhaps twenty. The other woman was a blonde woman with fair skin, a sizeable bust and a well toned body that spoke of plenty of physical training. She appeared to be either a Karlslander or Baltlandian in ethnicity… Junko looked over both girls but found herself looking at the European looking woman more intensely. This girl… she was beautiful… incredibly so… Junko blushed and her familiar appeared as she managed to embarrass herself. Just then the blonde woman opened her deep sea green colored eyes. Junko momentarily found herself lost in those eyes. She then regained her composure and spoke.

"My Name is Flight Lieutenant Junko Takei of the Imperial Fuso Navy, current acting second in command of the 504th Ardor Witches… who are you?" Junko asked this girl who sat up and weakly saluted her.

"Second Lieutenant Lilia… Kjellberg… United States Marine Corps." She stated in thickly Baltlandian accented Britannish, her voice quivering with her exhaustion. Then a look of realization appeared on her face. "My comrades… aboard the Abraham Lincoln. They were under attack by the Neuroi! They need to be helped! We need to send assistance to them right now!" Lilia told Junko as she tried to get up and out of bed with what little energy she had left. Junko put her hand on Lilia's shoulder before Junko put her hand on Lilia shoulder.

"I am sorry… but your comrades aboard your ship… they are all gone. Your ship was lost with all hands onboard." Junko told Lilia who looked as if a little piece of her died. Lilia started to cry and Junko wasn't sure what to do, so she just hugged Lilia who began to sob in sorrow. The look Lilia had in her eyes… it contained so much pain… even though Junko didn't know Lilia all that much she wanted to make sure that this woman never had to have that look of pain in her eyes again.

---

Wow that was a pretty intense chapter wasn't it? I decided after learning what happened to Melvina in her canon universe that i needed to make sure she at least lived in the clocktower, originally it was thought by everyone that Melvina had been killed in Muv Luv TDA Episode 0 when the HMS Sydney was destroyed by a Fort Class BETA, but as we see in the most recent episode of TDA she actually survived but was captured by the BETA and apparently suffered a massive amount of tentacle rape until she died because of what the BETA did to her. yeah considering how cute and likable she was i really felt that she didn't deserve that fate so i decided that instead of her original fate of dying by the Neuroi, i decided that she was going to live in this rewrite. also for that matter this entire chapter was a pretty big shout out to Muv Luv The Day After and if you havent' read that visual novel yet i highly recommend it especially now that their is an english patch available to download. anyways so yeah the day is currently 5/22/14 and i will attempt to write my next chapter sometime in June also very soon like today or tomorrow i will post a Author's Note Chapter because i need to say a couple of things that i think i need a full chapter rather than just a little sentence or something to say. anyways please as always R/R and tell me what you think of this rewrite... also for that matter if you really wanted to read the original either again or for a first time reader, just let me know and i will send it to you via docx you need to have an account though for me to do that though so be warned i cant show it to you if you are a guest reader.