Date: September 2nd, 1944
Location: Dover, Britannia, Europe

The air is tense as Minna has her PPK aimed at Keita even though her target is the person behind him: Mio. John and Keita are unnerved by the situation. "Impressive. You created quite a dramatic scene here." "Move, Mitchell." "No can do, Lieutenant Colonel. You may be ranks higher than me, but I only take orders from John." Minna says to Mio, "Promise me..." She glares. "Say you won't wear a Striker again." Mio, not even fazed by the situation, says, "Is that an order, Commander?" Minna softens her glare. "Huh?" Mio silently smirks and looks down at the floor with a closed-eye smile. "The reason I ask is that it's hard for me to take you seriously when you're wearing that outfit." "Oh, I am very serious. If you go out into battle again, you'll die. You're not strong enough, Mio." "So you decided to kill me yourself instead. Is that what's going on? Very paradoxical. Not like you at all." "You're right... it's not!" Minna shouts as she regains her composure and aims her gun again at Mio even though her view is blocked by Keita. "Minna." John puts his hand on her wrists. "Enough." "I'm sorry but I'm still going into battle." Mio and Keita leave with the male making sure Minna doesn't have a view of her. Minna watches, lowers her gun for a while, and brings up her pistol once more. "Stop." "I said enough, Minna." John looks at her. Minna, seeing the two walk out of the room, and closing the door and listening to her fellow lieutenant colonel, lowers her gun and sighs. John grabs her pistol out of her hands. He places it on her small table. "I think it's time for you to rest, Minna. You've had an eventful day." He walks to her and places his hands on her shoulders. The two look at each other and she nods. "Good." He steps away and walks to the door. "You do look very beautiful in that dress. I'm sure he would be happy to see you in it if he was still here."

Date: September 3rd, 1944
Location: Dover, Britannia, Europe

The sun is out but some people are staying inside the base. The door opens and two people walk in. Clothes fall to the floor. Sanya and Jack let themselves fall to Eila's bed, startling her awake. "Aaahhh!" She looks down at them in front of her. "Hmm..." She stands up. "Oh come on. Just for today but that's it. Okay?" She grabs a blanket and covers the two.

Minna and John are sitting at their desks doing paperwork. Both are in their normal attire. The door is knocked on and then opens. The two look up to see Yoshika holding a box of papers with Mio and Keita holding rolled-up papers. "Mind if we come in?" "Hope you don't mind the intrusion." Yoshika lifts up the box a bit. "What's in here?" "I'm sorry. Should I get someone else?" "No. Really. It's not that heavy." "As long as you're okay holding it, Miyafuji." The three look at the commanders. "Some data for you." "Regarding the recent Neuroi." Minna frowns at them.

Papers are spread out on the tables, with one having a picture of the Blohm & Voss BV 141 Neuroi and others having different graphs. "Specifically, the singing Neuroi that Sanya and Jack intercepted on two occasions. Each time it appeared, various monitoring stations picked up an unusual frequency." Mio has her right hand on the table and the left on her hip, looking at the papers while standing on Minna's right. Keita is standing to the left of John. He has his arms crossed as he looks down at the papers. "While the frequency is unusual, the wave form is very familiar. It's the same as Sanya's and Jack's." "Ah." "Hm." Those were the only responses from the leaders who are looking down at the papers. "The song?" Yoshika says before gasping. She is standing away from the four next to a window and bookshelf.

-Flashback-

Date: August 18th, 1944
Location: Airspace above the English Channel

Eila and Yoshika look at Sanya and Jack when the two detected the hidden Neuroi. The three look at the moon. Sanya and Jack look forward in front of them.

"The Neuroi was mimicking Sanya and Jack."

The two fly up in order to keep the Neuroi's attention on them.

-Flashback End-

"Both their actions and their voices." "I see." "This is troubling." "We need to rethink our whole analysis." "This is our top priority." "I think you're right." "I agree." "I'd like to inform Hartmann, Barkhorn, and Meyer of this and get them working on it together as soon as possible." "Um, sorry." "Huh?" "Hm?" "What?" "Eh?" The four look at Yoshika. "Just thought you should know that Barkhorn isn't here. She, Hartmann, and Meyer left earlier today." "Where'd they go?" "I noticed the base is kinda quiet." "To London." "London?" "Really?"

Meanwhile...

Manfred is driving a jeep, a black Kübelwagen, along a dirt road. Erica is sitting in the back seat behind him as Gertrud is standing on the passenger seat and has her right hand out and her left on the glass windshield. She's pointing forward.

"Yeah. Apparently, her sister woke up. She's not in a coma anymore." Yoshika smiles. "She was so happy. When she heard the news, she immediately put on her Striker to fly there but the others talked her out of it. It was really weird. She's usually so calm." Yoshika gives a closed-eye smile. Minna looks at her and then looks forward. "Well, that makes sense. And I don't blame her at all. Barkhorn's sister is the very reason she's fighting. I think we all have someone like that. Someone we will defend at all costs." "Sometimes that's the only way to summon more courage to fight at all." John says. Yoshika looks at up and slightly giggles. "Yeah." Mio and Keita look at their leaders.

Location: London, Britannia, Europe

Sounds of running is heard in the hospital. The door is slammed open. The nurse inside flinches and scolds the person responsible. "This is a hospital. Be quiet please." She has short dark blonde hair and brown eyes. Her nurse outfit is a mix of blue and white. She also has on a nurse's cap. The noticeable thing about her outfit is that her white panties can be seen. She's holding a folded sheet in her arms. "Eh..um... Sorry, miss. I was in a hurry to get here." Gertrud apologizes and blushes from embarrassment. Erica peeks out behind Gertrud and waves at the nurse. Manfred steps away from the two and waves at the nurse as well. "We're sorry for the loud noise." The three aces turn to the left and see a girl with short brown hair having a closed-eye smile and laughing. She has her right hand near her mouth as she laughs at Gertrud. "Ah... Chris..." The Karlslander walks to the girl who is sitting up on the bed. Chris stops and the two look at each other. They close their eyes and Gertrud leans forward to hug her little sister. The nurse stands next to Erica and Manfred. The two girls are smiling at the sister reunion as is Manfred behind his mask. The blonde ace puts her hands behind her head. The Black Mask ace crosses his arms in front of his chest and the nurse lifts her arms a bit.

"Hi..." Gertrud says to her now-awakened sister. "Good to see you." Chris says back. She continues. "Thanks so much for coming. Were you okay without me?" Gertrud gets slightly off-guard by that and instantly composes herself. "Uh.. Of course! Yes! I'm just fine. Why wouldn't I be? Is that what you think of me?" "She was a complete wreck." Erica says, sitting on a chair to Chris' left. She's leaning forward against the back rest and resting her arms on top of it. The sisters look at her. "The nightmares were making her cry out, "Oh my baby sister! When will my baby sister ever wake up?"" Erica glances to her left and looks up with her eyes closed. Manfred silently chuckles while standing to the blonde's right. Chris looks at her older sister. "Is that true?" The older sister glares at Erica and clenches her fists. "You shut your mouth! This is supposed to be a happy reunion." She brings arms down and then brings up her fists. "But it's true." "I'm not going to say anything." Gertrud turns to look at her little sister. "I am a dedicated soldier of Karlsland. I give people nightmares. Got it?" She places her hands on either side of her sister on the bed. "Well sister, you look happy." Chris gives a closed-eye smile. "I do?" Gertrud softens her serious expression. "You can thank Miyafuji for that." "Mhmm." Chris looks at Erica and Manfred. "Who's Miyafuji?" "Well, she's our newest recruit to the Strike Witches." "Huh?" Gertrud sits down on the bed. "She looks a little bit like you." "Like me?" Chris giggles and gives a closed-eye smile. "Do you think I could meet her?" "Why not. I think you need to stop by the base." Gertrud smiles and crosses her arms. "Can I? Do you think she'll be my friend?" Chris opens her eyes. Gertrud laughs. "Well, she is a little bit odd but she's nice. I'm sure the two of you will be great friends. You two may look alike but you're much cuter. Absolutely." Chris just blinks. Erica glances to her left. "Well, no bias there." "Yup."

The three walk back to their kübelwagen and see an envelope tucked under a windshield wiper. "So who left this?" Erica gets the letter and hands it to Gertrud. "Uh... No clue." Manfred gets the letter and turns it around. "Hmm." The other side of the envelope has two names written on it. "Let's see." Erica gets one side and slightly pulls it to her and Gertrud. This causes the envelope to be upside down. "Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke & John W. Smith.." "Well, that's odd." "I couldn't agree more, Gertrud..." He gets in the driver's seat. "Maybe our commanders could let us know."

Back at the base...

Perrine gasps and blushes when she sees Mio walking in the hall. She also sees that Keita is with her. "Major Sakamoto..!" She runs to the wall on her left and peeks out to see. She gasps and brings herself against the wall. Why do I always have to hide? Uh.. I should just go tell her! She brings her fists to her chest and has a determined look on her face. Here I go. She walks around and goes to catch up with Major and Captain. I don't know what's changed. It used to be easy being around her. What turned me into a nervous wreck who has to hide when I have to see her? It's Miyafuji's fault! Ever since that rat came here, I've changed. She blushes. She closes her eyes and gives a smile when she stops. "Excuse me, Major Sakamoto, I was hoping to learn your reverse corkscrew or perhaps you could teach me the floor-pressed leg lock." She hears a door open and opens her eyes. "Hm?" She sees the two enter room with Keita closing the door. She gasps and runs to the door. She looks up at the nameplate that says "MIYAFUJI". Miyafuji's room? Why would she go in there? "Why must my life be filled with constant disappointment?"

Yoshika turns around. "Ma'am. You wanted to see me?" "Yes but at ease." "This is your quarters, after all." "Yes, ma'am, sir." Mio and Keita look at her with the female having her hands on her hips and the male having his arms crossed. Mio brings her right hand to the back of her head to think about what she's going to say. She closes her eyes as brings her hand down to her mouth. She clears her throat and opens her eyes as she brings her arm down. She smiles. "You did great." "Huh?" "In yesterday's fight. Your first core kill, right?"

-Flashback-

Date: September 2nd, 1944
Location: Airspace above the English Channel, near Pas-de-Calais, Gallia, Europe

Yoshika is lining her shots. Bullets fly and miss the black cube until a few strike it and cause it to explode into white fragments. Her, along with the others, bring up their shields to block the shards.

-Flashback End-

Yoshika gasps. She smiles and nods. "Yes, ma'am but it was thanks to all of the witches and Black Masks, especially you two. You trained me. You taught me how to stay focused." She bows. "You're the best teachers I've ever had." The two look at her. Mio smiles. She closes her eye and laughs. Keita just chuckles. Mio ceases her laughing and opens her eye to look at Yoshika, who brought herself up to look at them, surprised. "That's well said, Miyafuji. It's true. You're still young. Who knows how much potential you have. We're going to have to do everything in our power to find out. That means training you harder than ever before." Yoshika starts getting worried. Mio brings up her right arm and points upward. "Therefore, starting tomorrow, we're going to triple your training regiment. How does that sound?" Yoshika gasps.

I want triple training... "Grr..." Perrine gets upset while sitting on the floor and leaning against the door. "Um..." "What are you doing?" Perrine gasps and looks behind her to see Lynette and George. The former has her hands to her chest nervous while the latter has his arms crossed. She glares at them, making Lynette move back a bit while George stays where he is. "Don't sneak up on people like that, okay!" The door opens and she falls. She lands face first on Yoshika's floor. The four look down at the fallen blonde. "Perrine.." Mio looks up to see the BM and local Britannian. "Lynne and George. What are the three of you doing out here?" "Uh... Well, we saw Perrine here and..." The blonde sits up and turns to shush her by bringing her right index to her lips. Lynette gasps and George doesn't move. Yoshika leans down to Perrine. "What's wrong with you, Perrine? Your face is all red." The brunette places her right hand on the Gallian's forehead, who responded by moving back and saying, "There isn't anything wrong with my face. It just turns red sometimes." Yoshika brings her hand up and looks at it. "You could have a fever." Perrine brings her right hand to her chest. "You leave me alone! My face is fine!" Mio and Keita clap their hands. "Enough of this." "All of you, report for extra training." Lynette and George gasp. Lynette brings her right hand to her mouth. "Oh that reminds me." "Yoshika, we have a message to give you." The older magic users look at her. "Well stop wasting time." "Get ready." "Yes, ma'am/sir!"

Six people are flying in Striker Units above Britannian land. Three are flying in front while three more are behind them. They fly up and then fly low right above the trees. The fliers in front are Perrine, Yoshika, and George. They are being chased by Shirley, Francesca, and Camillo. The fliers are wielding orange-colored guns that resemble their personal firearms. Perrine looks back. "Miyafuji, you got Francesca closing in from behind!" "Uh... Okay." Francesca gets close to Yoshika and the two move around each other until the little Romagnan gets behind the Fusōan. She brings up her gun and aims down the iron sights of her orange M1919A6. "Ha! I got you!" Just as she's about to pull the trigger, Yoshika flies up. Francesca slightly brings down her weapon. "Uh.." The brunette goes higher and does a backflip. She momentarily stops herself for a second and then goes down to Francesca's rear who gasps. Perrine says, "That technique..." Yoshika brings up her orange Type 99 Mk II machine gun and fires at the surprised younger girl. Orange paint is splattered on her Striker Unit. "Uhhh..." Shirley gets her Striker covered with orange spots as well. "Aww..." George and Camillo watch what happened. "Wow." "She got them good." Camillo sees Yoshika aim at him. "Oh no!" He goes to fly up but Yoshika fired at him, also covering his Striker with orange paint. Yoshika noticed George and Perrine fired their orange Madsen and Bren machine guns at the fast BM. "Great..." Camillo says while looking at his metal leg devices. Lynette has her eyes closed as she blows a whistle that she's holding in her right hand. She opens them and pulls away the whistle. She has a smile on her face. "This round is Perrine, George, and Miyafuji. Way to go, Yoshika." She flies down.

"Aww... How'd we lose?" Francesca says as she opens her eyes and is looking disappointed. She crosses her arms. "That's so weird. A couple more seconds and I'd have gotten her." "Didn't expect her to do that move." Camillo replies while flying down above them. Shirley lowers herself slightly above Yoshika. "You're really growing into this, Miyafuji." "I can say the same thing." Camillo lowers himself above Yoshika and next to Shirley. "Really?" Thank you." Yoshika closes her eyes and laughs. She opens her eyes and screams. Francesca giggles as she suddenly grabs Yoshika's chest and starts fondling them. "I'll be the judge of that." Yoshika looks down and demands Francesca to stop. "Hey! Let go." "Nope. Nothing's growing out here. That's such a tragedy." "Hmm. That's true." Shirley comments. Camillo just shakes his head. "I wish she'd stop doing that." Yoshika gets upset and raises her arms and closes her eyes. "Come on you guys!" "But your fighting skills have gotten better." Shirley says while having her arms crossed. "You think so?" Hm. But you have no chance against me at high altitudes." Was all Francesca could reply with. She gives a big closed-eye smile and looks away. "You are becoming an awesome flier." Camillo nods. Yoshika looks to Perrine who is flying alongside them while keeping her distance. She has her arms crossed. "Hey Perrine. We just might make a better team than we thought." "I don't think so. Not in a million years." Yoshika gives a closed-eye smile as well.

"1. 2. 3. 4. 1. 2. 3. 4." Shirley repeats this while kicking up her legs in the warm water of the bath while leaning against the edge. Her long bright red hair is tied up and on top of her head is a small towel. Francesca has her arms on the edge of the bath. Her long black hair is tied into two buns. Camillo is just leaning against the edge of the bath while still wearing his black gas mask and being between the two girls. He brings up his left hand and lifts up the bottom of his mask to reveal his smiling mouth. Taking showers to the side of the large bath are Yoshika, Lynette, and George. Lynette says, "Wow. You're just amazing Yoshika. You're the newest Witch here but it's like you've been here forever." "I agree with Lynne, Yoshika. It seems that way." The light brunette looks at her friend and then at the three fliers in the bath. Yoshika has some soap covering a little bit of her body. Lynette is washing herself. George is using his black trench coat as a curtain and is scrubbing his arms. The bottom of his bird mask has been detached and is leaning against the shower wall in front of him. Yoshika looks at Lynette and George and replies with. "Come on. You think so?" Yoshika closes her eyes and smiles. "I bet Barkhorn would say I'm still a rookie with a long way to go." Lynette slightly leans to her left. "So then I must have an even longer way to go. Wow." She closes her eyes and stretches her arms up and sighs. "I'm so jealous of you." "I guess I could say the same." George looks to them and slightly stiffens when he sees Lynette's chest bounce a bit when she stretches. He immediately gets red and turns away. "But there's just some things you can't practice." "Oh yeah?" Like what?" "Yeah... like what, Yoshika?" Lynette brings her arms down and opens her eyes to look at the Fusōan. George turns to face Yoshika but also notices Lynette's chest bouncing again. He isn't the only one to notice. Yoshika looks at the breasts of her friend. "Just... some things."

Perrine walks in the dressing room in only her blue bra, white panties, and pantyhose. She stops and fully turns to face a certain someone. She has her hands on her hips. "Miyafuji! Where did you learn that reversal technique you used during training?" "Oh Perrine. Hey. When did you get here?" Yoshika says while holding a towel that is only covering the front of her body and walking into the dressing room. Perrine, of course, gets upset and brings her arms down while leaning forward. "I've been here the whole time! The corkscrew reverse is Major Sakamoto's technique! When did she teach it to you?" Yoshika fully turns her body to face the jealous blonde who slightly straightens herself. "Uh.. She didn't teach it to me. I just watched and thought it looked kinda fun." Perrine starts shaking. "Grr..." She straightens herself up and is red. "Don't you lie to me! It's much too difficult. Or else we'd all be doing it by now." She glares at the Fusōan. "Yes! I bet she's been teaching it to you in secret, hasn't she? Maybe it was Captain Mitchell! It's not fair!" "Hold on. I'm not lying to you." Perrine turns and crosses her arms. "So, you're still trying to play innocent? It doesn't work on me." "What doesn't work on you?" Perrine turns to face her. "That's it!" Yoshika slightly moves back., wide-eyed. "Now what?" Perrine points at her with her left index. "A duel! That's the only way we're ever going to settle this matter." Yoshika gasps. "A duel?!"

An opened envelope is seen on a desk with a red diamond cover. A piece of paper is sticking out of it. "I apologize but I opened it to see what was inside." Gertrud, Manfred, and Erica are standing in the commander's office. On the other side of the desk are Mio, Minna, John and Keita. The leaders are sitting on chairs while the sub-leaders are standing next to them. Minna and John look at the letter. ""Don't get involved. You know too much." What does that mean?" "Very intriguing." "Minna and John have nothing to hide." Silence follows. "Right, Commanders?" The two snap back to reality. "Uh. I'm sorry. That's right. No secrets." The redhead looks up at the three with a smile. John just looks up at them. "We've simply been investigating the Neuroi further." Gertrud puts her hand on the desk. "So what does this note have to do with that?" "We're curious about this." "Any idea who might've sent it to you?" Mio puts her right hand on her hip. "Too many to keep track of." "Mhmm. We don't know who sent this note." The commanders look down. "It's true. There are many in the military who voice their opposition to us. I'm sure they'd love to see the Witches disbanded." "Just the Witches?" Manfred says. "Us Black Masks as well. They don't like having otherworlders within their ranks even though they need every single person in this fight." John answers. "But I can take a guess as to who would send a foolish warning." Everyone looks at Mio. "There's one reason he would. He must've gotten his hands on something big. I don't know what. We're close to it or he wouldn't be scared." "Well who is he?" Gertrud questions Mio. "Trevor Maloney. He's a general in the air force."

The sound of an engine is heard in the hangar. Yoshika goes to grab her orange Type 99 Mk II machine gun. "We're not using those." Perrine says. The Gallian is in her Striker Unit that's still held by its storage unit. A part of the holder opens and her real Bren machine gun pops out of it. "We're not? How come?" Yoshika questions the blonde as she turns to her. "We're dueling. Which of course means using the real guns." She answers. "What? No. I don't want to. I can't shoot at you using a real gun." The Fusōan says her defiance as she looks at the orange gun and back at the Mio-obsessed girl. "Please. We're not actually going to shoot at each other with them. It just makes it feel more real." Perrine has confident smirk on her face. "That's so dumb! There's no way I'm going to risk accidentally shooting another Witch." Perrine starts to mock her. "You're scared? But you're always so confident. And now you know I'm going to show you up. Don't worry. It's just for show." Yoshika worries.

"Miyafuji, can you read me?" The two Witches fly over Britannian land again. "The first person to tail the other for 10 seconds wins. Simple as that. You think you can handle it?" Perrine explains the rules to Yoshika. The two are holding their guns. "Mm..." Yoshika worriedly looks at her gun, specifically the fire/safety switch. The 火 on her gun is white and the 安 is red. The switch is pointing at the red kanji. It's okay. My safety's on. The two Witches fly towards each other. They pass each other and turn around. Perrine looks behind her "Uh.." and then looks downward to her right and sees the Fusōan flying. "There she is." Yoshika looks up to her left and sees the Gallian. "Uh." Perrine goes down to tail her. The two move side to side until Yoshika speeds up and turns upside down. "Uh.." Perrine gets a little surprised but follows her. The brunette goes up with the blonde following her. They flip over and go back down. Yoshika keeps on moving around. "Come on. Almost there.." Perrine says as she continues to follow. She gets upset and yells, "Why don't you stop moving around so much?!"

In Eila's room, Jack and Sanya are laying on the bed with only the blanket covering parts of their bodies. Eila herself is laying on both the floor and bed with her legs on the furniture and her upper body on the hard surface. "Mmm..." Sanya's and Jack's green antennas appear on both sides of their heads. Ears and tail of a black cat pop out of the white-haired girl.

The alarm goes off.

Perrine and Yoshika stop their duel. Perrine joins Yoshika on her right. "It's the alarm." "Do you think it's the Neuroi?"

"One unit. Sector 23. East Grid." "On a direct course for London." Minna and John say in to the tubes. The commanders, along with Mio and Keita, are in the radio room. "Commanders, this Perrine. Miyafuji and I are out training. We're closest to that location. We will intercept." The four hear the noble Witch say over the radio. "Training now?" "I never authorized extra training." Mio and Keita turn and walk away. The commanders notice and look back at the tubes. "Uh.. Your orders are to maintain your current position." "Understood?" "Yes ma'am, sir." They turn and run to the sub-leaders. "Mio!" "Hold on, Keita."

"Perrine." "You heard the commanders. We're supposed to stay right here." Yoshika looks straight ahead and speeds up. "I'm not going to wait. Bye." "Wait, no!" "We can't let it get away." "You're in violation of direct orders! Get back here!" Perrine tries to stop the brunette. Yoshika has her right hand on her right ear. "Don't worry about me, Perrine. I'll try to slow it down until the others get here." "Wait! You have to come back. Miyafuji!" Perrine watches Yoshika soar the sky above her.

"Mio.." "Keita." Minna and John stand in front of Mio and Keita who are in front of the door. "So you're really going to fly?" "But you can't. We saw it. Your shields stopped working during the last battle."

-Flashback-

Date: September 2nd, 1944
Location: Airspace above the English Channel, near Pas-de-Calais, Gallia, Europe

John and Keita get in front of Minna and Mio as the white fragment shards fall down on them. Their shields come up, deflecting the harmful debris. Unfortunately, one small shard penetrates through Keita's shield and grazes the right of his head and cutting off pieces from Mio's bangs after it passes through her shield. The two are surprised by this.

-Flashback End-

"True." "Indeed." The two nod. Mio closes for a few seconds before opening it. "We've done a lot of thinking about it. We're already 20. Our powers aren't as strong as they used to be. It doesn't matter how hard we train. I'm a Witch," "and I'm a Black Mask," "and in the end, we all share the same fate." "Then why push yourselves?" "We've outlived a lot of other people in this war." "Even so, our place is in the sky." "It's about Miyafuji, isn't it? She'll be fine on her own." "No Witch has more training than her. You have done enough." "Not quite. Miyafuji still has much to learn and much more than she's capable of doing. Before long now, she's going to have to leave the Witches. She shouldn't be so contempt with staying in the background for the rest of her life." The two look up at the leaders. "We're so sorry. As long as we can still fly, we have to." "Mio..." "Keita..." The elevator door opens.

Yoshika flies over the blue water of the English Channel. Where is it? I should be close to it by now. A red flash appears on the horizon. Yoshika gasps. "Found it." She goes to where the flash was. She sees a black craft that's shaped almost like an ova except it has two points at its end and has two bat-like wings on its sides. It's so small.. but it has to be the Neuroi.. I should be able to take this one down by myself. The Neuroi suddenly goes up, surprising Yoshika. It does a spin while speeding up and moving away from Yoshika. It goes towards her and moves around her. Yoshika watches the alien spin around her. It stops and she sees a red hexagon on its bottom side. It starts glowing. She gasps and brings up her gun to fire. She pulls the trigger once and then a few times. She looks down. The safety's still on.. She uses her left hand to switch modes. The glow stops. "Got it." The Neuroi transforms as she turns to look at it. She gasps. The Neuroi has taken on the form of a Witch. It has animal ears with the "insides" being cyan. It has black lines along its "sleeves" and "torso". It has on gray "panties" and a futuristic-looking Striker Unit that seems somewhat more advanced than Camillo's F/A-18. Like the Striker Units, it has wing protrusions on its sides. Attached to the wings are two pads that have three red hexagons. A small cyan piece of armor are on each half of the "Unit". What's going on..? It looks like a human... She slightly moves her right index away from the trigger.

"You're saying she went after it by herself?" "This is troubling." "I'm sorry. It's my fault she was out here in the first place." "Save it until after we take down the Neuroi." "Yes ma'am, sir." Mio, Keita, Perrine, Lynette, George, Gertrud, Erica, Manfred, Shirley, Francesca, and Camillo are all flying through the blue sky towards Yoshika and the transformed Neuroi. Mio thinks to herself. Don't get any funny ideas, Miyafuji.

Yoshika stares at the Witch Neuroi. The other Neuroi started imitating Sanya's singing. Could they be trying to be like us? Wha...What if they're trying to communicate with us? Yoshika slightly lowers her gun. The Witch Neuroi spreads out its arms. Yoshika gasps. It flies around her and then goes up above her. Oh..It's flying like a Witch.. It lowers itself to her. "Wait. Wait just a minute!" She holds out her hands with her eyes closed, attempting to stop the Neuroi, which stops when she does this. Yoshika slowly opens her eyes. "Huh?"

The two fly together at the same speed. "So, um, it's nice to meet you. I mean: what's your name? Wait. Do Neuroi have names? You're pretty different from the other Neuroi, huh?"

"Miyafuji is there. She has to have somehow made contact with the Neuroi." "However, beyond that, Sanya and Jack can't tell us anything further." Minna and John say into the tubes in the radio room with Eila, Sanya, and Jack behind them. The three Eastern Europeans are still in the undergarments. Jack's and Sanya's antennas are still active. "We're sorry." Sanya says. "You mean.. she might be captured?" "If so, this isn't good."

"What's happening? Why don't you order her back toward us?" "We keep trying to contact her with no luck." Mio and Keita say to the commanders while still flying the others. "Same here. We've ran through all the frequencies twice but all of our transmissions are jammed." Miyafuji... "It seems like the Neuroi have managed to set a trap. Do whatever is necessary to bring her back while taking down that unit." "Yes, sir." Keita thinks to himself. Please be alive and alright, Miyafuji...

Yoshika tries to touch the Neuroi with her right hand but the alien moves away. "Uh.." She flies close to it and the two separate from each other. The two spin around. "Are you trying to play a game with me?" It flies away with her following. "Hey, wait up." It does another spin and then flies up. It does several more with Yoshika somewhat mimicking it. "Come on." She giggles. "You're too quick for me." She laughs while chasing the Neuroi Witch. She stops and opens her eyes. I'm laughing... I'm laughing with a Neuroi... The alien floats down to her. "Hey." She looks at it. "I just don't understand. You don't act like you could be our enemy." She gasps. She then gasps again. The alien Witch has split open its torso to reveal its spinning dodecahedron core. The brunette stares at the glowing red weak spot.

"How far off are they now, Minna, John?" Mio asks as she and the others speed up towards the Fusōan and Neuroi Witch over the waters of the English Channel. "The Neuroi has turned back towards Gallia." "It might be returning to the hive." The commanders answer. They could be leading her into a trap. She gasps. She lifts up her eyepatch to reveal her purple glowing right eye. Keita just says, "There..." Their view turns slightly purple. Their view zooms in, showing Yoshika and the Neuroi Witch. It looks like another Witch with her.. but I can see a core. That's a Neuroi! Their view zooms closer to the Neuroi Witch. A Witch? No... There's a core right at the chest.. It's the Neuroi that was detected! We gotta get there fast!

Yoshika slowly reaches to the core with her right hand. "What do you think you're doing, Miyafuji?!" "Shoot it now!" Yoshika gasps and looks back to see the source of the voices. "Sakamoto, Mitchell!" "Shoot that thing! Shoot it, Miyafuji!" "Just do it! Come on!" Mio and Keita fly towards the two. "Sakamoto! Mitchell! You don't understand!" Yoshika says with a worried expression. "What are you waiting for? Just shoot it!" "Level your gun and pull the trigger! Hurry before it kills you!" Yoshika spreads out her arms, her body fully turned to face them. She defends the Neuroi Witch. "No! Please wait!" "Don't be fooled! It's just mimicking you!" "Don't forget the Neuroi mimicked Sanya's singing! It's trying to trick you!" "No, it's not! Please just wait!" "Then we'll do it!" The two level up their guns and take aim at the alien Witch. It closes the hole in its chest and flies up above Yoshika, who turns to see it move as it screeches. "Damn you!" "Bring it on!" The older magic users fire their Type 99 Mk II machine guns. The black/red/cyan-colored alien responds in kind by holding out its "palms" and two red circles appear at the ends of its arms, firing a few beams at them. Mio gasps. She brings up her shield. Keita gets in front of her and brings up his shield as well. Some beams go through their shields and fly past them.

One, however, managed to go through their guns which they raised to block the beams as well and shoot. Before they could shoot, the beam went straight through their guns, causing them to explode. A cloud of smoke covers the two. They fall to the ground below. "AAAHHHH!" "NOOOO!" Some of the Witches and Black Masks that were with Mio and Keita shouted out, "Major! Captain!" Yoshika cries out, "Sakamoto!" Mio's A6M Striker Unit slips off her and Keita gets engulfed in bright gold flash which quickly dies down, his A5M Striker turned back into a necklace. "SAKAMOTO! MITCHELL!" "MAJOR! CAPTAIN!" "CAPTAIN! MAJOR!" Yoshika, Perrine, and George fly down to get the seriously-injured Mio and Keita.

"What was that?" "What just happened?" Minna and John flinch and ask about the situation. "Sakamoto and Mitchell got shot by the Neuroi!" The two gasp. "They put up their shields but they're hurt very badly." "Major, Captain, wake up please! Major, Captain! Major! Captain!" "This isn't good. This isn't good at all! These two need immediate first-aid!" "Damn. We should've sped up to help them." The two close their eyes and lower their heads when they hear Yoshika, Gertrud, Perrine, George, and Manfred. "Listen to us, Lieutenant, Captain: You will pursue the Neuroi." "You must take action." "But the Major and Captain need attention!" "She's right!" "Pursue right now!" "That's an order." The two yell out with their eyes closed. "Uh.. Understood." "Proceeding the chase." The two open their eyes. Tears start falling from Minna's eyes. Minna closes her eyes again. "Commander Minna... Commander Smith..." Sanya says and looks worriedly at the leaders. "Mio..." "Keita..." Minna leans against John. The male leader looks down at the tubes. It can't be...

On a beach that's littered with two halves of a destroyed Striker Unit, Yoshika and George are kneeling in front and on right side of Mio and Keita who are laying on the sand, unconscious. Two cyan spheres cover the two as they have their hands over the wounds; the two are using their healing magic on sub-leaders. Perrine stands behind the healers. "Major... Captain... please be okay..." Perrine has her hands on her cheeks. She gets to her knees. "Please open your eyes. Can you hear me?" "Come on. Please wake up." "Sakamoto, Mitchell, please. Answer." "Major, Captain, just wake up already..." Yoshika closes her eyes. "Sakamoto! Mitchell!" Yoshika yells out. George shouts, "Come on!"

Well then... Sorry it took me so long to update this. I keep on getting distracted. 2022 has been quite a year. Let's hope 2023 will be good for us all.

-To Be Continued