DISCLAIMER : I DON'T OWN STRIKE WITCHES FRANCHISE !
CHAPTER 2: STAY FROSTY
Stay Frosty
21 May 1945, 0700 hours
501st JFW Base, Pescara, Romagna
It was a morning in the AFB of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing AKA the 'Strike Witches'. The Strike Witches was one of the Multinational Witches Squadron and also the most famous. It was because they had liberated the Gallia from Neuroi's hand and destroyed the Warlocks, the warmachines that created by Air Force Marshal Trevor Maloney which became rogue. The Witches Squadron were disbanded for some months but later reformed again and based in Pescara after a new hive appeared in Venezia.
4 witches were seen running around the base, one of them was Lieutenant Commander Mio Sakamoto, the Squadron Leader of the 501st. "Come on Ladies! Move your leg!" She shouted to the other witches, Sergeant Yoshika Miyafuji, Flight Sergeant Lynette Bishop, and Flying Officer Perrine H Clostermann.
"B-but Sakamoto-san, p-p-please let us to rest for a moment," Yoshika gasped as she trying to speak.
Mio Laughed, "Not until you finished 5 more laps!" The girls groaned as they kept running.
Meanwhile in the CO's office, Wing Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke the Commanding Officer of the Strike Witches was still busy with her desk work until a man in Fuso Imperial Navy enlisted uniform knocked the door.
"Good morning, Commander Minna," he greeted her as he entered the office with a telegram.
"Morning, Petty Officer Hijikata," she greeted the Petty Officer and later he asked him. "What brings you here?"
He gave her the Telegram. "These just came in this morning," The telegram was about a US navy fleet that would bring a supply and needed an aerial escort from them.
"Understood, gave them a reply that we will accept their request and please tell the witches to gather in the briefing room," The Petty Officer nodded. "Okay, you're dismissed," He saluted her and walked out from the room. Minna then turned her stare to the cloudy sky outside the windows. "I hope something bad will not happen," She thought.
Meanwhile, miles away from Pescara
The USS Curtis Wilbur of the 5th UNCF fleet cruised to Pescara. Inside one of the cabin, James sat in his bunk. He starred on a photo in his IPhone 7. It was taken when he, Jack, Ren, and Rin graduated from the Sand Island Academy.
Rin entered his cabin. The young witch understood why he became like this. Jack was in comatose because of the laser's radiation. Despite of Bayu healed him to the best of his ability he won't be up for several weeks, if not months. And also, the Curtis Wilbur took heavy casualties and they lost 2 ships in a night, because he thought he could not act swiftly. He's incapable of being in command. She sighed after seeing his state. "We need you, sir."
He stared at her for several seconds, which feels like hours before turned back again. "Tell Ray to relieve me, I can do nothing."
"If you can't, who can? Nagato-san can't do that alone," She walked closer before sat beside him.
"But at least you could keep this ship from being sunk. You're the only one who has the authority to command her," She stared at him. "My brother had died and he told you to protect me."
James just brushed his hair as he kept looking away.
"We entered the navy to end this war. But if you keep like this the war will never end," she finally shouted at him with tears in her eyes, "Be the Jim-chan I used to know!" James kept his face away from her. They stayed in silence for minutes. James took a peek at her who sniffed before started chuckling.
"Everything you said is true…I never know that the shy and cry baby little puppy now become a mature woman," He said remembering the time when he forced Rin to wear maid uniform with dog accessories during the school festival.
"Jim-chan Baka! I'm not a puppy!"
"Thanks," He said as he flashed her, his usual carefree smile.
"H-hai, you're welcome," she said as she blushed a bit.
"Come on," James said as he stood up. Then, they made their way to the bridge.
Inside the bridge, Tara noticed James' presence. "XO on the bridge!"
"OOD, give me report," James said
"Sir, we are en-route to Pescara. The Engineering almost finish repairing the damaged parts," She answered.
"ETA?"
"6 hours in 20 knots."
"Have we found the rest of the 5th Fleet ship? Or what remains from them?"
"Negative, sir!"
"Do the G-Sat system or the contact toward home had been re-established?"
"Unfortunately, no sir," the other officer said.
"No GPS, no contact toward home, 5th Fleet disappeared, and strange aircraft that attacked us, I swear that is no HCC. Why does this sounds so familiar?"
"Bridge, TAO, we got multiple surface contact, bearing…errrr….2…7-7…20 miles…track number 3629 to 3640, and it's appeared to be a fleet sir," Max said nervously. James knew he had learned everything from the book, but he didn't get the hours.
"Is it the 5th Fleet?" Rin asked.
James then told her. "Rin, you are the TAO now. It's too early for Max to be that."
Rin smiled to her childhood friend. "Hai, with pleasure sir!" She quickly ran to the CIC. James also had the survivor of the two ships assumed some of the empty positions.
"TAO, new air radar contact! Bearing: 2-8-0, altitude 1000 feet, assigned track number: 3641 to 3651. They are appeared to be air sorcerer sir."
"Steady on course: 2-7-8! All engines ahead, flank!" James ordered. Then the CIC contacted them again.
"All engines ahead, flank!" Tara replied his order.
"CIC, new radar contact! Bearing: 3-5-5, altitude 1000 feet! Assigned Track number: 3652 to 3659. They're heading toward the fleet sir."
"Quite an activity over there," James thought as he looked over the horizon through a binocular.
"New radar contact, bearing: 0-0-5, altitude 1500 feet, range 30 miles, assigned track number: 3660 to 3665."
"Ray, tell the communication division. We need to contact those unknown fleet," James told Rei by his nickname.
"Yes sir," Rei, the now Executive Officer of the Curtis Wilbur replied before picking up the radio. "Comms, Bridge, search any radio transmission from bearing 2-7-7 relative!"
"This is Comms, aye aye sir!" After several minutes of silence, Stella replied. "Bridge, Comms, we got something on the radio. I'm patching it to you."
"T-to any…..., this is captain… of the USS Texas. We ar… by the neuroi….… Request immediate assistance…"
"USS Texas? That new Virginia-class submarine?" Rei asked.
James then picked up the coms and contacted Rin. "TAO, find me a sub."
"TAO, ryoukai!" Rin replied as she made her way to Max. "Walker, do you hear something from under the water?"
Max concentrated to listen through the sonar. "I hear something...sounds like explosion...wait a minute, those are from the surface."
"Anything else? How about sub-surface contact?"
"For now, negative ma'am," He replied.
Rin then contacted back the bridge. "Bridge, TAO, we got no subsurface contact!"
"This is Bridge, roger that," Rei replied. "Hopper, do you know any other ship also named USS Texas?"
"That Virginia-class cruiser, CGN-39, but that one has been decommissioned in '93...and BB-35, New York-class Battleship, but I'm ready to bet it is not the latter," James replied, taking a sip on his morning coffee.
"So, it must be the former?"
"No, it can't be...that one has undergo nuclear recycle."
"So, which one is it?"
"Hmmmm," The captain took another ship as he began his deep thinking.
"Bridge, Comms, I've found something you need to listen," Stella said to the Bridge.
"Play it!" Rei responded.
"This...USS Portland! We...lost main cannon 2! Strike Witches, we…..support!" The transmission was full of static and there were explosions in the background before it ended.
"That fleet is under attack…" Rei said before he realized something. "Wait a minute, Portland is an LPD, am I correct?"
"Yeah?"
"How come an LPD has 2 cannons?"
James rubbed his chin. "And also 'Strike Witches'...that sounds like a Squadron, but I've never heard that name…"
"Bridge, CIC, track number 3664 and 3665 had changed course and heading toward us!"
"Order, captain?" Tara asked the Captain. With all those strange things happened, James could not think rationally. The 5th Fleet disappeared and he didn't know who's friend or foe. Cold sweats flowed through his head.
"Stay Frosty, Jim," That was Jack's last words before he went to comatose. James eyes quickly lit up.
"Set general quarter!"
Meanwhile inside one of the cabin, some of the crews were asleep peacefully after the stressful battle. Bayu was sleep in the same rack with Larry and Erwin because their bunk were sunken. Larry couldn't sleep. Well, he didn't mind sharing a rack with Bayu, but not Erwin, 'coz he always trashed around and snore loudly. Bayu wasn't interrupted but for the SEAL Team 4 SOW it was a big deal.
He later heard someone fart, causing him cursed under his breathe. "Fuck this shit...".
The three young wizards were woken up by the sudden general quarter announcement
"General quarters! General quarters! All hands Man your battle station! I repeat! All hands Man your battle station!" After the announcement, all of the crews rushed to their station. Bayu and Erwin quickly got off from the rack and wore their battle gears. However, Larry was still on the bed, slowly sitting in the edge and rubbed his eyes.
"Larry, are you okay? Do you need to use the head?" Bayu asked him in worried tone.
"Nah, I'm cool brah," He said as he wobbly went to the toilet. "I just wanna use the head."
"Is he drunk?" Erwin wondered as he watched the blonde wizard exited the room.
"Probably seasick, seeing how you trashed around. He can't sleep," Bayu grumbled.
"Huh?! You're saying that was my fault?"
Ignoring Erwin, Bayu cocked his rifle. "Come on, dawg," They then made their way to the standby zone.
Tara exhaled deeply as she turned to the Captain. "Excuse me sir, maybe this is a bit nuts, but I've concluded that the rest of the 5th Fleet ship didn't lost…"
"Pardon me?" James replied.
"The 5th Fleet didn't disappear we are the one who disappeared," That caused several gasps from the bridge crews. Some of them thought that their OOD had turned nuts.
"What? Are you sure, Westwood?" Rei asked her this time.
"I think sir, yesterday at two one-hundred hour, I saw the moon was full...but after zero dark-hundred, it turned to be half moon…"
She paused for awhile before continue spoke her theory.
"And also, remember that aurora and storm, sir? Please call me crazy, because I think we've been travelled back in time to World War 2."
"That might be true, but since when aircraft that big was used during that war?"
"We'll think about that later. First, we must defend ourselves," James told them as he focused on the radar screen.
"Bridge, Comms! We detected what appeared to be screeching sounds from Track numbers 3652 to 3665! The sounds matched the data from the Heavy Command Cruiser we ran into last night!"
After he heard Stella's report, the captain quickly relayed his order to Rin. "TAO, Bridge! Kill track: 3664 and 3665!"
"Understood! TAO, kill track: 3664 and 3665! Ready to fire!" The TAO replied.
"Fire!"
The SM-2 missiles fired from the VLS toward its target. "Birds away! Kill track: 3664 and 3665!"
Meanwhile in the sky several miles away from the destroyer, a dogfight broke between the witches and the escort ship's support against the Neuroi. They saw one of the destroyer was heavily damaged by the neuroi and began to sunk. "This is Captain Bryant…we lost USS Chevalier…..all hands abandon the ship!"
"Neuroi Reinforcement is coming! This is bad!" Mio said as she sliced a Neuroi with her Reppumaru. "Try to hold on for little longer!"
Lynette engages the Neuroi with her boys anti-tank rifle while Yoshika cover her back. Eila, Sanya, and Lucchini fired the Large type neuroi while Barkhorn and Hartmann try their best to protect the supply ship.
In the other side, Shirley chase an isolated neuroi behind Perrine. Perrine tried to warn her but another Neuroi engages her, making her to lost focus on Shirley. After destroying the isolated Neuroi, the Liberion witch got surrounded by the Neuroi's reinforcement.
"Shit, An Ambush?! This is not good!" she tried to raise her shield but before its fired, one of the Neuroi got hit by 2 Rockets and followed by another 2 Rocket, finishing it off. Shirley turned her fire at another Neuroi with Perrine. "Nice shot Sanya!", She said because Sanya was the only one who used a rocket launcher.
"It's not me," She replied emotionlessly made everyone surprised.
"If it isn't you, so whom?" Eila asked. Her question was answered by 2 other rockets which hit the other large type Neuroi, but it wasn't Sanya who fired."What is that?"
Mio saw the Rockets were coming from the southeast. She later contact Minna. "Minna, this is Mio. Did you call a reinforcements?"
"Negative, but what happened?" The Commander asked back.
Mio's eyes widened. "Minna can you use your ability now?"
"Alright, please standby!"
"You better be quick!" She shouted.
"Mio, I've detected an unknown radar contact from the southeast from your location. Be careful!"
After she heard about the unknown contact, Mio use her magic eye ability to see the contact and she surprised in what she saw. It was a ship with an unknown design, it was big like a cruiser but it only has one deck gun. She saw 2 rockets launched from inside of the ship's front deck and somehow manage to accurately hit the Neuroi from the long range.
The Major later contact her Commanding Officer, "Minna, I've detected the unknown contact. It's appeared to be a ship but I don't know what class is it."
"Understood, we're trying to establish contact with them," Not long after Minna talked, a new unheard Liberion accented man voice were heard in the comms.
"This is US Naval warship, Curtis Wilbur under 5th UNCF Fleet to the unknown witch squadron, we're attempting to establish a communication with you. Please Identify yourself, over!" The voice said.
"This is Major Mio Sakamoto of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, which whom am I talking to?" Mio asked
"This is Commander James Hopper, the Commanding Officer of the USS Curtis Wilbur, we are going to turn your contacts in our IFF Fire Control System to ally. Do not engage us!" The Voice answered.
"Why would I engage another human being?" Mio asked in confused tone. But this Commander Hopper didn't reply.
Minna heard the conversation between Mio and the Liberion Commander. She has never heard of this 5th UNCF Fleet nor the USS Curtis Wilbur. She wanted to talk with this man personally.
Mio saw another Rockets being launched by the 'Liberion' Ship. "Wow, how can they hit the Neuroi in Long Range?" Lynette said in amazement.
But they later saw two of the Large Type Neuroi flied towards the ship and almost in their laser firing range. Mio shouted. "Damn it, Yeager, Bishop! Stop that Neuroi! Miyafuji moved toward the ship and save anyone! Double Time!"
They nodded. There's no way that ship can survive the Neuroi's fire. They only hoped they could save anyone they can.
Aboard the ship, several sailors mounted the M2 Browning machine gun on the other decks. Bayu manned one of them while Erwin manned the other.
"Track number: 3664 and 3665, confirmed kill!" Rin said. "Track Number, 3661 and 3663 are heading toward our direction. Bearing 3-3-1, altitude 3000 feet, 5 miles, incoming fast!"
"Hard Left Rudder!" James shouted another orders.
"Hard Left Rudder, aye sir!" Tara replied.
"CIC, shut down the other bandits at will! Focus the shield to the Port side!" Rei shouted.
The VLS released more missiles and hit one of the Target.
The witches saw the rockets hit the neuroi, Lynette fired that Neuroi's core while Shirley accelerated toward the other neuroi. "Damn it, if it keep like this, all hands in that ship would be lost!" She said.
While Yoshika fly in top speed try to reach the ship before the Neuroi but it was too late because the neuroi was ready to fire upon the Liberion ship.
"N-no", she gasped. The young witch didn't want many sailors to be killed in front of her eyes. But to her surprise the ship managed to block the lasers with some kind of oversized witch's shield. "W-what?!" Shirley and Lynette also surprised.
"Fire the deck gun! Launch chaffs!" James shouted. The destroyer deployed flares to distract the bandits. She continued to open fire at the enemies. 5-inch gun, SAM, CIWS, chain gun, the ship fired everything at it. The crews outside also fired the machine. The machine growled and fired another laser but it was easily blocked by the shield. The Steel Hammer fired the naval gun and destroyed the aircraft's weak point, the core.
The Curtis Wilbur began to move toward the convoy ship in full military speed.
The witches' eyes were widened after they saw the mysterious ship could defeat a Large Type Neuroi without witches helps. Well, they didn't know there are witches aboard the ship.
"Wow, sugoiii!", Yoshika said in amazement.
"Miyafuji, did you manage to reach the ship?" Mio said through the intercoms.
"Yes, I've reached it but…" Yoshika answered.
"But what!" Mio barked, concerned about the ship.
"She destroyed the Neuroi without our help…" Lynette answered.
"Wha... okay, keep your eyes open, protect her," she said with a fake cough, trying to not seen surprised by her subordinate.
"Affirmative!", The girls said in unison.
"I can't believe that Uncle Sam can build something like this!" Shirley thought after she saw a Liberion-like flag waved above the ship.
The ship engages some of the Neuroi that attack the convoy. The Neuroi hit some of the target made them damaged or destroyed. all of the remaining Neuroi got distracted to the and begin to engages it.
Mio saw this and turned to her subordinates. "I don't know how they can have weaponry like that but thanks to them, our job become more easy! Let's finish it girls!"
"Yes ma'am!" All of the witches said in unison.
Some of the strange aircraft were shut down by the witches. The crews were surprised that they used the old school striker units that were used during the world war 2. But they ignored it for awhile, focusing to intercept the hostiles.
James sat calmly on the captain seat, watching the ship rained hell on the enemy. The aircraft got destroyed one by one by both the modern destroyer and the witches.
"Matiang! Matiang!" Bayu shouted while firing the .50 cal machine gun. Another bandit destroyed after an SM-2ME hit it, leaving only one aircraft still flying.
"All my strength, haste thee help me," Larry who had set up a sniper position outside murmured before fired his Barret M82. The things got destroyed into thousands glass pieces and all of the crews aboard the Curtis Wilbur began to cheering.
Larry chuckled, watching his first Large Aircraft he shut down turned into thousand flakes. He then saw one of the witches fly closer to the destroyer.
Inside the CIC all of the crews also cheering. But they stopped after one of the sailors barged inside and rushed to the commander. "Sir, one of the witches want to meet you. She is waiting on the helipad."
James quickly left the Bridge and walked outside. After arriving on the aft deck, an eye-patched girl with a Kawanishi N1K5-J model striker floating above the Helipad.
"Let me guest, you must be…Major Mio Sakamoto right?" the girl turned to see him.
"Yes, so you're…" there was a pause until Mio finished to examined the man's blue uniform. The nametag was written 'Hopper'. She couldn't believe that a seventeen years old boy was the one who commanded the ship. But she continued her word. "…Commander James Hopper."
He nodded. Mio also kept her eyes on two other boys with weird uniforms and rifles that flanked the commander. What make her surprised was their...familiar's ears were sticking out from their futuristic looking helmet.
"Understood, my CO want to talk with you face to face at our base in Pescara. I hope you don't mind."
James's eyes were widened by the word 'Pescara'. "Excuse me, did you say Pescara?"
"Yes, I did but what happened?" She asked curiously.
"We were actually enroute to Pescara until I lost contact with the 5th Fleet and our flagship, JDS Akagi?" He said.
"The Akagi? Sorry to tell you, but Akagi had sunk," she asked.
"Maybe you got it wrong. I'm talking about JDS Akagi, CVN-185, the nuclear-powered supercarrier operated by JMSDF," Seeing how the Major got more confused, James decided to end it. "We will talk about this later once we arrived at your base."
"Understood, but could you help us to escort the supply ship until we got to Pescara?", Mio requested to the Commander.
"Okay, we'll take care of that."
"Thanks for the cooperation, sir" She said and flying back in formation. The ship moved to the front of the formation in front of the Liberion battleship USS Texas.
"Mio, have you tell the captain to went to our base.", Minna contacted Mio.
"yeah, I've tell him about this but…they all very weird", Mio stated made Minna more curious.
"weird like what?"
"The captain said they were sailed to Pescara and they said that their flagship is the Akagi but, here's the kicker, they said Akagi is a 'nuclear-powered supercarrier'," Mio explained to Minna. "The male crews aboard the ship also…have animal ears and tails like witches and the witches aboard the ship wear pants. They also had weapons that I've never seen before."
"Understood, but keep your weapons tight we don't know about their true intentions."
"Roger that", she said, ended the transmission. "Okay girls, let's get back to work. Keep your eyes open." she order.
All of the witches nodded. She stared at the Curtis Wilbur which now in the front of the formation.
"I hope they are nothing like that Maloney," She still remembered that time when the Britanish Marshall tried to replace the witches with the warlock but it seems this Hopper guy isn't like that because she also saw some witches aboard the ship. She later shook her head and joined the girl in formation.
I don't think I should drop an author's note in the end of every single fucking chapter. But well, in the next chapter there will be a debriefing and the 501st will meet face to face with the 5th UNCF fleet. To the cowards who flamed me with guest account, well ainx wanna gelut with you.