This is a set of stories before Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen's transfer to the 501st Joint Fighter Wing.

Prologue

(Adapted from the chapter Prologue, from the manga series Witches of Aurora by Kyougoku Shin)

This is a world with magic, under the constant threat of a mysterious creature called Neuroi, since ancient times. This supernatural form of life has a black armored shell with red patterns on the surface and at least one red core underneath its metallic body. They attack with laser beams and produce miasma, so human beings can't fight them in short distance, except for witches, namely girls with magical power.

This is a world defended by armed girls. Neuroi, the bane of humanity, have high resistance against conventional weaponry. The only way to effectively destroy them is to attack them with magic-imbued weapons and ammo. However, magic is a kind of precious power that can only be found in some girls. It reaches its peak during the puberty of its owner and vanishes around the age of 20, with very few exceptions. As a result, cruel as it may be, the task of defending humanity has inevitably fallen onto these teenage girls. While traditional soldiers use tanks and aircrafts, witches wear Striker Units, a pair of hybrid mechanical-magical devices for flight, on their legs, which gives them the advantage of a relatively small size, allowing them to weave through the battlefield with ease.

Vartsila Base, Suomus

"Ring, ring, ring..."

A nordic country was never without snow in winter. The ring of the sirens broke the tranquility of the silver world.

"Neuroi!"

"Get ready for takeoff! Hurry up!"

The whole Suomus Air Force 24th Squadron got into a busy state. The witches rushed to the hangar, filling the space made out of concrete and rebar with the sounds of footfalls, rumbling of engines, and yells.

"Initiate the starter! Magic engine stand by! Make sure you've checked the fuel!" a witch kindly reminded her comrades despite her not being the leader, before she jokingly mocked the "Jinxed Katajanen" on their team, "Nipa, don't break one more Striker Unit!"

The owner of the title "Jinxed Katajainen," a short-haired blonde witch named Nikka Edvardine Katajanen, blushed and replied in a huff, "O-Of course I won't!" before she rushed onto her launch pad, jumping into her own Striker Unit. A light blue glow surrounded her whole body, a pair of snow weasel ears appeared on her head, and a weasel tail appeared on her tailbone, when she closed her eyes, activating her magic. After she reopened her eyes, she was all ready. "Alright," Nipa murmured to herself, before she turned her head and called out to her comrade, "Illu! I'm ready, Illu—"

Nipa stopped mid-sentence when she saw her comrade. Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen, whom Nipa just called by the nickname Illu, had yet to put on her Strike Unit. Holding one tarot card in her hand, she didn't look ready for a sortie at all.

Eila scratched her faint blonde brain, long hair swaying behind her back, as leisurely as its owner, "Hmm... I just read your fortune. You better not sortie today."

"What? Why?"

"Because I drew this. Look," Eila showed Nipa the tarot card in her hand.

"What is it? What does this card mean?"

"Oh my, it's the Tower." A voice was heard behind the two witches' backs.

"Hasse..."

Eila and Nipa simultaneously turned their heads and saw a witch bearing a very close resemblance to Nipa. She was the captain of the 24th Squadron, Hanna Wind, nicknamed Hasse. Hasse gave Nipa and Eila a warm, handsome boyish smile before she wrapped them with her both arms. Her face, however, took on a worried expression again when she redirected her eyes on the card.

"When the Tower is upright, it tells of accidents, troubles, and misfortune. Even when it's inverted, it tells downfall and breaking down. Illu's fortune telling often works. It won't hurt you to be more careful," explained Hasse elaborately, like an expert. It was just natural to have a good understanding of tarot cards after spending so much time with a tarot whiz like Eila.

Nipa just felt more and more annoyed. How come everyone has so little confidence in me?! Tears even started to fill her eyes. She couldn't help but to champ with rage, "I-it's not like any sort of accidents will happen! Yeah! I'm not gonna crash every time!"

Both Eila and Hasse were taken aback at the sight of Nipa hitting the ceiling. Hasse tried to appease her, "S-sorry, I'm just worried about you—"

However, all consoling words would just come off harsh in Nipa's ears at this moment.

"I feel like today it'll work! I will return to base unharmed, and having accomplished my mission I will slowly enjoy a cup of coffee! Then I'll go to the sauna and sweat a lot—"

But Eila and Hasse knew she was just acting confident.

A mature, attractive voice cut in, "I see. So I won't need to go on a recovery mission today?"

The owner of the voice was a tall, slender young lady in a grayish blue Suomus Army uniform sitting on a wooden box with a bottle of wine in her hand.

"If Nipa says she'll be okay, I can start drinking now?"

"Aurora..."

This lass was Eila's elder sister, Aurora E. Juutilainen, a member of the "Striker Unit Recovery Team," which she joined after her magic declined with age, so currently her duties mainly consisted of retrieving Striker Units for the witch most prone to crashes in the world, Nikka Edvardine Katajanen.

Aurora was in a relaxed state, while Eila was exasperated, "Wait, you've already started, haven't you..."

Aurora burst into laughter, "Wahahaha! What are you saying, my lil sis? This is like water! No, it's water! Purest of Liquids!"

"Come on! That's Viina!" Eila fell speechless when she saw her elder sister call a 35%-alcohol drink water.

"She's completely in her drink mode… That way she can't go on a recovery mission…" Eila murmured. Nipa replied annoyedly, "She doesn't need to do that job at all!"

Someone poked Nipa in the shoulder. Nipa turned around and saw a witch with a pair of Collie ears on the top of her head carrying a pair of skies.

"Here, take this. If you fall, you can get back by yourself with these."

This witch was Laura "Lapra" Nissinen, one of the elite members of Suomus Air Force 24th Squadron, recognizable by her constant neutral expression and a unique hairstyle consisting of a bob and a long ponytail.

"Come on! You too Lapra?! Why are you all like that?! Listen! Today! Today! I will return unharmed!" Nipa grew even more annoyed. She clenched her fist so much it would not be surprising if they started to bleed.

Laura just remained her emotionless face, "If you accomplish that, everyone will be happy. Good luck." As she finished speaking, she mounted her Strikers, made sure she had her weapon with her, and then taxied out of the hangar.

Eila, already in her Strikers, patted Nipa on the shoulder, "Well, everyone was just worried about you. If it's Neuroi we're fighting, I'll support you like only I can! Let's try our best, Nipa!" Eila finished her sentence with a cheerful grin, the signature smile of "Lucky Juutilainen."

Eila's brilliant smile held Nipa spellbound, taking her mind off the ongoing upsetting matters. A moment later she snapped out of it. Her face was still reddened but now in annoyance, and yet she just let out a lame complaint, "I'm not really relying on your support!"

"What's with that? You're supposed to politely accept when someone's doing you a favor!" Eila, apparently not knowing where Nipa was coming from, kept giving her advice which would just come off as offense.

'But what I need is not favors, but recognition… An impeccable ace like you is not going to understand…,' Nipa cried inside.

Amid chatter, the girls took off, flying into the sky of Suomus, ready to fight the invaders of Earth, Neuroi.

They were the Suomus Air Force 24th Squadron, the magnificent witches protecting the sky of Suomus from Neuroi's reach.

Before long—

A sky blue figure gradually approached the base of Suomus Air Force 24th Squadron, sliding on white snow, a pair of destroyed Strikers on her back. Yes, this was none other than Nipa.

"It's Nipa!"

"She came back with the skies!"

"She crashed, after all!"

Sure enough, the Jinxed Katajanen crashed again, not letting anyone down.