The Witches and the Challenge
(Adapted from the chapters Invasion and Ace, from the manga series Witches of Aurora by Kyogoku Shin.)
Suomus' summer ended very soon. The scenery of a lengthy winter rolled in again. During this period, the Neuroi never stopped attacking, but it was all random, minor invasions. Thanks to that, people in Suomus got to enjoy a short time of peace.
One day during a patrol duty, Eila and Nipa spotted an unusually massive Neuroi. It was in the shape of a waterwheel, taller than a man, surrounded by countless small-types which looked like escorts or scouts.
Commander Luukkanen immediately called an emergency meeting.
"The report says we have a large-type Neuroi invading and it is heading straight for the capital. We have to intercept immediately," Luukkanen said with all seriousness on her face as she pointed at the image of the massive waterwheel-shaped Neuroi projected on the screen behind her. "The shape and size are unusual, but that's not all."
"Even though Suomus is small and fragile, the terrain gives us an advantage until now. The Neuroi don't like to traverse forests and lakes, so this large one is paving a path for lots of smaller units. On top of that, it's heading for urban areas and using metal from the earth to form new units. The further it goes, the more it deploys. It's like a mobile fortress and it's moving quickly. I heard an advanced unit was annihilated when they were trying to stop it. By all means necessary, we must prevent it from reaching the capital!"
Every witch's face fell. They all realized the gravity of the situation.
The enemy were out in force, so the first job needed to be done was to mop up the escorts, which was assigned to Commander Luukkanen, Laura and Aurora. Next, Eila, Nipa and Hasse were to shoot the big water wheel.
"It all depends on us if Illu's group can make it," said Luukkanen to Laura when heading to their designated area.
"Although it's our job to stop them, we feel like sitting ducks right now! It's really making me nervous!" complained Eila, who was standing by above the enemy's route, alongside Nipa and Hasse.
"Hey, our job is very important too!" Hasse tried to appease Eila's anxious mind.
"That's right! We have to give it our all!" Nipa added.
Eila fell into an abrupt silence.
"What is it now, Illu?"
Eila assumed a look of surprise and covered her mouth theatrically, "To think hothead Nipa could say something like that! Are you ill?"
"Wow! You can be really rude sometimes! You know that?"
"Nipa, you've grown up!"
"Don't talk to my chest!"
The bickering between Eila and Nipa put a smile on Hasse's face. To her, nothing was more heartening than seeing her comrades get along and be each other's backup.
Their job was to shoot the core of the big waterwheel after Laura's team mopped up all the small-types and cleared a path.
Hasse, good at shooting, was to serve as the sniper; Nipa, good at defense, was to stand by on guard, by order of the commander. Eila was assigned to be Hasse's third eye, using her Foresight ability to find the best timing of the shot.
"There are too many uncertainties, we need the perfect marksman. Despite its size, it might make sudden changes in direction due to the terrain. Even an escort could jump out in front of it at the last second. We know the location of the core, but timing the shot will be extremely difficult, so we need Illu's Foresight to assist Hasse," explained the commander.
That was to say, the success of the entire operation rested in the hands of Eila, not Hasse. No matter how good Hasse's aim was, it would be all in vain if she didn't fire in the right time.
"We're using my Foresight ability to judge the timing? That's such a huge responsibility!" Even the top ace of Suomus, who always effortlessly weaved between Neuroi beams while humming, was not the least bit laid-back this time. She was going to decide the result of a whole plan and the security of a whole city.
"I believe you and Hasse can pull that off, Illu! I'm sure Lapra and Commander are giving it their best out there! Besides, I'm here to defend you two!" Nipa worded her encouragement again.
Hasse smiled, "Well then, Nipa, good to hear that! We're counting on you, then!" In fact, she was in a very nervous state, too. But encouragement from comrades was always soothing, especially at such a moment.
"Then, let's get the party started!" said one of the trio, half to herself, half to her comrades. The three of them got into their stand-by position. Nipa hovered over there, ready to put up a shield at any time. Eila rested both of her hands on Hasse's shoulders, eyes fixed on the enemy down there on the land, not to miss out every single movement of them. She was waiting for the "best timing" to come. Then she would immediately inform Hasse.
Aurora stood on the ground, with a pair of brand-new camouflage-patterned land Strikers on her legs and two brand-new weapons on each of her hands. "Oh...looks like the show has begun!" She murmured in amused curiosity as she watched the foes forming a black sea and the aerial witches making contrails in the sky.
A jeep-shaped land Neuroi jumped over. Aurora smiled. Here came a guinea pig for her to test Karlsland's newest technology.
"I'll destroy you damned Neuroi! Every last one of you!" Holding up each of the two guns twice the length of her arms, she switched into the she-wolf she always was when fighting.
However, it didn't take long for her to notice something was going wrong. In front of her lay the wreckage of a small-type Neuroi.
"A small-size? At this low of an altitude?"
Back in the air, Commander Luukkanen and Laura, who were in the middle of mopping up, smelled a rat, too.
Eini Luukkanen realized the number of flying scouts didn't match the report.
"Umm... isn't the number of flying types rather low, Commander?"
"That's right. Wait...you don't think…?"
The scouts didn't appear in the air as they were supposed to, but appeared near the ground, which meant…
"They are heading straight towards Illu's group!"
Aurora as well as the commander and Laura reached the same conclusion at the same time, despite them being at one end of the battlefield and the other, in both horizontal and vertical senses — one of them was somewhere on the land while the other two were somewhere else far away in midair.
Up in the sky, Eila, Nipa and Hasse were still observing the enemy from afar, in complete ignorance of their forthcoming crisis. From what they could see, all the land Neuroi just split into two groups as expected. Seemingly the plan worked. Delighted, Nipa said, "Looks like it's going very smoothly for Commander's group! Now it's all up to you, Illu, Hasse!" However, right after she finished speaking, the big waterwheel abruptly stopped advancing, much to her surprise.
Confused, Nipa tried to figure out what was going on. A voice coming from the radio interrupted her thoughts. It was Aurora, sounding anxious.
"Nipa, listen! You guys have to get out of there immediately!"
"Aurora? But we already—"
"There's a bunch of small-type scout Neuroi directly below you! They've found your position!"
Nipa was taken aback.
Aurora's statement was proven right immediately. A small-type scout appeared on the ground right below them. It was of the same species as the one Aurora spotted earlier, but the three witches might not be able to see it from up there.
"It's too dangerous there! You need to change your position now!"
Nipa raised her head and shouted to Eila and Hasse, "Hey! Aurora says we have to—"
Before the sentence could be finished, an overwhelming beam came at them, blinding everyone. After the strong light faded off, the trio was nowhere to be seen. From the sky fell a belt with burns.
"Illu! Nipa! Hasse! Answer me!"
"Illu! Nipa! Hasse! Do you read?"
Eini Luukkanen called her subordinates' names over and over again, only to be answered by the buzzing sound.
"Damned it! We failed!" Luukkanen cursed as she removed her hand from the communicator on her ear and gave the massive waterwheel-shaped Neuroi a dirty look.
"I didn't expect there to be any dirty tricks involved!"
Tumbled on the ground, Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen rubbed her back in pain, "Ahh… Ouch…! Damn… I fell down…"
She looked around and found herself in a forest. She lay still, waiting for the pain to subside. When it did, she immediately stood up and began to look for Nipa and Hasse, eager to make sure they were fine. She was so worried about her comrades that she couldn't be bothered to pat off the leaves fallen atop her head.
"Nipa! Hasse! Are you alright?"
Right on cue, she spotted two figures clinging together in a distance, slowly approaching. It turned out to be Nipa and Hasse, offering a supporting hand to each other. There were a number of wounds all over their bodies. Their clothes were tattered, covered in soil and bloodstains.
"S-somehow it looks like we're alive!" Hasse gave a wry smile.
Nipa's left sleeve was missing from down the elbow, revealing her bloody arm. Hasse's right arm was tied to a branch, seemingly fractured.
Eila was taken aback, "How bad are your injuries?"
"I think I can recover with my magic, but Hasse…," Nipa worriedly looked to Hasse, who was pressing her right arm with her left hand.
Although she crashed very often, Nipa could always get nearly fully recovered in a very short time no matter how badly she was wounded, all thanks to her self-recovery ability. That was why she was still one piece despite her having a Striker accident on an almost daily basis. She and Eila, who never got shot down, were indeed an "unperishing duo."
"It just cracked a little bit!" Hasse tried to reassure her comrades.
"But...looks like it won't be easy to fix."
Eila was shivering, overwhelmed with a strong sense of guilt. There was no way Hasse could wield a gun now. It was her fault. If only she had reacted more quickly with her Foresight ability. She did foresee it, but she failed to inform Nipa and Hasse in time. If she had, it would have spared Hasse all the physical suffering, and the whole plan wouldn't have been ruined, either.
From the communicator came Commander Luukkanen's voice, "Illu! Nipa! Hasse! Answer me if you're alive!"
The commander was relieved when she finally got a reply after so many tries. After learning what had happened to the trio, she ordered Eila to join her group, Nipa to stay put and treat her own wounds, and Hasse to withdraw from battle at once.
Laura, next to the commander, noticed something, "Commander! The target started moving again!"
Indeed, the massive waterwheel-shaped Neuroi started its advance again. Fire flamed up on the tip of its every match-shaped launcher on the wheel-like structures of its body.
The commander clicked her tongue in dismay, "It wouldn't give up!"
The Neuroi cast the flames onto the ground from its launchers, making harsh noises.
On the other end of the line, Hasse looked at the black ocean of the small-types on the battlefield. It didn't look like the escorts buzzing in the front would go away. What were they going to do? With her hand still on her broken joint, Hasse made a decision.
"Commander, I have an idea," said Hasse through the radio.
Nipa and Eila turned around and looked at her in confusion and surprise.
"Hasse…?" muttered Eila.
"Illu, Nipa," Hasse looked the two of her comrades in the eye, all seriousness on her face. "You still want to fight with me?"
The commander put one hand on her radio communicator and shouted to every member of the squadron, "We need to buy some time while Illu's group tries to recover! Suppress all the targets! Even just a little bit will help!"
Some squad-mates had some reservations.
"Are we still doing the same strategy?"
"But Hanna and Nikka are injured, aren't they?"
But they didn't have any other choice. The commander gritted her teeth, "I'm counting on you guys! Just do it!"
At the same time, in the forest—
"Wait, I'm the sniper now?" Eila looked at Hasse in astonishment.
"That's right. I'll push myself to the limits. You just worry about the timing."
Eila started to panic, "B-but I'm not very skilled at long-range weapons! What about the Neuroi scouts in the area? Won't we just be targeted again just like last time?"
To calm Eila down, Hasse explained patiently, "We failed last time because Lapra and Hasse had yet to clear all the small-types. After they are done, no scout will find our position, and no escort will show up suddenly when you are trying to shoot the main target. We have to stop their frontal assault anyway, don't we?"
Undoubtedly, Hasse was right. However, it was still a task of unusually high difficulty, even without the involvement of the small-types. Commander Luukkanen also had commented that this task was as hard as "threading the needle." Moreover, Eila now had to not only time the shot but also operate the gun. Certainly it would be easier for one same person to do both the timing and shooting, as the whole process could be done wordlessly, but shooting was not Eila's top speciality, after all. And she couldn't afford to fail at it, as it was about the safety of the whole city and the whole country, which was now completely resting in the hands of this small group of witches.
In fact, the reason why she failed to exert her exceptionally quick reactions when the huge Neuroi's powerful beam struck was that she was in a very tense state at that moment. When Nipa was light-heartedly commenting about Commander Luukanen's group doing well, she was fixing her hands on Hasse's shoulders with her palms soaked in sweat, not daring to let go for one second, and murmured internally over and over again, "I can only see one or two seconds ahead of it! Just a blink of an eye! But no matter how, I will get there!" in a painful attempt to draw sustenance from the sheer innate unwillingness to lose and the sense of duty as a soldier to defend her homeland.
Busy composing herself, she didn't have the luxury to spare attention on what was going on around her, so she couldn't react immediately when she foresaw the strike of the beam, causing the three of them to be blown away. It was just a delay of one second or less and the outcome was so serious. A blink of an eye. That was how far Eila was able to see into the future. It meant she had to take action the very moment she sensed something with her Foresight. She was not going to have the time to even think.
Eila gritted her teeth and frowned, falling into a struggle.
"Illu…" Nipa worriedly looked at her friend.
Hasse patted Eila on the shoulder with her good hand as she passed Eila, "Everything will be fine, Illu. I know you can do it!"
Therefore—
A few minutes later, Hasse and Eila went back to the sky. Nipa stayed in the forest and waited for her wounds to recover, as Commander Luukanen had told her.
Again, Hasse and Eila got into their stand-by position. One of them held her gun on, ready to fire a shot at any time, and the other rested on the sniper's shoulder, but this time they switched places. Eila was wielding the gun and Hasse positioned herself behind Eila.
"Hey, Hasse, is your body really alright?" Eila asked Hasse, worried by the fact that her comrade joined the combat despite her injuries.
"Don't worry! Just floating is completely okay!" said Hasse as she gave out a reassuring smile before she raised her uninjured arm forward and made a thumb-up gesture in front of Eila's eyes. "If anything happens, I'm right here to be your shield!"
"I won't let anything happen!" said Eila, trying to sound relaxed. At the same time she swore in her mind to never put Hasse in the position to have to do so.
Time kept passing. Finally, one report after another came from the radio, informing that the clearance was done.
"This is Aurora! I've cleared Sectors C to F of obstacles!"
"Lapra speaking. Sectors M to L cleared of enemy decoys. Will continue."
Hasse nodded in satisfaction, "Good news! No surprise guests anymore!"
"Give it your best shot, Illu!"
What would come would come. Eila took a deep breath, "Roger!"
Eila steadied the gun in position and aligned her right eye with the scope. She propped up the gun with her left hand with her right forefinger poised on the trigger. Hasse, next to her, was helping her adjust the angle and check the distance as well as the direction and the speed of wind.
"Okay! Now time it right and pull the trigger!" said Hasse to Eila.
Eila closed her eyes and took another deep breath, silently whispering "you can do it" to herself over and over again in an attempt to steady her heart, which was beating faster and faster.
One second went by, and then two seconds, five seconds. She heard a boom, felt a vibration running from the barrel in her hand through her entire anatomy, and saw a bullet whistling out of the end of the gun and making a beeline for the target.
However, the target didn't stop as expected. It just kept advancing, as if nothing had happened. It turned out that the bullet didn't hit its core, which was confirmed after the smoke faded out.
"Damn! I swear I just timed the shot right!" Eila gritted her teeth.
'She missed?' Hasse thought to herself, assuming that Eila must have lost her rhythm at the last moment, but at the same time she understood that it couldn't be helped, as pressure was high and they were all tired. When she was thinking if she should say something to comfort Eila, the target took a new move. It aimed its main launcher at Eila and prepared to fire another beam.
"Illu!"
Everyone witnessed this scene, including Aurora, on land, and Commander Luukkanen, in midair.
Eila raised her head and opened her eyes, only to be greeted by the sight of a blazing, blinding and powerful beam coming at her.
Right before the beam hit her, two familiar figures rushed over and opened their shields, sheltering her behind them, before she could even see who they were.
"Nipa…? And Lapra too?"
"Pull yourself together, Illu!"
"You're...our number one ace!"
Nipa and Laura loudly encouraged Eila. Both their voices and outstretched arms were trembling from the unusually powerful beam.
Ace.
Eila felt a quake in her heart when this term, which just couldn't be more familiar to her, hit her eardrums. She had always taken it for a mere propaganda term, but this moment, it was more than that. Instead, in this three-letter word lay the endless recognition and support from her comrades, making it unmeasurably meaningful. It refilled her body, heart and soul with a wealth of energy, like a shot in the arm, right after she tasted the flavor of failure.
This was her first time receiving help on the battlefield. In the past, she was always a provider of a helping hand. Not until this moment did she realize how precious, touching it was to have a group of comrades to count on in a life-and-death situation.
Also, she came to a sudden realization that "ace" had become part of her self-identification a long time ago. She thought she didn't care about such a title at all, until now. In others' eyes she was an unassuming person who never bragged about her achievements and just finished every single job quietly. Not until now did she realize it was the approval and recognition she had been receiving all along that had helped her build steady self-confidence. With such amour propre, she never went around proving herself like Nipa used to, as she never expected her abilities to be doubted. No one would think she was weak, so she didn't have to do anything to prove she was not.
A huge train of thoughts crossed her mind in a brief moment. When she switched back to reality, her heartbeat had gone back to normal speed and her hands had stopped shivering, the frustration from the unsuccessful shot already behind her. In her eyes was only sharpness; on her face was only intentiveness; on her mind was only one thing — penetrating the core of the target with her own bullet.
Again, she timed the shot and fired.
Boom!
Time froze. Nipa, Hasse and Laura focused their lines of sight on the bullet after it came out of the barrel.
This time, the core was hit. The target stopped advancing and exploded.
Crisis averted. Helsinki was safe. Suomus was safe.
Eila left out a long sigh of relief. Exhaustion caught up with her. The muscles in her body went slack.
"This...time, it was all...in...one…" murmured the top ace wearily before her vision went black and she fell into insensibility.
Amid chaos, the MG42 she was holding fell off her hands and descended towards the ground alongside its unconscious user.
"No—! Illu—!"
"Your excellency, we've confirmed that the large land-type Neuroi invasion has been stopped, thanks to the effort of the Suomus Air Force 24th Squadron, and regarding that one witch in particular…"
"The war situation here should be stable for a little while, then."
"And by the way, your excellency, what will we do with the witch in question?"
"Well, if she is as strong for your country as you tell us she is, it's inevitable."
"Report to the allied head-quarters, we will arrange to have our top ace, Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen, transferred to the 501st Joint Fighter Wing immediately."
On two certain officers' desks, an affair was settled.
Author's note: Phew! I'm finally done with the final battle! Eila just can't be more amazing when she faints at the end, 100 times more amazing than when she lays waste to the Neuroi while humming in The Girls in the Sky! If only we could see what happens after Eila's blackout...! Maybe a scene where her comrades whisper to her, "Illu, you've done a good job. Now take a good rest," or something like that! Just one panel and I will be more than happy…! Maybe the limitation of pages didn't allow Kyougoku-sensei to do so.