STRIKE WITCHES: HEROS' RETURN: LYNETTE'S STORY

Chapter One

Lynette Bishop was abruptly woken by the sound of the morning horn. She looked over to see her best friend, Yoshika Miyafuji, fall out of bed. "Careful Yoshika," Lynne said, helping her up. "Thanks," she said, her head only coming up to Lynne's chin.

"Good morning you two," Emily Holt said, stretching on her own bed. She was the only one not surprised by the horn, having lived on the base for over a year. Her brother and the Marshal of the Strike Witches, Drake Holt, had relented after a week of Emily's pestering. He then let her share the room with Yoshika and Lynne.

"Good morning," Lynne and Yoshika said in unison. Emily looked at them mischievously. "Did I miss any fun?" she said, smirking. Yoshika jumped away from Lynne as if she was a live wire, shaking her head furiously.

"It wasn't anything like that at all!" Yoshika stammered, blushing beet red.

"I was just helping her up," Lynne said quietly, blushing herself. Emily just laughed. "I'm only messing with you two, relax," she said, jumping off her bed. Lynne relaxed, yet Yoshika still seemed frazzled. That's strange, Lynne thought. She shrugged it off, as the three of them got dressed.


It had been a month since Lynette received the summons from Drake Holt. She was in Gallia at the time, helping the restoration progress go smoothly along with her friend Perrine Clostermann. The two were surprised that the 501st was being reunited once more, and made haste to the United States of Liberion. Sure enough, the country was engulfed in war. Lynne and Perrine had to skirt around the Capitol to avoid the Neuroi core there. Same with San Francisco. They finally arrived at Pearl Harbor, to find the one person they last expected to be there. Yoshika Miyafuji. Lynne was beyond happy that her best friend was there, and equally happy that Yoshika had her magic back. Since then they have been retraining themselves and training the many new recruits of Liberion.

"Ten laps on the track, now! And going up and down the track counts as one lap, not two!" Sakamoto shouted, giving the witches their warmup. They groaned, until Sakamoto gave them the evil eye, at which they began to run. Three weeks had gone by, and the 501st was relatively back in shape. Dealing with the new Liberion recruits, that was something they were not yet used to.

"Come on, it's not that much further," Lynne said to a young witch she was running next to.

"Yeah, to you! I've never had to run this far!" the witch complained.

"It was hard for me too when I started, but it gets easier," Lynne said. The witch gave her a disbelieving look and ran ahead, making it clear that she didn't want to talk anymore. Lynne felt a bit dejected, until she heard a familiar voice behind her.

"These new witches are something else, huh?" Yoshika said, coming up beside her. Lynne nodded.

"They're probably not used to having their homeland attacked, much like you froze up when we were defending your homeland," the Fuso girl mused.

"I just don't know how I can deal with it. You're so much better at it than I am," Lynne said sadly.

"That's not true! You just need to have more confidence in yourself Lynne-chan! You're smart, you're a great shot, you're a good friend, you're beautiful..." Yoshika said trailing off, a blush blossoming on her cheeks.

"Aw, thanks Yoshika!" Lynne said, oblivious to Yoshika's embarrassment. Yoshika smiled, still blushing. They continued on, giving each other strength. Together they managed to make it through Sakamoto's morning training. Lynne then joined Yoshika after lunch as she went through training with the Shinden-kai. "Good to have a volunteer, thanks Bishop," Drake said. With the Shinden-kai, Yoshika was much faster than Lynne, but the Fuso girl kept pace with her friend. Drake, realizing that it would be impossible to separate the two for any reason, made use of the situation. He had them fly in formation, starting from the basics all the way to advanced maneuvers. Yoshika, being lower rank than Lynne, would mostly fly behind her and act as her wingman. Halfway through, Drake switched them, having Yoshika lead and Lynne follow. By the end of it they were exhausted.

"What time is it?" Lynne gasped, collapsing on the ground.

"I don't know," Yoshika replied, falling next to Lynne. Drake looked at them, half sympathetic, half annoyed at their lack of endurance. "It's almost dinnertime. Rest for a moment, then put your strikers away and head for the dining hall. You both have target practice after that," he said. Lynne and Yoshika suppressed groans as they acknowledged him.

Emily joined them in the dining hall, making dinner more lively and entertaining. She balanced a spoon on her nose and made a face out of her pasta, then made an imprint of her own face in the sauce, much to the amusement of everyone around her. The three walked together to the shooting range, where Drake and Sakamoto awaited them. "Em, what is all over your face?" Drake asked, alarmed. Emily laughed. "It's just pasta sauce," she said, plucking her brother's handkerchief from his pocket and using it to remove the remains of dinner's antics. "Get your own handkerchief!" he said incredulously, though he made no move to retrieve it. At that point Sakamoto cleared her throat, and Emily gave back the cloth.

"Right then. Yoshika, you're up first," Drake said, handing her gun to her. Yoshika was never a fan of guns, or war in general, but she held it diligently and aimed at the targets. Opening fire, her gun belched out several rounds a second, peppering the target with small holes. Drake nodded approvingly. "Next!"

Emily took her place and used her assault rifle on the target. By the time she was done, the target was ripped to shreds. "Lynne, you're next," Sakamoto said. Lynne lay on her belly in front of her gun, an anti-tank sniper rifle. She put her eye to the gun-sight, and aimed carefully. Once the target was firmly in her sights, she breathed in and placed a finger on the trigger. Just as she was about to pull it however, a shrill yell came from the distance. Lynne jumped, and in doing so pulled the trigger. She missed, and the bullet hurtled clear out of the shooting range. "Don't let outside distractions control you Bishop. Clear your mind," Drake said, perhaps a bit too harshly.

"I'm sorry," Lynne said quietly. She reloaded the gun, and aimed again. But the noise had thrown her off, and she missed again. Five more times she tried, and five more times she missed, until Drake called in end to their test.

"You did good, but you need to work on your focus Bishop," Drake said.

"Yes sir," Lynne said sadly. Emily looked at her with concern.


"What happened Lynne?" Emily asked later that night, as they were getting ready for bed.

"I don't know. One moment I was fine, the next when that shrill cry came out, I was scattered. I couldn't pull my thoughts together. Drake didn't seem too happy with me," Lynne replied. Emily shook her head.

"Don't be scared of my brother. He may be harsh at times, believe me. He made my initial training hell. But he only does that because he cares. He wants to make sure you're safe," she said.

"I wish I was more like Yoshika. She's so talented and outgoing," Lynne said.

"Don't shortchange yourself! If you weren't worthy of being in the Strike Witches, Drake would have sent you home. Besides, Yoshika says the same about you," Emily told her. Lynne looked up. "Really? Yoshika wants to be like me? Why?"

"Easy. You're a great friend, first and foremost. You're also a great shot, a good cook, well mannered. You're like a big sister, at least to me. Yoshika feels just as close... though her feelings aren't exactly 'sisterly'," Emily said.

"What do you mean?"

"Don't tell her I said this, but Yoshika's got it sweet for you. Oh my god, you two would be so cute together!" Emily explained, now giggling. Lynne blushed as a small smile crept on her lips.

"She likes me?" she asked, pulling at her dirty blond braid. Emily nodded.

"What do I do?"

"I don't know. I've never had a chance to meet many witches before, and all the guys are too afraid of my brother to make a move on me. Go figure. Anyway, my advice is to find out if you like her back. The rest should be obvious," Emily mused. Lynne nodded. Did she like Yoshika that way? She certainly admired her, that much was certain. But she couldn't tell if she felt attracted to her. Emily laughed softly. "You don't have to figure it out now, take your time. I doubt Yoshika will change her affections," she said, reassuring Lynne. Just then, Yoshika walked in.

"What did I miss?" she asked, climbing into her bed. Emily and Lynne looked at each other. "Nothing," they said in unison. Yoshika looked at them curiously.

"We were just gossiping about how much of a dork my brother is," Emily said wryly.

"I wouldn't say he's that bad," Yoshika replied. Emily grinned mischievously. "Don't tell me you like him? Ew!" she said, laughing.

"Not like that!" Yoshika said, blushing despite the fact that what she said was true. Both Lynne and Emily knew Yoshika thought of Drake as nothing more than a good friend. Emily and Yoshika continued their bantering until they grew tired, while Lynne mused over what Emily had said earlier, before falling asleep.


The next morning was much the same as before: Lynne and Yoshika would be startled by the morning horn, they hurried through breakfast only to suffer through training. This time they were doing flight formations. Lynne was Perrine's wingman, since Yoshika and Emily were paired together. To Lynne's relief and delight however, Lynne's element and Yoshika's element were paired together to make a flight. "Miss Clostermann, you're leading this flight. Impress me," Drake said over the radio.

"Roger," Perrine replied. "Finger four formation!" she called out to Lynne, Yoshika, and Emily. They complied, falling into formation. They went through Drake's instructions, following them to the letter. As they were doing this, Lynne couldn't help but look at Yoshika in a new light. She noticed that the Fuso girl would often steal looks at her, before looking away blushing. Lynne laughed softly, though she found herself blushing too. "Bishop! Yoshika! Eyes up front!" Drake barked, breaking their distraction.

"Yes sir!" they said, resuming their training. They continued, and were soon joined by several other formations as Drake put them through large-scale formations. By the time he was done with them, everyone was tired and grumbling.


"This feels so good!" Yoshika said, when they were in the bath. Lynne agreed. A bath after intense training felt so relaxing. "You can say that again," Emily replied before sinking below the water. Before either Yoshika or Lynne could get worried however, she popped up behind Yoshika, spooking her.

"Would you two behave? This is bath time, not play time!" Perrine snapped, sitting alone. Emily grinned mischievously and grabbed a bucket. She then filled it with soapy water, and promptly dumped it on Perrine's head. She sputtered and coughed, and when the deluge was over, she looked at Emily with a look of pure disbelief and indignity.

"What the hell did you do that for!?" she screamed. Emily shrugged. "It was fun," she said. Perrine was speechless, her mouth opening and closing as she turned red with anger.

"Relax, I'm just having fun," Emily said.

"Oh really?" Perrine said, picking up the bucket, "then I suppose you won't mind me doing THIS!" and she dumped the bucket on Emily's head. The redhead simply laughed and nodded. Perrine threw her hands up in disbelief and stormed off. Yoshika laughed quietly, while Lynne smiled at how ridiculous the situation was.

Lynne noticed as they continued bathing, that Yoshika would often steal looks at her, blushing all the while. Feeling slightly shy, Lynne blushed, sinking further into the water. To distract herself, she turned to Emily.

"What are we doing after this Emily?" she asked. The girl looked at her lazily. "Lunch. Then more formation flying. Drake seems to think we need improvement," she replied, playing with a fiery-red lock of hair.

"I think we did pretty good," Yoshika said, frowning. Emily laughed.

"Your definition of pretty good is different from my brother's. He's such a perfectionist," she said. Lynne relaxed as Yoshika and Emily conversed. She would have been happy to join in, but felt too shy to. It was only when Yoshika asked "What do you think Lynne-chan?" that Lynne entered the conversation.

"What? Sorry, I wasn't paying attention," Lynne said.

"What do you think about having all of the 501st use jet strikers?" Yoshika repeated. Lynne thought about it.

"I'm not sure. You seem fine when flying yours, but when Barkhorn tried a jet striker, she almost died," she said.

"True, but the one Barkhorn used was a prototype. A company here in Liberion, Lockheed, made a new striker unit that has been tested and approved for combat. It's the P-80 Shooting Star. Lockheed offered some to the base, but Drake denied them. I think he's afraid they are unreliable," Emily said.

"What if they are?" Lynne asked.

"I doubt they are that dangerous. Yoshika has the Shinden-kai, which is experimental. She works on it fine. The P-80 is not a prototype, and consumes less then the Shinden-kai. It should be safe," Emily answered.

"Should be," Yoshika said.

"Oh hush."


True to Emily's prediction, Drake had them formation flying again. He was relentless in his drills, giving them increasingly difficult formations to fly.

"Drake, you're killing us out here!" Emily whined through her earpiece.

"Practice makes perfect Em," Drake replied. Just then, the base's sirens went off. "You know the drill ladies." Lynne followed Perrine as she and the rest of her flight headed in the direction they were given. "Lynne, cover my back," Perrine said.

"Yes ma'am," Lynne replied. She tried to clear her mind as they neared the Neuroi, now a black speck in the sky. Though she wasn't as rattled as she was during training, she had a hard time pulling her thoughts together. Suddenly, a calm settled over her mind, as if something was pushing out all the bad thoughts and emotions.

"It'll be okay Lynne, just relax," Emily said. Lynne realized that Emily was working her magic, using her control over emotions to soothe her mind. "Thanks Emily," Lynne said. Emily smiled. They continued on, the Neuroi getting bigger as they drew closer. When they were within a mile of it, they saw it was a large-type Neuroi, and it was alone. It looked like a long plane with propellers on the nose and the tail.

When the witches were in range, the Neuroi fired off its beams, though none of them made their mark. Yoshika and Emily dived in, drawing the Neuroi's fire. Perrine sat at midrange and fired off her gun. Lynne aimed carefully and fired. This time, her round hit dead center. A shower of white fragments exploded from the impact point. However, there was no core beneath, and the wound healed itself. Lynne tried to raise her shield against the alien's retaliation, but Yoshika beat her to it, her massive shield protecting both of them. "Thanks Yoshika," Lynne said. Yoshika smiled before diving back in. Their radios crackled to life. It was Drake.

"The other witches are on standby Miss Clostermann. Should I send them in, or do you think your team can handle this one?" he asked, a hint of a challenge in his voice.

"Negative Marshal, we can handle it," Perrine replied.

"Good. Keep it away from the base. If it comes within fifty miles, Major Grandone's flight will take it from there," Drake said, cutting off the transmission. Why is he so hard on Perrine? Lynne wondered silently. Then Drake's voice echoed inside her head.

Because I have little patience for those who see themselves above the common person. Other than that I have no problem with Miss Clostermann. But that's not important. Focus on your target Bishop, and hit it. Hopefully you won't have any recruits scaring you this time. Good luck, he said, before his presence in her head faded. Lynne cleared her mind, and focused on the Neuroi. Her next several shots were deadly accurate, and the last one grazed the core.

"There! I found the core!" Lynne shouted, pointing. Perrine, Yoshika, and Emily converged on the core, showering it with bullets. It exploded, white fragments shooting everywhere. They all raised their shields to avoid getting cut by the more dangerous ones.

"The Neuroi has been destroyed, returning to base," Perrine said. Yoshika, Lynne, and Emily followed her, relieved the Neuroi threat was gone, at least for now. They returned to base, and went to relax. Drake's rule: If you shoot down a Neuroi, you are free for the rest of the day to do as you wish. Lynne excused herself and quietly made her way to Eila's room. She opened the door to find Eila lying on her bed, playing with her tarot cards. Sanya was fast asleep. Eila looked up and noticed Lynne.

"Lynne? What do you want?" she asked quietly.

"I... uhm..." Lynne stuttered, suddenly feeling shy.

"Spit it out, I haven't got all day."

"Could you read my fortune with Yoshika?" Eila looked at her curiously. "What do you mean?"

"I think Yoshika likes me and I want to know if it's true," Lynne said, now blushing. Eila started to laugh, but seeing Lynne about to leave, she stopped. "Sit down," she said, gathering her tarot cards. Lynne sat in front of her and watched as Eila shuffled her deck, then cut it and spread it. "You are asking a yes/no question, so the answer won't be very detailed. In order to find out more, you'd have to ask more, and you'd have to get Miyafuji to do the same thing," Eila explained. Lynne nodded. She took a random card from the spread and flipped it over. It was the Lover's card. Eila grinned. "I don't think I have to translate this one. She loves you, without a doubt. Doesn't really surprise me, the way she goggles you. Question is, do you love her?" she said. Lynne blushed deeply.

"I-I don't know," she replied. Eila huffed.

"Well, don't leave her hanging! Make up your mind. You won't have forever," she said.

"I know... but what would my parents think?" Lynne asked.

"I wouldn't know. I don't know your parents."

"They'd want me to marry a lawyer, or a doctor... a man."

"Ah, I see. I don't know what to tell you then. If it were me I'd go for it, doesn't matter what other people think. Besides, isn't Miyafuji gonna run her family clinic after the war?" Eila said, flopping on the bed. "Do you like her?" she repeated, after a minute of silence. Lynne was silent for several more minutes.

"She's been my friend for a few years now... no matter how much I mess up or fail, she always there for me. She's sweet, she's kind... Yes... Yes. I do like her back," Lynne said.

"Then go tell her," Eila said.

"I think I will, thanks Eila!"

"Don't mention it."