Note: Sorry it took so long, enjoy.
501st Defends Fuso
Part 3: Escort
Yoshika wearily climbed into the transport, with Lynette right behind her. Both exhausted by the effort to save as many lives as possible from the Neuroi attack. Lynette sat down next to her, across from Lucchini and Shirley. Lucchini had her head in Shirley's lap, and appeared asleep.
Perinne sat next to Lynn followed by Erica and Trude, all sitting on the same side.. Eila and Sanya sat down next to Lucchini, who did not seem to notice anything as the truck rumbled to life, taking off towards the base as the sun set. They swayed with the bumps, but no one cared.
"Where's the commander?" Lynn finally asked.
"The major came to pick her up," Trude said. "Something about Minna being needed back at the base."
"Probably something to do with the attack," Erica said with a yawn leaning back slightly.
"That was a strange Neuroi?" Eila finally said, with an arm around a tired Sanya. "I've seen one split before but not like this."
Yoahika frowned at Eila's comment, taking a moment to recall all the Neuroi she had fought, finally remembering the one. It had been the first Neuroi she encountered after joining the 501st, that had split. The same one she and Lynn attacked, and working together destroyed it.
"Multiple cores, never heard of that before," Shirley said, musing about the strange fact. "I hope this isn't the normal for this hive."
"Ugh, me too, this'll wipe us out," Eila said.
"I think if that happens we would have reinforcements," Trude said.
"But from where, this attack was world-wide," Yoshika said, remembering what occurred before the battle.
"That's something that bothers me as well," Trude said. "The Neuroi have never shown such a mass organization before, why now?"
"Who knows," Erica said with a yawn. "I could use some sleep."
"You usually asleep anyways," Trude said.
"You have your powers back, how," a soft voice asked. Yoshika realized Sanya had spoken.
"Ah, well, I felt really tired a few days ago, and then fell asleep for a day," Yoshika said, laughing slightly at her response.
"The regeneration sleep," Lynn said.
"Eh, you know about that?" Yoshika asked looking at Lynette.
"Um, yeah, I asked my mother about it after what happened," Lynn said. "She said your power would come back."
"That's right, magic abilities cannot be lost, they can be temporarily, well, drained," Trude said. "It's like breathing, you can't stop it unless you die. However it could take time before your powers come back, so we didn't say anything because it could take years before it comes back."
"I see," Yoshika said. "My mother said the same thing."
"You have a pretty powerful mother," Shirley said.
"She and your grandma are really good healers," Erica said.
"You think, yeah, I guess so. I hope I'm as good as they are when I grow up," Yoshika said. She still had her dream of taking over the medical practice after she had fully learned her skills.
"Yeah, though it was awesome that we all were here again," Eila said.
The truck rumbled to a stop allowing them all off. Yoshika recognized the base and stepped out. She looked around at the obvious increase in activity. She had never seen it so busy but then again there had never been so close a threat that she could remember. The tense faces on so many familiar people seemed so out of place to her. She felt saddened at the fact no one looked over, waved at her like normal. The Neuroi had interfered with her life once more.
She watched the striker units being unloaded into the hangar, where she felt sure techs went over each one, making sure all of them worked flawlessly. Yawning, she wondered what the next step might be, and she knew she would enroll into the navy once more. The third tour of duty for her.
"Miyafuji," a voice said causing her to turn. She spotted Major Sakamoto walking towards her.
"Sakamoto," Yoshika said waiting to see what the major needed.
"Are you joining back up?" Sakamoto said, now standing in front of her.
Yoshika only had to think about the question for a second. Her mother, grandmother, friends, all now threatened by the Neuroi. She disliked war, but she made a promise to her father, use her power to protect others. "Yes ma'am," causing Sakamoto to laugh.
"Good girl," Sakamoto said. "I'll inform Minna, and quarters have been set up tonight for us all, several of you will have to bunk together."
"Sanya and I can bunk together," Eila said very quickly. Yoshika looked over at Eila then noticed Sanya who was now blushing despite the fact she looked half asleep.
"I thought so, any other volunteers?" Sakamoto said looking around at the others.
"Trude and I can," Erica said after a few seconds.
"What!" Trude replied, looking quite shocked. "Um, I mean okay, I guess if it needs to be done then I can," she quickly added, her face returning to her typical disciplined self.
"Any others, we need one more group," Sakamoto said.
"I guess Yoshika and I can," Lynn said suddenly.
Yoshika looked over at her friend before giving a nod. It needed to be done and they had shared a bed before. Yoshika pushed the guilty thought of snuggling with Lynn out of her mind, only to have it return. She risked a glance over at Lynn, but found her gaze focused on her breasts. Sakamoto's voice snapped her back to reality.
"All right, that's three, you'll all be shown your room and there will be a meeting in the morning when we have more information about the newest assignments," Sakamoto said. "Now let's grab something to eat then turn in."
"Sounds wonderful," Lucchini said sleepily, rubbing her eyes. "I'm exhausted."
The group quickly grabbed some cooked fish before sitting down wearily to eat.
"Perrine, what happened with your Neuroi?" Trude asked, eating her fish quickly.
"It was too fast for us," Perrine said. "I've never seen anything like it."
"Faster than me?" Shirley replied, the question in her voice obvious.
"Eh, the commander wished you were there, she thought you could catch it, and the core was in the front out of our firing arc," Perrine said.
"Ours was very maneuverable," Shirley said. "It was dodging our attacks like something I've only seen Eila do, thought nowhere near as good."
At that Eila looked up from her fish at Shirley. "The Neuroi having powers to see the future?" she asked. A question all of them pondered for a second, the implementations not boding well if the Neuroi managed to gain such abilities.
"No, more like it was moving erratically," Shirley replied after a few seconds of thought.
"Yeah, then we use me as a steerable missile, it was great," Lucchini said. "Whoosh! Boom!"
"What about yours?" Shirley asked, looking over at Eila.
"Eh, ours had a mobile core," Eila said. "Wasn't that hard with Sanya's firepower and my ability to know where to shoot."
The group looked over at Trude and Erica, watching as Trude quickly swallowed her food.
"Well, ours had a good in close defensive ability. We couldn't engage close in and long range wasn't very good. We could have used Lynn's sniping abilities," Trude said.
Yoshika glanced over at Lynn who now blushed with the praise from Trude.
"Let me guess, one of you used your shield so the other could attack," Shirley said. "Who deployed their shield?"
"I did, only natural, Hartmann has the better shot," Trude said, as Erica looked over at her in shock before recovering.
"Trude's best attack is using her guns as swords, doesn't work well with a shield," Erica said with a smile.
"Well, it was only the two of us, didn't have much time to think of a better strategy," Trude replied taking another bit of her fish.
"What about you Yoshika?" Sanya asked.
"Huh? Ours? Oh, well ours was actually quite normal I thought, Lynn?" Yoshika said, looking over at Lynn for conformation.
"Yeah, nothing unusual that I saw," Lynn replied honestly.
"I wonder if all were the same suicidal type?" Shirley asked, pondering the question. Everyone looked slightly horrified at the thought. The damage and loss of life would have been tremendous.
"I hope not?" Yoshika said. That went against everything she had come to understand about the Neuroi. She thought each hive operated independently, or had thought that way. Now, however, they were showing some sort of operational intelligence. Had they manipulated her into thinking that? The thought made her angry but she had no proof either way. She would wait to see.
She finished her meal, yawned and headed over to Sakamoto.
"Yes Yoshika?" she asked, seeing her walk up.
"Um, my mother and grandmother, I need to tell them I signed back up," Yoshika said.
"I'll send a courier over in the morning, they told me they were staying at the village for the night, in case of any new injuries," Saklamoto said.
"Oh, okay," Yoshika stated.
"Now, go get some rest that's an order," Sakamoto said, stifling a yawn herself.
"Yes ma'am," She replied, heading towards the barracks seeing Lynn head in the same direction.
SWSWSWSW
Minna stood in front of several high ranking officials, a place she seemed to always find herself in lately. This time they were not the leaders of nations but the leaders of the Fuso military. They were there to talk about what happened the previous day. Minna waited patiently for one of them to speak.
"Lieutenant Colonel, the Fuso Empire owes you and those witches who flew with you a great deal of gratitude," the eldest man said. Minna recognized his rank as general as his dark eyes look at her. He rubbed a hand over his bald head before continuing. "The latest Neuroi tactics are disturbing to say the least."
"Yes, this Neuroi was unlike anything I've ever encountered before," Minna said honestly.
"What happened out there?" the general asked.
"Sir, the original Neuroi that approached had seven cores. Something I've never seen before. During the engagement we managed to destroy two cores before splitting into five pieces. My team split up, with two witches on each one. They managed to destroy four, but the fifth was the fastest Neuroi I've ever encountered, faster than most witches and any current plane we have," Minna said. "It then stopped, and before we could fire dove towards the surface. My first thought became ground combat."
"Mmm," the general said, folding his hands and waiting for the rest of the story. Minna realized he took her words seriously.
"Instead it hit the ground and seemed to explode," Minna said. She hoped to never encounter anything like that again.
"Yes, the damage was quite extensive. It will take time to know how many were killed, but it seems you and your witches were very helpful in healing the wounded. They probably saved many lives," the general said. "However we now have a problem."
"Yes sir," Minna said, knowing the meeting would now address the real situation. "The Nueroi hive to the north."
"Mmhmm," the man said once more getting slightly on Minna's nerves. "And no squadron of witches for protection."
"Yes sir, I'm proposing to reactivate the 501st. The squad is already together and ready for action," Minna replied, hoping that he would see logic and approve the request. She already had the group together, all she needed now was permission to reform the group.
"I will allow it," the general finally said after a few moments of silence. Minna let out a breath at the words. She had one problem though, she still had to get more troops to Fuso to protect the country, and Chin as well. Orussia she felt less concerned about as they had squadrons all over their country, and probably already rushing a squadron to the Eastern part of the country.
"There is one problem, even the 501st can't protect Fuso alone," Minna replied. "We're going to need a few more squadrons to adequately protect the country."
"Yes, we are working on the situation at the moment, but for now, I'm afraid that your squad is the only real protection we have. Orussia has deployed the 46th Taman Guard Strike Witches to protect their coast, but they are stretched thin. We can't look for replacements from there," the general said. "I've given word that the Fuso army and navy do everything they can to help the witches out, all you have to do is ask."
"Thank you general," Minna replied, giving a slight bow to the man.
"Lieutenant colonel, I have read the reports of the 501st, and looked beyond your record as well. I know that what happened in Britannia was not your fault, nor anyone in your squadron, and their actions in Romagna are to be applauded. I only hope for the same result here," the man said. "My main concern is the protection of the Fuso Empire and her people."
"I understand sir," Minna said.
"Good, I do have one order, Major Mio Sakamoto will act as liaison between the 501st and the Fuso military," he said to her. The request shocked Minna slightly, but also felt relieved.
"I'm sure she will do a great job general, and keep her out of harm," Minna said.
"Well then, I'm sure you have a lot to do, dismissed," the general said.
Minna walked out of the room feeling slightly better at the outcome. One thing was for sure, the 501st was now back in action, though one member short in reality. Mio was not combat effective, she could fly and scout, and add in her liaison duties, she would, hopefully, not be in harms way.
She walked over to the jeep where she was surprised to see a woman and two men waiting for her.
"Lieutenant-colonel Minna Wilcke correct," the woman replied, as Minna took a moment to remember who stood in front of her.
"Yes, how are you Duchess Maria?" Minna replied, remembering the Duchess of Romangna.
"Is it true?" Maria said. "A new hive has appeared in Fuso?"
"Yes, we managed to defeat the Neuroi attack, but the northern part of Fuso is now under Neuroi control," Minna said.
"And Lucchini went to fight didn't she, along with Shirley," Maria said. Minna recognized the statement, veiled as a question and wrapped in concern.
"Yes, I've applied for her to join the 501st again," Minna said.
"I would like to head back to your base to talk with Lucchini then," Maria said.
"Um, all right," Minna said, not sure how to react to that. "I was on my way back."
Minna climbed into her jeep as did Maria. The other two men went to another vehicle and proceeded to follow them back to the base.
"I heard that Lucchini is part of your guard, is that right?" Minna said, hoping to break the silence as they drove.
"Hmm, yes, she is, and her friend, Shirley as well. I had to contact Liberon about that one, seems like they didn't even know where she was," Maria stated.
"That's Shirley," Minna replied with a slight chuckle. "She goes where she wants."
"And Lucchini seems attached to her as well," Maria said. Minna thought she heard a bit of sorrow in the girl's voice.
"Lucchini loves Shirley for her speed. They share some of the same qualities, but Lucchini never seemed to shut up about you," Minna said, watching Maria perk up at that.
"R-really?"
"Yeah, Shirley and Lucchini are more like sisters than anything else," Minna said.
"I see," Maria said. "So the 501st is back together then. Where are you stationed?"
"That's the problem, we need to be closer to the hive so we can intercept the Neuroi," Minna said. "I'm hoping Mio, um, Major Sakamoto will have some ideas of where to go."
"Didn't she and another witch lose their powers?"
"Yes, they completely burned their powers out and had to wait but recently were restored," Minna said. "However Mio will never be in combat again, she can no longer defend herself."
Minna turned the corner seeing the base below them. In the harbor she spotted the Britannia carrier Ark Royal and even the Karlsland warship Gneisenau at anchor, along with the Fuso warships Musashi and Zuikaku. She realized the harbor looked extremely crowded with so many warships.
"A lot of warships," Maria said.
"They brought their leaders here, looks like they are preparing to leave though," Minna said.
"What, oh yes, we're all leaving together with the witches protection," Maria said.
Minna glanced at Maria at the statement thinking that it made logical sense. She then realized the only witches in the area were the witches 501st. "I have yet to hear anything about that, but heading out together is a risk is it not?"
"I guess, I don't understand it all, my military adviser said something about not spreading the witches too thin, or something like that," Maria said.
Minna stayed quiet for several seconds thinking about what she had heard. She felt sure that she would receive word real soon about the escort mission. She turned into the base giving a salute to the guard then continued on in.
"I doubt Lucchini is up, she was busy yesterday," Maria said.
"True," Minna said, not acknowledging that the girl could be anywhere on base as well.
"And she could be anywhere," Maria said, mirroring Minna's though. "I've seen her sleep in some very strange locations reminds me of a cat."
Minna laughed at that knowing that it was the truth. Lucchini rarely slept in her bed. She spotted Mio already out near the hanger along with Miyafuji already training. She stopped and got out walking up to the two, with Maria right beside her.
"Already working hard I see," Minna said to the two of them.
"Yes ma'am," Yoshika replied, not breaking her training.
"Is every up or are they still sleeping?" Minna asked, looking over at Mio.
"Hmm, I saw Shirley go into the hanger but that's it," Mio replied as Yoshika stopped her exercise to stand next to Mio.
"Lynne was still sleeping when I left, and I thought I saw Lucchini in the hanger sleeping," Yoshika said, Minna thought she saw a slight blush on Yoshika's face at the mentioning of Lynne. She said nothing, and concentrated on her first task.
"Then we'll head in there," Minna said.
SWSWSWSW
Shirley tinkered with her Striker Unit, making sure it was running at peak condition. She still figured she had untapped potential in the Striker Unit. The roar of the unit masked anything else until she finally heard someone shouting nearby. She turned to see Minna standing there with Maria.
"…SHUT THAT OFF," Minna yelled, before she blinked at the realization the engine stopped.
"Hey, I'm trying to sleep here," Lucchini's voice said, from the rafter where she had laid down.
"I never will understand how you do that?" Maria finally said, looking up at Lucchini who appeared shocked to see her.
"Maria? What are you doing here, it's dangerous to be so close to the front," Lucchini replied, jumping down as Shirley watched the two of them.
"What, I came to see you before I leave to head back to Romagna, though there is talk of meeting in Liberon instead," Maria said.
"Oh, I see," Lucchini said.
"I mean you are staying here, right?" Maria asked. At that everyone looked at Minna for confirmation. Most assumed that they would be staying but until they received official word nothing was for sure.
"Yes, the orders are coming in," Minna said.
"Then I guess I am," Lucchini said.
"You'll be careful," Maria said. Shirley watched Maria then turn and head in her direction.
The two had not gotten along that well but now she noticed a determined look in the duchess' eye. Shirley waited wondering what Maria had to say.
"And you," Maria said, pointing her finger at Shirley. "You will make sure she's all right."
"Um, no problem," Shirley finally replied in all honesty.
"Good," Maria said before turning back to Lucchini. "Be safe," she said giving Lucchini a hug.
Shirley watched the normally unshakable Lucchini blush before returning the hug and stating she would.
"I need to get back, preparations will be starting soon," Maria said, finally giving Lucchini a kiss on the cheek.
"Well, let's get organized as well, we have a lot to do," Minna said, knowing they had a lot to do. "Shirley, would you get everyone together."
"Yes," Shirley replied, walking away towards the barracks hoping that everyone was up. She also knew this would allow Lucchini time to say good-bye in private. Shirley headed inside wondering if everyone had finally woken up.
SWSWSWSW
Yoshika watched as everyone slowly made their way into the hangar. Trude walked in first, awake before even Yoshkia got up. Trude stated she was looking for a spot to do some training, reminding Yoshika of Sakamoto in her discipline. Next was Perrine who looked at Yoshika before looking away. Lynne came in next, looking a bit tired, but more awake than Erica who walked in still yawning.
Yoshika mind recalled how she woke up this morning, lying on Lynne, and blushed slightly. The feel of the other girl's skin, her soft breasts caused Yoshika to quickly leave the room before she did anything regrettable. Movement at the door caught her attention. Lucchini came back in with Shirley followed by Eila and Sanya.
"Okay everyone, listen up, we have some work to do," Minna said, having been handed the orders while Maria was talking to Lucchini. Everyone gathered around, waiting for Minna's orders.
"I take it that we're not staying here," Sakamoto said, causing many to wonder where they would were headed.
"No, but the good news is that as of this moment, the 501st Joint Strike Wing has been reformed. Our new task, protecting Fuso," Minna said. "Unfortunately we're the only Witches in the Fuso area, for now. Command is working on bringing two other squads in, including a ground force. Orussia called in the 46th Taman Guard Strike Witches, they will be in charge of protecting Orussia for now. I don't know when the other squads will arrive, so we need to be careful, especially on patrols."
Yoshika listened tow wha tMinna said, and found herself intrigued. She had never seen a ground squad before, though she knew they existed from talking to Shirley about her time in Africa. She wondered what they might be like.
"We're also moving further north, to a better intercept point. Now once up there we're organizing a round the clock patrols," Minna said. "This will affect Mio and Sanya the most."
"Sakamoto, but she can't protect herself," Yoshika said, suddenly hearing the major laugh.
"Miyafuji, don't worry, I'm only scouting. During the day my magic allows me excellent sight very much like Sanya's magic at night," Sakamoto said. "I have no intention of engaging the Neuroi, but I can scout giving you a chance to rest, and you'll need that until the other squadrons arrive."
Yoshika looked over at Sakamoto, before looking at the others who all seemed to understand her words.
"There are some other operational changes, Barkhorn, you'll be taking Major Sakamoto's place in combat, I'll still retain overall command," Minna said.
"Yes ma'am," Trude said.
Footsteps caused them to turn towards the hangar entrance, where a colonel walked in making his way to Minna. He handed her some orders, which Minna quickly scanned through.
"All right, we have our orders, they will have all our equipment packed up by ten hundred, get something to eat and prepare to move out," Minna said.
"Yes Ma'am," everyone replied.
Yoshika turned to head to the kitchen and eat breakfast. It seemed like things had not changed at all from her previous two times of enlistment.
SWSWSWSW
Yoshika looked at the fortress, their new base. She had never been this far north in the empire until now. The fort seemed a bit large, and a construction crew worked hard to complete the runway. Trees cleared, and a layer of rocks and dirt covered the area. She heard the workers were from Liberion.
"The workers should have it done by the end of the day. A Liberion group, called themselves SeeBees," Minna said to them, then appeared hesitant about something. "Um, there are ten rooms, so who wants to share?"
"I'll share with Sanya," Eila said quickly, not to anyone's surprise.
"Well," Minna said, looking at the two of them before making up her mind. She knew it didn't matter Sanya would end up in Eila's room anyways. The only other people would be Shirley and Lucchini because the younger witch never used her room.
They split up and head to their rooms.
"This is a bit different than Romagna and Britannia. Though it does remind me of the northern part of Britannia," Lynne said.
Yoshika was not sure about that, but then again Fuso was a very beautiful country in her opinion even though she had been to Britannia and Romagna. Home always seemed better, but this time she also understood that somewhere out there a Neuroi hive threatened her homeland.
"Yes it is," Yoshika finally agreed as they finally stopped in front of their rooms. "Hey, we're beside each other again isn't that great?"
"Yeah," Lynne replied with a smile.
Yoshika walked into her room which, as normal, was empty at the moment. Being closer to home she could actually bring more things to make her room feel more like home for a change. She turned and went back out to see if Lynne's room was the same. She opened the door to see the Britannia witch lying on the bed, arms outstretched and her eyes closed. Yoshika's eyes went right away to Lynne's breasts even though she tried not to she could not help but stare at them. They looked so perfect, and large, and she could still feel the softness of them from this morning.
"Hey Yoshika," Lynne's voice said, breaking Yoshika's train of thought so much she jumped.
"What, no, I wasn't staring, um," Yoshika said quickly, before looking at Lynne who appeared slightly confused. "Um, nothing," Yoshika finally said, feeling her cheeks heat up. "What did you want?'
"Are you sure you're okay?" Lynne asked looking at her with concern.
"Yes, fine, fine, just perfect," Yoshika replied. "You were going to say something?" Yoshika prompted hoping to change the subject.
"Hmm, guess I forgot," Lynne replied.
"Oh, well let's go out and take a look around the base," Yoshika stated.
"Okay," Lynne said, as Yoshika headed out of the room with Lynne right behind her.
SWSWSWSW
Minna sat down in her new office, taking a moment to organize everything before a knock on the door caused her to look up. A young lieutenant stood there waiting. "Come in," Minna told him.
"Ma'am, I have some orders from high command for you," he said, handing her the envelope. Minna thanked him, took the orders and scanned through them. Straight forward and hopefully easy Minna thought to herself. A group of witches would board the carrier Zuikaku to protect the fleet until they were far enough away, before returning to Fuso with the entire operation taking at most a couple of days to complete.
"This will leave Fuso unprotected," Minna finally said, after scanning through the orders.
"Intelligence thinks the Neuroi won't attack for a few more days, and the operation is take place right away," the lieutenant said.
Minna sighed knowing anything could happen. She would have to split the squad, and still have witches to protect both the fleet and Fuso. "All right, tell command I'll send some of the witches with the task force, and the rest will protect Fuso in case of attack," Minna said. "If the higher ups have a problem with that they can contact me."
"Yes ma'am," the lieutenant replied, saluted and walked out the door.
Minna stood, stretched, and thought about who would go. Five witches should be enough, and she figured Mio, Lucchini, Shirley, Yoshika and Lynette, leaving the rest for combat in Fuso just in case. She headed off to tell the concerned group to pack up and report to the Zuikaku.
SWSWSWSW
Yoshika flew alongside Lynne. Along with Sakamoto, Lucchini and Shirley, they headed to the carrier Zuikaku. Yoshika could already see the ship steaming along with a large group of warships. She had seen many of them in her experiences in Britannia and Romagna.
She spotted a mixture of countries, including a few that she had never seen before. Minutes later they landed on the flight deck of the carrier and taken below, to store the strikers. Yoshika waited for Lynne, and they walked over to the others. She spotted the captain, and a few others waiting for them.
"I'm captain Fuchida, and this is my flight officer, Major Genda. Welcome aboard the Zuikaku," he said.
"Thank you captain. You were aboard the Akagi," Sakamoto said, looking over at Genda.
"Yes, I was injured in the attack on the way to Britannia and was not on the return trip," he said.
"You didn't miss much," Sakamoto replied, turning back to Fuchida.
"Our orders are to stay with the fleet until we get two full days out, then if we see nothing turn around and return back to Fuso," Fuchida said. "Intelligence thinks if they don't spot anything by then, they will be safe from the Neuroi."
"Sounds good, you have a patrol up and going?" Sakamoto said, looking at both men.
"Yes," Fuchida said. "I know the witches are spread thin, my aircrew, along with the aircrew of the Ark Royal, will be in the air as much as possible. We don't want to be caught off guard."
"Thank you captain," Sakamoto replied, looking at the others. "Well we should rest up a bit, I don't expect trouble, but you never know."
"Yes ma'am," Yoshika said.
A short while later Yoshika and Lynne stood along the railing looking out at the fleet of ships all around them. Yoshika had not seen so many ships since the last attack on the Neuroi hive while she was in Romagna. She spotted a Romagna ship in the distance and a Britannia carrier, the Ark Royal nearby. It appeared to be conducting flight operations as aircraft took off from its deck.
"So you really came over on that ship?" Yoshika asked.
"Yep," Lynne said.
"Wow, they are amazing," Yoshika said.
She looked across at the ships before they finally turned heading to the gallery for a bite to eat. The met up with Shirley and Lucchini on the way there.
"All settled?" Shirley asked.
"Yep," Yoshika replied. She and Lynn shared a room once more, Leaving Yoshika unsure if it was good or bad. Yoshika sniffed the air and the delicious smell made her mouth water. It would prove to be an interesting couple of days.
SWSWSWSW
Mio paused to watch the sunrise, never tiring of such a beautiful sight. She continued on her way walking onto the bridge, seeing Major Genda and heading over to him.
"Ah, Major Sakamoto, air operations are underway," he said to her.
Mio glanced down at the flight deck seeing the first planes placed into launch position. The bustle of the deck indicated they were serious about helping out.
"Good, I'll probably fly a bit as well," she said to him. "My ability to detect the Neuroi may come in handy."
"Of course," Genda said. "Right now we're coordinating with the Ark Royal in covering the fleet. You can look over the patrols as well."
"Thank you," Mio replied to the major. Captain Fuchida walked onto the bridge heading over to where they stood.
"Captain, something wrong?" Genda asked.
"We received a message from a fishing boat before we lost contact, they mentioned a Neuroi," he said.
"Where?" Mio asked, alarmed. The three of them headed to the maps to check out the situation.
"Right about here," Fuchida said, pointing to a location on the map.
"Okay, I'll scramble and take a look, be ready for combat in case it is the Neuroi," Mio said hearing the captain reply before heading down the hanger to get her Striker Unit and check it out.
SWSWSWSW
Yoshika stood in the hangar still a bit restless from last night. She and Lynne had not shared a bed but still Yoshika had a hard time from staring at her friend's breasts. She kept imaging herself touching them, the softness she knew they had. She shook her head, knowing this was not the time for such thoughts.
Captain Fuchida told them the situation, and how Major Sakamoto left to check it out. A Neuroi so early in the trip caused all of them some concern. General quarters caused her to jump, as the alarm bells and whistles went off. She heard other ships going to general quarters as well, not a good thing in her mind.
"Neuroi spotted, all witches launch, fighters follow," the captain's voice said throughout the hangar.
Yoshika followed the others as they jumped into their Striker Units feeling her magical power come alive. The lift rose up as she spotted sun in front of her, feeling the ship starting to turn into the wind.
"Shirley taking off."
"Lucchini taking off."
"Yoshika taking off," she said, roaring down the deck and taking off, hearing Lynne say the same thing before joining up with her.
"This way," Shirley said, as they headed off in the direction of the Neuroi. "Major, what's the situation?"
"One Neuroi, one core near the top point," Sakamoto's voice replied back.
"Understood, Lucchini is with me, we'll try to uncover the core while Lynne will destroy it. Yoshika will cover Lynne, and if necessary the fleet in case it gets in range," Shirley said.
"Roger," they all replied back.
Yoshika had no problem with her role. She preferred to defend, rather than attack even after everything the Neuroi had done. She watched Shirley and Lucchini race in to attack as the Neuroi opened fire. Yoshika deployed her shield blocking an attack, as the group attacked again.
Lynne fired several times in rapid succession but the Neuroi remained.
"Missed, it moved just enough," Lynne said, even as Shirley and Lucchini made another attack run as Lynne fired again.
"Mayifuji look out, the Neuroi is in range of the fleet," Sakamoto said.
"Roger," Yoshika replied, looking behind her for a second. She watched in horror as the Neuroi attacked one of the destroyers. It exploded under the attack and she heard the wail of the sirens. "Lynne, I'm going to have to move to protect the fleet."
"Okay, I can protect myself," Lynne replied.
Yoshika looked at Lynne who nodded, before flying off arriving in time to block a beam headed to one of the larger ships. The Neuroi attacked Lucchini and Shirley next, forcing them to veer off their attack pattern. Sending another beam towards Lynne, Yoshika watched her friend easily deply her shield, blocking the attack.
Yoshika watched as a group of fighters raced in and back out straffing the Neuroi. It attacked back, destroying two of the fighters. Yoshika watched two parachutes open up as the pilots floated down to the ocean.
She quickly deployed a shield, this time blocking an attack against the Zuikaku. The fleet already had turned, steaming away from the Neuroi. Yoshika blocked another attack, even as a wave of dive bombers attacked the Neuroi, dropping bombs, most missed, but two hit. The Neuroi focused on the bombers, quickly destroying half of them.
She watched as Shirley and Lucchini made another attack on the distracted Neuroi, this time exposing the core. Lynne opened fire, getting off several shots. The Neuroi shattered ending the battle. Yoshika glanced at the fleet, seeing only one destroyer damaged.
"All clear," Sakamoto called out from her position over the fleet. "All witches return to the Zuikaku."
"Roger," they replied back, as Yoshika flew back to the carrier. They had defeated another Neuroi attack this time protecting many of the world's leaders. She felt relieved landing on the deck of the carrier, watching as the others landed as well. She looked over at Sakamoto who appeared worried about something.
"Something wrong major?" Yoshika said.
"Huh, oh, nothing, just thinking to myself," Sakamoto replied giving Yoshika a smile. "Come on, get some rest just in case, but we should be fine now."
"Yes ma'am," Yoshika replied.
She glanced out at the fleet, seeing a couple of destroyers racing off, probably to pick up pilots who had managed to safely get out of their planes. A larger ship, a cruiser, appeared to be helping the damaged destroyer in the distance. Two planes roared overhead, and she watched as the two planes headed towards the Ark Royal.
She hoped no more Neuroi appeared for the trip. Sometime tomorrow night the Zuikakuk would turn around and head back to port. By the end of the week, they would be back at the base, fighting to protect Fuso from another hive.
End Part 3