No One is Safe

Answer to a review

Nuggetmanu2: Well, considering the Warthog is just a jeep (sort of), the Neuroi laser can take it out easily. And no, the Neuroi is capable of space travelling and even FTL using slipspace.

August 26, 1945 (Local Calendar)

Pescara, Duchy of Romagna

"Yes…I understand…unfortunately, we never deal with this kind of thing…of course, sir."

Minna puts the phone back after the conversation with the top brass is over. She looks at Mio who's having an emotion that is a mixture of horror, sadness, and anger. Make sense since she's reading at the report of the deaths of the witches-in-training at Camp Metabaru.

At first, many of the top brass thought that it was the Neuroi that caused the deaths. Then, someone reminded them that Neuroi used laser to fight – not stealth – and never seen ever since the Fuso Sea Incident. And another, another person reminded them about the new Neuroi that annihilated an entire camp without raising the alarm.

Sufficiently said, everyone is confused. The current problem is that the public demand answer; an answer that none can give. Needless to say, they're now trying their best to find out the culprit, warned the witches about the assassinations, and try to expect what else the Neuroi can send to them.

"This is a disaster. The first time witches killed in their sleep quite literally. And it happened at one of the safest place since the Second Neuroi War." Commented Mio as she closed the file.

"Huh, you tell me. We managed to push the Neuroi back to Karlsland in the west, Libya in the Africa, and Vladivostok in the east. However, it appears the Neuroi is becoming more brutal as the result." Replied Minna.

"I agree with you. The annihilation of all personnel on Camp Tattaglia, soldiers at Africa being killed at night without warning, and perhaps the deaths of the witches-in-training." Mio shows a sad face. "I have been wondering, how many live do we have to pay to defeat the Neuroi? In the recent year, they have become more and more of a threat than ever before. Not even the Neuroi during the first war is this advanced and they beat us."

Minna can't help but agree with that. Humanity have been fighting Neuroi for centuries if not millennia and yet they know little about them. Where they come from, why they attacked humanity, how advanced they are, and many other unanswered questions.

One thing for sure is that the Neuroi are hardly came from Earth, despite the fact that their appearances pre-second war were similar to many mythological creatures. Some scientists believed that it was a psychological tactic and the reason they changed their appearances is because the Neuroi knew that humanity now fear vehicles of war like tanks and planes more than said creatures.

"By the way, I heard that there's going to be a major attempt to take back Karlsland." Said Mio.

"That's true. The plan involved using the witches and paratroopers to capture the bridges along the Rhine and reinforcement from the ground forces. The witches will fly from Batavian and Gallia. After that, the ground forces will join in and start the march to Berlin." Explained Minna.

"If everything goes smoothly, then we will retake Karlsland by Christmas. What is the name of the operation?"

"It will be called Operation Market Garden."

October 26, 2557 (UNSC Calendar)

UNSC Infinity

Lasky is currently looking at the information given by 074 Sadness Gateway and 711 Aggressive Fiber. Turns out, this planet had been invaded by an alien called "Neuroi" by the local since 1939. Though it actually went back to 1936 in Hispania and 1937 near Fuso. Lasky noted that the dates are similar to the start of Spanish Civil War, Second Sino-Japanese War, and World War II.

In reality, it was Roland who noted it since Lasky – while know about WWII – knows little to none about the former two wars.

"Alright, anyone has an idea how humanity with WWII tech can hold on against the Neuroi while we barely do the same against the Covenant with ours?" Said Lasky to everyone on the bridge.

"Maybe Neuroi is weaker than the Civies."

"Yeah, that's a possibility."

"Or perhaps they have a secret weapon to fight back."

"Like witches."

Almost everyone in the bridge turn their attention towards the person who suggested the last possibility. It's none other than Infinity's XPO, Armstrong.

"Armstrong?" Said Lasky confused.

"You remember the intel than Vanguard collected?" Lasky nodded in response. "Well, some of them said something along the line of 'the witches help us completing the objectives against the Neuroi'."

Lasky puts his hand at his chin as he thinks about it. He turns to Roland and asks something.

"Roland, were there anything about 'witches' in our WWII?"

"Except the 46th "Taman" Guards Night Bomber Aviation Regiment of the Soviet Air Forces? None, sir." Replied Roland.

Seeing that there's currently no clue about the true identity of the "witches", Lasky decides to keep it for later. However, there might be someone who know something about the Neuroi. Remembering how long they exist, they might have had an encounter with them before humanity.

Now thinking about it, Lasky sighs as he sees the luck that humanity had with their first encounters. First with the Covenant? Genocide. Forerunner? Digital conversion. The Flood? Almost apocalypse. Now, the Neuroi? Typical alien invasion. It seems that humanity have a bad luck when talking about first encounter.

Putting those thoughts aside, Lasky decides to contact one of his possible informant.

Shadow of Intent

"[COMMS] Why are you asking me about that, Captain? You do know that we never met until Harvest during the Ninth Age of Reclamation." Said Rtas 'Vadum to Lasky at the screen.

"[COMMS] I am not talking about the war, Shipmaster. I am talking about whether or not the Covenant had once met the Neuroi." Stated Lasky.

"[COMMS] I never meet any creature that fit these Neuroi's description. But, the Covenant had existed for centuries and we had met many other species with yours only being the latest." Replied Rtas. "[COMMS] There is a chance that our predecessor once met this creature. I am going to take a look at the old database."

"[COMMS] Thank you for the effort, Shipmaster. Lasky out."

With that, the communication between the Infinity and the Shadow of Intent. Rtas turns his attention to one of the Sangheili Minor and gives him an order.

"Brother, send a message to Special Operations Officer Gal 'Jarhed that his presence is needed."

"At once, Shipmaster."

The Minor then exit the bridge. Few minutes later, Gal enters the bridge. He goes towards the Shipmaster and bows a little.

"Shipmaster, I am honored to be in your presence." Said Gal.

"There is no need for formality, my brother." Replied Rtas as Gal straights up. "I am going straight to the point; have you heard about the creature that the locals are fighting?"

"The Neuroi? Almost everyone in the ship – perhaps even the fleet – have heard of it. I am not an exception."

"Indeed. While we have information about them, almost all of them came from the oracles. They recorded all events ever since the Neuroi first appearance until now. However, I do believe we need a first-hand experience."

"Are you suggesting that we launch an attack on the Neuroi, brother?"

"Hmm… No, that will not be necessary, for now. What I mean is gathering the information about the creature from the locals who had been fighting Neuroi for years."

"I believe that is a good idea. But from where? The locals are spread throughout three continents."

"The continent called Africa. I believe that is a good place to start. Few settlements mean lower chance of detected. We could ask the oracles to bring us there through Sector 01."

"I will have my team ready, Shipmaster."

"Good. That should be all, brother. You are dismissed."

With that, Gal bows a little once again before leaving the bridge.

Pacific Ocean

Voyaging towards Fuso are none other than two Liberion aircraft carriers - USS Hornet and USS Wasp – along with their escorts. The ships have two objectives; patrolling around the Pacific and delivering some materials to the Fusoan. The materials are not much, but they're valuable for research on both airplanes and strikers.

Standing at the bridge of the Hornet is Lieutenant Colonel James "Jimmy" Doolittle of the United States Army Air Forces. After serving for few years at Europe, the brass decided to transferred him to the Pacific as an unofficial recreation. The fact that the Neuroi never attacked the Pacific makes the deployment there considered a recreation.

"Well, while I don't mind my transfer here, I really wish that I could go back to Europe ASAP and create a plan to kick the Neuroi *** back to space." Thought Doolittle. "The alternative is that the situation here has some…action."

Suddenly, there's a beeping sound that can be heard by everyone on the bridge. When they look at the source, they see a radar operator adjusting the device, now only he can hear the beeping. He listens closely on the sound while seeing at the screen for the object location.

"Sir, I am detecting unidentified aircrafts near our position!" Reported the operator.

"Where's the location?" Asked the captain of Hornet.

"It's…here."

"…Say again, son."

"Here. But, that can only mean…"

Doolittle's eyes become wide as he immediately runs outside. When he looks up, he can see several unknown airplanes diving towards Hornet. The planes have a strange design; they only have a pair of big wings at the rear of the planes. There are also a pair of rods – one on each side – at the sides of the planes, just few centimeters from the cockpits. He can't see the color of the planes, but they're definitely a dark one, perhaps blue or black.

As alarm rings through the carrier, the planes fire some sort of blue flames, two of each plane. After releasing their payload, the planes fire laser, aiming them towards Hornet. At that moment, Doolittle realizes who possessed these planes.

"Oh, sh…"

Before Doolittle can finish his curse, the flames and the laser hit Hornet, setting her on flame. One of the laser penetrates the runway and hit the ammunition storage, creating a big explosion on board the carrier.

The planes change their direction and heading straight towards Fuso. On their journey there, they are being hit by AA guns, but they only hit the planes energy shields. The planes retaliate by strafing any ships they can hit, making three destroyers and two cruisers explode. One of the attack also hit the Wasp at the ammunition storage, sending her ablaze.

The planes finally pass through the Liberion ships and now have a clear way to the capital of Fuso Empire; Tokyo.

Tokyo, Empire of Fuso

Just like many places in the Empire, Tokyo is a busy city. People are walking in dozens, hundreds, and perhaps thousands on the street. Even if there is a war on Europe and Africa, since Fuso is very, very far from those places, its citizens can do normal activity without worry, something that most European and African will consider a luxury.

But not today. Today, everything changes, for better or worse.

The workers on the port are doing their usual jobs – transporting cargo, tending ships, inspecting something – when they see something is coming from the horizon. Make that some things as there are more than one. They stop their activity and walks as close as they can without falling to the water to see the things. When they realize that the things are planes and coming to their position on high speed, everyone start to scatter, trying to find a cover.

The planes finally reach Tokyo. With their destination reached, the planes immediately wreck havoc at the capital city. They begin to shoot with their laser and bomb with their blue flame indiscriminately. They attack anything they see; buildings, humans, animals, none is speared.

Some of the soldiers stationed at Tokyo start running to the nearby AA emplacements. Emplacements that they thought they would never use. Now, they feel lucky that they've some preparation.

Before some of the emplacements can fire a single shot, the planes attack them. In the end, only a small number of emplacements build on Tokyo can retaliate. But their retaliation is useless. The energy shields on the planes are just too strong.

The planes resume their attack. As civilians running around in panic, trying to save their lives, a plane flies closer to the ground and fire its laser and blue flame, killing dozens of humans. They keep and keep attacking without mercy. Civilian and military alike are killed.

After a quarter of an hour attacking Tokyo, the planes start flying towards the orbit, just in time as the witches and other reinforcement arrive. The mistake of positioning the witches and their bases far from the capital has caused the Fusoan to pay a heavy price.

Their country is no longer save.

At the same time…

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii

It's currently morning on the harbor and the rest of Hawaii. Many Liberions are still on their beds or having some relaxing activities like a morning jogging or eating at a local restaurant. Pearl is considered to be one of the safest military installation on Earth.

The Harbor will soon lose that reputation.

Some kids are playing soccer at the field when they hear something loud. It sounds like a booming voice. When they look at the source, they see that planes are descending from the orbit at high speed. The same type of planes that attacked Tokyo.

The planes are approaching the ships docked at Pearl Harbor at high speed. This makes any nearby radar operator unable to warned the harbor in time. When the ships are one their sight, the planes fire their blue flames towards them.

The first wave of flames hit USS Arizona, USS Oklahoma, and USS Utah. The planes, who are flying in formation, spread out and start hitting the docked ships with everything they have. The Liberions now realize that the Pearl is in danger, begins to counterattack. The energy shield on the planes protect them from any damage.

The first ship casualty is the Arizona. One lucky hit from a laser penetrates her armor and hits the ammunition storage, making her explodes. The next casualty is the Oklahoma. Repeated hits from the flame finally takes its toll; with so many parts of her damaged, Oklahoma begins to sink.

Some planes are targeting the airfield, where a large amount of Liberion planes are stored. They bombard the field with their laser and flame, destroying a large amount of planes. Some of the witches stationed on Pearl tries to take off, but the planes annihilated them before they can fly.

Unlike its counterpart on UNSC Earth, on this event there are two aircraft carriers; USS Yorktown and USS Lexington. Both of them become the planes primary targets. They are hit by a large amount of laser and flame. While none of them hit any vital part, the attacks are not useless; Lexington is now on fire. Almost her entire upper part set ablaze. The damages that Yorktown took are finally enough to sink her.

Also unlike its counterpart, the planes also attack the facilities like oil depots, dry dock facilities, etc. The attack will ensure that Pearl Harbor will be useless for military operation for a long time.

One hour and half since the attack started, the planes start to fly back to the orbit, suffering no losses. The Liberion on the other hand received severe casualties; many of their ships destroyed, thousands of lives lost, and the destruction of facilities completely disabled Pearl Harbor.

Just like its neighbor across the Pacific, United States of Liberion is no longer safe.

Now, no one is safe.

And done.

If you have question or suggestion, feel free to tell me.

Review please.