Hello. I'm back with the next chapter in the "Strike Heroes" story.

Now, before we start, it's time (you guess it) for the reviews:

fuji92: Roland has no idea about it...the only thing he knows (based on the story so far) is that Galland didn't send Minna the dossier as planned. Who it is will remain a mystery until it's time, but I do agree on the fact that whoever it ends up being has something planned for Roland...oh, and you're right: I looked up the quote, and it does come from Monty Python. On a side note, it was rather funny watching the skit.

Dragonman75: It's nice to know that you liked the last chapter. I hope I keep your attention to the end.

Arisa Le Creuset (Guest): I can't say whether the man that Roland and the others encountered in the last chapter has anything to do with the male Witch, but it's currently a mystery. As for the part about Roland's friend being a part of it, which one are you referring to: Kayley or Commander Ellios?

Okay, with that out of the way, now we start getting a little deeper into the story. Grab your literary diving suits and let's get moving, shall we?

XXXXXXXXXX

Chapter 13: I Won't Forget You (Part 1)

I leaned over the railing at the top of the base, my only companion being a sleeping Sanya and her stuffed animal. The young girl had gotten back from night patrol and decided to fall asleep up there with me.

How the stuffed animal got there was a complete mystery…

Then again, I wonder if that was somehow important to her...

Anyways, I looked out at the water and saw some things: I could see a few seagulls, some small fishing boats off in the distance, a battleship coming toward the dock—

Wait, a battleship?

I looked at it closely, and I soon identified it as being the Akagi.

"What's the Akagi doing all the way out here?" I asked myself before grabbing Sanya and entering the base. I walked around until I reached my room, and I used it to have Sanya sleep for now. I laid her gently on the bed, and I soon left the room in time to close the door before all hell broke loose.

Okay, maybe not all of hell: Satan had to keep a few people behind so his minions didn't revolt against him. That probably made it more like "Half of hell broke loose".

It was another one of those complete pandemonium moments on the base, though why it was I wasn't too sure.

"Morning, Roland-kun," Yoshika said as she walked over to me.

"Hey, Yoshika," I said, waving hello the American/Liberion way. "How did you sleep?"

"Rather well. I still can't believe it: who knew that she was the one who started the whole panties theft a few days ago?"

"Huh? Yoshika, I didn't see who it was, and besides I don't want to have to remember that image right now."

"Right. Sorry about that...so did you come back from outside?"

"Yeah...hey, does the name Akagi ring any bells?"

By the way her eyes lit up, I think she had heard of the ship. "I think I remember."

I looked at her and said my next question rather slowly in order to try figuring out what she meant. "You...think you...remember?"

"It's been a while since I had seen it, but it's the ship Sakamoto-" She stopped hesitantly, and I looked around with her to make sure that there wasn't a certain Gallian Witch around to correct her right now. "It's the ship Sakamoto and I took to get here. Why?"

"Oh, it's probably nothing, but I think it's docking at the base for a while..."

Yoshika gave off a big smile. "That's great! I wonder how they've been doing since that time with the Neuroi..."

Neuroi? Right...you and Mio had to deal with a Neuroi on the way here. Stay in character... "Neuroi? You fought against a Neuroi while travelling on it? When?"

"It was a while before we got to the base..." And she explained to me how she travelled with Mio on the Akagi, and she was even kind enough to tell me how she and Mio met.

"So that's it?" I asked, placing the pieces of the puzzles together about Yoshika's involvement. "You father died when you were about ten, and four years later, the major finds you. She said something about working with your father, and you initially refused to join the Strike Witches. Including the events that involved the Neuroi in question, you make up your mind and joined the Strike Witches. Is that a good summary of how you got here?"

"Uh...maybe..."

I shook my head. "Well, I don't think I said it before, but I'm sorry to hear that your father died." Or did he? Last I checked, the episodes I watched never actually revealed if he was truly dead. The again, sometimes mail can get lost and not get delivered in a timely fashion. I'm confused...

"Thanks, Roland-kun. Well, I have to get going on making breakfast with Lynne. I'll see you later."

XXXXXXXXXX

The next person I ran into was Eila as I was walking to the dining hall to eat.

"Hey, lieutenant," the Suomos Witch asked. "Have you seen San?"

"Sanya?" I asked her as I recalled where she was. "Oh, she's in my room sleeping. Sorry, but it was the quickest spot I could think of at the time."

"Can you take me to her please?" Eila asked me.

"Sure thing."

I led her back to my room, and the only thing I got was Eila giving a quick frown before she shook her head and went in to grab Sanya.

"Uh, make sure you close the door when you're done," I said as I decided to get moving before I got something worse from Eila. Don't get me wrong, I didn't have anything against her...it's just that I don't want to be on the other end of her arm. The end that will leave a bruise.

XXXXXXXXXX

I sighed as I sat outside on the runway's edge and watched the crew of the Akagi make some quick repairs.

It must be nice to sail the open seas in a battleship without having to worry about much except for the Neuroi. Well, not like I haven't experienced that sort of thing, having been on the Ascension and all...then again, what if one got seasick?

I got slightly queasy as I tried not to think about it. When I had first gotten on the Ascension for Kayley and Ellios to train me, I had felt a little well. About three days out at sea, I had started feeling sick. Luckily, Kayley was able to help me out, but I remembered that I had let it go overboard one day. I mean, I got used to it after a while, but that moment felt rather...

Embarrassing, I guess...

Come to think of it…weren't the Neuroi getting a little more tactical in their approach?I know that it doesn't fit in with being on a ship, but seriously...hear me out. There was the first one I destroyed, a standard one (I thought it was standard). Then, there was the one with the decoy. After that was probably another standard one. Then that Neuroi that ended up on the receiving end of the world's first supersonic human bullet Charlotte Yeager. Then the one that managed to mess with Sanya. More recently…?

I sighed and leaned back so that I could lie on the ground. I closed my eyes and slept until a few minutes later, when my radio headset picked up an incoming call.

"Lieutenant Sage, come in," Minna's voice said.

"Lieutenant Sage here," I said as I pressed the call button and opened my eyes.

"Lieutenant? Can you come into my office really quick?"

"Um, sure thing. Why?"

"Well, I wanted to talk to you about something…"

XXXXXXXXXX

I opened the door leading to Minna's office and found the commander sitting at a desk, looking at some sort of paperwork.

"Lieutenant Sage reporting in," I said.

"Good," Minna said as I stepped inside her office and closed the door behind me. "Listen, I wanted to let you know about a rule I just set up."

"And that would be…?" I asked in curiosity.

"Well, the regulation involves you, so…as of now, all male figures will not interact with any Witch while on the base without authorization by me or my superiors. Sadly, lieutenant, that means you as well."

"Hang on…let me get this straight: I am a member of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, and I'm being ordered to not interact with any Witches unless authorized?" On a scale of Meh and Holy (insert assortment of words that probably doesn't make sense but yet you don't care because you're surprised. A lot), I think I was a few words short of the rightmost end of the scale. "Commander, how much sense does that make?" I mean, come on! I'm a Witch! Okay...maybe you have some sort of right to apply the rule to me considering my anatomy, but that's besides the point! What, am I supposed to find a way to not be in my body because I'm a male and a Witch?

I hate to ask this, but did Minna actually consider thinking this idea through?

"Well, that means that you'll have to figure out some way to keep yourself busy. As of now, you can only interact with your instructors when training, us when eating at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, and the crew aboard the Akagi. Understood?"

"But commander—" I really wanted to lodge a complaint, and seeing as there's not a Suggestion Box (or any boxes to put complaints in) around, I wanted to try doing it verbally.

Minna sighed. "I know it's rather hard for you to understand with everything going on, but that's your orders. It applies for all the men on the base, okay?"

I suddenly thought of something. "This wouldn't be because of the crew of the Akagi coming here, would it?" I mean, I find it odd that she's putting up this rule when the Akagi decided to dock for repairs. If she wasn't doing it for that reason, then wouldn't she have put it up a while back?

Minna's eyebrows lowered slightly. "Lieutenant, I cannot tell you that. All I want is for you to understand that the regulation involves you, understand?"

"But—"

"I'm not going to repeat myself again. I asked you: do you understand?" Minna, for the first time, looked like she was upset at me.

I glared at Minna like she had signed my death warrant. "Understood loud and clear, ma'am…"

I think Minna caught the change in tone, but she didn't jump on it. "Good. You are dismissed."

I simply stormed out of the room without giving Minna a second look.

XXXXXXXXXX

I panted as I stood there, looking at a lone tree.

I was trying to work out my anger toward Minna's newly-erected regulation, and so far I was getting tired from the hack marks I had applied onto the tree.

"I…am…not…going…to…take this…" I panted as I readied my sword for another round of attacks.

I heard a male voice behind me say, "Excuse me, but can you help me?"

Turning around, I was able to see that it was a seaman from the Akagi. I could tell because he looked like a sailor.

"What is it?" I asked him as I sheathed my sword.

"Listen…" the seaman started nervously. "Do you know where I can find Miss Miyafuji?"

"Yoshika?" My rage disappeared in a heartbeat. Well, maybe not that quick, but it did move aside for curiosity to emerge. "Um, no. I haven't seen her lately."

"Oh. I, uh…I was hoping you knew where she was…"

"Why?"

"Well, I wanted to give her a letter, but I'm not quite sure…"

"Letter? Yoshika? Do you…" Don't tell me...this sailor has some feelings for the little Fuso Witch?

"What? No! I mean, she did save our ship from the Neuroi, but…"

Oh. Gratitude for protecting the Akagi... "I think I get it. You want me to give it to her?"

"Sorry, but I really wanted to do it myself. Do you think it's a good idea?"

"Um…yeah! Wait, I forgot…the regulation…Oh well, I think if you can do it quickly enough as well as discreetly enough you may be able to just give it to her without being caught."

"Really? You think that would work?"

"Trust me, do it just right, and you're going to not have anything to worry about."

XXXXXXXXXX

I fired off a few rounds from my Browning HP as I stood there at the firing range. I was starting to forget about what Minna had told me as I squeezed the trigger a few times.

You know, maybe squeezing off a few rounds into a cutout target a decent size helps me calm down...

"Lieutenant!" I heard Minna say suddenly.

Okay, this was going to get ugly…and I think I was genuinely surprised.

"What is it, ma'am?" I asked as I holstered my pistol and turned around.

"What was the meaning of you telling a crew member of the Akagi to try going against regulations?" Minna asked with some hint of anger in her voice. She looked like she was pissed off.

I stayed slightly calm. "It's called freedom of speech. That's all." Well, it was. I mean, yeah it was against the regulations, but still...

"Really?" She put her hands on her hips as she frowned.

I shrugged my shoulders. "He was just wanting to give Yoshika a letter. Is that so bad?"

"It is when you're going behind your superiors' backs while doing it." She fired this with a tone that made me cringe physically. "What was going through your head at the time?"

I felt annoyed. You want to know what's going through my head right now? Here it is... "Commander, no offense when I say this, but that regulation is nothing but crap. I can understand if you ordered me to not fight alongside you guys for one mission, but it's a whole other story when you tell me that I have this regulation prohibiting me from interacting with my own teammates. Especially when you stop and consider what you said about the rule."

"You still went against the rule—"

"To hell with the rule!" Now I was pissed off: Minna wanted to talk about rules? Dammit, we'll talk about it until the cows come home.

"Don't get angry at me, lieutenant." She didn't sound as angry, but her face still looked the part.

"I'm angry? I'm angry?! Look here, Commander Minna, I don't like it when people make rules that interfere with my life, especially if they're set up to keep me from doing certain things that I need to do." I made sure to point at myself to get the point across.

"Look, there's more to it than—"

I didn't even give her a chance to finish her sentence. "No, you listen to me, commander. I'm a member of the Strike Witches, and my job is to help protect people while helping you girls with the mission. I don't have time to deal with this sort of thing. Especially given the situation your rule set up."

"You don't understand, lieutenant…" Minna's face started to look like she was fighting to confess something.

I weakened my tone slightly. Only slightly. "Then explain it to me. Explain to me what I'm missing."

"I already lost one boy in my life, and I am not about to let you become the next one!" She made it sound forced, like she was trying to get it off her chest.

Upon hearing that, I was shocked, as indicated by me stepping back and cringing slightly: Minna knew a boy who died? Was that really why she made the regulation? To keep her fellow Witches from feeling the same pain she suffered? Did she make it in order to protect me? How did she know him?

Sadly, even if I tried getting the answer, Minna was not going to listen now.

"You're grounded for a while, lieutenant," Minna told me. "You are not to take to the air except to train, understood?"

I was still stunned at what I heard.

"I…understand, Commander…" I said much more calmly.

As Minna walked away, I stood there, stunned.

Who did you lose, Minna? I thought to myself as I stood there. I was too worried to even think about the odds concerning who it was.

I let my aura extend out to gauge Minna's mood, and the commander had a very blue aura of sadness, and the black from before was more prominent.

XXXXXXXXXX

Minna's POV

As soon as I got into my office, I closed the door and walked up to my desk. I searched through the stacks of papers on my desk as well as some folders next to the papers until I managed top fish out the dossier Galland had supposedly sent me concerning Roland.

I don't know why I wanted to, but I thought about just sending him back to Liberion. I mean, he went against a basic rule I had set up: he allowed a male to interact with a Witch, especially him. That, and I didn't want to deal with him anymore, not after the way he treated me. I mean, who does he think he is, snapping at me like that?

I heard a knock on the door, and I turned around to look at it.

"Go away, Sage!" I shouted in anger.

"Sage?" Barkhorn's voice asked from the other side of the door. "What's going on, Minna?"

I blinked only slightly. "Come in, captain."

Barkhorn opened the door again and, as she closed it, looked at me. "What happened between you and Sage, ma'am?"

I sighed. "I don't want to go over it, captain. I just want to forget it."

Barkhorn looked at me with a serious look on her face. "Permission to speak freely, Minna?"

"Permission granted...Trude."

Barkhorn walked up to me and grabbed Roland's dossier, reading over it. "Huh. This is the first time I actually looked at this. What's the problem?"

"About Roland himself or about the argument we had?"

"Both, if possible."

I sighed. "I found out from the commodore that she didn't send me Roland's dossier."

"So who did?" Barkhorn looked curious...in her own special way.

"I don't know, Trude."

"Who else knows about it, other than you and Commodore Galland?"

"Well, Roland and Lynne, for starters...they found out at the same time I did."

"Anyone else?"

"Uh...not really. Other than you, now that I'm telling you about it."

"And the argument you mentioned?"

"It was...it was nothing."

"An argument about nothing? Minna, I know you well enough to know that it wasn't about this 'nothing'. Did Sage do something to you?"

"No, Trude." I shook my head, not wanting to say anymore.

"I can see that you want to keep what happened to yourself. About Sage's dossier...permission to look into it?"

"Huh? Why?"

"If Commodore Galland didn't send you the dossier in question, then there's something suspicious going on. And it seems that Sage is in the middle of it."

I looked at Barkhorn hard. I think I get where she's going. After all, I had given it some thought that day. Why did I, of all people, receive a dossier from Roland, especially considering my promise to Ellios?

"So do I have your permission or not?" Barkhorn asked me after a while.

"Hmm?" I asked as I shook my head. "Yeah. Do what you have to in order to figure out the truth."

"Thanks, commander." Barkhorn put the dossier on my desk and walked up to the door. As she opened it, she looked at me and added, "Oh, and ma'am? I hope you and the lieutenant get past this little feud of yours. I think some of the others, especially Miyafuji, noticed it unintentionally."

"Some of the others?" I asked with a slight redness on my cheeks. I wasn't too sure if it was because I was embarrassed that some of us had heard Roland and me arguing or because I was mad that they had been listening in on us. Besides, how far did they listen?

Barkhorn closed the door, leaving me to my thoughts. I wasn't too sure what to do...but Roland was currently grounded. At least until I figured out whether I wanted him off or not. I needed to think about it with a clearer mind so that I didn't make a choice I would regret later.

XXXXXXXXXX

There's the next chapter.

Now, based on the pairings, here are the ideas I have received. Please note: the only thing that is set in this list are the pairings. I will not give out who said what, though. So without further ado...here are the current ideas of pairings:

1. Roland and Minna

2. Roland and Charlotte/Shirley

3. Roland and Gertrud

4. Roland and Sanya

As I said in the last chapter, these ideas won't influence me. They'll just give me some things to think about. As for those who haven't given me their ideas of pairings, remember that you can either put it in your review or PM me (whichever you want). Oh, and if you remember a pairing to add, let me know as well.

Anyways, that's all for now. Please read and respond. Thanks.