Alright, I'm back with the next chapter in "Strike Heroes".

Now, before I begin, let me answer some of the reviews I've received:

fuji92: The final battle is getting closer, and with Roland having to change the outcome shown to him or else relive it in reality...that is going to be one hectic battle when it happens.

james (Guest): I think I explained it within the beginning of the story, but just in case...Roland does explain in his narrative that he came from a different world where humanity didn't deal with the Neuroi. He also adds that the Strike Witches themselves "are nothing more than characters designed for our entertainment". I hope that helps clear up the confusion, but feel free to let me know.

Dragonman75: Thanks for the review. I hope the rest of the story continues to entertain.

GAT-X105VividPanzer: I don't think it really matters about the trope...though it's nice that you mentioned it. As for the rest of your review, thanks for the support. Hopefully you'll continue to enjoy the story all the way to the end.

Now, with those reviews out of the way, it's time to move on to the conclusion of this arc...

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Chapter 21: We Will Fly (Part 2)

"This is going to be rather...difficult," I said as Minna, Gertrud, Erica, and I were looking at the two guards keeping an eye on the main entrance into the base. We were behind a rather large tree perfect for keeping ourselves out of sight.

"Any ideas?" Gertrud asked me.

Well, there's some options I can use...let's see, there's the sex appeal, the sneak in another way, the full-on assault, the not-so-full-on assault (only difference is that we knock those guards out first), the sneak in when they leave...

Okay, maybe I should think about all those options. Option 1 might be rejected by the girls, but I'm not sure. So I voiced that option to them, adding that if they didn't feel comfortable with that idea then we'll scrap that one and pick something else. Gertrud said something about the men most likely fighting them instead of the intended result, and I remembered that these guys must be immune to the fanservice part based on the fact that the Witches don't even wear pants when not flying. At least, as far as clothes goes.

Back to the drawing board...Option 2? Maybe, but I don't see any other way inside.

What about Option 3? The full-on assault might work, but we'd spend too long trying to keep ourselves from being overwhelmed. Besides, chances are Maloney would hide or destroy the evidence we so desperately need.

Option 4 didn't seem any better than Option 3, but it gave us a period of grace before they came rushing at us.

I really doubt Option 5 would work: how often do guards leave their posts at convenient times in real life? Actually, I don't know, but I don't think they're both going to the bathroom anytime soon.

"Any luck?" Minna asked me.

"Erm..." I said as I gave it some more thought. What would a spy do?

Never mind that, what can I use to help us out?

In frustration, I looked at the window leading to the quarters I used to have...hang on, the window? I used the window to get to Yoshika's room earlier this morning.

Actually, it's perfect...I hope. It has height, and I don't think the guards are actually watching the building itself. Now, to find a good position...

"Follow me and stay quiet," I whispered as I crouched and sneaked past the watchful guards until I was around the corner. The others seemed to have caught up with me, so that's good.

"What are you thinking?" Erica asked.

"How good are your climbing skills?" I asked as I looked up at the building.

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Exercise never really killed anyone, I think...but heights almost certainly can.

Especially as we had to avoid alerting any guards and making them look up. I was in the lead, followed by Minna, Gertrud, and Erica in that order.

Having climbed it this morning, I had some experience. Judging from the others, well...

"Is this the best plan you had?" Gertrud asked me as she shot off a glare. I don't think she was too particularly fond of climbing on a building to sneak in right smack in the middle of the day.

"I don't know..." I started as I fired off a devious smile. "We could go back and try the first option."

"Now's not the time, Roland," Minna warned me as I started checking windows to see if any were unlocked.

"Okay." Let's see, the first window's no good... "Let's move on."

We scaled sideways to the next window, and I tried again. No good as well. A third window when we reached it was locked also.

"Do you girls seal your windows or something?" I asked them.

"Does it matter?" Gertrud retorted.

Um... "No?" Okay, maybe I should scale back and try my window. I don't think I locked it, so we should be able to get in.

One problem: I was leading the group, and my window was in the opposite direction. How was I going to get around the others with a small ledge? There's a small indent in the window's space, but I'm not particularly fond of the idea of using that for some reasons I won't delve into.

Aha! What about hanging on the edge and moving under them?

"Uh, do you girls mind if I do something?" I asked them.

"What did you have in mind?" Minna asked me. When I explained my idea, she seemed perplexed but nodded her head in approval. A quickl look at the others gave me the same answers.

I turned around and carefully lowered myself so that my fingers held onto the ledge. Good, it seems possible...but can I avoid falling?

I moved my hands in the direction I needed, the girls being kind enough to move their feet so that I had no added difficulty. When I was clear, I clambered back onto the ledge and used my feet to travel again. I led the girls back to the window I first saw, and I noticed that we were dangerously close to the guards at the entrance.

I silently checked the window, and when I tried opening it, it slid up so that there was a space to put a finger through.

I am so thankful I didn't lock the window like everyone else...

I slid it up until I could crouch and slip in, landing on the floor softly so as not to make a sound.

"Alright, who's first?" I asked them.

I helped Erica through the space I created without a problem, and Gertrud followed in a similar fashion. It was when I got to Minna that something had to happen...

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Minna's POV

I don't know how it happened: I was trying to get into Roland's quarters using the opening he had nudged open from his window when I felt one of my feet slip off the edge. In response, the rest of me was caught off-balance, and I started falling backward.

"Commander!" I heard Roland say in fear as he lunged out and caught my right hand with his left hand. My right foot landed against the edge to prevent me from falling to the ground below while my left foot found purchase on the edge. "Hang on, ma'am."

"Don't let go," I told him as I looked down. "That's an order."

"Order understood." He pulled me back onto the ledge as I crouched to be able to get inside. However, I think I did some sort of mistiming: as soon as I was back on the edge, I think Roland was still pulling, and I found myself going right through the window as I crashed into the Neuroi Witch (now that I had thought of a better nickname that suited him).

I think I blacked out for five seconds, and when I came to my senses I could feel that something was off. I looked at Roland, who looked rather worried.

"Are you okay, ma'am?" he asked.

"I think so," I said as I shook my head. "Thanks for that."

"No problem, commander." He sighed in relief. "Now, where is my left hand at...?"

I think I knew where it was because for some reason I felt something squeeze one of my breasts.

"Uh, lieutenant?" I asked him as I watched his face turn to one of puzzlement. "I think I know where your hand is..."

"I think I do too..." Roland added as he looked like he was putting two and two together before he was soon blushing.

Suddenly, the door barged open to reveal two guards. We could only lie there as they took in our position. However, what their next move was going to be I would never know because Barkhorn and Hartmann had grabbed his lamp and his small night table, gotten behind them without them noticing, and swung the objects at the back of the heads of the two unsuspecting guards, rendering them unconscious.

"If you two are done getting intimate," Hartmann decided to say, "let's get to the general without any more trouble."

"Right," I said as I got off of Roland and stood up.

"Sorry about that, commander," Roland apologized as he got onto his feet again.

As he rushed ahead of me, I gained a slight blush. You know, I didn't really mind that episode...but next time I hope it happens without an accident to precede it.

At least, if it was him again...

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Sanya's POV

As Eila and I got off the train we had boarded in order to transfer to one that would take us to our destination, we could hear some people talking around us.

"Okay," Eila said as she looked at the tickets. "We're here, so I guess we need to board another train to get to the next point..."

"Eila?" I asked her.

Eila took some time to look at me. "What is it, Sanya?"

"I...I wanna go back."

I watched as Eila blinked. "Why do you want to go back now?"

I frowned slightly. "I was thinking about Roland...and what you said about his future..."

"Oh, back to that again?" She sighed. "Sanya, I know you're still upset, but..."

"If Roland's future said that he would bring balance to our lives, how can he do that when we're over here?"

Eila stopped. "Sanya, I'm sure Roland and the others are fine. Knowing him, he may be moping around, but he's still alive as long as he doesn't get seen by Commander Minna."

"I know you don't understand, but he and I share the same problem!" When Eila cringed in slight fear, I sighed. "We both don't have a home to go back to. We're both split from our parents. The only difference is that he's split by being in a separate world. I don't know where my family are, but I know they have to be still alive. I'm sorry, Eila, but I'm not leaving Roland to try fighting this battle by himself. I'll never let him."

To my surprise, Eila sighed yet again. "Well, there's no getting around it...if you really want to, you can head on back. But..." she held up a finger. "You're not going to him by yourself. We're still partners in this, so I'm coming too."

I gasped. "Eila?"

"Consider it a bit of gratitude I have for him caring about us. Now, the train we just took heads back towards the base, so let's take that there."

I nodded as we walked over to a car that had no walls and had a bundle of lumber on its surface. Eila helped me onto the car before hopping on as well.

As the train left and we got comfortable on the cargo, I leaned into Eila and closed my eyes as I drifted into slumber.

I guess she wasn't kidding when she said that the train might not have taken us to where we wanted to go. Before, I guess we wanted to go back home.

But our home right now was the base, and Roland was still around there...

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Roland's POV

You know, I think we abandoned the old "sneak in quietly" spiel when the guards barged into the room and, after Gertrud and I dispatched them, the rest of their colleagues decided to come and apprehend us.

I delivered a harsh uppercut to a guard as Gertrud performed a judo throw on another. Erica and Minna were making sure we weren't going to be surrounded by covering our backs.

"You know," I said rather jokingly. "This is something I never thought I'd do around here. Storming the base we were driven out of."

"You'll see more once this is done," Gertrud added as we ran to the control room's double-door. Two more guards awaited us there, but the captain and I managed to somehow make a Dual Tech (since that was the only name I could think of at the time) work. She managed to hook her arms around mine so that we were back-to-back before jumping up as I spun her around. Her feet slammed into one guy's chest before landing and bending over so that I could kick the other guy in the chest with my feet.

"Nice," Minna said as she and Erica noticed two more guards coming toward us. "Think you could help us with that?"

"Sure," I said as Gertrud let me go and I charged at Minna, who held her arms out. I grabbed her arms, and she dropped onto her back and set her feet on my stomach. Kicking hard, she catapulted me as my feet flew over the rest of my body. I delivered a kick to one guy and managed to recover quickly after that. Standing up quickly, I blocked a few punches from the other guy before shoving him back and turning around.

"Ready, Erica?" I asked the blond-haired Karlsland Witch as I crouched low and set my hands together in a boosting stance.

Nodding, Erica ran and set her left foot inside my hands. I gave her a boost which launched her over the guy as he ran toward me, the girl delivering a kick to the back of his head. He stumbled forward and ran his stomach into my waiting right fist as I swung it at him.

Taking my fist out of the guy and shaking it as he fell to the ground unconscious, I said, "There. Clean-up on Aisle One."

"Are you going to keep making up weird sayings?" Gertrud asked me as she and Minna joined us.

"Until I get bored," I said before giving it some thought. One saying I remembered was Better leave an address with your body so I can mail it to your head. Though it would work perfectly with a shotgun. "Erm...nope, still fun. Besides, some things I use as quotes."

"Now that I think about it..." Erica asked as she looked at my weapons. "You still have the weapons on you. Why not use those?"

"Too much fun. Why make it easy to do some serious harm? Besides, I'm only going to use them in an emergency."

"Are we ready?" Minna asked.

"Pretty much," I said. "Let's go and kick some ass."

Gertrud and I took one side of the double-door and pushed, opening it quickly by shoving our weight into the door itself. The door came off its hinges and fell to the floor, revealing Maloney and a group of men inside the room.

"Delivery," I said as I read off an imaginary piece of paper in my right hand. "One ass-kicking for a General Trevor Maloney."

Maloney frowned as he looked at us.

"I see that you're still around, commander," the general said. "And it looks like you brought along your teammates and that boy of all people."

"It doesn't seem that you have the position right now to make threats," Minna told him. "We saw the Warlock give off sparks, and if that thing kills Miyafuji, the major, or Perrine...then you'll wish you were never born."

"I see that's how you want to play, you four...let me fill you in on something." He snapped a finger.

"Huh?" I asked before I got a strange tingle in my back. It felt like something was going to strike at me from behind...

I didn't bother trying to figure out if I was right: I ducked under the arms of a guard who tried to pin me, swung my right leg in a sweeping motion that went clockwise to make him trip, and (with a good force to stop its revolution as I stood up), delivered a kick to his stomach as he was falling to the floor. He plopped onto the floor in pain as I removed my offending limb from my target.

I looked at the girls next to see how they fared, but it seemed that they were caught off guard as well: Gertrud had her arms pinned behind her back, Erica had hers pinned to her sides, and Minna had been placed in a sort of chokehold.

Glaring back at Maloney, I growled, "Let them go, Maloney!"

"Wouldn't really dream of it," Maloney replied. "Did you honestly think I'd let you four walk in here, grab whatever you wanted, and scurry away without a hitch?"

I couldn't help but give off a faint smile. "Actually, that was a primary goal...but there's one problem with your statement: I weighed the odds, and we accepted them anyways. I know the Warlock goes haywire, and its target is the Akagi. The same ship three of our teammates are on."

Maloney laughed. "I didn't try impressing the top brass to be done in by a boy who doesn't even belong here and three Karlsland Witches who stuck their little noses where it shouldn't have gone."

"Better that then a shit-covered noser like you."

Maloney glared at me. "Was that an attempt to insult me by calling me a brown-noser?"

Considering the fact that if the Warlock did work, then it would have spelt the end for all Witches... "I guess you could call it that."

"Then maybe I should tell you a little more about yourself..."

"I was hoping we were going to swing by that part of the conversation."

"Well, here's your chance: we found you inside a crater that was somehow created in the middle of a floating island that was where California once stood. We weren't too concerned with why it was there in the first place, and even if we wanted to the whole island sank before anyone could climb on and get some samples. But that's not what you wanted to hear, was it?" When I shot him a glare, he cleared his throat. "Anyways, you were our little secret. In fact, only a secret organization whose name I cannot reveal did tests on you. You probably wouldn't remember: you were too busy lying unconscious. Anyways, when we took some blood samples from you and ran some tests, we discovered that your blood had an abnormal amount of magic energy. This abnormal amount meant that you had a lot of potential...but as we couldn't see if you actually had magic at the time, we settled for taking a guess that you had been from a family with Witches in its branches. However, we checked the blood tests' results to see if we could find your family name anywhere. There was never a Sage or anyone with any part of your Dee-En-Eh in them. When we looked at the magic level we figured out that you had been corrupted by a Neuroi core. Most of the members of the organization wanted you destroyed in case you decided to kill all of humanity, but the head of the group, a man known only as Duke, convinced everyone else that we can learn from you and be able to fight the Neuroi with the knowledge you had. And we would have been able to if someone didn't decide to interfere with our research and take you out of our reach."

"So that's why I was in an abandoned orphanage..." I was still slightly confused: did they leave me there because I had no family to go back to or because it was the only place they could have hid me without any records of me being there?

"We thought that you had stayed hidden...until your blood sample resurfaced when you enlisted in the army, along with your name. After that, we knew that we needed to resume our research. So work began on the Neuroi Striker Unit, so named because of our discovery of your Neuroi core. After that, it was only a matter of time before you would be starting to serve in the Witch Corps, so when the prototype was complete we had it given to General Weiss, an unsuspecting person, to give it to you when you were ready to leave your old base. A while later, I was selected to head the development of the Warlock." Maloney then smiled at me, but it wasn't a cheerful smile: it looked very...devious... "Does that help ease your worries? Knowing that I was heading the development of the prototype Striker Unit?"

I lowered my eyebrows. I think I already figured that out, Mr. I-Spilt-That-Detail-In-The-Nineteenth-Chapter (man, I must really be going insane now with all this information...). "That may explain some things...but there's still things I don't know about: who was it that got me out of there? What happened to that person? And how in the world did you make the prototype so that it didn't tear up these cargo pants?"

Maloney blinked briefly.

Okay, the first two sounded legitimate for this timeframe, but...I'm asking him about the fact that the Striker Unit still works with or without pants now of all times? Either I'm the world's biggest idiot or I finally cracked.

I mean, really: I find out that I'm inside an anime world, I have my fair share of trouble plus some embarrassing moments and some great ones, I dropped my secret in front of the entire wing...and I find out now that Maloney had been heading the production of the source of my troubles?

...Okay, maybe it makes sense given the fact that the Warlock had him on the team...but come on!

"I can't tell you anymore," the general began, "but I can at least say this: it was no easy task trying to get it to not rip those cargo pants to shreds. We had to develop a sort of prototype scanner that checked the material, and we had to go through a lot of pants before it actually worked without it."

"Now I want to see the damn schematics myself!" I shouted randomly.

"Is now really the best time to ask for them?" Gertrud asked me as I looked at the others.

Hang on, did I forget something here?

...

...

...Damn! I forgot that they were being held hostage.

"Anyways," Maloney said as he motioned with his right hand, "it was nice and all telling you what you wanted, but now let's get to business...make any wrong move and my men will blow your teammates' brains open."

I glanced at them really fast and noticed that the guards, while they had pistols on the right side of their hips, had their guns in their holsters still.

"They don't look ready..." I said quickly.

"Only if you make a mistake," Maloney added.

A hostage situation...like at the parfait shop...well, I have weapons now, but I can't see anything useful for saving one of them. That was all the time I would have before the other two got killed, and I wasn't going to let that happen on my watch. Besides, if I had no choice but to, Gertrud or Minna would be my best guess. The commander would still be able to lead us, and the captain could help me fight these guys off...but what about Erica?

I closed my eyes and reached out to the auras around me. I wasn't concerned about colors other than the ones belonging to my teammates, but I was trying to think of an idea. We are about fifteen feet away from Maloney, and I can sense the captors splitting up to ensure that if I struck at them they weren't all going to be hit.

I sighed, I have no choice...

I took a few steps as I felt myself walk until I was halfway between Maloney and Gertrud, whose captor hadn't moved and was still behind me.

Three hostages...three targets...how many bullets? Considering that I don't think I used my pistol since I checked it, I had to assume I had three shots left with a full clip in my right side pocket. So...three shots...

"What, are you planning to surrender?" Maloney asked me.

"Roland, don't give up!" I heard Minna shout out. "We're fine. Just worry about yourself!"

"I'm your superior, lieutenant, now that I think about it...so maybe I should just do this: I order you to surrender yourself and end this all."

"No way! Roland is not under your command, even if you are a general. Lieutenant, I'm ordering you to get out of here!"

I flashed my eyes open in defiance.

"I don't listen to your orders, general," I told him point-blank. Glancing at Minna, I added, "And I'm not under your command, commander." I gave off a slight wink so that Maloney didn't think something was going to happen.

Minna gasped before she nodded. I hope she remembered that she made me the leader for this part.

Alright...I closed my eyes again and breathed deep.

I hope that the laws of physics with a gun didn't backlash on me despite being in an anime...

I checked everyone's position before reaching for my pistol slowly, stopping as I took another breath.

...Now!

I turned around and, grabbing the Browning HP within my spin, brought it to bear on Gertrud's captor as he was reaching for his gun. I fired a shot past his hand, and he flinched. However, I think he had relaxed his grip on Gertrud because she drove her left heel on his right foot's toes, making him yelp as he let her go. I put my left arm in an L-shape as I rested my right elbow inside the groove, me holding the pistol sideways. This was where I was hoping that the laws of gun physics would not screw me up: I was risking eating a lot of gun if this went wrong and the recoil goes into my face.

BANG!

I felt the recoil go to the left as the bullet ripped through the left hand of the one holding Erica. I was a little horrified that I actually shot him, but two things were keeping me focused: the severity of the situation and the fact that I was in the middle of something.

I spun my body around as I turned to aim toward Minna, and I watched as the guy's gun came to bear against her forehead.

Now or never...

I twisted my left hand so that I could grab the area where the clip would go and fired at the man.

Actually, I'm kinda lucky that he was holding her in a headlock: the fact that her body wasn't in my way meant that I had less of a chance of hitting her: considering that he was probably a left-handed shooter (he had her with his right arm, and his left hand had the pistol), she was in no danger from the start...minus the fact that my stance was not something I would use.

But this is an emergency right now.

Anyways, the bullet plowed through his left shoulder, making him drop the gun as he let go of her.

Hey, I just pulled off a gun trick you'd probably see in action movies!

...Wait, I actually pulled that off? Right, anime world...the law of physics aren't always perfect, right?

The girls came to my position as I holstered my gun. I should have no bullets left, and if I tried reloading in the open then Maloney could have some more shooters ready to fire before I could do anything.

Instead, Maloney smirked.

"I didn't think you would do that," he said. "However, I think this is getting more interesting..."

"Stand back, ladies," I said as I clenched my fists. "I can handle whatever he throws at us."

"Not alone, you aren't," Gertrud replied as she threw her right fist into her left palm. "Let's show these guys the true might of a pair of Witches who can fight hand-to-hand."

I nodded. "Okay...let's go!"

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Roland: Next time on Strike Heroes...

Lynette: Roland, Yoshika's in trouble!

Roland: I know that, Lynne. I've got it all under control.

Mio: Seems tough knowing that your end could be a reality if you fail.

Perrine: What about Gallia?

Eila: Don't worry about it, Perrine.

Sanya: Roland has to know what he's doing.

Charlotte: Either way, we're with you!

Francesca: Yeah! Teammates forever!

Gertrud: Not too sure if we'll be a team still when this is all over...

Erica: You're worrying too much, Trude.

Minna: Miyafuji's life hangs on what we do...

Roland: ...And I'm not ready to die. Not without knowing that you all are safe.

Yoshika: Next time...

All: Strike Witches!

Roland: This is it, the final battle...let's do this!

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There's the next chapter.

Sorry if it's rather long, but I wanted to set it up as best as I could before I go through with the final arc. At this point, it's unclear how this will end. Will Roland and the Witches be able to achieve the ending that originally happen, or will they be destroyed by the Warlock?

Anyways, please read and respond, and let me know how this chapter went.

Thanks.