Hello, and welcome to the second-to-last chapter in the story of "Strike Heroes".
Now, before we begin the conclusion to this arc, there are some reviews I need to reply to:
fuji92: Thanks for the review. I hope you enjoy the upcoming battle and its conclusion.
Dragonman75: It's nice to hear that the story was good. We'll be going in strong (hopefully) for this arc conclusion, so hang in there.
GAT-X105VividPanzer (Guest): Thanks for the review. Your questions might not be answered immediately, but I promise that those questions will be resolved later on down the road.
New Universe Returns: Thanks for the review. I'll have more information for your question when I conclude the story, so please hang in there.
If you're wondering why I said that this is the second-to-last chapter, there's an answer for that...the final chapter is going to be a sort of epilogue set some time after this chapter. It will also be used to set up for the future of the Strike Witches (especially Roland's). I hope you readers don't mind waiting a little longer before this story ends, but I feel that it should help out later on down the road.
Anyways, enough rambling for now. Let's get going, shall we?
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Chapter 23: Strike Witches (Part 2)
Yoshika's POV
I wasn't sure how much longer I could last fighting the Warlock.
Without any help from any of my teammates, I could barely attack because the Warlock kept on trying to ram into me. I had to keep my barrier up to avoid being overwhelmed. That, and the Akagi had sank below the water. Luckily, the crew had evacuated before that, but it was still upsetting to see that happen.
Besides, the few chances I did attack it, my bullets didn't seem to do a lot of damage to it. In fact, I think all it did was make the Warlock angry.
It slammed into my barrier again, making me fly back as my barrier dissipated. Before I could bring it back up, the Warlock flew in and slammed one of its cannons into my stomach, making me unable to move due to the ensuing pain though I was able to float in the air. At that point, the Warlock decided to open up its body to reveal a Neuroi core.
"What...?" I could only say before I coughed.
I wasn't sure what the Warlock was saying, but the core it had felt familiar...like it was Mister Neuroi.
Hang on...if Mister Neuroi was destroyed because of this thing, why does it have the core still? Is it even Mister Neuroi, or had the Warlock always had a core inside it?
"No way..." I said in quiet defiance. "You are...not...my friend...You're...my enemy!"
I tried moving, but I could only float there as the Warlock charged up one of its cannons to finish me off.
Please...someone...help me...
A bullet slammed into its head, making its shot fly into the ocean as I got enough strength to fly back.
The round that was used was charged with magic, and I only knew one person who had that power...
"Lynne!" I shouted as the others arrived to help out.
"Hang in there, Yoshika!" I heard Roland shout as he flew past me to fight the Neuroi, sword drawn and at the ready.
"Roland..." I could only say as the others attended to me.
"Are you hurt, Miyafuji?" Eila asked me.
"I'm fine, Eila..." I told her. "What happened? Why is Roland-kun here?"
"It's a long story," Commander Minna replied. "But he may be the only thing we have against this Warlock for now."
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Roland's POV
I came to a stop as I stared at the Warlock, my sword ready to fight with. In the distance, I could still see the Neuroi nest hovering over Gallia.
"What's another Witch in my way going to do?" I heard the Warlock ask in the Neuroi language.
"I can do a lot," I told it in return. "You nearly killed Yoshika, and I'm not going to put up with it."
"So you're the one who can understand the Neuroi language," I heard the Warlock say. Scary how that thing has a Neuroi core and can talk despite most likely not being programmed to speak Neuroi. "We're the same, you and I. There's no going around it. Your allegiance lies with the very enemy your kind seeks to destroy."
"I don't think so," I told it. "We may both have been brought in by humans, but...I would never turn against my friends."
"Humanity created me and made me stronger with the Neuroi core. I'm repaying them in blood."
"Not a fair trade-off...especially when you try killing my friends."
"What are they to you? They're just characters in a fictional world. You know that, as do they. Yet why do you keep fighting alongside them?"
I gave off a slight smile. "I guess after a while you start to learn to appreciate what they're like, fictional or not. I might be an idiot for saying that, but I do know this: only one of us is walking away alive. And I'm damn certain..." I charged at the Warlock. "...that it's not going to be me!"
"Typical for a human to attack what they fear..."
I swung the sword at the Warlock, but it blocked the attack with one cannon as it tried to shoot me with the other. I have little time to react, and I barely slid a little bit to the right to avoid the brunt of the attack.
However, I wasn't entirely injury-free after that attack: the shot grazed my left upper arm, and I flew back a bit as I tried to fight through the pain.
Ellios died by a Neuroi, I told myself. Gertrud and Mio nearly bit it by one...I'm not going to become the next death here!
I charged at it again and flew past the Warlock as it tried swinging a cannon at me.
"Too slow," I said to it before I sheathed my sword.
Somehow, when I was flying past I managed to cut through it, severing its head from its body. While the Warlock had the Neuroi core, it still had the parts of a machine. As a result, the Warlock found itself falling toward the water, hitting it with a loud splash.
I didn't even bother watching the non-functional Warlock sink below the water as I flew back to the others.
"Roland," Minna asked me as she came to look at my injury. "Are you feeling alright?"
"I'm fine, commander," I told her. "It just grazed me, that's all." I touched the wound and found myself flinching in pain. "I hope I'm fine."
"It looks like the Warlock was defeated…" Mio noted.
The Warlock? Defeated? Did I change the fate that was set before?
Hold on...we're talking about a Warlock with a Neuroi core. I sure as hell didn't hit the core; all I did was remove the head. It wouldn't be able to attack us now at least.
Which means that Gallia wasn't freed yet...
For some reason, we started hearing a rumble under the water. A rather loud rumble.
What the hell is it now? I asked myself before I remembered something. The Akagi sank below the water, right? And the Warlock...went...under...the...
I'm hating myself right now.
I turned to face the noise and saw the water starting to move violently, like something was coming back up from its depths.
"Heads up, ladies," I said as I balled my hands into fists. "This is what we who play video games call 'The Final Boss'."
True to my words, the Warlock came out of the water, but it was radically different: the Akagi had been fused with it, making it into a huge airship.
Somehow, I never imagined myself actually looking at it this close. When I saw it on the anime I knew it was big, but this was...well, big. Hell, it was intimidating. It was like the first day of me being in the Strike Witches, but this moment was going to cause the death of us if things went downhill in a heartbeat. That's assuming that we don't stop it: at this point, it wasn't just our lives at stake, but everyone in Britannia at the moment as well.
As we watched it fly toward Britannia, we all took some time to switch Yoshika's and Mio's Striker Units back to their rightful owners. Lynette and I worked on holding Yoshika up while Gertrud handled Mio, and Minna, Erica, Perrine, and Charlotte were working on switching the Striker Units to their correct Witch.
"What's the plan?" Minna asked me when we finished, seeing as I probably knew what to do.
"Um…" I said quickly. What options do we have for that...thing? I guess you could call it a thing. "I'm not sure yet. Fight for a while and I'll think of something." I then got an idea. "Commander, Major. Can we find the core?"
"We'll get on it," Mio said as Minna placed her left arm over her shoulders.
"Everyone else is to refer to Roland for this battle," Minna added. "Understood?"
"Right!" everyone said in agreement.
"Hartmann and I will keep it distracted somehow while Commander Minna and Major Sakamoto scan that thing," I stated. "Eila, Sanya—you two stick together. Captain Barkhorn, you and Perrine keep an eye on the scanners. Yoshika, Lynne—you two will wait here. Keep an eye on the field, and fire at or protect yourself from anything that comes at you. Shirley, Francesca—you two take the other side of the ship. When the commander and major finish the scan, everyone meets at Team Yoshika, understand?"
"Right!"
Everyone sprang (more like flew) into action, and my idea worked for the most part. Eila and Sanya worked well together, Sanya using her Fliegerhammer (the name of her rocket launcher according to her) while Eila used her magic to predict where the enemy was going to fire so that they could safely move out of harm's way. Charlotte and Francesca kept their side busy while weaving in and out of the line of fire. At one point, Charlotte pulled out her Bowie knife and slashed along the surface. While it only managed to damage the paint job, it succeeded in making the Neuroi-like target try to focus on them.
However the most interesting part of the battle at this point was Erica and I, who grabbed each other's right hand as we flew past the ship, our bodies glowing white (well, green in my case after I copied her magic).
"Dual Tech!" we called out as one. "Aura…STURM!"
We then proceeded to spin around, the place where our hands met being the center. We were covered by a swirling mass of aura as we spun past the enemy, its attacks bouncing off our defenses. As soon as we were done with the spell, we split up so that I could use the Arisaka now and fire at the ship. I managed to unload a few rounds before Minna and Mio were finished scanning the enemy, and we all retreated to go to Yoshika and Lynette.
"What's the core like?" I asked.
"The core is inside the engine room," Mio told us.
"That deep?" I knew it was around that area, but...I don't even know where that is!
"We'll need someone to go in and destroy it from the inside."
"I volunteer," Yoshika said. Almost typical of her...
"Me too!" Lynette added. Again, almost typical...
"I'll help as well," I added. Definitely typical considering what I've been doing over the last few months. "You'll need someone who can draw their fire once we're inside."
"You'll need someone who knows their way inside the place," Mio continued.
"Erm...well, don't look at me. I don't know that ship inside and out."
"I'll go with them," Perrine said finally. "I know the ship inside and out."
"Good thinking, Perrine."
This made the Gallian Witch blush. "Thanks, major…"
I blinked. I knew that she was going to help us, but it was still surprising to hear her volunteer to help.
"Let's move out, then!" I shouted as we broke up. Soon, the Warlagi (not the best name, but it works) was besieged by us Witches, who were trying to get inside the ship to destroy it. I kept Yoshika, Lynette, and Perrine near me so that we could get going the moment the defenses were breached.
I turned and watched as Charlotte and Francesca flew toward the Warlagi before Charlotte flung Francesca ahead of her. The Romagnan girl activated her barrier, but instead of being flat it created smaller barriers to form a drill before she slammed into the ship, making a hole in the hull.
Jackpot!
"Alright!" I said over my radio. "Infiltration team, let's move."
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Yoshika, Lynette, Perrine, and I flew into the exposed hole, the Gallian Witch guiding us toward our destination.
"I've got this!" I told them as I flew ahead of them. "I'll draw their fire while you three get to the engine room."
Unfortunately for us, the inside had a lot of small turrets that were soon shooting at us. I put up my barrier to defend against some of the lasers, but mine wasn't the best in defending, especially as I found myself losing the barrier as a laser was flying toward me.
I gulped before Yoshika put up her barrier in front of us to stop the laser.
"We stick together, Roland-kun," Yoshika said to me. "We're a team, right?"
"Yoshika..." I said simply before I watched Lynette and Perrine join her to help defend me.
I closed my eyes and felt the red aura and energy from that day as it flowed over my body.
I wasn't sure what it was before...but I know what I can do now...
I crossed my arms in front of me as the aura started getting stronger and my Striker Unit opened up.
"Neuroi Mode..." I started to let the others know of my intentions. "...ACTIVATE!"
Soon, I opened my eyes and saw that my arms had the red lines running along them, and I clenched my fists before sending my arms back to my sides.
"Let's do this," I said as I flew ahead. I wasn't too sure how long I could hold this, but I needed enough time to make sure the others were safe.
I flew ahead, the girls keeping up with me. This particular area was where I was learning more about that barrier I had in this form: I could protect myself from any direction when I sensed the shot coming, but I couldn't really protect the others without them being close to me and without putting up a protective shield around us. As I didn't want to see how long the shield would last when I did that, I only saved it when the going got really tough at this point. This left us dodging the lasers fired upon us.
"Whoa!" Yoshika cried out as she was nearly hit. While she wasn't injured, her gun was blasted out of her hands.
"Yikes!" Lynette added as her Bren was also shot out of her hands.
By the time we reached the area where the engine room was supposed to be and I left what I was now going to refer to as Neuroi Mode, I was panting, and the only girl who still had her gun was Perrine, who held her Bren machine gun in her hands.
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Perrine proceeded to fire her gun into the wall that ended up in front of them as I sat down to let my head catch up with my body really fast, but she didn't have enough ammunition to try opening it that way. I tried for her, but I soon met the same problem. Though it didn't really help that I had an Arisaka and a Browning HP at my disposal.
"Now what?" Yoshika asked as Perrine threw her gun aside and I holstered my pistol.
"Stand back," Perrine told us.
"Why?"
"Just stand back. I didn't want to use this except for an emergency, and it looks like now is one of them."
Is she going to use...?
"I'll join you too," I offered as I grabbed Perrine's right arm with my left hand and copied her magic.
We glowed in a mixture of green (mine) and blue (Perrine) before the spell was finally uttered.
"Dual Tech!" we shouted as one. "Tonnerre…TWO!"
The resulting blast of electricity blew a clean hole through the wall, something that happened with a few repercussions. Perrine's hair looked like she had been zapped one too many time, and I found myself staring to chuckle before I felt my own hair, which was sticking up.
"Does this always happen when you use that spell?" I asked as I smoothed my hair as best as I could. Perrine did the same thing, but it looked like her hair was more used to it than mine: hers looked normal with one or two small spots of curved hair while mine still retained a bit of spikiness. "I feel like a porcupine or something now..." I sighed.
We floated inside, amazed at what we found: inside were a lot of wires leading to the gigantic red core.
"Whoa," was all I could say. All these wires lead to that core? Wait, where did the wires...oh right. The Warlock had some wires...but shouldn't it be, oh I don't know...smaller in area?
"What happens if we destroy this, Roland?" Perrine asked me.
You want to know what the result could be? "Well, Gallia should be liberated."
"That's impossible. The Warlock took care of the Neuroi nest before we got here."
"But wasn't it still around?"
Perrine was about to say something, but she caught herself. "You're right, that nest didn't disappear yet..."
"Trust me, Perrine. Destroy this one, and we have one freed Gallia. Okay?" I soon looked around the room. "Now, how to destroy it..."
Yoshika thought about something and decided on what to do.
"Guys," she stated. "I need your help."
"Sure thing, Yoshika," I told her.
After a while of getting ready, Yoshika was held up by Perrine and Lynette. I floated next to them, ready to watch this battle's conclusion.
After focusing hard, Yoshika's Striker Unit decided to slowly fly off the young girl's legs and fly toward the core. Soon the Striker Unit slammed into the core.
However, in a twist, some sort of cannon formed in front of us, and I found myself flying in front of them in order to protect the girls from the brunt of the attack as I put up my barrier while the entire place disappeared the only way a Neuroi knew how...
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Minna's POV
We were busy fighting the enemy on the outside when it started showing signs of having lost its core.
"Clear the area," I ordered.
We flew back in time to watch the Neuroi as it exploded in a burst of energy.
"They did it," Major Sakamoto said as we watched the particles clear.
"But at what cost?" I asked her. If Roland or anyone else died in there...
Soon, the view was cleared enough to see four Witches, one male and three females. The male Witch had a barrier in place that seemed to have guarded them against an attack.
They're still alive...Thank God...
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Roland's POV
When the light finally cleared, we floated there as I dropped my shield. I was panting, something I was surprised at: I must have over-exerted myself back there, but it was the only way to make sure that no one was killed.
"Game, set, and...match," I said simply as I gave off a quick salute with my right hand.
"You did it, Yoshika!" Lynette said as she hugged the little Fuso Witch tightly. Perrine just let go and flew away from us a bit.
"You alright, Perrine?" I asked as I flew next to her. I think something was still bothering her...
"You said that Gallia would be freed," the Gallian girl complained.
Yeah, I was right. I was about to say something when Francesca ended up doing it.
"Hey, look!" Francesca shouted as she pointed at the nest, which was starting to disappear.
"See, Perrine?" I asked as I flew slightly ahead and floated in front of her. "I told you. Gallia has been freed." I then waved my right hand to show her the result.
"Lieutenant..." Perrine started as she tried thinking of something to say. Her final action was to hug me really tight, something I was really surprised at. "Roland...thank you."
"No problem, but I'm not exactly the one who made the sacrifice to end it." I looked at Yoshika.
Perrine nodded as she let me go and went to thank Yoshika.
I floated there and smiled as I heard Minna fly to a stop next to me.
"Are you okay, Roland?" she asked me.
I yawned as I said, "I'm not sure...I feel like taking a nap now..."
Speaking of naps, I felt my Striker Unit power down while I was still in the air, and I fell for a split second before I landed in Minna's arms, feeling drowsy.
"I think you've had enough for now," Minna told me as I laid my head on her chest and closed my eyes.
"Commander..." I said sleepily. "Thank you...for giving me another chance..."
"No, Roland...Thank you for staying by us to the end."
I soon dozed off.
There was still a chance to change the future...and I took it and succeeded.
I was actually surprised that I managed to get the original ending. I took some hits along the way, but it was still here.
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There's the second-to-last chapter for the story.
Now that we've hit this point, there's one question I'd like to pose now. No, it's not about the pairings (though if you want to, you can send me what pairings you see as being possible. See the end of Chapter 12 for more info). This time, I want to know this: what was your favorite part of the story?
This question is rather simple. Whatever part was most memorable to you, feel free to send me a PM about it or put it in your review (again, if it's allowed). I won't put it in bold like this for the epilogue, so feel free to pick whichever path you want.
Also, now that the search has been upgraded to show OCs for the filter by use of the character "OC", I'm adding that to the list of characters now that it's available.
Other than that, please read and respond, and let me know what you thought of the chapter.
Thanks.