A/N: Replies to reviews:

edboy4926: Kinda sad we both can honestly consider 75% of humanity being wiped out as an improvement isn't it? And yes, Japan does survive in canon, since you hear on the radio about Japanese resistance fighters attacking a Terraformer. However, in this verse, the Chimera launched their fleet at Asia before attacking America, to counteract how much better humanity was doing. In Resistance canon, the Americas were one of the very few safe zones left on the planet. Here, Japan was another, hence the Fleet attack. Plus, it adds additional opportunity for angst.

fuji92: Glad to see that you like my fic, I'll try not to disappoint you. When you asked about yuri coming in, if it does, it won't be anything major, maybe a few pairings, but no lemons. Any tips you have for the story would be appreciated.

mastermind: The Chimera aren't even all dead on Resistance-Earth. There're still hordes of Ferals along with a few Military survivors. Feral Grims are so common they're considered part of the local wildlife! And of course then there are the thousands strong Widowmaker hordes.

Onward!

Chapter 6: Reactions and Preparations

"Merry Christmas, here's a gift from Berlin."

Anonymous B-70 Pilot during the Carpeting of Russia

April 8th

New York, UED Fleet Headquarters

General Kerel winced as he read the reports from the Battle of Jupiter. "The entire fleet." He spoke acidly.

"Yes sir, the Fourth Fleet reports that the Third Fleet just vanished along with the Mothership. We believe that the Neumann was trying to escape, and the Third Fleet was caught up in the escape attempt. If they're still alive, they're most likely in hostile territory." Admiral Derrels reported grimly.

Kerel sighed. Over fifty ships had been lost fighting the Neumanns around Jupiter, leaving the UED Fleet at a fifth of its pre-war strength.

Still, it wasn't like taking heavy casualties was unknown to humanity. Besides, reports from across the Solar System could agree on one thing.

The Neumanns were retreating. With all of their Motherships destroyed they had no way to replace combat losses. Skirmishes would carry on for a couple more years, but realistically, the war was over.

Three years and only a couple million casualties, a far cry from the thirty three year Chimeran War that had left 1.5 billion humans dead or converted. Kerel looked at the reports again, and gave the Admiral a small smile. "At least the war's over now. We need to get the fleet back to full strength and more." He pulled out a file and took a few papers out. "Get word to the shipyards in Europe and Africa. Command wants a fleet of four hundred hulls, as well as colony ships and terraformers. When the Neumanns return, I want them to see humanity on every planet of the Solar System."

The Admiral looked at the plans for the new UED Fleet. "This is gonna take a few years sir, especially with resources going to some of the new SRPA gear."

"We've got time."

September 7th

Vengeance of Japan

Jorges was in the middle of negotiating with the various emissaries of the Allies, among which included several Military commanders and an Ursula Hartmann from Karlsland. "Well then, down to business. The Third Fleet of the UED will provide any assistance it can in defeating the Neuroi, in return for the supplies necessary for us to continue to operate. We will also provide you with assistance in Research and Development to produce new weapons to allow conventional forces to stand against the Neuroi."

The Allied diplomats nodded. One of them spoke up. "We are grateful for the assistance you have offered us. With your help, we will no longer have to rely on witches alone for results against the Neuroi. We may even be able to replace them entirely by the end of the war." A few of the people at the table frowned at the man's last remark.

Jorges was among them. This issue had been brought up more than once during negotiations. From what he could tell, many commanders resented having to rely on Witches, young females, for victory. This wasn't true across the entire military, but even so, inter-service rivalry was the last thing needed in the middle of a war of survival. "I'm afraid I don't see the point in phasing out witches. A military force should make use of all available assets to achieve victory. Even if new technology allows conventional forces to fight the Neuroi effectively, witches will still have a place in the war effort." He noticed that several of the other Allied commanders frowning at that statement. "But enough, negotiations are over. Miss Hartmann, I understand that you're here to examine our equipment?"

Ursula nodded. "Yes, I am here to see if your weapons can be replicated, or at least use what you know to improve our own."

Jorges grinned at the younger girl. "Excellent. Well everyone, I think that this meeting is over. Miss Hartmann, if you'll follow me?" Everyone got the hint and went their separate ways. Meanwhile Jorges and Ursula went onto one of the many platforms that took people throughout the ship, which quickly began moving toward one of the hangers.

Ursula turned her eyes away from the interior of the ship and turned to the Commander. "I would like to thank you for supporting the witches back there. Many leaders have a strong hatred for us."

Jorges shrugged. "Child soldiers played a big part of the Chimeran War. True that was because most of the adults were dead, but they proved their worth. In matters of survival, you can't be choosy. You're fighting for the survival of humanity as a species, as a soldier, I respect that."

Ursula winced. Like the rest of the Allied visitors, she had watched the documentary on the Chimeran war. It had been... sobering, to say the very least. The Neuroi were bad, but at least with them you didn't need to worry about the bodies of the fallen being turned into monsters. Most of the viewers were probably going to have nightmares over some of the scenes. "Regardless, thank you, it's nice to see you aren't like Maloney."

"Who?" Jorges asked.

So Ursula explained the story behind Maloney and his Warlock Project. Jorges quickly told her about the Armored Skirmisher, but reassured her that there were no Neuroi parts in it. He continued to describe it for the rest of the ride.

A couple hours later, Erica was still examining all of the various toys that the UED had brought with them. Between the jets, guns, missiles, shields, and energy weapons, she was having the time of her life. She was still checking over an HVAP Wraith given to her by the quartermaster a half hour ago when the alarm sounded.

Jorges cursed and quickly raised comms to the Bridge. "Status report!"

"Sir, we've got a massive wave of Neuroi inbound! ETA is 20 minutes!"

Jorges nodded. "I'll be up there soon. Launch all fighters and Armored Skirmishers and put fleet into defensive formation! Deploy Stalkers onto the deck for close range fire support!" He turned to Ursula. "I'm afraid I'll have to leave now. If you're a witch, I recommend you get ready for combat." Then he was off and running towards the lift.

Ursula stared at the Wraith in her hands, then back to the lifts, then to the quartermaster. "How fast can I get to my Striker?"

Alarms sounded across the ships as crew and fighter pilots once again raced to battle stations. Dozens of Stalker combat drones and Avengers were moved onto the top deck, ready to fire at the approaching horde. Gun-ports opened, hanger bays revealed squadrons of aircraft, and ECW suites activated.

The 501st, which had remained on the Vengeance of Japan while negotiations took place, quickly raced to equip their Strikers and launch. After hearing the fate of the UED's Earth and their own counterparts, they were happy to get a chance to relieve some stress.

Immediately after the 501st launched they found themselves surrounded by F-23's and F-111s from the UED, and were quickly hailed by Jorges. "All forces, hostiles number at 50 Stingrays with associated escorts, plenty of drones, and a whole variety of Customs. Take out anything that tries to hit the Fleet, these ships have taken enough damage as it is."

By now everyone could see the Neuroi fleet. Just like Jorges had said, there were 50 large types, and several hundred Mediums and Smalls. It was the biggest attack the Witches had seen in months, and every one of the things was headed straight for the Fleet. In response the missile tubes that still worked on the ships activated and locked onto the approaching large types, then opened fire. Over a hundred missiles hurled towards their targets. Over half of them were shot down before they impacted. Another fifteen hit lighter Neuroi that acted as an ablative shield. This still left over fourty to smash into the Large types' armor, and 13 of them went down as their cores were destroyed. Several fighter squadrons also launched long-range ordinance, and dozens of Medium and Small Neuroi were turned into dust.

The survivors quickly got into range and unleashed a hailstorm of lasers, which were quickly intercepted by the Fleet's answering volley. The sky became a field of red, as lasers mixed and cancelled each other. Even as the larger, shorter ranged guns of the Fleet turned on their enemies, the smaller Neuroi began engaging in their own battle with human planes and witches. The UED fighter pilots were used to fighting against the Neuroi, and this quickly became clear as the number of Neuroi dropped dramatically, with witches simply speeding up the process. The large-types fared little better, over half their number had been destroyed during the exchange.

Unfortunately, survival was not of great importance to these Neuroi.

Five of the remaining large-types burst towards the Charlie Tent. Three were destroyed by point defense fire, but the ship's crew and defenses had been surprised by this sudden move. The remaining two Neuroi slammed their hulls into the metal behemoth. Another Projectile Cannon battery was smashed apart, and another wound appeared in the ship's hull, belching fire as the ship reeled from the blow.

Immediately the comms were filled with shouts of surprise before a commanding voice cut in. "501st, cover the Fleet, we can't let anymore of those damn kamikazes hit!" Minna nodded and immediately sent a message to the rest of the girls. "You heard him everyone, cover those ships!" Immediately the witches along with a few dozen fighters broke off and burst toward the five ships, just as about half of the surviving lighter Neuroi did the same.

The airspace became a mess as several Neuroi made suicide attacks on human planes, sacrificing themselves to destroy a few of the UED's finite amount of fighters. Erica was taken by surprise as one of the drones slammed itself into her shield, sending her tumbling back as three Neuroi tried to take advantage of her temporary surprise. She quickly brought one down with a burst from her MG42. The other two managed to get a single shot off each at her shields before getting torn apart by an unexpected hail of gunfire. Erica gasped as her sister flew into view. "Ursula? What are you doing here? And what kind of gun is that?"

Ursula gave her sister a smile as she pointed the Wraith at an unfortunate drone, which quickly disintegrated. "I couldn't just leave you all to fight alone, could I?" She patted her gun lovingly. "Especially not with this. The people back on the ship gave it to me." Erica gave a smile as the two witches went back to work. They quickly came across one of the Large types engaging a pair of jets. The twins looked at each other, nodded, and broke off.

"Sturm!"

"Sturm!"

The two sisters smashed into the Neuroi, making an X through it, and cleaving off large portions of the armor. They quickly did an about face and finished the core off with a quick volley. The pilots stared at the two. "Damn..." One of them whispered. Then she got back to work as the twins repeated the process on another Neuroi. Erica flashed her sister a grin as the two quickly whirled around, shooting at the drones chasing them.

Meanwhile the rest of the 501st had taken positions nearby the carrier, shooting down kamikazes, but even with all the fire around the ships, there were so many that a few managed to get through. One raked the deck and smashed apart three Stalkers, another slammed into one of the deck railguns. Then, the surviving dozen or so Large Types burst towards the Vengeance of Japan, disregarding everything else. Erica smashed through one's core. A missile exposed another one to be finished off by Ursula. Three more were destroyed by the other ships and fighters. That still left five to hurl themselves toward the carrier.

Then parts of the hull opened up to reveal a dozen Armored Skirmishers, which activated their hover-jets and opened fire.

All the witches stared in horror at the mechas. They were Warlocks. They'd seen these things before. Sure, they'd wiped out a good portion of the Neuroi in Gallia, but then they'd gone rouge and done the same. Sure it looked slightly different, but there were definite similarities, none of which brought back pleasant memories. Instinctively, they all pointed their weapons at the mechas. They stopped when they heard Jorges' voice over the radio. "Ladies, I introduce you to the Armored Skirmisher. Please try not to wreck them. We've only got so many."

The Skirmishers proceeded to let loose volleys of blue pulses and beams at the approaching foes. Armor burned off as the shots impacted. The 501st quickly shook themselves out of their stupor and began finishing off the weakened Neuroi. The mechas could wait. The remaining small and medium types were wiped out and the UED jet squadrons began pounding apart the last few Neuroi. Between the Skirmishers, witches, ship guns, and planes, the aliens barely lasted a few more seconds. Even as the last Neuroi was turning into dust, the 501st was staring as the Armored Skirmishers returned to their carrier. Minna sighed. Every time she thought she'd seen everything these newcomers, something new showed up.

20 minutes post battle

Vengeance of Japan

Minna stared at the Fleet Commander, along with the rest of the girls. "You have Warlocks!?" She asked incredulously, barely managing to keep from yelling.

"Well, not quite." Jorges responded calmly. "From what Ursula Hartmann told me, The Warlock was powered by a Neuroi Core, which caused it to become subverted by the Neuroi. The Armored Skirmisher uses no Neuroi parts. Instead, we took what we learned from studying destroyed Neuroi, combined it with what we already knew, and made our own, homegrown drone mecha."

Minna frowned. "So it's not vulnerable to the Neuroi?"

Jorges shrugged. "No more than anything else. Besides, you saw its combat performance. That was only a dozen of them. We've got sixty now."

"It certainly was effective." Minna relented. "But if it starts showing signs of Neuroification, we're shooting first, asking questions later."

Jorges smiled. "I would expect nothing less."

A few hours later

Jorges smiled as he gave the stack of files to Ursula. "Here you go Miss Hartmann. Blueprints for pretty much all mid Chimeran War tech. Your own production facilities should be able to handle these. I'm hoping to see F-86 Sabres, M12 Sabertooths, missiles, and storm rifles by the end of the year."

Ursula nodded. "You can count on us sir. These new inventions should help us turn the tide." She then realized that she was still holding onto the HVAP Wraith. "Oh, I think you'll want this-?"

Jorges chuckled and waved his hand. "Keep it, I'm sure you'll have far more use for it."

Ursula smiled gratefully, she had already grown very fond of her new minigun. Jorges returned her smile as she stepped back onto her transport, which took off back to New Karlsland.

He turned around and frowned as a SRPA Black Ops trooper came up. "Fleet Commander, Director Doorn wishes to see you."

Jorges frowned. "As you wish." This was either very good or very bad. SRPA usually kept to itself most of the time. Granted these weren't usual times, but still, it was unusual.

Jorges looked at the Director. "You wanted to see me Director?"

Doorn smiled at the Commander. "Ah, yes, I've just received news on the Allies' failed mecha project. The Warlock I believe?" Jorges nodded. "Excellent. Well, from all reports, it seems to have outdone our own Armored Skirmishers. The only problem was the Neuroi Core, but I believe that can be worked around. We certainly managed to find a way."

Jorges shook his head. "Director, please, what is it you want me to do?"

He smiled. "I want the Warlock. I want to find out how they made it, what their plans were for it, and whether we can modify it to our standards."

"So you want me to ask for the blueprints for the thing?"

Doorn's smile grew even wider. 'Of course, but I also want you to do one other thing for me."

Dover, Britannian Military Base

September 11th

Private Trevor Maloney sighed as he woke up that morning. He stared up at the ceiling as he remembered how he had got here. It had been so simple, trying to replace the Joint Fighter Wings with the Warlock. When the news had come of its first success, he'd been elated. For the first time since the war had begun, a non-witch unit had won without horrifyingly disproportionate casualties. He had been sure that with this victory, he could have created a new army to drive back the Neuroi to whatever hole they had crawled out of. Then of course everything had gone wrong. The Warlock had gone rogue, and destroyed the Akagi, killing the very people it had been created to protect. To add insult to injury, the 501st squadron, a group of witches, had destroyed it, and revealed that he'd been using money meant for the witches to fund the project. He'd been lucky they hadn't court martialed him, instead of merely demoting him.

But that wasn't the worst of it, no, the worst of it was that he had failed. He had overlooked every part of that project, seeing it as a new hope for humanity. Instead, it had become another Neuroi, another monster trying to destroy his country, his planet, and he had created it.

"Hey, private, if you're done moping around, there's someone who wants to see you." A man sneered at him from the entrance to the barracks. Maloney frowned, who would want to see a disgraced Air Marshall? "Who?" He asked.

The other man shrugged, some weird lad in all black, he's got his own private room for your pleasure, now get moving before I drag you out."

Maloney snarled and quickly walked out and followed the guard out of the barracks and into the main building. Sure enough, he was led to a room empty except for one man sitting at a desk. He looked up at the guard behind Maloney. "Thank you private, you can leave us now." He nodded and left, shutting the door behind him.

The man smiled as he looked at Maloney. "Sit down Private Maloney, there are a few things I wish to discuss with you." Maloney complied, and took a close look at him. He was wearing a pure black suit, but it had the letters SRPA on it.

Ah, he thought. These must be those newcomers he had heard so much about over the past few days. Everyone had been talking about them, their strange Chimeran enemies, and about their own world in general. He gulped, there was only one thing he could think of that they would be interested in from him.

"Trevor Maloney, former Air Marshall, and the creator of the Warlock Project, a Mecha designed to engage the Neuroi and to replace the JFWs. I represent the Special Research Projects Administration. It's a pleasure to meet you."

Maloney frowned. 'I wish the feeling was mutual sir, but I'm afraid I would feel more comfortable if you told my why you were here."

"Straight to the point, good. I am here because of the Warlock Project, and I have a few questions I wish to ask you, if you will let me." Maloney nodded. "Excellent, let us begin."

At first the questions were simple, birthdate, experiences, age, family, hobbies, etc. But eventually they moved into a darker territory.

"Maloney, I understand that you were taking funds meant for the JFWs and using them for your project. Might I understand why?"

Maloney winced. "The witches were doing perfectly fine with what they had. I thought that with extra funding my project could get underway on schedule, it was proving more expensive than anyone anticipated."

"That may be, but many have accused you of sabotage, of stealing resources from your nation, and intentionally weakening the war effort."

"Don't!" Maloney snarled, suddenly standing up. "Don't call me that! Call me anything else. Call me incompetent, call me a bigoted fool, call me an overambitious filth who couldn't look past his own profit, but DON'T call me a traitor!" He sat back down, one of his hands on his face. "I made the Warlock to protect humanity, not destroy it." He whispered.

The SRPA man nodded. "I see." His tone changed, it seemed more, respectful? "But why hate the witches? Why try to replace them? Surely you admired them for their role in saving humanity?"

Maloney nodded, giving a humorless grin. "Yes, at first, I did, for a few months." He looked the man straight in the eye. "I've heard about your Chimeran War. About what you were fighting, and about how hopeless it was at the start. The same could be said for us at the start. The Neuroi came without warning, without mercy. First Ostmark, then Karlsland, then Gallia. I saw it all. I saw dozens of planes take off to buy refugees time to escape, and see only a few return home. Every battle we fought was hopeless, it took dozens of dead pilots to kill of Large Type. It took a battalion of tanks to destroy a Heavy. But we still fought, what else could we do? We had friends, family, who were out there fighting. So we fought and died for them.

"Then the witches came in all their splendor. Brave girls, capable of taking down even the toughest Neuroi with ease. Oh yes, we were driven back still, but we had hope. We thought we could win."

He sighed. "But people kept dying, still hundreds of my men died trying to hold the line for the safety of thousands, of millions. But no one cared. Do you want to know why? The witches." He spat out that word. "There's a fleet of large types? Oh, just send witches. There's a squad who needs evacuation? Please, the witches can handle that. You need people to defend the city? Don't worry, there are witches who can deal with that problem. Every damn time we would fight, we would die. Before the witches came, we had the idea that we were doing something. We could see the fruits of our work. I saw all those people fleeing to Brtannia. Homeless, penniless, but they were alive. Alive because good men sacrificed themselves for them. But were our men honored after the witches came? Oh no, every good thing that happened was thanks to our brave flying girls. Was there any mention of half the Royal Navy going down with their ships to protect people evacuating at Dunkirk? Of course not, everyone was to busy thanking the witches."

He wasn't even paying attention to the man anymore, he was lost in memories."Every sacrifice we made, every inch we sold in blood, all of it seemed for nothing! If the witches were so grand, so unstoppable, why were we even fighting? What were all our sacrifices for? Had all those men died... for nothing? Every time I saw a witch I remembered those smug, arrogant faces. Those girls bragging about their hundreds of kills. So WHAT? What about the hundreds of our own fighter pilots who died? Why weren't they honored? Why weren't they remembered? Their sacrifices were worth something right? Surely they deserved some bit of thanks besides a grave and a 'Oh, we're sorry about the fallen, maybe next time you should let the witches take care of things for you.'" There were tears running down his eyes. "I was sick of it. Sick of dead men. Sick of dead, unremembered soldiers."

He looked at the other man again. "It see." He said. Yes, there was definitely respect in his voice. "But why the Warlock? How would it have changed things?"

Maloney chuckled. "The Warlock was just the tip of the iceberg. Once it was proven successful, I would have gotten the funding I needed to work on other projects. We could have discovered how to make Neuroi lasers, regenerating hulls. Can you imagine that. I could have equipped every plane, every soldier, every ship with laser weapons and armor that repaired itself. Everyone could have taken the Neuroi in a fair fight. And make no mistake, we would have needed that edge. The witches couldn't do everything. With my projects, humanity could have driven the Neuroi not just off Earth, but out of the Galaxy." He sighed. "But that's impossible now."

"Not necessarily, Trevor." Maloney straightened and looked at the man, who continued speaking. "I said I represented SRPA correct? I am here to make you an offer."

"An offer?" Maloney frowned. Why would they want- His eyes widened. "You want me to join SRPA. You want me to help you."

He nodded. "Correct, your experience with the Warlock could be of great value to us. With your help, we could make those laser weapons and armor for every man. We have already recruited many of those who worked on the original Warlock."

Trevor frowned. "But why me? Why would you want me on your group. I'm not an engineer or scientist."

"Because you know those men. They all spoke highly of you. They to, wanted to make those laser rifles and regenerating armor. They wanted you because you inspired them to create something. You gave them hope that the average man could one day beat a Neuroi in single combat. And because I know you. I've read your dossier. You saw the Warlock as your own failure. You would have studied how it worked, how it was supposed to function, and how it failed. And a man willing to try and make up for a failure is infinitely more valuable than one simply trying to make another success."

Trevor smiled, and for the first time it was a genuine one. "Well then, sir, consider me recruited."

Vengeance of Japan

September 12th

IT had only taken a day to get the paperwork done and him transferred. Now he was onboard the most advanced ship in the world, staring at director Doorn.

"Project Administrator Trevor Maloney reporting for duty sir." He said, smiling. It was good to be back in the job.

Doorn smiled back. "Welcome to SRPA Trevor Maloney.

A/N: I've noticed that Strike Witches fanfiction has a tendency to demonize Maloney. I can understand that. However, I wanted to do something different. I want to see if I can make Maloney at least somewhat sympathetic. Please tell me how I did.

Also, I will now be adding bits and pieces of the AU Resistance-verse at the end of chapters.

Codex:

War Trains: After the Chimeran War, the land between settlements became filled with Feral Chimera, making travel dangerous. To counter this, engineers constructed a series of large train tracks and bridges. On these tracks there would be several heavily armed and armored trains, with enough weapons to destroy even the powerful Widowmaker hordes. They are used to carry passengers from one town, city, or enclave to another, and are tough enough to survive heavy artillery and plasma barrages. Some even hold artillery batteries to shell Ferals from a great distance.

Customs: While some Neuroi can be identified as uniform types, others are incredibly varied, and simply called Customs. Their attack and defense power varies.