The Witch of the Neuroi
Disclaimer: I own nothing. Except for the OC's. I own all the OC's.
Ch.2: The Encounter, and the New Threat
Four Years Later…
In the night, Sanya was humming a song to keep herself occupied. Noticing a flash of light to her left, she looked to see a transport plane that belonged to the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, aka the Strike Witches, which Sanya is also a part of.
On the mentioned transport plane sat three Witches.
"Grumpiness is written all over your face, Major Sakamoto." said Minna.
"They called us all the way out here to tell us they're cutting our budgets. Of course I look grumpy." retorted Mio.
"They're feeling frustrated too, given that we're the only ones producing results in the war." Minna replied.
"The only thing they see is their own position." Mio countered.
"That's just how the warmongers are. Had the Neuroi never appeared they might be warring with each other right now." said Minna.
"It'd be like a world war, I bet" said Mio, who then turned to the younger blonde Witch to her right. "Sorry Hartmann. I was hoping to show you around a town in Britannia since we're here, but…"
"It's okay," Ursula Hartmann, a Witch/researcher who transferred over to the Strike Witches recently, replied "You can always show me around another time." At this point, the three Witches could hear singing. "Umm, do you hear something?" Ursula asked.
"Oh, that's Sanya singing." answered Minna, looking out the window "We must be near the base."
The singing suddenly stopped, puzzling Ursula, and putting Mio and Minna on edge. "What's wrong, Sanya?" Minna asked.
"Someone is watching us…" Sanya said in a soft voice.
"You need to report clearly and loudly." Mio said.
"I'm sorry," Sanya apologized, and then continued "An unknown aircraft is approaching from the direction of Sirius."
"Is it a Neuroi?" Minna asked.
"Yes, I'm almost certain of it." Sanya answered "It's not moving at a normal aircraft's speed."
Mio lifted her eye patch, exposing her purple "Magic Eye". "I don't see it, though…" Mio said.
"It's in the clouds." Sanya stated "It can't be detected with the naked eye."
"What are we supposed to do in this situation?" Ursula asked.
"I know it's vexing," Minna said "But there's nothing we can do without our Strikers." Minna then realized something. "You don't think they planned on that?" Minna asked.
"The Neuroi aren't capable of such complicated strategies." Mio replied.
"Target continues to approach at high speed." Sanya said, reminding them of the current situation. "Three minutes to contact."
"Sanya," Minna said "You'll need to buy us time until backup can arrive. Avoid engaging it to the best of your ability."
"Yes, ma'am." Sanya said, turning off the safety of the rocket launcher she was carrying. "Breaking away from target."
"Watch closely, Hartmann." Mio said.
"Sanya knows where the Neuroi is?" Ursula asked.
"Yes." Mio confirmed "She can even see things that are beyond the horizon."
Ursula whistled, finding a new respect for Sanya.
"That's why we always leave her in charge of night patrol duty." Minna said
Sanya then flipped over, aiming her rocket launcher through the clouds and firing two rockets, both of them striking the Neuroi. "It's not attacking back?" Sanya asked in confusion, firing more rockets.
"Just as I thought." Minna said. "She's doing well against an enemy we can't see…"
"But I don't see a Neuroi at all…" Ursula said.
"What Sanya says is definitely correct." Mio said.
Far off in the distance, beyond the range of Sanya's "Magic Antenna", Yoshika was viewing the battle using her "Telescoping Search Eye". After the Neuroi retreated, Yoshika decided to head back to the Hive in Gallia.
Back at the base, all the Witches were gathered in the living room, Mio explaining what had happened.
"Then, does that mean no one saw the Neuroi but Sanya this time?" Trude asked.
"That's because it was hidden in the clouds and wouldn't come out." Mio explained.
"But she said it didn't fight back." Erica said "Does that ever happen? Are we sure it was really a Neuroi?" Erica asked.
"A shy Neuroi, perhaps?" Lynne asked.
"Maybe so." Ursula replied.
"Sanya, Ursula, Eila, you three are assigned to the full-time nighttime team." Mio ordered.
"Yes, ma'am!" the three Witches replied.
The next morning, all the Witches were in the dining room.
"Oh, blueberries! But why so many?" Perrine asked.
"My family sent them. Blueberries are good for your eyes, you know!" Lynne said, carrying a basket of blueberries.
"Down the hatch!" Erica said, digging into her bowl of blueberries.
"I have heard that nighttime pilots in Britannia eat them often." Trude said.
Ursula had finished off her bowl of blueberries when Lucchini walked up to her. "Ursula! Shirley! Stick out your tongues!" Lucchini said, sticking out her tongue, which was purple from eating blueberries. Ursula and Shirley also stuck out their tongues, which were also purple. The three blinked, and then started laughing up a storm.
"Honestly! How trite can one get?!" Perrine asked.
"What about you?!" Eila asked, pulling back Perrine's lips to reveal her purple teeth.
Mio looked at Perrine, and walked off saying, "All things in moderation."
Perrine was tearing up in pure embarrassment. "H-H-How could you do that, Eila?!" Perrine yelled.
"Hmmm?" Eila said, walking away grinning. "I didn't do anything."
'Delicious.' Sanya thought, eating another spoonful of blueberries.
"All right," Mio said "Now that breakfast is over, go to sleep to prepare for night duty!"
"Huh?" Ursula asked. "But what about mine and Dr. Miyafuji's research?"
"That can wait until after we deal with this Neuroi." Mio said with finality.
"Fine…" Ursula relented.
The three Witches were in Sanya's room, which was completely dark, save for the tiny amount of light that seeped in through the bottom of the door.
"I just woke up, too…" Ursula complained "Why did they have to make the room pitch black?"
"They want us to get used to the dark." Eila answered.
"Sorry they did this to your room, Sanya." Ursula apologized.
Sanya shook her head. "This is how I like my room." Sanya said.
"If you're bored, let's do tarot cards." Eila offered.
"Tarot cards?" Ursula asked.
"Fortunetelling," Eila explained "I can predict the future using magic. I can't see very far, though…" Eila said, laying her tarot cards face-down on the bed. Ursula picked one up. "Let me see…" Eila said, looking at the card before getting a grin on her face at which card it was; the Justice card. "Well! It seems you'll learn the truth about the reasons of a past event." Eila said.
Ursula was confused. 'I wonder what she's talking about…?' Ursula thought to herself.
Eila plopped down on the bed, fast asleep. Before falling asleep herself, Ursula noticed a date circled on Sanya's calendar. The date was August 18, which Ursula assumed was Sanya's birthday. Her eyes widened. 'Sanya's birthday is the same day as mine is.' Ursula thought to herself.
That evening…
"It's sundown! Up and at 'em!" Lucchini called into the room.
"It seems kind of dark." Ursula said, sitting down next to Lynne.
Lynne nodded. "They said it's training to get our eyes used to dark environments." Lynne said.
"What's this?" Ursula asked, looking at the liquid in the teacup in front of her.
"It's marigold herbal tea!" Perrine exclaimed "It's said that this can improve your eyesight, too!"
"Oh," Lynne said "But isn't that an old folk myth?"
"How rude! I'll have you know this was passed down from my grandmother's grandmother's grandmother!" Perrine yelled, growling.
"S-Sorry…" Lynne apologized.
"Ursula! Lynne! Stick out your tongues!" Lucchini said, sticking her tongue out, which was normally colored. Lynne and Ursula did the same, revealing that their tongues were also normally colored. Lucchini's left eye was twitching in annoyance at not finding anything funny. "That's no fun!" Lucchini yelled.
"That joke bombed." Eila said, grinning to herself. Perrine scowled at Eila, but didn't say anything.
Sanya took a sip of the marigold herbal tea. 'Yuck…' Sanya thought to herself.
Eila, Sanya and Ursula were out flying conducting nighttime flight training.
"So this is what it's like to fly at night…" Ursula trailed off, flying in formation with Sanya and Eila.
"This is our mission." Sanya said.
Ursula stared at Sanya, puzzled by what she meant.
The next morning, all the Witches were in the dining room.
"What's this?" Perrine asked, looking into a teacup.
"Lamprey liver oil!" Ursula said "It's full of vitamins and good for your eyes!"
Erica sniffed it. "It smells kinda fishy." Erica said.
"Well, it is fish oil." Trude said "Flavor doesn't matter as long as it's nutritious." Trude then took a sip, before recoiling in disgust. "…I take back what I just said." Trude admitted.
Perrine was laughing up a storm. "That's Hartmann for you!" Perrine taunted "What a truly rustic choice!" Perrine continued laughing, unaware that she also taunted Erica, whose left eye was twitching in annoyance.
"Actually, I'm the one who brought it." Mio said.
Perrine quickly shut up, hearing what Mio said. Turning around quickly, Perrine grabbed the cup of fish oil while saying, "I-I love fish oil!" Grabbing the cup, Perrine quickly gulped down its contents, only for her eyes to widen at the horrible taste.
Ursula took a sip from her cup. "I don't see what the problem is. This is just as good as tea." She said.
"What is this?!" Lucchini asked in disgust.
"There's engine oil that tastes like this…" Shirley trailed off in thought.
Eila was spitting it out of her mouth, while Sanya just put her cup down.
"They used to force me to drink this when I first joined." Mio admitted, scratching the back of her head sheepishly "I was at a real loss."
"I can completely sympathize…" Perrine grumbled, trying to get the taste out of her mouth.
"Refill, please!" Minna requested with a smile. Erica was slowly backing away from Minna in disgust, but froze at what her sister did next.
Ursula snatched the carton of fish oil from Mio's hands, and proceeded to chug down the entire carton. All the Witches looked at her in disgust, except Minna, who pouted at the loss of such a good tasting beverage.
"Do you have any more?" Ursula asked in a sweet tone, giving back Mio the now empty carton.
"Ugh…" Ursula groaned in pure boredom. "Where are you two from?" Ursula asked.
"I'm from Suomus." Eila answered.
"Orussia." Sanya answered.
"Oh, I know where those are." Ursula said, but then had a thought. "Hey, Sanya…" Ursula said.
"What is it?" Sanya asked.
"What happened to your family?" Ursula asked.
"They fled east when the Neuroi attacked my hometown." Sanya answered "They fled over the Ural Mountains and far past."
"That's a relief." Ursula said.
"How is that a relief?" Eila asked "Weren't you just listening?"
"But that means they can see each other again someday, because not every Witch's parents are still alive, you know." Ursula pointed out.
Eila winced at that thought. "…Yeah, I guess you're right."
That night, Sanya, Eila, and Ursula were out flying again.
"Say, listen." Ursula said.
"Huh?" Eila and Sanya asked.
"Today is my birthday!" Ursula exclaimed.
"Why didn't you tell us this before?!" Eila asked.
"Things have been so hectic that I forgot to mention it." Ursula admitted.
Sanya looked down.
"What's wrong, Sanya?" Ursula asked.
"Well, you see," Eila replied "Today is also Sanya's…"
At that moment, Sanya's "Magic Antenna" started to rapidly change color, causing her to gasp.
"What is it?" Eila asked.
The three Witches then heard something akin to the song Sanya usually sings.
"What is that?" Ursula asked.
"It's a song!" Eila answered worriedly.
"How…?" Sanya asked to herself.
At the base, the same song could also be heard. "Is this a Neuroi's voice?" Minna asked.
"Is it trying to mimic Sanya? Where is she?" Mio asked with concern in her voice.
"She should be conducting nighttime flight training with Yamakawa's group." Minna answered.
"Call them back at once!" Mio ordered.
"We can't! There's no telling where they are in these conditions!" Minna said, worried.
"I see," said Mio "So the enemy's after Sanya!"
Back with the three Witches, the three were getting worried.
"Is it the enemy, Sanya?" Eila asked.
"Is it a Neuroi? Where is it?" Ursula asked, getting her gun ready.
"Escape, you two!" Sanya suddenly ordered, who then flew straight up.
Suddenly, a purple beam pierced through the clouds grazing Sanya's left Striker Unit, forcing her to eject it before it exploded seconds later.
"Sanya!" Eila shouted, flying after Sanya with Ursula following her.
Eila caught Sanya, and then yelled, "You idiot! What are you trying to do all by yourself?"
"I'm the enemy's target!" Sanya replied "There's no question about it. Get away from me... If you stay with me, you'll..."
"Don't be stupid! What are you saying?" Eila stated.
"We can't do that!" Ursula yelled.
"But..." Sanya started, but was surprised when Eila grabbed her rocket launcher.
"What are you going to do?!" Ursula asked while carrying Sanya.
"Give me the enemy's location, Sanya." Eila said "It's all right. I can read the enemy's actions ahead of time, so they won't get me. That thing isn't you. It may be alone, but you've got us!"
Ursula gave Sanya a reassuring grin. Sanya nodded.
"The Neuroi is heading straight this way, on the line connecting Vega and Altair. Approximate distance of 3,200." Sanya said, giving the location of the inbound Neuroi.
"Like this?" Eila asked, positioning the rocket launcher.
"It's speeding up. Aim closer." Sanya corrected "There. Three more seconds."
"Now hit it!" Eila yelled, firing several rockets.
Another purple beam was fired at the trio, who dodged it. The rockets all hit their mark as the Neuroi flew beneath them, retaining its cloud cover.
"I missed it?!" Eila asked.
"No, it's slowed down." Sanya said "It's sustained heavy damage. It's coming back!"
"Don't come back!" Eila yelled, firing more rockets at the Neuroi. To the trio's shock, the Neuroi dodged the rockets.
"It dodged!" Ursula warned.
"Damnnit, show yourself!" Eila cursed, firing the last rocket in the launcher. This time, it was a direct hit, and the Neuroi revealed itself, although it was going too fast for the Witches to get a good look at it.
"There it is!" Eila and Ursula said at the same time. The Neuroi was fast approaching. Thinking quickly, Eila discarded the now empty rocket launcher in favor of her machine gun, firing away at the Neuroi.
"Eila, no! Run!" Sanya pleaded.
"There's no time for that now!" Eila replied.
Ursula threw up her shield, still carrying Sanya on her back.
"Good thinking!" Eila complimented.
"It's okay! I know we can win!" Ursula encouraged.
"This is what a team is all about!" Eila finished.
Sanya then grabbed Ursula's machine gun, firing at the Neuroi. The Neuroi, which had purple markings, swerved left and right, avoiding most of the shots as it continued to charge.
Ten miles away from the fight, a certain submarine-like Neuroi with red markings was charging in.
Axion thought back, remembering his Commander's orders.
Flashback
Axion, along with all the other Neuroi in the Hive, were facing their Commander next to the Hive Core. Their Commander, Yoshika Miyafuji (who now wears a Neuroi Striker Unit), has brought several major victories for the Neuroi by leading them to the complete takeover of Gallia while allowing the civilians who wanted nothing to do with this war to evacuate; that was a policy that Yoshika had, which was shared by all the other Neuroi of the Hive, "Spare all those who want nothing to do with this war". Their Commander has been flying around recently, although none of them knew why. When questioned, Yoshika only stated that she had to check something out. Now she had called them all for an emergency meeting.
Yoshika had changed ever since she first arrived at the Hive. First, besides being injected with a spare Core to allow her to understand the Neuroi, her Striker Unit was (with her consent) taken to the Hive's R&D sector, where the Neuroi there were able to reverse-engineer it and had built a Neuroi Striker, at the request of Yoshika, and had been given to her for her use. Then, Yoshika allowed them to study her shield, resulting in tactics being developed to get around it. They found one weakness to the shield; only one can be created at a time. In other words, when a Witch blocks beams from one direction, her flanks are vulnerable. But the Witches know this, and usually dodge every chance they get. Some Witches don't have this weakness, though; because those that don't can throw up multiple shields at a time, and there were reports about a Witch that has never thrown up a shield in her life (the reports are talking about Eila, BTW), which led Yoshika to believe that that Witch's magical ability is "Foresight". When Yoshika explained to them what she knew about the "Foresight" ability, the Neuroi were amazed; being able to see a few minutes into the future, it was no wonder that nobody could hit the reported Witch. Yoshika also explained her magical ability, "Telescoping Search Eye", to the Neuroi, as well as the cost of using it; if she uses it for more than ten minutes at a time, she will go blind for twenty-four hours, and every time she deactivates it, she must wait for at least five hours before she uses it again, no matter how long she has used it before the ten minute mark. In other words, the "Telescoping Search Eye" cannot be used very often. She had taught them everything she knew about magic as well. Yoshika had also come up with an ingenious idea for the Neuroi; since she sees them as an extended family of sorts, she has come up with a way to duplicate their individual Cores and link the duplicates to their respective originals on the quantum level, allowing the originals to see and learn everything that the clones learn, and vice-versa. Using this, the only Neuroi that were sent out were clones, since Yoshika found out that it was impossible to duplicate a Core from a cloned Neuroi. Instead, she has opted to train the originals that stay in the Hive about everything she knows about the Witches, the tactics that she know of, the aerial maneuvers that the humans use (in both Striker Unit and fighter plane), the technology that the humans use, and about all the weaponry that she knows of, allowing them to transfer everything they learn to their respective clones, who use the information on the battlefield. The clones, meanwhile, rack up battle experience and learn about new tactics that the Witches employ (some of which have surprised Yoshika greatly), and send that data to the originals at the Hive. But Yoshika isn't selfish; she also sees the cloned Neuroi as an extended family of sorts, and treats them all equally (although she is VERY close with Axion, Ixia, and Xalia. Not romantic wise, but as close family). However, Axion, Ixia, and Xalia opted to not have themselves cloned; Xalia said that it was dishonorable, and Ixia and Axion just didn't want to be cloned period.
"What is so important that you had to call every single one of us in the Hive for, Commander?" Ixia, one of Yoshika's elites, asked.
"My worst fears have been confirmed…" Yoshika said.
"What would that be?" Xalia, another one of Yoshika's elites, asked.
"The Hive in Karlsland has been destroyed, but not by humans. But rather, it was destroyed by Neuroi sent by the Neuroi King." Yoshika said grimly.
At first, all the Neuroi were silent. But then, "SAY WHAT?!"
"It happened too fast for the Neuroi at the Hive in Karlsland to call for help. I was investigating why the Hive at Karlsland suddenly stopped reporting in, and I found out about the takeover. The current Hive that is in Karlsland…is a Hive loyal to the Neuroi King." Yoshika explained. "Axion, I need you to stay here for a minute. Everyone else is dismissed!" Yoshika ordered, and all the Neuroi except Axion left to go do what they were doing before, while they were all thinking about what they learned from their Commander.
Axion, who was another one of Yoshika's elite Neuroi, turned to his Commander. "What is it that you need from me, Commander Yoshika?" Axion asked.
Yoshika smiled. "Axion, when we're alone, there's no need for formalities." Yoshika said, but then her face turned serious. "While I was scouting, I came across a Neuroi that is loyal to the Neuroi King and manage to sneak into the Hive currently in Karlsland. I learned about an attack that will take place in about two days from now. Their mission is the elimination of one of the Witches of what the humans call the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, also known to the humans as the Strike Witches. Your mission is to eliminate the Neuroi that is targeting the Witch from that Joint Fighter Wing. Not only will this confuse the Witches, but it will also make them aware about our civil war. If we can successfully bring another Witch into the Hive and show them the truth, we might have a chance for peace." Yoshika explained.
Axion "nodded" the best he could. "I understand. You want this war to be over as quickly as possible with the least amount of casualties. That is something that all the Neuroi that are loyal to the Neuroi Queen want; peace. I will carry out my mission." Axion said.
Axion was surprised when Yoshika came up to him and hugged his "mast". "Just please…don't die. You were the first Neuroi to show kindness to me, and I wouldn't know what to do if you died." Yoshika said softly. "Please…come back to me in one piece." Yoshika requested, as well as ordered.
If he had a mouth, Axion would have smiled at his Commander's worrying. "I promise to come back alive." Axion said. "Now I must leave, unless you want me to fail this mission."
Yoshika stopped hugging him and looked at him with a serious gaze. "You're right. Now go out there and kick the ass of that Neuroi who's loyal to the Neuroi King!" Yoshika exclaimed.
Axion chuckled. "With pleasure." Axion said as he left the Hive to fulfill his mission.
Flashback End
Axion saw the Neuroi that was targeting the Witches, and charged in.
With the Witches…
Sanya's "Magic Antenna" suddenly started changing colors again, causing her to gasp as the Neuroi that the three were facing steamrolled right through their formation as the three dodged, Ursula managing to keep her hold on Sanya. "Another Neuroi has shown up!" Sanya called as all their weapons ran out of ammo.
"Damn! Why now of all times?!" Eila asked/yelled as the second Neuroi came into view. It looked like a submarine of some sort.
Then, to the Witches' immense shock, the second Neuroi, which had red markings, fired red beams at the first Neuroi which had purple markings, making the first Neuroi screech in pain as well as surprise. The second Neuroi never stopped its barrage of beams, and soon enough, the first Neuroi was destroyed.
Sanya, Eila, and Ursula were dumbstruck.
Then the submarine-like Neuroi turned to face them, making the three tense. But instead of attacking them like they expected it to, the submarine-like Neuroi turned around and flew off, back to the Hive in Gallia.
The three Witches could only stare.
"…I…I think we should report this…" Ursula said, breaking the silence.
"…Agreed…" was all Sanya and Eila could say as the three turned and flew back to base.
Back at the Hive, Axion had just returned from his mission when Yoshika confronted him. "How was the mission?" Yoshika asked.
"It was a complete success. That Neuroi who was loyal to the Neuroi King didn't even know what hit it." Axion reported.
Yoshika nodded. "Excellent work. While you were gone, Ixia decided to get himself a new form, one that he thinks would work best for him. Ixia, come here." Yoshika ordered.
Ixia flew into view, revealing his new form. (I don't know how to describe it. It's basically a Neuroi version of the XB-70 Valkyrie, with firing ports on the tops and bottoms of the wings, the fuselage, and the nose. It is also covered with black armor with a hexagonal pattern).
Axion "whistled". "Wow, Ixia. That form really DOES suit you." Axion complimented.
"I know." Ixia agreed. "I have a whole lot of what the humans call "firepower" in this form. I can also deploy up to thirty of what the humans call "drones" to add to the "firepower" when needed. I can also fly really fast, far faster than what the humans call "the speed of sound"."
"Even though I can deploy up to twenty-two "drones", I never really felt the need to do so." Axion replied.
"Okay, you two. That's enough. Now, let's go get some rest." Yoshika said as she yawned tiredly.
Ixia and Axion agreed, and the three went to get some rest. Even if the Neuroi didn't need to rest, their Commander did since she was half-human and half-Neuroi, but even then Yoshika only needed a few hours of rest at the most. The only reason that the other Neuroi rest is because they find it relaxing.