STRIKE WITCHES: HEROS' RETURN: SHIRLEY'S STORY
Chapter Two
Shirley and Yoshika rushed to their strikers and took off into the morning sky. By the time they had reached altitude, they could see the Neuroi coming in fast. It sped by them.
"Now! With as much speed you can muster!" Shirley shouted. Both of them darted after the Neuroi, simultaneously breaking the sound barrier. The gap of speed between the witches and the Neuroi closed tremendously, but still the Neuroi sped away from them. Yoshika was flying faster than Shirley, which did not please the Liberion witch too much. She let it go though, realizing there were more important matters. Several minutes and dozens of miles went by, until Shirley's theory was correct: the Neuroi began to slow down. Shirley was beginning to tire though. Just a bit closer... she thought. Then they were in range.
"Activate the batteries!" The crystals embedded in their strikers began to glow as magic poured from them into the witches. Shirley felt a rush of energy as the batteries did their work. "Now! Attack now!" she said, firing her rifle. Yoshika dived in and fired with her own gun. Bullets raked across the creature's hide, and it screeched. It fired back, forcing Shirley and Yoshika to raise their shields. They circled around the Neuroi, blocking its path. Screeching, it swerved upward to avoid colliding with the witches. Just as they were about to pursue the Neuroi further however, something happened. With pop and the sound of shattered glass the crystal batteries on Shirley's strikers broke, their glittering fragments falling into the sea. At the same time, Shirley dropped several hundred feet, barely having the energy to fly.
"Shirley-san!" Yoshika cried out, diving to catch her friend. The Neuroi, sensing the witches' weakness, prepared to fire. But the beam that emitted from it was weak, and dissipated before reaching them. Out of energy as well, the Neuroi fled, disappearing into the clouds. "Let's return to base," Shirley said grimly.
Shirley made it back to base with Yoshika's help, and shuffled her way to Drake's office. He was already waiting for her.
"Your fatigue says it all. I assume the Neuroi escaped then?" he said. Shirley nodded.
"Well, get some rest. Even though you didn't defeat the enemy, you got us one step closer to doing so. We'll figure out what went wrong tomorrow," Drake said kindly. Shirley nodded again, exhausted. She went to her bedroom and plopped onto her bed, asleep instantly.
The next day saw Shirley back in the books. She combed through them, looking for what she had missed. "Those batteries should have worked," she said to herself. "Why did they give out when we needed them most? And why didn't Yoshika's give out?" Just then, Drake walked in.
"So, what exactly happened yesterday?" he asked, perching on one of the bed posts.
"I don't know exactly. I checked the batteries before and after installing them, and nothing seemed wrong. They worked fine at first, and we caught up to the Neuroi. Just as we were about to finish it off though, the crystals on my strikers shattered. We would have been goners if the Neuroi wasn't out of energy as well," Shirley reported.
"I'd suggest finding out what went wrong then. We can't use these batteries if they are not fit for battle. What intrigues me though, is your report of the Neuroi losing energy. As far as we've known, the Neuroi have never had to rest, and have been able to sustain a battle far longer than we can. What makes this Neuroi different, if it's even different at all? These are things I will have to get a research team together to find out," Drake mused. Shirley nodded.
Lucchini joined Shirley as she continued her work. She got bored easily, but enjoyed helping the older girl nevertheless. Eventually Lucchini curled up in Shirley's lap like a kitten and fell asleep. For hours Shirley read through the books. Later in the day Yoshika and Lynne joined her to help, though their attention was mostly fixed on each other than the subject at hand.
"Maybe they shattered because the added magic was too much for the strikers?" Lynne wondered. Shirley looked up.
"That could be it. Hm... it is possible that when I activated the batteries, the added power was too much for the magical engines to handle, and the limiter kicked in. That would force the magic back into the batteries, with an explosive result," Shirley mused.
"So the problem isn't in the batteries..." Yoshika began.
"...But in the strikers themselves," Shirley finished. She got up and ran out of her room, much to the confusion of the three younger girls. Dashing to Drake's office, she found it empty. Then she checked the command center. Sure enough, Drake was going over plans with a logistics team.
"Found the problem?" he asked as she approached. She stopped, out of breath.
"Y-yes. It wasn't the batteries themselves: they worked fine. It was my striker unit. It wasn't powerful enough to handle the extra magic," she said.
"That would make sense. I'll see what I can do about ordering more powerful engines for the Mustang," Drake said. Shirley shook her head. "No, that won't be enough. I need a jet striker."
"A jet striker? I do not trust them enough to have anyone equip them. And before you mention Yoshika and her group, remember that Yoshika has extraordinary power, and the other three still have enough magical potency to equip the jet strikers safely," Drake said.
"Are you saying I'm incompetent?" Shirley asked.
"No. I'm saying that you are nineteen, Shirley. Your career as a witch is nearing its end. As a result, your magical power is declining. The risk of you getting hurt while equipped with a jet striker is too great, I won't take it."
"But with the jet striker, I could take down this super-fast Neuroi!"
"I'm not going to sacrifice a witch to take out one Neuroi. You're too valuable an asset, even if your magic is declining. My decision is final. You will not equip a jet striker. Do I make myself clear?" Drake said, an edge of warning in his voice. Shirley fumed inside, but knew she couldn't win against him.
"Understood, sir," Shirley said flatly.
"Good. Now, I'll order an upgrade for your strikers, and hopefully that will give you the extra power you need. Until then, Yoshika and her flight will deal with the Neuroi," Drake said. Shirley knew when she was being dismissed, so she left without a word.
"The nerve of him! Who does he think he is to think my magic isn't good enough?" Shirley muttered under her breath.
"Having issues?" a voice said behind her. She turned around to see Barkhorn.
"You heard, huh?"
"I heard enough. Jet strikers are still in the experimental phase, even if some of the models are not. I learned the hard way how dangerous they can be. You warned me yourself about their dangers. Don't risk your life just to sate your need for speed," Barkhorn said. Shirley glared at her.
"You think that's what this is about? That I want a jet striker just so I can be the fastest witch again?" she growled.
"I know you too well Shirley. Even if you are dedicated to taking out that Neuroi, a part of you will always want to be the one that does the deed, and you will always want to be the fastest."
"So what if that's true? So what if I want to be the fastest witch again? This is the only way we are going to defeat this Neuroi and protect my country! Sure, Yoshika's fast in the Shinden-kai. But she's not fast enough. I would be," Shirley said.
"And you call me stubborn? You don't always have to be the fastest! I know you are worried about your homeland, and I know how that feels. But let Miyafuji and her group take care of this. You've proved the Neuroi will slow down, and you've proved your crystal batteries give an edge to jet strikers. All they need is to stay with it long enough for it to slow down. Then it will be over. You've done enough," Barkhorn shot back.
"But-"
"That's enough," Minna said. She walked over to them and gave Shirley a serious look.
"Yoshika's flight will deal with the Neuroi. You have been given orders, Squadron Leader Yeager. You should follow them," she said.
"Yes ma'am," Shirley said. Drake was scary enough, but Shirley knew not to cross Minna.
"Good. As you were," Minna said.
The next day, the Neuroi appeared on the radar again. Yoshika and her group flew up to meet it. A while later, they caught up to it.
"Engage!" Perrine ordered. Yoshika flew in with Emily right behind her. Lynne was the first to fire with an armor-piercing round, which blasted the skin away from the beast. Emily and Yoshika fired away at the wound, opening it further. Perrine fired when the two were out of the way. In no time, they found and destroyed the core.
"Core destruction confirmed, returning to base," Perrine reported. They returned home.
"We did it Shirley! All thanks to you," Yoshika said cheerfully, once they returned.
"Good job Yoshika! I knew you could do it," Shirley said, smiling slightly. She couldn't help but feel happy around Yoshika.
There's just something about that girl that makes you smile, she thought, silently laughing.
"Congratulations, Emily, Yoshika, Lynne, and Perrine. A job well done, I must say," Drake said, walking into the hangar.
"And a special thanks to you, Shirley. Without your research, this would have been impossible," he continued.
"Thank you," Shirley said neutrally. She was still angry over his refusal to give her a jet striker.
Calm yourself Yeager. The enemy has been neutralized, you have no reason to be angry, Drake said in her head.
Maybe. But something tells me that was just a taste of what's to come, Shirley replied. She then left the hangar, which surprised the witches there.
If I'm correct, that Neuroi was only a drone, Shirley thought, as she walked through the halls. A powerful one, granted. But a drone nevertheless.