Poll closed, result... inconclusive. Still, I'm three chapters into a non-canon sequel to the movie. I intend to finish the story of Toshiro with a bang!

Chapter 8 – Crossfire under the limelight

Toshiro woke up at 0500 and went outside to jog a bit. Using Yuki's powers, he localized a certain person and ran to the beach. Just as he expected, Mio was standing there with her sword pulled out. She must have felt his presence, because she turned around to his side.

"Oh, look, Toshiro on his morning jog." She said sarcastically.

"And Mio is still swinging a sword at dawn. Water is still wet, more in the afternoon news." Toshiro replied in a similar manner.

"Hahaha! Anyway, now my training regime is a bit different from just flapping around my sword in the air."

"Oh do tell?"

"I'm also playing Moses now, and splitting the sea with Reppuzans."

"And how much can you push a day?"

"Three at most, so during training I only do one big one and return to sword swinging."

"Then let it rip, Mio."

"With wild pleasure!"

The sword immediately received a blue outline of magic that gradually filled out the whole surface of the blade. Mio raised Reppumaru with the tip pointing up and with a wild shout, and she released the attack. A faint blue crescent shaped magic attack ripped through the sand on the beach and split the sea before them in half for a second at a distance of fifty meters. Then the two water bodies clashed together with an audible splash.

"Well, a Reppuzan shot against water sure looks cool… I wonder if I could pull off the same…"

"I could just give you the sword right now, but I'm not sure if you'll manage it."

"What is Mio talking about?"

"While you were out looking for answers, I grabbed her sword. The shit almost sapped my magic, and gave me a slight burn."

"Ooooh… A bad case of a ravenous soul… Did you tell her?"

"No, but even if I did, will it change her?"

"If I think about it… Yeah, no way she'll change. Should I help you with wielding the sword?"

"Sure, I would appreciate it."

"Yuki will help me, give me that toothpick."

"Oh pff, have some respect…"

"Okay… Please lend me that magnificent piece of blacksmithing arts."

"Much better, here." She said and gave him the sword.

When he pulled it out of the saya, the sword shimmered, but dimmed out in a split second afterwards.

"Guhehehehehe! Being a sacred snake and servant of a goddess has some damn good perks… Okay, you can now use that rusty nail as if you would Aganaimaru."

"Hmmm…." Toshiro murmured while weighing the sword in his hands. "It's a little bit unbalanced and damn heavy…"

"Hey, Masamune, shut up. Like that blade of yours was better…"

"It was. Despite being about one and a half meter long, I could probably take a hundred of them without using magic, and it was so balanced that you could place it vertically, and it would stay like that. Not to mention the sharpness…"

"Okay, okay, don't rub it in! I'm not a damn sword smith…"

"Still, remarkable that you made it… I must congratulate you…"

"Well, thanks… But give it a swing already!"

Toshiro concentrated his magic in the sword. He literally felt the fury of the soul inhabiting the blade, but he also felt how Yuki is suppressing it.

"Toshiro, this fucker is feistier than I thought… A single Reppuzan will take a hefty piece of magic from you, since the soul is resisting. Be careful."

"Only one for now, I promise…"

Silently, he swung the sword as it got a full charge. The attack was even more violent than Mio's, leaving the sea split for three seconds and on a distance of a hundred meters. Toshiro's legs wobbled and he had to use the sword as a cane.

"Toshiro, everything all right?" Mio asked concerned.

"Your sword doesn't like me one bit, and that's a fact Yuki can confirm. But I still managed to best you, heheheh…"

"Hey, I only acquired that technique recently, cut me some slack. You'll see, in a few months I'll be able to rip a small canyon!"

"And I look forward to that day, Mio. But I hope you will have your magic powers intact by then…"

"Me too…"

"Yuki, any prognosis on that?"

"If she will be using the Reppuzan once daily, and twice or thrice in difficult battles, she will probably lose her magic by the end of the summer. But I may be off by a week or two…"

"Poor Mio… But she probably already knows… She wants to go out with a bang, like a true warrior…"

"And you have to respect that, Toshiro. The way of the sword is an honorable but deadly path… Not many modern age samurais are left…"

"Because people stopped chopping their heads off senselessly and because Fuso opened itself to the West. Ugh… I'm going to bed, wake me up at seven…"

"Okay."

"Mio, I'm going for a nap, take care."

"Don't worry, Toshiro."

He slowly went back to the castle and up the countless stairs to his bed, which he gladly embraced.

"Hey, sleepyhead, wake up, it's seven already."

"Okay…"

He slowly opened his eyes and stood up.

"Hmmm…"

"What are you pondering about now?"

"Have to wake up the rest, and I know just the way…"

He took the trumpet, walked outside to the balcony, and played the Charge bugle for half a minute.

"Wheeew… My lungs are not used to this sort of exercise…"

"When did you learn that?"

"While you were out."

"Oh…"

He walked down slowly, and saw the girls slowly assembling on the intersection.

"Wuuuuwaaaaht happened, bro…" Erica asked half-asleep.

"That was a wakeup call, sister dearest."

"Uuuugh… And we will have that all the time?" She asked.

"Yup. As long as I don't forget to play it, 0700 dead."

"But Toshirooo…" Eila mumbled. "What about Sanya then?"

"What about her? Did she have a night patrol already?"

"No, but in the future…"

"I can speak for myself, Eila." Sanya interrupted. "Play the trumpet if you like, Toshiro. I'll adapt if it's needed."

Eila puffed her cheeks after shooting an annoyed look at Toshiro.

"Thank you for your opinion, Sanya. Anyone else have any input?"

"I think it's a good idea!" Trude shouted.

"Yes, a very good idea." Minna said.

"Then let's go eat something." Toshiro said. "Who's cooking today?"

Lynne and Yoshika looked at each other clueless.

"No cooking schedule yet? Minna, you are slacking off, heheh…"

"Don't look at me, I answered the whole press of the free world yesterday…"

"Oh right, sorry… Then the both of you make some breakfast."

"Okay!" Yoshika cheered and grabbed Lynne's hand. "Come on, Lynne!"

"Waaah, okay!" She shouted as she was almost lifted from the ground by the running Yoshika.

"Hey, wait for me you two!" Perrine shouted and ran after them.

After a few seconds, Mio spoke calmly "Barkhorn, you will train Miyafuji, Lynette and Perrine. We have to assess how hard their inactivity hit them. Oh, and Hartmann, prepare your back already."

Erica moaned loud and long.

"Yes, Mio. Anything special?" Trude asked.

"Just running will do. Unless Toshiro has some bright idea?"

"Nah, running will be enough."

Right after breakfast, Trude almost dragged out the three that were to be evaluated and Erica out to the runway. Minna and Toshiro were behind them. The girls started running a lap.

The first went rather smooth, but it was visible with the naked eye that all four were out of breath, and just as they completed the second one, they all collapsed onto one stack.

"God… What lack of stamina…" Trude muttered.

"They were all inactive after the unit was disbanded, so it's not unusual." Mio stated as she approached Toshiro and the bunch.

"What will you do now, Mio?" Toshiro asked.

"Drastic methods work the best. I'll send them to Ferrara…" Mio sighed. "That will make men out of them!"

"I'd rather not have my Yoshika grow balls…" Toshiro muttered.

"You are the worst sometimes, Toshiro…" Minna sighed.

"Girls, come over here!" Mio shouted.

"Yeeees…" They mumbled, got up and slowly jogged to Mio.

When they got closer, Mio said, "You girls, maybe except for Hartmann as she was carrying me and she's probably lazy as usual, are so pathetically out of shape that you have to train from scratch! But don't worry, I have just the person to train you… Rest now you three, because the next day or two will be hell for you, but you will be reborn after passing through its fires!"

The expressions on the faces of the girls showed true fear.

"What Mio wanted to say is that you will train very hard." Toshiro tried to calm them down.

"Oh, will you be coming too, Toshiro?" Yoshika asked.

"I doubt Mio will allow me."

"And you are right, Toshiro. Miyafuji can't be hanging on your umbilical cord all the time."

"Awwww…" Yoshika sighed.

"Don't worry, Yoshika, we will be by your side." Lynne said. "Right, Perrine?"

"Yeah, yeah…" She said.

"So I don't have to go?" Erica asked.

"Yes, slowpoke…" Trude sighed.

Minna and Toshiro went to their office, followed by Mio.

"I'll just make a call to see if the old hag is there." She said.

Minna and Toshiro sat behind their desks, and they watched as Mio squirmed around while talking on the phone, with her face expressing anger, and her left hand twitching violently.

"Wheeeew…" She sighed after she finished. "That damn hag is there, she'll accept the girls. Toshiro, could you trace me a map showing her island?"

"How the fuck would I know where her island is? I doubt that Francesca would even know when you would ask her."

"Oh, right… Ehhh… I'll go fetch a map and show the location. Then can you trace it?"

"Of course."

"I'll be right back then."

"Mio is really concerned about the girls getting into shape." Toshiro said after a minute.

"Mio and I met yesterday evening. She told me you can't use your sword right now, so she wants to shift more weight on the rest for now."

"She said that? Mio still surprises me…"

"What is that sword by the way? You've made a remark about thirty souls or something…"

"Aganaimaru, Perfect Redemption. A one and a half meter crimson magic blade capable of slicing the atom bonds apart, and enabling me to use devastating sword techniques. After I purified a shrine in Yokosuka, the over thirty souls of the deceased priestesses formed the sword as a gift. Now, the sword's physical shell is shattered, waiting for the souls to recharge."

"My, my… You always stumble into the weirdest situations… Now that I have this info, I understand Mio fully.

Suddenly, the phone on Minna's desk rang. She picked it up and introduced herself.

"Lieutenant Colonel Wilcke… Yes, he's here… No, he's not busy… No, I'm not… She's also not busy… Half an hour? What? I understand…"

That's how the call looked from Toshiro's perspective. Mio came in just as Minna finished.

"Somebody calling?" Mio asked.

"I'll kill myself… The brass wants us to fly to the Sicily HQ to attend to a briefing and press conference… There's a plane inbound in thirty minutes…"

"I wonder what they want...?" Toshiro asked sarcastically.

"My whole day plan just went to fuck itself…" Mio said.

"Mine too." Minna sighed. "Couldn't you be the Hero of Karlsland somewhere else, Toshiro?" Minna asked with a small smile.

"Sorry guys, but is seems we are stuck for better or worse with each other, heheh…"

"Okay, Toshiro, scribble down that map while we still have time."

"Oh yeah, right…"

Toshiro pulled out a piece of paper and pencil, and took the map from Mio.

"Here, this wee little island." She pointed out an island an hour of flight to the north-north-west in the Marche province, near the city of Ancona.

Toshiro quickly scribbled the shoreline from Pescara to Ancona, and marked the island.

"Here, Mio."

"Thanks. Maybe we should send the girls at the same time as we go?"

"Good idea. Oh fuck… Toshiro… ID…"

"Oh right… Minna, can you help me with this?"

"What's the problem?"

"Our good Mio forgot her ID from Fuso, and I want to issue her a temporary one. Your countersignature would be nice. And frankly, I don't remember how one looks like, heheh…"

"Oh, we'll just need all the data of Mio, our signatures, seals and… army stationery would be nice."

"I still have a crapton of that. Let's proceed then."

Toshiro pulled out a fountain pen out of his desk, and a sheet of stationery. Then he turned on the lamp on his desk, and lit up Mio's face.

"Where were you on the night of March the 2nd? Answer me damn it!"

"Wrong movie, Toshiro…" Mio sighed as she moved the lamp. "Get on with this; we have little time to spare…"

"Can't a man have some fun…?"

Toshiro turned off the lamp, and he wrote down everything essential, following Minna's guidelines. Then they both gave their signature and stamped their seals.

"Here, Mio. Be sure not to lose it, or I'll have to punish you."

"And how could you possibly punish me?"

"Running naked around the base while carrying a bucket full of water in each hand, and me with my MG on your back."

"Monster…" Minna gasped.

"Well, you certainly are imaginative, Toshiro…" Mio said. "Okay, okay, I'll watch out for it."

She took her temporary ID, folded it a few times and stuffed it in a pocket.

"Let's go. Our time is almost up." Minna said. "Toshiro, get the cap for your uniform, you'll look a bit better. Or you know what? Get the long sleeved one, and your medals to boot. And your fancy officer boot! Don't forget about them!"

"High time to mention it…" Toshiro grumbled.

It took him a few minutes, but he finally stood before Mio and Minna like a true officer.

"My, my… How distinguished…" Minna said.

They went down to the hangar, where the Yoshika, Perrine, Lynne, Shirley and Trude were sitting at the table. The three looked at Toshiro, twisting their heads slightly out of surprise.

Mio, Minna and Toshiro approached them, and Mio explained the situation.

"Perrine, take this map and the two, and fly to the marked island. That's everything you need to know."

"Y-yes Major!"

"Trude, you will be commanding here while we are out." Minna ordered.

"Okay, but where are you going?"

"Sicily HQ called us suddenly." She explained.

"Hey, I don't want Miss Panzerfaust as my commander!" Shirley protested.

"Then Trude will be responsible for rules and regulations, and you will be responsible for fun and games, Elwyn" Toshiro said.

"Now that's more like… HEY! Don't call me by my middle name out of the blue!"

"Heheheh… Sorry…"

Suddenly they heard plane engines approaching. When they looked out of the hangar, they saw a tri-engine Fiat G.12C transport plane landing.

"Well, that's our lift…" Toshiro said and looked at Yoshika. "You behave, Yoshika."

"I will!"

"Good to hear. Perrine, take off after us, okay?"

"Yes, Toshiro."

Toshiro, Mio and Minna approached the plane on the runway, and the door opened. A small stair was folded out, one of the pilots came out.

"Bienvenuti. Colonnello Edelweiss, Tennente Colonnello Wilcke and Maggiore Sakamoto?"

"In person." Toshiro answered.

"I will need your papers to confirm your credentials."

Toshiro gave him his ID, as did Minna. Mio rolled her eyes and gave her temporary ID.

The pilot just glanced at the ID's of Minna and Toshiro, but he thoroughly checked Mio's. He gave everyone their papers back and said "Everything in order, please, take a seat in the plane."

They followed him inside, and seated themselves on one of the benches. The pilot closed the door behind them and disappeared in the cockpit. After a minute, the three Fiat A.74 RC 42 radial engines increased their revs, and the plane slowly took off.

Toshiro spent the whole flight looking through one of the many windows of the plane. After almost two hours, he saw an enormous island.

"I think we are nearing our destination, girls…" Toshiro said.

Mio looked out of a window and confirmed "Yes, that's Sicily, I've been here once or twice…"

As the plane flew over the northern part of the island, they saw an airbase in the distance, in the east part of the island.

"So this is the Mediterranean HQ?" Mio asked herself. "Not bad for such a short time…"

There was an airstrip about a hundred meters wide and a kilometer long. There were a few hangars, but only one had a roof on it, but there were construction crews around all them. He saw a big building on the side, which was probably there all the time since a few centuries.

The base itself was close to a picturesque town, and a few warships were present in the docks there.

"Well, they set up shop quite nicely…" Toshiro said.

"Well, the higher ups always want to make themselves a cozy nest far away from the actual combat…" Mio said. "That's why they probably chose Sicily. It's close to Africa, rather close to Rome, and definitely far away from Venezia."

The plane started to descend, and it landed softly on the airstrip. It taxied a few hundred meters, while a Ford GPW was approaching it. The plane stopped and the cockpit door opened. The pilot silently passed the three, opened the door and extended the stairs.

"We have arrived. Thanks you for flying Regia Aeronautica." He said with a smile. "Oh, and watch out for that driver, he's too cheeky."

"I'll remember it, Lieutenant." Minna said.

They got down on the runway, and the Ford GPW drove up to them, complete with driver. The driver was a Captain in his early twenties, good material for a photo model.

He got out of the car, and nonchalantly walked up to Minna.

"Buongiorno, Tennente Colonnello. I'm Stefano Corleone, and I have an offer you can't refuse."

He approached Minna, took her hand gently and gave it a small kiss. Mio raised a brow at it, but Minna was frozen still.

"Uh, oh my… What…" She squirmed around while blushing wildly.

"Let's leave the Colonnello, and go out for dinner to a restaurant in the nearest town…" The guy said with a wooing voice. "Or maybe the Maggiore also wants to join?"

"I'd rather not…" Toshiro mumbled. "Unless you want to keep your balls intact…"

"Colonnello, you can't have all the beauties for yourself…"

"Just giving you a fair warning, bro…"

"Puh…" He shrugged Toshiro off. "Now, Maggiore…"

The Captain took the hand of Mio, but she suddenly drove her right knee in his abdomen. The poor Captain fell on his knees in tears, holding his crotch.

"Ouch… Told you…" Toshiro said. "Come on..."

Toshiro opened the door on the passenger's side and dragged the poor sap on the seat.

"Grazie, Colonnello…"

"No problem, Captain. Just don't start to apologize, or you'll piss off Mio even more. I'll drive."

"Thank you again…"

Toshiro turned around to Mio and Minna and said "Hop in the back, girls. Just don't shake the car too much, heheh…"

A sly smile appeared as Mio heard that. The two entered the car, and Toshiro drove them to the big building.

He stopped before the entrance and killed the engine.

"Have a nice day, Captain."

"I hope…"

The three of them exited the car and entered the building. The interior decoration reminded Toshiro of his room in terms of pomp, but it was a bit more toned down. The marble walls and red carpets reminded one of a prince's palace.

People were walking around the spacious halls of the palace, and some witch approached the three suddenly.

"Colonel Edelweiss and company?" The blonde girl asked with a radiant smile.

"In the flesh." Toshiro responded.

"Come with me, the Generals want to meet you."

They followed the girl before a big wooden door. She knocked and a voice familiar to Toshiro came from behind the door "Please, come in."

"I think I know that voice…" Toshiro whispered to the girls. "Although I can't match a face to it…"

The three entered, ladies first. When Toshiro saw who was sitting in one of the two chairs, he shouted "Monty! Is that you?"

"Bloody hell I am, Toshiro! Nice to meet you here! Come on, rest your tired bones." He said while pointing to one of the three chairs in front of them.

"With pleasure. But first, I would like to know who I'm dealing with…" Toshiro turned to a smiling older man in a Karlslander uniform, with a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves, Swords and Diamonds hanging around his neck.

The man stood up, and approached Toshiro with his right hand extended.

"Generalfeldmarschall Albert Kesselring. I'm honored to meet the Kaiser's nephew in person."

"Oh please, don't, Generalfeldmarschall…" Toshiro said while shaking his hand.

"Nein nein, Lieber (Dear) Toshiro, you can't be ashamed of your family connection. You have to be proud of it, especially before those hyenas waiting in the conference hall…"

"About that… How many journalists?"

"Only four for now, I believe you know three of them already."

"Hmmm…" Toshiro pondered heavily trying to remember. "There was one from Liberion, one from Neue Karsland and one from Fuso at my promotion ceremony…"

"Precisely. The one you don't know is from Britannia, but that won't be a problem, will it?"

"Oh no, Herr Generalfeldmarschall. Any topics I shouldn't discuss?"

"Well… About your disappearance, you can't tell shit, to be frank. And give out scarce information about your… lover…"

"You know already…" Toshiro mumbled.

"Information like that flies fast. Surprisingly, nobody from the press knows anything yet about your little romance."

"Then I will enlighten them. I'll tell them everything besides personal information."

"Eh, whatever… Monty, anything else to say?"

"We'll have a talk after the conference. Now, you three go out to those wankers out there, and pacify them. Take the door there." He pointed out a solid double door on the northern wall.

"Yes sir." Toshiro said and went into the direction of the door.

The girls followed him, and before he opened the door, Mio whispered to him.

"They totally ignored us, for fucks sake…"

"It seems that the priorities are already set…" Toshiro sighed and opened the door. They found themselves in a spacious room. A live hedge of soldiers was giving them direction to a massive table on a podium. Three chair were behind it, and the same girl that greeted them waited for them.

"Please, have a seat." She said. "The journalists are waiting."

Toshiro picked the chair in the middle, Mio the one on his left and Minna on his right. As they sat, they saw the the journalist behind a chain being held by two soldiers, almost twenty meters away from them.

"Um, excuse me… Why are the journalists for far away?" Toshiro asked the blonde girl.

"To protect you, Herr Oberst."

"Are you joking? What can a normal man do to me? Squat!" Toshiro said and turned to the journalists. "Hey, you two soldiers with the chains. Get the fuck out, now."

"But sir…" They protested.

"Are you perhaps disobeying a senior officer?" Toshiro asked with a cold voice.

The two soldiers looked at each other nervously, and ran off.

"Okay, guys, come closer. Four meters before the table will be enough I think. Right where that rug ends."

They didn't need to get that repeated, because they almost ran to the designated spot.

"So… I've met three of you already… Now who might you be?" Toshiro asked the Britannian.

"Uhhh… Jonathan Smith, sir! I'm from the Daily Telegraph!"

"Smith? Do you by chance have a family in Dover?"

"Why yes…"

"And is your old man a tailor?"

"Yes!"

"Give him a welcome from me. Say that "the young wizard master says thanks for everything".

"O-okay sir!"

"Now… What's this all about, gentlemen?"

"We wanted to ask some questions." The journalists from Liberion, Mike Kowalski from the New York Times answered.

"Oh, pffff, that I know already. Whatever, shoot away. Ask me anything."

"You penis size?" The Liberion journalist asked with a smirk.

"I didn't ask your mother about her breast size…."

"My mother is dead…"

"So is mine, we're even. But I'm sorry anyway… Now please, normal questions… And Mio and Minna here aren't just an artificial crowd; you can ask them questions too."

"Okay, then I will start. Frau Oberstleuntnant, how do you personally evaluate the Oberst? Has your relationship with him changed because of his promotion and unexpected family ties?"

Toshiro looked at Minna. She was a bit surprised by the question, but she started answering fast.

"Toshiro is a very good soldier, with mind boggling abilities and probably some hidden potential. He is a very kind person, but also stubborn when it comes to doing things the right way. About the second question… Well, it surprised me, probably like everyone, but nothing changed between us in our relations. To be honest, Toshiro got somewhat more humble and useful after he gained his new rank, since he can now act on his own accord."

"Thank you, Frau Oberstleutnant."

"I have a question to the Major, if I may…" Satoshi Kimigami, the journalist from the Yokosuka Shimbun asked.

"Um… Please." Mio answered.

"Oh, good. Major Sakamoto, how did you discover Colonel Ak… pardon, Colonel Edelweiss?"

Mio looked at Toshiro. In her eyes, he read "Can I say everything?"

Toshiro nodded.

"I discovered Toshiro the same day his powers manifested. A Sergeant from the Yokosuka Naval Base stumbled upon me, shouting something about a man with powers of a witch or something. He told me Toshiro's name, and the next day, I waited for him in the mountains. After I pissed him off to high heavens, and him almost killing me, I was sure he was the real deal, a wizard."

The journalists looked among each other, not knowing if what Mio said was for real.

"Thank you, Major…"

"I have a question." Kowalski said. "You don't refer to each other using ranks. How is it so?"

"Why bother? We are friends in the same unit, so we might as well refer to each other in an informal manner." Toshiro answered.

"Okay, follow up question. My informer told me that you sir have a girlfriend. Any comment on that?"

Everyone looked at the journalist, and then at Toshiro.

"I see you have good informers… Yes, you could say I am occupied. But I won't disclose her credentials; she doesn't have to play games with you guys."

"Everything I needed to know, Colonel…"

"I have a question." The Britannian journalist said. "What happened that you disappeared, Colonel?"

"You could ask until your mouth goes blue, I won't say a word. However, I can say that it doesn't have anything to do with any secret experiments or whatever. You can rest assured and stop writing conspiracy theories."

"Not exactly what I expected, but thank you, Colonel…"

"Not exactly what I expected from a press conference either…" Toshiro muttered. "Are we wrapping this up?"

"No, Herr Oberst. I have a last question, at least on my side. How did you get to know you were the nephew of our beloved Kaiser? How did you react?"

"Hmmm… The Kaiser told me he wanted to visit the grave of my father. So I took him and Adolfine there. In the course of the conversation, he told me about the misalliance of the previous Kaiser, his father and ultimately my grandfather. And you want to know how I reacted? I cried. I cried and I hugged him, because I knew, that besides my mother, I had only him as family. The situation changed however. My mother died of leukemia a day before I returned from Britannia. The Kaiser told me that my grandmother lives in Buenos Aires. And I have a cousin, Mami Inagaki. She's in the 31st JFS, but please, don't pester her…"

"Thank you, Herr Oberst."

"So, anyone else want to know something about me, except for my penis size in absolute values?" Toshiro asked jokingly.

The journalists looked amongst each other, and nodded. Then they turned to Toshiro and shook their heads.

"Then thank you for the… conference. Have a nice day, gentlemen. Oh but wait, no photos?"

"Whoops…" Kowalski said. "Could you and the ladies step before us?"

"Of course. Come on, ladies, heh…"

"Oh shut up…" Mio muttered.

They went before the table, and the journalists made a few photographs. Then they simply thanked and exited the room.

As they did it, Toshiro sighed.

"I hope the Generals have something interesting to say, or I'll fucking explode… They drag us here so I can answer a few questions, which I could answer on the phone and take some crappy photos… Ehhhh…"

"That's how it works, Toshiro." Minna also sighed.

"Stop sighing you two, it's depressing…" Mio said.

The blonde girl approached them and said, "Please, let's attend to the Generals."

They went back into the room with the Generals, and sat on the chairs before them.

"So, Toshiro, how was it?"

"I feel like I just did an exercise in futility… But I probably made a good impression."

"Good. Now, let us attend to more pressing matters… How is the unit setting up?"

"All the girls from the old 501st have arrived at the base near Pescara unscathed." Minna answered. "But we are running on the small supplies that Toshiro and Generalmajor Galland brought, both in terms of food and ammo. Not to mention we don't have a radar, and the witch that's supposed to do night patrols is now doubling as one."

"I see…" Montgomery murmured. "What do you think, Albert?

"Everything can be done. We have a spare radar here, and a crate of potatoes shouldn't also be a problem. And ammunition… Well, we'll scrap up something."

"Thank you, Herr Generalfeldmarschall, this means a lot to us!" Minna almost shouted.

"Now, now… Since you have the Kaisers nephew in your unit, only the best things will come to you. Do you have radio equipment?"

"Yes, a FuG 10 radio rack with a powerful antenna. I could even receive some Liberian radio station when I was in Africa."

"Impressive… Well, if the need arises, we will radio you. For now, the Neuroi are a bit timid. Now, go to the first hangar to the right, and talk to the quartermaster."

"Yes sir." Toshiro said.

"Have a good flight." Montgomery said.

"Oh I hope." Toshiro answered.

As they exited the building, Mio asked, "Only the best for the Kaisers nephew? Pfeh…"

"And what are you bitching about now, Mio?" Toshiro asked.

"This is turning into some propaganda-political farce, Toshiro, with you and your uncle in the middle."

"But if it helps our unit, why not succumb?" Toshiro asked.

"Yes, but this is just… weird…"

"Don't worry, Mio. It will all straighten out in a few days. And we are getting supplies, so that's even better." Minna said.

"Oh well…" Mio sighed.

They went to the said hangar, and found the quartermaster, who was a tall, blonde man with short cut hair.

"Ja? What do you want?" He asked.

"Generalfeldmarschall Kesselring told us to get some supplies for our unit." Toshiro answered.

"Well, if that's so… What do you need?"

"The radar you stashed here somewhere, a lot of ammunition, and a lot of food."

"I'll round up my men and we will begin."

And so they began. Under Toshiro's and Minna's supervision, the radar was loaded onto the plane. They also took a ton of ammunition, half a ton of potatoes. Toshiro also secretly acquired a bar of chocolate and a pack of cocoa.

The three boarded the plane, and went back to the base near Pescara.

And if you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]