Chapter 12 – The Rising Swallow

"Now who dares to disturb me…?" Toshiro mumbled and reached the night lamps on switch.

The glow of the light bulb illuminated his room, revealing Shirley peeking through the doorway. At least he thought it was Shirley, judging by the voluminous chest, because her face was still in the shadows.

"Toshiro… I… I want to sleep with you tonight…" She said with a faint voice.

"Shirley… You know we can't just sleep together… You've heard what Yuki said - only with Yoshika."

"Well, I'm also here…" Yoshika's voice sounded in the room, and her small figure slid in the room.

"Huh? What's going on?"

"Shirley told me about how you've slept with each other while I was gone, and she wanted to do it tonight since… Well, you know…"

"I see… Come on then, if this satisfies you…"

Shirley came forward into the light, and Toshiro twitched slightly after seeing her face. She was bleeding from ten vertical wounds on her face, from the ocular cavities down until her chin.

"Shirley, what happened?!" Toshiro shouted and sat on the edge of his bed.

"You see, Shirley told me more than just about the fact that you've slept together… She also told me about your little… kiss… and how she longed for you all this time… I snapped…" Yoshika said with a cold voice and neared the light.

Her fingernails were all covered with blood, and her face all devoid of emotions.

Toshiro acted without knowing automatically. He grabbed Yoshika by the collar of her sailor uniform and raised her above ground.

"Why did you do this…? Why… Where did my carefree and cheerful Yoshika go? WHERE?!"

The light returned to Yoshika's eyes and she asked, "Toshiro… Why are you holding me like that? It hurts…"

"Toshiro, for fuck sake, what are you doing?! Don't hurt Yoshika!"

"She needs to know what she did! Something bad is happening to her mind, and I have to get down on the issue… Not now of course…"

"Okay… But please, don't cross a line here…"

"It should hurt. Look what you did to Shirley. You know that it can scar in an ugly way, right? Besides that, you attacked your friend. And even if you didn't consider her your friend back then, you still attacked a senior officer…" Toshiro turned his head to Shirley. "Captain Yeager, do you issue a formal complaint against Sergeant Miyafuji?"

"N… No sir…"

"Good, then I won't press this issue..." Toshiro released Yoshika from his iron grip. "Yoshika, please, apologize to Shirley… I know she has done wrong… And I have done wrong… But… It's wrong to resort to violence… It's just wrong…" Toshiro said with a gloom look. "You've disappointed me, Yoshika…"

Toshiro saw that Yoshika's eye welled up with tears quickly, but she didn't start whimpering. She looked at Toshiro, and then at Shirley. Not incited by anybody, she went up to Shirley and hugged her tightly.

"I'm so sorry, Shirley… Will you ever forgive me?"

Shirley face changed to a sympathetic smile, and she started stroking Yoshika's head.

"Now, now, Miyafuji… I understand why you are so possessive of Toshiro… He is the best man that you could get in your life. I already told it to Toshiro, and I will repeat it to you: I'm done with Toshiro on a sexual level. I know that you need Toshiro, and my selfish lust is the thing that could tear you both apart. Yuki gave me a good advice concerning that, and I will heed her words."

"Thank you, Shirley… Now let me heal that. Toshiro could you…"

"Yes."

Yoshika brought up her healing magic and grabbed Shirley's face. She hissed slightly when Yoshika did it, but she endured it. Toshiro grabbed Yoshika by her shoulder, and in a blinding flash, Shirley's wounds were healed without a trace.

"Now…" Toshiro said. "Since that issue is gone…" He snatched Yoshika and hugged her so tightly that her eyes almost popped out. "I'm sorry for hurting you, Yoshika."

"No… Problem… But lemme... Go…" Yoshika said out of breath.

"Ooops, sorry…" Toshiro let go of Yoshika. "So now that everything is settled… Shirley, do you still want to sleep with me?"

"Well…"

"Yoshika, do you allow it?"

"Yes."

"Then come on you two, I'll have a very busy day tomorrow, and I want to get some shuteye, with or without you two beauties." He said while lying down.

The two girls blushed slightly, and lied down by his sides.

"Hummmm… Night, Toshiro…" Shirley said as she drifted away, embracing him with one arm.

Toshiro turned his head to Yoshika, and asked, "Aren't you forgetting something?"

"Well…"

She carefully pressed her lips against Toshiro's in a light and quick kiss.

"Enough for you today, bad boy. Heehee, I'll get to sleep with you the first time since almost two months."

"Make the best out of it, Yoshika. Good night."

"Good night, Toshiro." She responded with a dreamy voice and interwove her the fingers of her right hand with those of Toshiro's left hand. "Please, Toshiro, find out why I get there fits of rage, please… I'm scared I might do something I'll regret someday…"

"Yuki, do you hear that? While I'm asleep, you get word from the goddess, from Kuji, or go and ask fucking Odin if you find it necessary. Just bring me some viable solution."

"Yes, Toshiro. I'm on it. Have a good night."

Toshiro felt that he woke up late. After opening his eyes, he looked to both of his sides, and saw Yoshika and Shirley sleeping soundly, as if what happened a few hour earlier didn't affect them the slightest.

He carefully rose from the bed, but not carefully enough it seems, because Yoshika clung harder to him and whispered, "And where are you going, Toshiro?"

"Jogging, Yoshika. As usual."

"Oh right… Well, have a nice jog… Maybe I'll use the fact that Shirley is sleeping here… All alone… Heehee…"

"Just don't kill her, okay?"

"I promise."

Toshiro ran down the stairs and proceeded with his daily jog. Afterwards he returned to his room and saw a rather unsettling scene.

Yoshika was on top of Shirley, fondling her naked breasts with a face full of perverted joy. Shirley, to Toshiro's full surprise, was conscious, and also had a weird grin.

"Um… Girls…" Toshiro spoke shyly.

They turned their faces towards him, not stopping what they were doing for a second.

"Oh, Toshiro, hi." Shirley said like if nothing was happening.

"What the…"

"Oh, this? You see, Miyafuji always looked weirdly at me whenever we were in the bath back in Britannia. Now I remembered it, and well, since we cleared up our relations a bit, I outright asked her if she didn't want to play around with my knockers."

"Weeheeeheee… They are so big and soft…" Yoshika said in bliss.

"I don't know what's weirder: the fact that you two are doing this or the fact that you don't have any shame at all…"

"Shame? You banged me, and Miyafuji is your girlfriend, so shame is out of the picture here." Shirley calmly explained.

"Figures… So, about yesterday… How are you dealing with it, Shirley?"

"Oh…" Shirley's face went gloom immediately. "I still can't believe it happened… But life goes on… I have the perfect way to cheer up, you know. I'll do some maintenance on my Mustang before breakfast. Now, Miyafuji, off with you."

"Awwww…" Yoshika moaned, and pressed one of Shirley's nipples as a parting gift. "That means I'll have to get Lynne, and we should start making something… But what…"

"We have some potato's still lying around; why not cook them in jackets?"

"Jacket potatoes? Why yes! Thanks, Shirley!"

"No problem, Yoshika."

"Y-You called me by my first name…" Yoshika blushed a tad.

"Well, we know each other so much, we both are tied some way or another to one man and you are calling me Shirley all the time, so I'll call you Yoshika from now on. Or do you not wish for it?"

"No, no! I want it! Thank you! Come on; let's go down to the hangar together!"

"My oh my…" Toshiro sighed and took the stack of papers he got from Ursula. "Let's go then…"

Yuki, do you see what goes on here? Yuki? Hellooooo… She must be out…

Shirley stood up in only her underwear, and proceeded to the door.

"Um, Shirley? I know that we are cool with each other, and that this is almost an all-girls establishment but… parading in your lingerie?"

"Oh, that's for the test. You see, my Mustang gives of a shitload of heat when revved up to the max for an extended period."

"I see nothing wrong with that then… But I guess Trude might get fussy, heheh…"

"Fuck her and her asstight regulations…"

"Hey, Elwyn, don't slander my compatriot like that."

"Uuuuurgghhh! Do not call me Elwyn! That pigtail Kraut calling me that is enough!" She said angrily, but she glanced at Toshiro's papers. "Say, whatcha gonna do now?"

"While Yoshika will be fetching Lynne and preparing those taters, and while you'll be making a sauna out of the hangar, I'll start unpacking yesterday's transport."

"Sounds like a plan."

They went down to the hangar. Yoshika split from them at the crossroad. After entering the hangar Toshiro saw a familiar blanket peering down from a strut under the roof.

"Francesca is sleeping here?" Toshiro asked.

"Well, she does share a room with me, but since I went out, she picked a place to sleep of her own…" She paused briefly and continued. "Okay, you do your stuff, I'll do mine."

Toshiro went to the crates, and slammed the papers on one of them. After looking through the manifest, he saw something that might interest Shirley.

"Hey, Shirley, there's a telemetry device in one of the crates."

"Oh, gimme! I have to see if the Merlin Red engines are in top shape!"

"Look for it yourself… The crate is marked ST-E."

"Oh pfff…" Shirley puffed her cheeks and started browsing through the chests. She picked one up and brought it to Toshiro.

"Since you're now a Karlslander, you probably should first inspect the content, right?"

"Heheh, yeah. Ordnung muss sein, Shirley."

Toshiro unchained the crate, and ripped the lid off. Inside was a standard telemetry device from what he could recognize, with all cables and thingamajigs necessary to operate it.

"Okay, looks like it's what it says on the manifest. Have a blast, Shirley." He said handing over the opened crate with the device to Shirley.

"Oh don't you worry, I will." She responded with a wink.

Toshiro looked through the manifest and saw that one of the positions on it had a comment scribbled beside it.

Assemble first

The name of the position was Vielzweckschwerlastwaffenstand (Multipurpose Heavy Duty Weapon Rack). He dug up the plans, and looked at them. It portrayed a crude frame with multiple hooks on which big weaponry could rest.

"Oh well… Time to do some work…"

While Shirley has been setting up the device, Lynne and Yoshika entered the hangar.

"Good Morning everybody." Lynne said with a gleaming smile.

"Morning, Lynne." Toshiro answered and looked at Shirley immersed in her work. "Hey, don't be rude." He whispered.

"Huh, what?" Shirley snapped out and looked around, spotting Lynne. "Oh, hi Lynne."

Toshiro started unpacking the crates, and assembling the weapon rack. When only one element was left to place, Shirley started the engines of her Striker. Toshiro placed the said element, and fetched a wrench to fasten all the bolts. As he was fastening the bolts, it suddenly got really hot.

"Hey, bro!" Erica suddenly came near him. "Buuuuuh… Why is it so hot…?"

Without further ado, she started to undress herself.

"Much better! So, watcha doing bro?"

"Weapon rack, dear sis."

"Looks boring… When will we see the cool stuff?"

"Soon… Damn, it's hot…"

Toshiro pulled off his uniforms shirt and threw it on the ground before fastening the last screws.

"There, finished… Now…"

Toshiro went to the biggest crate, and simply took it on his back. He positioned himself near the last Launch Unit, and slowly dropped it on the ground. After unchaining it, the crate unfolded itself revealing the future of magic assisted aviation.

A sleek profile, red colored Striker on its Launch Unit, with the engines placed on the slant wings.

"Now, now… Deadly looking craft…"

Toshiro looked around, and saw that nobody was paying attention to him. Lynne and Yoshika were busy with cooking, Shirley had her eyes closed while listening into her Striker, Erica was half-dead from the heat behind some crate, and Francesca was probably sleeping.

"Oh well… Might as well unpack the rest of the shit from the theirs section…"

Toshiro approached a bulky square crate, and after opening it, he saw two weird looking cannons. Rectangular in shape, with a long trigger handle in the back, two barrels and a drum mag on the bottom.

"Those must be the Rheinmetall-Borsig MK 108 30 mm cannons… But why two? Actually why four? Those are two pairs actually… Akimbo wielding these puppies is something only Trude and I could pull off… Ah, whatever…"

Toshiro approached the weapon rack, and hooked them on it. Afterwards, he approached the longest crate. What he found inside, was something truly awe inspiring. It was the Rheinmetall BK 5 autocannon similar to his, but not shoulder fired and with an automatic firing mode. The bottle shaped perforated muzzle break crowned the over four meter long barrel.

"Holy shit… It is even longer than my cannon… My, my… Trude will probably have a field day with this…"

Toshiro approached the rack, and placed the autocannon on it.

"Captain Charlotte Elwyn Yeager!" A sudden shout pierced the air. "What the hell you are thinking you are doing with that outfit?!"

Toshiro turned around and saw the angry Trude before Shirley. The latter turned off the engines on her Striker, and with a surprised face she replied, "Testing my engine, is that a crime?"

"We could get called into battle in each minute, and you are parading in your lingerie?! Inexcusable!"

"Well, Lucchini is also undressed." Shirley said and pointed out to the strut on which Francesca lied. Indeed, the state of Francesca's clothing was rather exposed as she lied out of breath up high.

"You are the worst… But it's an offence anyway!"

"Oh? Then, if it's so important for you to stick to the rules, why does Toshiro have his shirt off?" Shirley rebuked with a smug face.

"Wha…" Trude looked around to Toshiro and her face went red. "He's an exception!"

"Oh? Well, if Toshiro is an exception, that what about Hartmann?"

"Huh, what Hartmann?"

Toshiro pulled out Erica from behind a crate, and lifted her in the air.

"So hoooot… Lemme down on the cool floor, bro…" Erica mumbled.

"For Christ's sake! Hartmann! What are YOU doing in your underwear?!"

"Hooooot…"

Toshiro let her down and she lied down on the floor again mumbling, "Aaaah… Cooold…"

"AAAARGH! For crying out loud!" Trude shouted furiously, but something caught her eye. "Oh? What's that red Striker?"

"Oh, a new Striker? Didn't see it before…"

You were so busy with your engine that somebody could shaft you, and you would think it's 'feedback' from the Striker…

"Good morning." Minna's voice rang across the hangar, as she came in with Mio. "Oh look, the Me 262 V1 came in after all. See, Toshiro?"

"Yup, good guess. They also sent some weapons." Toshiro pointed out at the weapons rack.

Trude's eyes widened immediately as she saw the enormous cannon.

"Woooooah! I want to shoot that!" She shouted enthusiastically. "But how the hell will I lift that thing with my current Striker?"

"Well, you can just grab that prototype Striker. After a quick glance at the parameters, I can tell you that I have something to be jealous about. A speed of over a thousand kilometers per hour and an absurd amount of power."

"Did you just say a thousand?!" Shirley shouted and jumped out of her Striker.

"Shirley, why are you dressed like that?" Mio asked.

"It's hot here." Shirley shot her down quickly. "I want to fly that Striker, now!"

"Hold your horses! This is Neue Karlsland production, I should fly it!" Trude argued.

"Nationality doesn't matter when you have to deal with speed. Since I'm the top speed expert here, well aside from Toshiro, I should fly it."

"You are dreaming! Somebody as…"

"Fiiiiirst!" Francesca's shout pierced the air.

Everyone looked above, and saw her jumping down from her sleeping place into the Jet Striker.

"Unfair!" Shirley shouted.

"Cheater!" Trude shouted.

"Heehee! If you wanna win, you gotta be quick!" Francesca giggled and started the engine.

A low-pitched sound started intensifying, and the engine started glowing blue, spewing small magic circles. As it revved up, the engine started sounding like some industrial vacuum cleaner.

"This feels so good! It's like… Huh? Something…"

Suddenly, sparks appeared from the Striker, and Francesca jumped out of the Striker with a shout and bushy tail.

"Waaaaah!" She cried and ran behind the Launch Unit of Shirley.

"Lucchini!" Shirley shouted and ran after her.

"What happened?" Trude asked.

"It's a prototype…" Toshiro sighed.

"Shirley… That Striker is bad, please, don't fly it…" Toshiro heard Francesca pleading to Shirley.

"Okay then, I'll settle for my Mustang for now." Shirley said aloud. "I'll skip on this jet thingie."

"What? Why's that?" Trude asked.

"You know, there's still a lot to do with a reciprocating engine that I haven't done yet. I'll have time for jets later."

"Getting cold feet, huh?" Trude said with a wry smile. "Then watch me wear it!"

Trude jumped into the Jet Striker with her cheeks blushing. She revved up the engine, with a weird expression on her face.

"Such power… Incredible…" She said quietly.

"Huh… What's going on…?" The sleepy Erica crawled out from behind the crates. "Oh, wuzzat?"

"A Jet Striker prototype, Hartmann." Mio answered. "And why are you also half naked?"

"It was simply too hot here…"

"Ahhh…. Yessss… So, Elwyn, you think you can beat me with your old fashioned reciprocating Striker?" Trude asked with a sly face.

"Huuuh? Stop behaving like a kid who just got a new toy, it doesn't suit you." Shirley rebuked.

"Oh, sour grapes? How pathetic…"

"I changed my mind. I don't need a damn jet; I'm okay with my Mustang." She said and patted her Striker.

"Oh you Liberians and with your convenient lies…"

Toshiro saw Lynne and Yoshika approaching.

"Heeey, breakfast is ready!" Yoshika cheered.

But nobody besides Toshiro noticed them.

"And you are a stubborn military blockhead! If you want it so badly, let's settle this!"

"Hah! Good! Toshiro, can you think of some contest?"

"Well… First, you could check how high you can both go… Then you could test the load capacity…. And finally how fast you can both go..."

"I feel that the contest is a bit biased, but whatever, I'll crush that stupid Barkhorn anyway!"

"Hold it, both of you! Trude, out of the Striker, now. Shirley, fetch Sanya." Toshiro commanded.

"Yes sir!" The both shouted and did what they were told.

Toshiro approached the ochre red Jet Striker, and opened the hatch on one of them.

"Hmmm… Nothing loose… I wonder how those sparks came about…?"

He closed the hatch and turned around.

"So, maybe I should start unpacking my stuff?"

"Oh, please do." Minna said. "If we got such weaponry for us, so to speak, than you've probably got the bleeding edge technology."

"I have the feeling that I'll only have a few minutes, so I'll show something that's actually assembled."

Toshiro approached one of the crates, opened it, and pulled out a device.

"This should be the FFG-4, the newest revision of the remote control device for my Striker." Toshiro said and presented it to everyone.

Compared with its previous iteration, this one didn't have big dials, only bar meters. Thanks to it, the engineers could fit more sensors inside, and cut down the weight by 40%, and the thickness by 50%. It still had the same profiling and strap as the previous one. Toshiro looked at the meters, and saw that the speed was now scaled at 3500 km/h, and the rev meter at 13000 rpm.

"Sleek…" Mio said, visibly impressed. "Do I guess correctly you'll have a new Striker to go with this?"

"Yes. But I only saw the name on the manifest. It was listed as the Junkers EF 133 Wotan. I can only guess what surprises it has for me…"

"Heeey, Shirley, you can't just drag Sanya out of bed!"

Everyone looked to the side, and saw Shirley dressed in her uniform, with the half-asleep Sanya on her back, and Eila pulling her arm.

"Shush, Eila! This is important!"

Shirley ran in with Sanya and the fussing Eila by her side.

"Good job, Shirley." Toshiro said and approached Sanya. "Hey, Sanya, I have a request."

"Hmmmm?"

"I want you to measure the altitude of Shirley and Trude when they will compete in a few minutes, okay?"

"Okay…" Sanya yawned. "But can I sleep afterwards?"

"Of course you can, sweetie."

"Heehee… Well then… Time to wake up… Shirley, please let me down…"

Shirley kneeled, and Sanya got down. She went to her Striker, started it and flew out.

"Well, nothing like rushing wind to wake you up it seems…" Toshiro said. "Okay then, Shirley, Trude, get in your Strikers."

"Wooohooo!" Shirley cheered.

The two jumped in their Strikers, and started the engines. The roar of the Merlin Red engines mixed with the sweeping noise of the Junkers Jumo 004 B-1 turbojet engines.

"But what about breakfast?!" Yoshika shouted mad.

"You'll reheat it." Toshiro said, and ran to his Striker. The engine roared, overshadowing both the girls engines for a second.

"And what do you want to do?" Trude asked surprised.

"I'll fly between you, and make sure you play fair."

The two threw him discontented looks, but they didn't protest verbally.

"Toshiro, I'm in position." Sanya's voice was heard in his transponder.

"Roger, Sanya."

Toshiro taxied between the two and cracked his knuckles.

"Toshiro, you definitely won't just judge, right?" Shirley asked with a smug smile.

"Hey, I have to check if my Striker is still a viable alternative, right?" He answered with an even smugger smile. "Okay! Three!"

The engines roared.

"Two! One!"

The engines roared again, this time even louder.

"GO!"

The safety latches on the Launch Units were released, and the trio shot forward like three lightning bolts. They climbed at a similar speed, because Toshiro held himself back, but just until Sanya reported that they crossed twelve thousand meters. Shirley's engines sputtered, and they cut off.

"Damn!" She shouted in anger. "Toshiro, save the honor of reciprocating engines!"

"Okay…" He sighed.

Toshiro pushed all he could but he felt his Striker slowed down gradually. When Sanya reported fourteen thousand five hundred meters, his engines sputtered, and he started falling down.

"Crap… And Trude is still going forward…"

Toshiro was free falling now, with his arms crossed in a fit. He observed as Trude finally started falling down herself.

"Sixteen thousand five hundred meters." Sanya reported.

Toshiro had to whistle at that report.

"Wow… Mind blowing…" He muttered under his nose. "Oh well, time to start these old engines and return for breakfast…"

Both the cannons presented were the ones Trudy used in the anime.

And now some more in-depth rambling…

FFG-4 - Flugzeugfernsteuerungsgerät-4 – Plane Radio Control Device-3

Junkers EF 133 Wotan – totally my invention, albeit the designation is historically based (EF meaning experimental plane) and the 133 number ideally fits into the gap between the EF 132 and EF 135. Further info classified for now ;p

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 :]