Chapter 51 – Before the battle

What happened last night should be written down in the annals of history… Seriously… Mio, despite her lack of experience was like a damn tornado… A sexual hurricane... A lewd maelstrom…

As Toshiro's eyes opened, he saw her, watching him with a slightly uneasy smile. She was naked, not covered by any piece of fabric. Her right eye glowed light purple. Her long black hair was lying on her slender arms.

"Now I know why Miyafuji is so hung on training with Yumemaru… Gods… Your lovemaking skills are even better than your combat skills… And seeing you in the morning like that is… mystical… She wants to protect her treasure… A treasure she was lucky to find…"

"You're also a nice sight, Mio… It seems Adolfine's tips worked, heh… I saw you naked so many times but… Now you're exuding some erotic aura… Really, Mio, the man that you'll choose will be one happy camper…"

"I realized it now. Something shifted in me when we did it…"

"Your hymen?" Toshiro asked with a smirk.

"Hey, you promised not to make fun of the fact that I was a virgin!" Mio rebuked angrily.

"Sorry, sorry… But you're really missing one issue – Yoshika. What will happen when she finds out, and I guarantee you she somehow will?"

"Ah shit, right… She'll be furious… But why didn't Yuki zap you?"

"Because you were played, Mio." Yuki said. "Played perfectly I might add."

"Played?"

"Let me explain." Toshiro said. "Yoshika, being so generous and open-minded, let me have sex with TWO girls she knows, so we can have the same amount of sexual encounters."

"She did what?!"

"Yup. Incredible, huh?"

"And… And… What's the count now?"

"Five to four for Yoshika."

"FIVE?! Who the fuck did she fuck?!"

"She won't tell you, that was an order from me but… maybe I could tell you…"

"What kind of orgies did go past my back… Gods…"

"You don't know a few things about Yoshika, despite the fact you're actually spending more time with her than me…"

"Please tell me, Toshiro. I have to know!"

"Yoshika is bisexual it seems. Or rather I should say it's almost one hundred percent sure."

Mio's eyed widened to a size that no glasses would cover.

"And you were right on the orgy part… We had one after Lynne's birthday party…"

"You know what, don't tell me after all… Oh, but wait – who will you do as your next target to even the score?"

"That's a secret. But I guess nobody from this unit."

"Nobody from this unit, but somebody that Miyafuji knows… Anabuki and Rudel are probably out of the question so that leaves… Galland or Marseille… Whoooa, Toshiro, that's the big league you're aiming at!"

"A man has to have some ambitions… Anyway, let's move out before Yoshika decides to visit. While explaining what happened afterwards will be easy, but explaining while you're still butt naked in bed with me will be a little exercise…"

"Aawwww… Toshiro, you don't like me anymore?" Mio asked with a flirtatious tone. "But we had such a nice time…"

"You should pay a tithe to a shrine or something, because if Yoshika wouldn't exist, I would probably like you a bit more often…"

"Hahaha! Yeah, Miyafuji is truly a godsend! Hahaha! I shudder at the fact that you could run loose now with your rank…"

"Right? I don't know if I could hold back… Well, anyway, let's jog, shall we?"

"Let's. But let's split up."

"Okay. I hope you won't brag about are little encounter, right?"

"You'll be probably the one that will be bragging, I'm a movie star after all."

"Hahaha! But I would also be a movie star, you know?"

"Really? What happened?"

"I was supposed to star in a movie in December but… you sort of died…"

"Ah, fuck… Sorry… But why didn't you tell me this until now? I could probably weasel you in somehow…"

"Not that I was super keen to star in the movie in the first place… I had to try to comfort Miyafuji somehow…"

"Thanks…"

They dressed up and ran down the stairs. Mio ran towards the outside, Toshiro ran down to the hangar. Just as he was turning outside towards, he was nabbed by a pair of small hands. Before he even realized, he was being kissed. He already knew who welcomed him in the morning so romantically – it was Yoshika.

"You sure enjoyed your stay at the bottom of that mountain…" She said with a pouty face. "Should I change the score card already?"

"Yeah…" Toshiro answered a bit flustered. "And I see what you did with Mio's family name there."

"Hmmm… It's a weird feeling, knowing you let your boyfriend bang another woman that's more attractive than you… But only one more, and you'll be mine and all mine till the end of the world, right?"

"Unless we do another orgy."

"Well of course, Toshiro! Heehee… How was it?"

"Almost like with a smaller breasted Shirley while being sober…"

"Wait, you mean… Miss Sakamoto was…"

"Uhum…"

"Damn it… You get the higher valued trophies…"

"Did you sleep well?" Toshiro asked suddenly.

"Yes. The rain lulled me to sleep… But I can't unsee what I saw…"

"Mio promised to explain everything to you, tomorrow or maybe sooner if she 'man's up'."

"Just tell me one thing – will she be okay?"

"She will, I'll make sure of it. You can help too."

"I will!" Yoshika cheered. "Miss Sakamoto trained me so hard, that she deserves help!"

"Want to jog?"

"Yup!"

They three ended up meeting in the dining room.

"Good morning, Miss Sakamoto." Yoshika said as if nothing happened during the last days.

"Good morning, Miyafuji." Mio answered a bit awkwardly.

"No need to be flustered, Miss Sakamoto, I know already."

"You think I'm flustered because I had sex with Toshiro? Hahaha! You're miles behind me!"

"Heehee, maybe… Water, coffee, cocoa, tea, juice?"

"Black tea." Mio said.

"Just water for me, Yoshika."

"Coming right up!"

Yoshika quickly filled up the kettle and put it on the gas stove to boil. She poured a glass of water and passed it to Toshiro.

"Good morning everyone…" Lynne came in, sleepy as usual. "Coffee please, Yoshika…" She mumbled and slopped down in the chair at the table.

"Coming!"

"Lynne, I hope you will be doing a light breakfast, right?" Mio asked.

"Yes, Miss Sakamoto…" Lynne mumbled half asleep. "I doubt we would fight well with a pound of black pudding, half a pound of bacon, two eggs and three pieces of toast in our stomachs…"

"We would have to shift the operation to 1600 after such a breakfast…" Mio grumbled.

After getting refreshed, Lynne and Yoshika made breakfast. Everyone was in high spirits before the battle. After breakfast, Minna made an announcement.

"We'll be having a supplementary briefing right now."

"Huh, what?" Toshiro asked.

"We have omitted one thing during our previous briefing, Toshiro… Something that everyone should know…"

Toshiro thought intensively, but it finally came to him.

"Oh right… That little detail over which I was so pissed off about… Please, continue, Minna."

"What's going on?" Trude asked.

"As Toshiro already said to everyone, we will be relying on the Yamato. But he forgot, willingly or not, to mention what makes the Yamato so special…"

"It's weird that we're relying on a conventional warship… I have to admit that…" Trude murmured

"It's because the Yamato… It… It uses Neuroi tech…" Minna said uneasily.

"WHAT?!" Trude yelled amongst murmurs and whispers. "You can't be serious?! Don't these military blockheads remember what happened to the Warlock and the Akagi?!"

"She's serious…" Toshiro said. "The Yamato will be using a new and improved core control system, which 'supposedly' is 100% safe. If you want to know my opinion, we should prepare for the worst already. Maloney also had a core control system for the Warlock, and look where that led him… He's in prison, gods know where, the Akagi was destroyed, I lost my life, my mother lost her life in exchange so I can be here with you today… This is wrong on so many levels, but… It's either this or a slow war of attrition…"

"Our mission is to keep the Yamato safe until it completes its Neuroification, no more, no less." Minna said. "That is a direct order from the brass, so we don't have any space to maneuver. I pondered a bit in the night, and I came up with an addendum to the plan so to speak. Yoshika?"

"Yes?" She asked.

"You're shields are extraordinaire. I want you to protect the Yamato."

"Are you sure, Miss Minna?"

"I'm positively sure. As a last effort we can use Toshiro, but he will be cruising between me and the Neuroi until he runs out of ammo. You can do it, Yoshika."

"Affirmative!" Yoshika shouted.

"So you've taken command, huh, Minna?" Toshiro asked with a smile. "When did that happen?"

"Don't be mad, Toshiro, but you lack the experience for such a vital operation. If the stakes were lower, I would gladly give you command to see how you do, but not now…"

"Finally, somebody doesn't pamper on me… Good, Minna, you're the commander of our unit for this operation."

"Awwww, bro, you gave up to easily…" Erica pouted.

"I'm proud of you, Toshiro. You've matured, at least in this department…" Trude said. "Erica can huff and pout all day, and she won't understand."

"Everyone, let's go to the hangar." Minna said. "The time is nigh."

They went to the hangar in an organized group. The fleet could be seen in the distance, only as specks right now.

"Such a big fleet…" Perrine gasped. "But… But we can't protect them all, right?"

"No. Our orders are to protect the Yamato at absolutely all cost." Toshiro said. "By extension it means that Yoshika must also be protected at all cost, since she will take the brunt of all attacks."

"Oh, that's an objective I can agree to, hah!"

All of them entered the hangar. Toshiro looked at Mio's Striker.

Oh shiii… Wait a second, it looks almost like new…

He looked at Minna who was at his side, and she whispered, "I cleaned it up a bit in the night."

"Thanks."

Everyone started bustling around, loading their guns, taking pouches and slings with ammunition, doing last checks. Toshiro loaded his ammo pack with four mags full of APCPB-HE rounds and four HEI-T belts for his MG.

"Is everyone ready?" Minna asked.

"Ready!" A whole choir of voices shouted.

"Take your weapons, mount your Strikers and let's go to the Amagi!"

"Roger!"

A total of 22 reciprocating engines rumbled under the roof of the hangar. It was a sound comparable to rolling thunder. Toshiro's two turboprop engines barely made a difference. He looked at Yoshika, who also looked at him. They both smiled and rushed forward in a single line with the rest. After reaching a proper attitude, they turned southwards to the fleet. The blaring of horns was heard from afar, as the ships greeted their protectors.

"Everyone, land on the carrier, Yoshika last." Minna commanded.

"Roger!"

The girls and Toshiro landed on the board of the Amagi, and docked their Strikers in the Launch Units that were on deck. The crew helped them, by bringing them foldable chairs. They put them on the portside of the carrier, and they waited.

Almost two hours have passed, and they could see it. A grey-green cloud, swirling like an upside down tornado was to be found slightly to the east of Venice. A big green ball was hanging from the cloud, partially obscured.

"Dear God…" Shirley gasped. "So that… that's the Hive?"

"Yes. This is the Hive that defeated the whole 504th…" Toshiro said.

And these idiots want to use a Neuroified ship and are leaving us out of the equation in terms of offensive… Humbug!

"Ladies, it's time to move." Sugita's voice flowed through their transponders. "Wish us luck."

"Roger, Captain, we are going out."

The Launch Unit's that were previously under the deck slid out now. The girls rushed to their Strikers and they picked up their weapons and ammo.

"Girls… Ladies… Friends… This is a battle we fight not only for Romagna, not only for Francesca, but also for ourselves. We don't want to be the unit that failed in such a great offensive, right?" Minna asked.

"No!" Everyone shouted.

"So let's do our best! We have to give a hundred percent! Godspeed and good luck! Abflug (takeoff)!"

The symphony of engines played once again, and everyone departed into the final battle in Romagna, the one that would decide the fate of the 501st and Romagna.

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