Welcome to chapter 8. This is quite a long chapter, really. 7000 words long. Well because it's a battle, so of course it is expected to be long.

First of all, thank you gvintheodore for the OC Vin. He is currently a cameo in this chapter (his name is not yet revealed), but later on, I'll try to highlight his role a bit more. And I am also grateful for all your support of the story so far. It has given me lots of motivation to continue this story.

*To pt1oef about your XCOM review: No. Sadly I don't know that until the moment you ask. But thank you for the positive comments about the story

More notes will be given at the end, since I don't want to spoil it for you.

Enjoy

Disclaimer: I do not own SW nor the OC I borrowed.


Chapter 8: The son of Athena

"General!" Jynetta called out to Alexander, as his silhouette came into view.

"What happened? Who is this kid?" Gawain said with curiosity, as he was not recapped of the whole story, since he was sleeping by the time this happened.

"There are bandits among us. This guy over there is one of them." Alexander replied. "He and his friend attacked a mansion just a few minutes ago, killing two elderly couple. This is the child that was about to become the third victim."

Jynetta and Eris turned back to look at the bandit soldier in disgust, while general Gawain was silenced, as if he was trying to remember something.

"Gawain, you do remember the attack on Paris a few weeks ago, right?" Asked Alexander.

"I do…"

"Do you know anyone under your command called Ilias."

He winced his eyebrows at the statement, as if a candle had been lit inside his mind.

"Yes, he is the captain of the 101st Neuroi saboteur in the 7th Fleet."

"So he is one of my underlings…A man of such ranks dares to go all the way against my teaching." His voice was a mixture of disappointment and anger, yet calm. "Very well, I shall personally see to this myself. Call for him to report at my office this very moment."

"Yes sir!" Gawain immediately complied, shutting himself down to transmit the long range message.

"You said there is another one committing this attack. Where is he?" Jynetta asked as she looked around.

"He's dead." The statement suddenly struck her, shocking her for a moment.

"Dead? Isn't that a bit…" Eris's reaction was also as surprised as his bodyguard.

"Harsh? I don't think so. If he had stepped down and take his responsibility, it would have been a different story for him. But here, he showed a total disregard of manners and lives, a sign of moral degradation beyond the point of rehabilitation. He is better off dead instead."

Yet, it still left a shocking feeling in the two young ladies in front of him. But before one of them could say anything, Alexander handed Jynetta the young child.

"Find an orphanage or something for her."

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I can't go, because I have work to do. And besides, you look more human, and more like a parent than me, so you'll have no problems getting in there."

Jynetta blushed at the word 'parent', as she took the child with her head hung low.

At the same time, Gawain suddenly return to his normal state, and said.

"I've called him, he will be there in a minute."

"Let's hear what he have to say, shall we?"

They left immediately, except for Jynetta, who instead looked for the orphanage Alexander was asking for.


Inside the plain Britannian office stood a figure, a scarab-like Neuroi. Of course, being the captain of a unit meant that he had to be used to being summoned like this, but here, he was frightened for a different reason.

The door swung opened, and walked in was the menacing silhouette of the supreme general. The Neuroi, called Ilias, turned around, and was about to bow himself as a form of salute, but was stopped immediately.

"You needn't do that. I want this talk to be quick. So I'll get straight to the question." Again, his straightforward attitude, as he walked to his chair and sat down.

"There has been some whispers among the humans that we, Neurois, have been conducting activities in Gallia that are deemed as terrorism and war crimes. And recently, another two soldiers continued to commit similar acts against the Britannian civilians. Coincidentally, I was there, and those two slipped your name when they are conversing. So I will ask you this: did you do it?"

Through how he put the question into words, Ilias knew that he couldn't get away with this

"Yes sir." He admitted

"And what did you do with what you stole?"

"I tried to convert it into energies. It didn't work for the most part."

"And for what reasons you commit such immoral acts?"

Came the question that he expected a reasonable answer.

"I…" He took a very long pause, obviously too frightened to answer, especially when faced with his icy cold words.

"Captain…" Alexander suddenly spoke out, his tone less cold, trying to enlighten the atmosphere. But still to him, it was still like the sea of Europa.

"If you admit everything, take responsibility, and promise me not to repeat, I will consider letting you off with only a demotion. That is the most generous offer I can give you now."

Poor guy. He was drowning in the processing the files of terror in his core right now. But for Alexander, he deserved it, deserved to be frightened and disciplined. After this, he should become a soldier who knows the meaning of morality.

After another few minutes, the captain finally told everything. It was simply a sudden raise in bloodlust that he and a few of his men had. And then he spilled every name of the Neurois that committed the act. Afterwards, they all received a demotion notice


On the while, Jynetta had found what it seemed to be her destination. It wouldn't have caught her attention without the sign, which said 'Emilia's Orphanage'. The title itself was self-explanatory.

Before entering, she checked herself for any traits or signs of Neuroi on her. She had already shape-shifted her clothes to make it human-like, her eyes turned from red to green, her skin turning into a more human color, while herself wearing a brown coat, black jeans and a scarf.

After finishing, she knocked the wooden door. After a while, a woman, apparently in her middle-age, appeared opening the door. It looked like she is the owner, Emilia, of this orphanage

"What is it that- oh dear!" She noticed the child Jynetta was carrying and immediately opened the door widely to let her in.

"Who is that poor thing? Why is she covered with bruises and cuts like that?" She asked, with a caring and concerning voice as Jynetta handed her the unconscious girl.

"Uhh…" She tried to pick the words to say. But eventually nothing came to mind than one thing. "There is a raid. Two Neuroi soldiers broke into her house and killed her relatives."

The truth

"Oh my god! That's horrible. Those monsters are at it again? Jesus, they never leave us alone, won't they?" The woman said, with venom in her voice.

'Again?'

Does she mean the last attack on Paris?

Or are there any other attack like this?

"Umm, madam. About the Neurois…"

"Yes, my dear." She replied in a motherly aura that she had.

"Are they that bad? I-I mean…you just said that they were at it. Do they usually plunder or massacre people like that?"

The woman was quite baffled with Jynetta's question, her face a little bit suspicious. It was indeed quite strange to hear someone of that age not knowing about it. But ultimately, she replied honestly.

"Always."

Jynetta was shocked at the word.

Always.

Is that even real?

The Neuroi army that she had always served under, she was loyal to, always killing civilians and innocents.

"That's what I heard anyway. I have a few friends who used to live in Orussia. You can ask them. They said that village destructions in Orussia are extremely common that there are a specific cemetary for villages."

'Villages…'

Not for people, but for villages.

That pretty much described the extent of the casualties.

But she couldn't bring herself to believe it.

That the Neurois were behind all of it.

However, if the Neurois didn't do it, then who?

"By the way, what's your name dear?" The woman asked.

"Uhh…"

She couldn't say her Neuroi name, as it is too alien for the Britannian, unlike Alexander's name. So she would have to come up with another one

"...It's Vera."

That was such a poor attempt at it. The name itself was not bad, but still too alien, even more than her Neuroi name.

"Vera…such a weird name. But well, this orphanage is most thankful to you for saving this little soul." The woman said, in an appreciative tone

"Well, uhh…I don't really…"

"No, really. We, as humans, have the responsibility of helping and saving others when they are in need. I don't know how to thank you enough for saving her and bringing her here."

'You should thank Alexander instead…'

She didn't do anything.

"Anyway, I have to go and accommodate this little girl. Again thank you, and God bless you."

"Yeah…God bless you…too." Her reaction were odds. She weren't good at talking to humans like this, not to mention blessing them.

She left the orphanage, deep in thoughts.


Jynetta returned to Alexander's office moments later, only to witness that the interrogation was already over, and the man who was called already left.

The only one in the room was the current owner of this office, who was engulfed in the holograms of maps.

"Ah Jynetta." Alexander addressed her in human form of communication. "Call the others, I have urgent news."

"Oh…Yes sir." She left immediately, only to come back with Alexander's two close aides.

"What is it?" Eris asked.

"Do you have the scout report I demanded?"

"Yes. Currently, their fleet is moving their ways towards the Western African region, with a total number of ships around 800, mostly transports for landings."

"Hmm." He nodded in acknowledgement. "The number of witches?"

"Ehhh…" She scratched her head. "We don't have the statistic on that."

"There might be around…2 to 3 squadrons. It would not be a problem for me to extinguish them." Gawain stated, in his usual confident demeanor.

"No…I think not." But Alexander wasn't so certain. "The witches aren't like normal soldiers. Their numbers are relatively rare. And because of that, they have established a tight bond with each other. And once a bond is tight enough, you don't know how far they would go and would do."

He finished, as he looked at a holographic picture, of two Britannian sisters, who apparently were witches as well.

"So I expect to see your mindset changed, at least for the next engagement, general." Alexander turned to Gawain, with an expecting look.

He was obviously unprepared for this reaction. Gawain only coughed slightly as he nodded.

"The current enemy fleet's position?"

"We have yet to uncover its precise location, but they will be likely to encounter our position somewhere around 0300 and 0400." Eris said.

"We should leave now. I will discuss the rest of the briefing once we are on the Aegis."

"Hmmm." They all nodded simutaneously, and filed out of the room.


HMS Furious

2200

"Achtung!"

The strict voice of colonel Edytha Neumann of the Imperial Karlsland Airforce echoed through out the small but packed room, catching the attention of the witches of the two squadrons. Walking in along with the colonel was a middle-aged man, with very short hair, in which the colour of it was nearly indistinguishable, chiseled face and donned a Wehrmacht tunic mustard-yellow officer uniform, designed especially for fieldmarshals. The stern and stoic expressions on his face caused Hanna, who was initially weren't willing to salute, to stand up in attention.

"Good evening. My name is Edytha Neumann, colonel of the Imperial Karlsland Airforce."

"And I am the commander of the African expeditionary forces, Ernst Rommel, along with my fellow companion, Patton, who were, for some reasons, absent for today." They both introduced. As Rommel at eased the witches, Neumann immediately started the briefing.

"So as you know it pretty much already, we will be attacking the Western Africa region in order to gain a foothold in our struggle against the Neuroi occupation. Recently, the number of Neurois in the area has decreased significantly for some reasons, which has weakened the defensive capabilities there."

"Locating in the heart of the Earth, Africa holds an extremely important strategic meanings to us, as it is the large interchanging point to Europe and Asia, all of which are under the oppression of the Neurois. If we can retake the area, a sea route between Liberion and Africa can be established. Furthermore, the Neuroi's occupation in Gallia and Spaniard will have to fight against two fronts once we accomplish the task."

'But will we even get there?' Were the thoughts lingering in the 501st's mind, after the total failure of the defense of Britannia.

"Of course, this operation won't be guaranteed a success, as it was met with a fair amount of opposition from the Liberion high command, but it will be worth the risk if we succeed." Rommel assured, as if he could read the minds of the maidens in front of him.

"The fact that the number of Neurois decreased doesn't mean we will not meet opposition. The landing operation will take place in less than two days in the three locations shown above. Your task, as a witch, is to simply cover for the landing crafts against Neuroi fires, and neutralize as many Neurois as you can before the landing of the transports."

"Is that it?" Asked Hanna, who seemed pretty unimpressed.

"Yes, the exact time of the landings will be informed as soon as possible, but I want you to be vigilant at all times. The Neurois are now unpredictable. Who knows what tricks they have up its sleeves right now."

The image of the tall, young, coated man on the giant zeppelin back then returned to Mio, who broke a drop of cold sweat, remembering the painful experience she had with him.

If he is the one who commands the Neurois, then he will definitely not overlook the sheer size of this operation. He, for sure, will be here, and will be the opponent.

"What's wrong, Mio?" Asked Minna, who was sitting next to her, examining her expressions.

"Nothing…" She denied it. But Minna knew it wasn't nothing.

It will be difficult, judging not by the strength and intimidation of the Neurois, but by the unpredictability of its commander.

"I expect you to execute this plan accordingly. Especially you Marseille." Neumann said, as the said witches exchanged glares with her.

After the briefing, the witches returned to their quarters, preparing for the upcoming battles.


0315

Atlantic Ocean, near Africa.

Aegis command room.

The sun hadn't risen just yet. The sky was still one pitch of black, with the only exceptions of a few lone shining stars, which although beautiful in its own ways, nobody was there to witness it. The humans were still asleep, while the Neurois inside the dreadnought-type flying behemoth were too occupied for that. There is a battle ahead of them.

The human's combined fleet had been moving just as Alexander was anticipating. The ambushing forces had been set up. They are currently lying still beneath the surface of the ocean.

"General Gawain has moved into his cruiser at the ambush point. The cloaking device is operating without a problem." Jynetta reported to Alexander, just as he was about to ask.

"Very good. Now I want you to lead our 101st saboteur unit into battle."

"The 101st? What for?"

"There will be a huge number of landing crafts preparing to deliver the ground forces to land. They are the main concern of this operation"

"You want me to bomb them, sir?"

"Yes. The witches are not that significant in this battle. While the ambush is dealing with them, you need to eliminate as many ground forces as possible."

"Roger!" She left immediately, leaving only Eris on the dreadnought with Alexander.

"I'm still concerned about the effectiveness of the decoy in the Sakhalin." She said.

"They've already delayed their Fusan fleet for 3 days, what else are you making a fuss over?" He replied, confused over her statement

"No, I mean those Fusan. I am concerned over their speed of their naval ships. Comparing to its counterparts in other nations, the Fusan's navy is known for its high velocity vessels. And the possibility that they will take detours to save time."

"So in general, you are worried about them rushing to help the combined fleet here."

"You got me."

"It's not a concern. This is just a game, deliberately set up." He said, while reassuring, calculatively

"For what? You are playing that cat and mouse game again? At least tell me what you want to achieve." Her tolerance and patience was high. Trying to understand his decisions and thought by herself was difficult, but because she was the closest person to him, he should have at least tell her.

"Knowledge." Alexander replied bluntly and simply. He said what she demanded, and whether if she could get it, that is her problem.

'It's hopeless.' She had never met someone like this before. But at least he was someone she could follow with a light of victory.

"Alright, let us proceed. Aegis, conceal yourself among the clouds, and send out a group of fighters. They'll catch their attention."

"Got it, sir" He replied.


At the same time, on the radar of the HMS Furious, appeared several spots, numbering up to about fifteen of them.

"Sir! Neurois dead ahead! Fifteen mid-sized! 20000 meters!" The operator of the ship reported.

"Prepare for aerial combat! Launch all anti-air units!" The captain ordered.

That instant, all personals on the HMS Furious, along with the rest of the 800 warships were rudely, but reasonably, woken up to the surprise of auch an early morning attack.

"Did the Neurois detect our presence? They don't usually act in packs like this." One of the captain's officers asked in confusion.

"I don't know, their patterns are now unpredictable. Fleets that are only about mid-sized are already enough to send a bunch of them coming at us." The captain replied

"Or maybe they are just patrols." Another one joined.

"In any cases, there is a huge possibility that the enemy knows we are here. Have the witches airborne, immediately."

"Roger!"

501st's quarters.

"A warning?!" Gertrude bolted up in a matter of seconds as she heard the sirens ringing endlessly in the background.

"In the middle of the night?" While Erica appeared with a groggy expressions, upset with the fact that she would have to wake up and fight.

"A group of fifteen Neuroi's mid-sized Neuroi has been detected. Prepare for combat!"

In a matter of minutes, the 501st's witches were already on their launch pad, preparing to be elevated to the runway to launch themselves into the air.

On the while, the 31st's were already airborne.

"Damn it…My beautiful sleep is ruined." Hanna growled, having to adjust her eyes accordingly and repeatedly to the changing light intensity.

"Come on Tina." Raisa, her fellow companion, said, addressing Hanna using her intimate names. "Everybody's the same. We are near the Neuroi's territory after all."

"I'm blaming the Neurois, not the higher-ups. Damn these rustic creatures, can't they pick a better time to attack?"

"But this is strange…I have never seen Neurois attacking this early." Raisa cracked a smile at her friend's curse, but then turned solemn

"Hmm, I have a feeling that this is intentional. But I can't figure out anything beyond that."

Just as she said that, Neuroi beams began flying pass the face of the Star of Africa.

"Spread out and attack from different directions!"

Along with the designated witches, conventional aircrafts also took off in assistance of the opposition against the Neurois. But because the planes weren't specifically designed for night combat, they were rather insignificant comparing to the flying maidens.

The Neurois, which were grouping up in a tight formation, suddenly spreaded into a slightly arched formation, and did a curved maneuver, increasing altitude quickly then dived, repeating the process while each individual Neurois slowly spinned around its horizontal, not to forget returning fire. This made the battle on the Neuroi point of view looking more like a chaotic and messy dance rather than an actual combat situation,

"What the fuck are they doing?!" Shirley, her face containing a titanium of confusion, said as she was nearly hit by their psychotic movement.

"Liberion! Don't just stand there, shoot!" Hanna was quick to notice Shirley's lull caused by confusion and reminded her

While looking absolutely insane and pointless, the maneuver actually had its effectiveness. Because the timing of each dive and soar were intentionally randomized, the support battleship's armament had a hard time adjusting their guns accordingly, due to their slow elevation and depression speed. And eventually, they decided to set the guns at a certain angle and stay there, waiting for the Neurois to go directly into their line of fire.

Alexander watched as his maneuver proved its effectiveness, while Eris was quite confused of its necessity.

"Are you serious Alex?" She asked

"I am amused by how they react. And it has its use here. Anyway, the status of the ambush?" He replied, his eyes focusing solely on the holographics of the battlefield

"The fleet is only ten kilometers away from it, but…"

"But?" Alexander's red eyes raised a bit, his voice a bit wistful.

"I think general Gawain is attacking. He's dropping the cloaking layers."

His red eyes, from his normal state, suddenly snapped open at the revelation. He moved the battlefield visibility to the ambush site, which to his eyes saw the proof to Eris's words.

He immediately connects himself to Gawain.

"General Gawain. Return to your assigned coordinates, immediately." He said, his voice raised in a strict manner, but still retained his calm attitude.

"B-But I thought you are signalling me to attack. I don't understand!" He replied

Alexander mentally facepalmed himself. The maneuver he just did made Gawain misunderstood that it was the signal of attack. And now he was at its risk of being uncovered too early.

"Sir! Neurois detected beneath the surface of the ocean! Ten kilometers!" A young enlist on a destroyer reported as the sonar of his ships caught sight of Gawain's forces

"What?!" And that captain, surprised by the development, reported this to the rest of the ship's captains, and high-ranking officers in charge. This spreaded out like wildfire, to each and every soldiers.

"The enemy is beneath us?!"

"Impossible!"

"Fuck!"

"What is this?!"

"How did they manage to do this?!"

"Stop them immediately! Don't let them touch the ships!"

Of course, witches included. The sound of witches of the two squadrons echoing a mix of surprised cries and hasty orders could be heard and felt from a distance.

The ruckus was enough for Alexander to realize one thing: Gawain has screwed up.

In this sticky situation, he would have to go along with it. Flexibility is invaluable in a battle

"Forget it. Emerge from the surface and engage the ships in close range, low altitude."

"As you wish."

It's a game intentionally set up after all.

Let's see how they react.

They were struggling with all this sudden development. One by one, the Neurois were popping out of the water and began firing on the bow of the ship at the head of the formation. Its two main turrets at the front sustained critical damage from the increasingly intensive firepower from the surfacing Neuroi.

Seeing this, the witches immediately abandoned the attack on the fifteen mid-sized Neurois and proceeded to engage this new enemy. The mid-sized had also stopped the maneuver and proceeded to break formation, each attacking its own enemies.

"What the hell do we do?! We can't storm into their position!" The captain of the front battleship called back to Neumann, waiting for orders.

"Just continue in your current course as planned!" That wasn't what he wanted to hear, as Neumann was as surprised and confused as him.

"Evasive maneuver." Instead, the calm and composed Rommel gave the order. "Request reinforcements from the 502nd Joint Fighter Wing."

"Hard to port!" The captain of the fleet commanded.

The front row of the fleet steadily turned left, away from Gawain's position, along with all landing crafts and ships at the back, to avoid casualties from the sudden appearance of such a large number of ships.

Hmmm.

His eyes narrowed. Alexander closely watched their actions through his holograms on the Aegis. Although his intended plans for the battle had somewhat been screwed up by a total unnecessary misunderstanding by his subordinate, everything was going well for him at the least. Every actions and movements of his enemies now would be the key to Alexander's future battles, and a valuable asset to his magnificent plan of their destruction. That is the reason why he couldn't afford to lift his eyes off of this.

His enemies were conducting evasive maneuvers for all landing crafts. That illustrated the importance of them to their success of the battle, and the entire operation. He knew that already, but wanted to confirm his suspicions. Now let's test the their morales.

"Mark enemy's landing crafts and auxilaries ships. Saboteur units, advance."


Aegis's hangar bay.

A large number of Neurois were gathering, preparing to be teleported through to the battlefield.

The 101st saboteur unit.

This is one of the relatively rare occasions where they were able to join in midst of an enraging battle, and play a major role in it. Saboteurs units almost always specialized in destroying infrastructures and damaging vehicles and weapons behind enemy lines before a battle. This time, they were tasked to intercept the enemy during battle. A more dangerous job, but it was enough to send one individual human-like figure among it to jump in excitement.

"Is everybody present yet?" He proactively made sure everybody in his squad were present and accounted for before Jynetta could even do it. Because the commander, Ilias, of the squad was demoted and sent away, they were literally commander-less, and temporarily had Jynetta as commander. But here, this guy, usually seen as laid back, were surprisingly active, and took charge instead.

"Calm down. Are you overtaking my job here?" Jynetta reprimanded.

"Sorry ma'am…" He replied, but his excitement wouldn't die down.

'It seems full.' She concluded as she looked around, rechecking it.

"Let's go! To victory!" She shouted battle cries, as she jumped to the deploying area, her hand summoning her precious Retarynax. Her body slowly sank, through the pad, and to the outside, among the clouds, followed by a group of over a dozen sentry-type Neurois. The proactive Neuroi, who was faceless, donning a formal black Neuroi uniform, with red hexagons and red collar, appeared last, with a gun, which looked like a Mauser C96 but attached to his hand, equipped.

Jynetta readjusted her boosters to keep her balanced, and checked her altitude meter within her core.

'2000 meters.'

She had to increase it a bit, to avoid radar detection. But not too much, or she would reach her limits.

Leading the 101st through the thick clouds, Jynetta slowly climbed to the height of 4000, and leveled herself, marching horizontally and slowly, observing the enemy fleet as they gradually pass through her.

Then, after 5 minutes, she spotted the moving landing crafts. She widened her eyes. There were a lot, A LOT, of them. Her squad wouldn't be able to destroy it all in one run. Personally, Jynetta wouldn't want to use much of her powers into this one, since her desecration wave were energy-consuming, and should only be used when she was in a pinch.

But her job is to destroy as many as she can, not destroy all. Her supreme general, Alexander, had said that. So she needn't worry over it.

After watching them, the attack began.

Jynetta began her magnificent dive towards her targets, going at a sharp vertical angle. She was followed by one, two, five then the entire unit, dropping down onto their target.

The soldiers on the landing crafts and the ships soon realized what were above their heads. They were genuinely surprised, but tried to retaliate using anti-aircraft guns and their personal guns. Obviously, they were useless against the armor and agility of the Neurois.

Jynetta found herself falling near one of the designated targets, so she readjusted her fall, and before she touched the seafloor, she fired her lasers at the target, blowing it to pieces. She then did a graceful arched maneuver, like a dive-bomber, flying away from the scene dangerously close to the water.

Most of her squad did the same, while the man with the Mauser-like gun on his hand simply punched through the target into the water and later resurface.

The sudden attack at the back of the fleet targeting the landing crafts had also triggered chaos among the officers and crewmen of the fleet.

"What is this?!" Colonel Neumann were shocked beyond description as she realized the landing crafts were struck by surprise. This fact had broken her expectation of a plan that goes accordingly to her prediction completely. The Neurois knew exactly what she was doing, and had swiftly and precisely countered it.

"Seems like the reinforcement from the 502nd will not be enough…" Rommel stated, which even added more terror to the chaos.

"Lieutenant Marseille, Flying Officer Hartmann! Head back and intercept the Neurois at the back of the fleet!" Minna quickly ordered two of the most talented witches.

"Hai!"

"Yes ma'am!"

They immediately U-turned and bolted across the long line of warships. Eventually, they came into contact with two sabotaging Neurois. It was a simple sentry-type, both of them didn't want to waste her skills nor too many bullets into it. With a few coordinated shots, the two sentries were killed.

Erica pulled up, spinning around a few rounds, leveled off, then burst fired, targeting another Neuroi, killing it instantly. One point ahead for Erica.

Hanna, who was quite determined to get a kill to equal the score, pulled up as well. But before she could burst fire for another kill, a shadow emerged from above.

She dodged by instinct, before she even had the chance to realize the identity of the shadow. It was Jynetta, who had completed her first drop and was preparing for a second blow. Having seen the presence of a new adversary, she dived, like a falcon hunting its prey, her sword risen. She missed the ram, but her blade had clashed with Hanna's Striker Units, leaving a slash blade on it.

"Hnng!" She span around to have a closer look at her new opponent. A long-haired brunette in a grey battle dresses decorated with Neuroi hexagons. And the most astonishing fact was that she looked exactly human.

So the rumors of human-like Neurois are true…

There's no time for that. Hanna immediately open fired, her shots tracking into Jynetta's position. The Neuroi warrior proceeded to increase her altitude, taking advantage of a low cloud to decrease her opponent's detection range. Then, Hanna's gun ran out of ammo, and she had to spend a few seconds reloading it. The few golden seconds for Jynetta to initiate another dive at full throttle.

She did not squander that opportunity.

Jynetta dived again, this time firing the beams from her hands before engaging close quarter combat with Hanna. The beams were blocked easily with her shields, but the incoming slice was too powerful. It broke into tiny little pieces as Jynetta passed through. However, the miliseconds it took to break the shields were enough for Hanna to evade it.

Erica finally noticed the Star of Africa clashing with an unknown being, but couldn't actually intervene. She looked incredibly strong, and require times to take down. Every seconds she wasted, the Neurois would continue to destroy the landing crafts, thus threatening to the failure of the mission.

Meanwhile, the fifteen mid-sized, now nine after the long combat finally merged with Gawain's supposed-to-be ambush force.

"They are moving away from us. Extend our flanks and engage them. Do not let them get away!" Gawain ordered in his large-sized whale-like Neuroi.

The right flank of his arched formation turned to match with the carriers and battleships. For a while, it was a pretty wise decision, but because of this, the ability to cover each other in battle had been reduced. And the witches of the 501st exploited this thoroughly.

"Attack that stingray Neuroi! Severe its flanks!" Minna ordered, as the Neuroi were pretty much loned.

Sanya's rocket launcher and Eila's MG-34 did a great job exploiting a hole in it, exposing its core. And Perrine's light machine gun finished it off.

Seeing the gap in the Neuroi formation, the two squadrons rushed into it, and mopped up the Neurois on the weaker flank. The human vessels had been secured

"Damn it!" Gawain cursed loudly. "All batteries, aim for those witches, open fire!"

As you could guess it already, with so many witches on site, the beams were deflected like water sprayed into a wall.

Seeing that his group would not be able to hold out against that many witches, Gawain decided to abandon Alexander's initial curved formation and instead rounded it up to one large group, to dish out huge amount of damage to the witches as much as possible. He thought it was probable, now that he has fucked up the ambush plan.

At least, to some extent, it is proving its effectiveness, as the witches struggled to push through it, thus saving his face from a poor performance.

"Hahhhh!" As the beam power intensified, Yoshika had to put up a much larger shield to cover her comrades, so that they could push forward. But it was pretty futile. The firepower was pretty damn strong for witches with smaller shield generating capabilities like Mio.

"Colonel! When will the 502nd be here?! We can't take much more of this!" Mio almost shouted to Neumann.

"Be patient! They are coming!" She replied, angrily. Now that the situation was getting tense, she couldn't stand the sound of people shouting help at her simultaneously.

But thankfully, a blessing in a form of nine beautiful maidens had came to her.

And came the sound she was hoping for for hours.

"Colonel Neumann! Reinforcement has arrived!"

"Rall!" She uttered in relief, as she looked at the field marshal. He too sighed in slight content.

"The witches reinforcements have arrived!" Following Neumann were the cheers of hundreds of thousands of seamen as they pointed and eyed to the North West of the battlefield. Nine witches of the 502nd Joint Fighter Wings, otherwise known as Brave Witches, has arrived on the battlefield to aid in the attack against the Neurois.

At the same time, shells began flying from the South-West direction .

"Marshal Rommel! Admiral Yamamoto's fleet is emerging from the horizon!" The captain of Furious also reported.

And along with it are…

"Flight Lieutenant Takami Karibuchi of the Imperial Fuso Navy, reporting for battle!"

Four Fusan witches, one of which was the famous hero of Libau.

"More witches incoming. Call for reinforce-" Gawain made a hasty order.

He barely had the chance to finish his order, as an explosion to the left hull of his ship sent him flying from his post.

Takami's precision was top-notch, no wonder that she was called a hero. Despite not destroying the ship, but managing a hit at such a distance was totally exceptional.

"We barely managed to get here. Two-third of our fleet is still behind." Admiral Yamamoto also sighed in relief. "Thank god, I have done my duty."

"Admiral, our ally's fleet is under attack!"

"Then what are you waiting for. All hands to battle station! Enemy dead ahead! Bring all guns to bear!"

"Forty-five degrees!"

"Ute! (Fire!)"

The two fast battleships and one destroyer simultaneously exploded their guns fiercely, its shells pounded onto the Neuroi's forces blockading the combined fleet, stunning them.

"Let's show these monsters what we humans are capable of!"


"General Gawain is asking for reinforcement, sir." Aegis reported to Alexander, who was merely sitting still and enjoying his drinks all the time.

He merely smirked, as though he had everything going in his calculation.

"Just leave them be."

Aegis stopped responding. He knew that his ranks in the Neuroi army was nothing compared to Alexander's

Only four ships…So he is willing to risk everything to rush towards his objectives. Worthy of praise.

He continued to watch.

"Enemy count is sixty three!" Minna's Three Dimensional Space Understanding ability was proving effectiveness.

"Attention all witches! Commence attack!"

Aside from Erica and Hanna, who were busy dealing with the saboteurs at the back, the witches began to mass up, and charged straight into the staggering Neuroi column, meeting them in a head on attack. Massive explosions lit up the early morning sky as the two clashed each other in a gigantic firefight. The humans, from the point of being overwhelmed, are now having an equal match with the Neurois. Conventional aircrafts also took off from their respective carriers to support the witches in their attacks. They were all eagered to see this operation to a success.

"They are getting the upper-hand, Alex. Do something."

It was only then that Alexander finally stood up from the chair.

"That's enough. All units, fall back."

But his orders were also questionable. Instead of sending out more to fight, Alexander decided the opposite option.

Jynetta, while in the process of using her wrath abilities, were quite astonished at the sudden orders but wasted no time rushing back into the high clouds, along with eight of the remaining Neurois of the 101st. The massive body of Neurois also moved in reverse, and soon turned their backs against the combined fleet, rushing into the huge and thick layer of clouds.

"They're retreating!"

Cheers of victory began to be chanted among the troops. Some were on the brink of having a meltdown due to relief, while others simply wipe away their sweat of anxiety.

A hard-earned victory for humankind's fleet, indeed.

But their celebrations were cut short.

From the clouds that the Neurois were retreating into, a black something appeared. Slowly emerging, that black something got larger and larger by seconds, until it finally took shape.

It was a Neuroi.

An extremely massive Neuroi, bigger than anything they had ever seen before.

Shaped like a mouse cursor, it appeared above the combined fleet, coming down diagonally at them, slowly like a mountain, dwarfing the rest of the entire fleet combined

"What the hell is that?"

Supreme general Alexander's flagship.

Its sheer size was enough to stun the witnesses.

For a while, fightings and firings ceased due to the appearance of such a huge and menacing vehicle. Now that the size of the ships is already shocking, they don't want to hear the number of weapons and ships on that thing.

"I have never seen a Neuroi that large before…" Rommel and Yamamoto muttered almost at the same time.

A few hundred meters from the water, the dreadnought stopped descending, and leveled itself, hovering there. To the surprise of the bystanders, it did not open fire on the vulnerable combined fleet.

On the top of the ship, a tiny figure stands, wearing a black coat.

A warrior that stood firm against many.

A commander that dropped countless terrors on his enemies.

"That is!"

The members of the 501st, except for Lynette, recognized him immediately.

Lynette, on the other hand, could deduce his identity from the appearance and the reaction of her fellow comrades: The man who brought about the destruction to her homeland

She raised her guns, opted for vengeance. But Minna stopped her just moments before she could pull the trigger.

"Don't. If you shoot, thousands of men will die the next moment."

She hesitated, holstered her guns, but her anger did not subside.

The 31st, 502nd and the four recently joined Fusan witches looked with suspicions the man on top of the gigantic ship

Then, the figure began to speak.

"Field Marshal Ernst Rommel…" A calm and unflappable voice echoed through the radio of HMS Furious. It was surely not from any of the ship's captains he knew. It was too antagonistic.

"Who are you?" He asked, but his instinct telling him that he knew him, or had faced him.

"The person defeating you and Montgomery at Suez not long, don't you remember?"

Rommel's eyes widened at this.

"I wonder what motivated you to return to Africa this time, field marshal."

"I thought you know it."

Alexander's expressions turned to sly amusement.

"Seems like our position is reversed now. I hope to face you again and your cunning tactical exploits, field marshal."

"Until we meet again, general." Rommel finished, his eyes narrowed, but he cracked a smile in respect of a powerful adversary.

With that said, the dreadnought slowly turned to the north. The five powerful engines roared, as it accelerated away from the battlefield, along with his army of powerful, but defeated Neurois.

But despite the defeat, Alexander left the battlefield with a smile of victory.


I'll leave it to you to decide whether it is a defeat or not. But I can assure you, Alexander's decision is for something greater. You'll never guess it.

MUAHAHAHA.

Anyway, evil mode off. This fight is probably the only battle chapter that I feel awkward when writing. This is because of the feeling of looseness when implementing some of the greatest generals in history into this battle. For example, Rommel. He is a great man. I can tell you. But I almost don't know how he would react in a situation like being surprised by a large mountain-sized ship. I've tried to gather many information about him in real world and the SW, even the fanfics here that mentioned him, but I still feel awkward about him. And the fact that he is on a carrier would make people disagree with me. But please pardon me that. This is for the purpose of interactions between the man who conquered Europe, Africa and Asia to the famed 'Desert Fox' in the SW universe. If he hadn't met here, he would have met him somewhere else instead. And for the large scope of Alexander, the top military leaders can't just sit still, right?

The operation to take West Africa is a little bit based on the real life operation Torch, but is largely altered, since this is a fictional world, and this fic is yet another fictional universe. So please don't bend me on that.

A little trivia: Europa is a moon of the planet Jupiter, and is extremely cold.

Anyway, stay tune to the next chapter. And for those who remembered my sayings earlier that Aegis won't be joining battle. Well, he didn't. He just hovered there for Alexander's little show, then left. And besides, no one knows what I have in mind. I didn't say exactly that he won't be in battles. I just said who knows.

MUAHAHAHA.