Chapter 6: Names, Names, Names
Greetings once again internet; how's it going? Not much this time guys; I have a bit more at the end. Thanks for the reviews. I don't own anything but my OCs and the story, everything else belongs to their respective owners.
Previously
Galland cleared her face, her eyes red as she sniffed before speaking, "…I- we th-thank you for telling us this. While it wa-was indeed quite shocking, it gi-gives us some insight to your world. If you don't mind, we can continue anything else in the morning." With that she got up and left, the other witches following her in various states of shock.
Vought turned to the others, "Well that went well; come on I need a drink and I know all of you snuck a little something onboard. I know I did."
July 16, 1945 0100 Hours- 501st JFW, Pescara, Venezia
Galland walked the dark corridors of the castle in a sort of daze; the amount of information she had received nearly caused her to collapse. Thinking about the atrocities her other world counterparts committed, she found herself unable to sleep and decided to try and walk it off. After a horrifying realization, the witches realized that if it wasn't for the Neuroi, they might be in a similar situation. Thinking back to the other girls she hoped they were better off than she was; they were in rough shape last she saw of them. None worse off than Sgt. Miyafuji and ENS Lucchini.
The base was silent as everyone slept; the men from the other reality taking over defensive operations for the night. Walking past a window she noticed a form sitting on the edge of the runway looking out over the water. Deciding she had nothing better to do, she went to investigate.
Runway, 5 minutes later
Galland slowly and silently approached the figure at the end of the runway, finally identifying him when she got close, "Col. Vought?"
Vought turned around a surprised look on his face as he greeted her, "Galland ma'am, good morning… I guess you couldn't sleep huh?"
She shook her head, "Not even a wink. How about you colonel? It's your history; you already know it."
"True but I don't like making women cry. Seeing the looks on your faces made me feel like I was torturing you. I wanted to come out here and clear my head… with a little help," he finally indicated as he pulled the bottle of whiskey from behind him.
"Ah I see," she stated as she sat down next to him.
Vought raised an eyebrow, "Uh ma'am?"
She motioned with her hand, "fork it over I want some too; I should confiscate it because you brought a non-approved substance onto the base."
He frowned and sighed as he handed her the bottle and his glass. Taking them both she filled the glass and sniffed it, "Good whiskey huh?"
"The best"
Silence separated the two as they just watched the water. Glancing at the colonel she watched him stare out over the sea with a tired expression on his face. Taking a sip she lost herself in the flavor.
Turning back to the colonel she grabbed his arm, "Come on colonel we need to do something." She ordered as she looped her arm and glass through his. "There is a Karlsandic tradition called Bruderschaft trinken* in which acquaintances become friends. We drink from our glasses and say our names, first names in this situation." She smirked as she glanced at Vought's nervous expression, "What don't trust me colonel? It is a true and proud tradition; you should be honored."
He glanced at her amusement as he slowly went red in the face; he had heard of this tradition before and it had another part…
Not knowing what else to do he grabbed the bottle as he looked Galland right in the face, "Chris," he stated.
"Adolfine"
Closing his eyes, they both took a drink at the same time with Vought waiting for the end of the ritual. When nothing happened he began to calm down, "Huh I guess it is different, I mean we are in another real-" His internal monologue was cut short as he felt lips on his. He opened his eyes in astonishment as Adolfine got up and winked at him as she walked away.
Slapping his hand to his face he went back to staring at the sea, his face bright red. He nervously glanced around making sure no one was watching before realizing how ridiculous that sounded, "What's wrong with that I mean she is almost my age". He took another shot as he stood up and went back to the ship, "This is going to be a looong trip."
Onboard the Ship, same time
The soldier walked the ship with a bored expression on his face. Those who passed him barely acknowledged his presence; although the early morning helped. Those that did meet his gaze looked away; there was nothing special about him. He had been given a mission by his superior and he was following it to the letter; no questions asked. Following his few leads, the man searched the ship, discretely, for his prey. Finding a locked door marked "Auxiliary storage," he quickly bypassed the control panel and entered the room.
Turning on the lights he was greeted by stacks of storage crates, some knocked over and a pair of 1m tall black boxes. Recognizing what he had found he reached for his radio, "полковник, I have found something interesting." He relayed what he had found back to Sokolov as he waited for a response, "Разве? That is interesting indeed. Well done лейтена́нт, I shall alert Col. Vought to your find. Make it look as if you were never there and lock up."
As he left the room, Junior Lieutenant Artyom Gusev turned and reactivated the control panel for the door. Checking to make sure he was alone, Artyom left the passageway and headed to his quarters. He was done for the night.
July 16, 1945 0900 Hours- Borealis Crew Quarters
Yeager walked through the ships passageways as she followed CDR Ross's directions to Grant's room. Finally approaching the guarded room, she waited as they radioed her presence. Receiving approval they moved away allowing her to approach the door and knock; she waited until a muffled "enter" reached her ears and she opened the door.
Shirley had awoken early in the morning; unable to sleep long from the images she had witnessed. Deciding she had nothing better to do she checked on Francesca before heading out to the ship. She glanced up at the hull of the ship, still unable to believe how old it was as she passed through the checkpoint. She stopped at the open hanger bay as she waited for someone to come get her and take her to Vought or at least someone who knew where Carl was. "Good morning Capt. Yeager I wasn't expecting to see you here so early after… yesterday. I do wish to apologize for the graphic nature of our explaination."
Shirley turned to find Col. Sokolov striding towards her with another man walking along side. Speaking a few words to his aide, the man left as the colonel approached.
"Good morning sir, good to see you too. About yesterday… its ok just a little shocking; I don't think any of us were expecting any of that." She replied.
"What can I do for you today? I thought we decided we would meet up later to finish our… history lesson." He looked a little downcast as he said it; his smile strained.
She shook her head, "Well that is true but I wanted to check on Carl. Do you think I will be able to go see him?"
Sokolov thought about it for a moment before answering, "I do believe it should be ok he just isn't allowed to leave, if this was Russia, he wouldn't be allowed any contact at all."
She smiled, "Can you take me there?"
He frowned, "Unfortunately no, I'm still not well versed in navigating this ship yet and I believe the colonel is overseeing something his men found last night… We can try CDR Ross."
Entering the ship the two of them began their march to the bridge Yeager looked at the colonel and noticed his badge, "Colonel, what unit is that; what do you do?"
The colonel smiled as he continued walking, "I'm a member of what you would call Alpha Group. We are a special operations group of the Spetsnaz assigned to defending our president and counter-terrorism operations."
"Uh huh so then why are you here then? According to Col. Vought, most of the people assigned her are active combat troops."
Sokolov shrugged a slight smile visible on his face, "We are here, that is all that really matters isn't it? Ah CDR Ross there you are, we've been looking for you."
Shirley and Sokolov came around the corner to find Ross leaving the bridge yawning. He blinked in surprise before saluting, "Good morning sir, captain, what can I do for you two today."
Sokolov gestured to the witch, "the captain here was wishing to visit Capt. Grant and I do not know my way around the ship yet. I'm assuming you know?"
Ross nodded as he explained how to get to the crew quarters and with that Sokolov and Ross headed off to see what was making Vought so happy. She turned around and began heading to Carl's room.
10 Minutes Later
Shirley entered the room to see Carl leaning back in his chair, feet on his desk, as he read a book. Noticing who had entered he stood up as he smiled, "Shirley… what are you doing here?"
"I came to check on you, first you ran away yesterday, then I had to chase you down and then I watched you get shot thinking you died. How do think I feel about it" She calmed down, "Besides your superiors gave us a history lesson."
Grant frowned, "Just how much did-"
"World War I and II"
"…Oh…"
Shirley looked at the ground as the images swam back into her head. Watching her drop her gaze, Grant got up and hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder and lightly shook her. Shirley refused to make eye contact as she wrapped him in a bone-crushing hug and started to cry into his chest. Not knowing what else to do, he hugged her back and pat her awkwardly. They remained like that for a few minutes before she finally realized what she was doing and slowly pulled away. With one final sniff, she began to speak again, "…Thanks Carl."
Grant took a step back as he grabbed the back of his head, "No pr-problem Shirley… any time." He nervously glanced at her hoping she didn't feel the way he thought she did about him.
Picking up on his nervousness, Shirley put the two and two together and went red in the face as she realized his problem. "WHAT ARE YOU THINKING, IT'S NOT LIKE THAT." She took a deep breath before continuing, "I mean you're cute and all but… Vought told me about your sister and how I look like her. I kinda like that, I have no siblings of my own; I think it would be cool to have a brother. I'm sorry for prying into your life so much but I had to know." She looked down again, embarrassed.
Grant walked up to her after he cooled down and pat her on the head, "It's cool Shirley, no hard feelings. You want to meet her?"
She looked up and nodded. Grant told her to sit down as he grabbed a photo of his family and began to introduce them.
July 16, 1945 1115 Hours- Borealis Disembarking Point
Minna sighed as she walked towards the ship with the rest of the witches. After yesterday, none of them wanted to go back to continue. However the men did say they had some interesting history pertaining to them to discuss today, so she made them all return to the ship. As they approached, she walked up to Mio, "Did you see Capt. Yeager this morning; I wasn't able to find her?"
Mio nodded, "She left earlier, and I believe she was going to attempt to visit Capt. Grant."
As they approached, they noticed a gathering around one of the bays of the ship with Colonel Vought looking quite pleased.
"Good morning sir, what's going on here?"
Vought turned and his expression brightened, "Ladies"
Galland walked up to him, "Chris"
He sighed and looked at his fellow crew before glancing at Galland's amused face, "Adolfine."
The group all raised their eyebrows at this unexpected response; they had never heard the colonel break protocol before.
Minna turned to her superior, "Ma'am?"
"Bruderschaft trinken commander"
The Karlslanders' eyes lit up in understanding. Ross turned to the colonel, "Bruderschaft trinken? Isn't that the German drinking tradition that ends in a-"
"Back to what we are doing, Commander Ross," He glared at his XO as he turned to the witches, "We found some of our tech we thought was left behind." He gestured to the smallish crate-sized boxes behind him.
"So what are they?" asked Erica.
"Thomas! Peterson! Get this show rolling on the double!"
The two men that had been checking over the boxes jumped up, "SIR!" they yelled in unison.
Backing up from the two boxes, US Marine 1st Lt. Mitch Thomas yelled out, "CID 7, deploy!"
One of the unassuming boxes beeped as it began to change shape, growing larger and larger until a large 10ft humanoid shaped figure stood before them. He yelled out again, "CID 7, rider up!" The large figure dropped into a runners' stance and opened it's back allowing Thomas to run up and jump in; the back closing around him. Seconds later the humanoid stood up fluidly and looked around at the group, "Sir CID 7 looks good; no faults detected." As -7 began to walk around with an engineer checking its movements, CID 8 was deployed as well.
The girls stood once again in amazement as the giants walked around with -7 walking up to Galland. It put it's hand out to her as the pilot spoke, "Good morning ma'am." Amazed, Galland shook its' surprisingly gentle handshake; once complete the giant walked off.
Galland turned to Vought, "Chris, what the hell are these things?"
Vought smiled as he turned to them, "Ladies, may I present to you the Cybernetic Infantry Device or CID, developed by Sky Masters. These suits were designed to protect the user from all aspects of combat and can be fitted with a variety of weapons to engage a variety of targets. Powered by a large battery, a fuel cell, or a hard line to a power system, the suit can operate for extended periods of time."
"Wow so these things can help protect people?" Yoshika asked in awe.
"Yes they can although technically they do not exist," He glared at Sokolov who shrugged and looked away.
"What do you mean they don't technically exist?" Gertrude asked.
Still glaring at Sokolov he responded, "Well the CID was a joint project between the army and air force with an intended use for the marines as well. However due to costing as much as a stealth bomber… only eight were made. The first four remained with a… joint private group and the air force, two were unfortunately destroyed and one damaged. Two stayed with Sky Masters for testing purposes and numbers 7 and 8 were sent to the SGC where they remained in storage till now."
"That sounds fascinating but if they were so good I would figure your government would still fork out the money for them," responded Mio.
"Well you see they were quite expensive, to the point where it meant halving someone's budget for the year and the fact that… well… the rest of the world was not quite… happy with its performance." He refused to make eye contact with Sokolov, who held a very impassive stare.
"How so?"
"Um that is actually classified not just from you guys but uh… Sokolov and his men as well."
There was silence as the Americans and Russians stared at each other.
Minna was getting nervous at the silence so she needed to speak, "So gentlemen, what's in those crates over there?"
Vought and Sokolov broke their staring contest to find what she was asking about. "Those?"
She nodded.
"A little something else from Sky Masters," Vought stated as he popped the top off the crate. Reaching in, he pulled out a grey one piece suit. "A suit?"
Vought nodded, "Not just any suit, colonel if you would please?" He beckoned to Sokolov as he connected a battery to the suit and held it in front of him. Sokolov nodded as he backed off; drawing his sidearm and taking aim at Vought.
The girls glanced in alarm at what was transpiring; he wasn't going to shoot was he?
Sokolov sighted in the colonel and fired twice; the sharp cracks of the pistol echoing over the airfield. Vought staggered back but stayed standing as he holstered his weapon. Yoshika ran over to him ready to use her magic when the colonel showed her the impact points; there were no holes, or even marks for that matter. She was astonished, "How?"
"This is called a BERP suit; it stands for Battle Electro-Responsive Protection. This suit is made out of a special material which feels like a thick fabric most of the time. The battery however sends a constant electric charge through the suit. When hit hard and fast enough by say a bullet, the fabric hardens to a strength stronger than steel. When paired with the exoskeleton, this suit becomes known as the Tin Man armor system. This suit can withstand most small-arms fire and some cannon rounds. Equipped with special systems this suit is the perfect equipment for any soldier." He threw the suit back in the crate, "Now I believe we had some more information pertaining to you ladies before we got back to our history lesson." The girls saddened as they remembered the previous day.
Adolfine walked up, "Lead the way Chris."
July 16, 1945 1213 Hours - Borealis Briefing Room
The gathered group slowly ate as Vought stood up again to begin talking. As he did so, a number of photos appeared on the wall behind him; this made the girls curious because there were twelve of them. "Minna do you remember when we first met how interested we were in your names?"
She nodded.
One of the photos were selected and filled the screen, Minna grew interested because the young man had a Luftwaffe insignia on his coat.
"Well you see…" Vought began with a small grin as a name appeared at the bottom of the screen. Minna's jaw nearly dropped to the table. "Wh-Wha-What," She collapsed back in here chair. The name on the bottom of the screen glared back at them, Wolf-Dietrich "Fürst" Wilcke.
"It seems that each of you witches are the gender opposite of aces from our world; Including you Adolfine." The image changed to show another man with a mustache with the name Adolf Galland.
The images slowly changed from one to the next, the names Saburō Sakai, Gerhard "Gerd" Barkhorn, Erich Alfred Hartmann, Pierre Henri Clostermann, Franco Lucchini, Charles Elwood "Chuck" Yeager, and Kaneyoshi Muto shined back at them. The girls were stunned. "Unfortuantly for Miss Bishop, we couldn't find a British ace with your name. Your father is Billy Bishop correct?"
She blinked a few times before nodding.
"We think you must be one of his sons," he noticed the panicked expression on her face, "In our reality," she calmed down.
Eila stomped over to him, "What about Sanya?"
The images changed to the one woman in the collection, the name Lydia Vladimirovna Litvyak visible. "It seems that you Sanya are our world's counterpart of her."
The men continued their introduction to the witches other worldly counterparts; stunning them into silence. Barkhorn and Hartmann were slightly embarrassed about the names of their counterpart's wives. Not one of them asked a question during the entire thing. About an hour in, the door opened.
"Hey guys… what's wrong?" Shirley asked in alarm noticing the stunned faces on her friends.
Francesca sniffed and began to cry as she pointed at the wall, "You're a guy!"
Yeager whipped her head to the wall as an image of a man named Chuck Yeager appeared. Realizing the implication of what was being shown, she promptly fainted.
Watching her drop to the ground Vought turned to the others, "You know what, we can cover the rest of our history tomorrow."
August 21, 1945 0930 Hours- 501st JFW Base, Pescara, Venezia
Another month had passed since the Borealis had arrived in this reality. The crew was slowing getting accustomed to it although the sight of the witches still sent most of them walking into walls and such. The crew had finished their history lesson finally getting to modern times after the long and awkward explaination of the Cold War. The witches finally understood the tension between Vought and Sokolov. The men had even explained the current situation with the aliens in their reality. Since then, the witches and the ships fighters had completed numerous joint patrols and the pilots were slowing racking up the kills while Jumpers and Galland's men searched for a piece of quartz that would fix the ship.
Vought had originally stalked his ship growing bored and restless from being unable to do anything. A few friendly spars with Sokolov and range time had yet to break the monotony. He was on the range when he received word from the ship that a C-47 and Ju-52 were en route to the base. He cleared his rifle and slung it over his shoulder as he headed to the runway to meet their guest.
As he walked Vought thought back to the conversation he had with Air Marshal Gal- no Adolfine, before she left.
"Well Chris it was nice meeting you."
"Likewise Adolfine, a shame to see you go."
"Ah is someone going to miss me?" she winked at him.
He sputtered, "Bah wha? No I mean it was nice having someone here to help us, the 501st is good but we're getting antsy; we need to start fighting these things now."
She nodded in understanding, "I know Chris but you know command as well; always sitting on their damn asses and twiddling their thumbs. For whatever reason they don't want you to go into combat until they send someone over to check you out first."
He looked back at her confused, "I thought that's what you were here for?"
She shook her head, "Nope sorry Vought but I was here for the witches, not you."
He stopped walking, "You do know there is a reason we made contact with a witch group and not a countries' leaders correct?"
"Yes I do and unfortunately that means nothing to them till someone comes to check it out." She looked at the unhappy expression on his face, "Look as long as you're here you have my protection and the protection of the five-oh-first. However I know you won't be sitting here forever which is why I have a new plan, but it will take a while to get it together."
"And that is?"
She smiled as she turned to face him, "You're going to get your own liaison group of witches."
"…What?"
She had gone onto explain that she was going to get together some of her best witches to put together a small group that would be attached to the ship. That way the ship was in contact with her at all times and no government would dare do anything to harm the witches. About a week ago the ship received word that the group was on the move towards them, with the inspectors not far behind them. So here he was now, with Ross, Sokolov, Volkov, Pierce and the witches waiting for their new guest to arrive.
"So Vitaly, any progress on our little project?" Vought whispered to Sokolov.
He frowned before answering, "No I'm sorry Chris; this man is covering his tracks well. My man is the best though; do not worry he will find him soon."
Vought nodded and watched as the Ju-52 touched down and taxied to the edge with the C-47 landing soon after. Adolfine exited the Karlslandic transport and waved to the gathered group. "Come on let's go meet our guest shall we?"
Ju-52, 501st JFW Runway
Adolfine squinted as she exited the transport; the bright sun irritating her eyes. Finally adjusting, she noticed the men from the other reality and the witches waiting for her on the other side of the runway. Waving to them she yelled back into the plane, "Alright we're here; grab your stuff and move out, Pilot, radio the others to do the same." A chorus of "yes ma'am's," rang back to her. Turning around again she found Minna standing and saluting her, "Good morning ma'am."
She returned the salute, "Morning commander," she glanced at Vought, "he giving you any trouble yet?"
Minna smiled, "Why yes actually, he keeps destroying targets; we are running out yet again."
Vought tried to keep a straight face as Galland glared at him with one eye, "Is that so…hm." She eyed the rifle on his back as four witches exited the plane. "May I see that?"
Chris nodded as he removed the long rifle from his shoulder and handed it over. Expecting it to be very heavy Galland was pleasantly surprised to find it weighted less than the Boys Anti-Tank Rifle it resembled. "What is this?"
"That ma'am is…" he began before her glare stopped him. He sighed before he tried again, "That Adolfine is the M200 CheyTac Intervention sniper rifle. It shoots a .408 caliber slug accurately up to 2500 yards although longer shots have been recorded."
The newcomers were surprised to hear this. "Really is that so?" She looked around, "Bishop."
Lynette jumped and walked up, "Ye-yes ma'am?"
"Have you tried shooting this yet?"
She nodded, "Yes ma'am."
"Is it all he claims it is?"
At this point in time the three witches from the other transport had made their way over.
"Yes ma'am, it was quite nice to shoot. It has a computer to help with really long shots."
"Really hm…" Galland turned to find all of her chosen group behind her, "Well then we will continue this later," she handed the rifle back, "I believe introductions are in order." She motioned for one of the witches to step forward.
A taller witch, Vought estimated at 5'8", with back length black hair, stepped forward and saluted, "Good Morning Ladies, Gentlemen; Lt. Col. Josephine Foss, Liberion Marines, reporting for duty."
The officers saluted back as Ross whispered in Vought's ear, "Foss as in the US Marines greatest ace Foss?"
"It appears so," he whispered back as the next witch, the oldest looking besides Galland, took her place and saluted, "Good morning, Oberstleutnant Huberta von Bonin, Karlsland Air Force, reporting in."
The officers saluted as the witches came up one-by-one to introduce themselves. The witches included Maj. Rudel of Karlsland, Maj. Heinrike Prinzessin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein of Karlsland, Lt. Galina D. Kostilev of Orussia, 1st Lt. Harris of the Liberion Navy, and finally a Maj. Preddy of the Liberion Army Air Corp. Once complete the witches stood waiting for Galland to prompt them.
"Well gentlemen what do you think, pretty cool if I say so myself," she stated proudly as she showed off her choices.
The officers of the Borealis shook their heads; amused expressions on their faces as they looked at each other. "I think we'll get along fine Adolfine; Greeting I'm Col. Christopher Vought, CO of the Borealis. I would like to welcome you to the ship; hopefully this will be the beginning of a beautiful friendship."
The new arrivals smiled warmly at this declaration, the youngest however just stared with a blank expression. With that finally note the groups were released as Galland and Vought, with Foss and von Bonin following, headed back to the range. The men and women greeted and began to mingle as they introduced each other.
"Harris, Preddy, it's good to see you two again, and congrats on the promotion ma'am," Shirley stated as she walked up to the two Liberions.
The two in question turned to her with smiles, "Oh hey Shirley, haven't seen you since… since you signed up I guess," Responded the navy witch.
Preddy nodded as well, "Thanks Captain, it is good to see you again. I haven't seen you since flight training," she stated with her tongue out and a slight British accent. "So I heard you broke Mach 1 finally last year, congrats."
Shirley rolled her eyes, "Thanks Ma'am, that means a lot. So what's with you being grounded? I heard you're banned from fighting for a little while."
Preddy frowned and sighed as she rubbed her leg, "I got hit by friendly AA again; took out my striker and tore me up pretty bad. I was able to heal most of it but command thinks I should stay grounded till they say otherwise."
Cecilia spun on her, "What do you mean grounded you never told me that on the way over."
"I'm sorry I thought you knew, besides you didn't see my striker in there did you?"
"But I thought it was getting shipped separately; I'm sorry ma'am."
"It's cool don't worry about it. I'll be back in the air in no time at all."
Shirley looked at her, "You have a P-40 right? It's a good bird."
Preddy shook her head, "I did, I upgraded to a Mustang, which I believe you also have."
Shirley nodded and began to explain her love for her striker, Merlin. Meanwhile Yoshika, Lynette and Hartmann, were introducing themselves to the two Karlslandic witches while Eila, Gertrude, and Sanya were speaking with Galina.
"So um hi, I'm Yoshika and this is Lynette, what are your names again?"
The older of the two, with waist length silver hair and a scar on her face smiled and answered. "Hello Yoshika, Lynette, I'm Maj. Hanna Rudel with the Karlsland Air Force stG2 3rd squadron. I'm a ground attack witch." She looked at Hartmann, "Erica it is good to see you again, and how have you been? Keeping Gertrude out of trouble?" She asked calmly.
Erica nodded enthusiastically, "I'm trying my best but it's hard." She pouted as she grabbed Yoshika, "Besides Miyafuji here is doing a much better job; she already saved Trude once."
The major gave her a once over making her nervous. "Well then very well done sergeant; I thank you for keeping her alive and fighting, for us and her sister."
Yoshika relaxed, "thanks ma'am but I was helping people; just like I said I would."
Looking past her she noticed someone else, "Is that you Perrine?"
"Maj. Rudel, it's good to see you again how have you been ma'am."
The two of them walked off as they began to discuss themselves.
"So you saved Capt. Barkhorn?" the other witch asked surprising Lyn who forgot she was there.
Yoshika blinked, "Yes ma'am… who are you again?"
The young witch sighed, "I am Heinrike Prinzessin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein; a major in the Karlsland Air Force night fighter squadron and the commanding officer of the 506th JFW A-team."
She blinked again, "Oh wow your name is so long Miss Sa-wi… uh"
"Just call her Princess, we all do," Maj. Rudel called as she continued her discussion with Perrine.
Heinrike glared as she turned to her counterpart, "Rudel, why?"
"Your name is too long for most normal people; live with it."
As she walked away, clearly irritated, the remaining officers from the ship began introducing themselves to their temporary crew members.
501st JFW Firing Range
Loading his rifle back up Vought screwed the suppressor onto the barrel before handing it to Galland. "What is that and what's this about a computer helping shoot?"
"No, you can use the scope first like everybody else. As for the addition… you will have to shoot it and see."
"Fine" she pouted as she sighted in her first target. Cycling the bolt, she held her breath and fired. Expecting a loud report, the women were stunned when nothing but a quiet "hiss" escaped the barrel; Galland's target vanished as the round hit.
Stunned once again Galland turned to Vought, "Interesting."
"That, Adolfine, ladies, was a sound suppressor, it cuts down on the weapon's report but it decreases range;" he pulled out another sidearm. "This is an FN Five-Seven, my sidearm of choice. This is also a suppressible weapon." He drew out yet another suppressor as he screwed it on the barrel and handed it to Foss motioning for her to shoot it. She shrugged as she sighted in and fired twice, the pistol barely making a whisper as it fired. Intrigue, she looked the weapon over.
"Very cool sir, what's it made of, it feels like plastic?"
Glancing at the waiting expression on Galland's face Vought sighed before answering, "It is made out of a plastic composite and is much stronger than any plastic; it's called a polymer. As for my name…" Galland nodded at him to continue, "Look if it's just us around go ahead and call me Chris or Adolfine over here is going to make us do something interesting while she watches."
Von Bonin raised an eyebrow as she smirked while Foss looked him up and down before nodding and answering, "Alright if you insist Chris."
Vought hung his head yet again, what was with these ladies? They were way too forward. Glancing up he noticed Galland nodding in approval before she motioned for him to hand something over. Remembering what she wanted he grabbed the ABC* (Advanced Ballistic Computer) from his back, plugging in the KESTREL weather system and handing it to her. "Adjust the scope till the computer says to stop."
She nodded and followed the directions shown to her; adjusting it to match. She finally lined up, chambered another round, and fired at the long range target, hitting it dead center. She pulled back the bolt, ejecting her brass, as she stood up to stare at the target and then Vought. "Damn Chris that is pretty awesome can I keep it?" She asked nicely.
"…No…"
"Fine, Foss, von Bonin, let's get you situated on the ship, Chris if you would lead the way?"
August 21, 1945 Time unknown, location unknown
The man sat at his desk reviewing the information he had received on the ship and men from the other reality. He flipped through the folder and found the picture of the massive alien ship docked next to the 501st base. He growled as he looked at the witches in the photo; what he wouldn't give to run them out of the military. He needed more intel on them; anything he could use to get them to help with this goal. He checked his radio logs confirming his man had made it into the observation team heading towards the ship. Leaning back in his chair the man pulled a photo off of his desk; two men visible in front of a hanger; himself and a Chief Air Marshall shaking hands in a secret meeting. "Soon the witches will be removed from duty and men will once again be in control of warfare."
August 21, 1945 1200 Hours- Borealis Drone Storage
As Lt. Gusev approached the Drone storage bay he drew his sidearm; something was wrong. Glancing around the corner he froze as he noticed the storage bay guards on the floor and not moving. Checking to make sure the coast was clear he silently rushed up and checked their vitals; both were unconscious but alive. Screwing the silencer on his handgun, a MP-443, he activated the door and slipped inside. Artyom slipped his NVGs on and began to clear the unusually dark room, row by row of the Drone racks, heading to where he knew the ships special weapons were stored; two dozen nuclear missiles including a pair of Mark IXs.
After sweeping the room and finding no one, he returned to the missiles. Reviewing the stolen plans for the weapons, Gusev checked the integrity of each one, making sure they had not been tampered with. Finding no sabotage he carefully and slowly made his way back out of the room. As he slipped past the still unconscious guards he reached for his radio, "полковник, this is призрак; weapon storage has been compromised, guards are unconscious, requesting orders."
"призрак stand guard till support teams arrive; leave before you make contact."
"понятый"
Artyom had to wait for five minutes before he heard people rushing towards him; taking a quick glance, he slipped off down another passageway as medics began to check the slowly waking guards.
August 21, 1945 1600 Hours- Borealis Crew Quarters
"And this will be your room Miss Foss."
'Snort', "Please call me Joe; and thanks, looks pretty cool."
"Joe?"
"I learned long ago that Josephine is long and boring and I don't like it. Joe is so much cooler and easier to remember."
"But isn't it a guy's name?"
"Bah who cares, I'll see you later then Chris, I'd like to catch some sleep before dinner, if that's alright."
"Be my guest."
"Thanks sir, see you later," she called as she closed the door. What was with these witches and their almost total disregard for protocol?
After showing the witches to where they would be staying for their duration, Vought immediately made a beeline for the infirmary.
Entering he ran into Ross, Volkov, Sokolov, and Pierce, "Report now."
Pierce went first, "Sir it appears that both of them have a concussion with one broken arm and a dislocated knee."
"Do they remember anything?"
He shook his head, "As of now no; I'll keep trying to get anything out of them but don't count on it."
"Vitaly, what about you?"
"The bay was secure, the payloads were intact, and your men confirmed it."
"Alexei did any of your men see anyone acting suspicious?"
"Het, I'm sorry sir, no one saw anything. I have told them to alert us if they see anything unusual… more so than normal."
The colonel looked at the wall thinking, "Matt what do you think."
"Sir we need to double the guards at all critical systems; the bridge, ZPG, armory, drone storage, hell even the SA-21 is going to need extra protection now."
"Do it, has anyone checked the internal sensor logs yet?"
"I did and they were offline during that time period," Dr. Lansby stated as he entered the infirmary.
"Evan how the hell did you get past-"
"Please sir I know Ancient systems off the back of my hand, bypassing the door lock was simple."
Vought glared at him.
"The sensors are still fragile after the attack; we have to constantly reset and recalibrate the internal scans. When we get Serenity back it won't be a problem anymore. There is a reason this ship is called what it is sir, you know that better than anyone."
He growled, "So we have nothing then?"
No one said anything, "Damn it," he punched the wall. "Ross, Alexei, pick some men and put them on patrol. This does not leave this room; do you understand?"
They nodded as they left, "Pierce…"
"Take reports from them as soon as possible and tell them to keep it silent, got it." He turned and made his way over to his patients.
After the he left he turned to the remaining two, "Alright Doc what do you have?"
Lansby nodded as he pulled out a data pad, "This is all that we were able to recover from the camera Sokolov's man recovered."
The three watched the video showing the door of the Drone storage, after 5 minutes of watching the guards changed shifts. The doctor fast-forwarded it to an hour later. The lights in the passageway went out causing the men to turn on their lights with one reaching for his radio. As he went to activate it one of them was disarmed, kicked in the leg, and thrown, headfirst, to the floor; knocking him out cold. Before the other guard could react, he was hit with a haymaker that sent him into the ceiling; dropping to the floor in a heap; the unknown assailant's eyes flashed in the darkness. As they watched, a light fell from one of the guards fell, partially illuminating their assailant; a standard set of fatigues and a standard SGC black vest was visible before he moved out of the way and ripped the camera from its mount, throwing it to the ground and killing the image.
"That's it?"
"Yep"
"…"
"He's a Goa'uld… shit. That makes things exponentially harder."
Vought sat down in the closest chair, "Vitaly, I'm authorizing your man to carry a Zat, a Wraith stunner ain't going to cut it."
Sokolov nodded, "Understood, I will let him know to head to the armory."
"Alright then, dismissed."
With that Sokolov left, leaving Lansby and the colonel. "Well Evan, things just keep getting better don't they?"
"We'll get him sir, don't worry about it. I'm going to go and make sure the sensors stay operating. Try and calm down Chris," with that Dr. Lansby turned and left leaving Vought with his thoughts.
August 22, 1945 0001 Hours- 501st JFW Runway
For the second time, Vought found himself alone on the edge of the runway staring out at the sea with his dwindling bottle of whiskey. Taking a quick look around to make sure no witches were sneaking up behind him as he finally relaxed. Pouring himself a shot he looked deep into the glass before downing it. Despite showing a strong front, Chris was tearing himself apart on the inside. Being unable to return home, the men he already lost, and now a Goa'uld lose on the ship; the stress was killing him. He sighed in misery as he ran his hand through his hair; his eyes glazed over as he let his thoughts swim. Hearing footsteps behind him he drew his particle magnum as he spun around, finding one of the new witches.
"Geez Preddy you almost gave me a heart attack. I'm sorry for pulling a weapon on you; old habits die hard I guess." He holstered his weapon, "What are you doing out here?"
"It's ok sir, it's my fault; Maj. Sayn-Wittgenstein woke me because she forgot how to exit the ship."
Remembering the young major's request to go on night patrol with Sanya he nodded before frowning and checking his watch, "Didn't she leave three hours ago?"
She went red in the face as she looked at the ground, "I may have wandered the ship for a while before I got lost… it is a little on the large size." There was an awkward silence as neither of them spoke.
Noticing the nervous expression on her face, he sighed, "Come on Preddy, take a seat; what's on your mind?" He asked as he poured himself another shot.
She sat down and looked up at the sky while sighing, "I really miss flying with my striker."
He looked at her curiously, "You're a witch, can't you just take anything up?"
She looked at him; a sad expression on her face, "I'm medically grounded; at least for a while. I mean I can go up in planes but due to my injuries I'm not allowed near a striker."
He looked at her with concern etched on his face, "You're hurt? What happened? We can have Sgt. Miyafuji take a lo-"
She shook her head, "I'm technically fine; all witches have the ability to heal small injuries and some have very limited abilities to heal large ones. I healed my injuries the best I could but I'm still weak from it. Sgt. Miyafuji wouldn't be able to do anything to help me unless I intentionally hurt myself. As for how… I got hit by friendly AA fire. May I ask why you are here sir?"
Vought looked out at sea before, answering, "Clearing my head I guess," he took a drink, "Running the ship, keeping the crews' morale up, helping the 501st defending against laser spewing, regenerating aliens… it gets stressful. I found this spot the first night we were here and I find it refreshing. Our reality has too much light pollution; you can't see the stars. When I found out about the Stargate program I jumped at the chance. I wanted to explore space and I got my wish. All the different aliens I've met; it's fascinating," he finished the glass.
Preddy sat there soaking his explaination in, "Thanks sir for the explaination; I understand now."
Vought snorted, "Come on Preddy, I've got von Bonin and Foss calling me Chris, I don't see why you can't too."
She sat there for a minute as a small smile formed on her face, "Very well… Chris, then you can call me by my first name too."
Standing up the two of them walked towards each other; hands out, "Alright then Geena, it's nice to meet you." They shook hands.
"Thanks Chris but you don't need to use that name."
"Oh?"
"You can call me Jean."
Hidden in the trees behind them Galland smiled to herself as she fist-pumped.
May 11, 2018 1230 Hours- Atlantis Conference Room
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, WAIT! So you're telling me that you are one of these… witches!?" Sheppard asked flabbergasted.
Jean's smile grew huge as an image of the Borealis' liaison group and the crew appeared on the screen with her highlighted. She winked at Sheppard as she turned Rodney and began to glow, "Honestly Dr. McKay, after everything Chris has told me about you, I expected you to find something different about me almost immediately." The glow subsided as her familiar, a goshawk, appeared with feathers sticking out of her head and lower back.
She turned to General O'Neill; ignoring the amazed expressions she was receiving and saluted, "Geena Vought, formerly Maj. Geena Preddy, Liberion Army Air Corp, retired, reporting in sir."
*Bruderschaft trinken- interesting story; I have a German, female friend who decided to… introduce me to this tradition. She decided to show me first before explaining it; she and her friends thought that my expression was the funniest thing they had ever seen. Don't worry guys I'm 21; I can drink.
*ABC- So I'm not a sniper, I've never used the ABC although I have shot an M-310 (close enough) and it was sweet. I dumbed the advanced system down to some visual cues; do you blame me?
So the plot thickens… What will happen next? Anyway there we go ladies and gents; I did that. Didn't see that coming did you? As for my OC Lt. Col. Foss and the other witches… you will just have to wait and see; I can't give all my secrets away yet can I? I want to thank everyone for the reviews; keep them coming guys, you all rock. I know I asked for OCs and stuff guys and I love what I'm getting; you people are giving me some awesome ideas. Soon maybe people will begin seeing them. I'm finding that writing this story is a lot more… what's the word I'm looking for? Addicting would probably be the best description; I am a few chapters ahead at this point in time… I can't stop writing. BTW no one has responded to my pleas for a Beta reader. I have gotten interested parties and yet no one has responded to my answers. Tune in next week readers for another exciting chapter in A Long Walk in the Dark; Ghostrider21 signing off.