Chapter 12: Into the Frying Pan
Hey everyone, it's me again. The first of December... I made it! Quick update on previous chapters… any mention of Galland… I may have screwed her rank up slightly. I've been writing Vice Air Marshall because it sounds better however the actual rank is in fact Air Vice Marshall. So I will be going back to correct that in previous chapters; it might even be completed by the time you read this so you can ignore it. I own nothing but my characters and the story, everything else is owned by their respective owners.
Previously
Nemes saluted as he went to attention, "1st Lt. Alex Nemes, Stargate Command, sir."
"Star-gate Command huh?" Langsdorff rolled the name over his tongue as he sat back down; he looked at the Nemes, "At ease lieutenant; you're with that ship from the other reality."
Nemes nodded as he relaxed, "Yes sir."
The captain looked up at him, "I'm sorry for everything that has happened. I will try my best to protect you as well lieutenant however, the men that brought you in… they do not like you very much."
Alex and Hannah both grinned slightly at the captain's attempt at a joke; he grinned as well. He stood up again as he led the two of them from the bridge, "Welcome to the Admiral Graf Spee."
November 9, 1945 0900 Hours- Admiral Graf Spee, Gulf of Aden
Hannah gritted her teeth as she watched Nemes continue exercising, "Are you going to stop anytime soon? You've been at this since yesterday."
Nemes grinned as he released the bar he was doing pull-ups on. He dusted his hands off as he landed on his feet, "Come on ma'am; we were stuck on that sub for a full day; wouldn't want to get weak now would we?"
"I said don't call me ma'am; coming from you it makes me feel old. It's Hannah or if you're feeling up to it, you can call me Tina."
He looked at her curiously as he tried to remember about the ace from his world, "Tina?"
"My full name is Hanna-Justina Wallia Rosalind Sieglinde Marseille though I normally only use Hannah-Justina Marseille; my name too long. So in order to shorten it, my friends call me Tina."
He stood there as he ran her name over in his head; he grunted in agreement, "Agreed, Tina is a lot easier to remember. So you consider me a friend now huh?"
She gave him a quick grin as she stood up and stretched, "Yep, you tried to save me and you protected my friends and that works for me; that and you're not Barkhorn."
Nemes gave her a grin as he remembered something, "Oh right, I remember a witch asking to come with me when I boarded the plane."
She raised an eyebrow as she stared at him, "It was Rai wasn't it?"
"Uh… Lt. Raisa Pottgen so I guess yes."
She leaned back against the wall and smiled, "She's always so worried about me. A great wingman but she doesn't think so. She has so much potential but she just prefers being by my side in the air; a little weird if you ask me but I'm not going complain. I love compliments too much; I am the Star of Africa if you didn't know; I'm famous."
"Famous?"
She nodded, "I'm probably Allied Commands most important propaganda tool. Whenever the world's morale drops, they release pictures and stories of my successes. Soon after morale, skyrockets and witch sign-ups increase dramatically. I was stuck down in Africa because I don't like taking orders; the Generals down there don't really care as long as there were results. That and the fact that the Sphinx hive never really produced large amounts of Neuroi; it only produced large types and ground types which meant less chances of being injured. By the way I need to thank you guys for destroying it; that thing was beginning to piss me off."
He grinned, "No problem," both of them turned to the hatch as it opened; the captain and two of his men entering.
"Good morning you two; I hope everything is ok besides the constant surveillance."
They nodded, "It was sir, thank you for use of your quarters."
He nodded, "Don't mention it. I just wanted to give you a heads up; we are approximately 3 days from our final destination." He leaned forward and began to whisper, "I hope you have a plan to escape ready before we get there. My men will not assist you in any attempt but, they won't hinder you either."
The two nodded in understanding; not speaking to prevent any eavesdroppers from hearing.
November 9, 1945 1207 Hours- Vought's Quarters
He groaned as he opened his eyes, "Gonna murder that bastard… hate needles…" A giggle made him freeze and reach for his sidearm to find that it wasn't there. He calmed himself as he pulled his hand away and sat up. Blinking he looked over to see Preddy sitting at his desk and covering her mouth; Foss and Harris stood in the doorway with Ross visible and speaking to someone else. He slapped himself in the face causing the three witches to burst out laughing as he stood up checking his watch. He sighed as he looked at them, "Real funny ladies; laugh it up." He sighed again as they obliged him.
Ross entered, "Morning sir, hopefully you had an uneventful sleep." He just grinned and stared as the colonel glared at him before sighing.
"Ya, ya, ya, slept fine; still have to kill Pierce though. I don't blame him but it will happen. Maybe I'll beam him into orbit…" The witches stared at him in disbelief as he looked to the ceiling and rubbed his chin; he shook his head, "Anyway, Ross what's the status of the satellite?"
He grinned, "Was coming to get you sir; Lansby has the frequency and we are ready to establish contact."
Vought nodded, "Lead the way."
November 9, 1945 1319 Hours- Borealis Briefing Room
"Well at least we know they're relatively safe," Minna stated as the senior officers exited the room.
Volkov nodded in agreement, "да commander, that seems to be the… gist… of it? Did I get that right?"
Ross nodded as he looked to the major, "You did Alexei, and yes it is nice to hear that something is going our way. Hard to believe this world's version of Capt. Langsdorff is the same as ours; he just wants to do the right thing. I believe we can trust him. What do you think commander?"
"While I've never met the captain, I've heard nothing but praise from command about him. I've heard he is fearless in battle and lives to follow orders. For him to be doing this… there must be someone high up in command for him to be going against his ideals." Minna said as she closed her eyes; rubbing her chin as she tried to think of someone who had that kind of power. She could think of no one and made a mental note to talk to Galland later about it.
Mio nodded as she tapped her chin, "Come to think of it, I believe that ship took on a medium type some time last year and came out on top. It was one of only a handful of conventional units that have done this and won. In Fuso, the captain of that ship is considered fearless." She gave the two men her one-eyed smile as she turned to them, "That was until you guys came along."
Ross waved her off as he continued on, "It was nothing; anyway I'll be seeing you ladies later. I'm needed back on the bridge."
The witches waved as he walked away; turning back to the door as Vought and Lansby exited the room with the rest of the staff following; Vought blinked as he realized who was still there. "Oh hey ladies; anything we can do for you?"
Minna shook her head, "Not at this time sir, but thanks. May I ask what you two are doing?"
Vought shrugged, "Nothing much, Evan and I were trying to find the best way to keep tabs on those two." He turned back to the doctor, "Don't we have a few QA-45s in storage?"
"We do but both lost their landing gear in the initial attack; I've got people working on them but it will be at least a week before they are ready for action."
Vought frowned, "Looks like we're putting some Jumpers on surveillance then."
"We could or, we could put a pair of Stealth Hawks on patrol."
The colonel turned to the doctor in surprise, "I thought we only had the Hunters?"
Lansby shook his head, "Nope, Sky Masters threw in some Flight and Stealth Hawks plus weaponry and gear for both. The only problem is the Hawks don't have the endurance for an extended patrol."
The witches followed the two as the conversation went back and forth; Vought rubbed his chin, "Well… looks like we could wheel the Hammer out. I know we can use it for aerial refueling for them. Again the problem is range and flight time; the Hawks only have a ten hour loiter…" He looked off into the distance as he did the math.
Minna tilted her head curiously as she looked at them, "I thought we were going to keep an eye on them with your satellite?"
Lansby answered, "We only have one satellite right now and it is extremely difficult to refuel. I stuck it in geostationary orbit to conserve fuel; it can monitor them and the area around them with some precision but it was designed for a lower orbit. It won't be able to monitor them as well as an aircraft overflight. Because we don't have the manpower to put aircraft or Jumpers on round-the-clock patrol, we are going to use UAVs."
"UAVs? What is that?"
Vought looked to Mio, amused, "No, it's an acronym, U, A, V, it stands for Unmanned Aerial Vehicle. They are remote control aircraft; as the name suggest, it has no pilot and the Flight Hawks and Hunters are also capable of running a mission on their own. We tell them what to do and they will pick their own path and do the mission how they calculate is the best. They will even adapt to threats along the way."
"Doesn't that negate the need for a piloted aircraft?" Minna asked.
He tilted his hand back and forth, "Eh, kinda; while it cuts down on human losses, a human pilot can still look further into the future than a computer. A human is too unpredictable for a computer to try to deal with… most of the time." He ended as he looked around at the walls of the ship; his eyes glazed over as he thought of something. He shook his head as he waved them forward; heading towards the rear of the ship, "Come on you might as well see and I've got to test the Hammer to see if it's flight worthy."
November 9, 1945 1345 Hours- Borealis Disembarking Point, Passau, Karlsland
"So… what exactly are we looking at?" Shirley asked as an aircraft was wheeled from the rear launch bay.
The witches watched as the colonel hopped through the open cockpit door. "No idea Shirley but that has to be the ugliest aircraft I've ever set eyes on. It doesn't even look like it's capable of flying," stated Liberion Capt. Dominica Gentile as the witches relaxed from the previous battle.
Since yesterday, the 504th JFW had been getting use to the different lifestyle that these men and women had; that and the technology they had at their disposal. Currently the 504ths CO, Maj. Federica Doglio, was inbound and would meet up with them in the next day or two. While the 501st and Foss's group were happy for their addition to the crew, Vought nearly had a cow before he managed to calm himself.
"Hey Preddy, go ask the big guy what's up. Where's Heinrike?" Foss asked.
Preddy pointed to the ship, "Asleep ma'am, she was really wiped out from yesterday. I still don't think she wants to give up her normal night patrol sleep schedule." She stood up and stretched as she began walking towards the aircraft.
Foss looked around, "Harris go with her."
"Aye ma'am," she stated as she hopped up. Shirley also got up to follow as she noticed Carl exiting the ship.
"Ah what the hell, come on Jane let's go see what's so special about that heap of metal," Gentile stated as she jumped to her feet; Capt. Jane Godfrey also stood up as she followed her wife. Foss leaned back and closed her eyes again; content in taking a nap.
Colonel Christopher Vought
"Hey Chris, what are you up to?"
He smacked his head into the instrument panel with an audible "thud" as he fell from the cockpit, "Holy shit that hurts." He rolled in the dirt as Yoshika ran over and began healing him… again.
As Yoshika backed off as she finished; her familiar disappearing as he sat up, "Thanks again Miyafuji."
She beamed as she stood back up, "Anytime sir." She tilted her head as she looked at the aircraft; the other witches gathered doing the same, "What's this?"
Chris grinned as he turned to another man in the cockpit, "We get the aux power on?"
The man nodded causing Vought to lean back into the cockpit and yell out, "CLEAR WING!" And with that, he flipped a switch and the girls watched in awe as the aircraft began to change shape.
The 45 ft. wing rotated 90∘counter-clockwise and locked in place with a secure click and while the wing locked, the engines mounted on the tips rotated till they were vertical and like a flower, three large rotor blades rotated until they too locked in position. The whole transformation took a mere 70 seconds. He patted the side as he looked at the girls' interested faces, "This is a MV-22 Pave Hammer tilt-rotor. Sky Masters took a standard USAF CV-22 Osprey and turned it into one mean special operations aircraft."
"What can it do? Is it fast?" Shirley asked as she gazed at the aircraft; the technology behind it making her drool slightly.
He smirked as he hopped back into the cockpit and threw on a helmet; the girls watched as a small dome on the bottom of the nose began to move in synch with the colonel's movements. "Wait and see," he stated as he flipped another few switches and the rotors began to turn.
The witches stepped back to Grant as he shook his head at the warming up aircraft, "He's going to be such a show off."
The witches looked to him as the rotors began to whine and the winds began to pick up, "Why do you say that?" Preddy yelled over the roar of the engines.
"Just watch!" He yelled back as the Hammer lifted off the ground.
The witches watched as the colonel lifted off vertically and hovered a few feet off the ground; large amounts of debris began to be kicked up by the rotor wash. Suddenly the aircraft spun on its axis and aimed straight at them before the engines on the wings tilted backwards and the colonel began to move away… in reverse. Reaching a safe distance, the aircraft spun again and began to climb as the engines got louder. It began to move forward, picking up speed as the engines rotated till they faced forward as they were stowed and the aircraft climbed like a plane and raced away. The colonel buzzed them a few times before he aimed straight at them and raced towards them. Moments from impact, the engines reached vertical again before tilting backwards and all of the strange crafts forward momentum seized. He hovered in front of them again before sliding sideways and landing the aircraft pretty much right where he took off from.
The ladies ran up to him as the engines died and the cockpit door opened, "Well, what did ya think?"
"That was AWESOME; can you do that again?" Yoshika asked as she stared at the aircraft bright eyed. The other witches giggled at her expression.
Chris gave them a lopsided grin as he hopped down, "Maybe another time sergeant; we need to send this bird south for some surveillance." He yelled into the bay, "yank the missile and gun pods and get the refueling drogues installed. While you're at it get this bird plumbed with as many fuel tanks as she can carry." He looked to Lansby as he exited the bay, "I'm thinking we can get a max of 2500 mi. per run."
The doctor turned his tablet around so the colonel could see, "I'm getting 2700 mi. with the tanks we have and can plumb. The Hawks will drain about 200 gallons on a refuel so we're looking at 1200 mi. away with 50 mi. of reserves. I know of no bases 1200 mi. from Diego so we need to think of a new strategy."
"Diego as in Diego Garcia? That Britannian base in the middle of the Indian Ocean?"
Everyone turned to Harris as she spoke, "You have an idea Harris?"
She nodded, "I do believe the 508th might still be in the area."
Vought turned to Lansby as he began to fiddle with the tablet; he turned it again as he pulled up a current satellite image of the area; a number of ships were seen moving at the southern range of the image.
Vought turned back to Harris as he began moving towards the ship, "Come on Harris you may have just helped us save them."
November 9, 1945 1434 Hours- Borealis Bridge
"Come on Adolfine answer… this is important," Vought thought as he paced the bridge again; staring at the display as it rang.
"Sir, as I said before, you are going to wear a hole in the floor. Colonel, please stop him before I get Doc back up here to sedate him."
Vought stopped and glared at Ross, "Real funny Matt maybe next time I'll sedate y- Adolfine thank you; we need to ask a favor."
Adolfine blinked as she looked to him, "What did you do this time?"
He facepalmed as Harris and Preddy laughed behind his back, "Nothing, we have a way to get very good surveillance on the ship and the island but we need a base for them."
Galland frowned as she nodded, "Hm… I don't know of any bases that close, except of course the 31st old base but that's too far isn't it?"
He nodded, "It needs to be at most 1200 mi. away."
She frowned again as she finally found her map, "That would be ocean… in all directions… except for a few small islands with no facilities. So unless your equipment can float, I don't think that's going to happen."
He nodded again as he pushed Harris in front of him, "The lieutenant here had an idea though."
She raised an eyebrow, "Oh? And that would be what lieutenant?"
"The 508th ma'am; we just saw an image from the satellite that showed them moving towards Fuso."
Galland's eyes went wide as she remembered Harris's unit, "One sec, hang on." With that, she leapt from her chair and rushed out the door; two minutes later she returned, "Alright, I just contacted our US Navy liaison and he is contacting Admiral Halsey at this time; this just might work so we should know in a few hours. I'll call back as soon as I find out; get your equipment ready to go at a moment's notice."
He nodded, "Thanks Adolfine will do, Borealis out," and with that, she cut the connection. Vought turned to Ross as the ship cut the display, "Find everyone qualified for the Hammer and tell them to meet me in Bay 4."
"Aye, aye sir."
He reached for his radio as he spun around and began to walk off the bridge, "Lansby get the Hawks ready for a test flight before we load them on the Jumper."
"Already done sir, just waiting on you."
Vought grinned as he left; things were starting to go his way. Harris and Preddy looked at each other before shrugging and following after the colonel.
November 9, 1945 1457 Hours- Borealis Disembarking Point, Passau, Karlsland
Gentile looked between the Pave Hammer and the new aircraft the crew had pulled from the bowls of the ship. She glared at the smaller aircraft, "Looks kinda like a Neuroi but, not as deadly." She turned to her wingman, "What do you think Jane?"
"Kind of." Godfrey responded as she tilted her head to look at them; the remaining witches watched as Shirley approached the small, gloss black aircraft. She darted around the aircraft as she took into account as much information as she could; she turned to Lansby, "So what is it?"
The doctor grinned as he continued to read the data he was getting from the small aircraft, "It's a RAQ-15 Stealth Hawk unmanned combat air vehicle. It'll fly from point A to point B without any intervention from us. This little thing will even update its flight path based on threats; we just need to tell it what to do and where and it does the rest." He backed away as the second one was wheeled out with the colonel following.
"We good Lansby?"
The doctor nodded, "As good as they'll ever be; they've got no stores and minimal fuel so this should be fast."
Vought nodded as Preddy and Harris began looking over the drones, "MAS good?"
"Running control test now."
The witches watched once again in awe as the smooth skin on the UCAVs began to undulate like ripples in water. The Stealth Hawks, unlike their less stealthy cousins, had no visible control surfaces; to control the airflow, the mission adaptive skin changed the shape through micro-hydraulics. This gave the airframes unbelievable maneuverability; able to do things no modern aircraft were capable of. Like the Flight Hawks, these UCAVS could be launched, refueled, and recovered by a mothership such as the EB-52 Megafortress and like the name suggest, these UCAVs were capable of hiding from even the most modern radars. Capable of staying airborne for up to 8 hours, 10 if given extra drop tanks, the Stealth Hawks could attack air and ground targets or silently survey the enemy.
After about 2 minutes, the motion finally stopped and the aircraft went still. "All systems good; they're ready to go."
"Good, two laps around the ship should be sufficient."
Lansby nodded as he sent the commands to the UCAVs; a growing whine from the engines indicated that they had received the command. With a slight lurch, the first Stealth Hawk began rolling forward on the bumpy ground followed quickly by the second. Within moments, both were airborne and flying in perfect formation as they broke to the right and began to accelerate. Gentile turned to Shirley as she hopped into her striker that she had been working on. Within seconds she was airborne and chasing the two drones.
Vought ginned as he watched her catch up to the two aircraft; Lansby sent the commands to the Hawks telling them that Shirley was the formation leader. Any move she made, they would match. He watched as she led them through some complex maneuvers as he turned back to the doctor, "How long to finish setting up the Hammer?"
Evan looked over his tablet before yelling to a nearby maintenance technician; the man ran over and began answering his question. He turned back to the colonel, "Looks like it's going to be another hour."
Vought nodded as he looked back at the ship, "Looks like SOP; hurry up and wait."
November 9, 1945 1723 Hours- Borealis Bridge
Ross looked up from his crew roster as the communication console indicated an incoming call. He had someone answer it as he buzzed for the colonel. Himself and Sokolov walked in front of the display as Galland appeared. "Good evening ma'am, the colonel will be here momentarily."
Galland waved him off, "I don't need him, you can tell him yourself. I just received word that Admiral Halsey has received my inquiry and agreed with my request; the 508th is diverting northward towards Madagascar. They will be within range of Diego Garcia in three days so get moving if you guys want to meet them there. I'm sending some supplies from Pescara to the 31st old base for you to use; mostly fuel and supplies for the 508th that you will need to transport. The captain of the Lexington will be awaiting your men. Please let me know when your crew makes it to the ship."
Ross nodded, "Understood ma'am and thanks."
She shook her head as she gave him a grin, "Don't thank me yet commander, not until both of our people are safe."
Ross smiled as he saluted, "Aye, aye ma'am."
She nodded as she cut the connection. Ross turned to the door as Vought entered, "Sir we've received word that the plan is in motion. The 508th is diverting and we need to have our people in Giza in three days to pick up supplies for the fleet."
He watched as the colonel ran the numbers in his head, "… so around 10 hours… we can launch tomorrow." Vought nodded to himself, "Alright how many people do we have qualified for the -22?"
"We have four full crews but…"
Vought sighed as he looked at him, "But?"
"But one of them is our ISA group."
Ross watched as the colonel drummed his fingers on his thigh in thought, "… Send them as the secondary crew and pick one of the other three as the primary. We will need two Jumpers as well it seems."
Vought spun as he began leaving the bridge, "Vitaly, pick two for security for the group. I need to find Alexei and see if he brought anything that might help; I think he's beginning to go stir crazy from the lack of action."
Sokolov gave him a grin as he followed after him, "I think so too Chris so anything to give his men to do will work."
November 9, 1945 1730 Hours- Jumper Bay 2
"Hello again Chris, Alexei, what's up?"
The witches all turned at Foss's question as Vought and Volkov entered the bay and headed towards the covered vehicles in the rear.
He glanced at them and nodded as they made their way over to the two men. "Hey ladies, just trying to give Alexei here something to do. Now what else did you smuggle onboard my ship?"
The major grinned as he undid the straps and pulled the tarp off; Vought stared for a moment before he sighed, "Not exactly the most comforting vehicle for a USAF operator to see but it'll do for what we have in mind."
"What is it?"
The two men looked to Hartmann as she tilted her head to stare at the tracked vehicle. Vought beckoned Volkov to explain, "It is an Зенитная Самоходная Установка ZSU-23-4M5."
Kostilev nodded as she understood; the rest of the witches turned to her, "What the comrade major said was that is a self-propelled anti-aircraft gun; like the Liberion M16 MGMC."
Barkhorn growled at that, "I never want to see another one of those again."
Hartmann slapped her on the back with a grin, "Lighten up Trude, you and Galland showed those guns who was boss." She turned to her with a look of horror on her face from her stating the AVMs name so casually.
"What are you going to use it for? I thought you have those LAVs to do the same thing?"
The Volkov looked to his friend as the American began to speak again, "Well yes but Alexei and his men haven't done much since we left your base in Italy."
"Romagna," Lucchini, Malvezzi, and Mazzei all stated at the same time causing the colonel to smack himself in the face. The witches burst out laughing as he left his hand there before shaking his head and glaring at everyone, "Fine Romagna, sorry. Anyway we're going to send some of his men and the Zeus here to the 508th in the Arabian Sea; they will be defense for our surveillance group."
"Are you sending any witches?"
Vought looked to the longing face of Harris, "You want to go visit your unit don't you?"
Harris blinked at him in embarrassment that she had been found out so quickly, "Yes sir… please?"
He shook his head with a smile on his face; he snorted, "Yep you can go and yes Preddy, you can go with her."
Geena blinked in surprise and shut her mouth as the other witches laughed; he getting to know them well. "Thanks Chris."
"No problem so everyone get your gear together; Alexei grab your crew and prep them on the mission. This thing is going to be parked on a carrier so make sure you figure out a way to anchor it. I'm sending a third Jumper so load it up with ammo and diesel."
"понял," and with that, the major left with excitement on his face.
"So colonel, why is he so excited? I love it when I don't need to do anything."
Vought glanced to Hartmann as he tried to think up an answer, "Well… I think it's because of where we come from; you ladies, hell, even everyone from each of your countries are allies against a single threat. With this much manpower arrayed against a single threat, you ladies weren't trained as if the world could end the next day. For us… we are trained to fight and kill one another; hell, as of 24 years ago, Volkov and myself would have been sworn enemies trying desperately to kill each other. We tend to get easily bored; why do you think I'm constantly sparring… when I'm not being drugged into a coma." He shrugged, "That's my guess at least; I'm no psychologist so I really can't say." He looked at his watch, "Anyway I've got a meeting with Lansby. Take care and enjoy your day off; Preddy, Harris, you two leave tomorrow at 0630."
He waved as he left. Junko held up a finger about to say something but instead sighed as the colonel walked out; she turned to Minna. "So ma'am, when are we going to be formally introduced? He seems to be ignoring us."
Minna gave her a smile as she shook her head, "He isn't ignoring you on purpose; I think he's gotten so used to us being around and the fact that he has so much on his mind, he thinks of all of us as his people. I think he is trying to do way too much for us. Probably when Frederica gets here, he is going to be marginally upset at himself for ignoring you so just give him some time. He really is a great man."
The other witches nodded and smiled in agreement at this statement; Geena nodded as well before she went slightly red as she remembered her time in the infirmary.
November 9, 1945 1800 Hours- Engineering
Lansby watched as the colonel drummed his hand on his desk as he looked over the possible weapons they could be using for the remaining hives; since the partial failure of the XAGMs, he had been compiling a list of alternatives.
"So… Do we have any -28s in storage?"
He shook his head, "No but we can use the core to make them; we have the schematics."
Vought nodded, "Get on it; we will try these on the next hive. As for your next option, if the -28s don't work we'll us it on the next one. Do we have one?"
"Again no but we can make it as well. Due to its size, we will need to start soon."
"Third option… could work but we learned that the Lancelots can be defeated by flak so we'd have to sneak them in. This fourth option…" He glared at him, "I can't believe you thought of using THAT. That weapon will never be mentioned again, is that understood?"
The doctor nodded, "I thought as much, we don't want to leave that much of an impact but it could end this n-"
"No and never think of it again. Only three of us know that it is here and it will remain that way." The colonel gripped the key hanging underneath his uniform as he continued, "You will tell no one of it being here or I will kill you myself; do I make myself clear?"
"Crystal sir."
Chris nodded as he calmed down, "Good… I'm sorry Evan but you know the rules. By the way there is something you haven't mentioned that may work."
Lansby raised an eyebrow, "It's ok sir; and what would that be?"
The colonel regained his grin as he leaned forward, "You ever hear of Rods from God?"
Evan thought for a moment, "Wasn't that the USAF proposal for a kinetic bombardment system from the Reagan era?"
Vought nodded, "And have you heard Kingfisher?"
"You mean the USAF Orbital Ballistic Projectile constellation that 'doesn't' exist?"
He nodded again as the doctor froze; his mind racing as he came up with what the colonel was leading to, "…That would probably work…" he looked up, "What size we talking?"
"Project Thor"
Vought knew he had the doctor hook, line, and sinker as the he whipped out his tablet and began doing calculations; he looked up, "Something this size is going to take time; it might not even be ready for when we reach Novgorod."
"Don't care, just get it done as soon as you can," the colonel stood up and stretched. "I'm going to dinner; I'll see you later."
Lansby halfheartedly waved as he continued doing the math; yelling to his people as he had them begin working on these projects. Food could wait; he had a lot of work and long nights ahead of him.
November 9, 1945 2317 Hours- Borealis Disembarking Point
Vought sighed as he leaned back against a rock; staring at the key he had been hiding under his uniform. He knew Pierce knew he had it but he wasn't going to question it; he gripped it tightly as he thought about what Lansby had been considering. He had been given precise orders to never mention it, let alone look at it. Hopefully for the remainder of the mission it would remain that way. Hearing footsteps he quickly hid the key as he began to stare at the stars.
"Hey… Chris… what are you doing out here?"
He turned and did a double take as his normal group of witches that visited him, had doubled. "Oh hey ladies… Sanya, Eila, can't say I was expecting you two to find me."
Preddy grinned as she steered the Suomus witch forward, "We found them wandering around and thought they'd want to chat."
He grinned as both quiet night witches sat down and stared at him; Eila and Geena sat down near him, "So how'd you find me?"
Geena and Heinrike looked away guiltily; he turned to Eila who quickly turned her head, "We asked CDR Minna if she could find you." He turned to Sanya who looked away embarrassed, "Oh… was I that important to find?"
"You normally come outside at night to stare at the stars and you were… asleep early yesterday. We hadn't had a chance to thank you for destroying that hive… Thank you." Heinrike stated as she looked away.
He grinned and shook his head; she was like an annoyed little sister. He was startled as Preddy gave him a hug followed by a straight-faced Sayn-Wittgenstein and was even more startled when Sanya and Eila joined them. Confused he looked at them as they broke away, "Why?"
"You've done what no one else has been able to do; except us of course," Eila stated matter-of-factly.
Vought stared straight up as he processed this; they watched a sincere smile cross his face, "Well your very welcome; we're just doing what is right. So what did you want to talk about?"
From a distance, Pierce smiled as he watched the colonel interact with the witches. At first he had been worried that these aliens' similarities with the Replicators would have sent the colonel into a fit. He had read his pysch profile from Dr. Beckett and knew that Vought had a bad run in with the robot workers the Ancients had created and this was O'Neill's reason for selecting a newbie colonel for this mission; to get him away from the remaining units. Pierce smirked as he thought of the old general's realization that Murphy had bit him in the ass on this one. He dropped the grin as he looked back to the group; he had a duty to keep the colonel in one piece; physically and mentally. For his sake and the sake of the crew; the colonel was the only one who was going to be able to get them home.
November 10, 1945 0630 Hours- Borealis Bridge
Vought snapped a quick salute as the bridge crew watched the Pave Hammer and three Jumpers take off and turn, heading southward once again; one of which lugging the 19 ton Zeus underneath. He turned to the rest of his staff, "Alright everyone we have twenty-four hours and two refueling points before the team is in range of the fleet. Till then you can take it easy; those of you working with Lansby, get on it; we don't have a lot of time. We attack the hive tomorrow so I want the -28s ready by then. Dismissed."
Ross turned to the colonel as some of the people left the bridge, "Where you headed off to sir?"
Vought stopped and gave the commander a lopsided grin, "To blow off some steam."
"Should I alert Pierce?"
His grin turned to a scowl, "No, not that dangerous."
Ross gave him an amused look, "Right… have fun then sir." He heard the colonel muttering under his breath as he left, "…stupid squid…" and he grinned again; messing with the colonel was turning out to be a good way to deal with stress.
November 10, 1945 0830 Hours- Jumper Bay 2
"Morning sir, what ya up to?"
Vought finished wiping his face with a towel as he walked into the bay, "Oh hey Yeager… where's everyone else?"
Shirley smirked as she hopped down from her striker stand, "Well at breakfast; you know, the normal eating time for humans? The major is outside somewhere practicing with her sword as she does every morning; she's been awake since four." She watched him shake his head amused as he reached one of the remaining covered vehicles. Pulling the cover off, she approached it in a trance as she ran her hands over it, "…What is it? Can I have it?"
"No you can't have it but hop in; you can come with."
Major Mio Sakamoto
Mio dropped to a knee and panted while staring at her sword; sweat running down her head as she looked at her reflection, "Damn I'm so close but… I have to end this." She took a deep breath before she stood up again and looked to the sun, "Huh, time to call it a morning… the other witches should be having breakfast by now." She sheathed her sword as she began her walk back to the ship. Approaching the open bay she stopped and listened as a low pitched growl echoed from within. Curious she began to scale the ramp back inside as the growl changed pitched and was joined by the sound of squealing tires; she ducked as a small black car leapt over her and bounced off the rocky ground before it regained purchase and sped off. She tilted her head as she watched it, "Who was that?"
November 10, 1945 0902 Hours- Jumper Bay 2
Everyone shifted their gaze to the ramp as a small black vehicle hopped up into the bay and turned around; parking back in the corner. Vought shut it off as he hopped out, followed eventually by Shirley and Francesca as they stared at each other with huge grins on their faces. The colonel turned as he stretched; finally noticing the witches had come back, "Hey ladies, how's it going?"
Minna smiled as she and the others approached them, "We are well, thanks sir. I see you have taken Yeager and Lucchini for a ride; how was it ladies?"
Shirley blinked a few times before dropping to her knees in front of the colonel, "Please sir, anything… I will do anything to get this car. Anything."
Vought laughed as he pulled her to her feet, "Sorry Yeager but we made need these later… there may be something we could do for you though."
Her expression dropped before rising again, "What could you do?"
He patted her on the head, "In due time captain, in due time."
"Wow what kind of car is that? It doesn't look very safe."
He raised his eyebrows, "Well… it isn't really a car per say. The military names for these little guys are Advance Light Strike Vehicles; our military uses them for all conflicts. The civilian names for them are sand rails and their one true purpose is to go from the bottom of a dune to the top as fast as humanly possible. They have big engines and weigh practically nothing so they go very fast; the ALSVs have a top speed of 110 kph off-road and 130 on-road." He patted the tubular frame, "Love these little things and when I found out the marines we brought had a few loaded… I had to take one for a spin." He stopped speaking when he noticed Sanya's antenna appear, "What is it?"
"An aircraft is inbound sir."
He frowned as he tried to think of why an aircraft would be stopping by; his radio squawked indicating the same thing.
"Oh it must be Maj. Doglio."
Vought nodded in understanding, "Thanks Junko…SHIT Junko… I forgot all about you guys. I'm so sorry… I don't know what happened… shit, shit, shit…" he was panicking as he paced back in forth; the witches laughing all around him.
Takei smiled, "It's alright sir, it's my fault for not trying to bring anything up sooner but I guess we've all been a little busy."
"Bullshit I screwed up; ladies I'm truly sorry for my actions. I'll try to make it up to you; somehow. I've got to go greet the major… Foss, Junko, with me; Minna you can come if you want."
November 10, 1945 0910 Hours- Borealis Disembarking Point, Passau, Karlsland
Vought watched the small transport hop back into the air before turning and following the witches back inside the bay. After his brief introduction with Federica, he had decided it was time for some proper introductions. He waited for the 504th to greet their commanding officer before speaking, "Well ladies I just want to apologize again for ignoring you for the past two days. Since we haven't formerly been introduced, why don't you, one by one, state your name, rank, ability, and something you like to do."
Federica nodded with a small smile, "I do believe that works sir but I only find it fair if you join in as well, don't you agree?" The 504th nodded in agreement while the other witches snickered.
He facepalmed, "Very well; I am Christopher Vought, I'm a colonel in the United States Air Force and a member of a top secret branch of the air force known as Stargate Command." He glared at the witches that knew him as they tried to suppress their amusement, "I have no 'abilities'" he air quoted, "but I do have a very high level of compatibility with Ancient systems which is how I control this ship. I enjoy skydiving."
The 504th nodded as they turned to their CO, "Well colonel, I am Maj. Federica Doglio; a witch from Romagna. I'm no longer able to sustain a shield and am unable to fly anymore; not enough magic unlike some witches I know." She glanced at Mio who looked away, "I'm an engineer and thoroughly enjoy building and testing new equipment; I also find it fun to dismantle as well."
Vought nodded as he shifted his gaze to the next witch.
Junko stood up as he looked to her, "Sir, I am Takei Junko, a captain of the Fuso Imperial Navy and the 504ths second in command. My ability allows me to temporarily increase the magic of whomever I choose near me." Vought nodded in understanding as he looked to Foss. "For what I like to do…" She looked at the ceiling as she thought, "…I like to cook; yes that's it." She nodded as she agreed with herself. She sat down again as he turned to the next witch; she frowned and nudged her to get her moving.
"Oh sorry sir, Capt. Dominica Gentile, Liberion Army Air Corps, you can call me Dom. My abilities are enhanced endurance and kinetic vision; I like boxing." She threw a quick salute as she pulled out some gum and began to chew.
"Sir, I am Jane Godfrey; a captain in the Liberion Army Air Corps, Dom's wingman and wife." She gave her beloved a smile before turning back to the colonel, embarrassed, "I can change my shield's shape to fit any situation and I enjoy flying and teaming up with Dom."
The witches watched curiously as a slightly disturbed look crossed the colonel's face as he opened his month to speak. He closed his mouth, tilted his head and looked to the ceiling; nodding a few times before he shook his head and turned back to them. Noticing the stares, he cleared his throat, "Erm… sorry, continue."
He rotated to the next witch in line who quickly looked away embarrassed before turning back to him, "Sir, I am 1st Lt. Angela Salas Larrazabal and I am from Hispania. As for my ability, I can overload my bullets with large amounts of magic to make them explode on impact; I enjoy… quietly reading." She quickly sat down as she finished. Once again he nodded in understanding before turning to the next witch.
November 10, 1945 1012 Hours- Borealis Bridge
"So how'd it go Chris? Took long enough didn't you; you get the 504th settled?"
Vought blinked a few times before glaring at the Russian, "Uh… yes Vitaly I got them settled; they basically played twenty questions with me before they were satisfied with my explanations. Their CO Doglio, she's almost as bad as Yeager; wants dismantle every god damn thing she sees. What's the status on the surveillance team?"
Ross looked up, "They are just about to land in Giza to pick up supplies before they start the last leg of their last leg of the journey for the day. Their planned landing in Zanzibar is scheduled for 1840 hours this evening." He frowned, "what was that hesitation sir? Did something happen?"
The colonel panicking, shook his head, "Uh no… why would you think that? Nothing happened," he turned to the major, "Well Alexei, your men ready to work with some Americans without your supervision?"
The major nodded as he looked to Sokolov and then Vought, "да colonel, they will be fine. They wish to help these people as much as you do. They owe these witches for their help during the attack."
"Good, they well trained with that thing? I know you guys are in the process of phasing out the Zeus."
"Da, they are my best trained crew. You will not find a better trained Шилка crew in Россия."
"Good, good, good; Ross, give Galland a ring; we need to update her on the situation."
"Uh sir, we don't need to do that. Galland requested us to update her when they got to the ship."
Vought stopped and blinked, "Oh…"
The commander waited for him to continue; when he didn't he looked up to see the colonel just standing there, "What's wrong sir?"
"I believe the colonel has nothing to do for the first time in a while and has no idea what to do." The Russian colonel stated with a grin.
The bridge crew stopped what they were doing and turned to the surprised colonel as he blankly looked around the bridge. He blinked again as Sokolov slapped him on the back, "You should take a break Chris; you have around eight, nine hours before the team lands for the night. Go relax; we have the ship."
The crew watched as he was led to the door and pushed out; the door sliding shut behind him. They turned to Ross, "…Alright then that was different… back to work and somebody get me an update on Lansby's progress.
November 10, 1945 1144 Hours- Borealis Shooting Range, Passau, Karlsland
Minna nodded as she watched the witches practice with their weapons; Bishop and Miyafuji getting special instruction from Mio as usual. However as an added bonus, Lt. Larrazabal was assisting as well. They stopped as Col. Sokolov and Lt. Gusev approached; armed and ready to shoot.
She smiled as she greeted them, "Morning gentlemen, it seems you are ready to shoot."
The colonel nodded, "Indeed we are; it's never a good idea to let one's self get rusty. Besides, I seem to remember myself and the lieutenant here promising Miss. Bishop that she could shoot one of these." He stated as Gusev pulled the OSV off his back.
"That's right… thank you for remembering sir; we will clear some lanes for you now." She nodded to Mio causing her to pull the two she was training. With a nod, Gusev made his way over to them as he began to explain how to safely fire the rifle. She turned to the colonel, "Well sir, I think this is the first time in a while I haven't seen you with Col. Vought."
Sokolov grinned, "Well Chris is kind of taking a break right now; he's been working so hard for the past month, he hasn't had any time to relax. He was a little disoriented when he discovered he had nothing to do."
She frowned as she looked back to the witches as Bishop prepared to fire, "Is he going to be ok?"
He waved dismissively as he prepped his AN-94, "He'll be fine he just needs to relax for a bit. In about seven hours he will back to his normal self." He took aim down range and exhaled as he flipped the selector switch to burst and began to fire. The rifle barked in 2-round burst as the colonel emptied the 30-round magazine. He placed the rifle down as he studied his target; nodding in satisfaction at his accuracy. He turned as the long rifle barked to his side; the young sergeant jerking as her shoulder absorbed the recoil. His attention was further grabbed as her familiar appeared and she fired again; he noticed with interest that her eyes had changed to that of a cat. As the rifle bucked again, the round left a barely visible blue trail as it reached the target; punching through the metal shot-trap behind it. He smirked as the usually expressionless lieutenant frowned; pulling the magazine as he glared at the rounds within. "Interesting indeed, these ladies are full of surprises." He watched as the other witches lined up to fire the anti-material rifle. Hearing familiar footsteps behind him he shook his head as he turned, "Chris I thought…" His eyebrow twitched as he stared at what the colonel had brought, "what are you doing with that?"
15 Minutes Earlier
Vought lay on his bed; staring at the ceiling as he tried to think of something to do. For the first time in a while, he was officially at a loss for what to do. He had completely his morning log, did his workout, checked on the witches, checked on the crew, checked the ship, etc., etc. He honestly had no idea what to do. He sat up and sighed, "Wow I guess I really have been working too hard. Forgetting the 504th, freezing like that… Doc is going to murder me." He sighed again as he looked to the ground dejectedly, "I'm a mess aren't I?" he asked to no one in particular.
He snorted as he stood up and walked to the window; watching his people and the witches practice their shooting skills. He sat down at his computer; looking through the memory as he looked for something to do. Sighing again he stood up again and looked to the sky, "Calm before the storm… yet again," he shifted his attention once again outside as he watched some of the crew showing their weapons to them. He shook his head and went back to his computer; the armory inventory caught his eye, "Hm…" a grin formed as something clicked in his mind. He stood and left; the computer still displaying a list of small-arms stowed onboard.
Present
"What are you going to do with that?"
Heinrike and a few of the others turned at the bland question coming from the colonel. She blinked in disbelief at what her friend had brought.
"Oh my…" Minna stated with a hand hiding her grin as she and the others noticed him as well.
The American stood there with a grin, leaning up against a rifle taller than him; his vest loaded with large magazines.
He stood straight catching and hefting the rifle with a grunt as it fell; he dropped the rifle on its bipod and stepped back as the witches crowded around it. He gave Sokolov a cheesy grin, "Well Vitaly, what do you think?"
The Russian shook his head in amusement, "Only you would Christopher… this is a new one even for me… who makes it?"
The witches perked up as he folded his arms, "Anzio Ironworks in the US; a small civilian owned company that decided that a .50 cal wasn't big enough." He popped a round out of one of the magazines and tossed it to him, "NATO 20x102mm Vulcan, max effective range of 5000 yards. For those targets that you really want to kill… like any light armored vehicles or low flying aircraft."
The two colonels watched as Barkhorn lifted the rifle one-handed as she looked it over, "You carried this sir?"
He grinned, "Well I do admit I wouldn't want to carry that sucker all the time, I'm not weak."
"How much does it weigh?"
"Around 130lbs; there is another version that weighs 59lbs but that one is single-shot." He grabbed the thigh length suppressor from behind his back. "I can't say I've used it very much but I guess the air force has."
Barkhorn gave him a grin as she looked to the round in the Russian's hand, "Can I shoot it?"
November 10, 1945 1841 Hours- Britannian Outpost, Zanzibar
Receiving word of their arrival, the commandant left his office and watched as the four… craft from the other reality approached his base. The steady thumps coming from the tilt-rotor hit him as the aircraft made a pass over the base before landing and shutting down its engines; the other three craft floated silently as they searched for a place to land. One dropped a tracked vehicle from its underside before landing. He approached the propeller craft as the door opened, "Greetings gentlemen… and ladies, my apologies, welcome to Zanzibar."
The pilot, noticing the man's rank, saluted as he removed his helmet, "Thank you sir, Maj. Jack Monroe, Stargate Command."
The commandant returned the salute, "A pleasure Major," he went silent at the appearance of a pair of witches; he stared at them making the captain nervously watch the situation. He relaxed when the man broke a smile and reached out a hand to them, "Ladies, all of us here thank you for service; because of you we may actually live to see the end of this war."
Preddy smiled as she returned the handshake, "Thanks commandant but were not done yet, besides, we wouldn't have been able to do any of this without some help."
The man blinked before turning back to the pilot, "Major, my many thanks to you and your people as well."
"Sir, do we have permission to use your facilities?"
The commandant beckoned towards the base, "Of course, I will show you where you will be bunking for the evening. We received word over the wireless a few hours ago that the 508th will be in range sometime tomorrow around noon."
Monroe turned to the witches, "Ladies, go ahead; I need to check in with the ship." The two witches nodded and followed the commandant along with his co-pilot and crew chiefs. He turned to the ISA team and the Russians, "Alright guys go safe; I think he's good." The sound of safeties clicking on echoed around the ships, "Go with them," he ordered to the Americans before turning to the remaining men, "I'm contacting the ship; you can go or stay with your equipment, I don't care."
They nodded, "We shall stay for the moment майо́р; we wish to check on our equipment."
Monroe nodded as he moved into one of the Jumpers; sitting in the pilot seat as he activated the radio, "Hammer-1 checking in."
"Hammer, authenticate papa tango."
"Whiskey alpha"
"Confirmed, please hold for the colonel."
While he waited, he pulled his sidearm and flicked it back to safe; staring at it he remembered the conversation he had with the colonel before they left.
The colonel stared at him and the other men being sent; silently sizing them up as he thought. "Alright gentlemen… here's the deal. I let the major and the lieutenant tag along because the major is still extremely depressed from her grounding and we can't have anyone emotionally unstable go into a combat situation." He sighed as he paced, "I honestly don't trust anyone we do not have direct contact with so be extremely protective with them; there is no guarantee that we will survive our next jump so we might as well make the best of it here. Defend the witches with your lives but if anyone gets ahold of our technology…"
The group nodded in understanding; Vought nodded, "Good, now go sleep, you leave first thing in the morning; dismissed."
"Hammer, this is Crosshair, state condition."
"Safely on the ground at Alpha sir, no problems."
"And the witches?"
"Safe and sound," there was a pause before he got a response.
"Good job major, any problems with the equipment?"
"No sir"
"Good… go get some rest Monroe, it's been a long day for you. Keep an eye on those two."
"Copy all sir, and thanks; Hammer out." He stretched as he deactivated the radio and stood; being crammed in a chair for ten hours really tends to cramp one up. Exiting the Jumper, he grabbed the remote, locking it for the night as he followed after the Russians that had stayed to provide security for him.
November 10, 1945 2157 Hours- Borealis Engineering
Vought nodded as he looked back and forth between the weapons lying out in front of him; he turned to the doctor, "Looks good, they ready to use?"
Lansby looked up from his computer, "They are but the 302s aren't. I'm still programming the attack computer to accept a bomb. Hard to believe the SGC decided the 302s weren't going to be bombers."
"How long?"
"Uh… another hour or so."
"Alright then but then get some sleep; you look like shit."
Lansby sighed as he drank his coffee, "Thanks so much sir." He watched the colonel stare at the eight weapons he and his team had spent the past 15 hours making with the Asgard Core.
Sitting on weapon dollies were eight 5,000lb GBU-28 bunker busters. Nicknamed "Deep Throat," the laser guided munitions were capable of punching through 22 feet of reinforced concrete to kill their target. Filled with 630lbs of high explosive they could collapse a hardened bunker in seconds. These Neuroi were tough; it was time to discover just how tough they were.
The colonel shifted his gaze to the back of the bay where work was still going on, "How are the other projects coming along?"
Lansby leaned back and pushed his glasses back up as he stared upside-down behind him, "That's going to take another 2 days or so; we need a few more components from the Core." He stated while pointing at the larger of the two work crews. "The other one it turns out is too big for the Core to make so we are making a mold and were going to need to pour a lot of molten material. Since this is really dangerous we're going to need to cut a hole in the wall connecting the Core room and Bay 1."
Vought groaned as he rubbed his face, "…It can't be helped," he sighed, "do it just make sure to replace the wall when you're done." He began walking out, "Just stay safe making these things; we don't need to add accidental deaths to the roster."
Evan nodded as he looked back to his computer; lines of code scrolling past as his program searched for any mistakes, "Understood sir and don't worry, we won't have any problems."
November 11, 1945 0634 Hours- Maloney Residence, Sussex, Britannia
Galland jerked awake as someone shook her shoulder; she blinked at the soldier who awakened her, "…hm? What's going on?"
He saluted, "Sorry ma'am but Maloney tried to escape custody."
The tiredness faded from her face instantly, "What!? What's his condition?"
"He was knocked out ma'am; it seems he caught one of his guards unprepared and tried to make a run for it but he is secured again."
She sighed as she sat back down, "Understood… put extra guards on him just in case though. What's the status of the Hives? I got word yesterday that they were acting agitated."
The soldier pulled out a stack of paper, "These are the late night and early morning reports from all around Europe."
She buzzed through them and frowned; the Neuroi attacks were becoming more frequent, violent, and unpredictable. "What's the status of the 506th? Did their reinforcements make it?"
The man flipped through his reports, "Uh… Yes ma'am, the Isle of Wight Group made it to them yesterday to reinforce; the 31st will make it there today as well."
She nodded as she looked to the map Maloney had on the wall, "So Chris is here… Prague should be clear today, thank God, so that means…" "Have the 505th move closer to Moscow and the same with the 503rd. The 507th is to assist the 502nd until the Borealis can make it to them."
The soldier nodded, "Does the ship know of the Moscow hive?"
She rubbed her chin as she tried to remember, "Uh… I'm not sure; I'll check in with them today. Thank you sergeant, you are dismissed."
The soldier nodded and saluted as he left; Adolfine turned and looked around the room as she went back to looking through the ex-Air Marshall's paper work. Since his capture, groups of Galland's men had stayed to look for any sign of who Maloney was working with; currently Galland was standing in Maloney's office. She had spent the entire day going through his desk and found nothing of interest; she sighed, it seems this man would remain a ghost. Walking up to his bookcase, she began reading the titles of the books he had; a layer of dust indicated he hadn't touched them in quite some time.
As she turned to head back to the desk, a book caught her eye. Spinning around she carefully studied it before removing it from the shelf. Unlike the other books, this one had a trail in dust in front of it. Hefting the book she realized it was a little too light; she grinned, "Checkmate Maloney"
As she opened the book, a photo fell out; she ignored it for the time being as she studied the contents. The book was hollow and had a number of documents enclosed; she found forms indicating the Diego Garcia base and personnel reassignment paperwork. Also included within she realized with alarm was paperwork pertaining to his Warlocks. "That's not good… I hope to hell he didn't manage to build any more…"
She set the book on the desk as she reached for her radio; she stopped as she noticed the picture on the ground. It showed Maloney and another man shaking hands in front of an open hanger. Noticing the scenery she determined that this was taken at Diego Garcia; the date indicated it was before his screwed up attempt to remove the 501st from service. She looked at the other man not having any idea who he was but then she looked into the hanger and her blood ran cold, "Not good at all!"
She ran from the room as the photo fluttered to the ground; five objects could be seen in the hanger behind the two men.
November 11, 1945 1217 Hours- Indian Ocean
"Anyone see the damn fleet? We've got 5 minutes before we need to turn around." Monroe radioed to the Jumpers and his crew as they leaned out the doors trying to find the 508th.
"I've got nothing sir,"
"Ditto"
"Sorry Jack but we don't see anything either."
Monroe sighed in his headset; if the witches couldn't see them, no one would. He started to transmit again, "Alright looks like we're turning ar-"
"Hammer this is Jumper 2, your 4 o'clock, 13 miles."
Monroe and his co-pilot rotated their heads to the right; picking up faint traces of boiler smoke coming from the water, "Hammer has visual, all Jumpers alert the ships to our presence; Harris, go with them."
"Understood Major," Cecilia radioed as she checked her striker and proceeded to dive from the rear of the aircraft. She buzzed the cockpit before rolling and diving towards the ships; she could be heard telling them of their arrival. The two pilots watched with the FLIR (Forward Looking Infrared) under the nose as a group of witches raced up to meet her. They circled each other before they began to move towards them.
"Attention Hammer, this is CDR Jane Thach of the 508th JFW; welcome to the Lexington"
The crew of the Pave Hammer watched as a group of four witches slotted in around them in a defensive formation; Harris was leading them back to the ship.
"Thanks ma'am for the escort; the Jumpers are going to land first and one of them needs to drop something on the deck. Where do you want them?"
The one he decided had to be Thach turned to him and nodded, "Understood, uh… drop your vehicle on the Victorious I guess; they have more room on the deck."
"Understood ma'am," Monroe radioed back as his co-pilot radioed Jumper 2 on their landing location. They watched as the Jumper decloaked and dropped in altitude as the Hammer tilted it's engines and began to hover over the Lexington; the crews of the fleet staring as the strange craft floated above them. The Jumper dropped the ZSU on the deck before the crew of the gun jumped down; securing it with magnetic clamps. Landing, the crew began to unload ammo and fuel tanks for the self-propelled gun.
With that complete, the two remaining Jumpers and the Hammer began their finally descent to the deck; Monroe dropping the gear right before touchdown. He hopped out as the rotors wound down; he saluted as an officer approached from the island.
"At ease captain; welcome to the Lexington, I'm Captain Fred Sherman."
"Thanks for having us aboard sir, USAF Stargate Command, Major Jack Monroe."
The captain waved him towards the relative quiet of the island, "Alright Monroe, I just got word from Admiral Halsey and we are to help you guys in any way possible. I've heard we have an abducted witch."
He nodded, "Unfortunately that is the truth sir; Capt. Hannah Marseille and one of our men were taken hostage on a sub. They were transferred to a Ge-Karlsland heavy cruiser, the Admiral Graf Spee, a few days ago. They should be reaching Diego Garcia any time now."
Sherman rubbed his chin, "Well shit if Langsdorff is doing this… so what's the plan? We going to land there or something? I could get us some marines for an amphibious landing if we want to storm in there."
"Uh not at this time sir; our orders are to set up around the clock surveillance on the base and discover what exactly they have there."
The older Liberion frowned, "How the hell are we supposed to do that? Are those tube-shaped aircraft staying?"
"No sir, they are needed back at the ship as fast as possible. They will be going into combat with the Prague hive in a matter of hours."
"Well shit son, you guys are cleaning house fast. Where were you 5 years ago? We could have really used you… so how are we going to do it? I'm guessing your fancy airplane there doesn't have the range or the speed to do what you want." He nodded as CDR Thach entered finally; standing at 5' 9" and with a long brown ponytail, she sure was easy to notice.
"Sir, major; so you guys going over the plan?"
The two men nodded, "Well sir we brought a pair of remote piloted aircraft to perform the surveillance for us. They are completely invisible to our radars so uh… no disrespect sir but uh there is no chance of them being found by yours."
He sighed and nodded, "If you say so major; how long till you can get them airborne?"
Monroe hesitated before checking on the men outside, "Give us 10 more minutes and they will be refueled and ready for take-off. After that all we're going to need to do is refuel them every 10 hours or so with the Hammer." He blinked before reaching into his leg pouch for something, "I almost forgot sir, this is from Air Vice Marshall Galland," he handed him a bottle of cognac.
The captain grinned as he grabbed the bottle, "Looks like I owe the witches another debt; there other supplies for us?"
He nodded, "Yes sir; my men are unloading it now."
"Good, let me know when you're ready to take-off; I'll clear the deck."
Monroe nodded as the Liberion left, leaving him and the commander, "Is it true Major that someone kidnapped a witch?"
He nodded as he turned to her seeing concern on her face, "Unfortunately yes… Capt. Hannah Marseille."
She sighed, "Well shit I knew she was crazy… you think she's ok?"
He nodded, "Positive ma'am, one of our men is being held captive with her. He won't let anything happen to her."
She gave him a grin, "Good now let's go see what your toy airplanes look like."
November 11, 1945 1302 Hours- Borealis Bridge
Vought nodded to himself as he received information from the ship; they were ready for launch once again. "Alright ladies and gentlemen, time to knock another one out of the sky. Battle stations at this time." He declared throughout the ship as the lighting dimmed blue. With a thought, the 3km long battleship left Terra firma once again; spinning around as the colonel aimed it for Prague. He rotated the chair, "We contact Galland yet about the team?"
Ross nodded, "We sent her the message and her aide received it but she wasn't there."
The colonel frowned as he spun again to the opening door, "It's not like her to do that…" "Huberta, get Federica settled somewhere; I'm sure we can use her expertise."
Von Bonin nodded as she led her around the room to the tactical console; showing her what to do.
He rotated forward again as he pulled up images from the guns, checking on the witches as they prepped themselves for combat, "Hey Huberta."
She turned to him as he stared curiously at a display, "What is it sir?"
He looked to her, "We are moving really quick here; how long do you ladies normally need for down time between missions. I know Minna said you ladies could handle it but draining yourselves so quickly… it can't be that healthy for you."
She looked up as she thought, "Well… normally a week or so between major missions is what we aim for as the smallest amount of time but… two to three days is normally all that is needed to recharge lost magic. Whether or not it's healthy… I can't say."
He frowned as he went back to staring at the witches outside, "Adolfine never told us that… they must really be desperate if they are risking everything here to end this in as quickly as we are. I'm going to have to ask to slow the offensive down; I'm not letting any of these witches get hurt" He had a flashback to Jean getting hit, "Again."
"Sir this is Lansby, we're getting feed from the surveillance team now. Sending it up."
The bridge crew watched the forward display as it fizzled before showing an extremely high resolution video of the Admiral Graf Spee as she steamed towards the dock a few miles ahead of her. The two witches watched in awe as the camera zoomed in to show individual people on the ship. They felt a chill when the camera backed off and began marking locations on it with red "x"s; a list of weapons scrolled down the screen as the locations changed.
"…What is it doing?"
They turned to the colonel as he radioed back, "Lansby, kill the tactical display on the Hawks." He looked to them, "Sorry you had to see that ladies; the Hawk was just doing what it was designed for. It identified the ship's armaments and began to come up with the fastest way to eliminate it."
"There they are!"
The crew looked to the display as it once again zoomed in on the ship; more specifically the walkway around the bridge. The two were under guard by two men glaring at another two men behind them. As they watched, Nemes stated something causing the two closer guards to laugh. The other two didn't take to kindly to what was said and pushed past the guards, slamming their rifles into the lieutenant's chest and dropping him to the deck. The two witches watched horrified as they raised them again to attack Marseille but were stopped as the captain made an appearance. The crew turned to the colonel as he began to make an almost animalistic growl.
"These bastards… death is too good for them…"
Huberta shared a nervous glance with Federica as the radio lit up with chatter from the 508th requesting orders to do something. They all turned their attention to another display as a breathless Adolfine appeared, "Chris… shit, I found something. Something about that base-"
She stopped as they all watched something dart past the ship throwing up a rooster tail of water. Huberta went white as she realized what she had just witnessed.
"What the hell was that?" Vought asked as he stared.
November 11, 1945 1310 Hours- Admiral Graf Spee, Diego Garcia
"Jeez Alex, did you have to make a joke like that now?" Hannah hissed as she bent over the groaning lieutenant.
"Ug… seemed like a good idea at the time," he managed out as they watched the captain yell at the two men. They seemed indifferent about it though as they got closer to the island. One of the guards reached down and helped him back to his feet, "If you're going to make a move, I suggest going now," he whispered in his ear as he leaned against the railing. Nemes gave him a slight nod and a small wink to Hannah as he went to attempt to activate his armor. A increasing hissing sound made him stop.
"What the hell is th-" He was cut off as a grey blur blew past the ship at wave top level; a spray of seawater thrown up behind it. The object came around for another past before stopping off the side of the ship; hovering in mid-air. The crew was speechless as they stared at it; the other men grinned.
"…It can't be…"
Nemes looked to Hannah as she whispered; her face for the first time since meeting her was drained of all color. Fear in her eyes as she stared at the now humanoid shaped aircraft; a single bar-shaped blue eye staring back at them. She began to shake as another floated to the right of the first with two more in a different shape parked on the island's runway.
Nemes gently grabbed her shoulders, "What are they?" He asked cautiously as the two men that brought them onboard motioned for them to start walking; the ship had gone silent as it finally docked. She spoke so softly he missed it the first time, "What was that?"
She grabbed his arm as they were finally brought ashore, "Warlocks."
And cliffhanger… man am I an ass sometimes; sorry everyone. What will happen next time? Tune in next week to find out! I'm just going to throw this out here now so here it goes; Maloney is an asshole. There I said it; I actually wanted to have their confrontations with him a little differently but I like the way I went with it instead. Anyway Happy Holidays everyone; for those of you that celebrate it, I hope you had a great Thanksgiving, I know I did. Unfortunately for all of you readers, chapter 13 may not be up until sometime after the seventh; I've got finals coming up this week so I won't have a lot of time to do much of anything. Last year during finals week I almost missed one because I actually forgot what day it was; sleep deprivation rocks doesn't it? For the chapter coming up around Christmas… I do have a chapter I've been working on that could be a one-shot but I could also make it canon. I'm not sure which way to go with it so just let me know in your reviews. As always guys, see you next time, Ghostrider21 signing off.