Chapter 17: Enemy of my Enemy
And we're back yet again! As I have been doing for the past few chapters, my rant and more info is at the bottom so just enjoy. I own nothing but my characters and the storyline; everything else belongs to their respective companies.
Previously
"ALL FLIGHTS ABORT ABORT ABORT!" KNOCK IT OFF!"
Without a moment's hesitation Grant disengaged his lock, shoved the throttles to max, and pulled as hard on the stick as he could. His LADAR blared a collision warning as he passed within a wingspan of the enemy contact; climbing above it.
Everyone watched as Reaper flight narrowly avoided crashing into the contact and as Grant passed over, the final cloud layer was torn away…
Revealing a Witch-like Neuroi calmly floating in place; slowing turning it's "head" as it tracked the maneuvering fighters.
January 12, 1946 0808 Hours- Borealis Bridge, Novgorod, Orussia
"What the hell?!"
"Borealis, this is Reaper, requesting orders."
"A witch-Neuroi? But I thought it was destroyed."
"What is going on? All teams stand…"
The bridge was in mass confusion as everyone argued and stared; trying to determine what to do. Pierce ran onto the bridge in the confusion; he saw the images and cursed, "Damn it…" he rushed the colonel getting Ross's attention as he did so.
"Doc? What the hell? This is a combat situ…" He noticed the colonel, "Ah hell."
Vought was shaking in the chair as he stared at the alien figure on the screens; swarms of bad memories battered his psyche. The doctor shook him as Ross tried to divert attention until the colonel finally snapped out of it breathing heavily. He panted as a cold sweat ran from his forehead; he looked at the commander with a desperate look on his face, "Ross… I need a minute… help me…"
Getting Serenity's attention the chair deactivated as the colonel was helped to his feet. Working quickly, Pierce escorted him from the bridge as Ross took control. The alien was completely surrounded by all six fighter wings as they waited for orders; the radios were still a mess as everyone argued about what to do.
As Ross spun, he noticed one person witness the colonel's breakdown. He silently cursed and nodded to Preddy as she worriedly jumped from her station and exited the room. There wasn't going to be any fighting for the time being and as he looked at Galland, she seemed to be having an issue trying to come up a new plan.
Infirmary
"Just breathe big guy, just breathe deep. I'll be right back," He was walking to his office when the door slid open and Preddy walked in concerned as she tried to find the colonel. She spotted him instead and rushed over, "What's wrong is Chris going to be ok? What happened?"
Frank sighed and pointed, "He's over there. Ask him yourself it… it would be better if it came from him." He continued in and began to root around for something.
Geena turned and found the colonel sitting on the edge of a bed with an orderly forcing an oxygen mask into his face; he looked unhappy as he kept attempting to remove it. Spying Preddy he averted his eyes and sighed. Noticing that the colonel wanted some privacy, the orderly told him to keep the mask on as he excused himself. Geena made her way over.
"…So… you saw my little breakdown huh?"
The witch nodded confused, "…Why?"
He sighed, "It's a really long story so I don't have time now; ask me later when things calm down. For now you'll have to go with the short version." He looked around and removed the mask; looking straight at her as he did so, "My SG team and I were exploring a planet in Pegasus when we came under attack and were captured by a group of human-form Replicators; we call them Asurans. When a rescue team finally came a day later… only myself and one other were still alive. The other guy was put in a comma and that was six months ago." His hands were shaking quite badly as he sat there.
Preddy had no idea and without thinking, grabbed his hand stilling it instantly. The two looked at his hand for a moment before they looked up. They remained like that till Preddy realized what she was doing and stiffened. She spun around; completely red in the face unsure of why she just did that. She felt a hand on her shoulder, "Thanks for that Preddy. It felt good to finally tell someone else." He glanced at the time, "Well I'm going to be missed if I don't get back there now. Remember, there is still a hive out there and I'm obligated to help save your world." He took another look around before quickly running to the door and slipping out.
Geena slowly followed and stopped as she reached the door; she was shocked, "I had no idea…"
"Hard to believe he's ok after all that huh?"
She turned to find Pierce giving her a sad smile, "I was stationed on Atlantis when he and his team was dragged back by SGA 1. I was the one on call when he was brought in; he wasn't pretty." He took a long look at the door, "Don't worry too much about him though. He's tougher than he looks. Head back to the bridge, I have a feeling things are about to get lively around here." He patted her on the shoulder as he went back to his office.
She stood there momentarily as she thought and nodded. They were both right, now was not the time to dwell on the past.
Bridge
Ross stood up as soon as Vought slipped back in with Geena not far behind him, "What'd I miss?" He whispered to the commander.
"Nothing much, the bogey still isn't doing anything except looking around every time someone tries to get closer." He glanced at the colonel as he sat back down, "You ok sir?"
"I'm fine Matt. I just needed a sec to gather my nerves." Both officers looked at the situation on the screen. Ross noticed the colonel's hands still shaking, just not as bad as before. He patted him on the chest as he went back over to study the display.
"Alright Adolfine, this is your ball game; how do you want to play?"
Galland grunted as she thought; she tossed her scope up and down in her hand, "No idea. This thing is acting like both of the previous run-ins. They wouldn't attack unless provoked. As long as no one shoots, we might actually be able to make contact here." She glanced to her left, "Where'd you go Preddy?"
"Bathroom ma'am, my apologies for leaving my post."
"Your fine major," she tapped her hands, "Hm… I have an idea but I don't think anyone is going to like it.
Outside
"You want her to do what? Are you serious ma'am?"
Everyone turned to Yoshika as she hovered in place; clearly confused about what was going on. The Neuroi was still watching them but besides turning a bit, it had made no movements. They had it surrounded on all sides and above them, four 302s circled.
"You heard me commander. Look, if this thing acts like the others, then she's our best chance of finally making peaceful contact. If things go sour we have more than enough firepower to take it down. Knispel's group will cover you from below."
Minna and the other commanders looked at the group on the ground below them. Takei and the others looked at Minna, "Well ma'am, it's your decision."
Minna frowned as she thought; she sighed, "Well Miyafuji. You're the one being asked to go in harm's way. What do you want to do?"
Yoshika felt Lyn wrap her arms around her as she thought; she looked at the Neuroi and it appeared to be staring right back. Thinking that maybe this one was like the nice Neuroi over Gallia she took a deep breath and nodded, "I'll do it ma'am."
Minna hesitated before nodding and she took the young witch's weapon as she turned back around.
"Good luck Yoshika. You'll be fine."
She nodded as she slowly began to float towards the alien. It looked around as the other witches lowered their weapons slightly; it allowed her to get closer before backing away slightly.
Miyafuji huffed, "Hey stop that. We're not going to hurt you."
It stopped backing away and allowed her to get a little closer before flying up a little. Yoshika followed only to have it fly over and behind her. She turned to follow it and it dove down a little before returning to the place where it started. The other witches watched in disbelief as their hated enemy appeared to play with the 501st's sergeant.
Takei watched the scene with interest while shaking her head, "If only this was how our encounter could have gone."
Mio patted her on the shoulder as she carefully watched the alien; her other hand on her sword. She still remembered the last time she ran into one of these. Minna was calm though so she would remain calm as well… for now.
Bridge, 15 minutes later
"Looks like you guys might be able to actually do something with this thing. Course that is all up to you Adolfine."
She chewed on her lip, "I'm not quite sure what to do here. I'm baffled that we've managed to not kill each other for this long. Maybe it is possible to reason with the Neuroi…"
One of the technicians had been watching the exchange outside intently and almost missed the pop-up target that appeared on the sensor array. He frowned as he processed what he was looking at; he blinked, "INCOMING!"
The ship went back to battle stations as three beams stabbed across the screen and the radios once again exploded into chatter.
Vought closed his eyes as he processed what the sensors were giving him, "Shit, status on our forces?"
"One's falling."
"Shit, beam her to the infirmary, Doc, you've got incoming and somebody get us status on the others now!"
Infirmary
"Shit alright everyone; get ready for a casualty. Get an IV drip ready till Miyafuji or Malvezzi can get in here." Pierce finished washing his hands as they waited. Seconds later the room was filled with light and a witch appeared bouncing across the deck; her strikers a torched mess.
She coughed and groaned as she came to a rest against the wall, "Ah damn… another one… Aleksandra is going to kill me." Nikka murmured as she stared sadly at her strikers. Motion around her caused her to blink, "Eh?!"
"Where are you hurt?" Pierce asked as he shined a light over her.
"I'm not hurt anymore."
The medical techs stared at her; she rubbed the back of her head, "My power is hyper regeneration. I don't stay hurt for very long see?" She showed her legs as she shook blackened dust off them; they were clean.
Pierce stood, "The witch is ok sir. Go get those bastards."
Outside
Yoshika was completely unprepared for the barrage that flew her way and cried out in alarm as one of the witches was hit with their shield down and fell out of the sky. The beam that she was sure was going to hit her didn't and she was completely surprised why.
The witch-like Neuroi was sitting in front of her and was currently regenerating it's lost arm; it had taken the blow meant for her. It screeched in protest and flew away as fast as it could; a strange shaped Neuroi chasing after it.
"Ah damn," Eila muttered as she and Sanya chased after the new attacker "Nipa got hit again… knew it."
Sanya looked at her and frowned, "That isn't very nice Eila."
Eila sighed, "Fine but I didn't even have to use my magic to predict that. You know how she is."
"…I just hope she's ok," the quiet Orussian whispered as they two of them chased after Gentile and Godfrey; the four of them firing at the new Neuroi with concentrated burst.
Screeching in pain, the Heinkel Lerche shaped newcomer finally gave up its chase and turned to engage the pesky witches; it fired it's weapons in a broadside hoping to end this quickly. When all of its beams were stopped it roared in annoyance and charged its weapons more than before as the witches continued to chisel away at its armor; searching for the core.
The four witches were extremely surprised when after exposing it finally, another ruby beam passed through it. The alien bleated in surprise as it shattered into thousands of pieces. Eila came to a hover as the witch-like Neuroi emerged from the falling shards; looking straight at her before it slowly began to return to its position under the hive. "What was that about?"
Bridge
"Alright, what the hell is going on here? Why didn't we see that thing till it was right on top of us?"
The sensor technician ran every test he could think of as he reviewed the past 10 minutes of data. "No idea sir; one second there was nothing and the next, there it was."
Vought frowned as he processed the data; his mind racing while he scanned the airspace for something they may have missed. He noted the witch-like Neuroi's return to the defensive formation of witches. He had witnessed the creatures attack on its own kind and wondered what that meant.
"Got something sir!"
He spun the chair to find Galland stomping her way over to the tech, "What?"
"The target's low and I mean really low. The sensors must have squelched it out. Data shows it moving back towards Karlsland slowly."
"Where's the Hawk?"
"Over us."
Divert it, I want a visual. What's the status of Reaper flight?"
A quick call out to the orbiting fighters got them their answer, "They need fuel and weapons if they're chasing something down; they were only supposed to be a distraction."
Ross gave the colonel a sideways glance, "Recall the fighters for a reload."
"Sir we've got a visual," an operator spoke as the screen changed to show the UCAV's images. The crew blinked in confusion and the witches tilted their heads, "What the hell are we looking at?"
A tallish black and red tower appeared to be sliding along the ground tearing a large, ugly gash in the snowy earth.
"Is the Hawk armed?"
"… Uh… two AGM-211s and a pair of Stingers"
"Engage at will. Let's see if the Hawk can play bulldozer."
Outside
"Ladies, we've picked up a ground target moving east at 20 mph. It is currently 30 mi from your current position. Standby, we may have you move to engage."
Acknowledging the transmission the ladies went on edge again when two of the 302s broke their orbit and headed back towards the ship.
"Where you going Carl?" Yeager asked as she eyed the returning alien warily.
"Need some gas and a few more weapons. Two Scorpions aren't gonna cut it. We'll be back out in ten. Slim is staying to keep you guys company."
"What he said ladies," the other 302 captain stated in his gruff voice as he and Hydra-2 took a better position.
Everyone including the alien turned at the hiss and roar as two streams of fire appeared a ways away from them. The cones of fire heeled over and dove towards a distant black dot.
Minna frowned as she looked at Eila, "What's wrong?"
She shook her head as her blue glow faded away, "It isn't going to work."
Junko turned to her as the Neuroi lifted its arm in the general direction of the UCAV. The witches watched it confused
"Why not?"
The Suomus witch pointed as the sky brightened.
15 miles away
Receiving the command to engage, the FlightHawk locked onto the strange Neuroi below and opened its weapons bay. Seconds later a missile dropped free followed quickly by a second; both fell momentarily as they performed systems checks and then in a roar, both lit their rocket motors and dove. With the launch staggered, the first Mini-Maverick slammed itself into the square-shaped panel on the top of the alien followed seconds later by the second. The second drove through the opening created by the first and blew its 28lb warhead; shattering the black core within.
The black tower disappeared without any resistance and the Hawk went into an orbit as it confirmed its kill. Seconds later a massive beam of light tore through the ground and the Hawk vanished.
Bridge
"…Lost contact…," the drone technician stated unnecessarily; the screen black with the words "No Signal," displayed in red.
No one but the witches looked at the colonel as he loudly grinded his teeth, "… Someone want to explain what just happened?"
Before anyone could attempt to humor him, Preddy jumped up, "Look!"
Feldwebel Kristin Knispel
Kristin was forced to redeploy her stabilizers as the ground shook; the earthquake like motion nearly bowling her over. Behind her Elizabeth did the same while the three Liberions were not as lucky; only Abigail remained standing. The others were face first in the snow. To her right, the other land witch team had similar issues as they all witnessed the massive black shape appearing before them. Looking to her gun she groaned as she turned back to the alien rising from the earth.
"Damn… I think I need a bigger gun… Oh shit!" A swarm of smaller black drones emerged from the over-sized Carrier type and began racing towards them. Thinking quickly she barked at her witches and got them in line behind her as she locked her right leg down. She breathed deeply as she prepped the hydraulic spike mounted to her striker's left arm; the sharpened piece of steel slid as far back as possible and began to glow and whine as the magic engine shoved power into it.
She eyed the incoming targets; judging the distance as they fired at her. Her shield easily blocking all incoming fire, "Come on, almost there…" The distance between them and her wound down quickly, "NOW!" Throwing her entire weight into her strike, Kristin threw her left arm forward as the tip of her spike shined bright blue. Right before the first drone reached her the spike rocketed forward and impacted; the motion vaporizing her target as her magic shockwave was released from the tip. All of the drones bunched up with the first one shattered as the blue wave past through them.
She panted as the spike slowly reset with her standing; she smirked, "Damn that felt good." The three Patton Girls looked at her with big eyes as she readied her cannon for the next wave.
"That was awesome Kristin, wish I could do that," Kinkade stated as she came alongside her counterpart; also readying her cannon to fire.
The Karlslandic witch grinned, "That was nothing Ellie," She took aim at the oncoming wave; an HE shell dropped into the breach and slammed shut. "Watch this," As she went to pull the trigger and send the 88mm shell flying downrange, the Maybach magic engine coughed once and died causing her to fall flat on her back; snow flying everywhere, "Ouch."
Minna
"Knispel's down"
"Understood ma'am. The 501st will now move to engage," Mio stated as she looked around, "Let's MOVE it ladies."
Minna nodded as she continued to scan the airspace; Takei came up alongside her as the two of them stared at the massive submarine shaped alien; the drones were launching from the torpedo tubes.
"They did learn huh ma'am. Just like what we did at Malta."
Minna nodded grimly as she looked at the witches charging into combat; she turned to the witch doppelganger. It just stared right at her. Looking on she was torn between destroying the threat and not turning her back on a possible threat. She chewed her lip, "Wait Mio…"
The witches stopped their advance in confusion, "…Yes?"
"We're going to let the ship engage that Carrier-type,"
The submarine shaped Neuroi was currently racing away to Karlsland as it pumped out more and more of the Ba 349 shaped drones. She begrudgingly turned to the waiting Ancient battleship, "Air Vice Marshal… we request that the ship engage the carrier; we will remain here at the hive."
Bridge
Galland groaned at what the commander was suggesting but she knew it was probably the right course of action. She turned to the colonel and the commander as they waited for her orders; she sighed. "Understood Wilcke; we'll chase this sucker down," she eyed the colonel, "and we'll leave a few of the 302s to help you. Hopefully this hive will remain as it is."
Vought nodded to Ross who began to relay the orders. The chair swung in the direction of the fleeing combatant followed by the screen spinning to follow. The massive ship rumbled as its two functioning engines whined to a higher output shoving the hulk after the carrier.
Engineering
Deep within engineering, engine 3, partially repaired soon after the ship had reentered the atmosphere, had been operating at its max output of 43% for some time. The crew had been unable to completely repair it while running and had focused on attempting to get the remaining two engines functioning before they could get around to -3. The repair was supposed to be temporary and no one had expected it to be needed for this long. The overstressed engine finally had enough of it and in an act of self-preservation, shut itself off.
Lt Col Josephine Foss
"Ah man…" she sighed as she watched the ship turn to begin chasing the alien, "I wanted to do that."
Harris looked at her and sighed, "It's ok ma'am, we still have to deal with this thing."
Both witches turned around to glare at the Witch-like Neuroi as it continued to spin around Miyafuji. The Neuroi stopped it's movement and looked towards the two of them. Joe blinked, "Why is it looking at us?"
Cecilia noticed the other witches staring at them as well, "I don't think it's us…" Both of them turned as they realized the rumbled from the ship's engines had dropped considerably. The twin exhausts for engine 3 were no longer glowing yellow like engine 1.
The Borealis had been floating happily along at an altitude of 6,000 feet where it normally sat in a combat situation. When engine 3 decided life sucked, the ship began decreasing in altitude like an elevator with its cable cut. The ships landing struts blew out in an emergency release and moments before it slammed itself into the cold, unforgiving earth, the landing and maneuvering thrusters fired in a high pitched wail that made everyone claw at their ears in pain.
The ship impacted the ground with a thud that was audible for miles. It was so severe that the struts compressed almost all the way back up into the ship. Onboard, the inertial dampeners were strained to the absolute limit; failing along the outboard sections of the hull as the ship prioritized the crew in the center. A massive cloud of dirt and snow was kicked up; obscuring the ship from view.
The witches watched the scene unfolding in horror, "Oh shit," mumbled Joe as she booked it after the still fleeing alien. She knew in her gut that everyone onboard was ok and she knew that they couldn't let the massive carrier get away so it could burrow back underground. Forgetting that she was the senior officer airborne, she set her eyes on her target and charged after it; her Corsair striker roaring.
Blinking as she realized Foss had moved, Harris charged after her. Noticing what Foss was doing, Yeager and Barkhorn looked to Minna as she nodded, "Go after them, they'll need all the help they can get." She looked at the two members of 131st, "You two go as well."
Yeager dropped her goggles and arrowed after the other two Liberions, her striker Merlin, screaming as fire flew from the exhaust; her rabbit ears flopping in the wind as she slowly approached the sound barrier. Barkhorn followed after her for a while before realizing she was never going to catch up the fast Liberion. Helma and her wingman circled once and ramped their 262 strikers up to the max as they roared after them.
Takei looked to her two Liberions before sighing, "You know, you could have at least waited you two…" she mumbled at the distant forms of her two Liberions; Gentile and Godfrey followed the group at high speed. She turned to Minna, "Well ma'am… what should we do?" She glanced at the settling cloud in the distance them before looking back at her.
Minna looked between the Neuroi staring at her and the barely visible ship. "Some of us need to stay. Let's divert everyone on the ground back to the ship for sure and we'll go from there."
Bridge
"… I am a leaf on the wind… screw it that was one FUBAR landing," Vought mumbled from the deck.
The bridge had been one of the locations on the ship that had its inertial dampeners stressed to the limits and had partially failed throwing everyone about. They got lucky it wasn't as bad as their jump had gone.
The colonel finally opened his eyes as he listened to groans coming from the rest of the crew. "Everyone not dead say I."
A chorus of moans and groans reached his ears as he attempted to stand; feeling resistance he looked down and froze.
Preddy at the same time had looked up as she gathered her senses. She had been thrown from her station and had landed on something soft. When she looked up she found Chris's face right in front of her; she had landed on the colonel.
The two of them jumped to their feet and coughed as they looked away, both red in the face as they attempted to see who needed help. They both calmed as before turning to look at each other again. They nodded as they went to work; Vought hopping back in the chair and Preddy moving to assist Adolfine get back up. The Karlslander cursing the entire time as she rubbed her head.
He took note of the bridge before trying to activate the systems; Serenity appeared before him. "What the hell happened?"
She frowned, "Engine 3 suffered a total failure and shut itself down to preserve itself. The loss of thrust caused us to begin an immediate emergency descent. Structural integrity is intact as are the inertial dampeners. Engine 1 is also still intact and was shut off on landing to prevent damage. Another engine will need to be repaired before we will be capable of flight." She vanished as the displays came back to life.
"Bridge, this engineering. Engine 3 finally bit the dust and –"
"About two minutes too late guys; Serenity already gave me the scoop. How long and what's still working?"
"…Uh… Engine 1 is resetting as we speak, the ZPG is still good and uh… we're all ok."
The colonel shook his head in exasperation as Ross and Sokolov made their way over, "You two ok?"
They nodded, "We're fine, what's the status of that carrier?"
Vought blinked in alarm, "Shit!..." He closed his eyes as the chair lit up again; he spun slowly around as he scanned the sky. "It's moving away at about 500 knots… and is approaching the Karlsland border. Looks like a few of the witches are in pursuit." He blinked, "That trailer must be Barkhorn… she can't keep up with the others." Thinking quickly he activated the radio, "Engineering, what's the status on that project we were working on for Capt Barkhorn?"
"Uh… it kind of works… why?"
"Because she's on her way to you now. Get her fitted and loaded as soon as she's onboard. Make sure that Reaper flight is ready for launch."
"Sir, I said it kind of works I can't guarantee anything. And bay 4 slammed shut on impact; the door locks are bent and won't release; we're going to need to cut them off to get the door open."
The colonel closed his eyes again in anger, "it's up to them then." He opened his eyes again determined, "You will have Barkhorn's equipment ready and it will work. She will be there soon; bridge out."
He looked around the room as his crew got back to their stations; they looked at him as they waited for new orders. "Alright people listen up. We're stuck here for a while so we are here we are back to supporting the witches." The screens flickered back to life showing the approaching land striker teams. "Somebody get on the radios and alert Capt Barkhorn; beam her directly to engineering and plot a position in front that bogey." He rubbed the lump forming on the back of his head and grunted, "And somebody find me a damn aspirin."
Captain Gertrude Barkhorn
"Damn it… there is no way I can catch up to Yeager now… or them," Trude thought to herself as she watched the two 262 strikers streak overhead. She was now the last in the line of witches chasing after the Carrier-type; Gentile and Godfrey had passed close by her minutes before and were starting to leave her behind. She hated it but she kind of wished she had that 262 back; something that would allow her to get in the fight first.
"Capt Barkhorn?"
She blinked, "Yes?"
"This is the Borealis. Stand by for transport."
"Transport? Wai-" She vanished in a flash of white… only to find herself flying headfirst into a stack of mattresses that had been assembled for her. After finally surfacing, she looked around confused, "What is the meaning of this?"
A group of engineers and medical staff approached her, "You ok ma'am? We didn't have the time to have you slow down; we are going to be out of range of transport in another few minutes. We've got to get you ready to launch." The crews began pulling a set of equipment out from behind a workbench.
Her eyes widened in recognition, "…Is that?"
The man nodded as he helped her stand, "Yes, and this is how you operate it." He began his explanation as they started hooking it onto her.
Lt Col Josephine Foss
"Come on damn it slow down…" Foss thought as she continued to barrel after the Neuroi. She was closing but because of her abilities and her striker, she burned magic quickly and she was already getting ready to hit her limit. She ignored the drones the carrier was releasing at random intervals; she'd teleport ahead of them instead of engaging. She panted as she began to slow; she recognized the landscape, "Oh hell… Southern Karlsland…" She drew her cannon from her back as she finally entered range; drawing a bead on the carrier as it opened and readied its latest salvo of drones, "Quit running you'll… screw it, eat this!" The cut down M2 bucked against her shoulder as she fired in controlled burst. The drones vanished as her 20mm HE rounds chewed them apart; she hovered as the shards rained down around her.
She panted again as she laughed at the alien, "That all you got you big piece of… SHIT!" The carrier charged the few but very large beams it had and fired. She attempted to jump away but her strikers sputtered in response, "Damn it…" She thought wryly as the lasers converged on her; she had overextended herself and there was no dodging this time and there was no way her shield was going to survive another hit like that. She grinned tiredly and snorted as she closed her eyes, "…One hell of a run, sorry I couldn't help end it." She waited for the end.
Instead she opened her eyes again at the sound of a roar and a shield deflecting a hit to find Yeager and Harris panting as they caught their breath. Cecilia glared at her superior as the attack ended, "Damn it ma'am, next time don't leave me so far behind; I couldn't catch up."
Yeager snorted as she raised her goggles, "What she said ma'am; nice flying by the way. And by the way, you cheated. I would have gotten here first if you hadn't done that transport thing." The two witches separated to divert the carrier's attention leaving the Liberion lieutenant colonel to recover; she dropped in altitude as her strikers sputtered again. She needed to rest and there was nowhere safe to do that; she had to push herself till more help could arrive. She slowly turned as the two 262 strikers streaked overhead; one witch firing a 50mm cannon and Helma firing her twin 30mm. A few minutes later, Gentile and Godfrey finally caught up with the latter slowing down to check on her.
"You ok ma'am?" Jane asked concerned as she switched her gaze between Foss and her wife.
Joe grinned tiredly, "I'm ok now, just tired," she winked, "Go get'em captain."
Jane nodded slowly before turning to follow after Dom leaving Joe alone yet again. She watched as the others slowly chipped away at the creature's armor; its screeches of pain reverberated for miles. She began to grow concerned as the fight dragged on, "I do not want to be here any longer…" She began to get a antsy as she remembered where she was; constantly scanning the darkened airspace around them as she watched for reinforcements from the collection of hives over this area. "Come on ladies take care of this thing quickly," she muttered out loud.
The sound of the Borealis's transporter got her to sigh, "About damn… time?" She blinked in surprise as another witch zoomed passed her.
Captain Gertrude Barkhorn
Trude grinned darkly as she raced past the Liberion; her sights set on the alien as it turned to engage the newcomer. Zooming past Yeager as she reloaded, Barkhorn flipped the switch on her new toy as she entered range.
Two months previously, she like the others had been trained with a number of futuristic weapons. After training, she like the others had been given a list of weapons that she and the others could get their hands on. She had found one that had interested her and the crew had managed to create one but the problem was adjusting it for use by an airborne unit. Two months passed and the engineering staff finally completed it… in theory.
On her back the electric feed mechanism turned once as it powered up and a small green light on the cannon in her hand turned on. She came to a hover and pulled the trigger sending a long burst of 25mm APFSDS-T rounds into the floating black mass.
The cannon bucked as the exposed roller chain threw the barrel back and forth; the light flickered and went out. She cursed as the gun stopped firing, "Borealis, this is Barkhorn. The cannon stopped firing." She put her shield up as the other witches resumed their attack.
"Damn… alright, give it a second, it may have just overheated."
She did so and the light flickered back to life; nodding in approval she rushed back into combat.
Modified from a Bushmaster M242 chaingun, Barkhorn's cannon had two pieces, the cannon and electric motor in her hands, and a backpack with the ammunition and battery. The system was extremely sensitive to sharp motion and liked to overheat and the crew hadn't deemed it ready for combat; it also only carried 250 rounds.
The combined firepower from all of the witches; Foss had finally recovered enough that she could rejoin the fight; was causing large amounts of damage to the Neuroi's armor. It was losing ground and it knew it. Realizing reinforcements would reach it too late; it decided to do the next best thing; it ran away…again.
"Ah man…" Foss murmured again as the carrier began to run again; releasing a swarm of drones as it escaped.
The rest of the witches came up alongside her, "What do you wish for us to do ma'am?"
Foss bit her lip as she closed her eyes and thought, "Anyone know what direction it's heading in?"
"Towards Gallia," muttered Barkhorn as she glared daggers after it.
Foss opened her eyes as she realized it's plan, "It's going to try to get out of range so that it can hide back underground. If it makes it to Gallia, all the forces prepping for the final push will be in jeopardy; we have to go after it."
The others nodded in approval. "Alright then ma'am," Yeager stated as she lowered her goggles again and gave her a crooked grin, "Just stick with us this time please."
Foss grinned wearily as she nodded, "Let's go then."
The other witches grinned as well as they headed off after the fleeing enemy. Foss waited momentarily as she floated up and over the cloud bank produced by the number of hives in the area. She had seen the particles falling from the clouds and knew that communications would be difficult. Clearing the clouds she took a breath, "Attention all Allied forces this is Lt Col Josephine Foss, Liberion Army Air Corp. A large Neuroi Carrier-Type is headed towards Gallia from Karlsland. If it is allowed to make it, it will burrow back underground and attack the forces building up for our final push. We are in pursuit but if there are any witch units along its path, help would be greatly appreciated." She took another deep breath and teleported after the others; almost falling out of the sky when she reappeared; like her familiar, she really needed to rest for a good long while after using the energy she expended.
13 Minutes Later
"WHY…WON'T…THIS…THING…DIE!" Foss grunted out loud as she emptied her latest belt into the stubborn invader. The creature screeched in annoyance as it fired back at the assortment of witches causing them to scatter. She grabbed the last 20mm belt and slammed it in place before realizing she was almost out. "Damn it last belt."
Barkhorn nodded as she sent another burst of 25mm downrange; the cannon flickered off again. She grunted in anger as she dropped the cannon; it dangled on its safety cord while she drew her MG42. She racked the charging handle, "I'm down to half a mag."
Harris watched as the two 262 strikers made swooping runs on the carrier. Looking down she sighed as she dropped her M1919; she was out of ammo. "I'm out."
Yeager dropped her BAR as well, "Same, damn this sucker's tough." She drew her rarely used sidearm as she prepped for another run.
Foss and the others hovered, "Where are we?"
Helma looked around and pointed, "Ma'am, that town is in Gallia! We need to stop it now!"
"Shit, alright ladies one final push. Gentile, Godfrey go find that damn core, I'll follow up." Foss stated quickly, "Attention Allied forces, the Neuroi has entered Gallia at this location," she rattled off the names of the towns they were passing by as the alien realized it was almost safe; it began a dive towards the ground.
"Double shit… we need that thing dead NOW anyone have any explosives?"
Yeager thought for a moment as she slowed her dive and reached into one of her belt pouches, "I've got some of that C4 those guys gave me but…" She stopped and looked around.
Foss and the others noticed her, "What's wrong?"
"I think I hear something."
The others strained to listen as the Neuroi too detected a sound and slowed its descent trying to determine if it was a threat; it was coming from in front of it. Seconds later something massive augured in and exploded in a massive blue tinge cloud that enveloped the surprised carrier. It screamed in surprise before the massive explosion gutted it and it vanished in a massive cloud of shards.
The witches were knocked away by the shockwave and as they recovered, they watched the scene in awe and confusion.
"What was that?" Yeager wondered out loud as the shards rained down around them.
"No idea," Barkhorn muttered back as she slid her MG back on her shoulder; next to the cannon frame. "What do you think ma'am… Ma'am?" The others turned at Barkhorn's question to find Foss blinking repeatedly.
"…I think…I'm gonna…take a nap," she was panting heavily with a heavy sweat rolling down her face. Seconds later her eyes rolled up and she leaned over backwards as her strikers shut off. She plummeted as the others raced after her in horror. Once she was finally caught, Harris began to freak out slightly as she checked her friend over.
"Joe? Joe? Answer me!" She shook her back and forth as she tried to get her to respond. Foss snorted and the others looked at her in disbelief.
"…Cheeseburger, mmm… want a cheeseburger…" She started to snore as she continued to mutter in her sleep. Shirley couldn't take it anymore and began laughing as she patted Harris on the shoulder.
"She's fine Cecilia, guess she just overdid it a bit," She paused and turned as the last traces of their foe vanished, "I do wonder what that was though…" She shook her head as she turned back to the others, "Alright everyone back to the ship," the tired looks on everyone's faces made her rethink that. "Hm… how about we just stay away from Karlsland. We can have somebody from the ship pick us up and bring us back."
The others gave her tired smiles as they continued further into Gallia hoping to find some friendly forces; Foss draped over the shoulders of Harris and Barkhorn.
Train 1, Verdun, Gallia
A long coil of smoke trickled from the 84m long barrel of the gun as it was lowered and the crew cheered.
As practice for the liberation of Karlsland, the crew of the train set the monolithic weapon up and began to practice aiming and loading. Taking 54 hours to set up, Schwerer Gustav was the largest rifled weapon ever put into service. Weighing in at an incredible 1375 tons, the railway gun could fire a 7 ton, 800mm projectile 47 kilometers or if using the lighter, rocket propelled projectile, an astonishing 150km.
Hearing the about the Carrier-type heading in their direction, the crew had rushed to move the behemoth on its circular firing track to bring the gun to bear and swapped out the practice round for a live one. Train 2 was too far out of range to engage the target.
The witch who fired it leaned back against the railing in exhaustion; she had crammed a tremendous amount of magic into the shot and she was now wiped.
"Great shot lieutenant! That was amazing."
She allowed a small, tired grin to grace her face as she nodded before stumbling away. Once she was out of view, Sub-Lt. Laura Fontaine shook like a leaf as she curled up on the ground; she was terrified and she hated it. Discovering her magic quite late, the witch from Faraway Land had joined the military in Europe to help develop technology for the combat units using her brains. However, Command had another idea once they discovered the unique magic she possessed and moved her into an air infantry group. They quickly discovered though that wasn't going to work; she was terrified of flying and couldn't get off the ground without collapsing in fear. To remedy this they moved her to land unit and waited to see if that would work.
She excelled quite well in the joint Liberion/Britannian group in training exercises and was cleared for active duty. She was promptly removed from said duty after her first engagement with the invaders in Gallia. While she didn't need to worry about flying, the closer she got to the enemy, the worse her fear got and that fear prevented her from being able to put up a shield and had to be quickly pulled out of the fight. Command still wishing to use her abilities looked around for a way to use her in combat. They found her a place in a Karlsland artillery battalion where she wouldn't need to even see the targets she was aiming at and she was good at it. She still had fear issues after engagements but Command had deemed it acceptable and cleared her for combat. Proving herself in the defense of a base in Gallia, Command moved her to a special military unit…Heavy Artillery Unit (E) 672; in charge of both of the massive railway guns, Schwerer Gustav and Dora.
Finally calming herself down, Laura finally sat up; brushing herself off as she stood. Catching sight of her annoyingly long white hair she groaned as she began picking debris out of it; she reeaalllly needed to cut it. Making sure she was presentable again she nodded to herself before walking back to the train to get new orders. She stopped when she felt breeze flowing over head and panicked as she looked around for her hat. Finding it she stooped down and picked it up; smacking it a few times before shoving it on her head. Her artic wolf familiar ears twitched on her head before lying flat and allowing the hat to cover them up. Making sure her eye patch was back over her right eye she began her slow walk back hoping no one would stare. She was unique for another reason as well and she despised it. Sighing she shook her head at her other problems; she did not want to think about them right now; all she could think about was her family.
She dropped her gaze as she began running into people; they were staring as they clapped.
January 12, 1946 1042 Hours- Borealis Infirmary, Novgorod, Orussia
Kristin grunted in pain as she was finally lowered into a bed, "Watch it," she growled out as the orderlies left her alone to check on the other injuries from the crash. She sighed as she flopped her head to the side only to blink in surprise.
"Sup"
She blinked again, "Hello sir, what are you doing in here?"
Vought shrugged from the bed next to her, "Possible concussion, you?"
"Same and a possible neck injury. Stupid Maybach not working all the time... When can we leave sir?"
The colonel frowned, "Pierce says as soon as one of our two medical witches get back to fix us up." His frown deepened, "This makes life way to convenient."
The two sighed in unison as the door to the room opened again. Vought groaned, "Damn it what did she do this time?"
Harris and Barkhorn grunted as they unceremoniously tossed Foss onto a bed; she hung over the edge upside down.
Harris panted as she looked over at the colonel, "Pushed herself way too hard this time; she passed out again." She leaned against Foss's bed, "And the Carrier-type is destroyed."
He nodded at the two of them, "Great job ladies go get some sleep, that's an order."
The two saluted as they left; Trude stopped in the door, "Oh and sir…" He turned to look at her, "We didn't destroy it." He blinked in surprise as she left.
"What do you mean didn't destroy it?" He asked in confusion to the closed door.
Knispel opened her mouth to say something but decided against it and leaned back down and rubbed her neck. "Damn that hurt… stupid Maybach."
January 12, 1946 1218 Hours- Borealis Briefing Room, Novgorod, Orussia
ENS Mike Decker stood there nervously as Vought and the other officers just stared at him; the few witches present stood near the back of the room and watched the scene in silence.
"Tell me Decker, what exactly happened?" the colonel asked with his hands crossed on the table.
A bead of sweat rolled down his temple as he grabbed his collar; he swallowed, "Uh s-sir… engine 3 was… uh… the patch was only temporary… failure was an option?" He swallowed nervously again as he started to shake slightly, "It wasn't my fault…"
The colonel stole a glance at Ross as he shook his head in exasperation. He allowed a small smile to grace his face before hiding it with his hands; he turned his gaze back to the nervous engineer. "Alright Decker, I think that's enough of that. You did well; that patch job lasted much longer than expected. I shouldn't have pushed it like I did. If it was anyone's fault, it was mine. CDR Ross here would like to say something to you."
Decker took an enormous sigh as he collapsed backwards against the wall; a quiet round of chuckles went around the room before Ross cleared his throat, "ENS Decker, how long have you been studying Ancient systems?"
"Um… about 3 years sir. I trained at… well you know…" The ensign like the others did not like even mentioning that location still; it was a bad for your career to even mention the name.
"And you've managed to learn the workings of the ship since the SGC took possession of it."
A nod
Ross nodded again impressed, "Alright then," he turned the colonel, "I stand by my decision sir."
Everyone watched the two of them in confusion, what was going on?
Vought nodded, "Alright then, based on Ross's recommendation ENS Decker, you are hereby promoted to the rank lieutenant junior grade. You are the new head of the ship's engineering department and blah blah blah you know the rest. I'm not one for much ceremony."
Decker blinked in surprise as all present clapped for him; the witches voicing their congratulations. He stuttered, "T-thank you s-sir I-… I have no idea what to say."
Vought got serious again, "You can tell me how long it's going to take till we can take off again."
"…Uh…" He thought quickly, "Uh the closest estimate I can give y-"
"Close only works in horseshoes and hand grenades. I need a time frame."
"Uh…" engine 3 needed a complete overhaul now that it had killed itself. -2 needed to be completely rebuilt as well; it needed a bunch of parts that they had just begun stockpiling. That left -4… "One week sir, we need to swap out parts for engine 4 and it should be completely operational. We have the parts for it now, I just need the time."
The colonel tapped his fingers on the table as he looked to Galland; she nodded. "Alright Decker you've got seven days. Go get started."
The newly promoted naval officer saluted as he turned and hurriedly left; reaching for his radio as the door slid shut.
Vought looked to Lansby as the door finished closing, "Alright Evan, what's the latest on our little friend?"
The doctor adjusted his glasses, "The only change it has made is that it has dropped in altitude; we still have it surrounded. One of the T-90s has disembarked and is taking aim from the safety of our shield."
He tapped his fingers on the table again as he looked to Galland, "Alright Adolfine, this is back in your court. How do you wish to proceed?"
The witch rubbed her chin in thought, "Well, according to the reports we received from the 501st with the hive over Gallia, Sgt Miyafuji was escorted into the interior of the hive by the witch-like Neuroi and it showed her the images it wanted her to see." She gave Chris a smile, "I guess I should rephrase that, I meant former Sgt. Miyafuji."
"Former?" Everyone asked in unison. "What happened?'
She grinned.
January 12, 1946 1218 Hours- Jumper Bay 1, Novgorod, Orussia
"…Son of a b… WHY WON'T YOU START!"
The sound of clanging and cursing continued to be heard as Kristin worked with Federica to try to fix her broken striker. Lynette released Yoshika's ears as the cursing stopped.
"Wow she sounded really angry…" The young Fuso witch stated as the two grime covered witches argued with each other on the best way to repair the damaged engine.
"I hope they get it working soon… it's almost our turn to go back out again," Lyn stated quietly as the two of them watched the ring of witches around the Neuroi a few miles away. In order to keep the thing surrounded at all points in time, the witches had been put on shifts to stagger their sleep schedules. The two night witches and the witches that had chased the carrier were currently sleeping while another group was just resting for lunch. They would rotate out soon to allow the other group a chance to take a break. Just outside the bay, the two 302s of Hydra flight were parked awaiting the door to bay 4 to open; they needed fuel. A little further out, one of the tanks roved back and forth as the turret stayed locked cleanly on the possible threat.
"I wonder what's going to happen?" Yoshika asked out loud causing Lyn to jump slightly. She smiled warmly as she pulled her friend close.
"Everything is going to work out ok Yosh. Don't worry."
"It should in theory."
The two quickly spun to find Eila flopping down beside them and sighing as she laid back on the deck. She slid her tarot cards back in her pouch.
"What do you mean?"
She sighed as she turned to the two younger witches, "You know my powers don't really extend that far and if they do, they are really vague. I've been looking into this but…" she shrugged her shoulders, "I've got no idea."
"Eila, Eila, Eila, what are we going to do with you? I see you're still messing around with people."
The Suomus witch cringed as she recognized the person speaking. Everyone present turned at a pop and the sound of Kristin screaming as she pulled at her hair; she had orange paint on her face.
"Why was there paint in my STRIKER!?" Knispel screamed as she banged her head against her cannon barrel. The barrel elevation control squeaked once before disengaging and it fell down smacking her in the head; she dropped to the ground groaning as Doglio pointed.
"It wasn't me."
Horrified Yoshika began to stand up before Lyn stopped her; Fernandia was closer and healed her head as Doglio whistled innocently.
"See what I mean? And where do you think you're going… sis."
Yoshika and Lyn looked at each other before looking at the newcomer, "Sis?!"
The grey haired Suomus witch grinned as she patted the two of them on the head; Eila froze her retreat when she felt eyes on her again. Defeated, she sighed as she turned, "Hello sister, it's been awhile hasn't it?"
Suomus Captain Aurora E. Juutilainen grinned again as she looked at her younger sister; she beckoned her forward and the two embraced before pulling away. Yoshika whipped her head back and forth between the two of them, "Oh wow Eila, I didn't know you had a sister."
Eila cringed again as she tried to slip away only to come to a complete halt when she found Aurora's arm wrapped tightly around her neck; she chuckled nervously.
"…So you never mention me huh little sister. That's not very nice."
"Sorry…"
Lynette stared at Eila in amazement; the only one who ever made her act this way was Maj Sakamoto when she was mad. The fact that she had a sister that made her act the same way was crazy. The normally mischievous and cunning witch was acting embarrassed as her sister held her tight. She studied the taller witch.
Aurora was taller and was more muscular than her younger sister and she could tell that she was definitely older. Her hair was also shorter and a bit lighter colored than Eila's.
"Ma'am, can I ask which unit you're with."
"Hm?" Aurora looked at the Britannian witch as she released her sister, "I command the 502nd's ground support team. We assist the 502nd in defense and attack activities but mostly we retrieve downed members of the unit."
"…So Flight Sgt Katajainen?"
She sighed as she threw her hands in the air and nodded, "Yep."
Lynette nodded in understanding; she had heard of the… number of incidents Nikka had racked up over the years; there was a reason Eila called her the second "Crasher "O" Hare."
All the personnel in the bay turned as the inner door slid open and a collection of officers poured in. The ship's personnel saluted but were ignored as they made their way to the open door. Outside, the tank stopped its patrol and returned to the ship.
Doglio wiped her hands off as she jumped off the scaffolding they had been using to work on Knispel's striker. "What's up sir?"
Vought twitched his finger on his rifle as he adjusted his harness and jacket. Beside him, Lansby did the same as he also readied his laptop and a small case. Adolfine answered for him as she watched the colonel's anxious stare outside. "We're about to make contact."
The witches in the bay went silent at this declaration. Federica smirked as she walked over, "Mind if I join in ma'am?"
She nodded, "You can come but on one condition, stay behind these guys or a witch with a shield."
Federica nodded as she headed over to grab her coat. Behind her, Kristin frantically looked back and forth between her striker and the door before diving frantically back into the mess of parts she and the major had yanked from within.
Vought turned to the remaining officers, "Matt, Alexei, Vitaly, stay here. You know what to do if we don't come back." The three of them nodded in understanding; the Russian colonel turned to his ever present subordinate.
"If I must stay Chris, then Lt Gusev here will go with you."
Arytom held a staring contest with the American before the colonel finally gave up. "Fine he can come." He looked at his friend, "Your crew willing to put themselves in harm's way with me Alexei?"
The major nodded, "да"
"Alright then, let's move" The colonel and his group walked down the ramp and boarded the tank; hanging onto the turret as it accelerated towards the hive. Behind them, the 502nds support team, Yoshika, Lynette, and Eila followed after them. Kristin sighed as she slumped to the floor of the bay; her striker was going nowhere.
Wing Commander Minna Wilcke
"Ma'am, looks like we have company."
Minna tore her gaze from the barely hovering alien at Mio's statement. She took note of the approaching tank and the figures crouched on the back off it; the witches following them not far behind. The Neuroi in question turned slowly at the sound of the approaching vehicles and waited. At her command, they lowered their weapons and moved back to allow the tank to enter their ranks. It came to a halt a few dozen feet from the alien.
Vought and the others disembarked as Yoshika and Lynette lowered themselves to the ground. The colonel turned to Lansby as Adolfine turned to the two witches; the others remained behind them but ready to go.
"Alright Evan, how we going to do this?"
The doctor pulled a laptop from his bag as he eyed the alien; he shivered as it looked back at him. "I've disconnected this computer from the network so incase anything goes wrong, we can just destroy it." The colonel nodded in understanding while the Russian gave the Neuroi a stare that said "Try me bro," the alien turned slightly. Lansby opened the box he had brought and pulled out a yellowish crystal and a pedestal complete with a USB cable. "This is a blank crystal memory chip from the ship; we have plenty in storage. Anyway after researching everything I could on these creatures, our best bet is a light based data transfer."
"So basically infrared?"
He hesitated before nodding, "Kinda sorta; this in theory should be able to decode anything they choose to send. If what Galland said is correct, they should be able to understand our data formats." Behind him, Federica listened carefully trying to understand what they were discussing; it sounded cool.
"You two ready?"
Vought and Lansby nodded as they finished their prep. Lansby stepped forward with the three witches as the other two stayed back by the tank. The colonel jumped in surprise as someone leaped from the interior of the tank and removed their helmet. "Preddy?"
Geena nodded as she adjusted her hair; she glanced at his hands, "You're shaking again."
He had noticed it too and had tried to cover it up; Gusev pretended not to notice. He shook his head, "What were you doing in there?"
"Frank knew you were going to come out here and he didn't want you alone. He convinced Alexei to let me ride along. Besides," She shrugged, "It was the only way I was going to get to see some action. This is a historic moment."
By this time the driver had emerged from the tank and shrugged innocently. Everyone turned to face the Neuroi as the other group made their advance.
Adolfine nudged the Fuso witch forward; Lansby followed after her a few steps behind. She stopped a few feet from the alien and waited. Everyone held their breath as the Neuroi looked at her before it flew in even closer; within an arm's reach.
She stuttered, "H-hello Mr. Neuroi. My name is Yoshika Miyafuji," she bowed, "I'm not going to hurt you." The alien turned to the doctor next; he looked confused on what to do. He adjusted his glasses, "Uh… well… hello… uh I'm Evan… uh." He looked down at his hand at the crystal, "Oh right…" he held it up so that the creature could see, "Uh this is a memory crystal. If you want to communicate… uh maybe you could… I don't know… transmit data via li-"
He took a step back along with the others when the chest of the alien opened and a dark red glow could be seen from within.
"Uh…" he looked back and forth; everyone was memorized by the sight. Yoshika took a small step back; the last time this had happened she was nearly tricked by the Warlock.
From the core, a small, dim, red beam hit the crystal giving it an orange glow; Lansby's computer began to beep indicating it had incoming data. It had no idea how to process the data because it didn't recognize the format; it waited for a prompt on how to proceed. Lansby carefully handed the crystal to Yoshika as he reached for the computer. Realizing Microsoft wasn't prepared for this kind of situation, he switched to the Ancient operating system downloaded from Atlantis.
The computer took a second to reprocess the data as Ancient text flickered across the screen faster than anyone could decipher. Minutes passed before it beeped and images began to flicker across the screen; Adolfine leaned in behind him as the two began to study the images. Lansby was confused at what he was looking at but Adolfine seemed to have an idea; she pursed her lips as she looked at the Neuroi. The creature deactivated it's beam and slowly lifted off and angled itself back to the hive. The witches tracked it with their weapons till it disappeared from view.
"Alright everyone back to the ship, we need to review this and decide where to go from there." Adolfine stated loudly and clearly.
The others nodded in understanding while they waited for the AVM and the others to re-board the tank. Once it turned around and headed back towards the ship, the witches followed after it one by one.
January 12, 1946 1739 Hours- Borealis Briefing Room, Novgorod, Orussia
Vought looked around the room as everyone thought about what they had witnessed from the download courtesy of the Neuroi. Everyone was talking quietly to one another as they attempted place their thoughts. He looked to the eldest witch present and cleared his throat.
Adolfine blinked a few times before shaking her head; she looked around with a neutral expression, "Frankly everyone, I have no idea what to think." She gestured to the images still flickering across the screen in a slideshow, "If all this is what this hive wants," images from the Gallian hive and the original Venezian hive came to the front. No terror or destruction, just interactions with one Yoshika Miyafuji and the near contact with Takei Junko. Other images included high altitude observations of people having fun and mutual relationships; a lot of images showed people working together to fix problems. After everything everyone had seen from these creatures before, this was shocking. "Then we may be able to form a truce of sorts with this hive. If the data concerning the hives over Karlsland is true… we need to end this fast." The images changed to show the massive cloud formations clouding her home country. Beams of red light were seen trying to hit the Neuroi that had been taking the images.
She paused as she shook momentarily; she looked at the colonel, "Chris, I honestly have no idea what to do right now. I… I think I need to sleep on this… or something. We need to wait and see what command wants to do anyway."
Vought nodded, "Alright then," he looked around, "Any opinions ladies and gentlemen?"
Vitaly looked around before shrugging, "Personally I believe for the moment we can trust this hive not to attack us; an enemy of my enemy is my friend is it not?"
"Sure trust them why don't we? Why not just let them stab us in the back?"
Everyone slowly turned with an eyebrow raised to look at Pierce as he sat back down.
Ross opened his mouth before closing it and thinking, "Well Frank… that is indeed a good point. I had no idea you felt that way."
The doctor grinned as he shrugged, "Well someone had to say it since the colonel over there took my line before I could say it. We just need to look at both sides of the coin here."
They all nodded; it was an important point.
"Lansby?"
Evan looked up from his computer as he attempted to decipher the code the Neuroi used to communicate. "Well… both are valid points but," he thought. "This thing knows we have the firepower to kill it 100 times over and yet it is allowing us to be within an arm's reach and it isn't doing anything about it. It has nothing to gain from attacking us so I feel that for now, I think we'll be ok." He looked back down at the code.
"I believe for the time being Col Sokolov and Evan are correct. From what we've been able to gain from Eila, she doesn't see them attacking us for now. Remember her visions and readings only go so far." Minna stated as she looked around the room. The others nodded before turning back to Galland.
She sighed, "Alright then, the consensus is to refrain from action for the time being. Tomorrow we will continue observations but as long as the hive doesn't do anything, we will leave it alone. I guess for the rest of the evening… I don't know, colonel, you decide then we need to go tell the rest of the witches."
Chris groaned as he leaned back, "Do you really need me for…" He caught her stare and sighed; throwing his hands up in defeat, "Fine, fine, we'll do it your way. Dismissed for tonight, don't do anything stupid."
Everyone nodded in agreement before standing and breaking up the meeting; conversations started as they headed towards the door. They all stopped and blinked as the door slid open.
Two witches collapsed on top of each other and blinked at the officers in fear before standing and running away. Vought chuckled from his seat, "They didn't get anything, these doors are soundproof." He chuckled again; he wished he had a camera for Kinkade and Knispel's faces; priceless. He looked around, "Alright Adolfine, let's get this over with."
The commander of the witch units finished her glare at the door and nodded, "Alright then, I just hope you have a way to distract them once we're done. Something tells me they aren't going to be too happy." She walked past the confused officers and left.
"…Why do I have to come up with a distraction?"
January 12, 1946 1824 Hours- Jumper Bay 3, Novgorod, Orussia
Bay 3 was crowded; extremely so but at least it wasn't as cramped as bay 1. To fit six fighter wings and the two land witch units, the few remaining items in the room had to be moved elsewhere least some of them would have had to sleep elsewhere.
The conversations stopped as Galland, Wilcke, and a rather perturbed and depressed Col Vought entered. They made their way through the crowd to reach some of the crates still stacked near the door. The witches in the room quieted down again as the colonel started to whisper into his collar; turning he nodded to Galland who cleared her throat.
"Alright everyone here's the deal," Her voice echoed around the room from the speakers. "After reviewing the information we received from the Neuroi and discussing it with the ship's officers... we've decided to refrain from action for the time being." She had to speak up over the angry and confused voices, "Look we aren't in a good position right now but neither is the hive. For the next few days we are going to carefully observe the hive but as long as it doesn't try anything, we won't either. Command will be giving us new orders tomorrow so we will update you then. Till then, the colonel has a few things to say."
Vought shook himself out of his thoughts as he felt everyone's eyes on him. Looking to his side, he beckoned a witch forward. Most of the witches present didn't recognize her but a few did; she had arrived a few hours earlier along with three other witches from Fuso. Three of them would be returning in the morning. "Alright everyone as Galland has stated we have decided that we will not be engaging or patrolling tonight; leave that to my people. We've managed to repair the door to bay 4 so we will be resuming 302 patrols. Another thing, as you ladies know, we are currently stuck here for the time being. It is going to take at least a week to make enough repairs to takeoff again." He swept his gaze across the room as they all listened aptly to him; his eyes lingered for a moment on Preddy before he averted his gaze. The message that had arrived from Allied Command was causing his blood pressure to rise.
He shook his head again, "Anyway, there is something else to discuss." He looked around the room again before he locked his eyes onto a witch, "Sergeant Miyafuji, please step forward."
Lynette gasped as Yoshika stiffened before standing; she was shaking slightly as was looking about in confusion. Everyone's eyes were on her as she slowly made her way to the two officers and the other witch.
He looked down on her with a neutral expression before turning to the new witch, "Go ahead."
The witch nodded nervously before climbing up on the crate. She looked around again before locking eyes with Miyafuji. "I am Sgt Shizuka Hattori of the IFN," she pulled an envelope from the shoulder bag she carried, "By the order of the Admiral of the Imperial Fuso Navy, Sgt Yoshika Miyafuji is hereby promoted to the rank of Pilot Officer for valor in the face of danger and will enjoy all privileges this rank holds." She looked up to see all the stunned faces staring at them and blushed as she looked away; she looked back to Yoshika and smiled, "Congratulations ma'am."
There was a pregnant pause before the room burst into cheers and applause, everyone extremely happy for the young witch. Yoshika blinked in astonishment before finding herself being tackled by Francesca and Lynette; and soon after them, Erica as well. Vought and Galland smiled as they took a few steps back and hopped down from the crates; they wanted to let the new officer enjoy the moment. Hattori was yelling at Yoshika to start acting more like an officer.
The two of them let the interactions and congratulations continue for a few minutes before the colonel hopped back on the crate. "Congratulations Pilot Officer Miyafuji on your promotion."
Yoshika beamed at him before being led away by Hartmann and Lucchini with the other two following around behind them. He looked around the room again with another smirk on his face, "Anyway ladies, I'm going to leave you be for the night so, please enjoy." The room darkened and the door behind him lit up as he hopped back down. The four fighter wings that had been present the first time this had happened quieted down instantly at the sound of the music and sat on the floor. The other two fighter wings and the assorted extra witches looked around confused before either being pulled to the ground by another or just sat down in confusion. Even Galland slowly lost the will to walk as she stared at the screen; a slight look of annoyance mixed with glee crossed her face as she too sat down to watch. He grinned as the door slid shut behind him; no one had even noticed him leave. They were all mesmerized by the text crawl as Episode V began to play.
He took a few steps down the hall before he punched the wall in anger remembering the communique they had received from Britannia.
Soon after the Carrier's destruction, Borealis Bridge
"Alright gents we just got a response from Command," Galland stated as the tech finished transcribing the message. She took the paper from him and glazed over it before sighing, "They are telling us to await further orders meaning we won't hear from them again till tomorrow. Churchill is probably pulling a meeting together to determine what they want us to do."
The bridge crew groaned as she continued to read the message; she frowned, "Chris, can I speak to you in private?"
The colonel blinked as he looked around; the crew averted their eyes and pretended to act busy as he sighed and stood up. He beckoned her towards the door.
They walked down the passageway until they were finally alone, "What's up?"
She sighed again as she read from the letter, "With regards to Maj Geena Preddy of the Liberion Army Air Corp. Liberion command has reconvened and has reached a new verdict with what to do with the major after her accident. With the end in sight and the potential loss of life high, we have reached the decision that Maj Geena Preddy will be Retired as of the 15th of January, 1946. It is recommended that at this time you move the major to a safe location as to not put her in harm's way. We thank her for absolute tenacity in regards to combat and her wish to continue fighting to the end however her age and the accident has accelerated her removal from service. Upon the end of the war, she will receive a ceremony thrown in her honor where she will receive rewards from every country she has helped defend. Please extend our thanks to her for her service." She looked up, "It goes on to say a few more things but they really don't matter… What the hell do we do?"
He blinked and stared in disbelief; his hands clenching and unclenching in unrestrained anger. He took a deep breath and exhaled strongly, "Alright, they've made their decision. We can't do anything about that but we can delay it. I mean you and I are the only ones who know about this out here because you're in charge of the witch units right?
She nodded
"Then we just don't tell her, it's that simple. She deserves to hold her rank till all this ends."
She sighed, "I'm going to catch so much flak for this… agreed, we won't tell her. She is going to see the end as a member of the witches."
The two shook on it as they headed back to the bridge.
Present
He straightened up again and calmed down as someone came around the corner. He started to walk by before he was stopped. He looked up to find Vitaly holding a bottle of vodka up with a pair of glasses, "Come my friend, you and I could use a drink."
The American snorted and rolled his eyes before staring at the bottle. He shook his head, "Hell Vitaly if we're drinking, we are not drinking that weak shit. Come on, follow me."
The Russian blinked in confusion before staring at the bottle; it was strong and very good stuff. What was he calling weak?
A few minutes later the two of them entered Vought's room and Chris began to rummage around in a case hidden under his bed. As he searched for something, Vitaly took a seat at the colonel's table and poured himself a glass as he looked around the room. "Found it." Vought stated as he slammed the bottle on the table.
Vitaly stared at in disbelief, "…You're not serious?"
Vought grinned as he yanked the top off his bottle of Everclear, "Oh hell yes I'm serious… uh limit of one glass per person… half a glass… this is going to suck, why do I even have this?"
Another step closer to the end. So, the Neuroi is trying to communicate; is it an elaborate ploy or is this hive actually attempting to coexist with humanity? Only time will tell so you guys are going to have to wait and see what happens. Anyway, I'm going to answer a few questions now. One question that I was asked was, "What is Silver Tower and Armstrong?" Well, the answer is one in the same; in the Dale Brown universe, the USAF Space Command has a military space station in orbit called Armstrong. It is capable of tracking hundreds of targets at once and was capable of shooting down ballistic missiles. It also carried a high power anti-everything laser that was a controversial point in the books. In order to protect it from lasers, it had a silver alloy coating that worked extremely well in protecting it and thus the nickname, "Silver Tower." Next question, "Will I ever discuss what happened between chapter 14 and 15?" The short answer is yes; as I said before, I had a minor concussion and ended up missing the start of the semester of school. My Christmas chapter that was supposed to be chapter 15 is still not finished; I had an ending planned but, my memories of that week are still kind of fuzzy. That chapter will be published as a one-shot in the future (it may be part of a set of one-shots that will fill the gaps between arcs) so it may just take some time; it will be out. Alright then, hint time; Hint #2, the next arc will take place in the US (90% of the time). Have you figured it out yet? I'm trying to be vague enough that I can stretch out these hints but I may have to let you guys know before the end of this arc; I think I started too early. If you want to guess make sure to pm me and not post it as a review; I don't want to give it away too early and I don't want people assuming something and end up disappointed. These hints are actually really hard to come up with without revealing everything. As always readers, Ghostrider21 signing off, see you next time.