A Long Walk in the Dark - Arc 1

by Ghostrider21

After being fitted with an experimental drive system the crew of the Borealis is sent on a blind jump to another reality. Damage sustained leaves her lost and unable to return home. This is the story of her crew and her CO's mission to return them home. At all cost.

19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19: Goodbye?

So… I'm back… please don't shoot me for taking so long; life happens and stuff like that. I really need to stop saying stuff like two weeks… at least when I'm this busy. Anyway, we've finally reached the end… hope it goes out with a bang. That's really all I have for now but please, read my afterword; I've got some stuff you guys should see. I own nothing but my characters and the storyline; everything else belongs to their respective companies.

Previously

"-ommand this is the Borealis. All witches accounted for; we're clear."

The command tent finally burst into cheers as Galland sighed and leaned in her chair, "About damn time colonel. I hope you know I'm kicking your ass when I get over there."

Borealis Bridge

Vought sighed at Adolfine's response as he looked around the bridge, "… Duly noted…" He awkwardly patted the white haired witch currently squeezing the life out of him as she silently sobbed into his chest. The people on the bridge chatted and cheered animatedly about their final action. He snorted as he watched a distraught Minna practically crushed Mio as the later was checked over by Pierce. Her eye patch was gone and he noticed that her normally purple eye was back to normal; she had apparently lost her magic. Sharing a glance with Sokolov, he let his head drop back against the headrest and closed his eyes while grinning.

One thought went through his head as he sat there staring at the ceiling, "Mission Accomplished."

January 22, 1946 0848 Hours- Borealis Bridge, Britannian Channel

"You know, this is kinda cute."

"I think it's rather creepy."

"Same I agree with you."

Vought's eye twitched again and again as the witches continued to talk as if he wasn't there. "I'm right here you know? And does someone want to help me or not?"

The four females rubbed their chins in thought as they looked at each other. Federica turned back to him in the command chair, "Hm… nah, I'm emotionally tired I think I need food and a nap."

The colonel sighed and gave his best pleading face to the remaining three witches, "Please?"

Ayaka sighed and grinned before looking to the remaining two, "What do you think Preddy?"

Geena covered her mouth as she giggled uncontrollably; she finally regained enough composure that she could shrug without breaking out laughing. Huberta just sighed and made her way over to the colonel to help pry the target of his question off him. With the three of them helping, they managed to pull the white haired witch off of him; allowing him to stand and make a beeline for the door.

"What's the rush?"

"Bathroom"

"…"

The four witches turned back to the newcomer as she attempted to clean up her face. Geena stared at her eyes as the witch silently averted them; going red in the face as she did so. "So, who are you and are you ok?"

The witch nodded before grabbing the hem of her uniform; twisting it as she did so. "… Sub-Lt Laura Fontaine… Faraway Land…" she whispered out in a melodic voice.

Preddy and Dogilo stared at her in amazement, "Your voice… it's so pretty"

Laura went beet red as she stood there; her wolf ears folding flat on her head in embarrassment.

"Did you say Fontaine?"

They turned as Minna finally made her way over. Apparently Mio was fine but Pierce wanted her in the infirmary to run some test. Minna watched as the witch played with her absurdly long hair and nodded.

"…Yes ma'am"

Minna smiled as she looked at her, "It's nice to meet you Laura, I'm CDR Minna Wilcke of the 501st."

The white haired witch nodded, "…I know who you are ma'am… everybody does. It's nice to meet you too."

Pierce finally noticed he had missed someone as he was on his way out; he walked over and hesitated before approaching, "Are you all right lieutenant? If you don't mind, I'd like to have you checked out in the infirmary." He turned to the commander, "That means you as well ma'am; doctor's orders."

Minna froze for a moment as she looked at him; by the door Mio chuckled as she was wheeled from the room on a gurney; she was too tired to even walk. Geena and Federica joined in as Ayaka and the colonel reentered the room.

Vought looked back and forth in confusion, "What'd I miss?"

Two Hours Later, HMNB Portsmouth, Britannia

The massive number of people cheered, hollered, and whispered as the once again floating Borealis drifted alongside an open pier and came to a rest. It's escort of destroyers and the battleships Yamato and Montana broke away as they headed off to their own piers.

Galland impatiently tapped her foot as she waited with the two pilots of Hydra flight and select members of Allied Command. This was the first time that a large number of civilians and well, anybody got an up and close look at the Ancient ship; she suppressed a grin as she listened to the whispers they had.

Minutes later one of the bay doors finally swung open allowing the procession of witches, led by a mostly recovered Major Sakamoto, to exit. The crowd's volume at least tripled as fireworks went off and they came to a stop in front of her. The major grinned and saluted, "Mission complete ma'am, all witches accounted for. Requesting new orders."

Everyone quieted down as the Air Vice-Marshal saluted back, "All witch units can hereby stand down until further notice. The war is over."

The crowd burst into cheers again as Galland wrapped the major up in a hug, "Damn good job Mio… what happened to you?" She whispered in her ear as she looked into her eyes.

Mio gave her large grin, "We'll explain later ma'am but you need to thank him for everything." She pointed into the bay where Vought and the others could be seen looking out over them; they all wore smirks as they looked around.

Patting Mio on the shoulder Galland maneuvered around her before marching straight towards the open bay; the witches parted as she walked past. The colonel cast her an amused look as he lazily saluted, "Morning ma'am how are yo-" he coughed out in surprise as her fist planted itself in his gut.

"That was for putting a hole in Berlin," she stated as he doubled over trying to catch his breath. The other members of the crew snorted as he stared at her; his face asking why?

Finally recovering at least partially he tried to speak, "…-at… kinda… hurt…Adolfi…!" His eyes went wide again as she grabbed onto his collar and mashed her face into his; kissing him in front of everyone. The crowd went ballistic as the crew and even the witches joined in.

"Way to go ma'am, Woo!"

"I didn't think you had it in ya sir but damn…"

Galland finally released him, "And that was for saving my homeland Chris, thank you." She started walking into the interior of the ship before pausing and turning around; the colonel had yet to move and still had a look of complete surprise plastered on his face. Sighing to herself she grabbed his collar and began dragging him with her, "Come on colonel; we still have a debrief to do." She eyed the others around her, "That means you lot as well, come on."

The officers continued to chuckle amongst themselves as they followed after the two of them.

January 22, 1946 1103 Hours- Borealis Briefing Room

"Alright then Chris, what the hell happened at the end of the battle?... ?"

"…She kissed me…"

Galland groaned and rubbed her face as the colonel continued to stare off blankly into space. The others continued to watch him; completely amused by the situation.

Finally having enough with it she slammed her fist down on the table surprising the group of them. She was even more surprised at the reactions from Vought and Sokolov; the two of them had a complete 180 on personality and had their weapons drawn before anyone else had even reacted. The two of them blinked in astonishment before slowly lowering them and looking around.

Vought blinked again, "What just happened?"

Adolfine groaned again and let her head flop on the table as the others sighed. She glared at him as she pulled herself back up, "Briefing now, explanation later."

He blinked again and slowly nodded as he safed his pistol, "…Ok then…" he looked around still in confusion at the annoyed and amused faces around him. "Uh alright…"

Two Hours Previously, Capital-Class Neuroi

Nemes and the others rocked as the alien screeched out in pain while it slowly began to regenerate. Just like all the others, it had a lapse in judgment and began to slowly turn to attempt to spot its attacker.

This bought the men the time they needed to finish prepping the captain's hair-brained scheme. The major looked around weakly as she found herself surrounded by cables and black packs, "What… are you doing…?" She blinked awake when she found one of them crouching over her, "Wh-what?"

"Sorry ma'am but we don't have much time. Uh… I'm going to try and cover you; things are going to get loud… and dangerous."

All Alex could think about as he crouched over the surprised witch was the countdown timer that was flashing red; they had two minute to get as far away as possible. He thought he could hear the sonic booms of the metal rods about to obliterate their position. Receiving a nod from the others, he crouched low as the two witches covering them backed away.

Placed around the major was a length of det cord in a vaguely square shape and on the outside of that was a series of wall size breaching charges. One of the men on the signal blew the charges and hoped for the best.

Blowing first, the water filled breaching charges managed to blow small chunks out of the hide of the alien making it bellow in pain. A millisecond later the det cord blew; the cracks formed by the breaching chargesgave up under the force of the cord blowing and a large chunk of the hide fell off; it broke apart as it and its two occupants slid to a stop. Mio groggily sat up as she found herself free of her prison. She covered her ears as the alien screamed out again; firing its smaller lasers indiscriminately. She found herself being helped to her feet as the alien began to bank again as Marseille and Pottgenn made their way back to them. The other men slowly made their way over as they shook soot, debris, and shards off themselves.

"We've got to move it people I don't think I can take another hit."

Rai nodded at Marseille's statement and sighed before motion caught her eye and she emptied her remaining ammo into some drones that attempted to ambush them. They shattered as she dropped the gun; she was out as well.

"Alright then I think it's time we-" Nemes was cut off as the alien heaved again from a pair of 302s making a pass; this time though the alien didn't level out again and continued its turn to chase after the fleeing fighters. The group of men and the major began to slide along the surface as the two witches followed after them.

One of them called out as they managed to get back on their feet; running towards the edge with Nemes carrying the major on his shoulder. They quickly reached the edge as sonic booms sounded and the massive laser fired again.

"SON OF A BITCH!"

"I DON'T WANT TO DIE!"

Nemes couldn't make a statement as the group of them was pitched over the side. Marseille and Pottgen glanced at each other before nose-diving after them.

Bridge

The colonel's mind raced as the ship took another battering from the remaining large type and the capital type. The countdown clock on the screen flashed red; they had less than two minutes to make their move.

"Sir; the 508th and 503rd can't make it within range of us. They've begun heading towards the coast."

"Damn… alright, have the closest 302 flight escort them free. We don't have time to recover them so all flights are to make best possible speed out of Karlsland."

The tech nodded at the colonel's orders as he radioed the flights. On the sensor screen, the crew could see the 302 flights bugging out in various directions. A quick scan of the airspace gave the colonel all he needed to finally move the ship away.

"I think we've overstayed our welcome; somebody lock Nemes and his group. They just fell off the bastard."

Minna glanced at him with a look of sheer desperation and he nodded causing her to sigh and begin crying again.

As the ship banked around and floored it, a flash of light filled the bridge followed by a gust of wind and yells of surprise and pain.

The four men landed on their faces or backs on the bridge floor and bounced as they decelerated. Rai had at least expected something like this to happen and had thrown her legs forward and throttled up causing her to come to a hover inches above the floor. Marseille on the other hand had either forgotten what was about to happen or just didn't care and had continued her dive… right in to a surprised Gusav, eliciting a grunt of pain from the Russian even with the armor taking the brunt of the blow. The witch's strikers shut off and went silent as the captain laid there on the Russian as people burst into action to check on them.

Minna forgetting how tired she was ran over to Nemes as he uncurled and stared at the ceiling from his back; he shrugged his helmet off and looked at the colonel, "Never…again…sir…"

Minna grabbed the still groggy and confused Mio and wrapped her in a bone-crushing hug as she balled loudly. The confused major slowly pat her on the shoulder as she tried to remember what happened.

"I don't remember saying to beam them to the BRIDGE…" Vought growled out as the chair continued it's spin. His eyes danced beneath closed eyelids as he began to pick up the incoming projectiles; he did not have a lot of time to react. Thinking quickly he activated the cloak again and threw the ship in a random direction. He did not want the ship to take another hit from that cannon. Both sublights jumped to full power and the ship began racing away from the doomed hive.

The capital-type finally realized it's prey had escaped and screamed out in unrestrained rage. It knew that it had lost and that it would not survive this day. Looking around to attack something, anything, the capital-type slowly turned to face the one target it knew it could; the giant gun that had damaged it and that was being spotted by another hive. Taking aim, it charged it's main weapon and fired.

Bridge

Vought began to sweat as he thought up a plan, "Options, options…" His eyes snapped open as Serenity appeared again, "Charge the hyperdrive NOW!"

The crew went silent at his command before jumping into action; that was the only plan left and the countdown was 30 seconds and counting. The only problem was the drive hadn't been tested since the original landing all those months ago.

One of the techs glanced up from his console as another timer appeared, "Sir the drive has to spool. T-twenty seconds."

Everyone glanced at the timers on the screen; there was a three second difference.

"Sir, this is Hunter flight. That massive bogey just hit one of those giant railway guns. Looks like it's… THERE'S PEOPLE ONBOARD AND ITS COLLASPING!"

The crew whipped their heads towards the colonel as he began to go white; with the interference, they would not be able to get a lock from that far away.

12 seconds

"THEY'RE FALLING… TARGETS PAINTED WITH LASER! GRAB THEM!"

5 seconds

Without even trying to work with the regulators for the chair, Vought used the ships vast processing power in order to make the immense calculations necessary for a long distance beam out via a paint. His eyes snapped open as the bridge filled with another burst of white light.

1 second

In front of the ship, the hyperspace window tore open as the orbital ballistic projectiles reached the end of their flight. As the ship vanished into the opening, the shockwave from the Berlin one smashed into them as the window closed. It opened again moments later over the Britannian Channel with a trail of vapor marking it's path.

On the bridge, Vought choked as an absurdly long white haired witch crushed him after surviving the transport. Another three men had also appeared with her at various locations on the bridge. It had taken her a second to realize that she was going to survive and after that she had given up on all sense of composure and began to quietly sob into his chest.

The crew exhaled in unison as they began chuckling at the close call they had just had before the lights began to flicker again. They all turned to Serenity in fear as she frowned, "Engine 1 has overheated and has shut down."

As she vanished they all went white as they realized what that meant.

"Oh SHITTTTT!" Someone blurted out as the ship once again began to fall right out of the sky. Lucky for them this time it was over water; moments later the ship had a less than stellar landing in the middle of the massive number of warships sitting off the Karlsland coast.

Present

Galland rubbed her chin as he finished, "Interesting… does this white haired witch have a name?"

"Sub-Lt. Laura Fontaine, ma'am."

Adolfine blinked in surprise, "Gustav is gone then huh… damn." She looked at the colonel, "And you've met Fontaine now huh? Interesting"

Ross leaned forward, "What may I ask is so special about her?"

Galland sighed as she closed her eyes, "Fontaine is a crazy genius; you've met Hartmann's sister and you know just how smart she is. Fontaine is like two or three of her; it's crazy. She wanted to join the research institute but that was before we discovered her abilities and command ignored her and threw her on the frontlines. She cannot fight though; she has a breakdown the closer she gets to the enemy so-"

"So they put her with an artillery unit."

She nodded at Sokolov, "Indeed; apparently she still freaked out but nowhere near as bad as before. Anyway did you notice anything… off about her?"

Vought frowned as he thought, "Besides the Heterochromia?"

She nodded, "Well one thing should probably be known; her hair was originally brown."

The officers blinked at her in surprise as she sighed, "Fontaine is one of the only recorded cases of an absurdly rare genetic condition in at least twenty years."

Alexei tilted his head, "And?"

"And," she continued, "When she met her familiar for the first time and activated her magic her eyes and hair changed but that's not the only thing. Her familiar ears and tail… she can never dismiss them. Until she or her familiar dies… she cannot dismiss it."

A Few Hours Later, Temporary Demonstration Field

"So borrreeedddd… Why don't we get to do anything?"

Huberta sighed and rolled her eyes as she looked to Joe, "Really? We were in the largest battle… ever, just a few hours ago and you're bored already."

Foss nodded quickly, "Yep that's the gist of it. You think they'd mind if I go shoot or do something?"

"Yes"

After Galland had met with the senior ship officers, she, Vought, and Ross had re-explained the day's events to the true men in charge; Winston Churchill, President Truman, Emperor Frederick IV, to name a few. The only ranking Fuso officer in the area was CAPT Sugita Junzaburo; the Yamato was currently docked alongside the Borealis as a distraught and tired Decker went back to work once again putting the engines back together. The only upside this time was he got as much time as he needed to repair all the engines; the next time the ship would be taking off, they would be leaving. In the meantime, the world's leaders wanted to see what the witches and only a select few soldiers, living and dead had seen. At Portsmouth's firing range, a number of weapons had been laid out as Thomas and a few men wearing the Tin Man armor walked them through the details. Elsewhere, one of the CIDs was performing another demonstration vs a pair of Sherman tanks.

Joe frowned as she watched the soldiers playing with their guns in front of the military leaders… impressing them. She liked action… lack of action was bad for her mental state; she sighed… if only she could do something…? She eyed the table and her eyes lit up… that was a big grenade…

Huberta snapped out of it when she heard the ping and spun in alarm to find Joe looking the grenade over… with the spoon clenched tight.

"Joe… put the pin back and put it down…"

Foss looked up and brought the grenade closer to her protectively, "But I wanna throw it…"

Huberta grabbed her hand, "Give me that.."

"NO!"

The two of them wrestled for control of the device and both watched in horror as it was accidentally tossed towards the firing line. The spoon flopped uselessly as the now live weapon drifted closer in a gentle arc.

"GRENADE!"

The firing line froze and dove for cover except for one of the men in Tin Man armor. He watched as the grenade drifted closer and his mind blanked as he stared at it. Without thinking, he flipped the M16 he had around and grabbed the barrel before swinging a perfect golf swing; connecting with the errant explosive right before it hit the ground. The grenade immediately changed directions and flew high above the firing line before exploding in a burst of very hot burning material; the thermite grenade burnt itself out before reaching the ground again.

Everyone stared at the soldier in amazement as the man finally realized what he had just done, "Fore…" Capt Alex Nemes stated horrified as he stared; his voice wavered. He dropped the gun and collapsed.

"…Oops…."

Everyone turned and glared as the now extremely bashful and nervous Foss tried to run away.

Air Target Range, Two Days Later

"Uh… why the hell are we doing this again?"

"…You know, it sounded better when they brought the idea to us the first time. All we need to do is sit here at 60,000 feet all the way in and out. They won't have a chance."

Vought and Taylor continued to bicker as the RF-111 slowly cruised towards the combat area. At the request of Mio, followed by Minna, Joe, Adolfine, and finally the present countries leaders, the crew had been prepped once again to launch the recently repaired Vampire. The goal was a simple demonstration of airpower and the plan was simple, the F-111 had to bomb a target that was being protected by airborne and ground conventional and witch units. The problems these units had was the bomber itself; it was faster than anything they had but that wasn't needed. It's altitude limit far exceeded anything their forces had except for maybe some experimental jets or witches with rocket boosters.

Taylor rechecked their position and grunted, "We just reached the final checkpoint, might as well get clearance."

Vought sighed and nodded; he was bored, "Roger that," he changed the radio over, "Range, Range, Vapor-1 requesting clearance."

They waited patiently for a reply; the plane continuing to bore holes in the sky as they did a lazy racetrack outside the range. A scratchy reply got to them a few minutes later.

"Vapor-1… clearance granted. Rules of engagement as followed…"

The two of them looked to each other before the colonel responded, "…Roger that. Vapor-1 inbound."

The bomber banked lazily as they angled towards the sprawling range complex. The two of them checked their switches and gauges as the colonel throttled down to a leisurely 50% throttle with the wings extended all the way out. He leaned back as much as he could before unsnapping his oxygen mask and activated the autopilot. Taylor flipped up his visor and glared at him as he too yanked off his mask, "What are you doing sir?"

"Relaxing, what does it look like? This is going to be the easiest flight ever."

Range Complex, Outer Defense Ring

"This is going to be terrible; what in the world was Mio thinking?" Minna muttered to herself as she opened her eyes again and stared in the direction the bomber would be coming from. Just as she had predicted, the colonel was flying high and slow; well outside of their range… at least for the moment. A quartet of Me-262s and a few Gloster Meteors would be attempting to intercept them in a few minutes; the bomber had a few hundred kilometers to go.

For this demonstration, all units in the air and on the ground were armed with paint rounds; the bomber on the other hand… held an unknown payload so the witches needed to be on their guard. Speaking of the witches… Minna turned and closed her eyes again as she scanned the airspace nearest to her. The witches were in good positions but the plane was just too damn high. "Galland better have a plan or this is going to be over really fast."

Complex Interior, Command Bunker

"…This is going to be over really fast… I didn't really think this through did I?" Adolfine muttered to herself as she watched the blips on the radar screen.

Behind her a number high ranking officers milled about the room as they too watched a number of screens or watched out the bunker's small windows for signs of the aircraft that was still not in view. Sokolov patted her on the shoulder, "There, there, ma'am; you can't think of everything."

She turned, "But I need to think of most of them. If this goes the way it appears to be going, command is going to have no need for the witches in the future."

The Russian blinked, "I thought the plan was to retire the witches' safety after the war ended?"

"They will be; the papers are already in the works and they will out of their respective militaries in a few months. The problem is though, what if they're needed again? We need to keep some funding just in case."

"Hm… that does make sense. Tell you what, how about I help you along with this demonstration today?" He grinned as she blinked back at him in confusion as he grabbed his radio.

"…Really? But how…?"

"Alexei?... Yes, as planned."

Outside the Command Bunker, Same Time

"Hm… I wonder if I can hit them…?"

Elizabeth rolled her eyes and winced when she smacked herself in the face. She glared at her arm as if the offending appendage did it on purpose and not because she was clumsy. She sighed as she looked to the other witch she was with. Knispel was throwing her cannon barrel around as she tested it's elevation mechanism. She had spent hours making sure the horrifyingly unreliable Maybach was going to be running for this fight. The two of them along with a number of other ground witches had been stationed near the bomber's target; a plain old building with a bull's-eye painted around it. They were to be the last line of defense against the aircraft if and when it managed to make it's way through the multi-layer defenses around them.

She perked up when she heard a warning buzzer and she and Kristin both turned. They both blinked, "Um should that be –" Knispel's question was drowned out by a roar.

Capt Charlotte Yeager

She glanced at Francesca as the small Romagnan floated by her side. The young witch was bristling with energy as she quickly scanned the sky looking for the bomber.

"This, is, so, COOL! We get to show those old guys witches are the best!"

Shirley smiled before frowning; as much as she wanted to believe that, the facts hurt. She remembered when Carl had given her the rundown on the aircraft before they launched.

Pre-mission Briefing, Two Hours Previous

"Hey Carl, wait up!"

Grant turned to find the 501s and Joe's group, led by Yeager, running to catch up to him in the hall; he blinked, "Uh hey ladies… what's going on?"

They came to a halt around him causing him to back nervously into the wall, "Uh… ladies?"

Joe pointed at Mio as the latter walked along on her crutches, "The major here just put the lot of us in a war game vs the bomber of yours hiding in the hold."

He blinked, "The Vampire?"

Yeager nodded, "Exactly, we need you to give us as much information as you can on it's strengths and weaknesses now."

"Um… yeah, I think I can do that. How much time do you have?" Grant started thinking about where he was going to get that data from or if he should just repeat everything he knew from memory.

"About an hour till we need to be airborne," Minna stated calmly.

"Uh… well shit, we better get moving." He waved them after him as he cut through the ship looking through an open room. A few minutes later he gave up trying to find one and ushered them all into his room.

"Alright ladies, I know things are a little crowded but bear with me," he waited for them to calm down before continuing, "Alright then the F-111 Aardvark is the frame that the Vampire is derived from…"

Present

The bomber was faster than her, could climb faster than her, and could carry a heavier payload then her. But all of that didn't matter; as long as it was above her, there was no way she could ever hope to catch it. Their few chances of catching it included the jets, jet strikers, and the little items she had requested for herself. Looking down at her strikers she checked to make sure the two magic booster rockets were still firmly attached.

"Alrighty then…" she muttered as she noticed a tiny black dot in the distance. "We need a… miracle?"

A large something rocketed past the two of them on a trail of fire knocking Francesca about as it did.

Vapor-1

"Hm?"

Vought turned to Taylor, "What's up?"

"Well uh…" he pointed at the Threat Warning Receiver, "… listen." He cranked the volume up as the colonel re-snapped his oxygen mask.

"dee…dee…dee…dee"

The colonel blinked behind his mask, "That's… a search radar? They only have early warning radars, nothing like that can cause it to…"

"deedeedeedeedeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee… warning missile launch, SA-21," A female voice quietly stated as the radar went from search mode to target acquisition mode.

The two of them stared at console in disbelief for a moment before…

"AHHHHHHH!" They both screamed in fear as Vought rolled inverted and yanked back on the stick. He shoved the throttles to max and swept the wings full back causing the bomber to plummet from the sky like a stone.

"HOLY SHIT! THAT BASTARD COLONEL JUST SHOT A LIVE MISSILE AT US!"

"YOU DON'T THINK I KNOW THAT?!"

The two struggled in their seats as the sudden change in direction and speed of their dive left them and the cockpit weightless as dirt, debris, and their checklist floated around them as the altimeter struggled to keep up with the dive.

Taylor struggled in his seat as he manipulated his controls, "Tracebreakers active… ECM coming online now… uplink shutdown. Clear to maneuver."

Vought rolled inverted again bringing them back to right-side-up and yanked back on the stick again bring them level at 1,000 feet. He killed the afterburners as the two of them frantically searched for the missile. He grunted, "Screw this, bring the LADAR online."

The LADAR screen came to life in between the two of them and showed the one thing neither of them wanted to see; a lovely virtual depiction of the very large missile making it's way towards them; completely undeterred by the jamming signals coming from the bomber. The other thing that made them go whiter still was the little TTD countdown at the bottom. The Time to Die timer was showing only seven seconds to live.

"Chaff, Flares… dispensed. BREAK RIGHT!"

The bomber heeled over into a sharp turn that crushed them into their seats as a cloud of chaff and flares were pumped out of the dispensers. They slowly fell in an ever expanding cloud that would hopefully deter the one-track mind of the missile bearing down on them.

The missile was not amused by the attempts to distract it and continued into the radar signature of the only aircraft broadcasting an IFF and an American IFF at that. The three different seeker heads in the missile were not easily deterred though for a split second, a combination of jamming and the cloud of decoys behind them got it to change its lock… at least for a second. Two seconds before impact though, it received a signal and exploded.

SA-21 Command Cab

The battery director sighed in relief as he watched the major lean back from the self-destruct button. The computer had estimated if they had delayed another second, it would have been a kill. He swallowed as he looked at the major, "Cэр…"

Alexei nodded as he wiped his forehead, "да, too close…" He grabbed his radio, "We got them below the requested altitude."

"Well done major… I do believe though he's going to have a few choice words for us later…"

Airspace Defense Ring

"Did they…"

"Just"

"Launch"

"At the colonel?" Thach muttered to herself as she and every fighter wing near them stared at the trail of smoke the missile had left. "Why would they do that?"

Mie gasped as she opened her eyes, "The bomber… it's below 10,000 meters now!"

Thach and the others blinked for a moment before grinning, "That means they are fair game… let's move it ladies!"

The witches blinked for a moment before grinning; they had a chance now.

Across the airspace, the witches converged on the now vulnerable aircraft.

Vapor-1

"Ho…ly…shit… Did we just… Did that just…"

"It did…" Vought wheezed as he greedily sucked in O2; that was too damn close for comfort. What the hell was Vitaly thinking?

Taylor blinked as he regained his breath; the LADAR was showing inbound targets. He choked when he glanced at the altimeter. "We've lost all our altitude. We're within range of the ladies."

"Son of a bitch… Sokolov knew we'd go low to avoid that. Time to get the hell out of here."

With that said, the colonel pushed the throttles back up to full and banked away as he pulled back on the stick. The agile bomber responded as it climbed on two cones of fire; screeching back towards the safety of altitude. The moment they crossed 10,000 feet…

"dee…dee…dee…dee…dee…"

The two of them choked in fear before they dropped in altitude again; the search radar stopped as they dropped below that threshold.

"Son of a bitch…" Vought muttered as he realized they were trapped below the witches' maximum altitude. They were limited to Mach 1 due to air pressure so all of the aircraft's advantages went out the window. He snapped his mask off as this all hit him at once; he grinned. This was going to be more interesting then he thought. He snapped it back on as he dove towards the ground again.

(Na Na Na- My Chemical Romance)

"It seems our altitude is being limited… get the TFR online. Time to see how low they wanna go."

Taylor sighed audibly before nodding and began to set the switches before checking his map to see what changes he needed to make to keep them on time.

"Damn it all to hell… alright, new heading; come left 072. We're going blow right through them. Balls to the wall all the way in."

The pilot nodded as the heading bug on his HUD moved and he turned to follow it as the TFR came online and the bomber started to hug the earth; it was time to get serious.

504th

The twin cones of fire vanished from the witches view as the 504th rushed towards them.

"Are they trying to run?" Takei muttered as she and the others spread out.

Dom shook her head as she pointed with her pistol, "No… I think he's coming at us."

"Impossible they wouldn't be that reckl-" Angela was cut short as the bomber blew through their midst racing towards the target.

Takei blinked; she was already losing at her defense mission, "After them!"

Vapor-1

The two crew members were in the zone now as they made a beeline for the target; zigzagging about as they tried to throw off their pursuers. Taylor silently updated the map with new waypoints as the colonel used the TFR to hug the ground as close as possible. Every few seconds he would scan out the canopy looking for any threats.

He blinked as he spotted a quartet of dots descending from above. "Bandits coming down the ramp; chaff, flares, and BREAK LEFT!"

The bomber creaked as it skid into a left turn at 100 feet off the ground; trying to break the sound barrier as the fighters tried to run them down.

Above them, the four Britannian Gloster Meteors attempted to lead the maneuvering aircraft but were forced to pop their speed breaks and level their dive; they couldn't keep up with the accelerating bomber and had dived too early. The lead pilot hit his radio as the four of them climbed back up. "We missed them ma'am; it's up to the 262s"

Vought spared a glance over his shoulder before sighing in relief; that was close. "Why the hell didn't the LADAR pick them up?"

Taylor scanned the instrument panel and growled as he smacked the screen, "Stupid thing tripped a breaker and is resetting; man do I wish we could just use the radar."

"I don't want to cook any of the witches when they get too close and yes, they will get close; it's only a matter of time." The colonel spared another glance out the cockpit before focusing on keeping the plane as close to terra firma as possible. "Keep an eye out… I'm worried if they send a Komet after us or worse…"

Taylor looked up from his chart, "What's worse than a rocket plane?"

"Yeager"

Minna

The commander grinned slightly as she opened her eyes; the bomber's attempt to escape the Meteors drove them into their airspace.

"Alright ladies, like we planned. Bishop!"

Lynette nodded as she climbed as high as she could with Eila and Sanya sticking close by her. The three of them would find the elusive aircraft and hopefully drive them towards the stopping force.

Behind her, Yoshika and Perrine waited while Hartmann, Barkhorn, and Marseille hid above a low hanging cloud; ready to pounce on the target when it appeared. Now it was a matter of waiting.

A minute later, it was time.

"We've got something ma'am… I-I think it's them."

Minna closed her eyes again and began to glow as she scanned the airspace, "Confirmed, here they come. Eila, direct Lynette's fire. Sanya, try to distract them."

The witches confirmed their orders as they finally caught sight of the aircraft. Minna temporarily froze as she sighted the bomber.

The aircraft looked like an arrow coming straight at them as it ate up the distance between them. A massive vortex was seen behind the thing as it knifed through the cool air. A deep rumble could be heard; getting progressively louder as it approached. Finally reaching what Eila had dubbed a good range, Lyn's Boy's cracked as she began to engage.

The bomber immediately banked over nearly kissing the ground as a cloud of metal and flares appeared behind it. The shot was followed up by a second and a third as the young Britannian attempted to connect a shot. She was joined a few moments later by a burst of smoke as Sanya too engaged; she missed but her rockets had the intended effect. She had forced the bomber towards the cloud where the others waited.

"Got them…" Minna allowed herself a small smirk as it reached range.

As the bomber approached the cloud, Barkhorn's group led by Marseille, dove guns blazing.

Vapor-1

"Damn it… you see what those guys did?"

"Of course I see it damn it. Give me a new course, I don't want to try our luck again with the witches; if this is the 501st I'm seriously worried."

"…No new course available; command cut our range time down when we dropped. We either stay on course or we reach the target late…"

Vought swore as he thought; they were closing quickly and did not have a lot of time till they were within weapons range. A quick glance at the fuel gauges told him a similar story; they were less than an hour till bingo at this speed. The light bulb went on.

"Arm up the Wolverines. Let's give them something else to worry about."

The former crewdog nodded as he warmed up the bombers offensive systems and selected the weapons hanging on the two innermost pylons. They both blinked when they saw the flash from above.

"NOTCH!"

Vought threw the bomber over on its side as the TFR wailed; pumping a cloud of chaff and flares out as he was trained to. He threw the bomber into a couple of random turns hoping to throw the Britannian sniper he knew was up there off. He rolled again as he tried to steer away from the main group of witches and swore internally again as the LADAR painted a trio of targets hiding above them in a cloud.

"Launch now before they have a chance and get me the HELL back on course."

As the witches dove on them, the two AGM-177 Wolverines dropped off the pylons and used their mission adaptive skin to throw themselves clear of the bomber while their engines spooled. Receiving their commands, the two missiles broke off in separate directions as they powered towards the target complex; if the bomber wasn't going to make it, they would.

Minna

Minna, Yoshika, and Perrine watched as the two objects fell off the aircraft only to begin maneuvering and racing towards the bomber's target. Minna frowned, this wasn't in the plan.

"Ma'am, those two… rockets are headed towards the range, what do you want us to do?"

The commander was torn, her witches could still strike the bomber as it tried to turn away again but if they did, those two missiles would get away. She smirked; the colonel was extremely cunning. He was going to get his job done one way or another. "Go after the rockets ladies. Let our ace in the hole get the colonel."

The two with her stared curiously before following after their commander; above them, the three witches dove and formed up with them before chasing after one of the two missiles. The other three witches broke off their attack on the bomber and started to chase the other one.

Vapor-1

The two crewmembers chuckled nervously as they watched the retreating figures of the 501st behind them. The two Wolverines were reporting that they were being chased and were maneuvering to evade them and for the moment were successful. The bomber's pursuit was successfully diverted.

"Alright then sir… I think that I'm done after this; I'm not as young as I used to be."

Chris looked over, "You sure Taylor?"

"Positive sir… it was fun flying again but I think I'll leave this kind of action to you youngsters."

"…I understand. Thank you for doing this; I don't think I would have ever been able to pull this off otherwise."

Taylor grinned under his mask and reached over and patted his pilot on the shoulder, "It was a pleasure. But don't talk like that yet sir; we still got to show these people what a couple of ground pounders can do."

The bomber skimmed over the surface of a lake throwing up a rooster tail before banking slightly over.

"Steering bug adjusted; estimate three minutes to target. Airspeed for toss is set for 590 knots. Don't bust it or it's going wide."

"Roger, begin checking switches."

Taylor nodded as he pulled his checklist out and began the 'Before Release Checklist'; making sure the bomb bay panel was armed and everything was receiving power before checking the attack computer to make sure everything was set properly; The PAVE TAC pod in the bay was powered up as it ran a self-test.

The LADAR flickered again as they crossed back over land; it was detecting something. The colonel glanced over and noticed it; Taylor was too wrapped up with his checklist to see it.

"Wait a second…"

"I SEE YOU!"

The two of them jerked in surprise; they weren't expecting anyone else on their channel.

Taylor went white… again as Vought slammed the throttles back to 100%; they couldn't afford the afterburner right then.

"Shit… she found us."

"Took longer than I was expecting but… yeah."

Vought craned his neck as he tried to find her, "Where is she?"

"No idea but she isn't alone."

"Wasn't expecting her to be; Lucchini is stuck to her like glue… shit, she's catching up."

The colonel went white, "Damn she's fast,"… " How long?"

"Uh… uh… 30 seconds!"

Shirley

Francesca grinned and cheered Shirley on as the Liberion continued her dive on the bomber. It had taken the two of them much longer than they anticipated but they had finally found the elusive aircraft. Seeing how fast the aircraft was going the Romagnan witch decided that it was all up to her friend to get them; speed was just her thing.

Shirley grinned internally as she smoothly broke the sound barrier for the third time in her life as she continued to dive on the bomber; the magic rocket boosters helping to accelerate her. The black and green aircraft was much harder to find than she had thought; they had only stumbled across it by accident when they saw the spray of water and the thing's shadow on the lake. "I have you now…" she thought giddily to herself as she struggled to unsling her BAR from her back. In a matter of seconds the exercise would be over and she would have won it for them. She slipped in behind them; the heat and pressure from the exhaust was making her ears flap about like crazy. "Nice try boys," she muttered as she struggled to take aim. The queen of speed wins again…

Vapor-1

"Shit, Shit, SHIT! She's still gaining on us! What do we do?"

"Relax, Taylor we just… uh…" Vought's eyes darted across the instrument panel as he tried to think of something. His eyes fell on a lone red, plastic covered button sitting in front of the throttle quadrant; he smirked, "Well, at least it will get her off our backs… Adolfine may not like it but…"

Taylor looked over in alarm to see the colonel uncovering a button only used for airshows, "Uh sir?! That isn't a good-"

He pressed it.

"-Idea… well shit."

Vought waited a moment before pushing the throttles back into the afterburner range and the sky lit up behind them.

The button the colonel uncovered and pushed began to dump fuel out of the mast between the two engines creating a trail of fuel behind them. The moment the afterburners kicked in, that trail of fuel turned into a 140ft long tail of fire that stretched out behind the aircraft as it created it's signature dump-and-burn*.

Yeager panicked as her world caught fire; she broke off her attack and put up her shield in panic. She desperately tried to escape the flames and then suddenly, the air was cool again and the fire was gone. She came to a hover as she eyed the fleeing aircraft as the tail of fire vanished and the bomber once again hugged the dirt as it ran.

She sighed aloud as she patted ash off her jacket as Francesca came up alongside her, "That was a dirty trick sir… but it did the job… what's burning?"

Francesca pointed in horror at her, "YOUR HAIR IS ON FIRE!"

Shirley recoiled in surprise before carefully reaching for her head- yes it was on fire.

…Wait, her hair was on fire…

"AHHHHHHH!" the Liberion witch nosed over and plummeted into the lake below putting her head out in a hiss of steam. She bobbed to the surface a few moments later as a worried Lucchini floated above her.

She found the burnt ends of her hair and trembled as she stared at them, "C-COLONEL! I'M SO GOING TO KILL YOU!"

Vapor-1

Taylor pressed his face against the canopy as he watched Yeager take her frantic dive into the drink, "I think we may have cooked her… she's going to be pissed and if she's pissed…"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know; they're all gonna be pissed. Shit… that cost us a little more than I thought. How far from the target are we?"

"Um…two minutes"

"… That little airshow cost us our reserves; we're ten minutes to bingo."

The two of them sat in silence as the distance between them and their target vanished. It was almost time to end this.

"Alright then; I'm expecting more bullshit from Sokolov. Make sure the jammers and ECM gear is on before we reach range. I don't want another missile trying to fly up our ass."

"Roger"

Vought began to slow the aircraft as he lined it up for the proper attack speed. The moment they dropped below 600 knots, Taylor deployed the PAVE TAC pod from the bomb bay and leaned forward in his seat so he could stare through the scope.

"Alright then IP inbound. Just radioed the range and they've cleared up for weapons release. Seems the 501st tagged one of the Wolverines. The other got away."

He grinned; looks like the witches were about to get a taste of how effective technology could be.

Range Complex, Target Area

"Attention all defenders, an unknown weapon system is about to reach the target area. DO NOT let it hit the target. We lost radar contact with it and the colonel a few moments ago; they appear to be jamming us. Not hits on the target got it?"

The witches and conventional forces around the target nodded to themselves as the sound of weapons being checked echoed around.

Kirstin looked to Ellie and nodded as the two of them motored away from each other; the colonel was still too far out so they both ejected their paint shells. They slid to a stop in their assigned stations as they deployed their stabilizers and elevated their gun barrels before loading live rounds. A handful of men waited in sandbagged positions near them with shells in hand to help quicken the ladies rate of fire.

Ellie's ears twitched as her sensitive hearing picked up a small whine in the distance and she rotated towards the threat.

"Contact south; all units prepare to engage!"

Her 17 pounder was joined by at least a hundred others as they waited for the bomber to make its appearance. It didn't.

"What is that?"

Zooming low over the field was the small surfboard shaped Wolverine brilliant cruise missile. It detected the number of threats below and immediately took evasive action as it's imager and millimeter-wave radar detected inbound projectiles. It hauled itself into an astonishing 20 G turn; turning 90 degrees and running off perpendicular to the incoming fire.

The forces on the ground stopped in confusion as the missile suddenly vanished from their sights and appeared going away from them; attempting to circumnavigate them. They all winced in unison when it dropped a variety of sub-munitions on one of the secondary targets. They had allowed a hit. The missile yanked itself into another impossible turn throwing the number of witches chasing it off into disarray. Just what was this thing?

Kristin growled as her magic sight appeared before her, "Nuts to this thing. I want you gone…"

Coordinating with Ellie, the two of them fired together; with their paint shells removed, they were going to do some damage. The 88mm Flak shell missed a direct hit but blew anyway causing the missile to stutter as the turbojet flamed out allowing Ellie's 17 pounder HEAT shell to smack the nose of it. The two objects vanished with a flashbulb like flash and a massive bang as its remaining fuel detonated; the demolition charge had been removed for safety reasons.

Everyone began cheering as the smoke began to clear away; they had stopped it. Ellie blushed at all the attention she was getting as everyone congratulated her on the kill.

"Way to steal my shot…"

She raised her eyebrow as she glanced at Knispel, "Really?"

"… It was mine…"

She sighed; she just couldn't win, "Listen Kri-"

She and everyone else looked around as the air raid sirens started to whine followed by a muffled explosion in the distance. As everyone looked to the other side of the complex, a stream of tracers could be seen flying off into the distance.

Vapor-1, 2 Minutes Previous

"Looks like the Wolverine beat the exterior defenses. I'm going to have it attack the secondary sites."

"Do it and… DAMN IT JOE!"

As the bomber made its final approach, a series of black dots could be seen trying to catch them in a pincer. The sudden blue flashes accompanying the lead witch told the two of them who it was.

Foss was leaping frogging ahead of her support… again as she started a dangerous game of chicken with the bomber.

"Relax sir, she's going to oversho-"

A burst of tracers could be seen flying all around them as she opened up on them from extreme range.

Before either of them could even process what they were doing; Vought had switched the attack computer from air-to-ground, to air-to-air, selected a Sidewinder, and launched.

The AIM-9M Sidewinder leapt off the outer left pylon in a burst of flame as its super-cooled seeker head locked onto the warmest target it could find; the glowing red exhaust of Foss's striker.

Foss barely had time to register what had happened before acting, "Aw sh-" she managed out before vanishing again. The Sidewinder lost its lock and detonated in empty space.

The startled Lt. Col. appeared again behind them and before she could regain a bead, she found herself flipping end over end; she had reappeared right in front of Cecilia and Heinrike. The latter crashed right into her and the two of them tumbled from the sky; with Foss waving her arm in rage at the bomber.

The two crewmembers slowly turned to each other before going back to what they were doing.

"dee…dee…d…d…d…dee…dee…d…"

"…J-Band trying to find us. Tracebreakers are preventing it from getting a solid lock on us but it knows were here."

"J-Band? Now why does that seem familiar…"

The two of them thought for a moment before it clicked in both of their heads, "OH SHIT WE ARE SO DEAD!"

"ZEUS!"

A curtain of tracers suddenly appeared directly in their flight path as the tracked SPAAG fired at them… or in reality in front of them; they only had live ammo like the missile battery.

The bomber once again heeled over on it's side as it 'evaded' the shots coming towards them and raced away from the target area to regroup.

"Son of a BITCH! That's it, Alexei is going to die. Sorry buddy but it's a necessary death." Vought mumbled to himself as he brought the plane around for another pass. "I'm so sick of this… simulate a HARM launch on the thing and let's end this. I need a drink."

"Amen to that sir," Taylor stated as he 'activated' a HARM missile that would have been hanging on one of the pylons. The AGM-88 HARM (High Speed Anti-Radiation Missile) was designed to take out radar installations from long distances; the Zeus had no chance.

"Simulated HARM launch on ZSU," Taylor called out on the open radio channels as the bomber reached a new IP. Like magic, the stream of tracers cut out as the bomber finally began it's attack.

With the airspeed pegged at 590 knots, the bomber hissed at treetop level off-center of the target. The moment they passed over it, the command bars on Vought's HUD turned to the right and forced him to yank back hard on the stick and the bomber climbed in a roll. The second the plane began to nose over again, the bomb bay split open and spat out a concrete filled 'bomb'

Like somebody cracking the whip, the test article left the aircraft with a massive vertical acceleration as the bomber completed it's half-roll and began smoothly accelerating away in the direction it came from. By the time the bomber was out of view, the test article had reached its apogee and was on its way back down.

Command Bunker

The officers watching the engagement looked around in confusion as the aircraft disappeared again over the trees.

"That's it? They missed? But I thought they'd ha-"

Everyone jumped at the massive thud as something hit the ground. A quick look at the target showed what they had feared; a large cloud of dust rising from the center of the target.

Adolfine ground her teeth as she stared at the dust cloud, "…He is so getting his ass kicked…"

Sokolov wisely took a step back as he watched her snap the pencil she had been taking notes with.

A quick glance at the radar screen got her to snort, "At least they aren't getting away with it."

Vapor-1

The bomber's engines slowly wound down as the colonel throttled back to conserve fuel; the gauge was reading 4 minutes till bingo and they were at least ten minutes from the airfield.

Well, we did it… why am I more scared now than I was before we started?"

"… I'm hiding in a Jumper after this; want to join?"

"…Yes…"

Vought dropped the throttles till they reached their max endurance speed and swept the wings forward again to generate as much lift as possible.

"That was the most nerve racking thing ever. How'd we do?"

"No idea; we won't know until we touch down but it was a clean release. I think we got a bull."

Chris sighed and nodded as he removed his mask again; that had been one hell of a ride. Motion on the LADAR caught his attention, "Hm?"

One dot appeared moving towards them; he blinked. Four more dots appeared from another direction. Again he blinked and this time, Taylor caught the change as well. He yanked his mask off as he stared at it, "… you don't think…"

Sixteen dots were now on the screen; converging on their position.

"Uh…"

Sixteen became thirty and more were pouring in; the two of them swallowed hard. Both of them frantically looked around the cockpit trying to find something they could use to escape and they found nothing; Vought eyed the throttle as he swallowed again. Could they try it one more time? A quick glance at the fuel gauge gave him the answer. He looked over at Taylor and sighed, "Well my friend, it has been a pleasure flying with you."

Taylor gave him a sad smile as he saluted, "The pleasure is all mine sir."

"CcccHRISSSS!"

The two cringed at the angry radio call and both cowered in terror as an angry, wet, and dishelved Capt. Yeager charged at them from directly ahead; there was nowhere to go.

Vought whimpered in terror as the LADAR showed all of the dots converging on them.

"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

January 24, 1946 1316 Hours- Borealis Bridge

Ross winced as he took a sip of coffee; that did not look fun to him. He looked to one of the technicians, "What's their status?"

The man looked at the console, "They appear to have slowed down even more and the ladies seem to be moving off. I think they got what they wanted sir."

The commander nodded, "I think you're right and we should be expecting a radio call any se-"

"Uh Borealis… this is Vapor-1… uh… we're kinda bingo fuel and uh… have some visibility issues. Requesting escort to the field at this time."

Ross smirked, "I thought the plan was for the witches to escort you back?"

"…Uh… that does not seem to be a good idea at this time Borealis…"

"And why not?"

"…Borealis requesting escort to nearest airfield. We're running on fumes here; fuel warning light is on."

The crew silently turned to the commander as he ground his teeth and sighed; the colonel was taking way too many risk, "Understood Vapor-1, escort inbound. See you on the ground."

Ross stood and stretched as he looked around, "Captain, you have the bridge. I'm going to go get yelled out by someone."

The air force captain at one of the consoles nodded as Ross left immediately taking his place near the control chair.

Britannian Auxilary Field, HMNB Portsmouth

The support teams from the ship watched as the 302 dispatched to escort the bomber back passed over the field. Their attention turned to the Vampire as it cruised towards them; they all blinked.

The normally black, green and silver bomber was now orange from the nose to mid-fuselage. The canopy had a barely visible smudge near the left side where the slipstream had pushed some paint away. With the wings extended, the flaps and gear down, the aircraft slowly drifted down towards them. The moment it touched down, both engines immediately wound down and the brakes hissed slightly as the colonel gently tapped the brakes. The big swing-wing came to a stop three quarters of the way down the field with the canopy slowly swinging open. The crews rushed the plane with an entry ladder and various tools to ready the plane for another flight or storage; they waited for orders.

Ross and company frowned as they waited for the two pilots to exit, "You guys getting out or what?"

Vought looked to Taylor in fear before the two of them slowly and painfully stood; that cockpit was just way too small for them. Climbing down the ladder the two of them began to panic when they heard the loud drone of prop engines; their hunters had returned to finish the job. Ignoring the salutes they were getting, the two of them pushed their way past Ross and the others to commandeer the jeep they had borrowed from the base.

"Sir erm… Chris?" Preddy asked hesitantly; after the ship docked at Portsmouth and the witches had been told to stand down by Galland, she and Vought had finally broken the news to her that she was retired. She was shocked to say the least that after everything she had done, she was being retired against her will; she could still fly, still use a shield, and was still an effective soldier. So now her she was, a civilian guest of the crew, watching the colonel desperately trying to start the engine on the jeep.

Ross raised an eyebrow, "Sir, what are you doing?"

Vought looked up triumphantly as the engine gurgled to life, "Running like hell." He winked, "See you guys back at the ship." The jeep shifted into gear and began to accelerate only to slam on the brakes in fear.

"Colonellllllllll!"

Vought swallowed painfully as Taylor attempted to sink into the non-existent seat cushion. Surrounding them was the fighter wings… the very fighter wings that just humiliated. Leading them was the still disheveled Yeager as she floated directly in front of the jeep; her finger twitching on the trigger.

Vought swallowed again, "…Uh… uh… Parley?"

Yeager's face twitched and the air was filled with the sounds of automatic weapons fire and loud painfully screams coming from the jeep.

Ross and the others winced as the fire died out and the witches lowered themselves to the ground and began walking away. The support teams once again slowly approached the two pilots as the jeep just sat there idling… now complete with a new coat of bright orange paint. The two occupants were equally orange as they slowly wiped their faces clean.

The colonel blinked a few times as Ross walked up, "You ok sir?"

He blinked again as he spat out a mouthful of paint. "Bleh… Ok… I guess we deserved that."

Ross just sighed as the people with him laughed, "You just had to provoke them didn't you sir?"

Vought's face contorted in anger, "It's all Vitaly's fault… and Alexei's. They shot a god damn live missile at us."

The commander nodded, "We know sir; we saw the launch and your subsequent evasion."

Vought remained unresponsive as he continued to mumble under his breath about what he was going to do to those two when he got his hands on them; something to do with a monkey wrench and some jumper cables. Preddy winced while Ross just sighed… he was slightly upset.

He cringed again when the group picked up the sound of a Jumper sliding over the field and making its way towards them. The Jumper spun before setting down directly in front of them and the rear slid open.

"CHRIS!"

The colonel let his head drop defeated onto the steering wheel… he was doomed and he knew it.

Galland stomped down the ramp and angrily marched straight towards the jeep; she looked pissed.

Vought just leaned back and looked up at the sky as the pissed witch got closer, "Somebody… anybody… please kill me now… please?"

March 1, 1946 0915 Hours- Borealis Engineering

Little over a month had passed since the war had officially ended. Some of the witch units had been temporarily reinstated to watch over the Novgorod hive until someone figured out what to do with it; the hive had yet to do anything that could be considered hostile. The other witch units and the tired and burnt out crew of the Borealis had spent the time taking a much needed break.

Vought found himself walking into engineering after receiving a message from Decker; he found the young officer practically crying as he laid his head on his desk.

Concerned, the colonel walked up, "What's wrong Decker? Just got your message."

The junior naval officer sniffed and grinned, "We did it sir… I'm… I'm done. I can actually sleep now…" With that said Decker passed out leaving the colonel extremely confused.

"What?" He looked around and then poked him on the shoulder… no response. The colonel frowned and looked around again, "Someone want to explain what's going on?"

A cascade of rattles got him to turn as a figured raised themself from a pile of energy drink cans; he yawned as he looked over with bleary eyes. "…Engines are fixed sir… we can leave…" he yawned again and started to lower himself back down, "… whenever we want."

By the time the engineer was back prone, he was sound asleep leaving the colonel with a very surprised look on his face, "That's good… but WHY ARE YOU ALL SLEEPING?"

HMNB Portsmouth, Britannia, Admin Building

Galland looked up and stretched as she heard the knock, "Enter." She went back to her paperwork and looked up again when the door clicked shut. "Chris," she stated with a slightly surprised look, "What's up?" She motioned for the chair in front of him.

Vought shook his head wryly as he took a seat and then sighed.

Adolfine picked up on the sigh and put down her pen; crossing her hands as she looked at him, "This sounds big, did something happen?"

He nodded, "Well… the ship's fixed. We can leave… whenever…"

She deflated a bit in her chair and looked crestfallen; she had forgotten that they were still planning on leaving. "Oh… that's good I guess," She looked right at him, "Have you reconsidered leaving? You guys are heroes… there's no need for you to leave if you don't want to."

He slowly and sadly shook his head, "Adolfine… I promised I'd get them home. They all have families to get back to. I just can't go back on my word; their families never knowing if they're still alive. As much as I'd like to stay here… where we know it's safe now… we can't, and I know you knew that'd be my answer."

She sighed herself and nodded; she had hoped… no prayed that he would change his mind. She had a growing dread that something bad was going to happened to them should they leave but she could tell there was no changing his mind. She may have been a superior officer, but there was no real reason for him to follow her orders; he wasn't obligated to. She gave him a sad smile and nodded, "I figured as much… so when do you wish to leave?"

"We're not leaving for another few weeks; we need to finish gathering supplies and need to test the ship's integrity anyway." He shrugged, "You aren't getting rid of us that easily… not yet at least."

Galland managed a small grin as well, "Good then, we can still do what we planned for you guys in the meantime."

Vought nodded as he began to stand before pausing, "What do you mean planned?"

Adolfine winked as she shooed him away; going back to her paperwork as the colonel closed the door with a confused look on his face. She waited a few moments to be sure he was gone before grabbing her phone. "This is Galland; give my Liberion friend a call… Yep, tell him it's time… say in two weeks… thanks." She dropped the phone back on the cradle and let out a small laugh, "It's our turn to blow his mind… payback's a bitch Chris…"

March 14, 1946 0900 Hours- HMNB Portsmouth

"Alright then, that's the plan then right?"

The other officers nodded and started to leave as they grabbed their notes.

"Remember, you tell the ladies nothing of this or I'm beaming you into orbit," Vought deadpanned as he stared at Pierce.

The doctor scowled, "Why me? What did I ever do?"

"… Whatever just don't say a word," His face lost some of the steel, "How's Fontaine doing?"

Ever since the end of the battle, Fontaine had avoided public eye like the plague. She refused to leave the infirmary and only requested some books or something like it to keep her busy; Pierce and a few of the orderlies were the only real contact she had on a daily basis.

The doctor sighed, "Physically she's fine… extra appendages not withstanding but she has no injuries. She's way too self-conscious of her body and all she can think about is people staring at either her eyes or her ears. What I can say though sir… she is a genius."

The colonel raised an eyebrow, "How so?"

"I unlocked one of the medical scanner's for her and she's already reconfigured it back to a life-signs detector."

Vought blinked, "That's… impressive. See if she wants anything else to read and if she does, see if Lansby's willing to part with anything for the time being. Is there anything she really wants?"

Pierce nodded, "She doesn't talk very much at all but she made one thing clear, she wants to go home to her family in Canada as soon as she can."

"Canada?"

"You know what I mean sir… it's called Faraway Land here isn't it?"

Vought looked away nervously, "… Sure that's what it's called."

Pierce facepalmed, "You forgot didn't you?"

"…No…"

The doctor just sighed, "Whatever Chris, let's just get her home as soon as possible."

The colonel nodded, "For sure, anyway get moving, I need to get personnel off this tub so we can see if she can fly."

"Roger that… so how many we kicking off?"

"Um…" Vought scrolled throw his tablet, "About a hundred… we need some insurance in case life support fails."

"Cool… when do we start unloading?"

"Now."

Dockside

The roar of diesels filled the gaining the attention of everyone nearby. A glance at the ship showed vehicles pouring from the interior along with a large number of personnel as they too exited the ship and made their way towards the tent city the crew had set up earlier in the month.

The witches watched in confusion.

"Hey Carl, what's going on?"

Grant looked up from his book and grinned slightly as his eyes twinkled; he feigned ignorance. "Uh… I have no idea really." He stood and stretched, "I think I'll go check."

Shirley and the others narrowed their eyes as he started a slow walk back to the ship. The Liberion witch was not impressed with his acting and followed after him. Soon enough all of the witches in the area were following after the 501st as they led the congregation into the forward Jumper bay.

In her office overlooking the docks, Galland noticed the ruckus and moved to her window. Her eyes narrowed, "Hm… what is he planning n-" She vanished in a flash of white light.

Borealis Bridge- Same Time

"Is it working?"

Ross nodded as he watched the witches begin to flood the ship again. Yeager and the 501st were extremely confused when Grant all the sudden vanished from their view. Before anyone could react, the Jumper bay door began to close locking the ladies in the ship.

"Wait for it…"

With a flash of blue light, Joe appeared on the bridge in a huff, "What the hell is going on sir?"

The colonel winked at her from the control chair, "Wait for it…"

A white flash of light filled the bridge again and Adolfine appeared; stunned and disoriented by her trip, "-ow…" She looked around in confusion and then growled as she stared at the colonel, 'Chris…"

He winked at her, "Wait for it…"

"Bridge, engineering; all systems go for engine start and please… don't break them…"

"Roger that engineering, beginning engine start," Vought stated anxiously as the control chair began it's spin.

Adolfine looked at Joe and the two of them began a march towards Ross as the commander nervously took a few steps back; the AVM grabbed his jacket and pulled him to eye level, "I'm going to ask nicely one last time… what… is… going on?"

The ship vibrated lightly before the dampeners kicked in and the lights flickered momentarily before stabilizing.

"Well Adolfine, we're performing our engine test and decided to take you ladies on a little sightseeing trip."

The Karlslandic witch dropped the commander and spun in surprise on the colonel, "What do you mean sightseeing trip?"

His eyes twinkled as he winked at her; a stupid grin forming on his face as the chair spun him around again, "Wait for it…"

"Engines operating at 100%"

"Life-support online… no leaks detected"

"Shields online and functioning; 100% coverage"

"All external doors are sealed and airtight"

"Inertial dampeners are green"

"ZPG green and all stations secure sir; we're ready for lift off."

The colonel nodded as he continued to grin, "Serenity, if you please"

The speakers chirped in confirmation, "Ladies and gentlemen this is your captain speaking…"

Jumper Bay 1

"... we will be beginning take off soon so please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times; your emergency exits are known but I would not suggest using them. Please hang on and enjoy the ride."

Geena and the others shared glances as Joe reappeared amongst them with a confused expression on her face.

"What's going on ma'am?"

Joe turned to Harris, "The ship is going on a test flight and the colonel's bringing us along for the ride."

"Seriously?"

Joe turned to Thach and nodded, "Yep… no idea why though. He even beamed Galland onboard; she's on the bridge with him.

The witches began to chat at this turn of events and they all quieted as they felt the deck move slightly before they felt nothing again; the ship must have taken off.

Geena turned to Heinrike, "What do you think he's planning?"

The night witch frowned and closed her eyes as her familiar appeared along with her antenna. Around the bay, the other night witches were doing the same.

Heinrike sighed and dismissed her familiar, "No one's using their radios… I have no idea what they're planning." The other night witches confirmed her statement when they too sighed and dismissed their familiars… whatever was happening the colonel was keeping it tightly under wraps.

Geena shook her head and blinked, "Then why don't we just go and ask him?"

The room went silent as everyone turned to her; she flushed at the attention and looked away as Joe slapped herself in face.

"Why didn't I think of that?" She vanished again as left.

Leading a small procession, Preddy and a few others began walking towards the only to stop when Serenity appeared before them.

The AI looked around, "The colonel wishes for you to stay put for the time being." She vanished as the lights dimmed momentarily before returning to full strength… something had just happened.

Infirmary

Fontaine had been reading up on mathematics equations when the colonel's call came over the radio and she began to go white… at least as white as her hair; she was terrified of flying and wanted nothing to do with taking off on this ship. She bolted from the desk she was at and made for the door before tripping over her hair and mashed her forehead against the floor. She lay there groaning on the deck as the sounds of footsteps made their way towards her.

"You ok Laura?" Pierce asked as he helped the very quiet and very shy witch off the ground.

Fontaine painfully rubbed her forehead as Frank handed her a small ice pack, "…Thanks sir…"

The doctor shook his head, "You don't need to call me sir; I'm a doctor. Everyone just calls me Doc or Frank; I have no real authority besides putting stubborn colonels under medical sanctions."

The white haired witch slowly nodded as she refused to make eye contact; her ears folded flat in embarrassment on her head. The ship vibrating from the engines caused her to panic again and she tried to bolt again only to step on her hair… again. She jumped in shock and whined pitifully as she massaged her poor head.

"Laura, please relax. I know you don't like flying but this is nothing like being in an airplane. Think of it more like a boat… or a building; it doesn't really feel like we're moving at all."

The vibrating died off and the ship felt still again as Frank moved the pack of ice to the back of her head. She looked at the ground again; her one blue and one brown eye filled with tears. She was terrified and she knew how irrational it was but she couldn't do anything about it… but she did trust Frank… and the colonel. She had to admit though… she couldn't tell they were airborne at the moment. The more she thought about it… the calmer she became. Maybe, she could be ok with this.

"…Can I go home soon?"

Pierce nodded as he gave her a gentle smile; he ruffled her hair and ears causing her to flush crimson. "Yep kido, as soon as we complete this test run and Command decides what's going to happen to the witches, we will personally take you straight to your front door."

Laura managed a small smile and quickly gave the doctor a hug before realizing what she had done; she went beet red and stiffly marched back to the desk she had been at and buried her burning face in the books and tablets she had been reading. She felt the doctor drop the icepack off next to her before making his way back to his office… he was so nice to her… why couldn't everyone treat her like that? Ignoring her differences… she just wanted to be normal.

Jumper Bay 1- 10 Minutes Later

Hannah frowned as she and the others watched the lights dim again before returning to full strength… something had just happened. The witches were all still talking to each other when the inner door opened and Galland marched her way in followed closely by Foss and the colonel.

Galland frowned as she stared at the colonel and he ignored her as he made his way to the main bay door near her and Rai.

The colonel looked around making sure he was secluded enough before clicking his radio, "Status?" he whispered.

"…All good sir… you're safe."

Vought nodded in relief as he turned to the confused ladies. He cleared his throat and they all quieted down, "Ladies, we've called you onboard for a reason."

They all patiently waited for him to continue.

"This is currently a test to make sure all of our systems are functional because… because we'll be leaving in a week."

The room went silent; the witches that had gotten to know the crew the best were deeply saddened.

"I've decided that well… you've ladies have worked damn hard to save your world; we just gave you a little push to finish the job." He gave them all a sad smile before continuing, "So I've decided to give you ladies one last little treat from us; for all your hard work." His eyes narrowed as he glared at Foss, "Please… do NOT walk through this doorway."

The witch in question blinked in confusion as the others turned to her she pouted and huffed eliciting a few snorts and giggles from the others. Vought grinned and shook his head before walking away from the door, "Enjoy," we walked back to the back wall with Galland following him closely.

"What do you mean not to walk through the…" Warning lights near the door began to silently flash and the bay was filled with brilliant light as the door silently opened; a transparent yellow barrier floated in its position. "…door?"

Vought grinned as Adolfine's face shifted from confusion to pure amazement as she silently made her way to the shimmering barrier and the amazing sight that lay beyond.

Everyone could see the Earth; the blue and green orb as it hung still in space… and the vast white landscape they were currently parked on.

The colonel wryly shook his head as the witches were hypnotized by the sight, "Ad Astra Per Aspera… welcome to the moon ladies and thank you… for all you've done for us…" he stated quietly to himself as he leaned against the back wall; keeping an eye on the ladies in case any of them attempted to exit the ship… a vacuum wasn't going to be very good for their health.

The Borealis had landed on the moon. To be precise though the ship had parked itself right where Neil Armstrong had taken his famous first steps back home and all those years ago. The witches stood there in absolute wonder as their minds shutdown… completely unable to process they fact that they had moved 260,000 miles within ten minutes and were currently sitting on a celestial body that was not the one they were born on. Earth looked so much smaller from here and most of the ladies had tears in their eyes as they etched the sight into their memories; they'd probably never see anything like it ever again.

Without even thinking, Keiko began snapping photos; still not quite grasping what a feat she had just witnessed. Marseille without even knowing it, was caught in the picture; the toothpick she had been chewing on had fallen from her mouth long ago as she stared; not wanting to blink in fear she'd miss something. Nearby, Jane and Dom held each other as they stared as well; Dom's gum was currently sitting on Jane's head… the two were completely oblivious.

Towards the back, Jean managed a few moments of actual voluntary thought as she looked around at the others; the room was silent but she had caught the colonel's quiet statement and wondered what it had meant. She turned to Heinrike only to suppress a snort; the normally way too serious night witch had a huge smile and her eyes twinkled in utter amazement as she lost complete and total control over her emotions… it was a sight she never thought she'd see. Eventually though, Preddy finally lost her train of thought and joined her in staring in awe.

The colonel just smiled; silently watching those he had chosen to protect for almost a year now. Happy that he actually been able to do what he said he'd do; he checked his watch… and then ignored it. He would let them stay and look for as long as they wanted to.

A Few Hours Later, HMNB Portsmouth

The Jumper bay door slowly opened yet again letting the bright and cheery sunlight to filter through and onto the occupants of the bay as they slowly trudged out.

Marseille, leading them took one step outside and looked around with an indifferent expression and then sighed; beside her Rai did the same thing. After seeing what they saw, Earth was boring. The older witch took a look at the ship as she started to lead her follower away. She had made up her mind… now how the hell was she going to do this?

Joe and Huberta exited the ship and looked around with bland expressions before Foss tried to turn around and reenter the ship. Von Bonin sighed and grabbed her collar; yanking her away as she marched back towards their camp.

"Stop it Huberta, let me go! This place is BORING…" Foss struggled against the older girl's grip and failed; shoulders sagging in defeat.

"I know it's boring to look at Joe but we live here; it's where we're meant to be. What did you think that you were going to just waltz up to the colonel and beg him to take you with him? You do remember how he explained just how dangerous space could be right?"

Huberta didn't notice as Foss's face flashed in realization; that face turned evil… and hopeful with a grin as she stared at the ship. She had a plan… now she just needed to make a few calls and write a few letters.

Just exiting the ship, Geena and Heinrike looked at each other… looked around at their surroundings and sighed… after seeing that, how were they supposed to be content with this? The two began to trudge off the ship when the Liberion remembered what the colonel had said.

"Hey Heinrike…"

The back to normal night witch looked over at her, "Yes?"

"Do you know any other languages besides English and Karlslandic?"

The night witch blinked, "Um yes… as a noble, I've learned quite a few languages; I know Gallian, and some Orussian as well, why?"

Preddy glanced back towards the ship as the last of the witches begrudging left the bay, "After the door opened… I heard Chris say something… I wanted to know what it meant."

Now the younger witch was hooked, "What did he say?"

"I think it was something like Ad Astra Per Asp… something; I can't really remember."

Heinrike mouthed the foreign words a few times before shaking her head, "I'm not sure… I don't know what language that is…"

"Was it Ad Astra Per Aspera?"

The two witches turned to an extremely surprised source; Perrine stood there in shock realizing she spoke out loud… to a superior officer. She huffed and glared at Miyafuji as the latter hung onto Bishop; the two of them in a daze as they shuffled off the ship. "S-so sorry ma'am… I didn't mean to be so disrespectful."

Heinrike shook her head as she glanced at Geena, "It's fine"

The Liberion shook her head before blinking and nodding, "That's it! Do you know what it means Perrine?"

A few witches had heard the conversation and had stopped to listen as the Gallian wracked her mind.

"Um… it's a very old language; no one speaks it anymore so translating can be difficult to say the least. My father forced me to learn it; anyway, loosely translated, it means "Through hardships towards the stars or a rough road leads to the stars" … sorry ma'am but that's as close as I can get."

The grouped witches slowly nodded as they turned back towards the ship; still not quite believing what they had seen. All of them immediately saddened as they remembered the colonel's declaration that they'd be leaving soon; after everything they had been through together, the ship and it's crew would be leaving for parts unknown in a small attempt that they'd eventually get home. For a few of the women, this task seemed impossible… this was causing an internal turmoil amongst them; they did not want them to leave.

The ladies moved away in fear as Adolfine finally stomped her way out of the ship; she took a quick glance around and grabbed Joe and Minna before continuing her march. She pulled them to a secluded section of the base. She looked between the two of them, "Alright… he got us again."

Joe nodded as she replayed the images etched into her retinas, "That was… I can't even think of a way to describe that…"

Minna nodded as well, "Such a beautiful sight; no wonder he puts up with the dangers of space."

The three of them nodded in agreement at that. Joe turned to her commanding officer, "So what's this about ma'am?"

Minna focused back on them a waited.

"The Liberion you had me contact… he's agreed and he'll be here in a few days. The same day in fact that I've set up their going away party."

Joe grinned, "He seriously agreed?"

Galland nodded as she smirked, "Apparently, we perked his interest with this situation; he's bringing something he wants to show off anyway."

"So we are…?"

"I'm going to have the two of you escort him in… do not let ANYONE ruin this; we have one shot at giving him the payback he seriously deserves. Let your XOs know but that's it, understood?"

The two wing commanders nodded.

"Good," Galland nodded as she looked between the two of them and grinned as she threw an arm around their shoulders and began walking them away. "Let's blow HIS mind finally!"

March 17, 1946 1200 Hours- Borealis Bridge

Vought, Ross, and Sokolov narrowed their eyes as they glanced out the bridge windows towards the docks… there was an unusual lack of activity… and movement going around the base.

"… Something smells fishy here…"

Ross turned to the sensor operator, "You getting anything?"

The man shook his head, "Nothing sir; just a flight of planes heading towards Dover. They are on a planned flight."

Vought shook his head as he looked around, "We haven't seen any of the ladies since yesterday morning… where the hell are they hiding?"

"No idea… colonel sir, have your men seen or heard anything?"

Vitaly moved his toothpick to the other side of his mouth and shook his head, "No… and that worries me greatly… I do not get surprised."

Despite being at an allied base and surrounded by allied forces, the crew were taking no chances of someone sneaking onboard again. They had a few teams discreetly spread around the secure area nearest to the ship; they were ordered to disable anyone not authorized to approach.

Vought nervously rubbed his chin, "…Do we go look for them or…"

"Wait for them here… that is the question isn't it?"

The three officers sat there in contemplation before the Vought's radio crackled once; they turned to look at it. Chris grabbed it hesitantly as if expecting it to explode; after putting up with the ladies and their antics for so long, he was getting paranoid from their lack of… predictability. "…Yes?"

"Chris, it's Adolfine; you and the command staffs' presence is requested in the Admin Building."

Vought's eyes narrowed; he smelled a trap, "…when?"

"NOW… and don't you dare try to run away, we got paperwork for the remainder of your supplies; I am NOT doing any more of your work for you."

The three officers sighed in relief; Vought's eyes narrowed again, something didn't add up, "So why are the others needed?"

"Vitaly is needed to do some explaining of his… persuasive conversations he had with some of… your unruly guest."

Vitaly shrugged as Ross looked at him with a raised eyebrow.

"And Ross?"

She sighed, "Just get over here…"

Vought and Sokolov shared a glance before both looked to the commander, "You're staying here," they both deadpanned simultaneously.

Ross blinked in surprise before nodding, "Aye, aye gentlemen."

Vought titled his head towards the door, "Let's go… I still don't like this." He stopped by the door, "I might just be feeling paranoid but… keep a lock on us just in case; beam us out if we need it."

Ross and the rest of the bridge crew nodded as the two of them left; he turned to the others as the door slid closed. "Keep a close eye on them… I think the colonel's right this is a tr-"

He spun as a flash of blue light filled the bridge, "Joe?!"

Foss scowled as she put a hand on her head and shook, "She knew he'd have you stay…" Her face turned feral as she looked up, "You were ordered so let's go." She reached over and grabbed Matt's arm before the two of them vanished before anyone on the bridge could move.

"Quick! Someone alert the colonels… IT'S A TRAP!"

Admin Building, A Few Minutes Later

"Hm… still no witches… it's a trap… that much is certain."

Vought nodded in agreement, "True but… we can't just ditch them. Let's just get this over with."

They made it to Adolfine's office and knocked.

"Enter"

Chris slowly and cautiously eased the door opening before peeking carefully inside. There was no one but the Air Vice-Marshal; Adolfine raised an eyebrow with a questioning look, "Yes?"

Vought shook his head as the door came all the way open and the two of them enter. She motioned to a clipboard on her desk and went back to her own work, "You finish this; Vitaly, someone wants to discuss your discussions in the next room over. We do this fast and I can be done with this for the day."

The Russian raised an eyebrow before shrugging and he slipped back out into the hall; he knocked on the next door and entered as Vought sat down and began to fill out a few forms.

Galland looked up again, "I thought I said to bring Matt?"

Vought snorted, "Ross has his own paperwork he needs to complete; he'll head over in a bit."

Galland rolled her pen a few times before slowly nodding, "Uh huh… alright then."

A few minutes later Vought dropped the clipboard back on her desk; she looked up, "Done?"

He nodded as he stood and stretched, "Yep, can I go now?"

She shook her head as she stood and stretched; popping her neck as she made for the door, "I'm hungry; you and Sokolov are joining me for lunch… then you can go back to being boring."

Vought cautiously followed after her as the next door opened and Vitaly walked out; the two shared glances… maybe they were wrong.

"Come on boys, this way," Galland called as she walked back outside.

Vitaly shrugged as he looked to his counterpart, "It appears we were wrong."

The American slowly nodded as they reached the door, "I guess your ri-"

"SURPRISE!"

Vought jumped the moment the doors kicked open and mashed his head into the doorframe with a sickening crack. He landed back on his feet; stumbled for a moment before his eyes rolled back into his head and he slumped to the ground.

Vitaly calmly slowed his heart rate as the others gasped around them; he grinned internally… they had been bested. He slowly and calmly moved his hand away from his sidearm; this was the second time he had been surprised and nearly drew it on reflex. He turned to the American and nudged him with his toe as some of the witches ran over in horror; he nodded, "Out cold again huh…"

A few fireworks went off over the base as Miyafuji and Galland rushed over; the young witch from Fuso began to heal the injured man.

All Adolfine could do was massage her temples as she shook her head; Ross was shaking his head from the sidelines as Foss finally released her grip on him. "Seriously? Is this how you guys react to surprises?"

"We are Special Forces operators'; we are trained to be ready for any and all situations. Trained so that in certain situations, our reflexes will react before our brain's process what is going on… we don't do well with surprises."

"I can see that…" She muttered as the colonel began to groan; his head healed as Miyafuji leaned back from him.

He leaned upright as Sokolov and Yoshika helped; he looked around in confusion a few times before realizing what had happened; he groaned again, "… Come on Adolfine… you need to stop doing that…"

The leader of the witches held her arm out for him; he grabbed it and was yanked to his feet as he gave a thankful nod to the witches.

He groaned again as he found himself surrounded… again, "… what is this?"

Joe grinned as she looked at him, "Wait for it…"

The fireworks went off in earnest as music started to play from the base's speakers. Personnel began pouring from locations on the base as they set up tables and food; the crew from the ship watched in confusion from the Jumper bays.

"This is a party… a little going away present from us… for all you have done. Our world will finally be at peace…" the last part was a whisper as her eyes lost focus. She shook her head and grinned, "You ladies can stop now."

Behind her, the four night witches dismissed their familiars as the stopped the high frequency jamming they had been creating since earlier in the day.

"…IT'S A TRAP SIR! RUN!"

Everyone laughed as Vought and Sokolov's radios crackled with warnings of impending doom.

The colonel sighed as he grabbed his, "…About five minute's too late guys…." He looked around and sighed again before smiling slightly, "Get everyone off the ship, the ladies have thrown us a small party; everyone is off-duty till tomorrow at 0900… it's time to relax."

An Hour Later

The party was in full swing as people relaxed, drank, danced and ate; the sounds of fun and laughter echoed around the base. Galland sighed and smirked as she noticed Vought trying to hide from the others; ignoring the fun. He appeared to just have fun watching his people finally relax and enjoy themselves. She suppressed a snort as she watched a few of the witches attempting to get the expressionless Gusev to crack a smile… she knew they'd fail miserably. She nodded towards Joe and Minna; the two of them nodded as they vanished into the crowd. She made her way over to him and sighed loudly, "One of your last days here and you choose to sit back and watch; you are so boring."

The colonel rolled his eyes and snorted as he turned to her, "Yes, I am boring… happy?"

She shrugged as she leaned back against the wall she was on; trying desperately to keep a straight face as she checked her watch… she really wanted to see how'd he was going to react to her little surprise. She looked down, "I just can't believe you guys are leaving…"

He looked down as well, "Yeah… it's been interesting… but you know we need to go."

She sighed and nodded, "Yeah I just wish you didn't."

He turned to her with a small smile, "You do know we've had this conversation before right?"

She glared at his stupid grin and huffed, "…Shut up…"

His grin deepened; Adolfine turned away and grinned… she could hear a quiet drone over the sound of the party; they had arrived.

She looked up at him and his grin faltered… it turned defensive, "…What?"

"Come on," She motioned towards the runway, "There's something I want you to see."

He frowned as she started to walk away before cautiously following after her.

Portsmouth Runway

Galland watched as Vought looked up with a ridiculous look on his face; following the five blue aircraft as they flew in formation over the field. He was completely focused on the planes and didn't even notice as others filled in around him; the witches of the 501st and the ship gathered around him with smirks and grins as they watched him stare without a care in the world; lost in memories of the past.

"Two F4U-1Ds," he muttered as two of the agile fighters broke off from the others and approached the field with their gear down; making perfect landings halfway down the runway. They broke off to both sides and powered down as the remaining three circled.

The other matching pair of aircraft split from each other and raced off in opposite directions before running at each other down the center of the field; they pulled off in opposite directions and clawed for altitude as their supercharged Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W radial engines roared. "A pair of F4U-4Cs…" The two late model planes raced away and rolled before repeating with the first pair had done and placed themselves neatly on the runway; parking next to their counterparts.

"And…" The colonel's eyes widened in recognition as the final plane made a low altitude, high speed pass over the field; the deep bass tone rattled the airspace. The pilot brought it so low to the ground that in the pass, the vortices tore his hat from his head. Chris blinked a few times before laughing and hollering as the plane once again made another low altitude pass; the pilot wagging his wings as they pulled off and threw the large aircraft into a near vertical climb. He rolled inverted and performed a few more maneuvers before vanishing through the cloud deck; they appeared again a few miles later with their gear down as they made for the runway. "… an F4U-5 Corsair… one of the greatest aircraft ever created."

Joe's grin widened as she looked down at her own striker and nodded, when the colonel was right, he was right.

"The Corsair sir really? The Mustang is way better."

Vought snapped out of his trance and spun quickly as he locked eyes on the speaker; Yeager gave him a defiant grin as she crossed her arms, "Yeah sir, you heard me. The Mustang's better."

He shook his head as the others gathered around; Ross sighed and massaged his temples.

"Sorry Yeager but the Mustang has nothing on The Angel of Okinawa; the Corsair outclasses it in every way."

Shirley blinked and snorted, "Outclasses it? Hah! The Mustang has much greater range and is way faster."

The colonel shook his head again and pointed at his name tag, "You do see what my name is right? The Corsair is a part of my life."

The busty Liberion shook her head, "Nope, don't care; my Merlin could still beat any silly U-bird."

Before the colonel could respond, Joe stepped in, "I'm sorry Shirley, what was that? I do believe I out ran you over Karlsland with my wonderful Corsair."

The two got nose to nose as they continued to argue about what was better as the final fighter came to a stop; the pilots exited their planes and waited for the final pilot to exit. Galland suppressed another snort as she glanced over; this was going to be the greatest thing ever. She nudged the growling colonel in the side getting him to snap out of it.

"Yes?"

She beckoned towards the pilots, "Let's go greet the pilots; I know you want to look at the planes." She grinned again as she watched his face brighten again and he nodded enthusiastically; he was like a kid again. As the two of them started to walk across the field, she turned and winked to the others causing the girls to start to giggle; the officers narrowed their eyes… they were out of the loop on this one.

Across the field, Galland and the colonel came to a stop in front of the pilots as they started to greet them; the final pilot was just now climbing down off the wing. Chris ran his hand along the wings of the planes parked there as the pilots and the others watched; this was his history.

Ross and the others were the first to see the final pilot's face but none of them realized who it was. The colonel turned as the man removed his leather cap, "That was some flying si-"

Chris's eyes bugged out as his mouth opened and closed without making a sound; he was speechless as he stared at the slightly grey hair of the man standing in front of him.

"Thanks colonel, that means a lot. I'm getting older so showing you young guys how it's done is what I live for." He reached out and grabbed the colonel's partially raised arm and shook his hand before letting go; the colonel was still flabbergasted. The man looked him up and down and raised an eyebrow when he noticed the colonel's name tag.

"You know who I am son?"

Not trusting himself to speak, the colonel just nodded; his jaw finally closing as the witches tried desperately to not die from laughter.

"Y-your Chauncey Milton… Vought… my great-grandfather."

The brown eyed, greying hair man raised an eyebrow in surprise as he stared at the still extremely surprised young colonel; they were both in disbelief.

Joe, unable to take it anymore, startled cackling loudly as she fell to the ground; her chest heaving as tears streamed from her face while she howled with laughter. Like a floodgate breaking open, the other witches had similar reactions while the officers just blinked in surprise. This… this was unexpected.

The older gentleman slowly approached the colonel and then threw an arm around his shoulder; leading him away from the others, "You and I have a lot to discuss and not a lot of time."

As the two of them stepped away, the other pilots looked around in confusion before the smell of food reached them and they immediately dismissed themselves; making for the others on the other side of the base.

Ross was still utterly surprised when Galland finally stopped laughing to catch her breath, "When… when did you manage to put this together? Did you know they were related?"

She snorted as she wiped away a tear, "It wasn't me who came up with it," she pointed over to the still cackling Joe and smiling Minna, "It was all their idea; they contacted me months ago about it and I got in contact with the Lewis and Vought Corporation. When Chance heard about the ship and all this, he couldn't stop himself from coming," She laughed again, "Though I may have neglected to tell him he may have been related to someone onboard."

The other witches burst out laughing again and the officers just shook their heads before cracking smiles; they had been bested.

2228 Hours, Admin Building

"So my company was failing in the jet business?"

Chris nodded as he, Chance, and Adolfine sat in her office. The two Voughts had been talking all day long.

"Yep, and everyone thought the company was going to go out of business until they released the F8U-1 Crusader. It was the last aircraft of the time designed with guns as it's primary weapons. At the start of the Vietnam War, planners were saying that the age of the dogfight was over. Air-to-air battles would take place with missiles over long ranges… well the outbreak of hostilities proved that incorrect when the NVA MiGs were able to close the distance and force the missile armed fighters into close range combat; they couldn't do anything about it. The Crusader was the only fighter capable of holding its own in a turn fight and trust in the Vought Corporation soared after that."

The older Vought's eyes twinkled as he imagined aircraft designed by his company; he was proud. He yawned as he took a glance at his watch, "Alright then Chris, I'm off to bed. I'm not as young as I used to be." He grinned as he stood, "Tomorrow, I want a ride in one of your fighters."

The colonel grinned as well, "I'd be honored to take you up sir."

The elder Vought scowled, "My name's Chance; I'm not military so use my damn name." He spun as he walked towards the door, "And one last thing, you let me fly that thing, and I'll let you fly the -5 out there that I flew in." He closed the door as Chris's eyes twinkled. He closed the door leaving the colonel and Galland alone.

The witch commander grinned as she leaned back in her chair, "Well?"

Vought sighed as he smirked and bowed, "I have been defeated…"

She laughed, "Payback for all the surprises you've given us."

He snorted as he leaned back and took a drink, "Well you got me." He looked at the door, "…Can't believe I actually got to meet him…"

Adolfine leaned back forward again, "He died before you were born?"

Vought nodded, "In 1930, from sudden blood poisoning… My grandfather was born in 1917… it was just him and my great-grandmother. The Vought Corporation survived on his ideals; pushing the limits in aviation and eventually space."

Galland smiled, "I'm glad we managed to unite you two then."

The colonel nodded, "That I thank you for…" He stood and stretched, "Looks like I'm headed to bed."

"Oh no you don't," Galland deadpanned as she watched him leave; he stopped by the door.

He blinked, "And why not?"

She pulled out a bottle of whiskey, "This is my last night to hang out because I know you're going to be way too busy to do anything tomorrow."

He looked at the sad smile on her face and sighed internally; she had done so much for them… it was the least he could do, "Why didn't you say so?" He slid back into the chair and dumped his glass into a potted plant.

The witch commander smiled as she poured him a shot and then her own; she raised the glass, "To peace."

He nodded, "To peace."

They both downed the shots at the same time and leaned back and sighed; they both turned to the door. There had been a knock.

"Yes?" Galland blinked; it was late, who besides the colonel would be need to talk to her?

The door open and the two occupants blinked in surprise and confusion, "Marseille?"

Hanna marched in with a determined expression on her face as she looked between the two of them, "Good, you're both here." She looked at Galland and her grinned turned cocky, "Ma'am I request reassignment to another unit."

Galland blinked again and then looked at her glass; there was no way she was drunk yet was she? She blinked again, "Um… ok; what unit?"

The colonel had poured himself another glass and was drinking it as her finger stabbed towards him.

"His"

Vought's eyes bugged out and he sprayed the wall as he started to cough; rocking in his chair as he stared at her. Again, his mouth opened and closed without a sound as he shook his head vehemently.

"Absolutely not! What is possessing you to request that? They are a combat unit that is leaving our planet!"

Hanna rubbed her temples and shook her head as she shrugged, "So? I'm the Star of Africa. I'm the best fighter here and can easily help them get home." She hooked a thumb over her shoulder, "Besides, he hasn't said anything yet."

Galland, still slightly shocked, leaned around the witch to stare at the colonel; he was still incapacitated, "He's still choking; he hasn't said anything yet."

Marseille just sighed as she walked over and smacked him hard on the back getting him to cough and breathe heavily; she motioned to him with both of her hands, "See? I just saved his life." She put both hands on the desk, "Now approve the transfer."

Vought rasped as he stood, "Captain, I'm going to make this clear once and once only; you are not coming aboard my ship. You are staying here and helping your world rebuild." He walked to the door, "Sorry Adolfine but I promise I'll hang out before we leave." He closed the door.

"What were you thinking?! You can't just do that; they fight men Hanna, other people. Why would you want to throw yourself in harm's way like that?"

"I'm 18 ma'am, I'm an adult; about fighting other men… you do know I killed that guy in Pescara right?"

Adolfine sighed, "Yes I know about that; you are a captain in the Karlsland military and one of the greatest witches in the world; you're the face of this war… you are not allowed to leave. Once you're retired next week, you're going to be in the reserves for another two years at the most… you really can't do anything and as much as I hate to do this right now, I'm ordering you to forget about this silly idea; go to sleep, tomorrow's a big day."

Marseille just sighed as her head drooped; she knew what the Air Vice-Marshal was trying to say… she knew it was true. She grinned darkly to herself… she was Marseille; she didn't give a care about what others thought of her.

"Why… why do you want to go?"

The younger witch looked up, "Ma'am… after what happened to me; from my own damn military… I don't trust my own government any more. That bastard threatened to kill me even though he was a general in my own military and knew exactly who I was. How the hell am I supposed to be ok with that? The only people I trust right now are the colonel and you, that's it."

Adolfine grimaced… she had hoped Marseille would just brush that encounter off like she normally did. It was painfully hard to imagine that fact that one of her own superiors would do that to one of her girls. It seemed Marseille was hell bent on this decision; not that it really mattered. Her hands were tied and Chris's men were not under her command; if the colonel said no, it was final.

"I'm sorry Marseille for everything that has happened to you but I'm still your commanding officer; you are staying and that's final."

The younger witch sighed again and grinned, "Well then, I guess it does come down to this." She whipped out a folded set of papers from behind her back and slapped it on the table before leaving, "I resign; see you in the morning Galland." She waved at the flabbergasted woman as she shut the door.

Galland blinked at the door in disbelief… there was no way she'd let Marseille resign like that; she needed approval from her superior officer… she looked at the signatures on the paper and her jaw dropped, "HUH?!"

March 18, 1946 0902 Hours- Witches' Barracks, HMNB Portsmouth

"Hm… what's going on…" Yoshika muttered tiredly as stumbled from her bunk clutching her pillow… she overslept again. The sounds of bickering could be heard coming from the officer's section of the massive tents they were using as barracks for the time being. Gradually, the other witches started to gather as Foss followed closely by Von Bonin and Wilcke as the latter two tried to stop the Liberion.

Huberta spun her superior around, "Joe that's enough, you can't do this; he's just going to say no."

"Listen to her Joe, nothing good can come of this."

The Liberion Marine laughed, "I can, I will, and I am Huberta; there's nothing you can do to stop me." She brandished some papers in her face, "This is my ticket in so I'm cashing it now."

"What's going on?"

Heinrike, standing towards the back, turned to find Geena watching the confrontation in confusion. The night witch sighed… she knew what was going on… but how would her friend react to this situation? "Colonel Foss… she's resigning her commission and is going to try and convince the colonel to let her join his crew."

The witches nearby spun in shock at the major's explanation; Geena froze as she looked back at her CO… former CO as it finally dawned on her. She was already out of the military…

"Huh… so someone else had the same idea… sorry Joe but I beat ya to it; just like everything else I do."

The room quieted down and slowly turned to find Marseille calmly relaxing in a chair with a glass of milk in her hands; she nodded towards the Liberion, "Did that last night, now I just to convince Vought."

Foss stared at her flabbergasted and looked at the papers in her hand, "…Nu-uh… right?"

The captain… err former captain snorted and tossed her rose-blond hair; her blue eyes stared sharply into the Lt. Colonel's and Foss realized that she wasn't kidding. She had actually resigned… the Star of Africa had actually quit.

Barkhorn shoved her way through the crowd, "What do you mean you resigned?" Behind her, Rai stared at her idol with a crestfallen expression; she was devastated.

Marseille tossed her customary cocky grin as she stood, "Exactly what it sounds like; with the Neuroi gone, there's no longer enough action for me and I know for a fact they are going to get in some heavy stuff. I want in."

"But what happened to you showing me who's better?"

The long haired witch shook her head in mirth, "I can do that with my eyes closed Barkhorn; I'll show you up when I get back."

"And how pray tell do you two idiots plan on getting him to let you join him?" Huberta growled out as she looked between the two of them. "I mean honestly; did either of you even think that far ahead?"

The two witches in question looked at each other; Joe looked clueless while Hanna grumbled. Her attempt had already been shot down; someone had actually told her no.

Without any outwards signs, a few others in the crowd had made their decisions… they were not staying here and no one was going to stop them.

Runway, Same Time

"So this is the future huh?" Chance stated as he stared at the reverse delta aircraft with its downward bent wingtips; it sat high on its spindly landing gear waiting to climb into the sky.

"Yep, the pinnacle of aviation technology… human technology; the F-302 fighter-interceptor. Three engines, two combination scramjets and a high-output rocket motor push it to Mach 6 in atmosphere and the motor pushes it to escape velocity. It also has a hyperdrive that can jump short distances. Capable of holding its own in a two v one dogfight its one hell of an aircraft; one I'm privileged to have learned how to fly."

Chance looked at his younger but taller… great-grandson… damn… time travel and different realities were confusing; the younger man had a grin plastered on his face as he stared at it. He scowled and slapped him on the back, "I'm not getting any younger shorty; show me how to fly this thing."

Chris nodded and hauled himself up into the cockpit before doing hauling Chance up. A few minutes later, the colonel performed a high-performance takeoff and the nimble fighter screeched skyward as the rocket motor shoved it vertical.

An hour or so later, the fighter returned; nose up as one of the two brought it in for a perfect landing. The brakes squealed and the thrust reversers whined bringing the large aircraft to a stop. After the canopy winched open the colonel hopped out from the back and stared, grinning at the front seat as the elder Vought continued to stare.

"You coming down?"

Chance shook his head and slowly removed his helmet before slowly and carefully extracting himself from the cockpit; his face was quite impassive. "That was… impressive to say the least; now I have some ideas of my own…" The older Vought lost himself as he envisioned changes to aircraft his company were currently designing; the advances in aerodynamics he learned from just one flight… he was set for life now and it was all due to his own kin… kind of. It was also the most impressive flight he had ever been on… truly extraordinary. He turned, "Thank you Chris… That was the most amazing experience; I think you've ruined flight for me forever."

The colonel laughed, "It happens… this bird always does that." His smile turned antsy, "So about the -5…"

The older man sighed and chuckled, "A deals a deal; go ahead, the crews already prepped her… I hope you fit."

Chris's smile broke and he tried desperately to suppress his glee at finally getting a chance to fly a part of his own history. He fast walked across the runway to the other bird waiting to go up. Minutes after getting a crash course in the limits of the airframe, the 2400 hp radial engine roared to life and the prop plane rushed aloft.

Chance watched happily from the side as his plane raced around the field before vanishing into the distance; the howl from the engine the only thing detectable.

"So Mr. Vought, how was the ride?"

The owner of the Vought Corporation turned with scowl, "My name's Chance, Adolfine; call me by my damn name."

The witch leader suppressed a snort, "Fine, fine; so how was the flight?"

"Amazing…" He started as he noticed the Marshal wasn't alone; he began to get nervous as he noticed the figures behind her, "… What seems to be the problem gentlemen?"

President Truman looked at his counterparts and sighed, "We need to talk sir…"

30 Minutes Later

The big blue prop plane finally came to a rest on the tarmac after a slightly hot landing; apparently the colonel wasn't used to that long of a nose on a tail dragger. After the canopy slid back and he contorted himself enough to throw himself unceremoniously out of the plane; he laid on his back for a moment before a hand reached out to him. "Thanks"

He was helped back to his feet and stretched before noticing who it was; his eyes narrowed, "Didn't I say I'd hang out later?"

Adolfine grinned and shrugged, "So?" Her grin faltered, "Erm… we need to have a little chat… with a few other people."

Chris frowned, "Who?" He shook his head in confusion, "And why?"

"Come on, you'll find out in a minute."

Admin Building

Vought froze as Galland opened the door; his face slowly draining of color as he stared at the impassive faces waiting within the room.

"Colonel, how was the flight?" President Truman asked before beckoning for a seat, "Come sit… we have something to discuss; something that has recently come up."

Chris slowly nodded as he made his way towards the chair; the special operator in him slowly panicking as one of Truman's Secret Service members closed the door and retook his position with the other men present. Slowly and carefully, he clicked his radio twice; the emergency signal for a beam out on the next click. Seated next to the President were Winston Churchill and Emperor Frederick IV… whatever was happening, it was big.

He jumped when he felt a hand on his shoulder, "Relax big guy… they pulled me in here too," Chance muttered as he eyed the Secret Service members and the other guards.

"Good afternoon gentlemen… may I ask what is going on?"

Emperor Frederick was the first to make a remark as he pulled a stack of papers from under the table; he coughed and then put on a pair of reading glasses, "Colonel Vought, we have recently finished reviewing you stay here on our Earth… the materials and supplies you have appropriated over the past months." He grabbed a sheet of paper and slid it across the table, "and after adding in the damages you caused to my homeland," he narrowed his eyes for a moment, "This is the bill for your stay."

The colonel blinked a few times before calming down slightly; he wasn't about… to be… killed? His jaw dropped and his eyes bugged out as he stared at the number on the paper… holy shit that was a lot of zeros…

"Um… wha… how… what?!"

Truman and Churchill shared an amused glance as the colonel went pasty white in shock. The President leaned forward, "You see son, between the fuel, oil, and food, it wasn't really that high of a bill and we weren't too concerned about it but…" He rolled his eyes and looked away.

"But, then we grilled the Air Vice-Marshal here and found out some interesting information pertaining to a base that belongs to my country," Churchill finished before leaning forward, "Tell me colonel, have you ever heard of Diego Garcia?"

The young Vought, still in shock blinked a few times before slowly and painfully nodding; a single sweat drop rolled down his forehead as he went whiter still.

Churchill leaned back and thumbed through a folder while taking a puff of his cigar, "You see, you and the 508th reported the same thing; the atoll had been destroyed when something they were working on exploded." The folder snapped shut, "What you left out, was the fact that the object in question they were working on was the weapon they had stolen from you… and that you had returned to them after they shot and killed one of your men and threatened to kill a witch."

"A witch that I must add, was from my country and a very important propaganda figure," Frederick finished with his hands folded in front of his face. The young colonel shook like a leaf at the impassive stares he was getting; special operations training did not take something like this into account.

"Then comes my homeland, your attack was overwhelmingly successful; for that I am thankful however." His eyes narrowed, "After a recent fly over of Berlin, the city of my birth, I found nothing but a very deep hole." He sighed as he shook his head, "Rebuilding the damage to that city alone due to your weapon malfunctioning is an astronomical number and you are footing the bill and no, you are not using the machine on your ship to produce the money; that would just cause inflation."

Vought babbled quietly incoherently as he stared at the number… trying to think of a way of explaining to the crew that they wouldn't be leaving for… well forever. This was an extremely unwelcomed surprise.

"However, we have decided that we would be willing to take care of the bill for you, on one condition," Truman stated as he drew another set of papers from his folder; the other two did the same as well. Vought's heart finally started to calm down; he took a deep breath and sighed loudly.

"And what's that sir?"

He held up a small stack of papers, "This colonel is a request to resign from the military."

Vought nodded in confusion, "Ok sir… so who resigned?"

"Lt. Col. Josephine Foss"

"WHAT?!" Vought yelled out as he stood in shock. The guards along the edge of the room drew their weapons and aimed but stopped for two reasons. One, their leaders were motioning for them to calm down and two, one of the Secret Service agents were aiming their gun at the guard aiming for the colonel. Finally regaining his senses, the colonel quickly sat back down, "I'm so sorry gentlemen… that was uncalled for."

Truman slowly nodded as he eyed the unknown guard, "It's completely understandable colonel… now could you please tell that man to stand down now?"

Chris blinked a few times along with Adolfine as the two of them turned to find the man still aiming at the guard with no expression on his face. They both blinked again; they knew this man.

"Gusev, stand down"

Artyom slowly nodded as he lowered and holstered his weapon; moving the guard out of the way and taking his position behind the colonel. He stared straight into Truman's eyes with a bored expression and the President shivered; those were the eyes of a man with no fear… he had never seen eyes like that before… from anyone.

"Er… so Joe resigned? Why?"

The leaders looked at each other before looking back at him; still slightly uneasy with the expressionless face of the colonel's protector. They all had a feeling that if that man really wanted to, he could kill everyone in the room before most of them could even blink.

"Well, before we move on from that, there are a few others to discuss… Lt. Col. Foss was not the only one to resign." He continued before he and the others drew additional stacks.

"Chris, after you left last night, Marseille dropped one of those on my desk and resigned, it was signed by the Emperor," Galland quietly stated from the side and both Vought's eyes went wide; the elder knew exactly who Marseille was.

Frederick nodded, "Indeed it's true. Miss Hanna approached me about a week ago and stated that if she couldn't get something that she wanted, she wanted to resign from the military. Normally I'd tell her to follow the proper chain of command but she's Hanna Marseille, The Star of Africa; One of my countries greatest aces… I couldn't say no to her so I accepted her request… and another two…"

Again, the colonel blinked, "Who else?"

"Major Hanna Rudel"

This time Adolfine was the one to react first, "What do you mean Rudel resigned? She was fine yesterday when we spoke; I even promoted her to Oberstleutnant…"

The Emperor nodded, "I've seen your report and I had immediately approved it when she approached me as well; she claims that she wished to resign because she needed to keep an eye on Miss Marseille… to keep her out of trouble."

"And the other?"

Frederick looked at the table as he shuffled his papers, "The last witch resigned to watch over someone as well… Major Henrike Prinzessin zu Sayn-Wittgenstein."

"Princess resigned?! What the hell is going on here?"

The colonel paused as he realized there seemed to be a pattern developing… he looked to the other two leaders, "Please don't tell me you gentlemen received resignation forms as well?"

Truman and Churchill slowly nodded as they flipped through their paperwork.

Vought's confusion reached a peak after they finished; Joe, Hanna… Hanna, Heinrike, Elizabeth, Kristin, Cecilia… the pattern was obvious and after watching the looks he was getting from the leaders, he swallowed hard as his mind's self-preservation routine kicked in.

"Gentlemen… if anyone's to blame for this… uh… blame her."

Everyone's eyes widened in surprise; none more so than Adolfine's as she rounded on the colonel. She blinked in astonishment before she felt eyes on her and swallowed hard, "Traitor… why blame me? They were under your watch and care; they want to leave because of you."

The colonel nodded as sweat began to gather on his forehead, "True but you said it yourself ma'am; "you do know how to pick them.""

Adolfine blinked in alarm as she realized she did indeed keep saying that about the ladies she had chosen to be assigned to the ship. She swallowed hard and started to shake as she leaned in close to the colonel, "It's your own damn fault… don't blame me."

He whispered back as he eyed her, "You can delegate authority not responsibility ma'am so just accept it."

The country's leaders watched the confrontation with bemused expressions as the two continued to quietly bicker; not knowing they were still talking loud enough for everyone to hear. Truman cleared his throat as he looked between the two, "You two argue like an old married couple."

They spun at ridiculous speeds, "We're not married damn it!" They yelled in unison electing chuckles from the older men; the two arguing spun in shock as they looked at each other with mouths agape at what they had just said.

The president cleared his throat again, "May we get back to business?"

The two coughed before looking away from each other and nodding.

"Now, moving on… we have determined that this pattern is partially due to you colonel and partially due to us. Now, we've come up with a way to satisfy both parties here, all you need to do is accept the terms."

The younger Vought slowly nodded, "Alright then sir, what are the terms?"

The three leaders shared glances again before turning back to the once again nervous colonel.

1240 Hours, Borealis Bridge

Ross looked up from his report as the door slid open, "There you are sir; where did you go after your flight? We heard the emergency signal; is everything alright?"

Vought stumbled to the chair and collapsed; blinking wearily as he looked around, "I'm fine Matt… I just need a drink."

The commander slowly nodded as Gusev enter as well; he did a double take as he noticed the lieutenant's current uniform, "Uh sir? What's with…"

"Later Matt, later…" The colonel sighed as he checked his watch, "I'm headed out with Frank; we'll be back in a few hours. Make sure everything is ready to go…" he paused as he stood again, "And have everyone meet in Jumper Bay 2 when we get back."

The commander slowly nodded, "Aye, aye sir… but why?"

The colonel groaned and slammed his head against the wall, "I need to tell you all something…"

Infirmary, 10 Minutes Later

The doctor looked up from his desk and groaned when he saw the dazed and confused state the colonel was in as he wandered in. He grumbled in annoyance as he got up, "What happened this time Chris… this is like the third time."

"… I got picked on by President Truman…"

Doc shook his head, "Come again?"

The colonel finally recovered, "… Later; you and Fontaine ready to go? We've got schedules to keep if we're leaving tomorrow morning."

Frank nodded, "Yeah I'm ready; let me go grab the Sub-Lt. and we can get out of here. We bringing anyone else?"

Vought nodded, "Chance wants to see what the Jumpers are all about so I'm bringing him… and probably my second shadow if he's anywhere near us."

"Second shadow?" Pierce raised an eyebrow in confusion.

"Gusev… that guy has been following me like a lost puppy and then pretends like he just happened to be in the area… I need to talk to Vitaly about him. I don't think he's just observing me anymore." Vought sighed, "Shit keeps getting complicated… meet me in Bay 4; I'll have a Jumper ready to go."

The doctor put a hand on the colonel's shoulder as he started to walk away, "Understood but… you really need to relax; I don't think you've taken more than a day off since we got here. I'm forcing you to relax the next time we get a chance… Doctor's orders."

Vought sighed and gave him a weary smile as he walked out, "Noted Frank."

The doctor shook his head before slipping back towards where Fontaine had been staying; he found her again reading, "You seem to like reading huh lieutenant?"

Laura gasped as she dropped the book and crushed her hat onto her head; she slowly turned and nodded as the doctor chuckled.

"You know you don't need to do that lieutenant, I'm a doctor… in the SGC; I've seen stuff that would make your eyes bug out. Your closer to the norm than I normally see…" he frowned and started to mumble, "especially after dealing with stupid colonels with death wishes…"

He stopped and raised an eyebrow when he heard a quiet and light chuckle come from the normally silent witch; she turned quickly when she realized what she had done and started to go red. She went redder still when he patted her on the head.

"Relax lieutenant, it's fine. Anyway grab your stuff."

She cleared up and turned to him with large, questioning eyes. He smiled and nodded, "We're taking you home."

Her eyes wavered before she blinked away the tears; she happily nodded as she grabbed a small bag; it was all she had after her stuff had been destroyed when Gustav had fallen.

"Come on then, follow me."

Jumper Bay 4

Laura began to shake upon entering the room. Not because of the stares, because for the most part, everyone was ignoring her; her problem was the Puddle Jumper near the door with the colonel talking with Air Vice-Marshal Galland. She stared hard at the strange alien craft and began to shake harder still; they were planning on flying her home… flying… she… she was terrified of it.

The doctor noticed her distress and got down to her level, "Listen Laura, it's fine; I know you don't like flying but you were ok with it the other day remember?"

Fontaine calmed slightly and nodded… after managing to forget about the fact that the ship was flying, she had managed to relax. After the colonel made his speech, the doctor had led her over to the window and had opened the shutters; she had been blown away by the sight. If there was any upside to flying at all… it was that; space was beautiful.

She snapped back to reality.

"The colonel's going to crank the inertial dampeners to the max and you'll sit in the back with myself and Jr. lt. Gusev; you won't feel or see a thing alright?"

She shivered but managed a small nod; she trusted him. Doc patted her on the shoulder before standing and leading her over.

"I'm telling you Adolfine I can't be responsible for them if… Doc… Lieutenant; you two ready?" Vought stopped as he realized they were no longer alone.

Galland smiled as she walked up to Fontaine, "Well Lieutenant, how have you been? I haven't heard anything from you since you were reassigned to the artillery division."

Laura looked down, "… I'm ok ma'am, thanks for asking… sorry I wasn't more help…" She stiffened in shock as Galland wrapped her arm around her shoulder and pulled her in tight; a grin on her face.

"You did fine Fontaine; you pulled this guy's ass out of the fire so I think you've done beyond fine actually… you did great."

The white-haired witch actually managed to swell with pride for a moment; that was the most sincere praise she had gotten since she joined the witch corps.

Galland grinned again when she noticed the confidence flash in the younger witch's eyes; she slapped her on the back knocking her hat askew, "Come on you three, get onboard. Churchill and I both signed off on your retirement forms so all we need to do now is take you home."

Chris grinned to himself as he watched Fontaine's face light up as she slowly and carefully stepped through the threshold and into the Gateship. He frowned as he looked over his shoulder, "So I'm assuming you're coming as well?"

All Artyom did was shrug and the colonel's eyes narrowed, "Hm… I think I'm going to need to have a little chat with Vitaly on this one…" He sighed and waved him on, "Come on, we don't have all day." With that said, he entered the Jumper and made for the cockpit.

Gusev looked around again before sighing and stretching; he took one last scanning look around before doing the same as well. He nudged the door control as he sat towards the back and leaned back to take a nap; he left his eye by the hatch open as usual.

61 Minutes Later, 20ish Miles North of Winnipeg, Faraway Land

The colonel deftly spun the Jumper around without the passengers in the rear feeling a thing and silently set the ship down on the snowy lawn. He stretched and eyed his passenger as the elder Vought continued to shake his head.

"You flew… without moving anything…"

"It's a mental interface; no need for physical input though normally I would."

Chance looked over at him with a serious expression, "I'm flying back."

"Unfortunately, that isn't going to happen…"

The elder Vought stared, "And why not?"

"You need a gene… a genetic marker in your blood to allow you to use Lantean equipment. The Ancients don't exist here so you won't have the marker." Chris looked around outside and opened the cockpit door with a mental command and stood, "Let's drop Fontaine off and we'll go from there ok?"

The elder man grumbled but nodded before standing as well; they two of them made their way to the back as a nervous but excited Fontaine waited by the hatch. Galland grinned at them from her seat, "Someone looks excited."

To her credit, Laura didn't react; she just clutched her small bag closer to her chest, thinking about the photo nestled within. She had waited two years for this; tears began to form in her eyes as the rear ramp lowered and she quickly exited; forgetting completely that she had just flown. She made for the front door noticing her father's truck in the driveway… they were both home.

The officers and Chance sat back and watched with happy expressions; Gusev still with a blank face as they watched her knock on the door. Pierce elbowed the colonel in the side, "I think we did good here sir."

The colonel nodded, "I do believe you're right Frank," the door opened.

"MOM, DAD! I'm home!" Laura had tears of joy falling down her face as she stared at the surprised two in the doorway.

1503 Hours, Jumper Bay 4

Ross watched as the rear door on the Jumper slid open and raised an eyebrow when he heard sobbing coming from the interior. He blinked in concern when the colonel angrily marched from the interior; completely ignoring him and everyone else. The commander got in step with him as he started to move outside, "Uh sir? What's going on?"

Vought growled, "… Later… I'm so pissed right now…" his fist clenched as the colonel led him towards the firing range where the Marines were packing up the remainder of their stuff. Gunnery Sergeant Harding looked up in surprise and then scowled as he saluted; he had a deadline and didn't like it being interrupted, "Good afternoon gentlemen… what can I do for you today?"

The colonel growled again, "Give me something to shoot now or I'm going to do something extremely stupid."

The Marine shook his head in annoyance but he'd never say no to an order; he kicked the crate he had been packing back open and hefty a M60 out and dropped it on a table. He whistled and another marine brought a can of ammo over. "Here you go sir you'll have to wait a second for the mag-"

The colonel violently yanked the machinegun off the table and snapped it open; he slid the belt of ammo in place and slammed it closed before marching away. The belt of ammo swung freely as he shouldered the gun and aimed downrange.

He mashed the trigger and the gun began to chatter as the air-cooled gun sent lead downrange; spent brass and the disintegrating belt fell in a continuous stream from the side. Twenty seconds later the 100 round belt had been exhausted and the barrel steamed as the colonel took a deep breath and exhaled… he was still pissed. He dropped the gun back on the table and started to march back towards the ship, "Everyone in Bay 2 NOW!" The nearby Marines looked around in confusion for a moment before dropping what they were doing and made for the ship.

Ross cautiously approached the still fuming colonel, "Sir? What the hell is going on?"

Vought pinched his nose and held his breath for a moment before angrily exhaling, "Life just keeps on getting more complicated…" He started his explanation and the commander's expression darkened.

"…What is going to happen to her now?"

The colonel sighed, "I've talked to Adolfine… I'll explain to everyone; let's get in Bay 2… I've got a shit ton to explain."

Nearby

"Could anyone hear what they were saying?"

The three witches with Yeager shook their heads.

"He looked mad…" Yoshika muttered nervously as she, Lyn, Francesca, and Shirley continued to hide nearby; they watched as the two officers made back towards the ship passing a confused Preddy and Von Bonin. The two of them walked over to the others and watched as the two men disappeared from view.

"What was that about? The colonel looked pissed."

The four witches nodded.

"He's really mad about something; he grabbed a gun and went brrrrrrrt," Francesca made gun noises as she pointed at the range. "He yelled something about a meeting and then went that way," she pointed towards the ship.

"Mad about something… meeting on the ship…" Geena muttered as she stared curiously at the ship. "Wonder if it has anything to do Fontaine being back."

Yeager blinked, "Didn't they just go to drop her off at home?"

Von Bonin nodded, "Yeah but we passed by the bay just now and we heard her voice… she was crying."

Yoshika stood up in alarm, "Oh no! Is she hurt? I need to go see her!" She started to run off before Shirley grabbed her shoulder.

"Hang on there squirt… we need to see what's going on first," Yeager stated as she looked at Huberta, "What do you think ma'am, crash the party?"

The Karlslandic officer sighed as she looked at the others… she nodded, "Let's go… but don't tell anyone else and whatever you do, don't interrupt. We were never there got it?"

Four of the other five witches nodded; Yoshika blinked as she tried to process that, "But were not there yet…"

The others sighed loudly… the young one just didn't get it.

Jumper Bay 2, 5 Minutes Later

The witches slipped in behind the last of the crew and waited as the men and women stared towards the far wall; they murmured amongst themselves as they waited for the colonel to speak to them.

Vought stepped up to the podium he used to speak to them all those months ago when they learned they could not return home easily. He sighed and his voice echoed around the room, "Alright everyone settle down." He waited for them to all quiet before continuing; he managed a small grin, "Well everyone, we did good; we saved some people, saved a planet, and kicked alien ass… all in a day's work for us." He looked around again, "As you know, tomorrow at 0900 hours we leave… hopefully for home."

The witches in the back frowned with the younger three trying desperately to hold back tears; they were their friends now, why'd they have to leave?

"We finish loading supplies tonight but that's not exactly why I called this meeting together…" Everyone watched silently as the colonel shifted nervously before pulling on his collar. "Uh…um the reason I've called this meeting is because… uh because…" he looked nervously to his left where the ladies noticed Galland and a number of other witches were standing; she beckoned for him to continue.

"Um… due to various supplies… and events we may have used or caused… we have racked up quite a tab. A tab that unfortunately is quite… painfully large and very difficult to repay via work; they will not let us make and or give them money."

The room went painfully quiet as the crew processed this… they wanted to go home, not pay off their debt.

"However, they have graciously offered us a way to take care of this debt directly… and I have… accepted it."

The men and women shared looks; what was he getting to?

He cleared his throat and looked away, "As per the agreement I have made on our behalf… a number of people will be joining the crew for the remainder of our journey…"

The murmurs and whispers started up again as the witches looked to each other in surprise; the three older witches looked back and forth thinking the same thing… there was no way right?

The colonel dropped his head as he beckoned to his left, "Josephine Foss."

The witches snapped their heads back up as a cocky looking Joe walked up to stand next to him.

"Hanna Rudel"

The older ground attack witch calmly stepped up as well surprising Preddy and von Bonin.

"Cecilia Harris"

Yeager shook her head in surprise as she looked between Harris up by the colonel, and the utterly confused Preddy next to her.

"Hanna Marseille"

The cocky Star of Africa crossed her arms as she walked up to stand on the other side of the colonel; the look on her face showed she was quite pleased with this outcome.

"Kristin Knispel"

Out of her blood lust and quite content with the way things were going, the Karlsland land-witch stepped forward with perfect military precision and a straight face to stand by Rudel.

"Elizabeth Kinkade"

The slightly nervous Britannian land-witch took a careful step forward and then smiled before glaring at the grin threatening to form on Kristin's face… she needed to be watched carefully.

"Laura Fontaine"

The white-haired witch didn't move; she continued looking at the ground as she stayed close to Pierce with the later rubbing her shoulder in a small attempt to comfort her

The colonel sighed again before looking back and forth at them and then the surprised and frozen faces of the crew, "These ladies will be joining the crew as part of the civilian detachment and will be treated as such… I guess help then get settled; we leave in 15 hours, dismissed."

The stunned crew shook themselves out of it and began to make their way back to doing what they were doing to finish prepping the ship. The six stowaways hid behind some crates as the others continued to pour out; they processed what had just taken place.

Yeager looked back and forth between them, "Did all of them really just retire so that they could join the crew?"

The others continued to blink in astonishment before slowly nodding… that just happened.

Huberta shook her head in disbelief, "Joe actually did it huh… what do you think of all this Jean… Jean?"

The five of them looked around in confusion as the other Liberion in the midst had vanished… she was nowhere to be seen.

1603 Hours-Vought's Quarters

Galland just raised an eyebrow as she watched the colonel repeatedly bounce his head off his desk; she snorted and shook her head, "Was it really that hard of a decision?"

He stopped and turned his head to look at her, "Yes… I promised we'd help protect you guys but this… this is different. We're going to most likely be in danger most of the time; firefights, explosions, aliens… the list is endless. I can't guarantee… I can't promise that everyone will make it back in one piece…"

Adolfine sighed as she fell into one of his chairs, "I know that, and they do as well. They wouldn't have volunteered if they didn't think they could help without hindering. You need to trust them… they've all seen combat remember that."

He snorted, "You can come in now Jean."

The leader of the witches turned in confusion as a surprised Preddy slowly entered the room; the two ladies stared in surprise as Vought pulled himself up and leaned back in his chair; he grinned.

"…How?"

The colonel pointed at the walls, "Perks of having the Captain's quarters; an interface to the bridge and Serenity can be accessed pretty much anywhere in here." He winked at Preddy, "Serenity told me you were stalking us."

Geena looked away with a huff… she thought she was being sneaky.

"So what's on your mind G-"

"I want to come with you!" She blurted out before the colonel could finish causing his eyes to widen in surprise; Galland coughed into her hand as she covered up the smirk on her face.

Chris was speechless, "How… what… when…?"

The Liberion turned away, "Huberta, myself, and a few members of the 501st snuck into the room when you had your speech; Joe's going so I want to go as well."

Vought shook his head in astonishment; he blinked as he looked to Adolfine, "Say something…"

Galland snorted and grinned before tapping her chin, "Well, there isn't much I can say. She's been retired remember? Besides, she IS an adult; I can't speak for her even if I wanted to."

The colonel slammed his head back against his desk and began pulling on his hair in stress; Galland patted him on the shoulder.

He groaned as Geena watched awkwardly from the side; completely unsure of his response. He finally threw his arms out and opened his eyes again before looking to her. "I give up… you can come."

The witch blinked in surprise before lunging at him nearly knocking him from his chair; she gave him a quick hug and pulled away, "Sorry… but thank you. I… after everything you guys have done for me… I need to repay you somehow and the best way I see is to help you get home."

Vought just blinked and sighed; he nodded, "I understand Jean… and thanks. Go get your stuff and such cause we leave tom-"

"If she's going I'm going," Heinrike stated firmly as she stomped into the room; glaring at Geena and the colonel. Galland couldn't take it anymore and broke down laughing while the colonel went back to banging his head.

"I give up… someone kill me… please?"

Galland slapped him on the back, "Cheer up big guy, now you've got a squadron of magic women to help you save worlds. Now you're going to get home for sure."

Jean looked at Heinrike in astonishment, "Why…?"

The night witch kept her firm expression as she glared at her older friend, "I already said it, if you're going, I'm going; I already retired and need to keep you and everyone else in line. Especially since Marseille is coming."

Preddy blinked away some tears as she grinned; she wrapped the now surprised night witch in a hug and squeezed, "Thank you Heinrike, you're the best."

The night witch blushed red as she tried to keep a straight face, "It's fine… it's what friends do…" She mumbled under her breath as she watched the colonel continue to beat himself up. He started to fumble around for something.

"I need a nap, where is it?" He muttered as he grabbed the particle magnum hanging on his side; he flipped the switch and it started to glow red. Galland snatched it from his hands before he could knock himself out.

"Bad Chris, no injuring yourself today… at least before you meet your last additional crew member."

He blinked in surprise and then his face went through a variety of emotions before settling on misery. "What?"

Galland nodded, "It was my idea actually. After witnessing you and your crew's tendency to injure yourselves, I requested a volunteer from the witches."

He blinked, "So…?"

She sighed, "Her name's Eugenia Horbaczewski; she's a trauma witch. While nowhere near as powerful as Miyafuji, her control is excellent and she can also use her magic to provide medical diagnostics. Her family was killed in Ostmark by the Neuroi so she really has nothing here for her; the witch corps was her life. She's heard all about you and the ship so when offered the chance, she jumped."

Vought sighed as he looked at her, "When can I meet her?"

Adolfine smiled and beckoned towards the door, "She's waiting in my office so let's go introduce you." She glared as she looked at the other two, "Go get your stuff situated; I'm sure someone will show you to your new quarters."

The two witches looked at each other before Galland dragged the colonel out of his own room; the expression on his face was pitiful. What had the two of them just gotten themselves into?

March 19, 1946 0845 Hours- Outside the Borealis Bridge

Vought shook his head wryly as he looked at the woman who'd helped them so much over the past months; he smiled as he held out his hand, "It's been real Adolfine… thank you so much for all you've done for us."

Galland raised an eyebrow as she looked at the hand; she shook her head and brushed the hand out of the way, "Come on big guy, one last time; we're friends."

Vought sighed and dropped his hand and allowed her to hug him; he returned the favor and she pulled away while wiping a tear away.

"You guys stay safe alright?"

He gave her a look and she sighed, "Yeah I know… but at least try, for their sake."

He nodded firmly, "Will do ma'am."

She pursed her lips and nodded as well, "Good, now let me say bye to the others and I'll let you guys leave."

He nodded as he led her onto the bridge and took his position in the chair; she went around saying goodbye to the other officers. He activated the chair and began to spin, "Ross."

The commander turned and nodded as he looked around, "Alright ladies and gentlemen, systems check, propulsion."

"Green"

"Power"

"Green"

"Shields"

"Green"

"Weapons"

"Green"

"Structure"

"Green"

"Systems"

"Green"

"Storage"

"Green"

"Personnel"

"… Green, all crew aboard"

"Life-support"

"Green, no leaks detected"

Ross nodded as he turned to the colonel, "All systems green sir… we're ready when you are."

Vought stopped the chair as opened his eyes giving Galland a small smile and a wink, "Guess that's it then ma'am."

Galland gave them all a sad smile and sniffed, "You guys be carefully out there understood?"

They all nodded and she grinned, "Alright then," she turned back to the colonel, "I guess I'll be off then."

The colonel nodded and closed his eyes again; the Air Vice-Marshal vanished in a flash of white light.

Outside, HMNB Portsmouth

Galland wiped away the tear as she reappeared on the dock; Mio stepped up alongside her, "Are you alright ma'am?"

She nodded and gave the Fuso witch a small smile, "I'm fine Mio… just fine. Is everyone ready?"

The witch from Fuso grinned and nodded, "Everyone is on schedule."

"Good," Galland muttered as she stared at the Ancient Battleship, "Let's give them a sendoff."

("Odds Are"- Barenaked Ladies)

The crowds of onlookers quieted down as they heard a quiet whine coming from the ship.

The 3.5km long ship shimmered yellow as the shield flickered to life before fading out of the visible spectrum. This was followed by the whine increasing in volume as the water began to churn behind the ship. A small fleet of smaller Britannian Royal Navy vessels kept civilian ships away from the churning maelstrom behind the massive wall of metal. The whine increased in pitch till it reached painful levels before slowly passing above what the human ear was capable of hearing; nothing but a deep bass tone was audible as the ship finally moved.

With a shudder, the massive machine lifted off at exactly 0900 Hours with the water streaming off the hull catching the morning light as it hovered there; completely defeating everything the onlookers knew about physics… that didn't include magic.

Galland, the witches, and every soldier present saluted as the ship slowly began to accelerate away. She managed to grin again as she witnessed another amazing sight.

Forming up with the accelerating ship were the Joint Fighter Wings… all of them. The 501st rolled in from above and led the ship out over the channel while the others formed up around them. Joining them were aircraft from every nation the ship visited and saved including four of the Corsairs; it was truly a sight to behold. Moments later with a roar, the eight remaining 302s took off from the runway and formed up before forming with their ship and the Borealis slowly began to climb. One by one, the witches and aircraft were forced to break off as the ship flew above their maximum altitude. The 302s lit their rocket motors to keep up with the slowly accelerating and climbing ship; they soon vanished from view and the crowds cheered as the witches returned to the hanger where they stored their strikers.

Galland smiled again as she made her way over to the returning witches; most were in tears or crying at the loss of their friends and allies. She patted Minna on the shoulder, "I think we did good Wilcke."

The commander sighed and nodded as she looked towards the skies, "I just hope they get home… they deserve it so much."

Galland nodded as she glanced around the hanger before gazing back out the door. She did a double take and turned as she saw a note tapped to one of the empty striker racks; she grabbed it and read it. She blinked before howling with laughter; dropping it as she did so.

Minna curiously picked it up and read it as well; she managed a large grin and looked to the skies again.

"I owe you 9 Striker Units- J. Foss"

She looked around again and blinked in surprise… there were ten units missing… and a packet of paper tapped to one as well.

Low Earth Orbit

Onboard the ship, the crew nervously prepared their stations for the jump as the 302s landed inside. In the crew section, the witches slowly and nervously looked around their new home for an indefinite amount of time; most of them were scared of what they had gotten themselves into.

On the bridge, the colonel ran one last check on all the systems before sighing and crossing his fingers, "Alright ladies and gents… let's do this. Second star on the right… straight on till morn…" He activated the comms as the ARD began to charge, "Everyone… we're leaving; please hang on." He redirected the transmission back to the planet; they couldn't respond, but they could hear them, "Everyone thank you for your hospitality and help; we could never have done it without you… we'll see you on the other side."

The ARD was 90% charged.

Engineering

Decker looked everything over with a sharp gaze as he made sure everything was working perfectly… his career and life was on the line. He paused as the colonel made his announcement and shivered slightly… if something failed…

A clanging caused him to go white and he spun in fear; if something broke right before they jumped, it could set off a bunch of dominoes that could get them all killed. He rushed over to pile of scrap they had yet to clean up and paused as some of it moved.

99% charged

He moved a plate out of the way and he went white as he began to babble, "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!"

100% charged

The ship began to glow a brilliant white that slowly increased in intensity till it reached painful levels. Unbeknownst to anyone onboard, even the AI Serenity, a fused circuit buried deep inside the ship sparked and the Asgard Core flickered causing a program to start. A bubble formed around the ship before it finally vanished off to parts unknown.

And there we go, for whatever reason, this chapter was a bitch to complete; I changed the ending about five times before finally deciding on this one. So… I want to apologize for the lack of updates… or responses… or anything really. As stated above, I've had a lot of shit going on lately; between that thing called work… the one that pays money? Yeah, I got me one of those. Money is nice… too nice; I want to spend it all. As for another reason for the delay… at the request of a few readers, I delayed the chapter due to events going on in Europe; that's all I'm going to elaborate on; enough apologies, onto the future. Since it seems I really suck at hints, the next arc of the story is an Animorphs crossover; I'm a 90s child, I grew up with those books so it's going to happen. As stated in the previous chapter, you guys won't see the first chapter for a while; I need to build up a backlog of chapters so I won't leave many gaps between said chapters. Speaking of other stories, the series of one shots, the one I've decided to call –REDACTED- has a few chapters completed as well and you will see the first chapter of that soon-ish… don't quote me on that and no, that is not the real title; you will have to wait and see for the real title. To make up for the lack of updates and delays… I'm going to kill myself for putting this out there but I need your help. The few chapters I have written for the next arc are complete but, I have included generic and unnamed crewmembers… yes, that means I need you, the readers, to create some OCs for me. READ THIS! DO NOT PLACE YOUR SUBMISSION IN THE REVIEWS! THEY MUST BE SUBMITTED AS A PM. I have a list of rules, regulations, and instructions posted on my profile so please, if you want me to review your submission follow the instructions to a tee. It's been a fun ride ladies and gents, I'll see you on the other side; Ghostrider21 signing off until Arc 2.