Chapter 10: About Age
(or about accepting it)
After receiving her payment, Yoshika spent almost all her money getting what was necessary for the kitchen while Perrine collaborated buying supplies with little was left of hers and the same happened with both Lynette and Shizuka.
It seemed to her they did not realize what she did, but she was grateful for that, her family was not rich by any means, but the clinic was enough to live comfortably or at least that was what she told herself, hoping not to regret what she did.
The days went by as usual, and now with the collaboration of the girls at the base, they had enough supplies to go by, nothing fancy but just enough to continue with their routines mostly fine.
There had been some Neuroi sights from time to time in between Ingolstadt and Bolzano but the 501st dealt with them with not too many issues. These Neuroi were at worst medium class with low fire power and whoever was training or available at the time, could take care of them with little to no trouble; there was no even need for a squad, but they did not take any chances and there was always someone as back-up.
The girls continued with their usual training which meant jogging around the base, doing push-ups, stretching, shooting practice and formations with either Yoshika or Perrine as group leaders and to Minna's surprise they did not require any kind of supervision as they followed orders with no hesitation, but she hoped that it translated to actual combat.
Nevertheless, the upper brasses of both Venezia and Karlsland had not come to agreement of how to proceed to take the hive, thus the Joint Fighter Wing could not do anything else but wait for orders and stop the enemy from advancing.
During one of these days, Yoshika was taking care of the laundry outside the base as she was in stand-by, until she heard an engine's noise. At the beginning, she believed that it belonged to a Striker, but the sound was way to loud to be of one.
"A plane?" Yoshika asked to no one as she realized that it was preparing to land at the base, 'I wonder who is coming?' she asked herself, then she noticed that it had the flag of Karlsland in its side.
"It must be Captain Barkhorn and Hartmann" Yoshika beamed and then she rushed to finish hanging the clothes.
Shortly after, in the take-off track, she was waiting with the rest of the girls for the passengers to disembark.
The door opened and the first one to came out was Erika with a soft smile on her face and arms behind her head. Then Gertrud with similar demeanor on her face carrying two luggage bags. What stood out the most that surprised everyone who was there, save for Mio and Minna, was the fact Gertrud was wearing civilian clothes, a dark green swing double breasted coat and dark almost black tights with matching boots.
'That's weird' Yoshika said to her own head, shortly after, they all went to their side to greet them, Yoshika first.
"Captain Barkhorn, it's good to see you again", Yoshika said with cheerfulness in her voice as she posed.
"Same to you Miyafuji, but there's no need to call me Captain, I've stepped down" Gertrud said to everyone's surprise.
"Why?" asked Yoshika still not believing what she just heard, but then she recalled what she was in the hangar, only ten launching units. 'That's the reason' she said to herself.
"You know it would eventually have to happen, after all a proper soldier knows when her serving time it's over", Gertrud said trying to fake a smile the best she could, but unaware, the last part made Mio change her face to one of regret.
Then the other girls started to ask her Gertrud about what she just said.
Meanwhile, Erika was watching them from the distance, noticing that, Yoshika and Sanya went to their side and hugged her.
"How have you been Erika?" asked Sanya
"Just fine; it took us a long time to came here though" Erika said with an unconcerned tone.
"Did you guys have any problem in Berlin?" asked Yoshika with curious face.
"Not really, the reconstruction is going well, I guess, just lots of paperwork as usual" Erika replied carefreely.
And the continued talking for a bit while the crewmen unloaded a few boxes of supplies and Erika's striker.
Shortly after, they all headed inside the base, though the commanders headed to Mio and Minna's office to have a private reunion, Eila and Sanya went to their room to rest for a bit as they had night patrol.
The rest of the girls went to the kitchen in order to prepare lunch. The cooking time had been improving steadily in the last a few days because of everyone's help. There were lots of simple dishes from different countries to choose from. Though Minna and Mio never helped them, but everyone was just thankful for that as it seemed their Wing Commander was busy with paperwork.
But today, it presented a great opportunity to have some dishes from Karlsland.
"Hartmann, do you want to help us cooking" asked Miyafuji as she chopped some vegetables.
"Nah, it seems you got it covered and I'm worn out for the travel" Erika replied as she went to the dining table and started to play with a pen.
Hearing that response, the cooks just continued preparing lunch as it seemed Hartmann was not interested in the least in helping them, but no one could blame her as traveling is tiring.
At the office, all the commanders were sitting at different places and were about to discuss the future of the Joint Fighter Wing.
Gertrud started, "so, I guess it's better if we get to the point of this meeting, Minna", Getrude made a pause, "have you decided who is going to take my place as captain?" asked Gertrud as she got herself more comfortable in the couch.
"Not yet, we have been evaluating all the girls, but we haven't come to a consensus yet" Minna replied as she sat in another position to be more comfortable.
"Really, but wasn't Miyafuji just promoted, I thought that was the initial plan" Gertrud remarked as she rubbed her chin.
"It was, but she is far too impulsive to command all the Joint Fighter Wing, we did a trial a few days ago and the results were far from ideal" Mio replied with a hint of discouragement in her voice as she put her elbow over the couch to rest her head.
"And Hattori is still far too rookie to carry such burden" Gertrud added.
"She follows orders as well you do" Minna chuckled, "but you're right, I'm afraid she's far too young and the same goes for Francesca" she stated.
"Eila has more experience than Miyafuji, but same issue I guess" Gertrud postulated.
"Indeed, and she just doesn't have the temperament to give orders and the same goes for Yeager and Bishop" proclaimed Mio.
"Yeager?" Gertrud requestioned when she heard the name of her long-time friendly rival.
"You know that well Trude, she is just as impulsive Miyafuji and as jovial as Eila" Minna justified her friend point of view.
"I guess you're right" Gertrud backed down after hearing the arguments of her fellow officers.
"And Lynette, don't get me wrong, she is an excellent soldier, but she's more likely to follow orders than to give them" Mio added.
"Sanya could be an excellent captain, she did an outstanding job back in Kiel, but I'm afraid she has her hands full with night Patrol" Minna stated recalling how she avoided the destruction of the port.
"I guess that leave us with Perrine and Erika" Mio proposed the last two options.
"I wouldn't count on Erika just now; she didn't even want to come here to Bolzano" Gertrud added to the surprise of both commanders.
"Why?" asked both in awe.
"She somehow discovered that there are no pending assignments as the brasses from Karlsland and Venezia had not come to an agreement regarding the next operation to take down the hive over Ingolstadt, and she would come here when she is needed" Gertrud reported what happened.
"That doesn't sound like her, I know she's carefree, but when it comes to the duty, she never backed down" Mio commented trying to grasp what she just heard.
"Don't you think I know that; it took a lot of convincing to get her here" Gertrud stated what happened before coming to Bolzano.
"So, that leave us with Perrine, still she is the most logical choice, after all she was already asked to lead the Noble Witches, but she turned down the offer to continue serving at the 501st" Mio proclaimed her choice.
"Agreed" both Minna and Gertrud accepted the motion.
"So that settles it" Mio concluded.
Minna was about to leave until she was interrupted.
"Now regarding the next point of this meeting" Gertrud swallowed saliva to continue, "have you thought who is going to take your place?" Gertrud asked Minna gazing her directly.
"Not yet, I know I'm running out of time, but I can still fly just fine, and my shield is a strong as usual" Minna firmly stated.
"Is that a fact?" Mio rebuked, she knew from first experience the courage one needed to step down when the due time came, and she still recalled she failed to do that and almost got one of her recruits killed just for her stubbornness; she did not want Minna to ever experience the same.
"It is, let's go to the dinner room to announce our consensus, the girls must have already finished preparing lunch by now" Minna wrapped up and exited room shortly after, which made the two officers exchange glances, "I'm gonna talk with her later" Mio added with a thoughtfulness look in her face.
In the dinner room, the plates with food were already served, and the three commanders made their way to their places, one sided to the other.
Minna was in the middle, Gertrud at her left side and Mio at her right side. And the rest of the girls, save for Eila and Sanya who were currently sleeping at their room, were already sitting with food already served in front of them.
All the girls knew that their superiors had something to announce regarding Gertrud's retirement, it was just a matter of when, nevertheless, most of them started to serve and the food as the commanders had not said anything.
Almost everyone was already eating save Erika who had not even noticed that everyone was there. Shizuka was at her side and noticing that she was still profoundly sleeping, she decided it would be better to wake her up.
"Pilot Officer Hartmann" Shizuka said as she grabbed her from her jacket.
"Officer Hartmann" the Fusoan Witch tried again to no avail.
"Hartmann" and she still did not wake up.
"HARTMANN" Gertrud screamed as she hit the table.
"Just five more minutes" Hartmann replied half-awake which made Yoshika and Lynette chuckle.
"HARTMANN!" Gertrud screamed again as she hit the table and stood up to completely her wake up.
"I'm awake, I'm awake!" Hartmann said as she rubbed her eyes, "oh, food…" Hartman boredly said, "but I'm not hungry, may I go to my room?" Hartmann added as she pushed the plates away from her.
"You cannot leave just yet, we have some things to discuss with you, with all of you" Mio announced.
"Ughh" Erika inattentively replied and to Gertrud's annoyance, Erika's face was laying against the table again.
"AND YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SLEEP EITHER!" Gertrud screamed and Erika tried to stay awake however she could.
Noticing what was happening, Minna decided to step in, "I guess it's better if we tell you what we have decided", she continued, "as you heard before, Trude is stepping down as captain", she stated as Gertrud nodded in acceptance.
"So, that means, the Joint Fighter Wing needs someone to take her place" Mio continued as she crossed her hands in front of her chest, "after analyzing the performance of all of you, throughout these years, we have come to an agreement of whom is the most adequate Witch to take this vast responsibility" she stated.
All the girls were carefully listening as they gazed each other, save for Erika, who was still daydreaming, chewing a pen.
Before Gertrud announced the name of the new captain, she gave her old friend one last look with a hint of disillusionment, "Perrine, please stand up" Gertrud ordered her as she sighed.
"From now on, you're promoted to Captain of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing, the Strike Witches, please take this responsibility with the seriousness it deserves" Mio made known their agreement with a smile on her face, after all one of her recruitments had just been promoted.
"I'm not going to disgrace you Major Sakamoto…., I mean to anyone of you" Perrine bowed repeatedly to all the members as she blushed slightly realizing what she just said.
The rest of the girls started to clap with smiles on her faces, save for Erika who was still absent minded, chewing her pen until Shizuka grabbed her jacket again, and so she started to clap with the rest of the Joint Fighter Wing.
"I'm so happy for you Perrine" Yoshika beamed.
"You deserved it" added Lynette.
"Yes Lieutenant Clostermann, I mean Captain Clostermann" Shizuka congratulated her, but the truth was, she hoped Yoshika to become captain, but it just did not happen, but she was sure Perrine would do a great commanding the Strike Witches.
Shortly after all, the girls stopped their clap and continued eating their food mostly in silence with an occasional murmur in between.
At the same time, Perrine was thinking about how to proceed with her new responsibility, and as she promised Major Sakamoto, she was going to make her proud, but her daydream was interrupted by Erika.
"Now may I go to my room?" Erika asked to her superiors.
"You're dismissed" Gertrud replied with an annoyed look.
"Shizuka, please show her room" Minna ordered her.
"Yes ma'am" she replied as she followed Erika.
'That was rude' Perrine said to herself, 'could not she at least try the food' she added.
"Maybe the food was not of her liking?" Yoshika asked to everyone.
"I guess not" Lynette answered as she shrugged.
"By the way, I almost forgot, we have to leave for Berlin for a few days, that leaves you in charge Perrine" announced Mio.
"Don't worry Major Sakamoto, I'm going to be sure that the schedule is thoroughly fulfilled" Perrine answered and intended to just do that.
The evening was almost over and all the girls minus Eila, Sanya and Erika were at the take off track, waiting for their superiors to embark.
"We are going to be back in a few days, please stay safe" Minna said to everyone.
"And keep up with your training" Mio ordered her subordinates.
"I'm going to be sure of that Major" the-now-in-charge Witch assured her.
"I will come back at later time though, I need to take care of Chris and supervise the rebuild of Berlin" Gertrud said as she got closer to Yoshika, "just let me know if you need anything, 'k", she told her as she brought her closer to her chest and tenderly embraced her to Yoshika's awe or rather almost everyone's.
Then Gertrud went upstairs and was the last one to embark but before she did so, she took another look at the hangar, hoping to find her sister-in-arms but she was not there to her disappointment, "Erika, we've talked about it", she murmured, almost whispered to no one.
She was not still so sure if she made the right call on steeping down, her shield's strength was a shadow of its former self. And while she could still fly mostly fine, she would not like to end injured, like it happened to Mio back then, and what was worse, was the fact Yoshika blamed herself for what happened and though it was partially her fault, it still made her feel troubled and that was not even counting all the things took place after that.
If something ever occurred to her for running out of magic in a battle, her life would lay on Yoshika's hands but if she did not make it, Yoshika would be broke to say the least and everyone as well; she knew that feeling first hand too well and would not like anyone else to ever experience it, and what was even worse, there would be no one take care of her little sister.
'A proper soldier knows when to step down' Gertrud repeated to herself, she did make her choice and hoped not to regret it later, only time would tell though, "be careful out there, Miyafuji" she hoped as she closed the plane's door, and took a sit beside Minna, "she's your little sister after all, I'm gonna make sure she's safe when I come back" she told her longtime friend after hearing what she just said, but Gertrud did not reply anything as she was watching them through the window, shortly after, the plane took off.
Nevertheless, unknowingly to Gertrud and to everyone, Erika had watched everything from the distance and after the plane departed, she headed to her own room.
Meanwhile, Yoshika was still in awe wondering what Gertrud, her now former captain, did moments before, 'she's not a person that easily shows her feelings' Yoshika thought as she remembered the few times she did, still one thing was for sure though things were changing quickly, maybe too quickly.
Later that day, at night the two night-Witches were in the dinner room, eating before departing to their duty, though Eila was wondering where the three commanders were as usually at least one was with them before departing.
"Miyafuji, where's Barkhorn?" asked Eila as she sipped her warm cup of coffee.
"She already left" Yoshika answered as she did the dishes.
"What, why no one woke us up?!" exclaimed Eila as she out her coffee down.
Yoshika shrugged, "I guess no one wanted to disturb you?", she told her without giving much importance.
"Eila, you told them that you don't like to be waken up when we have night patrol" Sanya added as she held her cup of coffee to warm her hands; it seemed the winter had started to show its cold presence.
"I guess that's true but still" Eila added thinking about the fact she did not have a chance to say goodbye to her former captain.
"Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, Perrine is our new captain" Yoshika announced as she dried her hands.
"What!? Why does always the important things happen when we are sleeping, oh well, but it should have been you Sanya" Eila called as she put her hand over Sanya's shoulder.
"Eila, please" Sanya replied with red cheeks, but there was something still missing, "Yoshika, where's Erika?"
"She hasn't come out of her room, she even skipped dinner" Yoshika clucked.
That response made Sanya look down at her table with a trace of sadness.
"I'm gonna talk with her tomorrow", Sanya announced as she knew something was wrong with her and she may have a clue what was happening with her.
During the night patrols, Sanya tried to find a plausible reason for the Neuroi that could elude her detection and while Eila accompanied her, she did not notice that Sanya was searching for a plausible explanation, but little progress was made. There were some Neuroi sights and Sanya could detect them before they even became visible, Eila helped her to dodge their beams and she took of them out with her Fliegerfaust with no issue.
Tonight, the sky was crystal clear with little to no clouds, and with the full moon, their job was as easy as it could get but it was cold but not enough to bother the two sub-arctic Witches. Sanya's magic antenna indicated her that there were no Neuroi nearby and there was no place for them to hide at the sky, nevertheless, it still gave an unsettling feeling to Sanya as she was still wondering why she failed to detect the enemy a few days ago.
"Don't you think we should head back to the base? I don't think anything would appear tonight" Eila asked her as she went below to look her directly.
The lack of anything unusual added with a clear night had already made Sanya thought about the same idea but she still did not want to go back hoping to find an answer, "if it is fine, I would like to Patrol for a couple more of minutes" Sanya asked her partner.
"Alright then", Eila replied as she went to Sanya's right side, there was no way she could say no to her.
They continued flying around the base for a while until Sanya gave up and started to head south towards the base, but her plan could not be carried out as her magic antenna turned red.
"Neuroi" Sanya announced as she tried to pinpoint its location, but she as hard as she tried, she was unable to find its position.
Moments later, noticing the lack of action, "Where?" asked Eila as she attempted to foresee where it would appear, but she had the same results as her friend.
"Where you able to locate?" asked Eila again as she checked every side so there were no surprises but there was still no sight of Neuroi.
"Not yet" Sanya stated but she still could not get its location.
After communicating the novelty to the base, they flew around Bolzano trying to discover the source of what Sanya was reading until there was only an hour before the dawn made its way to Venezia, but they could not find anything.
"Don't take this wrong but there's nothing here" Eila found the courage to tell her as she even herself could started to believe she may be mistaken, "I believe in you Sanya, but we haven't been able to find anything, maybe because it's so clear you detected something very far from here".
"I guess so" Sanya replied but she was not still sure if it could explain her still red magic antenna, but she was running low on magic and Eila may be feeling the same, thus she changed course and headed back to the base, followed closely by Eila.
At the hangar, the now-in-command Witch was waiting for them, alone as the other Witches were sleeping.
"What took you so long?" asked Perrine still wearing her nightgown as she was not expecting them to be so late.
"We were unable to find the Neuroi we detected" Eila told her the reason of their lateness.
"Why?" Perrine enquired both Witches with worriedness in her voice as she hugged herself to keep the warm of her body.
Sanya did not reply anything, but Eila did, "We're not sure, we looked everywhere but nothing strange was found", Eila explained Perrine.
"That's unusual" Perrine replied realizing that this was the second time Sanya was unable to detect the enemy.
"Yes, I'm sorry" Sanya replied as she headed to the room followed by Eila.
It was still dark and cold outside and with nothing else to do, Perrine went to her room, hoping that Shizuka had not awaken yet and hoping to be able to fall asleep after regaining the warmness again.
The surveillance team was the second line of the defense at the base so if anything was sighted, they could be sortie as soon as they could, though she hoped that nothing happened in what little time was left before the sun rised above the horizon.
Now before you kill me, Barkhorn's story is not over.
And the next chapter is still being written, I hope to have it done by the next week.