"" Dialogue
'' Thoughts
Disclaimer: I do not own "Strike Witches", so this is just a fan made.
Chapter 10: About age
(or about acknowledging it)
A few days later
The monthly payment had arrived, and after having a small talk with the whole group, they agreed to buy what they needed for the base. Thus, they made a small trip to Innsbruck to get supplies as well as cookware.
Though, they did not realize that Yoshika used all of hers to buy what was needed, but she was grateful for that as it was her fault they were in that predicament on the first place. 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.
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 Nuremberg and Munich and the cities in between 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, swinging with their bokkens, shooting practice, and doing 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 her orders with no hesitation.
During one of these days, after Yoshika finished with her usual training routine she did under Minna supervisions', she was now taking care of the laundry outside the base as she was in stand-by while the rest of the girls were in the sky training, until she heard a noise.
"I guess they're back." Yoshika said hearing an engine noise. "Well, that was short." She shrugged.
"That's not a striker, it's a plane?" Yoshika added realizing it was too loud to belong to one and shortly after, 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.
A few minutes later
Now, in the runway track, she was with the rest of the Joint Fighter Wing, in attention, waiting for the passengers to disembark.
The door opened and the first one to came out was Erica smiling a little, arms behind her head. Then Gertrud with similar expression 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 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, and Mio gave a step forward.
"Commander Barkhorn, it's good to see you." Mio said in pose.
"Commander?" Almost the whole group said in unison.
"You know you don't need to call me that, I've stepped down." Gertrud said.
"Stepped down?" Almost the whole group said in unison.
'That's why there are only ten launching units, Barkhorn stepped down.' Yoshika said to herself becoming.
"Why?" She asked thoughtfully.
Gertrud sighed. "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 to her, the last part made Mio change her expression to one of regret.
"If Captain Barkhorn was promoted to Wing Commander, that means Commander Wilcke was also promoted to… Group Captain?" Shizuka wondered in low voice, with her hand in her chin, yet everyone heard her, making them gaze at Minna.
Minna sighed. "While it's true that I was promoted. I'm pleased to say I still remain in charge of the 501st." She added.
Then, the girls started to ask their superiors what they just announced. Meanwhile, Erica was watching them from the distance, noticing that, Yoshika and Sanya went to their side and hugged her.
"How have you been Erica?" Sanya asked.
"Just fine; it took us a long time to came here though." Erica said with an unconcerned tone.
"Did you guys have any problem in Berlin?" Yoshika asked with a curious face.
"Not really, the reconstruction is going well, I guess, just lots of paperwork as usual." Erica replied carefreely.
And they continued talking for a bit more while the crewmen unloaded a few boxes of supplies and Erica's striker.
Shortly after, they all headed inside the base, though the commanders headed to 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 which had been improving steadily in the last a few days because of everyone's help and with the extra supplies as well. Now, they were able prepare lots of dishes from their home countries yet nothing from Karlsland as Minna was busy and though most of them were grateful for that, even though Yoshika assured them that she cooked way better, but no one believed her.
"Hartmann, do you want to help us cooking?" Yoshika asked as she chopped some vegetables.
"Nah, it seems you got it covered and I'm worn out for the travel." Erica replied as she went to the dining table and started to play with a pen, making the four girls shrug.
"Well traveling is tiring." Lynette commented.
"It certainly is." Perrine added, and they continued preparing food as Erica was not interested in the least in helping them.
Meanwhile
The two commanders were heading to the office following the superior officer as she walked in a fast pace.
"There was no need to do that Mio." Minna stated visible bothered as they entered the office and then, she headed to her place behind the desk.
"The girls deserve to know both of you were promoted, and it's just military protocol after all." Mio stated as she took a sit in the couch.
"That's true Minna." Gertrud said as she served herself a cup of coffee. "I thought you've already told them you've been promoted."
"I haven't yet." Minna stated in a neutral tone.
"Well, at least now they know." Gertrud stated as she took a sit in the couch. "We don't have much time; let's get over with the point of this meeting." She made a pause, "Minna, have you decided who is going to take my place as captain?" Gertrud asked.
"We've been evaluating all the girls, but we haven't come to a consensus just yet." Minna replied serving herself a glass of wine.
"Really, but wasn't Miyafuji just promoted, I thought that was the initial plan." Gertrud remarked.
"As I've told both of you, she has matured but I'm afraid she's still too impulsive to be squadron leader." Minna stated from behind her desk, drinking a bit of wine.
"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.
"What happened?" Gertrud wondered.
"She recklessly rushed into the enemy and got herself injured and not only that, but the enemy also got away." Mio stated.
Gertrud hands shook a little, making her drop some coffee on her thighs. "Was she seriously injured?"
"Of course not, though she even told us she healed herself up." Mio stated with an unconcerned tone of voice.
"As far as I know, her healing magic doesn't work on herself." Gertrud stated.
"We know that, but that's what happened. Though, rest assure that nothing has happened to her." Mio added, yet Gertrud did not seem so appeased with the response.
"But she made up for her mistake, engaging and destroying the enemy." Minna commented getting Mio's attention.
"Defying direct orders and dragging Bishop, Clostermann and even Hattori." Mio countered back gazing at Minna.
"And they were all punished for that as it should." Minna stated yet Mio still continued glancing at her.
"That sounds like Miyafuji." Gertrud sighed, now more relaxed. "What surprise me the most though, is that Hattori had agreed to disobey orders."
"Well, she follows orders as well you do." Minna chuckled, "but she can defy them as well as you do Trude." Minna stated with soft smile.
Gertrud chuckled a little. "If anything, that makes her a proud Witch of the 501st." She sighed. "So that's why Miyafuji's out of the question." She made a pause. "And I guess Hattori is also out, she's far too rookie and too young to take my place."
"That's for certain." Minna stated.
"Eila has more experience than Miyafuji, but she can be reckless too." Gertrud postulated.
"Indeed, and she just doesn't have the temperament to give orders and the same goes for Yeager and Lucchini." Mio proclaimed.
"Yeager?" Gertrud requestioned when she heard the name of her long-time friendly rival.
"You know that well Trude, she can control her temper and can give orders clearly, but she also can be as impulsive Yoshika and as jovial as Eila." Minna proclaimed.
"I guess you're right." Gertrud backed down after hearing the arguments of her superior.
"And Lucchini, though she has experience, she is still the youngest of us all." 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.
"Which means it's a matter of choosing between Perrine, Lynne and Erica." Mio proposed the last two options.
"I wouldn't count on Erica just now; she didn't even want to come here to Munich." Gertrud added to the surprise of both commanders.
"Why?" Both asked in awe.
"She somehow discovered that we still are in hiatus the brasses from Karlsland and Venezia had not come to an agreement regarding the next operation to take down the Nest over Nuremberg, and that she would come here when she is needed" Gertrud announced.
"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 come here." Gertrud stated.
"So that leave us with Perrine and Lynne." Mio added.
"I can see Lynne becoming a great captain in the close future, but she's still not there just yet." Minna added as she took another sip of her wine.
"So, that leaves us with Perrine, in fact she is the most logical choice, after all she was already asked to be Wing Commander of the 506th, but she turned down the offer to continue serving at the 501st" Mio proclaimed her choice.
"That's the truth." Minna sighed.
"Agreed." Gertrud added.
"So that settles it." Mio concluded.
"Indeed." Minna said and then she stood up and was heading to the door until she was interrupted as Gertrud stepped in front of her.
"Now regarding the next point of this meeting." Gertrud gulped to continue. "Have you thought who is going to take your place?" She asked Minna gazing her directly.
"Not yet." Minna sighed as she put her hand on the doorknob. "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 gazing her directly in the eyes.
"Is that a fact?" Mio rebuked still from her sit.
"It is, let's go to the dining hall 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 still haven't had the chance to speak with her." Mio sighed with a thoughtfulness look in her face. "But I'm really thankful for what you have done for Minna."
"I just hope I'm making the right choice." Gertrud sighed.
"I also hope the same."
In the dining room
The cooks had prepared lots of plates from their home countries to celebrate the arrival of the two Karslandian Witches. Thus, several pots and plates were in the table, just waiting for the three commanders to come and shortly after, they 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 eat the food as the commanders had not said anything.
Almost everyone save Erica 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." She 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.
"Ugghh" Erica inattentively replied and to Gertrud's annoyance, Erica's face was laying against the table again.
"AND YOU'RE NOT ALLOWED TO SLEEP EITHER" Gertrud screamed, and Erica 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've heard, Trude is stepping down." 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 ladies, throughout these years, we have come to an agreement of whom is the most adequate Witch to take this great responsibility."
All the girls were carefully listening gazing each other, save for Erica, 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 in her face.
"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 proud 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 Erica 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." Lynette added.
"Yes Lieutenant Clostermann, I mean Captain Clostermann." Shizuka congratulated her with a bit less enthusiasm.
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 Erica.
"Now may I go to my room?" Erica asked to her superiors.
"You're dismissed." Gertrud replied with an annoyed look.
"Hattori, please show her room." Minna ordered her.
"Yes ma'am." she replied as she followed Erica, making Perrine frown a little.
"Maybe the food was not of her liking?" Yoshika commented.
"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." Mio announced.
"Don't worry Major Sakamoto, I'm going to be sure that the schedule is thoroughly fulfilled." Perrine answered firmly.
That evening
All the girls minus Eila, Sanya and Erica were at the hangar, waiting for their superiors to embark.
"We are going to be back in a couple of 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 and both Commanders went upstairs.
"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.
"Try not to be too reckless, 'k", she told her as she brought her closer to her chest and tenderly embraced her to Yoshika's awe.
"I'll… try Commander Barkhorn." Yoshika said gazing her in the eyes.
Then, she bent down at Yoshika's height and brought her face close to hers.
"And please look after Minna for me." She whispered.
Then Gertrud let go of her and also went upstairs 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.
"Erica, we've talked about it, I really hope you come to understand why I am doing this." She mumbled as the plane's door closed and then, she took a sit next to Minna.
"Be careful out there, Miyafuji." She muttered gazing her through the window.
"She's your little sister after all, I'm gonna make sure she's safe when I come back." She said yet Gertrud did not reply anything and shortly after, the plane took off.
Nevertheless, unknowingly to Gertrud and to everyone, Erica had watched everything from the distance and after the plane departed, she headed to her room.
Meanwhile, Yoshika was still in awe wondering what Gertrud, her now former captain, did moments before.
'Could Commander Minna be already losing her powers?' Yoshika said to herself.
Later that day, at night
The two sub-artic Witches were in the dining 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?" Eila asked 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?!" Eila exclaimed as she put her coffee down.
Yoshika shrugged. "I guess no one wanted to disturb you?" She told her without giving much importance.
"Eila, you've 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 up a little.
"I've told them that but still…" Eila added.
"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 hands over Sanya's shoulders.
"Eila, please" Sanya replied with red cheeks, but there was something still missing. "Yoshika, where's Erica?"
"She hasn't come out of her room, she even skipped dinner" Yoshika stated, making Sanya look down at the table with a trace of sadness.
"I'm gonna talk with her tomorrow."
Later that night
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 Fliegerhammer 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 this night.
"If it is fine with you, I would like to continue patrolling for a couple more of minutes." Sanya asked her partner.
"Alright then." Eila replied as she went to Sanya's right side.
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 it and a few minutes went by.
"Where you able to locate it?" Eila asked as she attempted to foresee where it would appear, but she had the same results as her friend 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 Munich trying to discover the source of what Sanya was reading until there was only an hour before the dawn made its way to Karlsland, but they could not find anything.
"Don't take this wrong Sanya but there's nothing here." Eila said.
"I believe in you Sanya, but we looked everywhere, and we haven't found anything, I don't know maybe because it's so clear you detected something very far from here." Eila stated.
"I guess so" Sanya replied but she was not still sure if it could explain her still why her magic antenna was still red, 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.
A few minutes later
At the hangar, the now-in-command Witch was waiting for them, alone as the other Witches were sleeping.
"I didn't expect you to take this long." Perrine asked still wearing her nightgown.
"We were unable to find the Neuroi Sanya detected." Eila told her the reason of their lateness.
"Why?" Perrine enquired both Witches with worriedness in her voice, hugging herself to keep the warm of her body.
Sanya just looked down as a response.
"We're not sure, we looked everywhere but nothing strange was found", Eila stated.
"That's highly unusual." Perrine replied.
"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 raised above the horizon.
In the morning
The dawn had finally made its way to Munich and even though the day was clear with the sun shining, it was still cold.
On the other hand, without Mio at the base, the person who now woke up first, was Yoshika, in order to prepare breakfast for her friends, Lynette noticing her absence in the room also got up too to help her. Then, Perrine and Shizuka came to the kitchen, and with so many hands helping, this task was as easy as it could get.
They were almost finishing with the breakfast when they heard a voice.
"Morning guys." Erica greeted as she stretched herself up.
"Good morning, Hartmann" Yoshika answered with pot in her hands as she turned around to see the recently arrived Witch, but then she was stunned with her cheeks reddened.
"Good morning, Erica." Lynette replied with food tray in her hands as she also turned around to see her and had the same reaction.
"Good morning, Flying Officer Hartmann." Shizuka also said with another food tray as she turned around as well and had the same reaction as her two friends with the addition of turning even redder, putting the food tray away and then covering her eyes with her hands.
"It's about time you woke up, Hartmann you have many duties to fulfill today." Perrine stated with another food tray in her hands as she turned around.
Then, the sound of the plates shattering as they hit the floor was heard in the base.
"What's got into you guys, why are you looking me like that?" Hartmann asked as she put her hands behind her head.
"Your…" Yoshika tried to tell her but was too embarrassed to do it.
"…panties." Lynette added almost whispering.
"Oh, that's the problem, I couldn't find them but there're only girls here so what's the big deal?" Erica answered wearing only a white bra, socks and shoes and nothing else in-between.
"Don't you have any modesty!? Walking basically nude like that." Perrine fumed trying to maintain her composure.
"Don't you?" Erica answered.
"What's that even supposed to mean?" Perrine questioned not believing what she just heard.
"You're staring at me, If I didn't know better, I'd say you liked me." Erica mockingly said.
Realizing what Perrine was doing, she blushed furiously and looked away. "Hattori, help her to find her panties." The Witch-in-charge ordered her trying to get rid of her redness.
"Me?" Shizuka answered embarrassingly, still covering her eyes with her hands.
"Yes, YES, that's an order!" Perrine bawled still not believing what was happening.
Shizuka sighed loudly. "Yes, ma'am." Then, she passed Erica trying not to look at her. "Follow me, Flying Officer." She added walking in front of her.
In Erica's room
As both entered the room, Shizuka could notice that her room was already a mess with clothes, books and lots of things she could not recognized everywhere yet no panties in sight.
Erica was leaning against the door while Shizuka was looking for the missing clothes but as hard as she tried to, even after looking under the bed, she could not find them.
"Told ya, I don't remember where I put 'em" Erica told her not caring in the mess Shizuka was in.
'Where are they, they couldn't have vanished, could they?' Shizuka thought as she moved everything, but then she heard something, Erica's grumbling stomach.
"I'm hungry!" Erica exclaimed.
There was no way she could brought back Erica pantyless to the kitchen again, 'Perrine it's gonna kill me if I do that.' Shizuka said to herself, she needed to think of something quick.
'That's it.' She had thought of a solution for her predicament, but not in this room. "This way, Pilot Officer." She said and rushed pass her to avoid staring at her current attire or lack of, Erica walked behind her with arms behind the head and headed to Yoshika and Lynette shared room. Then, she rushed to Yoshika's chest and started searching from the bottom drawer.
As she opened, she found the swimsuit Yoshika sewed a few days ago and another piece of cloth on it.
"What really happened to her?" Shizuka gaped noticing the jacket with a big hole on it and burn marks around as she closed the drawer rapidly.
'I should check that letter.' She reminded to herself, as she searched for the solution in the next drawer.
"There they are." Shizuka said having found the underwear that Yoshika bought back in Fuso in their little shopping tour. "Here, use these." Shizuka added handing her a pair of black panties.
"Since when Miyafuji has these?" Erica asked as she examined the underwear. "Since when you know?" Erica retorted as her an eyebrow rose with a mocking smile.
Shizuka's face became flushed when she heard that comment.
"Well then, if you insist." Erica said as she put them on.
"Let's go to the kitchen, officer." The Witch said pretending not hearing what she just told her and started walking there, 'Yoshika's gonna be mad at me but it's better than Perrine, right?' Shizuka tried to convince herself of what she had just done.
Moments later
The plates were already half-eaten by the time they came back.
"Did you find them?" asked Perrine without looking up from her plate.
"No, I mean yes." Shizuka replied.
Hearing the response, Yoshika dared to take a look behind her.
"Aren't those mine?" She asked as she felt the blood rushed to her checks when she realized what Erica was wearing.
"Don't look at me, she told I can borrow them." Erica explained carefree.
"I… I… couldn't find them." Shizuka nervously replied as she played with her fingers.
Yoshika was just agape and still flushed.
"Well, if you want them back..." Erica threatened to take them off.
"No, it's-fine-I-swear, you-can-borrow-them-for-as-long-as-you-want." Yoshika embarrassingly begged her to not do it.
"If that's what you want." Erica mockingly said as she let go of the elastic of the panties and then she took a sit and started to eat and Shizuka did the same and the silence took hold of the room.
"Hartmann, after you finish, we have training." Perrine ordered.
"But I don't wanna, I'm still tired." Erica replied as she ate her food.
"It's an order." Perrine argued back.
"I'll be there when you really need me, and Minna told me you've been just fine without me." Erica retorted as she almost finished eating the breakfast.
Perrine just sighed with nothing else to add, she knew being Captain was not going to be easy and two more Witches were still missing, two of the most carefree, nonetheless.
After Erica finished, she headed back to her room without saying another word.
"Don't worry Perrine, I'm sure she'll train with us after a few days." Yoshika tried to encourage her, but she was not so sure of her own words.
Later that day
Even if Erica was not with them and neither their superiors, the four Witches still needed to fulfill their schedule; that meant training but as there was no one else awake at the base at that moment, someone had to stay in stand-by, this time, it was Yoshika's turn.
On the other hand, the three Witches were practicing their usual drills but without a real task pending, the sorties were becoming shorter and shorter as the days passed.
Perrine had told her now subordinates what happened the previous night but even though they agreed it would be better to investigate, there was no way they would be able to find whatever was hid if Sanya had failed to.
Resigned, the girls were heading back to the base in order to continue with their duties at land but as they were close to the base, they spotted something rather interesting, Witches were flying towards them; Eila, Sanya and unexpectedly Erica were at the sky.
"I thought you will be resting after the Night patrol." Lynette pointed out.
"Nah, we're fine, though Sanya wanted to investigate the Neuroi she couldn't find earlier" Eila noted. "And it took a lot of convincing to get Miyafuji to stay in stand-by."
"Hmmm." Lynette wondered after hearing that comment.
"I haven't been able to pinpoint its location yet but I'm sure it's near the base." Sanya stated.
"And how did you decided to come?" Perrine asked to a still half-dressed Erica.
"I asked her for assistance." Sanya added, making Perrine frown.
"That's right!" Erica answered carefreely.
"So where do we start looking?" Shizuka asked the group.
"I'm not so sure, we already searched all around Munich, but we couldn't find anything." Eila answered.
"Perrine, where did you find the Neuroi that destroyed the lampposts a few days ago?" Sanya asked.
"At around 80 kilometers south from the base" Perrine replied remembering the little escape they did.
"It's still too far, it must be closer to the north." Sanya pointed out.
"What if we follow the power lines, maybe we can find something." Erica suggested, making the other girls gaze at each other.
"That sounds like a plan to me." Lynette commented and with no other ideas, the six Witches flew slowly near the lampposts for a few minutes until they started to feel the temperature lowering.
"It's getting chillier here." Erica started to shiver and hugged herself.
"If you were decently dressed you wouldn't be feeling cold." Perrine bluffed as she was also hugging herself.
"It is too cold." Eila remarked.
"Agreed" Sanya added.
"Be careful!" Eila screamed as she got in front of the group to shield them, then a Neuroi beam was shot through the trees towards the group.
"What the!" she said stopping abruptly, even struggling to contain the beam, 'maybe I'm rusty' she thought as she was now using both hands to maintain the shield.
"I don't have a visual; we must get closer" Perrine stated as the group scattered to avoid being shoot making Eila drop her shield.
"I… know where it's hidden." Eila gasped, trying to regain her breath, then she shot towards the forest, shortly after, a Neuroi took off and started to flee.
"It looks like the one that was generating the fog, but it's smaller." Shizuka remarked.
"Don't let it escape, Eila, Hattori you're with me" Perrine commanded as the group started pursuing the steam-machine-like-Neuroi.
"I'm… right behind you and don't let it shoot you." Eila added as she tried to catch them.
"That's why I feel so chill!" Erica remarked.
"That means…" Lynette remembered the last encounter with this type of Neuroi. "There must be a drone around here too." She warned Sanya.
"Indeed, I can sense another one; it's hiding around here." Sanya stated as she flew toward the road again followed by Erica and Lynette, then the Orussian Witch launched her rockets to the ground near where the lampposts were.
Then, to their surprise, a Neuroi mimicking the ground's colors, dropped its camouflage and took off and its escape it took a few lampposts with it.
"Pursue it." Sanya commanded the group, and they did as she said.
"That's why you could not find it yesterday." Lynette noted as she aimed her rifle but to their surprise, the Neuroi started to vanish into thin air before they even shoot.
"Perrine must have destroyed the core." Lynette remarked as she stopped aiming; shortly after, both groups came back and reunited where the drone was hiding.
"Just what needed, more days with no electricity." Eila commented as there were several lampposts on the ground.
"At least, we found the enemy, that counts as success, right?" Lynette remarked, making all the girls shrug and gaze each other wondering if it counted like one.
"Told ya could've handled it without me." Erica said as she started to head back to the base.
"You gave us the idea to come here" Sanya appealed.
"You'd have figure out by yourself." She retorted as she got further away from the group.
"What's got into her?" Eila commented as Sanya looked down realizing that only one of the two objectives were accomplished.
And with nothing else to do there, the Witches went south back to the base, until Perrine's intercom was heard.
"Perrine, can you hear me? Anyone?" Yoshika asked her.
"Yes, Miyafuji, what happened?" Perrine answered wondering the meaning of the call.
"Nothing, it's just that the electricity went off." Yoshika remarked.
"The Neuroi damaged the power lines, again" the captain stated the current situation.
"Is everyone okay? Is Shizuka okay? Do you need back up?" Yoshika asked with worriedness in her voice.
"No, she's fine, we're fine, in fact, we already took it out and we're heading back to the base" Perrine tried to calm the Witch-in-stand-by.
"What a relief!" Yoshika soothed as she heard that.
At the dining room
Several plates were already served at the table, steam was still coming from the cooking pot and the food just waiting for its seven consumers as Yoshika herself had not eaten.
She was sitting alone at the table, with her medicine book just in front her, but still closed as she could not get herself to read it.
She was waiting for them as all the Witches had sortied to find the Neuroi that was able to elude Sanya's detection.
'Was it as strong as the foggy one?' Yoshika wondered and was still worried even if Perrine had assured her that they were just fine. She was diving in her thoughts about the last encounter until the door opened unexpectedly making her heart skip a beat.
"Hartmann." Yoshika exclaimed putting her hand over her chest as she had not heard anyone coming. "Where are the rest?" She asked to her still barely dressed friend.
"Behind me I guess." Erica answered without realizing the scare she gave the cook. "Oh food, I'm starving" she yelped noticing the dining table. Then she took a sit and started to eat while Yoshika was left wondering where the rest were, though she watched surprised the rapidness with which the super-ace devoured the food.
Shortly after, she heard some engines noises and looked through the window and noticed that the rest her friends were arriving, and to her relief it seemed no one was hurt.
"Thank you Miyafuji, it was yummy as always." Erica praised her and headed to her room, leaving Yoshika alone in the room, again.
"She is acting weird." the aspiring medic said to no one while she waited for her friends to enter to the dinner room.
Moments later
All the Witches were sitting at the table and were eating speechlessly until a Witch broke the silence.
"So, when do you think when the power will come back?" Eila asked the group as she served herself food from the steamy pot.
"I can't be certain; it doesn't depend on us" Perrine replied as she started to eat.
"Knowing HQ, it's going to take a while I guess." Eila proclaimed recalling the long time it took before to get that fixed, then she also started to eat but unknowingly to her, this comment caused an uncomfortable silence and some minutes went by.
"But isn't it weird that they were targeting specifically the electricity?" Lynette asked to everyone to appease the room.
"This is not the first time though." Sanya commented which made all the Witches minus Shizuka turn silent and a bit red and even Sanya herself blushed a bit and then a different kind of silence took hold of the dining room, leaving the Shizuka wondering what happened.
"Anyway… it seemed stronger to me" Eila decided to break the embarrassing moment in the room. "I know, I know, I usually don't use a shield, but it was more powerful than what they usually are".
Then everyone gazed at Yoshika as she was the only other Witch who had experience with that type of Neuroi.
"You're right Eila, it was stronger than the average Neuroi." Yoshika told the group.
"I can understand with the first one as it was a super-large type, but the last one was not; it shouldn't have been that hard to deal with, right?" Shizuka remarked.
"I mean they were special type; they were generating fog and cold air and that by itself is far from common." Perrine pointed out the key difference.
"And that's not counting that the last one was using camouflage." Lynette added.
"Camouflage?" Yoshika asked with uneasiness in her voice.
"The drone was disguising itself with the surroundings and when it fled it took the powerlines" Sanya remarked.
Yoshika was left speechless when she heard that, until she gulped. "But that doesn't mean there can be more hiding?" Yoshika asked.
Then, silence took hold of the room once again as every Witch gazed at each other, thinking of what the she just said.
"You may be right, when we took the main unit, the drones must be also destroyed but we can't be certain if there were more hiding close by or if there were any more for what matters." Perrine stated.
"Well, if they're as strong, we may be in trouble." Eila pointed out.
"I still think they were powering up with the electricity." Shizuka added.
"That might explain the discrepancy between the size and the strength, I guess it would be better if we communicate what we discovered to HQ." Perrine declared.
In the evening
With no pending tasks and a warmer climate, Yoshika decided to explore the surroundings of the base, alone, as the other Witches were busy with the dinner. In her sorties, she had seen a river very close to the base and she decided to check it out and had taken a towel with her in case she decided to bath.
It was behind the base and under a somewhat tall cliff, but it was not too difficult to get there as there was something reminiscent of path there. As Yoshika got closer to the river, she tried to remember if she had seen if there were building near it, but she could not recall seeing anything. The river was surrounded by the forest, as for the water she noticed it was crystal clear and even some fish could be seen still swimming.
Before stripping, she checked her surroundings to be sure that there was no one there and without noticing or hearing anything usual, she took off her clothes and started to enter the river trying not to slip.
She gasped the moment her body felt the still cold water, but she found the courage to submerge herself on it.
"Maybe this was not such a good idea after all." Yoshika said to no one as she started to shiver. "I really should have chopped some wood for the sauna." She added starting to regret being there but to her surprise, she felt fine even pretty warm moments later and then decided to swim as she really needed to stretch her muscles after all these days.
'Now that I think about it, I never saw the drone.' Yoshika said to herself. 'Was it hiding in the fog or was it using camouflage?'
If there were more disguised Neuroi near the hive, it would be really difficult to get close enough if something basically invisible was protecting it.
'The top brasses must think of something, right?' Yoshika wondered. 'I hope so.'
The sun had almost completely set, and the river was now mostly only illuminated by the moonlight, and it was as quiet as it could get, the flow water was truly smooth, so she decided just to lay floating on it.
She had to correct the course a few times so that she did not crash into the rocks at the sides of the river, but she could still enjoy the time she had for herself with her mind in blank, until she tumbled into something rather soft. Scared, she sank down and covering herself up with her hands she turned around to see what she bumped with.
"It took you long enough to notice us here." Eila mockingly said.
"How long have you here?" Yoshika sighed as she realized it was just them.
"Before you even came." Eila sarcastically added.
"What!? I didn't see anyone when I came here." Yoshika yelped.
"We noticed that." Eila commented.
"Yoshika, have you noticed Erica is acting strange?" Sanya asked as she was sitting on rock nearby.
"Yes… I noticed it." She replied as her expression changed.
"It must have something to do with Captain Barkhorn." Sanya commented.
"I mean she and Barkhorn were very close, it's only natural she feels down." Eila continued. "It would be like if…" Eila stopped when she realized what she was about to say.
"I bet she misses how she used to scold her." Yoshika commented making them all chuckle. "We must find a way to cheer her up." Yoshika added.
"You're right, Yoshika."
"Hey Miyafuji, now that I look at you, your tail isn't the only thing that changed in you." Eila remarked as she focused her eyes on Yoshika's body.
"What do you mean?" Yoshika asked as Eila got closer to her with lascivious look on her face.
"They have grown, about time." Eila added as she groped Yoshika's breasts, and she could not help it but laugh nervously.
"Eila don't…." Sanya said as she watched her own chest, "do that."
At the same time
One Witch was asked to search for them as the dinner was almost completed.
"Miyafuji, Yoshika!" Shizuka repeatedly said as she passed through the forest and headed to the river. "Flying Officer Juutilainen, Flying Lieutenant Litvyak." Shizuka added hoping someone would hear her.
As she approached the river, she heard some rather strange noises and went to the direction of where they were coming from, as she got closer, she realized what was happening.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting something." Shizuka exclaimed with her cheeks red as a tomato as she covered her eyes with her hands but still peeked through her fingers.
'Am I feeling…. Jea...? No, that can't be, can it?' She asked to herself, still flushed.
"Nah, we were about to finish… bathing." Eila remarked as she let go of Yoshika's breasts.
"I better come back later" Shizuka exclaimed as she tried to process what she was currently feeling but she could not stop peeking them or rather Yoshika's chest.
'She was injured.' She said to her own head, noticing there was scar underneath her left breast.
"I just wanted to tell you the dinner is ready" Shizuka added as she went through the forest back to the base.
"Wait for us!" Yoshika exclaimed as the trio started to get out of the river.
Author Notes:
A Lot of things happened in this chapter.
Trude's part in this fanfic is far from over and regarding her stepping down, as I said before, I could dedicate one or two chapters to explain what the four witches (and even one to Perrine and Lynne) had been doing these past few months and the reason behind Trude's decision. But, rest assured, you will get to know the reason(s) in some chapters.
I know Erica's attitude may feel OOC but her reasons will be explored in the next chapters.
And by the way, all chapters have been updated with some corrections (mainly grammar and misspelled words) and some sentences were also rewritten to be clearer but so far, but the plot has remained the same.
In the next chapter, the last two missing Witches will arrive but I'm not sure if I'll have it ready before the next week, I'm still figuring some things out.