Baka-Tsuki - User contributions [en]

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter4

2009-10-14T18:12:51Z

Evil-samurai:

"Weren't any of you ashamed by that at all!?"

Tomoko slammed the desk she was at as she shouted.

The squadron was in the same warehouse as the briefing room before. One of the rooms there had been walled off using spare building materials, forming a makeshift barracks.

Tomoko and the rest of the squadron were eating dinner in the mess hall, which doubled as a rest area.

It was a dreary room, with nothing but a few rickety chairs and tables, all worn from use, set up in the center of the room. Two sooty wood-burning stoves sent irregular drafts of warm wind circulating through the air.

Nine o'clock at night.

It was just before lights-out, so the squadron was off-duty.

After Tomoko's rant, the only one who had shown any sign of remorse was Haruka. Everyone else in the squadron just looked like they could go with the flow, no matter where it brought them.

As usual, Ursula was immersed in some extremely dense book. Katharine was sitting nearby listening to the radio, munching on a piece of bread she had stolen from somewhere. Beurling sat alone in the corner, playing with her dachshund familiar.

Faced by such apathy, Tomoko's tone sharpened.

"We're being labeled as ''misfits'' you know!"

"Now now, have some coffee..." F/O Elma said, as she placed a cup in front of Tomoko.

Tomoko grabbed the cup, and downed the entire contents in one gulp.

"But it was so hot..." F/O Elma whispered to herself quietly.

"Not hot enough!"

Tomoko shouted angrily.

"Um, I used boiling water though..."

"Not the coffee! You! All of you! How can you all be so lifeless!?"

With a loud tsk, Tomoko switched tactics. She headed straight to Ursula, pulled away her book, and spoke to the young girl directly.

"Hey Ursula. They're playing you for a fool, you know? They're saying you're useless! Don't you see that!?"

"Other people's opinions are of no concern to me. As long as it does not interfere with my research, I am fine with it."

She took the book back from Tomoko, and began reading once again.

"Well, Pilot Officer O'Hare."

"Please call me Katharine."

"Well then, Katharine, don't you feel ''anything'' from being ridiculed like that? Doesn't it get that frontier spirit your country is so well known for burning?"

"My daddy always said, 'Let people say what they want to say'."

"They're saying too much here though!"

"Well, me, I'm fine with anything. It's a bit cold here, but I can live with it."

Shaking her head slowly, Tomoko turned to F/O Elma next.

"Y-Yes! What is it, Pilot Officer? Ma'am."

Without thinking, F/O Elma had added a 'Ma'am' while speaking to Tomoko, who was lower-ranking.

"Ma'am, don't you think that the reception we're receiving is unacceptable, after all that's been done to bring our help to Suomus?"

"E-Eh, well... what I want to say is..." F/O Elma stumbled for words.

"We didn't bring the military prowess you were hoping for?"

Tomoko grimaced as if she had eaten a bug.

"I-I wonder why too... ahaha..."

F/O Elma suddenly laughed nervously.

"I hit the nail right on the head, didn't I? Let's not even give food to that useless 'help', huh?"

Tomoko pointed at the watery soup on the table.

"Or rooms!"

She pointed to the walls and the numerous gaps in them next.

"They think it's alright to treat us like this! Isn't that right!?"

Faced by Tomoko's threatening attitude, F/O Elma nodded by reflex.

"So it's not just the commanders on top, even you yourself think that!"

Tomoko shook in rage for several seconds, but then put on a determined face. She started shouting again.

"Hey, all of you! Doesn't this annoy you? We're being treated as unwanted trash by the very country that we came all the way here to help! Show some life! Don't you want to do this?"

As Tomoko finished, Beurling stood up, scratching her head.

"You know, it really doesn't make a difference if we want to or not."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm only here on orders."

"But, you're always insubordinate! And yet, you're saying that because it's an order you can stand this kind of treatment?"

"I have nowhere else to go."

And with that, Beurling resumed playing with her familiar once again.

"There's food, I get a place to sleep, and best of all, I don't get hassled day in and day out. There's really nothing for me to complain about."

Tomoko was shaking again, but she suppressed her rage.

For now, what she had to do was to make sure that the squadron was ready, and ensure that the squadron would not in actual fact be useless when the Neuroi came. She could never live with herself if that actually happened. She could never get back at the Karlslander detachment if that were to happen.

"In any case, starting tomorrow, we're starting flight drills every morning at 0600 sharp! I expect to see everyone ready on the airfield!"

Finished for the time being, Tomoko retreated to her personal room.

The room that had been assigned to her was ramshackle like the rest of the building. All officers were assigned rooms, but given the condition of the room, the enlisted troops' barracks were most likely more comfortable.

Her room appeared to originally be one of the storerooms in the warehouse. Half of the room was occupied by dusty wooden cases. Three of those cases had been set apart and covered with sheets and a blanket.

It was probably meant to be a bed.

Her familiar, Konbei, yawned, and curled itself into a ball on the floor.

Soon, it was snoring lightly. After the long journey, then the sudden mock dogfight, Tomoko was also exhausted. Her entire body felt flushed for some reason.

She stripped from her flight uniform, throwing the miko-like outfit roughly to the floor, and stood there in just her underwear. She unwrapped the sarashi around her chest, exposing her perfectly-sized breasts.

She unwrapped the traditional cloth-wrapped bundle she had brought with her, and removed an old-fashioned padded kimono.

She put that on over her bare body. It was a somewhat peculiar outfit, but that was how Tomoko always slept during the winter months.

She crossed the room, fell into her bed, and closed her eyes, but opened them again soon after.

"It's cold..."

It was hardly an unreasonable complaint. The gaps between the boards making up her floor let a strong draft of freezing air come into the room. The frigid gusts of snowy arctic wind were just cold enough that they could not be ignored. Tomoko broke apart one of the crates in her room, trying to cover the holes as best she could with the pieces, and just as she was contemplating nailing the boards in place to stop the drafts once and for all, she heard a small knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"...It's me."

Haruka's voice came from behind the door.

"It's open."

The door opened, and Haruka peeked into the room from the gap.

"What is it?"

Haruka was wearing a ''hanten'' jacket for pajamas, which brought back nostalgic memories of home. Tomoko saw that Haruka was clutching an old pillow to her chest, which she must have brought from Fuso.

"Um... well, I was thinking of going to bed after all that, but, I couldn't fall asleep..."

"Come in."

Tomoko invited Haruka into her room.

"There's no helping you, is there? I'll let you sleep with me tonight then."

With a small nod, Haruka crept into the room and slipped into Tomoko's bed.

"I'm sorry."

Haruka apologized. Her short, neatly cropped hair gave her a very young appearance. Even if she was a witch, she was still only a 12- or 13-year-old girl. In an unfamiliar country, it was not surprising at all that she felt uneasy.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Anybody would feel uneasy in a foreign country."

"No... that's not what I meant."

"Hm?"

"Because of me, even you're getting this way, Anabuki Shou-i... Just because I'm useless junk, you're being treated the same as me, and..."

"It's not really your fault, you know."

Tomoko's words did little to put Haruka at ease.

"No... it is my fault... Even when I was with the Yokohama Flotilla, I was always getting in the others' way. That's why, when it was decided that only I would be going to Suomus, I was a bit relieved. I thought that at last I wouldn't have to pull down everyone else... but, but now..."

A soft sniff escaped from Haruka.

"But now, it's the worst situation imaginable, I'm getting in the way of the one person I respect the most... sniff."

"Like I said, it's not really your fault."

Tomoko spoke gently, trying to soothe Haruka.

"No... a quarter of it is my fault. That definitely counts as pulling you down."

"If that's so, they you just have to try your best. Just get even with those that were ridiculing you."

Haruka gave a small nod. Then, she looked up at Tomoko with heated eyes.

"What is it?"

"Ah, no! It's, it's nothing..."

Then, a tone of determination entered Haruka's voice, as if she had made some sort of decision.

"Um... Anabuki Shou-i..."

"Hmm?"

"People say that once you go to a foreign country, you start to miss miso soup, right?"

"I suppose."

''I wonder what she's getting at'', Tomoko wondered to herself.

"Um, well then... if you want to have some miso soup, then please have me."

"Excuse me?"

Tomoko stared at Haruka. She had pulled the blanket up, covering half of her face, and was trembling slightly. Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.
[[Image:SW_vol1c04_01.jpg|thumb|''Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.'']]
"By 'have you', you mean..."

"I, um... I'm really useless, so I thought that this is the only way I could be of use to you... Um, that is, if you're fine with me."

Seeing how serious Haruka was, Tomoko could not help but laugh.

"Y-You're laughing, that's so mean..."

"Sorry, sorry. That just got really weird..."

"I am serious."

"Now, look here, you're a girl, right? And you know, two girls, well... Whatever the circumstances may be, that's..."

"Then, have you ever done it with a man?"

"Well, no, but... wait, what are you making me say!?"

And, as Tomoko shouted, Haruka pulled the blanket over the rest of her head.

"Then, why don't you try it out and touch me..."

"Wha-?"

"Just try it... you might enjoy it."

With little other choice, Tomoko put her hand under the blanket.

Even if Haruka had said to touch her, Tomoko had no idea what to do, and tried moving her fingers as if she were playing a piano. Under the blanket, Haruka's body began to tremble softly.

Tomoko's finger reached a point close to Haruka's breast, where she started a staccato rhythm, and underneath the blanket, Haruka's figure tightened like a closing mouth. She was gripping the blanket tightly.

"Have you... always done this, with other girls?"

Tomoko asked in a surprised voice, but Haruka did not answer. Tomoko wondered if the navy was always like this... Or maybe because they were always on ships, they never did.

''This is getting awkward'', Tomoko thought, and she pulled away her hand.

She ducked her head under the blanket, and whispered into Haruka's ear.

"Go to sleep."

"Eh?"

Haruka replied, in a somewhat disappointed and surprised tone. So afraid, that she didn't want to see. But, she also wanted to see. That was the unforeseen dilemma that pervaded her thoughts.

"You've got a long day tomorrow."

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

Haruka was left alone with her thoughts.

''Even if I were to take all of the happiness I had experienced throughout my life, that would be nothing compared to those short, few seconds just now.''

''Ah, she's so magnificent...''

With a feverish expression on her face, Haruka glanced sideways at Tomoko, who was sleeping beside her.

Her padded kimono, her disheveled sleeping posture. She was so pale, and beautiful... Haruka drank in every detail of the perfect symmetry of her figure.

The one person she had always admired was right beside her.

In a voice too small to be heard, Haruka mumbled to herself.

Her tone was dreamy, as if she no longer cared about a thing.

"Aah, Tomoko-oneesama... This body and heart of mine, will always be yours..."

As Haruka made her decision, she thought to herself again. ''Ahh, I can never let her see me like this.'' That　thought welled up inside her becoming bigger and stronger in her heart, as she went to sleep.

"Mhgghhmgmmh, c'mon, ya cows, not thatta way, the coyotes'll come... mhhgmmghhhh."

As Katharine was deep in her dream about her hometown in Texas, the door to her room slammed open with a loud bang.

"It is morning, ma'am!"

"Wha-'s izit..."

As Katharine sprang awake, Haruka walked up to the foot of her bed and glared down at her.

"Haruka? What in the world is happening, now, hmm?"

"It is just as P/O Tomoko said! We will have training first thing in the morning, ma'am!"

"Well, yes, but..." Katharine pointed a finger towards the window.

"There's a blizzard today, so let's all just do it tomorrow, okay?"

"That is not possible, ma'am! Ready no matter the weather is P/O Tomoko's motto, ma'am!"

Katharine sighed, defeated, and slowly got out of bed.

Shivering all the while, Katharine headed toward the airfield, where she found Ursula and F/O Elma already waiting, looking miserable in an arctic weather uniform and matching hood.

Ursula, despite the drifts of snow falling from the sky, was reading a book as usual.

F/O Elma nibbled on her lip, making nervous glances up at the dreary sky.

"So, you're here."

Tomoko said, her miko robes spotless and pleated as if on parade, as Katharine stumbled sleepily onto the airfield.

"Tomoko, ain't you cold?"

"You only feel cold because you ''think'' you're cold. To those at one with themselves, the flames are but a cool breeze."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a saying from my country. Complaining of the cold when you have training to do is simply proof that you lack focus and the will to improve yourself."

"It's cold if it's cold!"

Katharine shivered.

"At least let me get some hot coffee first!"

Tomoko ignored Katharine's protests, and turned to Haruka.

"Where's the insane island savage?

"Do you mean P/O Beurling? Um, well, she had her door locked, and didn't come out..."

Tomoko's mouth flattened into a grin. However, the look in her eyes made it clear that she was amused. In fact, it was more of a predatory grin.

"OH! My, that smile! You're scaring me!"

Katharine exclaimed.

F/O Elma merely ducked her head into the protective cover of her own arms, shivering in fear.

And Ursula simply continued reading.

Tomoko stomped angrily into the barracks, and pounded her fists on Beurling's door.

"Hey, you! Get up, NOW!"

There was no answer.

Tomoko unsheathed her sword smoothly. The blade arced towards the door with a flash of light.

With a bam, the door was cut in two even parts. Tomoko stepped into the room.

However... the bed was completely empty.

Tomoko gaze darted about the rest of the room.

"Where have you gone now!?"

As she finished shouting, a voice answered from behind her.

"Over here."

As Tomoko turned around, she saw Beurling leaning against the wall of the corridor behind her, staring back at her. Tomoko made two quick and purposeful steps towards the other girl.

A metallic clang came from a point on the wall just beside Beurling's face, now occupied by Tomoko's katana.

"We have training now. Where were you?"

Tomoko glared into Beurling's eyes like a demon.

"I was taking a walk."

Beurling's expression remained as cool as ever.

"Everyone else is already assembled. Now hurry up and get over there!"

However, Beurling just stepped past Tomoko into her room.

"Where are you going now!?"

"To bed."

"To ''bed'', you, you..."

Beurling paid no heed to Tomoko's words, and slowly stripped off her clothes. Then, she crept into her bed, and began snoring lightly within seconds.

With one quick swing, Tomoko positioned the blade of her katana exactly on the other girl's cheek.

"You will get up now, or I will cut you apart."

Beurling mumbled in bored tone in reply.

"Be my guest."

"Excuse me?"

"I've always wanted to end this pointless life of mine."

Tomoko bit on her lip angrily, but stepped back.

"If you want help killing yourself, ask someone else! You better be there tomorrow!"

As Tomoko, shaking in rage, returned to the airfield, Haruka scurried to her side with a worried expression.

"Did you find P/O Beurling?"

"Just forget about her. She is nothing but worthless."

"She's so talented, and yet lets it all go to waste."

Haruka sighed,

Then... Tomoko noticed that a number of people were missing.

"What's this? Where's Ursula and Katharine?"

Only F/O Elma, standing in one spot looking extremely nervous, and Haruka were left.

In a very apologetic tone, Haruka mumbled a reply.

"Um... they left."

"Left?"

"Yes ma'am... F/O Katharine said it was cold. Then, F/Sgt Ursula said there was a book she wanted to read..."

Tomoko collapsed to her knees.

"What is wrong with them! Don't they have any motivation at ALL!?"

"I-I don't think they do...?"

Elma murmured quietly.

Tomoko sprang to her feet suddenly, and shouted.

"Fine then! We'll do the training with just the people here!"

Haruka and F/O Elma were in for a world of trouble, training under a raging Tomoko.

<noinclude>
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| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter4

2009-10-14T18:06:27Z

Evil-samurai:

"Weren't any of you ashamed by that at all!?"

Tomoko slammed the desk she was at as she shouted.

The squadron was in the same warehouse as the briefing room before. One of the rooms there had been walled off using spare building materials, forming a makeshift barracks.

Tomoko and the rest of the squadron were eating dinner in the mess hall, which doubled as a rest area.

It was a dreary room, with nothing but a few rickety chairs and tables, all worn from use, set up in the center of the room. Two sooty wood-burning stoves sent irregular drafts of warm wind circulating through the air.

Nine o'clock at night.

It was just before lights-out, so the squadron was off-duty.

After Tomoko's rant, the only one who had shown any sign of remorse was Haruka. Everyone else in the squadron just looked like they could go with the flow, no matter where it brought them.

As usual, Ursula was immersed in some extremely dense book. Katharine was sitting nearby listening to the radio, munching on a piece of bread she had stolen from somewhere. Beurling sat alone in the corner, playing with her dachshund familiar.

Faced by such apathy, Tomoko's tone sharpened.

"We're being labeled as ''misfits'' you know!"

"Now now, have some coffee..." F/O Elma said, as she placed a cup in front of Tomoko.

Tomoko grabbed the cup, and downed the entire contents in one gulp.

"But it was so hot..." F/O Elma whispered to herself quietly.

"Not hot enough!"

Tomoko shouted angrily.

"Um, I used boiling water though..."

"Not the coffee! You! All of you! How can you all be so lifeless!?"

With a loud tsk, Tomoko switched tactics. She headed straight to Ursula, pulled away her book, and spoke to the young girl directly.

"Hey Ursula. They're playing you for a fool, you know? They're saying you're useless! Don't you see that!?"

"Other people's opinions are of no concern to me. As long as it does not interfere with my research, I am fine with it."

She took the book back from Tomoko, and began reading once again.

"Well, Pilot Officer O'Hare."

"Please call me Katharine."

"Well then, Katharine, don't you feel ''anything'' from being ridiculed like that? Doesn't it get that frontier spirit your country is so well known for burning?"

"My daddy always said, 'Let people say what they want to say'."

"They're saying too much here though!"

"Well, me, I'm fine with anything. It's a bit cold here, but I can live with it."

Shaking her head slowly, Tomoko turned to F/O Elma next.

"Y-Yes! What is it, Pilot Officer? Ma'am."

Without thinking, F/O Elma had added a 'Ma'am' while speaking to Tomoko, who was lower-ranking.

"Ma'am, don't you think that the reception we're receiving is unacceptable, after all that's been done to bring our help to Suomus?"

"E-Eh, well... what I want to say is..." F/O Elma stumbled for words.

"We didn't bring the military prowess you were hoping for?"

Tomoko grimaced as if she had eaten a bug.

"I-I wonder why too... ahaha..."

F/O Elma suddenly laughed nervously.

"I hit the nail right on the head, didn't I? Let's not even give food to that useless 'help', huh?"

Tomoko pointed at the watery soup on the table.

"Or rooms!"

She pointed to the walls and the numerous gaps in them next.

"They think it's alright to treat us like this! Isn't that right!?"

Faced by Tomoko's threatening attitude, F/O Elma nodded by reflex.

"So it's not just the commanders on top, even you yourself think that!"

Tomoko shook in rage for several seconds, but then put on a determined face. She started shouting again.

"Hey, all of you! Doesn't this annoy you? We're being treated as unwanted trash by the very country that we came all the way here to help! Show some life! Don't you want to do this?"

As Tomoko finished, Beurling stood up, scratching her head.

"You know, it really doesn't make a difference if we want to or not."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm only here on orders."

"But, you're always insubordinate! And yet, you're saying that because it's an order you can stand this kind of treatment?"

"I have nowhere else to go."

And with that, Beurling resumed playing with her familiar once again.

"There's food, I get a place to sleep, and best of all, I don't get hassled day in and day out. There's really nothing for me to complain about."

Tomoko was shaking again, but she suppressed her rage.

For now, what she had to do was to make sure that the squadron was ready, and ensure that the squadron would not in actual fact be useless when the Neuroi came. She could never live with herself if that actually happened. She could never get back at the Karlslander detachment if that were to happen.

"In any case, starting tomorrow, we're starting flight drills every morning at 0600 sharp! I expect to see everyone ready on the airfield!"

Finished for the time being, Tomoko retreated to her personal room.

The room that had been assigned to her was ramshackle like the rest of the building. All officers were assigned rooms, but given the condition of the room, the enlisted troops' barracks were most likely more comfortable.

Her room appeared to originally be one of the storerooms in the warehouse. Half of the room was occupied by dusty wooden cases. Three of those cases had been set apart and covered with sheets and a blanket.

It was probably meant to be a bed.

Her familiar, Konbei, yawned, and curled itself into a ball on the floor.

Soon, it was snoring lightly. After the long journey, then the sudden mock dogfight, Tomoko was also exhausted. Her entire body felt flushed for some reason.

She stripped from her flight uniform, throwing the miko-like outfit roughly to the floor, and stood there in just her underwear. She unwrapped the sarashi around her chest, exposing her perfectly-sized breasts.

She unwrapped the traditional cloth-wrapped bundle she had brought with her, and removed an old-fashioned padded kimono.

She put that on over her bare body. It was a somewhat peculiar outfit, but that was how Tomoko always slept during the winter months.

She crossed the room, fell into her bed, and closed her eyes, but opened them again soon after.

"It's cold..."

It was hardly an unreasonable complaint. The gaps between the boards making up her floor let a strong draft of freezing air come into the room. The frigid gusts of snowy arctic wind were just cold enough that they could not be ignored. Tomoko broke apart one of the crates in her room, trying to cover the holes as best she could with the pieces, and just as she was contemplating nailing the boards in place to stop the drafts once and for all, she heard a small knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"...It's me."

Haruka's voice came from behind the door.

"It's open."

The door opened, and Haruka peeked into the room from the gap.

"What is it?"

Haruka was wearing a ''hanten'' jacket for pajamas, which brought back nostalgic memories of home. Tomoko saw that Haruka was clutching an old pillow to her chest, which she must have brought from Fuso.

"Um... well, I was thinking of going to bed after all that, but, I couldn't fall asleep..."

"Come in."

Tomoko invited Haruka into her room.

"There's no helping you, is there? I'll let you sleep with me tonight then."

With a small nod, Haruka crept into the room and slipped into Tomoko's bed.

"I'm sorry."

Haruka apologized. Her short, neatly cropped hair gave her a very young appearance. Even if she was a witch, she was still only a 12- or 13-year-old girl. In an unfamiliar country, it was not surprising at all that she felt uneasy.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Anybody would feel uneasy in a foreign country."

"No... that's not what I meant."

"Hm?"

"Because of me, even you're getting this way, Anabuki Shou-i... Just because I'm useless junk, you're being treated the same as me, and..."

"It's not really your fault, you know."

Tomoko's words did little to put Haruka at ease.

"No... it is my fault... Even when I was with the Yokohama Flotilla, I was always getting in the others' way. That's why, when it was decided that only I would be going to Suomus, I was a bit relieved. I thought that at last I wouldn't have to pull down everyone else... but, but now..."

A soft sniff escaped from Haruka.

"But now, it's the worst situation imaginable, I'm getting in the way of the one person I respect the most... sniff."

"Like I said, it's not really your fault."

Tomoko spoke gently, trying to soothe Haruka.

"No... a quarter of it is my fault. That definitely counts as pulling you down."

"If that's so, they you just have to try your best. Just get even with those that were ridiculing you."

Haruka gave a small nod. Then, she looked up at Tomoko with heated eyes.

"What is it?"

"Ah, no! It's, it's nothing..."

Then, a tone of determination entered Haruka's voice, as if she had made some sort of decision.

"Um... Anabuki Shou-i..."

"Hmm?"

"People say that once you go to a foreign country, you start to miss miso soup, right?"

"I suppose."

''I wonder what she's getting at'', Tomoko wondered to herself.

"Um, well then... if you want to have some miso soup, then please have me."

"Excuse me?"

Tomoko stared at Haruka. She had pulled the blanket up, covering half of her face, and was trembling slightly. Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.
[[Image:SW_vol1c04_01.jpg|thumb|''Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.'']]
"By 'have you', you mean..."

"I, um... I'm really useless, so I thought that this is the only way I could be of use to you... Um, that is, if you're fine with me."

Seeing how serious Haruka was, Tomoko could not help but laugh.

"Y-You're laughing, that's so mean..."

"Sorry, sorry. That just got really weird..."

"I am serious."

"Now, look here, you're a girl, right? And you know, two girls, well... Whatever the circumstances may be, that's..."

"Then, have you ever done it with a man?"

"Well, no, but... wait, what are you making me say!?"

And, as Tomoko shouted, Haruka pulled the blanket over the rest of her head.

"Then, why don't you try it out and touch me..."

"Wha-?"

"Just try it... you might enjoy it."

With little other choice, Tomoko put her hand under the blanket.

Even if Haruka had said to touch her, Tomoko had no idea what to do, and tried moving her fingers as if she were playing a piano. Under the blanket, Haruka's body began to tremble softly.

Tomoko's finger reached a point close to Haruka's breast, where she started a staccato rhythm, and underneath the blanket, Haruka's figure tightened like a closing mouth. She was gripping the blanket tightly.

"Have you... always done this, with other girls?"

Tomoko asked in a surprised voice, but Haruka did not answer. Tomoko wondered if the navy was always like this... Or maybe because they were always on ships, they never did.

''This is getting awkward'', Tomoko thought, and she pulled away her hand.

She ducked her head under the blanket, and whispered into Haruka's ear.

"Go to sleep."

"Eh?"

Haruka replied, in a somewhat disappointed and surprised tone. So afraid, that she didn't want to see. But, she also wanted to see. That was the unforeseen dilemma that pervaded her thoughts.

"You've got a long day tomorrow."

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

Haruka was left alone with her thoughts.

''Even if I were to take all of the happiness I had experienced throughout my life, that would be nothing compared to those short, few seconds just now.''

''Ah, she's so magnificent...''

With a feverish expression on her face, Haruka glanced sideways at Tomoko, who was sleeping beside her.

Her padded kimono, her disheveled sleeping posture. She was so pale, and beautiful... Haruka drank in every detail of the perfect symmetry of her figure.

The one person she had always admired was right beside her.

In a voice too small to be heard, Haruka mumbled to herself.

Her tone was dreamy, as if she no longer cared about a thing.

"Aah, Tomoko-oneesama... This body and heart of mine, will always be yours..."

As Haruka made her decision, she thought to herself again. ''Ahh, I can never let her see me like this.'' That　thought welled up inside her becoming bigger and stronger in her heart, as she went to sleep.

"Mhgghhmgmmh, c'mon, ya cows, not thatta way, the coyotes'll come... mhhgmmghhhh."

As Katharine was deep in her dream about her hometown in Texas, the door to her room slammed open with a loud bang.

"It is morning, ma'am!"

"Wha-'s izit..."

As Katharine sprang awake, Haruka walked up to the foot of her bed and glared down at her.

"Haruka? What in the world is happening, now, hmm?"

"It is just as P/O Tomoko said! We will have training first thing in the morning, ma'am!"

"Well, yes, but..." Katharine pointed a finger towards the window.

"There's a blizzard today, so let's all just do it tomorrow, okay?"

"That is not possible, ma'am! Ready no matter the weather is P/O Tomoko's motto, ma'am!"

Katharine sighed, defeated, and slowly got out of bed.

Shivering all the while, Katharine headed toward the airfield, where she found Ursula and F/O Elma already waiting, looking miserable in an arctic weather uniform and matching hood.

Ursula, despite the drifts of snow falling from the sky, was reading a book as usual.

F/O Elma nibbled on her lip, making nervous glances up at the dreary sky.

"So, you're here."

Tomoko said, her miko robes spotless and pleated as if on parade, as Katharine stumbled sleepily onto the airfield.

"Tomoko, ain't you cold?"

"You only feel cold because you ''think'' you're cold. To those at one with themselves, the flames are but a cool breeze."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a saying from my country. Complaining of the cold when you have training to do is simply proof that you lack focus and the will to improve yourself."

"It's cold if it's cold!"

Katharine shivered.

"At least let me get some hot coffee first!"

Tomoko ignored Katharine's protests, and turned to Haruka.

"Where's the insane island savage?

"Do you mean P/O Beurling? Um, well, she had her door locked, and didn't come out..."

Tomoko's mouth flattened into a grin. However, the look in her eyes made it clear that she was amused. In fact, it was more of a predatory grin.

"OH! My, that smile! You're scaring me!"

Katharine exclaimed.

F/O Elma merely ducked her head into the protective cover of her own arms, shivering in fear.

And Ursula simply continued reading.

Tomoko stomped angrily into the barracks, and pounded her fists on Beurling's door.

"Hey, you! Get up, NOW!"

There was no answer.

Tomoko unsheathed her sword smoothly. The blade arced towards the door with a flash of light.

With a bam, the door was cut in two even parts. Tomoko stepped into the room.

However... the bed was completely empty.

Tomoko gaze darted about the rest of the room.

"Where have you gone now!?"

As she finished shouting, a voice answered from behind her.

"Over here."

As Tomoko turned around, she saw Beurling leaning against the wall of the corridor behind her, staring back at her. Tomoko made two quick and purposeful steps towards the other girl.

A metallic clang came from a point on the wall just beside Beurling's face, now occupied by Tomoko's katana.

"We have training now. Where were you?"

Tomoko glared into Beurling's eyes like a demon.

"I was taking a walk."

Beurling's expression remained as cool as ever.

"Everyone else is already assembled. Now hurry up and get over there!"

However, Beurling just stepped past Tomoko into her room.

"Where are you going now!?"

"To bed."

"To ''bed'', you, you..."

Beurling paid no heed to Tomoko's words, and slowly stripped off her clothes. Then, she crept into her bed, and began snoring lightly within seconds.

With one quick swing, Tomoko positioned the blade of her katana exactly on the other girl's cheek.

"You will get up now, or I will cut you apart."

Beurling mumbled in bored tone in reply.

"Be my guest."

"Excuse me?"

"I've always wanted to end this pointless life of mine."

Tomoko bit on her lip angrily, but stepped back.

"If you want help killing yourself, ask someone else! You better be there tomorrow!"

As Tomoko, shaking in rage, returned to the airfield, Haruka scurried to her side with a worried expression.

"Did you find P/O Beurling?"

"Just forget about her. She is nothing but worthless."

"She's so talented, and yet lets it all go to waste."

Haruka sighted,

Then... Tomoko noticed that a number of people were missing.

"What's this? Where's Ursula and Katharine?"

Only F/O Elma, standing in one spot looking extremely nervous, and Haruka were left.

In a very apologetic tone, Haruka mumbled a reply.

"Um... they left."

"Left?"

"Yes ma'am... F/O Katharine said it was cold. Then, F/Sgt Ursula said there was a book she wanted to read..."

Tomoko collapsed to her knees.

"What is wrong with them! Don't they have any motivation at ALL!?"

"I-I don't think they do...?"

Elma murmured quietly.

Tomoko sprang to her feet suddenly, and shouted.

"Fine then! We'll do the training with just the people here!"

Haruka and F/O Elma were in for a world of trouble, training under a raging Tomoko.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter4

2009-10-14T17:59:46Z

Evil-samurai:

"Weren't any of you ashamed by that at all!?"

Tomoko slammed the desk she was at as she shouted.

The squadron was in the same warehouse as the briefing room before. One of the rooms there had been walled off using spare building materials, forming a makeshift barracks.

Tomoko and the rest of the squadron were eating dinner in the mess hall, which doubled as a rest area.

It was a dreary room, with nothing but a few rickety chairs and tables, all worn from use, set up in the center of the room. Two sooty wood-burning stoves sent irregular drafts of warm wind circulating through the air.

Nine o'clock at night.

It was just before lights-out, so the squadron was off-duty.

After Tomoko's rant, the only one who had shown any sign of remorse was Haruka. Everyone else in the squadron just looked like they could go with the flow, no matter where it brought them.

As usual, Ursula was immersed in some extremely dense book. Katharine was sitting nearby listening to the radio, munching on a piece of bread she had stolen from somewhere. Beurling sat alone in the corner, playing with her dachshund familiar.

Faced by such apathy, Tomoko's tone sharpened.

"We're being labeled as ''misfits'' you know!"

"Now now, have some coffee..." F/O Elma said, as she placed a cup in front of Tomoko.

Tomoko grabbed the cup, and downed the entire contents in one gulp.

"But it was so hot..." F/O Elma whispered to herself quietly.

"Not hot enough!"

Tomoko shouted angrily.

"Um, I used boiling water though..."

"Not the coffee! You! All of you! How can you all be so lifeless!?"

With a loud tsk, Tomoko switched tactics. She headed straight to Ursula, pulled away her book, and spoke to the young girl directly.

"Hey Ursula. They're playing you for a fool, you know? They're saying you're useless! Don't you see that!?"

"Other people's opinions are of no concern to me. As long as it does not interfere with my research, I am fine with it."

She took the book back from Tomoko, and began reading once again.

"Well, Pilot Officer O'Hare."

"Please call me Katharine."

"Well then, Katharine, don't you feel ''anything'' from being ridiculed like that? Doesn't it get that frontier spirit your country is so well known for burning?"

"My daddy always said, 'Let people say what they want to say'."

"They're saying too much here though!"

"Well, me, I'm fine with anything. It's a bit cold here, but I can live with it."

Shaking her head slowly, Tomoko turned to F/O Elma next.

"Y-Yes! What is it, Pilot Officer? Ma'am."

Without thinking, F/O Elma had added a 'Ma'am' while speaking to Tomoko, who was lower-ranking.

"Ma'am, don't you think that the reception we're receiving is unacceptable, after all that's been done to bring our help to Suomus?"

"E-Eh, well... what I want to say is..." F/O Elma stumbled for words.

"We didn't bring the military prowess you were hoping for?"

Tomoko grimaced as if she had eaten a bug.

"I-I wonder why too... ahaha..."

F/O Elma suddenly laughed nervously.

"I hit the nail right on the head, didn't I? Let's not even give food to that useless 'help', huh?"

Tomoko pointed at the watery soup on the table.

"Or rooms!"

She pointed to the walls and the numerous gaps in them next.

"They think it's alright to treat us like this! Isn't that right!?"

Faced by Tomoko's threatening attitude, F/O Elma nodded by reflex.

"So it's not just the commanders on top, even you yourself think that!"

Tomoko shook in rage for several seconds, but then put on a determined face. She started shouting again.

"Hey, all of you! Doesn't this annoy you? We're being treated as unwanted trash by the very country that we came all the way here to help! Show some life! Don't you want to do this?"

As Tomoko finished, Beurling stood up, scratching her head.

"You know, it really doesn't make a difference if we want to or not."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm only here on orders."

"But, you're always insubordinate! And yet, you're saying that because it's an order you can stand this kind of treatment?"

"I have nowhere else to go."

And with that, Beurling resumed playing with her familiar once again.

"There's food, I get a place to sleep, and best of all, I don't get hassled day in and day out. There's really nothing for me to complain about."

Tomoko was shaking again, but she suppressed her rage.

For now, what she had to do was to make sure that the squadron was ready, and ensure that the squadron would not in actual fact be useless when the Neuroi came. She could never live with herself if that actually happened. She could never get back at the Karlslander detachment if that were to happen.

"In any case, starting tomorrow, we're starting flight drills every morning at 0600 sharp! I expect to see everyone ready on the airfield!"

Finished for the time being, Tomoko retreated to her personal room.

The room that had been assigned to her was ramshackle like the rest of the building. All officers were assigned rooms, but given the condition of the room, the enlisted troops' barracks were most likely more comfortable.

Her room appeared to originally be one of the storerooms in the warehouse. Half of the room was occupied by dusty wooden cases. Three of those cases had been set apart and covered with sheets and a blanket.

It was probably meant to be a bed.

Her familiar, Konbei, yawned, and curled itself into a ball on the floor.

Soon, it was snoring lightly. After the long journey, then the sudden mock dogfight, Tomoko was also exhausted. Her entire body felt flushed for some reason.

She stripped from her flight uniform, throwing the miko-like outfit roughly to the floor, and stood there in just her underwear. She unwrapped the sarashi around her chest, exposing her perfectly-sized breasts.

She unwrapped the traditional cloth-wrapped bundle she had brought with her, and removed an old-fashioned padded kimono.

She put that on over her bare body. It was a somewhat peculiar outfit, but that was how Tomoko always slept during the winter months.

She crossed the room, fell into her bed, and closed her eyes, but opened them again soon after.

"It's cold..."

It was hardly an unreasonable complaint. The gaps between the boards making up her floor let in a strong draft of freezing air into the room. The frigid gusts of snowy arctic wind were just cold enough that it could not be ignored. Tomoko broke apart one of the crates in her room, trying to cover the holes as best she could with the pieces, and just as she was contemplating nailing the boards in place to stop the drafts once and for all, she heard a small knock on her door.

"Who is it?"

"...It's me."

Haruka's voice came from behind the door.

"It's open."

The door opened, and Haruka peeked into the room from the gap.

"What is it?"

Haruka was wearing a ''hanten'' jacket for pajamas, which brought back nostalgic memories of home. Tomoko saw that Haruka was clutching an old pillow to her chest, which she must have brought from Fuso.

"Um... well, I was thinking of going to bed after all that, but, I couldn't fall asleep..."

"Come in."

Tomoko invited Haruka into her room.

"There's no helping you, is there? I'll let you sleep with me tonight then."

With a small nod, Haruka crept into the room and slipped into Tomoko's bed.

"I'm sorry."

Haruka apologized. Her short, neatly cropped hair gave her a very young appearance. Even if she was a witch, she was still only a 12- or 13-year-old girl. In an unfamiliar country, it was not surprising at all that she felt uneasy.

"It's fine. Don't worry about it. Anybody would feel uneasy in a foreign country."

"No... that's not what I meant."

"Hm?"

"Because of me, even you're getting this way, Anabuki Shou-i... Just because I'm useless junk, you're being treated the same as me, and..."

"It's not really your fault, you know."

Tomoko's words did little to put Haruka at ease.

"No... it is my fault... Even when I was with the Yokohama Flotilla, I was always getting in the others' way. That's why, when it was decided that only I would be going to Suomus, I was a bit relieved. I thought that at last I wouldn't have to pull down everyone else... but, but now..."

A soft sniff escaped from Haruka.

"But now, it's the worst situation imaginable, I'm getting in the way of the one person I respect the most... sniff."

"Like I said, it's not really your fault."

Tomoko spoke gently, trying to soothe Haruka.

"No... a quarter of it is my fault. That definitely counts as pulling you down."

"If that's so, they you just have to try your best. Just get even with those that were ridiculing you."

Haruka gave a small nod. Then, she looked up at Tomoko with heated eyes.

"What is it?"

"Ah, no! It's, it's nothing..."

Then, a tone of determination entered Haruka's voice, as if she had made some sort of decision.

"Um... Anabuki Shou-i..."

"Hmm?"

"People say that once you go to a foreign country, you start to miss miso soup, right?"

"I suppose."

''I wonder what she's getting at'', Tomoko wondered to herself.

"Um, well then... if you want to have some miso soup, then please have me."

"Excuse me?"

Tomoko stared at Haruka. She had pulled the blanket up, covering half of her face, and was trembling slightly. Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.
[[Image:SW_vol1c04_01.jpg|thumb|''Below her short, cropped hair, she was blushing red up to her eyes.'']]
"By 'have you', you mean..."

"I, um... I'm really useless, so I thought that this is the only way I could be of use to you... Um, that is, if you're fine with me."

Seeing how serious Haruka was, Tomoko could not help but laugh.

"Y-You're laughing, that's so mean..."

"Sorry, sorry. That just got really weird..."

"I am serious."

"Now, look here, you're a girl, right? And you know, two girls, well... Whatever the circumstances may be, that's..."

"Then, have you ever done it with a man?"

"Well, no, but... wait, what are you making me say!?"

And, as Tomoko shouted, Haruka pulled the blanket over the rest of her head.

"Then, why don't you try it out and touch me..."

"Wha-?"

"Just try it... you might enjoy it."

With little other choice, Tomoko put her hand under the blanket.

Even if Haruka had said to touch her, Tomoko had no idea what to do, and tried moving her fingers as if she were playing a piano. Under the blanket, Haruka's body began to tremble softly.

Tomoko's finger reached a point close to Haruka's breast, where she started a staccato rhythm, and underneath the blanket, Haruka's figure tightened like a closing mouth. She was gripping the blanket tightly.

"Have you... always done this, with other girls?"

Tomoko asked in a surprised voice, but Haruka did not answer. Tomoko wondered if the navy was always like this... Or maybe because they were always on ships, they never did.

''This is getting awkward'', Tomoko thought, and she pulled away her hand.

She ducked her head under the blanket, and whispered into Haruka's ear.

"Go to sleep."

"Eh?"

Haruka replied, in a somewhat disappointed and surprised tone. So afraid, that she didn't want to see. But, she also wanted to see. That was the unforeseen dilemma that pervaded her thoughts.

"You've got a long day tomorrow."

"Y-Yes, ma'am..."

Haruka was left alone with her thoughts.

''Even if I were to take all of the happiness I had experienced throughout my life, that would be nothing compared to those short, few seconds just now.''

''Ah, she's so magnificent...''

With a feverish expression on her face, Haruka glanced sideways at Tomoko, who was sleeping beside her.

Her padded kimono, her disheveled sleeping posture. She was so pale, and beautiful... Haruka drank in every detail of the perfect symmetry of her figure.

The one person she had always admired was right beside her.

In a voice too small to be heard, Haruka mumbled to herself.

Her tone was dreamy, as if she no longer cared about a thing.

"Aah, Tomoko-oneesama... This body and heart of mine, will always be yours..."

As Haruka made her decision, she thought to herself again. ''Ahh, I can never let her see me like this.'' That　thought welled up inside her becoming bigger and stronger in her heart, as she went to sleep.

"Mhgghhmgmmh, c'mon, ya cows, not thatta way, the coyotes'll come... mhhgmmghhhh."

As Katharine was deep in her dream about her hometown in Texas, the door to her room slammed open with a loud bang.

"It is morning, ma'am!"

"Wha-'s izit..."

As Katharine sprang awake, Haruka walked up to the foot of her bed and glared down at her.

"Haruka? What in the world is happening, now, hmm?"

"It is just as P/O Tomoko said! We will have training first thing in the morning, ma'am!"

"Well, yes, but..." Katharine pointed a finger towards the window.

"There's a blizzard today, so let's all just do it tomorrow, okay?"

"That is not possible, ma'am! Ready no matter the weather is P/O Tomoko's motto, ma'am!"

Katharine sighed, defeated, and slowly got out of bed.

Shivering all the while, Katharine headed toward the airfield, where she found Ursula and F/O Elma already waiting, looking miserable in an arctic weather uniform and matching hood.

Ursula, despite the drifts of snow falling from the sky, was reading a book as usual.

F/O Elma nibbled on her lip, making nervous glances up at the dreary sky.

"So, you're here."

Tomoko said, her miko robes spotless and pleated as if on parade, as Katharine stumbled sleepily onto the airfield.

"Tomoko, ain't you cold?"

"You only feel cold because you ''think'' you're cold. To those at one with themselves, the flames are but a cool breeze."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It's a saying from my country. Complaining of the cold when you have training to do is simply proof that you lack focus and the will to improve yourself."

"It's cold if it's cold!"

Katharine shivered.

"At least let me get some hot coffee first!"

Tomoko ignored Katharine's protests, and turned to Haruka.

"Where's the insane island savage?

"Do you mean P/O Beurling? Um, well, she had her door locked, and didn't come out..."

Tomoko's mouth flattened into a grin. However, the look in her eyes made it clear that she was amused. In fact, it was more of a predatory grin.

"OH! My, that smile! You're scaring me!"

Katharine exclaimed.

F/O Elma merely ducked her head into the protective cover of her own arms, shivering in fear.

And Ursula simply continued reading.

Tomoko stomped angrily into the barracks, and pounded her fists on Beurling's door.

"Hey, you! Get up, NOW!"

There was no answer.

Tomoko unsheathed her sword smoothly. The blade arced towards the door with a flash of light.

With a bam, the door was cut in two even parts. Tomoko stepped into the room.

However... the bed was completely empty.

Tomoko gaze darted about the rest of the room.

"Where have you gone now!?"

As she finished shouting, a voice answered from behind her.

"Over here."

As Tomoko turned around, she saw Beurling leaning against the wall of the corridor behind her, staring back at her. Tomoko made two quick and purposeful steps towards the other girl.

A metallic clang came from a point on the wall just beside Beurling's face, now occupied by Tomoko's katana.

"We have training now. Where were you?"

Tomoko glared into Beurling's eyes like a demon.

"I was taking a walk."

Beurling's expression remained as cool as ever.

"Everyone else is already assembled. Now hurry up and get over there!"

However, Beurling just stepped past Tomoko into her room.

"Where are you going now!?"

"To bed."

"To ''bed'', you, you..."

Beurling paid no heed to Tomoko's words, and slowly stripped off her clothes. Then, she crept into her bed, and began snoring lightly within seconds.

With one quick swing, Tomoko positioned the blade of her katana exactly on the other girl's cheek.

"You will get up now, or I will cut you apart."

Beurling mumbled in bored tone in reply.

"Be my guest."

"Excuse me?"

"I've always wanted to end this pointless life of mine."

Tomoko bit on her lip angrily, but stepped back.

"If you want help killing yourself, ask someone else! You better be there tomorrow!"

As Tomoko, shaking in rage, returned to the airfield, Haruka scurried to her side with a worried expression.

"Did you find P/O Beurling?"

"Just forget about her. She is nothing but worthless."

"She's so talented, and yet lets it all go to waste."

Haruka sighted,

Then... Tomoko noticed that a number of people were missing.

"What's this? Where's Ursula and Katharine?"

Only F/O Elma, standing in one spot looking extremely nervous, and Haruka were left.

In a very apologetic tone, Haruka mumbled a reply.

"Um... they left."

"Left?"

"Yes ma'am... F/O Katharine said it was cold. Then, F/Sgt Ursula said there was a book she wanted to read..."

Tomoko collapsed to her knees.

"What is wrong with them! Don't they have any motivation at ALL!?"

"I-I don't think they do...?"

Elma murmured quietly.

Tomoko sprang to her feet suddenly, and shouted.

"Fine then! We'll do the training with just the people here!"

Haruka and F/O Elma were in for a world of trouble, training under a raging Tomoko.

<noinclude>
{| border="1" cellpadding="5" cellspacing="0" style="margin: 1em 1em 1em 0; background: #f9f9f9; border: 1px #aaaaaa solid; padding: 0.2em; border-collapse: collapse;"
|-
| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter5|Chapter 5]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter2

2009-04-15T06:52:22Z

Evil-samurai:

Suomus was a small country in Northern Europe with a population of 4 million.

In terms of territory, it was a bit smaller than the Fuso Empire.

This huge territory, with its relatively small population, was mostly made up of forests containing pines and other conifers. It was also particularly famous for its many lakes. Those lakes would freeze over during the winter season, and would be used as temporary landing fields. That was the reason why Kauhava Air Force Base, which had invited volunteer troops from several countries, had been built beside several beautiful lakes.

After five long months at sea, the ''Awamaru'' had docked at the military harbor in Brest, Gallia. Tomoko and Haruka had then boarded a transport plane, and had arrived at Kauhava Air Force Base at last.

As soon as they stepped off of the Karlsländer transport plane, they were shivering from the biting cold.

“Brrrrr, brrrr.”

Haruka hugged herself tightly, as she shuffled her feet. The two of them were draped in heavy military issue coats, but the coats did little to help.

It was November 10, well into autumn. However, Kauhava Air Force Base was already completely enveloped in a wintry façade, a world of snow as far as the eye could see.

Tomoko sighed, a frosty cloud forming, as she looked over the place which would be her battlefield.

“A country of snow, huh...”

“Shou-i, it’s cold, but the snow is pretty, isn’t it?”

Haruka, her cheeks as red as apples, murmured happily, even as she shivered. Tomoko scooped up a bit of the snow near her feet, and studied it.

“I wonder if the magic engine of the Ki-27 can handle this.”

“Wow... I was really impressed by the southern seas when I first saw them after joining the Navy, but this country is just as amazing... I’m happy I came.”

Haruka looked at Tomoko, a wide smile on her face. She was hoping that the person she idolized would be sharing her thoughts, but...

“Who knows if the engine will work at the stated performance in this extreme cold.”

Haruka sighed softly. It seemed as if Tomoko did not feel anything at all, even with such a beautiful snowy landscape in front of her.

A snowmobile painted in white camouflage colors pushed its way through the snow to where the two were standing. The door opened, and an intelligent looking woman wearing glasses stepped out of the vehicle.

She turned to face Tomoko, and saluted.

“Welcome to Kauhava Air Force Base. I am Flight Lieutenant Häkkinen, part of the command staff at the base.”

As soon as Haruka heard ‘Flight Lieutenant’, she immediately stood to attention and saluted.

“Fu-Fu-Fu-Fuso Imperial Navy, Flight Sergeant Sakomizu Haruka!”

Next, Tomoko saluted as well, with feigned politeness. Although Häkkinen had a higher rank, there was a touch of arrogance in Tomoko’s actions.

“Fuso Imperial Army, Pilot Officer Anabuki Tomoko.”

F/L Häkkinen’s eyebrow raised slightly at the name.

“We welcome the arrival of an ace like yourself.”

“Thank you.”

Tomoko expressed her gratitude, a touch of hostility etched into her words.

The snowmobile rumbled off, and brought Tomoko on a shaky journey to the briefing room.

It was a dilapidated building, what looked like a former warehouse. Inside were two kerosene stoves, and a number of chairs surrounding them.

There was a large blackboard at the front, and desks which looked like ones that might be found at school. On the blackboard, a message was written in both Suomish and Britannian, which said ‘Suomus Independent Volunteer Air Squadron Command Center’. Tomoko, having received officer training, and Haruka, being a Navy pilot, were both able to read those words easily. It seemed as if the language that would be used would be Britannian.

“Our squadron commander is late, isn’t she.”

Haruka mumbled to herself in her seat. Her raccoon-dog familiar was sitting near by. Next to her, Tomoko was looking bored with her elbows on the desk, a frown set on her face.

The squadron commander of the squadron in the Suomus Air Force that Tomoko and Haruka were assigned to was supposed to be coming any second.

“Don’t you wonder what kind of person our commander is going to be? I hope she isn’t scary.”

However, Tomoko did not reply. She seemed to be somewhat irritated.

Three more young girls were sitting together with them. All of them were Westerners.

Each of them had a different kind of familiar with them, and they were all waiting for the squadron commander in their own way.

Haruka had placed herself as close to the firewood stove as possible. To her right, a young blonde girl was reading a book silently. She was dressed in a Karlsländer Air Force uniform, and a badger was sitting in her lap. Probably her familiar.

She was slightly younger than Haruka. What could she be reading?

Haruka craned her neck around to try and read as well, her interest piqued. However, she gave up when saw that it was written in Karlslaendisch.

“What are you reading?” She tried to ask, but received no answer. The girl had all of her attention on the book, the bright blue eyes behind her glasses never straying from the pages. Haruka’s curiosity increased, and as soon as she tried to repeat her question louder, the badger in the girl’s lap glared at her. Its eyes were telling her not to disturb its master.

Next to the girl with glasses, another girl with splendid golden hair was sitting. She had golden hair just like the young Karlsländer girl, but this girl’s hair reached nearly down to her waist. She was holding a bottle with some black liquid in it. She had been happily taking large gulps from that bottle for a while.

Though she was still a young girl, she had a rather voluminous body. She was wearing a sharp Liberian Navy dress uniform, but her chest looked particularly snug. On her head, there was an animal that Haruka had never seen before. It was covered in brown fur, except for its face which was white. Its tail was striped in black and brown fur.

With astonishment written over her face, Haruka look at what was most likely the Liberian girl’s familiar. As the girl noticed Haruka’s gaze, she beamed a brilliant smile like a Hollywood star. She leaned forward as Haruka returned her smile hesitantly.

“Hey y’all, where’re you from?”

She spoke in Britannian but with a strange accent.

“The Fuso Empire,” Haruka answered. The girl looked puzzled, still smiling widely.

"From where? Where is it?"

“The Far East, I guess you would say?”

“Oh! Next to Florida, right?”

“No.”

The girl laughed out a ‘Sorry!’, and offered the bottle she was holding to Haruka.

“Want to drink some cola?”

“Eh, no thanks,” Haruka said, as she turned down the Liberian’s offer.

Next to her was a girl with silver hair, wearing a black motorcycle jacket. A dog with a long body and short fur was sprawled by her feet. Haruka wondered if that strange looking dog was the girl’s familiar. The girl was pretty, but she looked troubled by something, her forehead covered in wrinkles. The girl left an impression that she was hard to get close to. She had been smoking cigarettes non-stop. The girl turned to face Haruka as she noticed her incessant staring.

Haruka dipped her head in greeting, but the girl went back to staring into the distance soon. Her attitude seemed to being saying that she had no interest in Haruka whatsoever.

“There are all sorts of people here, right?”

Haruka turned to face Tomoko again, but she had her gaze fixed to the front, while she grumbled to herself, deep in her own thoughts.

“Is something wrong?”

Tomoko chewed on her lip at the question. Haruka started in surprise at her behavior. She had never expected Tomoko, who was even known as Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea, to act in such a childish manner.

A blush crept up on Haruka’s cheeks, when suddenly Tomoko swung around to face her.

“What’s wrong?”

“Eh? No, um, nothing! Yes!”

She shook her head from side to side. She couldn’t tell the person she idolized that her chest was throbbing because of her. To have her chest throbbing because of another woman... Haruka silently told herself off for being weird. It was a matter that she most definitely wanted to avoid.

“Oh,” Tomoko replied, and she promptly fell back into her own thoughts, her muttering starting up once again. Haruka looked up at Tomoko, a bit worried.

In any case, it was late. When would she get here? F/L Häkkinen had told them all just five minutes ago to wait for a little bit, while she brought the squadron commander over, but more than twenty minutes had already passed. It would have been an unbelievable situation in the Fuso Imperial Navy, where everything had to be done five minutes before.

Even though they had been made to wait in such a manner, nobody seemed to have noticed. Haruka thought to herself that she must have come to a place with some amazing people indeed.

''I wonder if something happened?'' As Haruka began to worry... Bam! The door suddenly banged open.

A pretty young girl with golden hair so light it was nearly white came in, balancing a stack of paper. Somehow she had managed to open the door while carrying that bundle.

“Awah, awawawawawawa!”

She overbalanced, and tripped splendidly, the stack of paper she had been holding flying all over the briefing room.

“Hiaaaaaah!” She shouted miserably.

F/L Häkkinen entered the room right after the girl.

“What are you doing?”

She asked, as she stared down at the light haired girl on the floor.

“Both of my hands were full... I thought I’d open the door a bit more, but I lost my balance, and...”

She stood up uneasily, and started to hurriedly pick up the scattered sheets of paper.

“Just leave the documents for now, please introduce yourself first.” The girl nodded in response to F/L Häkkinen.

She shuffled about on her feet for a bit, before suddenly standing bolt upright. She then scribbled something on the palm of her hand, and brought it to her mouth quickly. The girl seemed to be extremely nervous.

She took a deep breath, and stepped in front of the blackboard.

“Welcome to Suomus. Allow me to express our gratitude to you, volunteer soldiers from countries around the world, for coming from so far away to our aid. Eh, ummm, I am Flying Officer Elma Leivonen, and starting from today, I will be fighting together with you. And, so... what do I say now?”

Embarrassed, her gaze dropped to the floor as she trailed off, and she took surreptitious glances at F/L Häkkinen, who waved her away, as if telling her to get on with her introduction.

“That is... well, I’m still wracked by uncertainties about all this, but, well, I suppose I’m the squadron commander? The squadron commander of this Independent Volunteer Air Squadron, ah, which is the name of the squadron that all of you are assigned to. I wish we could have gotten a cuter name, though. Maybe the Penguin Squadron or something. Tehe.”

“Ahaahaa! Penguins can’t fly, I know!”

“T-That’s right!”

F/O Elma brought her hand up to her mouth quickly, as if to say “Oh no!” She had probably not been joking, and had meant that seriously. Her shoulders slumped.

“What am I saying... on the proud day our Independent Squadron is being established too... sniff...”

Haruka watched as the poor squadron commander stood in front of them. She looked like the type who always had trouble and disappointment surrounding her. Haruka felt like the two of them were similar in a way.

F/O Elma suddenly forced herself to smile, as she tried to cheer herself up.

“And there we have it, I’ll be your, well, squadron commander, and um, err... let’s all do our very best to get along!”

She clenched two fists in front of her chest, bending forward at her waist.

Silence.

Nobody clapped, or responded in any way. Tomoko and the silver-haired girl stared at F/O Elma with cold eyes. The tiny Karlsländer girl with glasses had been reading her book the entire time, and the Liberian with the huge chest was humming and doing her nails.

F/O’s forced good cheer went to pieces in seconds, and she turned to F/L Häkkinen with tears in her eyes.

“Flight Lieutenant Häkkinen, I told you I can’t do it~~ Why did they ever choose me to be the squadron commander~~?”

F/L Häkkinen lifted her glasses, and answered coldly in a firm voice.

“There are no other witches available.”

“How could that be~~”

F/O Elma mumbled miserably, and her shoulders slumped. She was shaking lightly. Haruka began to worry that she was crying, but she was not.

“Optimism, optimism. Positive thinking, positive thinking.”

She mumbled that phrase over and over like a charm, and suddenly raised her face.

“Well then, introductions! Let’s try that!”

She seemed to have a very innocent personality.

“Then, let’s start from the left!”

The silver-haired girl stood up without a word, her footsteps echoing across the room.

“Britannian Air Force, Elizabeth Beurling. My rank is Pilot Officer.”

She spoke sourly, and sat down immediately after she finished. In a troubled voice, F/O Elma tried to draw the girl out more.

“Umm, and...?”

“And what?”

“You know, we’re all going to be good friends, so we need to know more about you... Err... like the food you like. Or if you’re dating anyone, or bad habits or special skills.”
[[Image:SW_vol1c02_01.jpg|thumb|]]
F/O Elma began listing out all sorts of questions.

“Your Striker model?”

F/L Häkkinen prompted Beurling.

“The Hurricane.” Buerling answered simply.

“An excellent Striker.” F/L Häkkinen murmured in reply.

“Umm, well then, the next person, please!”

The girl with the huge chest beamed a wide smile, and stood up.

“I’m Katharine O’Hare, from the Liberian Navy! Nice meeting y’all!”

She began waving both hands merrily.

“My special skill is this!”

As she said that, Katharine drew a revolver from its holster at her waist. Holding it near her waist, she fanned the hammer with her left hand, firing round after round.

Everyone in the room dove to the floor.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!'

The loud report of the gunshots echoed out across the room.

“Oh! Don’t be frightened! Those are blanks! I use 'em for greetings!”

Katharine spun her revolver around her finger like in a Western, and put the gun back in her holster.

“There are large holes in the blackboard, however.” F/L Häkkinen answered as coolly as ever, as she fingered the bullet holes in the blackboard.

“Sorry! I must have made a mistake!”

Katharine answered in a sweet voice, and laughed happily.

“Er, errrr... Next!”

Somewhat desperately, F/O Elma pointed to the Karlsländer girl sitting in the chair in the center, who looked like the youngest person in the group.

The girl firmly closed the book she had been reading, and placed it carefully into the bag at the side of her chair. Then, she took out a worn notebook from the bag.

Everyone there was watching her, wondering what the notebook was for. The girl raised the notebook up to eye level slowly.

“I am Flight Sergeant Ursula Hartmann, form the Karlsländer Air Force. The motto of all Karlsländer soldiers is ‘learn everything from your textbooks’. Therefore, I always act according to the guidelines set out in the ‘Karlsländer Air Force Curriculum’ I have here.”

F/O Elma opened her mouth uncertainly into a wide 'O' as she watched the young girl.

“The Karlsländer Air Force Curriculum?”

“Yes.”

“But we’re in Suomus...”

Ursula answered, standing stock still.

“I am a soldier of the Karlsländer Air Force. That will not change, no matter if we are at the South Pole, or at the end of the sky. Therefore, Madam Commander, I would be pleased to allow you to peruse this.”

The girl handed the notebook to F/O Elma.

F/O Elma flipped through the pages quickly, but as it was all written in Karlslaendisch, she could never hope to read it. She sighed, and placed the book on top of the desk nearby.

She looked at the printouts scattered across the floor sadly. It was the Suomus Air Force curriculum, translated into Britannian, but she suspected the girl would never read it.

“Erm, then the next person, please.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!” Haruka stood up nervously.

“Fuso Imperial Navy, Flight Sergeant Sakomizu Haruka! My hobbies are, um, well, I’m not very good at it, but I like to make snacks. Dango... I suppose you don’t know what that is. It’s a snack from the Fuso Empire, which is made up of rice flour and shaped into round balls like this. They are a bit chewy, and very good, so I think I can make some for all of you soon. Um, and then, I also do archery.”

After having said so much... she finally noticed that F/O Elma was crying, tears streaming down her face.

“Did, did I say something wrong?”

“Of course not, I’m just so moved. There’s actually someone normal here...”

Haruka realized for the first time just how unbelievable the place she had come was.

On the other hand, Tomoko was...

Shaking in rage.

''What is this place?''

''They’re just a bunch of worthless fools. I’ll never be able to catch up to the troops in Karlsland, not while I’m with this lot.''

''What can I do?''

''This has to change''

I ''will change this.''

These thoughts drifted across Tomoko’s mind.

First of all, she would have to train this group up, so that they could at least be of some use. ''I can’t have them getting in my way during a real battle,'' Tomoko thought to herself.

“Well then, would our last person...” As F/O Elma trailed off, Tomoko stood up briskly, her determination showing in her actions. She had to take the initiative right away.

“Fuso Imperial Army, Anabuki Tomoko. My specialty is dogfighting.”

''Even though we all came here to go to war, not a single one of them mentioned any combat proficiencies. That just annoys me to no end. We’re not here to play around!''

F/O Elma began clapping enthusiastically.

“Oh yes, Flight Lieutenant Anabuki here is an ace who shot down seven enemy craft over the Fuso Sea! It’s reassuring to have you here! I hope you can teach us from your experience!”

Tomoko replied to F/O Elma, who was beaming brightly.

“Then could I interpret that as you allowing me to be in charge of our training?”

F/O Elma started in surprise at Tomoko’s seriousness. She turned to look at F/L Häkkinen worriedly.

“I don’t see why not. It seems she’s the only one with real combat experience after all.”

“Then, we’ll leave it to you.”

F/O Elma beamed at Tomoko once again.

“Well then, with the introductions over, it isn’t much, but we’ve prepared a small welcoming reception for all of you.”

“Wow! When you say welcoming, I hope that means food and drink!”

Katharine jumped up happily.

“We have it all arranged! Then, if you’ll all follow me this way...” F/O Elma said as she started to guide the group, when Tomoko stepped in front of her.

“Yes?”

“Let’s leave the welcoming reception for later.”

“Eh?”

“Do you think this is any time to be having a banquet, when we have no idea when the Neuroi might attack?”

F/O Elma stepped back quickly with a startled squeal under Tomoko’s glare. ''She’s scary.''

“B-But... you’ve come all this way, so...”

“We came here to go to war. We came here to fight back against the Neuroi. And I came here to show the world what I can do.”

“But...” As F/O Elma shuffled about uncertainly, Tomoko glared at her again.

“You did say that you would leave training to me, didn’t you?”

“Y-Yes, ma’am!”

F/O Elma answered immediately, in a way that made it hard to tell just who the superior officer was.

“Then I’ll do as I see fit. Squadron, equip your Strikers and assemble at the airfield.”

<noinclude>
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|-
| Back to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter1|Chapter 1]]
| Return to [[Strike_Witches|Main Page]]
| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter3|Chapter 3]]
|-
|}
</noinclude>

Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter1

2009-03-31T08:54:12Z

Evil-samurai:

As she increased her altitude to 3000 meters, Anabuki Tomoko felt grateful for being born a witch. Staring down at the vast scenery below her only strengthened those feelings.

The Fuso Empire... Britannia in the west, and Fuso in the east, could both be placed under similar labels. One look at the landscape below was all that was needed to know why Fuso had journeyed out of its borders so quickly. In the valleys between the mountainous region, numerous villages and towns were nestled closely together.

"This country is cramped, isn’t it," Tomoko said to herself.

However... to compare that crowded land with the openness of this sky!

Wrapped up in the embrace of the blue sky which seemed to stretch endlessly, it felt like it was a completely different world. Tomoko, the Ki-27 she had grown accustomed to on her legs, spoke out to her familiar which had united into her own body.

“Konbei, I wonder what Takeko will try today.”

“Hm, that’s right...”

The familiar’s voice appeared in her head.

As a miko, a witch of the Orient, she had chosen a fox for her familiar.

The signs of that could be seen in the light brown triangular ears she had, and the tufted tail which flapped in the wind. Covered in a soft fur, the ears and the tail gave the girl’s slender, disciplined body a decidedly feminine look.

Her long black hair reached to her waist, and a white headband was tied around her head, where the stern features of a warrior maiden from a country at war were stretched tight.

Below her skirt, shimmering whitely with a soft radiance, was the ‘Ki-27’.

It was a Striker unit which was adopted by the Fuso Imperial Army as the Type-97 Fighter Leg. With the rising trend in producing high-speed units, its top speed would never amount to much, though...

“With her superior speed, Shou-i Takeko will try to gain the initiative over ojou-sama by using a height advantage and repeatedly diving and climbing, won’t she.”

“That would be the normal way of thinking, yes.” Tomoko replied absently.

Her friend, Katoh Takeko would be using the newly adopted Ki-43... designated the Type-1 Fighter. Equipped with a 1000 spellpower ‘Ma-25’, it would have a speed advantage of nearly 30 km/h over Tomoko’s Ki-27.

“...Well then, follow my lead, just like we've always done in our dogfights .”

The new Type-1 had speed, but in a dogfight, nothing could beat the Type-97. That was how much confidence Tomoko had in her favorite machine.

She unsheathed the sword she always had at her side. It was a family heirloom passed down through the generations, a noted ‘Bizen Osafune’ sword forged as a military katana. The sword glowed with a pale light as it absorbed Tomoko’s magic.

“Wawawa, you’re not going to use the gun-camera? Are you really planning on surpassing Tomoe-Gozen?”

Konbei was asking about the gun-camera slung across Tomoko’s back, which was there in place of a 7.7 mm machine gun.

“Well... I’m sure Takeko also wants to find out which Striker will end up superior in a real ‘dogfight’.”

Tomoko replied with a smile. It was a warm smile, but at the same time it was also exuded a sense of challenge. At Akeno Flight Academy, where Tomoko was stationed as a test pilot, that charming smile was the cause of the many noisy cries of ‘Onee-sama!’ by female cadets at the academy.

To the west, a small black spot could be seen in the distance.

There was no doubt that it was Katoh Takeko’s Ki-43, which had taken off earlier. The challenge to this mock battle was issued just like that. This was going to go differently from the anti-ship warfare ‘matches’ that had been held.

As Tomoko approached, the black spot gradually formed into the shape of a mechanized air infantrywoman, her Striker shining with a metallic glint.

Facing each other head on, the two increased their pace, like two fencers eager to close the distance between them.

They approached closer and closer––––––––

At a relative speed of nearly 600 km/h, the two passed by each other in but an instant. The Ki-43 zoomed past Tomoko’s side like an arrow released from a bow. The bare duralumin frame of the compact Striker matched well with Takeko’s slim physique.

Takeko’s smile could be seen behind her short, black hair. The next instant, Takeko’s shrill voice came through the radio receiver.

“I may be in a new model, but I won’t be holding back, Tomoko.”

Tomoko raised her voice as well.

“Exactly what I wanted. I’ll show you that nothing can beat the Type-97 in a dogfight.”

Looking behind her, Tomoko watched as Takeko pulled the Ki-43 into a sharp climb, just as she had expected.

It was a bold ascent, just like that of a powerful bird of prey, a nickname Takeko was often referred to as.

“Exactly what I’d expect from you, ‘Hayabusa’.”

She most likely wanted to put pressure on Tomoko by increasing her altitude. Not letting her do that, Tomoko began her own climb a moment later. Like two intertwining dragons, their paths crisscrossed as they shot upwards into the sky.

Tomoko’s engine began to give out with a loud whine first. Compared to Takeko’s Ki-43, the Ki-27 with its Ma-1b magic engine, had only 80% the engine power, and was insufficient for such a steep climb. Takeko stopped her own ascent, and flipped around. She dived.

Tomoko glanced behind herself. Takeko’s Ki-43 did another flip, as if to say that she had been waiting. She had managed to get perfectly on Tomoko’s tail. Using her superior speed, Takeko began closing the distance between them.

“How’s that? Look at the speed of the Type-1! It’s on a whole other level from the 97!”

Takeko’s voice came in from the headphones of the radio.

Following close on Tomoko’s rear, Takeko headed towards the long white streamer trailing from Tomoko’s waist, and flashed her drawn sword. It seemed that Takeko was indeed intent on not using a gun-camera.

Tomoko smiled, not disappointed.

There were two ways to decide who would win or lose in this match.

The first was to use the gun-camera to photograph the opponent. Once the required number of centered shots had been made, that would count as a ‘kill’.

The other method... Use a sword, standard equipment for the Fuso Imperial Army, to cut off the streamer that each of them had attached to their waist. It had been decided that that would count as a victory, even without using the gun-camera.

Takeko did not have her gun-camera ready... in other words, she was also aiming for the second victory condition.

Tomoko licked her lips lightly. Her sparring partner was 17, and the two of them had been rivals ever since they entered the Akeno Flight Academy in the same training cadre. Two years ago during the Neuroi invasion of Fuso, which was most likely a reconnaissance mission, the two had competed in everything from the number of enemies they had downed to promotions, during a small skirmish known as the ‘Fuso Sea Incident’.

They were the most competitive of rivals in the air, but the second they landed they would become the best of friends, who would share all their worries, joys ,and sorrows with each other.

And because of that, neither could stand to fall behind the other.

This mock battle, which was also serving as the debut of the newly adopted Ki-43, was being closely observed by high-ranking officers from the Imperial Army, and top officials from the government of the Fuso Empire. Even visitors from the Imperial Navy had come to watch.

All of them had only one thing on their mind... Could the world’s best fighter, the Ki-27, win against the newly adopted Ki-43?

As ‘witches’, both Tomoko and Takeko were about as skilled.

So, in other words... it was a contest between the merits of the two Strikers. Not only was Takeko’s and Tomoko’s own pride resting on this battle, the very identity of each of their preferred machines was on the line. For two different reasons, this was a match that could not be lost.

Takeko took advantage of her speed, and narrowed the gap between the two Strikers.

The instant they were nearly close enough to hear each other’s breathing...

“I’ve got you now!”

Takeko’s naked blade sang through the air towards the streamer hanging behind Tomoko.

“Not so easily!”

Tomoko rolled to the side, and dodged Takeko’s attack.

“Kuh!”

Takeko swung her sword again. Tomoko dexterously twisted here and there as if she were dancing, keeping her streamer just out of reach of Takeko’s blade.

“Dammit, you’ve got some talent at running away!”

Takeko’s irritated voice buzzed from the headphones.

“Come on now, what’s wrong! New model! If you keep that up, they might decide to just throw the adoption plans into the cellar, you know!”

Tomoko shouted out to Takeko, tauntingly.

“Now you’ve made me angry!”

Takeko drew her sword back.

It was a master fencer’s stance.
[[Image:SW_vol1c01_01.jpg|thumb|''With that, she charged towards Tomoko.'']]
With that, she charged towards Tomoko.

Musoushinden-ryuu, Sora-no-Tachi. (Unrivaled Pantheon style, Sword of the Heavens)

An instantaneous stroke with a katana, cleaving one’s opponent in two...

During the Fuso Sea Incident... Takeko had taken down two Neuroi craft with that secret sword technique.

Shiiing!

The bare blade flashed!

However, Tomoko was no longer there. Even her streamer had disappeared from Takeko’s view.

“Ugh!”

Takeko grunted, and spun upward.

Tomoko was there.

With a complex movement of both legs, Tomoko flipped around in a somersault to face Takeko’s rear.

At the same time as that somersault, the sword in her hand glinted.

“Kuh!”

With no time to escape, the streamer trailing behind Takeko was cut through.

‘Tsubame-gaeshi’ (Turning Swallow)

Using that maneuver, Tomoko had become the ace of the Fuso Sea Incident.

“You got me~~!”

Takeko let out a frustrated sigh. Tomoko, a huge smile on her face, was holding Takeko’s cut streamer in her hand.

“You really are ‘Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea’, aren’t you?”

That was the name that the newspapers had called Tomoko by after the Fuso Sea Incident, where she took down seven enemies. Reporters had compared Tomoko favorably with that legendary female samurai, after she had shown her skills as a modern-day master, dancing gracefully through the skies that day slaying the Neuroi.

“Ehehe. It’s a mistake to think that there’s anything that can defeat the 97 in a dogfight.”

Tomoko twisted into a barrel roll happily.

“They might even abandon the plans to adopt that Ki-43 now.”

“That won’t happen.”

Takeko promptly refuted that possibility.

“Why? Wasn’t the whole concept of that new model based around making a better dogfighter than the Ki-27?”

“Air battles will be changing from now on. Dogfighting will no longer be the core of fighting in the sky.”

“Oh? A sore loser?”

“I’m not being sore. The trend is shifting towards high-speed, formation fighting. Winning won’t be a matter of individual skill, but instead cooperation will be the key to victory. The results from today... finally confirmed that.”

Takeko said softly, staring off into the distance. Tomoko shook her head.

“No, the one thing that will decide the course of an air battle is without a doubt the dogfight. It’s all about operating Strikers. Only a skilled ace who can maneuver behind the enemy can survive! You know that’s how it was during the Fuso Sea Incident as well!”

Tomoko recalled her memories of the Fuso Sea Incident two years ago as she said that. Wasn’t it all thanks to the Ki-27, with its tight turning radius, that the light Neuroi fighter weapon platforms called the Rallos could be shot down as they fluttered about?

The sluggish Rallos looked like enormous flies with propellers, and it had been impossible for them to target the Ki-27s used by Tomoko’s squadron, which could whirl through the air like sparrows.

“It may be true that the Fuso Imperial Army Air Service puts a lot of emphasis on dogfighting. They rely on top aces like you. That’s one of the reasons why they insisted on this Ki-43 being a superior dogfighter in the design requirements. But, that’s a mistake.”

Takeko fell silent, deep in her own thoughts. Tomoko tried to console her friend, and said,

“Hey, Takeko, c’mon have some self-confidence. You’re not even close to being unskilled. Just wait, once the deployment to Europe starts...”

It had been decided last month that volunteers would be deployed to war-torn Karlsland, which was in ruins after the Neuroi invasion. Tomoko and Takeko were the first to volunteer at Akeno Flight Academy, and rumors were soon flying all over the Army about which of the elite pilots would be deployed. ''I wonder if those rumors are true'', Tomoko would often wonder. ''I want to head towards Europe as soon as possible, and begin serving there.'' That was what she wished with all her heart.

“It’s not even worth thinking about, the two of us will definitely be selected for the deployment. We’ll show those Europeans the skill of the Fuso Imperial Army Air Service in dogfighting!”

No matter how full of energy Tomoko was, her best friend Takeko remained dour.

''Is she really so shocked that she had lost?''

''Was it so surprising that she had lost even though she was using a new model Striker?''

''It may be true that the Ki-43 Takeko had been equipped with was a newly adopted model, but... because it’s a new model there are sure to be a lot of things in a new model that she isn’t accustomed to yet. And I was using the Ki-27, which I know as well as the back of my hand.''

Even if the Ki-43 was faster and had a more powerful engine, Tomoko had had the advantage in that battle.

''It’s nothing to be so down about...'' Tomoko thought, as she shook her head.

Tomoko and Takeko made their approach to the airfield at Akeno Flight Academy side by side.

As they reduced their speed to below 150 km/h, small wheels folded out from a compartment at the foot of the Strikers.

They straightened out to a standing landing position from the standard horizontal flying position, and the wheels screeched as they made contact with the ground. Clouds of dust flew into the air as the two landed.

The first to make their way to the two were not the landing maintenance crews, nor the high-ranking visitors who had come to watch the test, but the throngs of female students clustered about the field.

The flight this time was also serving as the debut performance of the new unit. The airfield was filled to the brim with visitors chosen by lottery, who had come to watch the new Striker and the dashing mechanized air infantry in action. The majority of these tourists were in fact schoolgirls. They crowded around Tomoko and Takeko, each of them pressing dozens of postcards into their hands.

“Ace Tomoko-sama! It’s Ace Tomoko-oneesama! Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea!”

Tomoko, who had shot down 7 Neuroi craft above the Fuso Sea, was widely known from the extensive coverage of her in the news. Whether she was known as ‘Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea’ or Ace Tomoko, she was the idol of schoolgirls across the nation.

Not only that, but Tomoko’s was a beautiful young woman like a Fuso doll, and her small and sharp but courageous eyes, coupled with her languid atmosphere, only served to raise her popularity even more.

“Aaaah! Takeko-oneesama is here as well!”

With a face like that of an olden princess, Takeko was just as popular.

With loud cries and shouts, the schoolgirls rushed towards Tomoko and Takeko.

“I made some dango for you!”

“I’ve made ohagi! Please have some!”

“Take this, take this! It’s called ‘Chou a la crème’! It’s a pastry from Gallia!”

Dozens of schoolgirls tried to push to the front to give their own gifts, pressing on Tomoko and Takeko like a stampede.

All the while, cameras flashed with loud snaps, competing with the commotion of the schoolgirls.

Reporters with large cameras had begun to gather around the group as well.

Some reporters began pushing their way through the schoolgirl crowd, pens in hand.

“A word about the European deployment decision, if you please!”

“What?”

Tomoko started.

''I’ve been wondering for ages when the decision would come, but it’s been released at last?''

“Please tell us earlier if reporters will be coming.”

Akeno Flight Academy, office of the Director of Research.

Tomoko frowned at Chuu-sa Washizumi, who managed the various flight-related experiments at the academy. Chuu-sa Washizumi was a middle-aged man in his mid-forties, with a receding hairline. He was dressed in a khaki uniform, which looked uncomfortably tight for his heavyset frame.

“Well, we only just received word from Operations Planning at Headquarters, that the official deployment decisions had been completed. It seems those reporters rushed here the second they received word from Public Relations at Ichigaya, just before noon. Those fellows are always quick to catch wind of any information.”

“So, the reason those reporters are here...”

“That’s right. Akeno will be deploying mechanized air infantry as well. As a vanguard, both of you will be sent to Europe.”

Tomoko jumped into the air happily.

“Yes!”

“You seem quite happy, Shou-i Anabuki.”

Tomoko straightened out, puffing out her chest.

“Of course, sir! This is the perfect chance to show those Europeans that the miko of the Fuso Empire are the best in the world!”

Shou-i Tomoko pointed upwards, a proud look on her face.

“Ohhhhh, I can’t wait! I really really really really can’t wait~~!”

Tomoko was so happy that it seemed she might end up rolling on the floor any second. Chuu-sa Washizumi looked at her uneasily, then shifted his gaze to Takeko.

Biting her lip softly, Takeko gave a small nod.

Chuu-sa Washizumi cleared his throat loudly, and nodded gravely.

“Then, I will give you your orders officially. Fuso Imperial Army, Akeno Flight Academy Testing Squadron, Shou-i Katoh Takeko. You are hereby ordered to report for duty in Karlsland.”

Takeko saluted, a dignified expression on her face, and accepted the written order assignment.

Chuu-sa Washizumi Chuu-sa then turned to Tomoko.

“Fuso Imperial Army, Akeno Flight Academy Testing Squadron, Shou-i Anabuki Tomoko.”

“Sir!” Tomoko vigorously saluted.

However, what came next from the director’s mouth was completely out of her expectations.

“...You are hereby ordered to report for duty in Suomus.”

“''Suomus?''”

Her mouth dropped open in surprise.

“Northern Europe. A country with many lakes. They seem to be afraid of a possible Neuroi invasion, but simply don’t have enough mechanized air infantry, and so have requested support from super-power nations.”

Suomus...

She had heard of the country before, but could not say exactly where it was. In her mind, it was a completely forgettable place.

''Why in the world am I being deployed to some backwater country in the middle of nowhere?''

“Afraid? Then, that means they haven’t been invaded yet.”

“I, I suppose. Yes.”

“‘''Yes''’!? Why am I not being sent to the frontlines in Karlsland, where the hardest fighting is going on!?”

Takeko stepped closer to Chuu-sa Washizumi.

“What in hell am I supposed to do in Suomus!”

“Well... You know? The Neuroi may invade them any day... a precautionary force. With so many other countries sending mechanized air infantry, it would not do for us to completely ignore their request.”

“‘''Precautionary''’! What is this? Are you telling me to go there and play around in a patrol squad? Deployment to Suomus, that’s a job for second-line troops! Takeko’s going to Karlsland, so why am I...”

“Shou-i Anabuki.”

Takeko called her not by name, but by rank.

“It’s an order.”

''Kih!'' Tomoko glared at Takeko.

“Takeko! What are you saying! Didn’t you say that we’d fight the Neuroi together! That you and I would be the ones to chase the Neuroi out of Karlsland!”

Takeko shook her head.

“An order is an order. Accept it.”

Hearing her best friend tell her that in so peremptory a manner, Tomoko was forced to accept the order assignment. However, she would never stand for it. ''What is the meaning of this?''

Without another word, Takeko walked out into the corridor alone. Tomoko chased after her.

“Takeko!”

However, Takeko did not turn around.

“What was with your attitude back there? Hey!”

Tomoko reached out and grabbed Takeko’s shoulder, and spun her around.

“You were acting like it was obvious that I would be going to Suomus. What’s going on?”

Arms akimbo, Tomoko glared at Takeko face-to-face.

“That’s right.”

“That’s right, I’m sure it’s got to be some mistake that I’m going to Suomus... but it’s not!”

“I have to pack my belongings.”

As Takeko tried to walk away again, Tomoko stepped in front of her once more.

“Please move.”

“You... you knew, didn’t you?”

“About what?”

“That I had been deployed to Suomus. ''That’s'' why you weren’t surprised back there. Am I wrong?”

“Yes, I knew.”

“''What did you say?'' Then, you must know the reason, right? Why am I being sent to Suomus!?”

Takeko raised her head resolutely, and faced Tomoko.

“Have you read the details on the Neuroi which invaded Karlsland?”

The report compiled by military observers. Tomoko nodded. ''What does that have to do with my deployment to Suomus?''

“The ‘Neuroi’ which invaded Europe are nothing like the small things that came to the Fuso Sea. With bombers making up the core of its weapons, this time it is an all-out invasion force... These aren’t things that you can deal with through individual skill alone.”

Tomoko began shaking. In her mind, she thought that Takeko was saying that it would be dangerous for her with her skills.

“You’re saying I’m not good enough, aren’t you?”

“No, that’s ''not'' what I meant. I’m saying that it’s dangerous if you don’t change your way of thinking. But, you’re always so stubborn... I realized that you wouldn’t be able to change your tactics so readily. So...”

''What is she saying?''

Here at Akeno... No, in the entire Imperial Army Air Service, there was no who could match her skill in dogfighting.

Tomoko thought back to the match earlier that day.

“Stop making excuses for yourself. You’re planning on just leaving me with the Suomus deployment, aren’t you? You just can’t get over the fact that my shoot-down count is higher than yours.”

At that moment, a loud sniffle escaped from Takeko.

She was trembling lightly.

“I don’t care about my personal shoot-down count.”

Tomoko started.

“Takeko...”

“Become a real ace, Tomoko. I’ll be waiting.”

Her eyes brimming with tears, Takeko ran off. Tomoko was left alone in the corridor, looking hurt.

''Sigh, what is happening?''

''It’s been my dream to fight together with Takeko, my best friend.''

''I’ve always wanted to have the chance to compare our shoot-down counts fair and square.''

''It was always my plan for the two of us to show those Europeans, with their boasts of advanced flight technology, just what the Tomo-Tako combination can do...''

''I had to have been removed from the Karlsland deployment because of some conspiracy.''

Tomoko rubbed a hand across her face. Having the stage for her chance to shine snatched away was so frustrating it was unendurable.

“Why do ''I'' have to be deployed to Suomus!”

One week later...

The ''Awamaru'', which would be transporting the soldiers of the Fuso Empire European Expeditionary Fleet, was preparing to set sail.

There were crowds of people in the street to send the troops off, waving paper flags and cheering.

A joint Army and Navy band struck up a rousing march. The officers and troops lined up behind the railings of the ship saluted as one, and shouts of joy rang out from the assembled well-wishers.

“Go get those Neuroi!”

“Fuso Empire, banzai!”
[[Image:SW_vol1c01_02.jpg|thumb|''The officers and troops lined up on the side of the ship saluted as one.'']]
Those cheers reached their climax as the witches of the mechanized air infantry appeared. As the focus of the European detachment, these infantrywomen were assembled in orderly ranks of Army and Navy troops. They saluted.

“Kiyaaaaaaaah! They’re so magnificent!”

“Wonderful!”

The mechanized air infantry were heaped in the jubilant praise of the crowd, cheered as loudly as if they were stars of a musical troupe.

Not everyone has the ability to use magic. In fact, because it depends on specific genetic factors, it could be said that not very many people at all can use it. Furthermore, the vast majority of those users are female, and it is an ability that disappears with the passing of adolescence. Because of that, young girls who can use magic are seen as ephemeral seasonal flowers, admired by young boys as idols beyond their reach, and thought of by young girls as the ideal paragon of what they want to be.

Numerous reporters were there to cover the event, the flashes from their cameras lighting up the area. However, standing a bit away from the festival-like commotion, on the opposite side of the ship, a girl stood sighing.

“Sigh... The main stars sure are lucky...”

It was Anabuki Tomoko.

While the crowds cheered, the troops lined up in orderly ranks along the ship. They were the infantrywomen being deployed to Karlsland. Tomoko unfolded the newspaper in her hands. The words ‘Fuso Imperial Army and Navy to send troops to gasping Karlsland after Neuroi invasion’ were plastered in huge letters at the top of the front page, and much of the rest of the page was made up of long lists of the names of the infantrywomen who were being deployed. Finally, in small letters below that... a few lines were left to write ‘At the same time, a flight will be deployed to Suomus in Northern Europe’. Of course, the reporters had not bothered to write any names there, including Tomoko’s.

“I guess that means I’m just part of an insignificant ‘flight’...”

She mumbled to herself in a self-deprecating manner.

As she brooded alone... Suddenly, a hysteric cry startled her from behind.

“Uwaah!”

Turning around, she saw a short girl standing there, who seemed to be staring at Tomoko dizzily.

The girl stepped closer, and looked closely at Tomoko’s face. After taking a long hard look...

“You really are Shou-i Anabuki Tomoko! I’m so moved, ma’am!”

The girl was a full head shorter than Tomoko. She was wearing a white sailor uniform under a water-proof coat. On her head was a hat with an anchor mark on it.

“...You’re a sailor, I suppose.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am! I’m Ittou Hikou Heisou Sakomizu Haruka, of the Fuso Imperial Navy Yokohama Flotilla!”

“Oh?”

Tomoko studied Haruka from top to bottom. A cute face. Maybe twelve, thirteen years old. She had neatly cut hair, and under her bangs, her big and round black eyes were sparkling. Suddenly, the girl brought a hand up to her mouth, flustered, and saluted once more.

“Ah, excuse me! Ittou Hikou Heisou Sakomizu Haruka, reporting!”

Tomoko smiled at Haruka, as she gave her name in formal Army style.

“It’s fine. We’re on a ship after all... Let’s just do it how the Navy does it. Well, you said that you’re a Flight Sergeant, so that means you’re in the mechanized air infantry as well?”

“Eh? Yes, ma’am! That is correct!”

Haruka was still staring at Tomoko, her eyes sparkling.

“What’s wrong? Is there something on my face?”

“Eh? No! Excuse me, ma’am! No, I mean, no excuse, ma’am! Um, actually, I am a huge fan of you, Shou-i!”

“Oh, thanks.”

“Yes, ma’am! You were fabulous during the Fuso Sea Incident! Even when alone and surrounded by five Neuroi craft, you fought your way through!”

Haruka began getting more and more excited, words blurting from her mouth.

“It even became a movie! ‘Flash in the Fuso Sea’! I went to watch that movie! Shou-i Anabuki, you were cast as yourself as well, I know!”

Tomoko recalled that time. The movie had gotten full cooperation from both the Army and the Navy. Even Tomoko had to go all the way to the Tsuburaya Special Effects Studio in Setagaya-Kinuta, in Tokyo, to take up her role as herself. The movie had been a huge hit, raising mechanized air infantry into stars to the people in one bound.

“After watching that movie, I wanted to join the mechanized air infantry! That’s what I wished! Even if it would be hard, there are several witches in our family history, so I put all my effort into training... I actually wanted to join the Imperial Army Air Service, but... everyone in my family has been in the Navy...”

Haruka was explaining her entire history unasked. Since it seemed like it was not going to end any time soon, Tomoko began edging away.

“Really. Well, keep at it.”

However, Haruka started following right after her.

“Um, um! Shou-i, are you being deployed to Karlsland?”

“Eh?”

Tomoko’s face twitched.

That was still a sore subject.

“I’m sure the Neuroi will be kicked right out of Karlsland in one blow, with the aces of the Army Air Service heading there. Some of the elite pilots from the Yokohama Flotilla were selected to head there as well, it seems.

“‘''It seems''’...? How about you?”

“...Ma’am. Well, actually... I’ve been a hopeless member of the Yokohama Flotilla ever since I joined. Marskmanship, dogfighting, navigation... if you start from the bottom, well, you could say I’m number one in all of those.”

“Eh?”

“That’s why I was removed from the deployment to Karlsland, where heavy fighting is expected, and instead assigned to a country called Suomus in Northern Europe.”

“You’re being deployed to Suomus?”

“Yes, that’s right, ma’am. But, I’m relieved~~ If I were sent to some chaotic battlefield, I’m sure I’d get hurt really badly. No, not just hurt, I might even die. Well, unlike me, I’m sure you’re deploying to Karlsland, Shou-i. I would be extremely pleased if you would do your best over there in my stead as well.”

Haruka clenched both her fists in front of her chest as she said that. Tomoko felt miserable at those words, even though there was no malice behind them.

A worried expression appeared on Haruka’s face as she noticed Tomoko’s cold gaze on her.

“Um, I... Did I say too much? I, I’m sorry! I’m not sure why, but I’m sorry! If there’s anything I can do to apologize...”

She had no malice in her words. Tomoko shook her head, as she decided to overlook it.

“I’m going to Suomus as well, you know.”

“Eeeeeeeeeeh? An ace like you, Shou-i?”

Haruka’s expression said that she was shocked to the core. Tomoko smiled stiffly.

“Let’s do our best together.”

“Y-Yes, ma’am! It’s an honor, ma’am! Then, excuse me, ma’am!”

Haruka saluted, a huge smile plastered on her face. She spun around in a sharp about-face, and began to run off with a soft pitter-patter of her feet.

“Ah-ouch!”

However, just seconds later she slammed her head into a pipe extending from the wall, and crumpled to the ground.

Her eyes were spinning. She couldn’t just be left alone, but it wasn’t so bad that she needed to be taken to the medical center. With no other choice, Tomoko picked Haruka up in her arms, and brought the girl to her own room.

Because Tomoko was an officer, she had a personal room assigned to her. It was an extremely cramped room though. With an area of about 2 jyou (35 square feet, or 3.2 square meters), there was a single fold-down tatami bed attached to the wall. Under a circular window, there was a glass on a table, which was really just a shelf.

Tomoko put down the bed, and put Haruka there to rest.

The view of the harbor could be seen from the small window. In another hour, they would be out in the Pacific Ocean. The beginning of the long voyage to Europe.

Tomoko bit her lip softly as she watched her homeland begin to vanish into the distance.

Then... Haruka, who was sprawled across the bed, groaned and opened her eyes.

“Are you alright?”

“Y-Yes... I’m alright, ma’am.”

As Haruka said that, she rubbed the spot where she had bumped her head.

“Isn’t it a bit unbelievable for someone in the Navy to hit her head on a pipe on a ship, and collapse?”

Tomoko glanced at Haruka, who was blushing and looking embarrassed, and she fell deeper into her misery.

If they were sending girls as absent-minded as this...

In other words, it was the Navy's plan to send the girls they didn’t care about at all to Suomus.

For her to be treated the same as a misfit from the Navy...

As she brooded in those thoughts...

Something flashed in Tomoko’s mind.

''Of course! That’s right!''

''There’s no doubt this is some conspiracy.''

''There must some group jealous of my success so far.''

''Otherwise, there’s no way I would have been sent to Suomus.''

Tomoko made up her mind.

''No matter what... I’ll make my mark in Suomus.''

''I’ll accomplish something so important, nobody will be able to get in a word sideways. Then... that’s when I’ll have the last laugh against those that decided to send me to Suomus.''

“Just you watch! I am Anabuki Tomoko. The ace feared far and wide as Tomoe-Gozen of the Fuso Sea!”

Tomoko muttered to herself firmly, as she looked out the small window.

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| Forward to [[Strike_Witches:Volume1_Chapter2|Chapter 2]]
|-
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