Strike Witches:Volume1 Chapter1

As she increased her altitude to 3000 feet, 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, were both known by similar names. 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 together closely.

“This country is cramped, isn’t it.”

Tomoko said to herself.

However…… but to compare the crampness of that 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.”

“Hmm, 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 Rikugun (Ground Forces) as the Kyuunana-shiki (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, Takeko Shou-i (2nd Lieutenant) 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 “Isshikisen” (Type-1 Fighter). Equipped with a 1000 spellpower ‘Ma-25’, it would have a nearly 30 km/h advantage over Tomoko’s Ki-27.

“……Well then, let’s see if it ends up like a typical dogfight.”

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 Hikougakkou (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.