Strike Witches 2012 Episode 11: Children of the Danube [IC]

[Rupudska]

Kent County, Britannia
12 March 2012
11:30 AM

The good thing about flying into London as military is that you don't have to get your baggage checked or your body probed by strangers.

This is the only good thing about flying into London as military.

Further, this is the only good thing about flying into London. And some would argue the only good thing about London period.

At the entry to the estate, Ruya was practically dragging Sohvi to the elevator. The lieutenant-colonel had fallen asleep at the most inopportune time possible: As they were leaving the aircraft.

Really, this is just embarrassing, Sohvi.

The manor was certainly impressive. Big and imposing, it resembled a small castle. Certainly bigger than any of the houses Ruya had ever been in. Hell, it was the size of her elementary school.

"I guess we're here then, everyone. Sure is a nice place Sybil's got. Isn't that right, Sovhi?" Ruya tried, and failed, to arouse her superior officer. Again.

She even slept through that taxi driver's jabbering and occasional slurs.

Oh well. Perhaps Sybil had tea strong enough to wake a sleeping Finn inside. Ruya walked up, still dragging Sohvi behind, and rang the doorbell.

[Imota]

Beatrice gave a whistle of appreciation as she walked behind Sohvi and Ruya. The Picton manor looked like it belonged on a postcard of the Britannian countryside. She didn't know why they had been assigned to Britannia, but she figured that if they were there, the Neuroi couldn't be far off.

"Impressive," she said aloud to no one in particular. She could feel Philip and Shotaro scurrying on her shoulders. The two mice had, like their master, cheated death when the submarine sank. She turned to Maria.

"Do you want Philip and Shoutaro back? I mean, you're not dead anymore... right?" She wasn't entirely sure just what had happened, but she was glad that Maria was back with them.

[Occupied Deutschland]

Bushra rolled herself slightly, trying to find a more comfortable position on the hospital bed and trying to remove the psychologist from her sight.

“Ma’am, the Orussian reports say you had a pretty harsh head injury and were experiencing hallucinations before you passed out. After that kind of trauma people sometimes like to—“

“I don’t. Go away.”

“Ma’am, please. The Orussians mentioned that you were quite incoherent, though supposedly they found no brain damage at all and—“

“My brain isn’t damaged.” Bushra snapped, leaning forward and being rewarded by a slight pinging in her head that reminded her she was still supposed to be taking it easy.

“No. Of course not. Sometimes people just find that these kinds of things are uncomfortable or traumatic and like to talk about them. We—”

“Yeah, because they’re crazy. No thanks, mister supershrink. I’m not playing. I’m fine.”

“Talking to a psychologist doesn’t make you crazy. Otherwise almost everybody would be crazy. At some point or another we all…”

The psychologist said a few more things, but Bushra quit listening and eventually he got tired of talking to the unresponsive girl and left.

“Serves him right doesn’t it, Captain?” Bushra said to the room, twisting her neck slowly to glance towards Katsumi’s place beyond the simple curtain that separated them.

“I figure it does anyway. I don’t need his help or his shoulder to cry on, right?” Bushra paused for a moment then shifted to stare at the ceiling. “Course not. I’m not some nutjob. I mean, teacher might’ve had me convinced of some really untrue things and I might’ve had some weird ideas while I was still adjusting. But I’m okay now, right? Aren’t I? I mean, I’ve always kept myself under control. I haven’t actually done anything, I just had some trouble earlier adjusting to the squadron.” Bushra bit her lip, recalling the feel of the trigger as she’d been on the verge of shooting Princess Hanna, or the spike of pleasure and anticipation she’d felt on the verge of hitting Anastasia in her burned legs, or the mad happiness she’d felt thinking of dismembering Princess Hanna and Ljiljana on the Yeager and watching them bleed all over the deck. ‘Trouble adjusting’ was probably a bit tame for all those thoughts, but it was appropriate, right? She hadn’t acted on any of those urges, so they didn’t count. They had just been idle fantasies born of her teacher’s manipulations, right? They didn’t qualify her as some loon, just him. He’d made her that way, so it was his fault not hers. It wasn’t like she’d murdered somebody or reveled in someone’s pain. She wasn’t a nut, and she damn sure didn’t need some psychologist. He couldn’t help her anyways. What was the point? To solve those kinds of problems, you had to confront them. Bushra had. She’d flown all the way to Istanbul to confront it. Now she was okay, wasn’t she? She hadn’t had any of those weird thoughts since had she? That meant she was alright. She wasn't...

I'm not. And I wasn't?

“That’s all it was. Trouble adjusting. I don’t need to cry on some shrinky-dink’s shoulder about anything. Not anymore, right? I’ve solved the big one that was causing me…and you guys…problems didn’t I? Now I just need to confront water. That shouldn’t be difficult. I mean, I confronted teacher and solved that problem, how much worse could a bunch of water be, huh?”

Bushra paused for a long moment as the ceiling blurred. “I should have confronted it sooner, shouldn’t I? Those WU folks almost blow you and everyone else up and what was I doing? Helping Yuri and Yuki do stuff they could’ve done easily without me. And getting myself hurt in the process like an idiot. Not my fault though. Why in the world was our squadron supposed to go underwater? Could that have been planned by World United as well? If that bomb that hit you had gone off in the submarine…”

Bushra trailed off as she swallowed and took a long breath. Having a one-sided conversation with the unconscious Katsumi had to be better than a two-sided conversation with herself which had, thankfully, been something she hadn’t done since teacher had gone away permanently. Now that, that was how one confronted problems. By removing them. Whining to someone about it was what people who weren’t in control of themselves did in the stupid thought that somehow someone else would help. Well that wasn’t how life worked. No one could solve one’s problems for them.

“Those World United folks must have been after us the whole time, huh? I wonder what for? It’s not like the five-oh-first knew about them at all before they tried to axe Yuri’s sister and staged a full-blown attack on Odessa.” Bushra paused and let out a hum. “You think they could have been involved with the business on the Yeager? Those people that got murdered in the brig and the one that was trying to kill Princess Hanna…And what about Ljal—er—Lijilj—that Dacian mind-controlling witch? Hell, the entire Illyrian revolution!”

Bushra shook her head slowly against her pillow. It seemed a bit conspiracy theory-y to go blaming the organization for everything bearing a mild relation. Especially with so little information as she had. But it made sense. They obviously wanted someone in, or the entirety of, the five-oh-first dead, and killing the people on the Yeager and trying to kill Princess Hanna as they had certainly seemed to fit with their goals. “Why though? What would make them focus on us? And why expose themselves when they did? Was it the revolution maybe? Did that inspire them to move faster for some reason?”

Bushra shifted her hips and sucked in a breath of air as she rubbed her legs against the sheets. They were still a bit tender. “Ahh, I’ll think about it later.” Bushra muttered as she closed her eyes and dozed. She was supposed to be taking it easy and resting after all.

Damascus, Vilayet of Syria - Ottoman Empire

Asaad began to move the pen, stopped midway through the first word, then crumpled the sheet of paper and threw it off the side of the table. It wasn’t the first time he’d performed the action, and it probably wasn’t going to be the last.

He should just call. But he couldn’t. Not with this. He’d tried. He just…couldn’t. He couldn’t, not in person, he couldn’t do it. Letters were how these things were done. But he couldn’t write the letter either. How was he supposed to? With something like this.

[Finorskia]

"Hmm..." Yuki voice came from the left of the group. "It's hard to tell how nice something is when you can only see half of it at one time." Yuki was stroking her chin jokingly pretending to have a beard. "It's quite odd though I swear I'm seeing a the same image on the left as on the right except that it's mirrored."
"Well Yuks take my word for it, its beautiful." Yuri stepped out from the drivers seat of a Mercedes E-Class Cabriolets.
"Brother!" Yuki turned around.
"Where did you run off to?" Yuki asked puzzled. "You ran off the moment we landed."
"Well see while on the plane I decided I'd check my bank account, since you know I haven't bought anything recently. Well anyway I opened up the page, and wham. There was all this cash. So I left you guys to go buy this thing." He rapped on the hood. "Anyway I got a call on the way here. She's in Yuki, she's here, our new bird. Can't wait to take her out. Anyway we should swing by the airfield later and the hospital as well. Pay a visit to Heinz, Cat, and Bushra I'm sure they could use the support. But before that why don't we have our host show us around."

[Nachfolgia]

Standing behind the group, Friederike stared blankly at the massive estate. She admitted that the building was huge, bigger than anything she has ever seen. It was definitely bigger than any building in her small town of Mainz. The only problem Friederike had with it was that it was too extravagant. All the fine dining and elaborate decorations did not sit well with Friederike, in fact, it made her uncomfortable. She has never been around such riches in her life, she grew up in a rural town and is an enlisted pilot in the Karlsland Luftwaffe, luxuries were never afforded to her. Friederike preferred the simpler things, a small wood cabin in the Argonne forest was her ideal dream house, where it would be nice and quiet, quite unlike the life she had been living recently with all the chaos that has been happening to the 501st.

" It's a little to extravagant for my tastes." Friederike said blankly as she set her duffle bag down and adjusted her eye patch .

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

Wyndton House, County of Kent, Britannia
5th of March, 2012

As usual, it was raining in Britannia. Correction, it wasn't just raining on this early March day, it was literally pouring down a soggy mess of snow and water totally indiscriminately over the Kent countryside, mixing in with and making the already soggy mess on the ground even soggier. In the middle of this mess of a weather system a lonely black sedan drove up the long approach way up to a looming castle, a teenage girl staring out at the miserable weather from behind the windows of the rear passenger seats.

The terrible weather had been this relentless the second Sybil Catherine Picton landed in Brize Norton after a very long and exhausting flight from her most testinbg tour of duty yet. Although she was still holding up her calm demeanour, the strain of having done so for the past month and the mental exhaustion of dealing with completely mad subordinates was beginning to show. All she wanted right now was a bath, her warm, comfortable bed waiting for her in her room, a hot cup of tea from Noel, her lady's maid, and a book to read to sleep.

Clutching her long coat tighter around her frame, as if trying to ward off the howling storm aroud her, Sybil stepped out of the car and quickly in under the umbrella of the family driver. Together they walked up to the front door, rang once and was received by Mr. Lowe the chief butler.
Stumbling over the threshold and collapsing into the arms of Lowe Sybil muttered a quiet "I'm sorry." before greeting Noel with a weak smile. She then listed her requests.
"I'm going to need a bath, tea and a book in my room please, would you mind Noel?"
"Of course not Milady, I'll get to it right away."
Smiling back gratefully, Sybil felt the arms of the old wizened butler helping her up the stairs while Noel ran ahead to tap the bath. Sybil sank into the warm water ten minutes later, being in the exhausted state she was in she almost fell asleep in the tub if Noel haven't called her for her tea. Showering quickly, Sybil sank next into her four-poster bed, the tea tray with some mail resting on her sheets. Sighing, she grabbed a scone with one hand and opened her letters.
The one from Air Staff Headquarters noted to her that she had been promoted two steps to Wing Commander from Flight Lieutenant and Temporary Squadron Leader for her service - or rather lack of service in her opinion - in the 501st and was now a Dambuster with immediate effect. Sighing again, this time happily, she gulped down her tea dozed off in deep sleep.

Wyndton House, County of Kent, Britannia
12th of March, 2012

"Are you ready yet Milady?"
"Yes Noel, soon enough. Is sis ready yet?"
"She is, everything's and everyone's set now Milady." Standing in front of her full-length mirror and checking every detail of her outfit tonight, Sybil Picton managed a happy smile at the thought of her friends and old comrades coming over to celebrate her two-rank promotion. The new No. 5 Mess Dress with the ranks of Wing Commander had already been laid out at seven this morning, the old one having been destroyed in Italy together with one of her subordinate's lives. The entire house had been cleaned during the past few days and groceries bought for this event.
Sybil was now WCdr, of equal rank to Sohvi if not in seniority, and new uniforms befitting of your new rank and a clean house was the number one priorities for your promotion dinner. Her hair had been done by Noel at one o'clock after lunch, in a long ponytail down her back, and now, finally at five p.m. everything including the four-course dinner was set. The door opened no sooner than half a minute after the bell had rang, by the Head Butler, and wearing a bright smile on her face Sybil came down the center stairs with her sister Georgie in tow. At least the weather was fine today...

"Welcome to Wyndton House Misses. Head Butler Lowe at yours service. Her Ladyship should be waiting in the parlour right now. May I take your coats?" Sybil interjected here with a bright smile, and said:
"Mr. Lowe, I'm already here. Sohvi, Ruya, dears how have you been? Welcome to Wyndton, me and my family's home. May I introduce you to my sister, Georgiana Mary."

[Rupudska]

As if tugged upwards by a puppeter's strings, Sovhi practically leapt to attention.

And there's her usual self. What was that sleepiness all about? Was it an act?

Sohvi's dress uniform was fairly typical for Witches: Like the regular Ilmavoimat dress uniform, it was fairly plain, being a paler blue than the standard, and with a skirt that ended just below the knees.

Ruya's, on the other hand, was practically extravagant by comparison: In full mess dress, her uniform's skirt went all the way down to her ankles, with an open blazer exposing a white blouse and the lower end of her navy blue hijab.

After all, this is a formal affair. I have to look my best... also I need to get used to wearing these more often.

Maria looked up in surprise at Beatrice's question. She was glad she was offering, but she didn't really think now was a good time.

Still...

"Oh... well, thanks, Bea! I'd be glad to take 'em back."

[Nachfolgia]

As if tugged upwards by a puppeter's strings, Sovhi practically leapt to attention.

And there's her usual self. What was that sleepiness all about? Was it an act?

Sohvi's dress uniform was fairly typical for Witches: Like the regular Ilmavoimat dress uniform, it was fairly plain, being a paler blue than the standard, and with a skirt that ended just below the knees.

Ruya's, on the other hand, was practically extravagant by comparison: In full mess dress, her uniform's skirt went all the way down to her ankles, with an open blazer exposing a white blouse and the lower end of her navy blue hijab.

After all, this is a formal affair. I have to look my best... also I need to get used to wearing these more often.

Friederike's uniform was not nearly as extravagant as the officers around her, simply because of that reason. As a member of the military that prides itself on appearance, her enlisted uniform was of higher quality than other enlisted uniforms of the world. Friederike's dress uniform was a light grey and had the patch of the Luftwaffe sown on the right chest. On the right sleeve was the Karlsland flag patch and right below it was the Green Heart patch of her unit, the JG 54. Pinned on the left breast pocket was the Karlsland wound badge that Friederike was awarded after getting wounded in the brief Karlsland-Ostmark War. Just above the same pocket was a three row ribbon bar and that had every ribbon she ever awarded, including the Karlsland-Ostmark Campaign ribbon, the Karlsland-Ostmark combat action ribbon, and the Joint squadron ribbon of the 501st.

She wore her sergeant rank on her shoulders as well as her collar. The shoulder epaulettes consisting of yellow trim followed by a sliver metallic trim and a silver metallic diamond in the center of the epaulette, an inch away from the end of the epaulette closest to the collar. The collar tabs was red with sliver metallic trim and had three black V's that looked like crudly drawn bird in flight. Her skirt was black and came down to mid thigh and she wore polished black boots that came up to the top of the calf. She also had on her Luftwaffe dress cover which sat perfectly on top of her head. Friederike even had on a custom made eye patch for formal affairs, which was barely noticeable thanks to her sliver hair. Friederike did everything she could to look a formal and professional as possible, this evening was a true honor that not many enlisted personnel will have.

[Minroz]

Underneath the trees of Sibyle’s estate, Aigiarn the Manchurian warrior, dressed in her casual clothes, is sitting in lotus position. With her katana at her side, she’s meditating with her eyes closed. The scarface oriental took in the breeze of the wind, savoring them in her mind and heart as she focused on her breathing. Tree leaves had begun to fall down.

Her eyes suddenly snapped open. With the speed of light, Ai drew out her sword and made a whirlwind of swipes of motions akin to a skilful dancer. Once she sheathed sword, the leaves around her had suddenly split in half, even quarters!

To any witnesses who’re stunned by her act, it’s like watching a samurai movie.

“Confucius says ‘life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated’.” Ai recited. “I wholeheartedly agree. It’s not the world or the universe is complicated, it’s the people themselves. Not to sound like a petty nihilist, I think there’s such thing as morality, contrary to what people believed.”

She chuckles. “Perhaps I’m one of those who believes in what’s right. Daddy always hammered them down in my brain whenever I did something wrong, hehehe.”

Looking at the skies, admiring the scenery, Aigiarn may be the newbie to the 501st. Nuray too. But both of them are hardened-veteran witches who had fought many dangerous enemies, be it neuroi and humans. Which is more than welcoming addition to the team, the question is will they succeed in their endeavour to help the world. Ai is sure her new team will prevail, no matter what and she can see it.

---

Walking together along the path, Nuray and Yusheng are chatting. Both of them are dressed in their casual clothes. Ever since the Odessa and submarine incident, they’ve finally warmed up and gotten to know each other although they occasionally get into bouts of arguments. But all in all, they get along with each other pretty well.

“Hahaha, Ai is such a handful, even for you Zheng.” Nuray smirked.

“Ha, tell me about it.” Yusheng chuckled. “Her dad is loony as his daughter. Family resemblance aside, they’re good people at heart. Besides, I owed Sir Mao for helping me out long time ago.”

“You make it sounds like they’re too crazy for their own good. Back then, when I first met her, I find it hard to believe Ai is the daughter of the Interior Minister Altan.”

“They’re Mongols after all. They’re a heroic people.” Yusheng mentioned.

“Oh, similar to my ancestors. Fun fact, I do have some Mongol blood running in my veins. Perhaps Ai and me were meant to be sisters for life.” Nuray quipped. “Maybe you as my big brother and our butler.”

“In your dreams, little lady.” He joked back. They laugh together, enjoying their chat. They stopped under the tree on the hill. Both of them sat down under the shade to rest.

“So….ummm, well, what should we do Zheng?” Nuray asked, feeling bit shy all of sudden.

“I dunno, Miss Shahin.” Yusheng said sheepishly as he scratching his head.

Staring quietly at each other’s eyes for brief, pondering moments, their heads begin to move closer towards each other. Connecting their lips, they’ve finally started French-kissing. Embracing each other close, Nuray and Yusheng passionately kissed, feeling the warm sensation of their spirits. In their mind, it’s the best thing in their life. To the point that even Nuray's familiar's ears and tail have started to pop out. The Manchurian officer was about to caress Nuray’s bosoms but refrained from doing so. They stopped kissing and then gaze at each other’s eyes.

“What’s wrong?” She asked him with concern.

“No…it isn’t right for me to do this.” Yusheng whispered. He felt guilty. He thinks he’s taking advantage of the Turkish girl.

But Nuray…she made a sad smile, feeling touched by his thoughtfulness. She never expected him to be a considerate type. To add a bonus for her background, he’s also a fellow Muslim like her so there’s no big issues about it.

“It’s…alright.” She softly spoke. “I know it’s haram (forbidden) but…Allah will forgive. After all, Almighty One will approve.”

Yusheng is genuinely surprised by her broad acceptance, despite his short relations with her. After founding what she gone through, he felt sorry for her, regretting all the bad things he spouted against her. He didn’t think she’ll forgive him that easily until they’ve finally fall in love.

With heavy-hearted sigh, he warmly smiled at her. “You silly girl. Maybe this is why I fell for you, Shahin.”

“T-thank you, Zheng Yusheng.” Nuray cried out in happiness. She hugged him tight.

Yusheng smiled weakly, “I…I love you, Nuray.”

“I love you too, Yusheng.”

They went back to their kissing, savouring the wild eternity of pleasure and newfound love between the budding couple.

[Finorskia]

Yuri and Yuki stepped forwards towards the entrance. Yuki was dressed in a Fuso dress uniform which contained only a single row of bars. These included her purple heart, service medal, and air force cross. Instead of her eye patch she wore a glass eye, she hated it and so only wore it on formal occasions. On her upper arms she wore the rank insignia of a Staff Sargent.

Yuri was dressed in his Liberion Air Force dress uniform. It was the standard dress instead of the mess dress, he hated the mess dress. The uniform consisted of a dark navy blue jacked with navy blue pants, white button down dress shirt and navy blue tie. He bore on his shoulders the rank insignia of a major. On the each end of the collar was a single fold plated pin reading U.S. On his right breast was pin containing his name and rank. On the left breast four rows of ribbon bars stood out and above these his wings. The medals were primarily service and battle awards, but a few awards stood out. Namely a two air force cross's, a meritorious service award, and a meritorious unit award. Over his uniform to protect from the weather he wore a standard issue overcoat and on his head he wore an officers cap.

Upon seeing Sybil the two had very, very different reactions. Yuki noticed the new rank markings and instantly saluted the new Wing Commander.
"Congrajulations on your promotion Wing Commander." She said with a smile.

Yuri on the other hand looked Sybil up and down, and upon noticing the new rank insignia, frowned. What did the princess do to deserve that? He thought to himself.

[Wolfenium]

Army Hospital, Kent

T'was a grim day for Adela Tepes. Seated in a brightly lit ward beside a sullen-looking psychiatrist, questions over her PTSD condition were threatening to dislodge her career entirely. Everything about her past as a witch was frought with mental issues, not the least due to alleged conditioning by members of the Daughters of Illyria as an informant. Glaring a peek at the prognosis scribbled by the doctor, she could already tell what the outcome was. Needless to say, she was far from her usual spirited mood.

"I'm fine, doctor..." Adela groaned as the psychiatrist written down on a clearance sheet, "like I said, it's probably just mass chaos and all."

"..."

"Look, I'm fine," Adela tried to persuade, "you can't just send me home like this. That's where that psycho's waiting for me. I haven't really heard from her since she vanished, but I can't go back now!"

"..."

Frustrated, she barked in agitation, "would you listen to me!? I'm not crazy! I took on that sub Neuroi just fine! Must you send me packing like this!? How're my teammates going to react!? I can't go home now!"

"..."

For some reason, the psychiatrist failed to pay any attention. It was pretty clear any noise she was making was proving counter-productive. Falling apart, she pleaded, "look... doctor... This is all I have... I have no friends outside the 501st. I don't want to go back... Fighting is all I know what to do. How'd you expect me to live out my life then... Please, just give me a free pass... I'll do anything..."

Muted, the psychiatrist merely gave her a blank glance as he handed her her assessment sheet. In it, a large label with 'CLEARED FOR DUTY' was stamped right in front. Blinking a bit at the clearance, Adela could not help but speak, "I... I don't understand, why-"

"Then I suppose you want me to fail you," the psychiatrist suddenly spoke, pulling an uncharacteristically wry smile, "no, I'd rather not hear you beg. It's hardly like you."

Raising an eyebrow, Adela felt jitters hearing the doctor speak, giving her a sense of familiarity that felt out of place in this context. Narrowing her gaze, she could not help but think about his snide tone. She could not help but think that she had heard it somewhere, but the doctor was clearly a stranger to her, at least that was how she felt.

"Who are you," she questioned suspiciously, "what do you mean 'it's not like me'?"

Glancing at the surveillance camera, the psychiatrist waited until the blinking light on it shut down. Indicating that it was offline, he quietly waved his hand over his face. Instantly, the image of the masked ninja appeared over his lab coat, as its disguise faded away. Shocked, Adela quickly backed away about to scream, but the ninja was quicker on his feet, shoving his hand over her mouth.

"Careful," the ninja stated, "this building has been infiltrated by our enemies. If you scream now, you'll surely be sent home. Keep in mind, I am on your side, though I regret hearing you call any of us a 'friend'."

As the ninja pulled his hand away, Adela hissed in a low voice, "who the fuck are you?... How'd you know who I am?... Don't tell me you're Azar, because that's Gray Fox cliche."

To her surprise, however, the ninja quickly shook his head with a chuckle. He seemed to relish the look on Adela's pale face, which would have been quite uncharacteristic of the Persian princess. Her eye flinching, Adela was sure she knew him somewhere. She had no idea why, however, but the ninja was quick to respond to her mental barrage of queries.

"No, I am not your princess," the 'cyborg' answered, "but you got one part right. I am a woman, and I am - or was - a close acquaintance of yours. You just need to guess more carefully. Maybe your little time trip might ring some bells?"

"Time trip," she uttered, "how'd you know about the time trip."

Pressing her masked face towards Adela, the ninja explained, "because I was in the 501st. And a time trip to the past was possible, I am sure there's nothing stopping me from coming from the future."

"Get to the point," she hissed, "stop playing games with me, you ass."

"Well, you never stopped messing with me when I was a few heads shorter, did you," the ninja responded with crossed arms, "not until you got killed on board the Yeager by the Illyrians."

"Wait..." Adela questioned, "I didn't get killed then. You saved me."

"Correction," the ninja stated, "I saved us."

Pausing for a moment, Adela took the time to consider her hints. The ninja was clearly with her when they entered the 1940s, which narrowed down the candidates quite a bit. The ninja had been shorter than her and was a frequent target of her bullying, though this could have applied to anyone. But most importantly, she mentioned that she saved Adela and herself for some reason, as if the Illyrians infiltrating the ship then were a threat to her. Given how quickly the ninja dispatched them, that could not be true. Unless...

"You can't be her..." she spoke in astonishment, "there no way you could be her. She's as frail as a snowflake, and she's hardly that snide."

Lifting her head in amusement, the ninja seemed quite satisfied with her answer. Opening her arms as she prepared to remove her mask, she stated, "people change, Tepes, and I am of no exception. What I'm about to show you must not be spoken outside this room. I fear if they find out, they will stop at nothing to kill my past and present self. We've already changed enough of history to know how that ended. I was hoping you could help me with that."

Removing the visor over her mask, the ninja was now face to face with her past friend, a pair of ruby eyes looking into a forgotten past. Appalled at the sight of the pale-skinned, snow-haired woman behind the mask, Adela was not sure how to react. But as the ninja replaced her mask over her face, she explained, "this war will be as good as lost if we do not act now. I cannot tell you everything, but I will tell you enough to know that what events you see now are the work of Neuroi. Trust no one with this information, not even to my past self. I will need every help I can get to stop them, even if I have to die yet again..."

Adela could only curse mentally at being confronted by the future ninja. Of all the people who had to be picked by the 'human resistance' to fight 'terminator-types', it had to be her. Needless to say, she did not enjoy being part of the charade. She had a feeling the adult Svetlana before her was doing that just to annoy her.

"I hate my life..."

---

Wyndton House, County of Kent, Britannia

Dressed in a dull Orussian uniform as she stood hidden behind the line of fellow 501st members before her, Svetlana looked a bit grimmer than before. With the events surrounding A World United and the Daughters of Illyria, she had reason not to cheer. However, worse was the party awaiting her, and the need to scrounge her bare-boned social skills to use. She never liked talking very much. She was not one to dispense with small talk.

'I hate this,' she wondered, feeling a bit distant from the others, 'it's like an eternity had passed. How could anyone be in the mood for parties after this much mess. I just hope it ends soon."

Somehow, her wish was far from granted. Her turmoil was only just beginning, as she prepare to survive the life of a socialite...

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

"Stand at ease Yuki, no need to be extravagantly formal today, and thanks, Air Staff HQ sure is crazy putting me in charge of a squadron." Sybil smiled uneasily with her hand behind her head at the unwanted accolades. Compared to the others who came with all their awards and decorations Sybil's No. 5 was blank, her DFC and MBE sitting in their boxes up in her room, left out on her request.
"Why are you all standing out there? Come in already.... Is Sohvi alright Ruya? She looks... terribly sleepy. No worries though, Noel should have tea served already in the drawing room. If your ladyships would follow me that'd be nice..." Taking a few steps backwards Sybil lead them to a typical English drawing room with four full sets of tea on the tables. "At least Ai and Nuray got my request for informality. Yes, it's a promotion dinner, yes you will come in undress, it was on the invites I penned. But alas it seems most of you forgot about that." Sybil kept her smile up as she shot off that joke. "Settle down, Svetlana takes ice tea right? With additional ice or without?" Pointing at a glass with clear brown liquid and two ice cubes in it already, Sybil winked. Smiling she added to Sveta: "I'm learning already."

[Rupudska]

Ruya sighed. "Sorry. Force of habit, I guess."

She, Sohvi, and Maria all sat at various places around the table, with Sohvi and Ruya sitting next to each other, as usual. Curiously absent was Anastasiya: She had, apparently, caught a vicious cold during the mission with the submersible Neuroi and was in the carrier's sick bay.

Idiot, Ruya thought as she remembered - yet again - that the young Orussian was missing.

"That would be nice," Sohvi said, completely ignoring both Nastya's absence and the fact that she had been borderline catatonic a few seconds ago. "Please inform her, though, I like my tea rather strong."

[Wolfenium]

"Stand at ease Yuki, no need to be extravagantly formal today, and thanks, Air Staff HQ sure is crazy putting me in charge of a squadron." Sybil smiled uneasily with her hand behind her head at the unwanted accolades. Compared to the others who came with all their awards and decorations Sybil's No. 5 was blank, her DFC and MBE sitting in their boxes up in her room, left out on her request.
"Why are you all standing out there? Come in already.... Is Sohvi alright Ruya? She looks... terribly sleepy. No worries though, Noel should have tea served already in the drawing room. If your ladyships would follow me that'd be nice..." Taking a few steps backwards Sybil lead them to a typical English drawing room with four full sets of tea on the tables. "At least Ai and Nuray got my request for informality. Yes, it's a promotion dinner, yes you will come in undress, it was on the invites I penned. But alas it seems most of you forgot about that." Sybil kept her smile up as she shot off that joke. "Settle down, Svetlana takes ice tea right? With additional ice or without?" Pointing at a glass with clear brown liquid and two ice cubes in it already, Sybil winked. Smiling she added to Sveta: "I'm learning already."

"Mm..." mumbled the young girl, taking her seat as she looked down on her tea, "that would be nice..."

Glancing at the sleepy Sohvi, she could not help but give a small smile. It seemed like a nice change of pace from the manic dogfights she had before, though part of her wished she was back there fighting, while her fellow witches held the line for them.

But one matter appeared different about the little girl, noticeably her increasingly distant attitude to Maria. While she never doubted she was back for good, she could not shake off the feeling that there was something amiss about her return. It still seemed implausible for her, especially since Maria was so brutally impaled in her presence. While she did not want to think of it, Svetlana was somehow suspicious that this Maria was not the same one who 'died' at the Adriatic.

"It's too bad Lieutenant Fei was reassigned," she spoke, "I'm starting to miss him already..."

[Occupied Deutschland]

Bushra stood over Katsumi, arms folded as she watched the monitor beside the woman steadily track her heartbeat. After a certain amount of time even the most comfortable of beds got to be painful to lie on, and hospital beds were not by any measure the most comfortable. Even if her legs were still slightly sore, it was a trade-off that was worth it to get off the lumpy mattress for a while.

"You are going to have bedsores like crazy when you get out of here." She giggled slightly despite herself, then forced the sound down. Her giggle made her sound like a little girl, and she couldn't stand it. Putting a hand to her mouth, Bushra swallowed the impulse.

I should've been with you all...

Bushra lowered her head at the thought, the trace of mirth disappearing as quickly as it had come. How was she supposed to earn Syria a good name if she ran and hid in the face of danger?

The worst part was she didn't even have a justification of danger. She'd run away from the mere thought of swimming in water. Not even a Neuroi.

Is it even for Syria anymore?

Much like the giggle earlier, Bushra was surprised at the thought. Of course it was. That was all she really had left. Teacher had betrayed her, yes, but Asaad was still there...And her parents. She was here for them, and they were where they were for Syria. She couldn't let them down.

Not that that's stopped me with anyone else. Bushra glanced at the lower portion of Katsumi that was covered in a blanket and, underneath it, bandages and gauze.

All I can do is let them down. First because of teacher's manipulations, then because I'm too scared to swim, what next? Will next time finally end in me getting someone killed?

Or maybe next time I'll actually kill someone. I came so close with Prinzessin von Mind-Reader...twice. In the air and in the medical bay of the Yeager. Then there was Nuray. Teacher might have manipulated me into both of those, but I still went through with it. I didn't question him at all about it. I just rolled over and took his orders. Sure, maybe the world would be better off without mind-readers, but still. I didn't even question his words on any of it. And Nuray isn't a mind-reader either. I just accepted his story entirely.

So what was keeping her here? Was she just trying to prove a point to herself? Was it Syria she was still here for> Was it because, even with everything, she was still treated better than she was in the Empire? Was it just to throw her presence in the face of everyone else? It still felt kind of good to do so. They'd thrown her in the brig of the Yeager as if she were some nutjob. Well she was still here and nothing they did could change that!

Bushra giggled again despite the somewhat dark thoughts and her efforts to contain it as she leaned slightly on Katsumi's bed. She no longer wore the Ottoman patch on her shoulder, but it seemed she still didn't really know what she was fighting for.

"Bah, I'll think about it later." Bushra joked to the unconscious girl, repeating her line from earlier. It was so easy to talk to the unconscious girl, Bushra didn't have to worry about her biting her head off or saying the wrong thing or being judged for what she said. She was in complete control of the conversation.

After a few more minutes of her silent vigil, Bushra's watch beeped. With a final glance at the girl's monitor, Bushra exited to go pray. Amidst all the craziness of the world and her own doubts, at least she had that.

[Minroz]

Wyndton House, County of Kent, Britannia

“Oi, how come I wasn’t invited to the party-room?” Called out the witty-like voice from outside of the room, Aigiarn appeared as she entered, dressed in her army greatcoat from her native homeland yet she left it opened showing her casual clothes underneath. She also dons a PLA peak-cap on her head. Carrying her sword on the back, she puts it on the nearby table and smirked at her 501st comrades.

“You guys seemed to having fun, that’s sooo mean of you~” Ai quipped. Prodding Sohvi’s head playfully, she said, “And give the gal a rest, I think she deserves it as CO of the squadron, no?”

“Say, by the way, do you have some Vodka in the house?” She asked Sybil. “I could use a little drink, hehehe~”

[Imota]

Beatrice nodded in response to Maria.

"Hear that?" she said softly to the mouse on her shoulder, "both of you are going home." As much as she enjoyed having the company of the two mice, she couldn't help but feel that they belonged with their master.

The juxtaposition of two fancy mice on the shoulders of a thirteen year old girl wearing United States Marine Corps dress blues was an odd one, to be sure. As much as she disliked formalities, even she knew that showing in her tan utility uniform wouldn't be acceptable, and besides, the dress blues weren't bad to look at.

As she followed the rest of the squadron inside, she could feel Philip crawl up the side of her collar, affecionately sniff at her ear... and tumble headlong down the inside front of her jacket. She froze, hoping no one had seen, and desperately trying to not crush the mouse. She could feel the mouse clinging to her undershirt at around her belly button. As unobtrusively as she could, she found a seat at the table and untucked her shirt from her skirt, allowing the little mouse to tumble onto her lap.

It was about this time that she finally had an inkling that bringing the mice may have been a bad idea.

[Nachfolgia]

Friederike sat at the table across from Ruya, placing her service cover perfectly square on the table. She sat there with her hands in her lap as everyone else started making small talk. She wasn't much for talking although she will point out something that she doesn't like. The only time she really ever got carried away was when she had a confrontation with Bushra over disrespecting a member of the Karlsland royal family. That incident truly pissed her off, even though she didn't show it all that much. She couldn't stand having a foreigner bad mouth an empire that they were never a part of or knew nothing about. She sacrificed a lot for the empire and she wasn't going to stand by and have someone bash it.

Friederike sat quietly and drank from her cup of tea that she loaded up with sugar, to the point of it being oversaturated and syrupy and the sugar settled down at the bottom of the cup. She overheard Sybil talking about how they didn't have to be professional and were over dressed. She received the letter saying that it was suppose to be informal, but Friederike chose to dress professionally. She always made it a priority to look professional and presentable at all times, it was the way the Luftwaffe and the Wehrmacht taught her to be. Friederike too another sip of tea and she watched Beatrice fumble with those two mice she brought with her. She never understood why she brought those mice everywhere she went and thought it was kind of weird. She thought the United States Marine Corps was suppose to be profession and Beatrice was far from it. How she became a member of the 501st was beyond her, Beatrice was the best the Corps had to offer? Friederike then turned her attention to Aigiarn, who just walked in and asked blatantly for some alcohol.

" Isn't it a little early for drinking, Frau Aigiarn?" Friederike said in her usual tone as she removed her lips from the cup.

[Minroz]

" Isn't it a little early for drinking, Frau Aigiarn?" Friederike said in her usual tone as she removed her lips from the cup.

Aigiarn brushed it off with her hearty laughter. “Don’t be silly, my Karlslander friend. In my experience, there’s nothing early, nor late about good drinking! I can promise you that, hehe~”

Crossing her arms with her mocked pout and quipped, “In that case, I should be asking you. Isn’t it bit early for you to be drinking? Y’know drinking, drinking and stuff, yes? And besides, you look like you’re drinking a cup of syrup. But there's nothing with that, I loooove sweets. One time in Faraway, I've drunk several bottles of maple syrups when I was nine. God, they're so divine, hehe~”

She gave out her goofy grin.

[Nachfolgia]

" Isn't it a little early for drinking, Frau Aigiarn?" Friederike said in her usual tone as she removed her lips from the cup.

Aigiarn brushed it off with her hearty laughter. “Don’t be silly, my Karlslander friend. In my experience, there’s nothing early, nor late about good drinking! I can promise you that, hehe~”

Crossing her arms with her mocked pout and quipped, “In that case, I should be asking you. Isn’t it bit early for you to be drinking? Y’know drinking, drinking and stuff, yes? And besides, you look like you’re drinking a cup of syrup. But there's nothing with that, I loooove sweets. One time in Faraway, I've drunk several bottles of maple syrups when I was nine. God, they're so divine, hehe~”

She gave out her goofy grin.

Friederike stared blankly at the Manchurian as she talked, sipping from her cup. She never really talked to Aigiarn or had much of a connection to her or anyone else for that matter. In fact, she wasn't too sure if Aigiarn knew her nationality. Friederike thought that she was just as undisciplined as most of the 501st. Regardless, the 501st were her comrades now, at least for a while, and she had to act accordingly and at least try to get along with them no matter how much some of them annoyed her.

" At least that's one thing we have in common." Friederike replied coldly as she took another sip.

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

"It's becoming pretty obvious that you don't serve green tea to Feldwebel Adler." Sybil smiled under her cup of mildly sugar'd Lady Grey, "Watch out for that sugar dip Miss Adler, dinner is still hours away, may I offer you a scone? With lemon curd or without?" She continued after holding out the piece of finger-food. At that point Captain Mao Aigarn entered the drawing room and, in Sybil's opinion quite surprisingly asked for... vodka, pre-dinner too.
"Really? We're just chatting. My apologies, we don't serve that sort of thing before dinner. But you may have a whiskey for dinner, instead of the wine that we're preparing right now."
"How much tea again Sohvi? Should I go make an extra pot? Anyway, how has things been going? It's barely been half a month and here you are, sitting in our drawing room looking bored." Sybil quipped. At this point Georgie discovered the mice on Corporal Puller and positively beamed, "Are they yours Miss? May I?"
"Be careful Georgie. Honestly, I have no idea why you like pets like that... baffles me all over."

[Nachfolgia]

"It's becoming pretty obvious that you don't serve green tea to Feldwebel Adler." Sybil smiled under her cup of mildly sugar'd Lady Grey, "Watch out for that sugar dip Miss Adler, dinner is still hours away, may I offer you a scone? With lemon curd or without?" She continued after holding out the piece of finger-food. At that point Captain Mao Aigarn entered the drawing room and, in Sybil's opinion quite surprisingly asked for... vodka, pre-dinner too.
"Really? We're just chatting. My apologies, we don't serve that sort of thing before dinner. But you may have a whiskey for dinner, instead of the wine that we're preparing right now."
"How much tea again Sohvi? Should I go make an extra pot? Anyway, how has things been going? It's barely been half a month and here you are, sitting in our drawing room looking bored." Sybil quipped. At this point Georgie discovered the mice on Corporal Puller and positively beamed, "Are they yours Miss? May I?"
"Be careful Georgie. Honestly, I have no idea why you like pets like that... baffles me all over."

" No need to worry about me getting full off of the tea, Frau Colonel." Friederike said as she looked in Sybil's direction. " My immense speed requires a lot of calories and energy to keep going so I have to consume a lot of sugar and sweets and my extremely fast metabolism allows me to continue to eat and not gain a pound. I guess to some women its a miracle, but I find it annoying, to be so dependent on something so trivial. I know it sounds silly and childish, but without sugar I'm completely useless on the battlefield." Friederike said in her usual tone as she looked at the syrupy concoction. She then stared at the plate that Sybil handed her. " ....Dankeschön Frau Colonel, I'll take the ones with lemon curd." Friederike replied as she took a scone from the plate.

[Imota]

...At this point Georgie discovered the mice on Corporal Puller and positively beamed, "Are they yours Miss? May I?"
"Be careful Georgie. Honestly, I have no idea why you like pets like that... baffles me all over."

"Huh? Oh, I, um..." Beatrice hemmed and hawed at Georgie's question. Since the debacle of the submarine, she had been reluctant to let the two mice out of her sight for any length of time, but Georgie seemed liked someone she could trust with them.

"S-sure," she said, holding out her hand towards Georgie. Philip, having recovered from his earlier spill, walked out along Beatrice's arm and reached out with his nose to sniff at the unfamiliar human. Shoutaro followed close behind his fellow mouse.

"Careful, you two," Beatrice said. "Don't fall again, now."

[Minroz]

"Really? We're just chatting. My apologies, we don't serve that sort of thing before dinner. But you may have a whiskey for dinner, instead of the wine that we're preparing right now."

“Xie xie (Thank you)~” Aigiarn thanked the Britannian. “Whisky is fine with me, as long it’s good, I’m all up to it, hehe~”

-snip-

“Don’t worry about it, I won’t judge ya about you being sweettooth, Freddy. That is part of being human. Besides I knew some gals who’re more sweety-tooth than you.” The Manchurian girl stretched out her arms like a yawning cat. “Say, if you don’t mind my growing curiosity…cuz I do have some serious issues about it.”

Ai gave out a serious look at Friederike for brief moment. It seems she’s planning to challenge the Karlslander to the duel of some sorts. Until, she said something unexpected.

“Do you Karlslanders eat mash potato with sauerkraut and ketchup on top, doppled-up with ice-creams and cherry on top!?” Ai smirked cheekily. “I think it’ll be awesome if it’s true~”

-snip-

“Aah~ cute little two mousies, aren’t they?” Aigiarn quipped. “They’re quite well-looked after. How long have you been caring for them for?”

[Imota]

“Aah~ cute little two mousies, aren’t they?” Aigiarn quipped. “They’re quite well-looked after. How long have you been caring for them for?”

"Only about a week, but it feels like longer." It did indeed feel like she had been taking care of the mice for much longer than the nine days that had elapsed since she had inherited them after Maria's funeral.

Maybe that's why we have pets, Beatrice thought in an uncharacteristically philosophical manner. They remind us of the simple things in the midst of chaos and confusion.