Gallant Witches Episode 1: Into the Orange Sunrise (IC)

[Regria]

"Into the Orange Sunrise"

---

OOC / Prologue: Peace Never Lasts

Episode 1: Into the Orange Sunrise <--- YOU ARE HERE!

---

DATE: APRIL 15TH, 2021
LOCATION: MADRID [511TH JFW HOME BASE], HISPANIA

"It's warm…"

A tingle ran down Alices' back as she felt the rays of the sun fall onto her figure, the girl staring out at the aurora painting the clouds in purple and orange. With the mug in one hand and a hip in the other, she marveled at the morning lights from the ground, staring up into the sky while also keeping an eye out for the new arrivals. She wasn't told how they would make it here, but the lion-like girl waited patiently on the tarmac of the flightline, as the early morning milling about of crew chiefs occasionally broke the chittering of the birds, though Alice appeared unfazed.

The sun had risen enough for blue skies to be present, if not barely. It was oddly peaceful, especially given the circumstances which had arisen mere months prior. A moment where one could relax and take in the scenery.

Alices’ sightseeing was interrupted however, with the crackle of her handheld radio rested in her uniform pocket. The voice of a young Joseonite spoke to her.

<< Ma’am, Senior Airman Na, here. Our maintenance team has been studying the schematics you gave us, but the rest of the team wants to know; why did Liberion send us here to maintain an Orussian aircraft? E-3s are way different than Antonovs. >>

The Brittanian let out a sigh, her short hair flowing in the morning winds. She pressed the button with her free hand to transmit back.

<< I’m not the one you should be asking that to, Airman. You should know this. And like it or not, logistics is stretched thin at the moment, so we have to work with what the international community can offer us. Now get back to studying those schematics, you could be saving our asses one day. >>

There was a slight pause.

<< Understood, ma’am. Apologies for the silly question. We’ll get back to it, then! >>

Her hand returned to her hip, as Alice raised her mug and took a sip out of it, closing her eyes and reopening them as she continued staring out into the sky.

“Five minutes out…” she muttered to herself, watching as the various crew chiefs on the flightline rolled out Striker Retaining Units-- the likes of which were designed to safely store Strikers. Said retaining units were also towed out to the runway to launch Witches in the first place, but in this case they were just retrieving them.

Various towing vehicles also lay prepared, prepared to move the Strikers themselves back to these retaining units. With the advent of all these modern jet Strikers, weight was a considerable problem that had to be solved with Striker Landing gear and towing vehicles, for hovering back in was now considered too dangerous.

With narrowed eyes and a sip of her mug, she continued to watch the various multinational Crew Chiefs haul the proper equipment out of the hangars, many performing hand motions and conversing to one another along the way. Soon, the roar of Etherjet engines overhead would overshadow them, as Alice looked to the skies again in search of the first arrival, up at the dark blue, cloudless morning sky.

And so, she waited.

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

April 15^th, 2021 - Madrid Air Base, Hispania

The first thing the airbase personnel saw would not a Witch on her final approach but a BAe Dominie of the Imperial Fusō Navy. Its hull in anti-flash white gleamed in the Hispanic sunshine as it descended, touching down with a gentle noise as the wheels gripped the ground. Braking in and taxiing to its designated position, the Britannian-made liaison aircraft came to a halt, and opened its port-side door to disembark a youngish and short officer of the Navy in its white summer dress, complete with a skirt, her dark-brown hair cut short to her neck.

Midshipman Chiyo Furuya had not slept in at least 24 hours, having gone through IFNAS Atsugi, Singapore Changi, Dubai, and now Madrid in a day. Blinking hard in a valiant effort to keep sleep away and almost blinded by the brilliant sunshine Furuya managed to locate her superior officer, or at least who her transfer papers told her it was after some effort. Walking past the SRU's (Striker Retaining Units) briskly, her luggage trundling along behind her, Chiyo Furuya, Kaigun Shōii Kohosei of the Imperial Fusō Navy introduced herself to Alice Webley, Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force with a crisp salute and a: "Good Morning, Ma'am. Chiyo Furuya, Midshipman, Imperial Fusō Navy, Reporting."

[Finorskia]

Gunso, Yamda Yuki
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Followed shortly behind the Fusō Navy liaison aircraft came a Fusōnese witch decked out in the red and white uniform of the Imperial Fusō Army. Sergeant Yuki Yamada yawned in exhaustion as the landing wheels of her F-15J striker unit made contact with the tarmac.

"Flying escort for the Navy. Jeeze, why couldn't they provide their own escorts instead of making me do it for the whole journey," the 15 year old Yuki complained as she taxied towards the Striker retaining unit. "So what if she outranks me, it's a fairly large plane. I'm sure there was plenty of room in there for me and my striker as well," Yuki continued to grumble as she tossed her bow and quiver to the closest technician. "Four airports including this one, FOUR!" she thrust her hand with 4 outstretched fingers in the technicians face. There was a mechanical thud as the retainers locking mechanism activated. "I've been flying this thing for nearly twenty four hours straight with minimal food and drink. This is some kind of sick joke, it's just not fair. It's not fair right?" she asked the tech.

"I...uh. that sounds pretty unfair," the tech uneasily laughed, unsure of how to deal with the crazy Fusōnese witch.

"Right! And that navy witch got to spend the whole flight in her cozy plane. I mean Gaaaahhhhh I just want to punch her," Yuki exasperatedly tugged at her shoulder length black hair.

"Right..." the technicians voice trialed off. "Good luck with that...Anyway, you might want to shut your striker down. I can't imagine idling like that is good for your magic consumption. I don't think the tarmac likes it very much either."

"Eh," Yuki cocked her head to one side in confusion. The technician pointed down to Yuki's striker. She followed the technicians finger with her eyes to gentle blue glow of magical energy being cast from the thrust nozzles on her striker. "EHHHHHHHHH!" she yelled in embarrassment, as she quickly shut down her Striker. "I'm so sorry I don't normally do that," Yuki said bowing repeatedly to the technician.

"It's alright...really," the technician replied with another nervous chuckle.

"Anyway, would you mind pointing me towards the CO?" Yuki asked the technician after she eventually stopped apologizing.

"You'll find Warrant Officer Webley over there on the flight line," the technician pointed in the direction of Alice as Yuki pulled herself out of her striker and onto the retaining unit.

"Thank you sir," Yuki said as she jumped down from the retaining unit and ran towards her new CO. Yuki ran up alongside Chiyo. "Sergeant Yuki Yamada, Imperial Fusō Army reporti..." Yuki was cut off by a rather loud yawn escaping her mouth. "Ing ma'am," she finished rather quietly a bit embarrassed.

[Nachfolgia]

Madrid Airbase, Hispania

For any personnel outside on the tarmac as well as inside the buildings, it came suddenly and unexpectedly. A loud, thunderous boom roared from the skies above the airbase. The sound rattled both teeth and glass alike, much to the base personnels' dismay. The unknown sound was not powerful enough to cause severe damage to buildings although some people's ears might be ringing for a few minutes. If they airbase wasn't expecting aircraft this morning, they would have thought they were under attack and went on high alert.

Friederike Adler of the Karlsland Luftwaffe had just rocketed over Madrid Airbase, topping in at about Mach 3. The young Feldwebel had maintained that speed for about an hour now, flying straight here from Berlin which was a couple thousand kilometers away. Flying so high and so fast, however, didn't come without its own risks.

Friederike had to wear a special helmet, akin to a fighter pilot's helmet, with its own air supply. The heights she was flying at afforded her very little oxygen to even remain conscious for very long. She also wore skin tight thermal wear underneath her grey Luftwaffe uniform to protect her better from wind chill. Her own magic helped a great deal with protecting her, but she needed something extra.

Friederike looked down at the airbase as she circled around over head, reducing her speed gradually as she did so. She had the capability of stopping rather quickly, but that would cost a bit of magical energy and she already used quite a bit already getting here. When her speed finally slowed, Friederike began to land on the tarmac, touching down in textbook fashion. She coasted to the retaining units and began to depart her striker unit, with the aid of the technicians.

Once her feet touched the ground, Friederike took off her pilot's helmet, revealing her long, silver hair. She clipped the helmet to one of her bag straps before adjusting her hair, mostly to cover-up her eye patch. Friederike then proceeded to adjust other things about her. She tugged at the ends of her uniform to straighten it out and made sure her combat ribbon wasn't crooked. She then went to adjusting the luggage she had with her, a sea bag and a messenger bag that was strapped across her back and shoulders.

Now more presentable to report in, Friederike began to walk towards her CO, Warrant Officer Alice Webley. Her walking was more akin to marching than walking, like a proud soldier on a parade deck. Each step was methodical and with purpose, not one movement made out of order. Once she reached the CO, ignoring the other two that arrived before her, she snapped to attention and gave her salute, once again with perfection.

" Good Morning, Ma'am. Feldwebel Friederike Adler of the Karlsland Luftwaffe, reporting as ordered." She said in a serious, almost emotionless tone.

[Finorskia]

Podpolkovnik, Dimitri Penkov
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Lt. Colonel Dimitri Penkov leaned back in his chair whistling bars of the Orussian folk song Kalinka. In his right hand, he held a rather large packet of papers. In his left hand, he held a mug of coffee. There was a beep from Dimitri's RADAR monitor. The 34-year-old Tactical Director nearly spit out his coffee as a contact had appeared moving at incredible speed in their direction.

<<All escort witches cover your ears!>> Dimitri yelled over radio. A moment later there was a muffled boom and the Bariev A-100 AWACS aircraft shook violently.

<<Thanks for the warning Zvezdnyy Svett,>> the soft voice of 2nd Lieutenant Alexandra Kuznetsov said. Dimitir let out a sight of relief and leaned back in his chair, glad that the witches had, had enough time to react.

"What was that sir," Yefreytor Leonti Pavlov, one of the aircraft's surveillance crew, asked.

"Not what Yefreytor Pavlov, who, and that was Feldwebel Friederike Adler," Dimitri replied leaning back in his chair. He took another sip of coffee and turned the packet of papers he was holding around so that Leonti could see that, at least that page, was Frederike's personnel file. "17 years old, Karlsandian, daughter of a career military man, and she possesses the ability to fly at incredible speeds. She's also a survivor of the Burgos Massacre," Dimitri sighed, glancing down at the family photo he kept taped to his monitor. It showed Dimitri, his wife Yaroslava, and their two daughters Taisiya and Ludmilla. The picture had been taken just before the invasion, they had been on a picnic and were all smiling. Dimitri reached out and touched Taisiya picture. Like Friederike's squadron, the 12-year-old girl was gone, shot down fighting in the Kongo.

"Sir how many times are you gonna read those personnel files," Junior Lieutenant Adam Krupin, one of the weapons officers, asked. "This is the 3rd time you've read over them."

"As many times as I need until I've memorized every detail about these girls combat abilities. I need...we all need to do our best to make sure they make it through every battle," Dimitri sighed and stood up. He walked over to a mini-fridge the crew had installed in the corner near the passage to the cockpit. Dimitri began rooting through it. "Hey Shwetz, where did you put those Pirogies?"

"All crew please be seated for landing," the pilot, Captain Roza Matveev, informed everyone.

"Darn it," Dimitri grumbled shutting the fridge door and returning to his seat.

* * *

The large A-100 AWACS aircraft descended onto the tarmac, the rubber screeching as it contacted the pavement. The aircraft taxied down the runway to it's resting spot near the Fusōnese liaison plane. Inside Dimitri packed up his files and headed towards the ramp for disembarkment.

"The rest of you go on and report to HR. I want to speak to the squadron leader," Dimitri informed his crew. The crew acknowledged their commanding officer and Dimitri made his way down the boarding ramp onto the bases tarmac. With a briefcase of files in one hand, Dimitri adjusted his glasses and made his way across the tarmac towards the gaggle of witches on the Flightline. Once he had approached close enough to hear the conversation he stopped, deciding to wait for the witches to disperse to speak with Alice.

---

Junior Lieutenant, Alexandra Kuznetsov
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Alexandra Kuznetsov touched down on the runway shortly after a large A-100 AWACS plane. It had been a long but calm and uneventful flight. During most of it the planes Tactical Director going, by the callsign Zvezdnyy Svett, had sung and hummed many songs from the motherland. He felt like a dad, and it reminded Alexandra of her own parents before they'd lost it all and turned to use her powers to commit crimes. She silently bowed her head in shame and remorse. After locking her strikers into place Alexandra quietly pulled herself up and onto the retainer. She looked around the tarmac. Spotting a group of witches gathering on the tarmac, and recognizing one of the girls from the briefing as her new CO, Alexandra set off.

"Junior Lieutenant Alexandra Kuznetsov," Alexandra said quietly with a salute as she walked up to her new flight leader.

[Rupudska]

Madrid-Torrejón Airbase, Hispania
15 April 2021

As Feldwebel Adler reported as ordered to her commanding officer, the BAe Domine was joined at the airbase by a much larger Tupolev Tu-234 in the silver-and-blue livery of the Orussian Air Force, escorted by a pair of MiG-23s and a pair of MiG-23 Witches of the Kingdom of Kongo. As they entered the base's direct airspace, they wagged their wings in salute (or actually saluted), and broke off to return to their country to the south. While not near the distance Fuso was from Hispania, it was still a twelve-hour-plus flight there and back, and through some rather dangerous airspaces.

Out of the airliner-turned-transport stepped Junior Lieutenant Klavdia 'Klava' Ilyinichna Fedchenko, an officer in the Royal Orussian Air Force and probably the least experienced Witch here, having shot down a whopping three airborne Neuroi. Her count against ground Neuroi was substantially higher, but even that wasn't enough to make her an air-to-ground ace. She had slept like a corpse on the flight here, not wanting to dwell on what reasons the Imperial government would have to put her in a 5XX squadron, and further wanting to enjoy the aircraft's powerful air conditioning for as long as she could, in case she had to take it back to the sweltering Congo jungles.

It wasn't hard to find her superior officer, as she already had a small gaggle of Witches surrounding her. As the transport's crew began to offload her luggage (including her Su-34 Strikers, which came in their own SRUs), she gave Alice Webley a crisp salute.

"Privyet, ma'am. Mládshiy leytenant Klavdia Fedchenko, reporting as ordered."

[Sentinalyia]

Caporal Luce Campo
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15, 2021

A small dot in the distance rapidly grew into a tan figure atop a Rafale striker decked out in the colors of the Gallian Foreign Legion's striker unit, Gallian roundel displayed proudly. Unlike many of her new allies, it was not much of a flight at all from her former base in Gallia to the Madrid airbase, leaving Luce with plenty of energy left to go. Briefly, she considered some quick acrobatics, just to show off, but she reluctantly admitted to herself that all it would get her was a scolding from command. So instead, she approached the airfield and slid her striker across the runway and into the waiting arms of a striker containment unit and its technicians. She cast a jaunty salute at them as she did. "Thanks, boys- and, girl." She inclined her head toward the single female technician nearby, who silently nodded back. "Nice having the welcome mat already out for once instead of loitering."

As soon as Luce's legs were freed from their metal prison she slipped to the ground and sauntered off toward the growing crowd of witches surrounded the individual who was most likely her new superior officer. Either that, or the person most likely to know where the superior officer was. Whistling a tune as she went, Luce made her way into the group of witches. Cheerfully ignoring most of the other witches for the moment, Luce smiled and stepped into a pose that could almost be called parade rest. She started in a false announcer voice, "Ladies, distant gentlemen," she gestured to the various technicians and airmen wandering about, "and anything in-between, introducing: Luce Campo. Caporal. Nice day for a flight, isn't it, ma'am?"

[Regria]

April 15^th, 2021 - Madrid Air Base, Hispania

The first thing the airbase personnel saw was not a Witch on her final approach but a BAe Dominie of the Imperial Fusō Navy. Its hull in anti-flash white gleamed in the Hispanic sunshine as it descended, touching down with a gentle noise as the wheels gripped the ground. Braking in and taxiing to its designated position, the Britannian-made liaison aircraft came to a halt, and opened its port-side door to disembark a youngish and short officer of the Navy in its white summer dress, complete with a skirt, her dark-brown hair cut short to her neck.

Midshipman Chiyo Furuya had not slept in at least 24 hours, having gone through IFNAS Atsugi, Singapore Changi, Dubai, and now Madrid in a day. Blinking hard in a valiant effort to keep sleep away and almost blinded by the brilliant sunshine Furuya managed to locate her superior officer, or at least who her transfer papers told her it was after some effort. Walking past the SRU's (Striker Retaining Units) briskly, her luggage trundling along behind her, Chiyo Furuya, Kaigun Shōii Kohosei of the Imperial Fusō Navy introduced herself to Alice Webley, Warrant Officer of the Royal Air Force with a crisp salute and a: "Good Morning, Ma'am. Chiyo Furuya, Midshipman, Imperial Fusō Navy, Reporting."

APRIL 15TH, 2021 - Madrid

It was a bit surprising, to say the least.

One of the last things Alice expected was a full-sized aircraft to arrive, nevermind a Brittanian liason. The deep whine of low-bypass turbines rumbled through the morning calm, the first sign of new arrivals. She had read the documents-- 2-3 Fusoans would be arriving this morning, one of them Navy, the rest Army. Subsequently, she had heard rumors that Fusoan Navy witches got better treatment, so maybe this was a proof-of-concept.

As the aircraft taxiied to one of the larger aircraft designated hangars, the Brittanian watched as a Fusoan girl emerged with quite the luggage haul, as the other witch simultaneously made her landing. Nevertheless, the Brittanian continued to stand there, and took a sip of her coffee as the Fusoan saluted, introducing herself.

Noticing her brisk salute despite obvious signs of tiredness, Alice raised an eyebrow. Maybe she had forgotten? Or were things different in her country? Regardless, the brown-haired girl snapped a salute back, though she spoke as soon as her hand went down.

“And a good morning to you, Midshipman. I know you probably don’t want to hear this after you just got done with what I can only assume was a miserable series of flights, but just so you remember, you don’t have to salute me on the flightline.”

Gunso, Yamda Yuki
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Followed shortly behind the Fusō Navy liaison aircraft came a Fusōnese witch decked out in the red and white uniform of the Imperial Fusō Army. Sergeant Yuki Yamada yawned in exhaustion as the landing wheels of her F-15J striker unit made contact with the tarmac.

"Flying escort for the Navy. Jeez, why couldn't they provide their own escorts instead of making me do it for the whole journey," the 15 year old Yuki complained as she taxied towards the Striker retaining unit. "So what if she outranks me, it's a fairly large plane. I'm sure there was plenty of room in there for me and my striker as well," Yuki continued to grumble as she tossed her bow and quiver to the closest technician. "Four airports including this one, FOUR!" she thrust her hand with 4 outstretched fingers in the technicians face. There was a mechanical thud as the retainers locking mechanism activated. "I've been flying this thing for nearly twenty four hours straight with minimal food and drink. This is some kind of sick joke, it's just not fair. It's not fair right?" she asked the tech.

"I...uh. that sounds pretty unfair," the tech uneasily laughed, unsure of how to deal with the crazy Fusōnese witch.

"Right! And that navy witch got to spend the whole flight in her cozy plane. I mean Gaaaahhhhh I just want to punch her," Yuki exasperatedly tugged at her shoulder length black hair.

"Right..." the technicians voice trialed off. "Good luck with that...Anyway, you might want to shut your striker down. I can't imagine idling like that is good for your magic consumption. I don't think the tarmac likes it very much either."

"Eh," Yuki cocked her head to one side in confusion. The technician pointed down to Yuki's striker. She followed the technicians finger with her eyes to gentle blue glow of magical energy being cast from the thrust nozzles on her striker. "EHHHHHHHHH!" she yelled in embarrassment, as she quickly shut down her Striker. "I'm so sorry I don't normally do that," Yuki said bowing repeatedly to the technician.

"It's alright...really," the technician replied with another nervous chuckle.

"Anyway, would you mind pointing me towards the CO?" Yuki asked the technician after she eventually stopped apologizing.

"You'll find Warrant Officer Webley over there on the flight line," the technician pointed in the direction of Alice as Yuki pulled herself out of her striker and onto the retaining unit.

"Thank you sir," Yuki said as she jumped down from the retaining unit and ran towards her new CO. Yuki ran up alongside Chiyo. "Sergeant Yuki Yamada, Imperial Fusō Army reporti..." Yuki was cut off by a rather loud yawn escaping her mouth. "Ing ma'am," she finished rather quietly a bit embarrassed.

It was then when the second Fusoan made her approach, a short black-haired girl whom had arrived with her Striker Units. Alice turned her head to glance at this new arrival, eyes widening a bit in curiosity at how she ran rather than walked. If the Brittanian had to guess, she was probably one of the rookies. In any case, she was prepared to respond until the young girl erupted in a yawn, catching the usually stoic Brittanian completely off guard.

Her expression went to one of an amused smile and a chuckle, as she took another sip from her coffee.

“Acknowledged, Sergeant. Glad to have both of you on board.”

Madrid Airbase, Hispania

For any personnel outside on the tarmac as well as inside the buildings, it came suddenly and unexpectedly. A loud, thunderous boom roared from the skies above the airbase. The sound rattled both teeth and glass alike, much to the base personnels' dismay. The unknown sound was not powerful enough to cause severe damage to buildings, although some people's ears might be ringing for a few minutes. If the airbase wasn't expecting aircraft this morning, they might have thought they were under attack and went on high alert.

Friederike Adler of the Karlsland Luftwaffe had just rocketed over Madrid Airbase, topping in at about Mach 3. The young Feldwebel had maintained that speed for about an hour now, flying straight here from Berlin which was a couple thousand kilometers away. Flying so high and so fast, however, didn't come without its own risks.

Friederike had to wear a special helmet, akin to a fighter pilot's helmet, with its own air supply. The heights she was flying at afforded her very little oxygen to even remain conscious for very long. She also wore skin tight thermal wear underneath her grey Luftwaffe uniform to protect her better from wind chill. Her own magic helped a great deal with protecting her, but she needed something extra.

Friederike looked down at the airbase as she circled around over head, reducing her speed gradually as she did so. She had the capability of stopping rather quickly, but that would cost a bit of magical energy and she already used quite a bit already getting here. When her speed finally slowed, Friederike began to land on the tarmac, touching down in textbook fashion. She coasted to the retaining units and began to depart her striker unit, with the aid of the technicians.

Once her feet touched the ground, Friederike took off her pilot's helmet, revealing her long, silver hair. She clipped the helmet to one of her bag straps before adjusting her hair, mostly to cover-up her eye patch. Friederike then proceeded to adjust other things about her. She tugged at the ends of her uniform to straighten it out and made sure her combat ribbon wasn't crooked. She then went to adjusting the luggage she had with her, a sea bag and a messenger bag that was strapped across her back and shoulders.

Now more presentable to report in, Friederike began to walk towards her CO, Warrant Officer Alice Webley. Her walking was more akin to marching than walking, like a proud soldier on a parade deck. Each step was methodical and with purpose, not one movement made out of order. Once she reached the CO, ignoring the other two that arrived before her, she snapped to attention and gave her salute, once again with perfection.

" Good Morning, Ma'am. Feldwebel Friederike Adler of the Karlsland Luftwaffe, reporting as ordered." She said in a serious, almost emotionless tone.

Before she could raise her mug again, Alices’ train of thought was interrupted by the thunderous crack of a jet striker moving at blisteringly quick speeds, causing her short hair to yet still flow violently in the wind, and her mug to almost spill, the Brittanian briefly struggling in a match of balance to stop that from happening. For a moment, her expression was one caught off guard.

“Bloody--”

After her coffee had been secured in that precious mug of hers, the girl sighed in relief as she looked up to see what had caused it, eyes narrowed.

A Witch, circling high above-- presumably to decrease airspeed. Why exactly she had approached the base at high enough speeds to cause such a disruption was beyond her. Flashy it was, but she wondered how that sort of attitude would turn out in combat. She was tempted to get on radio with the individual, but decided against it.

“Don’t want to clog up radio traffic,” Alice stated under her breath.

Instead, she watched as the new witch made their landing, eyes fixated on them. The squadron commander recognized the woman as the Karlslandian she had read about in the files.

Arms crossed, she observed the march-like walk of the silver-haired girl, and soon she was looking up, rather than straight. As the girl gave her salute, Alice took a small sip, and saluted back.

“Acknowledged, Adler. Please do note though that we have personnel here working on sensitive equipment. Buzzing the base at such speeds might cause… Problems, if you get where I’m going.”

Podpolkovnik, Dimitri Penkov
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Lt. Colonel Dimitri Penkov leaned back in his chair whistling bars of the Orussian folk song Kalinka. In his right hand, he held a rather large packet of papers. In his left hand, he held a mug of coffee. There was a beep from Dimitri's RADAR monitor. The 34-year-old Tactical Director nearly spit out his coffee as a contact had appeared moving at incredible speed in their direction.

<<All escort witches cover your ears!>> Dimitri yelled over radio. A moment later there was a muffled boom and the Bariev A-100 AWACS aircraft shook violently.

<<Thanks for the warning Zvezdnyy Svett,>> the soft voice of 2nd Lieutenant Alexandra Kuznetsov said. Dimitir let out a sight of relief and leaned back in his chair, glad that the witches had, had enough time to react.

"What was that sir," Yefreytor Leonti Pavlov, one of the aircraft's surveillance crew, asked.

"Not what, Yefreytor Pavlov, who, and that was Feldwebel Friederike Adler," Dimitri replied leaning back in his chair. He took another sip of coffee and turned the packet of papers he was holding around so that Leonti could see that, at least that page, was Frederike's personnel file. "17 years old, Karlsandian, daughter of a career military man, and she possesses the ability to fly at incredible speeds. She's also a survivor of the Burgos Massacre," Dimitri sighed, glancing down at the family photo he kept taped to his monitor. It showed Dimitri, his wife Yaroslava, and their two daughters Taisiya and Ludmilla. The picture had been taken just before the invasion, they had been on a picnic and were all smiling. Dimitri reached out and touched Taisiya’s picture. Like Friederike's squadron, the 12-year-old girl was gone, shot down fighting in the Kongo.

"Sir, how many times are you gonna read those personnel files?" Junior Lieutenant Adam Krupin, one of the weapons officers, asked. "This is the 3rd time you've read over them."

"As many times as I need until I've memorized every detail about these girls combat abilities. I need...we all need to do our best to make sure they make it through every battle," Dimitri sighed and stood up. He walked over to a mini-fridge the crew had installed in the corner near the passage to the cockpit. Dimitri began rooting through it. "Hey Shwetz, where did you put those Pirogies?"

"All crew please be seated for landing," the pilot, Captain Roza Matveev, informed everyone.

"Darn it," Dimitri grumbled shutting the fridge door and returning to his seat.

* * *

The large A-100 AWACS aircraft descended onto the tarmac, the rubber screeching as it contacted the pavement. The aircraft taxied down the runway to it's resting spot near the Fusōnese liaison plane. Inside Dimitri packed up his files and headed towards the ramp for disembarkment.

"The rest of you go on and report to HR. I want to speak to the squadron leader," Dimitri informed his crew. The crew acknowledged their commanding officer and Dimitri made his way down the boarding ramp onto the bases tarmac. With a briefcase of files in one hand, Dimitri adjusted his glasses and made his way across the tarmac towards the gaggle of witches on the Flightline. Once he had approached close enough to hear the conversation he stopped, deciding to wait for the witches to disperse to speak with Alice.

---

Junior Lieutenant, Alexandra Kuznetsov
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Alexandra Kuznetsov touched down on the runway shortly after a large A-100 AWACS plane. It had been a long but calm and uneventful flight. During most of it the planes Tactical Director going, by the callsign Zvezdnyy Svett, had sung and hummed many songs from the motherland. He felt like a dad, and it reminded Alexandra of her own parents before they'd lost it all and turned to use her powers to commit crimes. She silently bowed her head in shame and remorse. After locking her strikers into place Alexandra quietly pulled herself up and onto the retainer. She looked around the tarmac. Spotting a group of witches gathering on the tarmac, and recognizing one of the girls from the briefing as her new CO, Alexandra set off.

"Junior Lieutenant Alexandra Kuznetsov," Alexandra said quietly with a salute as she walked up to her new flight leader.

It was then that the roar of another heavy aircraft alerted Alice to its’ presence, as the girl looked to see that an AWACS of Orussian origin had arrived, settling down on the pavement. Inside was likely the current base commander, whom also probably served as the operator of the aircraft itself. The girl wondered to herself how he conducted himself on official purposes, also noting the witch trailing close behind.

As per usual, the AWACS itself was towed to the hangars while the witch in question made her way over, quietly reporting in. With a nod, Alice gave a salute back.

“Acknowledged, Lieutenant. Thank you for coming.”

Madrid-Torrejón Airbase, Hispania
15 April 2021

As Feldwebel Adler reported as ordered to her commanding officer, the BAe Domine was joined at the airbase by a much larger Tupolev Tu-234 in the silver-and-blue livery of the Orussian Air Force, escorted by a pair of MiG-23s and a pair of MiG-23 Witches of the Kingdom of Kongo. As they entered the base's direct airspace, they wagged their wings in salute (or actually saluted), and broke off to return to their country to the south. While not near the distance Fuso was from Hispania, it was still a twelve-hour-plus flight there and back, and through some rather dangerous airspaces.

Out of the airliner-turned-transport stepped Junior Lieutenant Klavdia 'Klava' Ilyinichna Fedchenko, an officer in the Royal Orussian Air Force and probably the least experienced Witch here, having shot down a whopping three airborne Neuroi. Her count against ground Neuroi was substantially higher, but even that wasn't enough to make her an air-to-ground ace. She had slept like a corpse on the flight here, not wanting to dwell on what reasons the Imperial government would have to put her in a 5XX squadron, and further wanting to enjoy the aircraft's powerful air conditioning for as long as she could, in case she had to take it back to the sweltering Congo jungles.

It wasn't hard to find her superior officer, as she already had a small gaggle of Witches surrounding her. As the transport's crew began to offload her luggage (including her Su-34 Strikers, which came in their own SRUs), she gave Alice Webley a crisp salute.

"Privyet, ma'am. Mládshiy leytenant Klavdia Fedchenko, reporting as ordered."

Alice felt as if she was getting a bit overwhelmed by all these witches swarming her simultaneously, but it’s not like she expected anything less. The arrival of yet another aircraft caught her eye as their Kongolese Air escorts broke off, this time another Orussian. Likewise, the aircraft taxied and park next to the far smaller BAe Domine, practically dwarfing it. Though even still, only one witch emerged.

Probably the greenest one of them all at the moment, the squadron commander had made mental notes to pay attention to Klavdia specifically, for she probably required more guidance on matters of air-air combat. Giving a salute back, Alice spoke up once more.

“You’re good, Lieutennant. And good morning to you, as well. Hopefully the ride was pleasant.”

She paused for a moment, wondering if she should try and ease the nerves of the Orussian.

“And hey, don’t worry if you are, if anything I’ll teach you what you need to know. I know you aren’t too experienced in shooting down Neuroi, but everybody starts somewhere, right?”

Caporal Luce Campo
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15, 2021

A small dot in the distance rapidly grew into a tan figure atop a Rafale striker decked out in the colors of the Gallian Foreign Legion's striker unit, Gallian roundel displayed proudly. Unlike many of her new allies, it was not much of a flight at all from her former base in Gallia to the Madrid airbase, leaving Luce with plenty of energy left to go. Briefly, she considered some quick acrobatics, just to show off, but she reluctantly admitted to herself that all it would get her was a scolding from command. So instead, she approached the airfield and slid her striker across the runway and into the waiting arms of a striker containment unit and its technicians. She cast a jaunty salute at them as she did. "Thanks, boys- and, girl." She inclined her head toward the single female technician nearby, who silently nodded back. "Nice having the welcome mat already out for once instead of loitering."

As soon as Luce's legs were freed from their metal prison she slipped to the ground and sauntered off toward the growing crowd of witches surrounded the individual who was most likely her new superior officer. Either that, or the person most likely to know where the superior officer was. Whistling a tune as she went, Luce made her way into the group of witches. Cheerfully ignoring most of the other witches for the moment, Luce smiled and stepped into a pose that could almost be called parade rest. She started in a false announcer voice, "Ladies, distant gentlemen," she gestured to the various technicians and airmen wandering about, "and anything in-between, introducing: Luce Campo. Caporal. Nice day for a flight, isn't it, ma'am?"

One of the technicians would call out; “I wouldn’t dare touch those hostile skies with a 100 yard pole!” in response, though Alice seemed too engrossed in trying to calm the younger Orussian.

The sudden appearance of the Gallian caused Alice to glance over blink curiously, even moreso at the foreign legion girls’ peculiar appearance. From what she could remember, the Brittanian deciphered that this must be Luce, the girl who bore a resemblance to a certain prior stunt witch whom had a spine-cracking injury, ending their career. Though she knew that the one before her likely wasn’t the one she thought of, this likely distracted her from the fact that her reporting procedure was far from professional, and that it likely would earn a scolding from any other higher officer. Regardless, the squadron leader looked the tan girl up and down, eyes widened.

“Uh… Acknowledged. Indeed, it is a… Good day for flying.”

Alice took a sip from her mug, glancing back up at Luce’s face itself.

“Glad to have you, Caporal. Hopefully you find the rest of the base as nice as this morning.”

She glanced towards all the current witches before her in general, her usual gaze returning.

"And speaking of such, if none of you have any immediate questions, then you are dismissed and are free to roam about the base. Hangar 8 has some good folks inside who volunteered to come on leave day in order to guide you girls around, so please treat them well. Also, remember to be present in the briefing room by tomorrow at 1030."

There was a pause.

"And lastly, welcome to the 511th. I am honored to serve alongside you girls, though formalities can come later. For now please take your time getting acquainted with the base and personnel, alright?"

[Nachfolgia]

" Understood, Ma'am. It won't happen again. " Friederike said as she dropped the salute. She quickly did an about face and walked a short distant away before doing another about face in the direction she just came from. From that spot, Friederike stood silently at parade rest as the other witches began to arrive.

She didn't make much movement and she certainly didn't talk to anyone. She just stayed in that one spot and had her silent judgements on each of the girls that arrived after her. The most glaring difference to Friederike was the level of professionalism. While most of them showed at least an acceptable level of professionalism when reporting to the CO, one particular witch threw it out the window. The young Gallian NCO reported to the Warrant Officer like she was announcing a stadium or ring Pay per View event. Although it set Friederike in a mood, she decided to address it later.

Another particular interesting difference was each witch's experience level. A few of the girls, including herself, seemed to have some combat experience. She judged this by their mannerisms and the look it their eyes. Those who have the same look, can pick it out in others. The rest of the girls looked a little too green, like they've never killed a Neuroi. Friederike did not blame them for this, it was natural progression. She, herself, was green once.

The rest of her observations were dismissed as being superficial, like the fact that she was the tallest and the only Karlslander. Instead, Friederike devoted her mental capacity to listening to the CO give her quick speech and dismissal. Once dismissed, Friederike popped, took to attention, took a single step back and about faced, standard protocol for Karlsland when dismissed.

Treating the CO's words as an order, Friederike decided to introduce herself to the rest of the girls, much to her disappointment. " I'm Feldwebel Friederike Adler. It's a pleasure to be serving with you all." Friederike said as she stuck her hand out for a hand shake, her expression neutral and emotionless.

[Thurenburg]

DATE: APRIL 15TH, 2021
LOCATION: MADRID, HISPANIA

Captain Edd Araya leaned slightly onto the backseat right window of the jeep he was in. He tried staring into the rolling Hispanian landscapes to distract himself from the inevitably difficult job he was about to step into. In an almost rhythmic pattern, Edd tapped onto the glass and his thoughts began racing. The voice of his escort pulled Edd out of his thoughts.

"Everything alright sir?"

In a twitch, Edd turned to his escort who had his rear view mirror pointed towards him. He grabbed his boonie hat which lied between his feet and quickly put it on, "Uh..no, everything is alright. Just keep driving.", Edd muttered as he rubbed his head. The escort said nothing as he readjusted the mirror. Edd sighed and crossed his arms, he felt more restless with every beat of his heart. He nearly jumped at the sound of a large, muffled boom in the distance. Edd spoke up to the escort, "What was that?", sounding louder than he should've sounded. The escort gave a sort of delayed response, "I don't know sir, I think it was a Combat Witch.", said the Escort in a cool voice. Edd sighed and nodded his head, he always saw the Combat Witches in a strange light, to him they were something that was supposed to be fiction rather than a reality of war, but so were the Neuroi. The escort spoke up again, "Oh look, we are here sir.", Edd turned his head towards the front window.

Edd stepped outside and took in the full view of the base, for a base used for the hastily assembled 511th, it was sure in a good state. The escort stepped out of the Jeep and spoke to Edd briefly, "Things may look secure here, but we're facing a possible supply problem at the moment. The other officers will debrief you once you get inside. Oh, and don't worry about your stuff, it's in the base and in your new room, everything's unpacked.", Edd nodded and thanked the escort for the relatively secure ride to the base. When he stepped in, Edd took in the sight of a very busy and active airbase. The insides of it were typical of one too, but he saw the symbol of the 511th on an overhead wall, this must've been where he was supposed to go. After searching around for a short amount of time, Edd entered a mostly inconspicuous room where two officers of lower rank greeted him.

Quickly, Edd was ushered into a room with a powerpoint projected onto a blank wall. The officers quickly explained the situation of the Hispanian front with every slide. Edd gave no particular reaction other than the occasional "uh-huh" and "hmm". After the presentation was over, he remained quiet for a minute or so. Edd was deep in thought, moreso about the paperwork he has to deal with rather than the overall status of the war. An officer spoke up to him, "The 511th will not be suffering from any supply problems sir, not like the one you faced back in New York.", said the officer in a formal, reassuring tone. Upon hearing the words, 'New York', Edd turned away and sighed for a still moment and turned back to the Officer, "I got a job to do.", he said blankly. Edd got up quickly headed for the Logistics office which was across the hallway and from the room he was just in.

Edd closed the door and was for a second, willing to lock it but chose not to. He hung his boonie hat on the rack that was attached to the wall and looked around. The office seemed to be connected, or was part of a large stockpile of supplies stored in boxes and held in massive frames. For the most part it seemed empty throughout the whole room. Swfity, Edd settled into the office desk, it was no different than a civillian office. Edd's office had the typical desk, outdated computer, assorted chairs, office supplies, and an adjacent whiteboard behind it. On top of the desk, next to the computer laid a binder which contained all sorts of information regarding logistics, inhabitants of the base, incoming shipments, but what caught Edd's attention was a whole page devoted to the Combat Witches which provided a brief profile about them and their technical specifications. He set the binder down and read up the note that was underneath it, "Do not accept any logistics requests from Witches that include IAS (Ingested Arcane Stimulants). Doing so will result in a Court Martial under Article 92 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.". Edd attached the note next to another note on the computer, that other note listed the username and password needed to login. Without any further haste, Edd set off to work.

[Finorskia]

snip

Snip

Yuki Yamda

"Thank you ma'am?" Yuki replied. She lowered her salute while looking at the ground, confused as to why Alice had chuckled. Noticing that Alice was starting to get swarmed by other Witches Yuki took a step back, yawning in the process. She looked around at the other witches. Most of them seemed relatively inexperienced, not that unlike herself, while others seemed to be veterans. Yuki herself was somewhere in between. She wasn't exactly a rookie anymore, having flown her a fair number of combat sorties over the Philippine and East China seas, though she wouldn't consider herself even close to the experience of some of the others here. Yuki glanced over to Friederike. The 5 foot 3 Fusonese girl gulped in awe at the Karlslandian witch towering over her. Just from the way she stood Yuki could tell the witch was a veteran. Yuki was so busy staring at Friederike she almost missed Alisce's dismissal.

"Wait what?" Yuki said, noticing that the witches were starting to disperse. She looked left and right, trying to figure out what she'd missed.

"I'm Feldwebel Friederike Adler. It's a pleasure to be serving with you all," Yuki spun around to see Friederike holding her hand
out. Yuki stared at the hand nervously.

"I...uh...I'm Sergeant Yufi Yashamafa," Yuki replied, yawning mid sentence. She blushed. "Um..sorry. I'm Sergeant Yuki Yamada...was what I was trying to say," she put her index fingers together nervously fidgeting.

---

Alexandra Kuznetsov

Alexandra nodded her head in understanding to Alice then stepped back, waiting for the Warrant Officer to dismiss her. While she waited Alexandra surveyed her fellow witches. A few of them seemed fairly experienced. This put her at ease as she had been worried they might be a rookie squadron. Though Alexandra had only experienced a little bit of the fighting in the Congo, she had heard stories of rookie witches killed in action because there were no experienced personnel to guide them.

Alexandra paid close attention to the instructions from Alice. She reached into a her pocket and set a reminder that the briefing was at 1030 the following day. With her memo set Alexandra put her phone away and walked over to Klavdia, a former squadron mate of hers from the 10th Guards.

"You made it," Alexandra said in a soft monotone. "I'm glad," The white haired Orussian smiled gently.

[Rynagria]

Sergeant Philippa Handley
Hispania: Madrid Air

---

"We'll be wheels down in sixty seconds." Alerted the C-144 pilot over the comms, as they began to descend onto an open space within the tarmac. In the meantime, members of the reservist squad she lead did the same, having escorted the transport from Gallia all the way to Hispania in a relatively short flight. In the plane, the diminutive Sergeant from the Air Force steeled herself in preparation to meeting the other witches. After all, from what she read the joint wing was suppose to compose of the "best of the best" and Philippa couldn't help question if she fit the bill. That is until she was interrupted by the slightly bouncing of the plane as its wheels made contact with the runway, coming to a halt not far from the procession of the witches. As the ramp slowly dropped down, the pilot gave her some words of encouragements. "Show those rookies up, Handley!"

Easier said than done. She thought with a somber face, as she straightened out her multicam uniform top and navy blue skirt.

Walking down the Opsrey's ramp, Philippa didn't pay any attention to of the commotion around her as engineers or a form of maintenance personnel rushed the opposite way to get her striker unit. At the same time, she would make her way to the one who she presumed in charge, the witch wearing a Britannian uniform with the intention on introducing herself. If her memory served her right, the commanding officer would be an Alice Webley and the person she was approaching seemed looked like the picture that was briefly shown to her. And regardless of her rather short strides, Hardley made sure that she reached a position on the flight line quickly.

Clearing out her throat first, Philippa gave firm but short introduction. "Sergeant Philippa Hardley, reporting for duty. Honored to be here today, ma'am."

[Nachfolgia]

Yuki Yamda

"Thank you ma'am?" Yuki replied. She lowered her salute while looking at the ground, confused as to why Alice had chuckled. Noticing that Alice was starting to get swarmed by other Witches Yuki took a step back, yawning in the process. She looked around at the other witches. Most of them seemed relatively inexperienced, not that unlike herself, while others seemed to be veterans. Yuki herself was somewhere in between. She wasn't exactly a rookie anymore, having flown her a fair number of combat sorties over the Philippine and East China seas, though she wouldn't consider herself even close to the experience of some of the others here. Yuki glanced over to Friederike. The 5 foot 3 Fusonese girl gulped in awe at the Karlslandian witch towering over her. Just from the way she stood Yuki could tell the witch was a veteran. Yuki was so busy staring at Friederike she almost missed Alisce's dismissal.

"Wait what?" Yuki said, noticing that the witches were starting to disperse. She looked left and right, trying to figure out what she'd missed.

"I'm Feldwebel Friederike Adler. It's a pleasure to be serving with you all," Yuki spun around to see Friederike holding her hand
out. Yuki stared at the hand nervously.

"I...uh...I'm Sergeant Yufi Yashamafa," Yuki replied, yawning mid sentence. She blushed. "Um..sorry. I'm Sergeant Yuki Yamada...was what I was trying to say," she put her index fingers together nervously fidgeting.

Friederike stared emotionlessly at the short Fusoan, possibly adding to her nervousness. Despite not showing any activity from her face, the Karlslander had plenty she was thinking about. She was silently making judgements and observations on her Fusoan comrade. The most glaring was how meek Yuki acted. What was she so nervous about? Was it a social disorder? Perhaps she had a crush on her? Whatever the reason, Friederike only hoped that it wouldn't affect the Fusoan's combat effectiveness.

Realizing Yuki wasn't going to shake her hand, Friederike returned hers to her side. " Pleasure to meet you, Sgt. Yamada. May we have many successful missions together." Friederike said in her usual monotonous tone.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Johanna Hartmann flexed her shoulders as she strolled down the loading ramp of the Transall C-160 cargo aircraft that had taken her and her sisters striker rack all the way from Berlin to Madrid, working out the kink in her neck and back. Looking around as her eyes adjusted to the bright Hispanian sky, she spied the growing collection of Witches and ground personnel in their respective uniforms.

Johanna glanced down at her own attire, a Luftwaffe field jacket thrown over a black tank top and jeans and shrugged. She’d likely catch hell from at least on of them members of her unit for her “uniform”, most likely the Karlsland witch currently talking to the Fuso delegation, but she frankly didn’t care. Her job wasn’t to represent Karlsland, it was to keep her little sister falling over dead trying to keep up with their expectations.

She speaking of Elise, Johanna managed to turn around just in time to catch her touch down, thankfully sticking to a normal landing rather than trying one of her “battle damage” practice runs. Johanna waved her over to the striker racks before quickly running her hands through her short black hair.
Powering down her strikers and hoping out of them, Elise found herself quickly mobbed Johanna. “How was your flight sister?” She patiently asked as Johanna checked her eyes and ears.

“Johanna, I’m fine. I haven’t even had any headaches today.”

“I know.” Johanna replied as Elise tucked her hair, blond like their grandmothers with the exception of the tips of her bangs that were still the jet black of their families familiar, back into a ponytail and straightened out her oversized field coat. “But we can’t be to careful with you.”

Elise returned her smile before the two made their way over to Alice. “Leutnant Elise Hartmann reporting for duty.” Elise all but whispered, clicking the heels of her boots together in a perfect salute as she did.

“Hauptfeldwebel Johanna Hartmann.” Johanna added, simply hold out her hand.

[Legatia]

ENS SARAH HOLLAND
ON APPROACH TO MADRID AIRPORT, HISPANIA
15APR21, 0821 LOCAL TIME

From the clouds up above, the sleek grey figure of Sarah's Striker slipped beneath the wispy altostratus clouds. Physically worn from the heavy weight the 5 external droptanks had on her, she felt her vigor return as the Hispanian coastline illuminated on the horizon. The warmth here would be a welcome change from the dreariness she'd been used to for months, and that bit of vigor remained as she dropped thousands of feet on her approach into the runway. After thousands of miles of Atlantic nothingness, Sarah was eager to do something that'd be interesting.

Instead of going straight into the runway like she should have, a grin crossed the Ensign's face as she came in at about a thousand feet over the runway, her powerful engines deafening the tarmac as she roared low over the strip. Once she'd ran the length of it, she gave a dramatic lefthand turn to slow down, flying a downwind and a sharp left turn again to make a traditionally flat Navy landing, her wheels giving a resounding thud as they hit the strip running, without the gentle flare of most other aircraft.

She made short work of taxiing off of the runway, and came to a stop as she was marshalled in. Spooling down, she wiped a slight bead of sweat off of her forehead as she dismounted, technicians attending to the Striker frame as she took two minutes to stretch, then quickly straightening out her flightsuit before reporting to the gathering of Witches.

"..Good morning~!" The cheery Navy girl gave an eager smile as she stepped before the woman to be her superior. "Sarah Holland, Ensign, Liberian Navy. I'm looking forward to working with you."

[Finorskia]

Friederike stared emotionlessly at the short Fusoan, possibly adding to her nervousness. Despite not showing any activity from her face, the Karlslander had plenty she was thinking about. She was silently making judgements and observations on her Fusoan comrade. The most glaring was how meek Yuki acted. What was she so nervous about? Was it a social disorder? Perhaps she had a crush on her? Whatever the reason, Friederike only hoped that it wouldn't affect the Fusoan's combat effectiveness.

Realizing Yuki wasn't going to shake her hand, Friederike returned hers to her side. " Pleasure to meet you, Sgt. Yamada. May we have many successful missions together." Friederike said in her usual monotonous tone.

Friederike's response may have been monotone, but to Yuki it was filled with kindness and friendship. This in turned caused Yuki's eyes opened wide and she perked up with enthusiasm.
"Hai," Yuki replied to Friederike with a bow. "I look forward to fighting alongside you as well," Yuki yawned again. She blushed, looking away and scratching the back of her head. "Just as soon as I get some sleep," she laughed nervously.

[Regria]

Johanna Hartmann flexed her shoulders as she strolled down the loading ramp of the Transall C-160 cargo aircraft that had taken her and her sisters striker rack all the way from Berlin to Madrid, working out the kink in her neck and back. Looking around as her eyes adjusted to the bright Hispanian sky, she spied the growing collection of Witches and ground personnel in their respective uniforms.

Johanna glanced down at her own attire, a Luftwaffe field jacket thrown over a black tank top and jeans and shrugged. She’d likely catch hell from at least on of them members of her unit for her “uniform”, most likely the Karlsland witch currently talking to the Fuso delegation, but she frankly didn’t care. Her job wasn’t to represent Karlsland, it was to keep her little sister falling over dead trying to keep up with their expectations.

Speaking of Elise, Johanna managed to turn around just in time to catch her touch down, thankfully sticking to a normal landing rather than trying one of her “battle damage” practice runs. Johanna waved her over to the striker racks before quickly running her hands through her short black hair.
Powering down her strikers and hopping out of them, Elise found herself quickly mobbing Johanna. “How was your flight sister?” She impatiently asked as Johanna checked her eyes and ears.

“Johanna, I’m fine. I haven’t even had any headaches today.”

“I know.” Johanna replied as Elise tucked her hair, blond like their grandmothers with the exception of the tips of her bangs that were still the jet black of their families familiar, back into a ponytail and straightened out her oversized field coat. “But we can’t be to careful with you.”

Elise returned her smile before the two made their way over to Alice. “Leutnant Elise Hartmann reporting for duty.” Elise all but whispered, clicking the heels of her boots together in a perfect salute as she did.

“Hauptfeldwebel Johanna Hartmann.” Johanna added, simply hold out her hand.

Alice observed the differences between Yuki and the stern Karlslandian before her, though her attention was diverted from them in order to glance over at the landing aircraft. Her focus shifted to the two peculiar figures who emerged from the ramp, and how they conversed. A bit unique it was, but Alice wondered just how far the two would go for one another.

Their reporting procedures weren't the worst, but not the best. Staring down at the extended hand of Johanna, Alice simply returned the salute to the other girl, before resuming in a handshake.

"Acknowledged. Welcome to Madrid, girls. The others have been dismissed already, so just ask them if you have any queries."

"But maybe..."

She tapped the button on her radio.

<<Tower, this is Warrant Officer Webley. Please inform upcoming arrivals that everyone has been immediately dismissed, to cause less hassle.>>

<<Wilco, ma'am.>> the radio responded.

[United Kingdom of Poland]

"Understood Ma'am." Elise replied as she dropped the salute. Looking around as the Warrant Officer walked away from them, she soon eyed the Karlsland Witch standing with one of her Fuso counterparts. "I think I know her." She told Johanna, already starting to head in the pairs direction.

"You do?"

"Yeah, Friederike Adler. She was a year ahead of me at the academy." Elise replied to her sister, picking up her pace as she did so. "We tended to get compared to each other a lot because we were both the best in our class."

"Wait," Johanna almost shouted as she grabbed her sisters shoulder. "Then that's also the same Friederike Adler that was part of the Grünherz Squadron that got slaughtered during Morales's mess. She might not be all that friendly right now. I know some of my friends weren't when we lost people over Venezia."

"I'll... keep that in mind." Elise replied as they drew closer to the two. "Hey Friedrike. " She said giving them a small smile. "I'm Elise Hartmann. You were a year ahead of me at the academy. It's good to see you again."

[Rupudska]

[b][u]Alexandra Kuznetsov

Klava gave a slight bow to Alexandra, quickly standing back up. While both had been deployed alongside other Orussian forces in Africa, and both had trained to some degree together in the impromptu Su-34 courses taken by Orussian Witches in central Africa, Klava and Alexandra had otherwise not had much in-person contact since then - and that was quite some time ago. Further, Klava had taken the flight to Hispania over far less certain territory, the Tupolev no doubt having taken a much more direct route than the Beriev had.

"I am glad to be here, Alexandria," the Orussian witch said in her typical soft-spoken voice. "It will be nice to work more closely with other Witches."

[Nachfolgia]

Friederike stared emotionlessly at the short Fusoan, possibly adding to her nervousness. Despite not showing any activity from her face, the Karlslander had plenty she was thinking about. She was silently making judgements and observations on her Fusoan comrade. The most glaring was how meek Yuki acted. What was she so nervous about? Was it a social disorder? Perhaps she had a crush on her? Whatever the reason, Friederike only hoped that it wouldn't affect the Fusoan's combat effectiveness.

Realizing Yuki wasn't going to shake her hand, Friederike returned hers to her side. " Pleasure to meet you, Sgt. Yamada. May we have many successful missions together." Friederike said in her usual monotonous tone.

Friederike's response may have been monotone, but to Yuki it was filled with kindness and friendship. This in turned caused Yuki's eyes opened wide and she perked up with enthusiasm.
"Hai," Yuki replied to Friederike with a bow. "I look forward to fighting alongside you as well," Yuki yawned again. She blushed, looking away and scratching the back of her head. "Just as soon as I get some sleep," she laughed nervously.

Friederike looked coldly at Yuki as she bowed, right before she yawned in her face. She didn't particularly enjoy the Fuso's faux pas during their conversation. All she cared about in life now was perfection and military bearing and Yuki had neither. It wasn't as bad as Luce's horrid introduction, but it was still a slap in the face of everything Friederike stood for.

" Yes...well let's hope your lack of sleep doesn't affect your military discipline any further. You should hit the rack immediately." Friederike said rather coldly.

"Understood Ma'am." Elise replied as she dropped the salute. Looking around as the Warrant Officer walked away from them, she soon eyed the Karlsland Witch standing with one of her Fuso counterparts. "I think I know her." She told Johanna, already starting to head in the pairs direction.

"You do?"

"Yeah, Friederike Adler. She was a year ahead of me at the academy." Elise replied to her sister, picking up her pace as she did so. "We tended to get compared to each other a lot because we were both the best in our class."

"Wait," Johanna almost shouted as she grabbed her sisters shoulder. "Then that's also the same Friederike Adler that was part of the Grünherz Squadron that got slaughtered during Morales's mess. She might not be all that friendly right now. I know some of my friends weren't when we lost people over Venezia."

"I'll... keep that in mind." Elise replied as they drew closer to the two. "Hey Friedrike. " She said giving them a small smile. "I'm Elise Hartmann. You were a year ahead of me at the academy. It's good to see you again."

Friederike turned around when she heard someone call her name, spotting a girl in a Karlsland uniform. When she noticed the rank epaulettes were that of a lieutenant, Friederike immediately popped to attention.

" Good morning, ma'am." Friederike said without making any other movements. When the officer mentioned that she knew Friederike, she took a quick glance at her. She knew the lieutenant in question, having heard some rumors of an underclassman making waves in the academy. Friederike knew that the lieutenant, back then, was on the path of graduating top of her class, same as her.

" I remember you, ma'am." Friederike replied, keeping her eyes forward. " Cadet Elise Hartmann. Class 30-5 of the Karlsland Imperial Academy. Class 30-4 heard rumors of your academic marks, ma'am."

[Regria]

ENS SARAH HOLLAND
ON APPROACH TO MADRID AIRPORT, HISPANIA
15APR21, 0821 LOCAL TIME

From the clouds up above, the sleek grey figure of Sarah's Striker slipped beneath the wispy altostratus clouds. Physically worn from the 5 external droptanks had on her, she felt her vigor return as the Hispanian coastline illuminated the horizon. The warmth here would be a welcome change from the dreariness she'd been used to for months, and that bit of vigor remained as she dropped thousands of feet on her approach into the runway. After thousands of miles of Atlantic nothingness, Sarah was eager to do something that'd be interesting.

Instead of going straight into the runway like she should have, a grin crossed the Ensign's face as she came in at about a thousand feet over the runway, her powerful engines deafening the tarmac as she roared low over the strip. Once she'd ran the length of it, she gave a dramatic lefthand turn to slow down, flying a downwind and a sharp left turn again to make a traditionally flat Navy landing, her wheels giving a resounding thud as they hit the strip running, without the gentle flare of most other aircraft.

She made short work of taxiing off of the runway, and came to a stop as she was marshalled in. Spooling down, she wiped a slight bead of sweat off of her forehead as she dismounted, technicians attending to the Striker frame as she took two minutes to stretch, then quickly straightening out her flightsuit before reporting to the gathering of Witches.

"..Good morning~!" The cheery Navy girl gave an eager smile as she stepped before the woman to be her superior. "Sarah Holland, Ensign, Liberian Navy. I'm looking forward to working with you."

Warrant Officer Alice Webley
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

The various crew chiefs had expressions only describable as anxiousness and sudden dread at Sarah's unorthodox and very odd method of landing, the loud thud resulting in many sighs. Some of them laughed at others, but those being joked with didn't seem all too happy that they'd have to do landing gear servicing work this early.

Alice on the other hand had backed up some, though was still somewhat near the other witches in case they had any specific questions or just wished to speak to her. She watched with curiosity as the striker touched down in that odd Navy fashion. A showoff, perhaps?

'No, just a naive girl,' she concluded, observing her movements. When the individual approached and made her greeting, Alice's brows raised. Wasn't Sarah supposed to be one of the older members who had seen war firsthand? Maybe her work in New York was more protecting supply lines, rather than head to head Neuroi combat. Nonetheless, she took a sip of her coffee and responded to the rather jovial-sounding individual.

"And a good morning to you, Ensign Holland. I expect much from your service, here."

Her eyes trailed to the gathering witches currently conversing, taking yet another sip from her mug.

"I dismissed everyone earlier, so you're free to roam about the base."

She glanced back towards Sarah.

"Individuals in Hangar 8 would be willing to guide you around, but you may also want to take the time to learn more about your fellow squad mates and base personnel as well. That is to encompass me and permanent party personnel, too."

She glanced off to the side, once more towards where new arrivals were scheduled to land from. She raised her mug again, coffee still surprisingly hot.

"However, please do note that you should be present at the briefing room tomorrow by 1030. Am I understood?"

Another sip, as her body tingled and her eyes closed from the heat of her beverage.

Podpolkovnik, Dimitri Penkov
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Lt. Colonel Dimitri Penkov leaned back in his chair whistling bars of the Orussian folk song Kalinka. In his right hand, he held a rather large packet of papers. In his left hand, he held a mug of coffee. There was a beep from Dimitri's RADAR monitor. The 34-year-old Tactical Director nearly spit out his coffee as a contact had appeared moving at incredible speed in their direction.

<<All escort witches cover your ears!>> Dimitri yelled over radio. A moment later there was a muffled boom and the Bariev A-100 AWACS aircraft shook violently.

<<Thanks for the warning Zvezdnyy Svett,>> the soft voice of 2nd Lieutenant Alexandra Kuznetsov said. Dimitri let out a sight of relief and leaned back in his chair, glad that the witches had, had enough time to react.

"What was that sir," Yefreytor Leonti Pavlov, one of the aircraft's surveillance crew, asked.

"Not what Yefreytor Pavlov, who, and that was Feldwebel Friederike Adler," Dimitri replied leaning back in his chair. He took another sip of coffee and turned the packet of papers he was holding around so that Leonti could see that, at least that page, was Frederike's personnel file. "17 years old, Karlsandian, daughter of a career military man, and she possesses the ability to fly at incredible speeds. She's also a survivor of the Burgos Massacre," Dimitri sighed, glancing down at the family photo he kept taped to his monitor. It showed Dimitri, his wife Yaroslava, and their two daughters Taisiya and Ludmilla. The picture had been taken just before the invasion, they had been on a picnic and were all smiling. Dimitri reached out and touched Taisiya picture. Like Friederike's squadron, the 12-year-old girl was gone, shot down fighting in the Kongo.

"Sir how many times are you gonna read those personnel files," Junior Lieutenant Adam Krupin, one of the weapons officers, asked. "This is the 3rd time you've read over them."

"As many times as I need until I've memorized every detail about these girls combat abilities. I need...we all need to do our best to make sure they make it through every battle," Dimitri sighed and stood up. He walked over to a mini-fridge the crew had installed in the corner near the passage to the cockpit. Dimitri began rooting through it. "Hey Shwetz, where did you put those Pirogies?"

"All crew please be seated for landing," the pilot, Captain Roza Matveev, informed everyone.

"Darn it," Dimitri grumbled shutting the fridge door and returning to his seat.

* * *

The large A-100 AWACS aircraft descended onto the tarmac, the rubber screeching as it contacted the pavement. The aircraft taxied down the runway to it's resting spot near the Fusōnese liaison plane. Inside Dimitri packed up his files and headed towards the ramp for disembarkment.

"The rest of you go on and report to HR. I want to speak to the squadron leader," Dimitri informed his crew. The crew acknowledged their commanding officer and Dimitri made his way down the boarding ramp onto the bases tarmac. With a briefcase of files in one hand, Dimitri adjusted his glasses and made his way across the tarmac towards the gaggle of witches on the Flightline. Once he had approached close enough to hear the conversation he stopped, deciding to wait for the witches to disperse to speak with Alice.

Senior Airman Josephine Na
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Heavy-footed thumping of steel-toed boots slightly too large rang out as a relatively small girl with short brown hair walked down the flightline, ABU cap on. Joseonite in appearance, yet Liberion in uniform, she had been marching towards Dmitri specifically whilst the witches spoke amongst themselves, a curious expression on her face.

She approached Dmitri hesitantly, raising a finger to speak. She was told not to salute on the flightline, but still tried to be as polite as possible.

"Sir…? Uh, are you Lt. Colonel Dmitri?"

The girl stood at attention.

"I'm... Senior Airman Na, one of the crew chiefs assigned to your aircraft. I'm kinda' the middle child out of our group, so you'll be seeing me around often."

She hesitated before speaking again, her tongue slipping momentarily before she begun.

"As such, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance sir! I'll do my best to keep your plane in flying condition!"

[Sentinalyia]

One of the technicians would call out; “I wouldn’t dare touch those hostile skies with a 100 yard pole!” in response, though Alice seemed too engrossed in trying to calm the younger Orussian.

The sudden appearance of the Gallian caused Alice to glance over blink curiously, even moreso at the foreign legion girls’ peculiar appearance. From what she could remember, the Brittanian deciphered that this must be Luce, the girl who bore a resemblance to a certain prior stunt witch whom had a spine-cracking injury, ending their career. Though she knew that the one before her likely wasn’t the one she thought of, this likely distracted her from the fact that her reporting procedure was far from professional, and that it likely would earn a scolding from any other higher officer. Regardless, the squadron leader looked the tan girl up and down, eyes widened.

“Uh… Acknowledged. Indeed, it is a… Good day for flying.”

Alice took a sip from her mug, glancing back up at Luce’s face itself.

“Glad to have you, Caporal. Hopefully you find the rest of the base as nice as this morning.”

She glanced towards all the current witches before her in general, her usual gaze returning.

"And speaking of such, if none of you have any immediate questions, then you are dismissed and are free to roam about the base. Hangar 8 has some good folks inside who volunteered to come on leave day in order to guide you girls around, so please treat them well. Also, remember to be present in the briefing room by tomorrow at 1030."

There was a pause.

"And lastly, welcome to the 511th. I am honored to serve alongside you girls, though formalities can come later. For now please take your time getting acquainted with the base and personnel, alright?"

Luce's smile became a little bit more genuine. It looks like she judged their new officer right; she wasn't one of the stricter ones. Still, with that Karlslander giving her the stink-eye over her introduction, it would be best to tone it down just a little bit. As much as she enjoyed stretching the rules, even she could admit they were there for a reason.

"Acknowledged, ma'am. I'm sure for a lot of us, the feeling's mutual."

Now that she had been dismissed, Luce's eyes wandered over the crowd of witches, spotting what looked to be a rather more nervous girl speaking to the Karlslander.

'Friederike, her name is Friederike, right?'

Friederike's response may have been monotone, but to Yuki it was filled with kindness and friendship. This in turned caused Yuki's eyes opened wide and she perked up with enthusiasm.
"Hai," Yuki replied to Friederike with a bow. "I look forward to fighting alongside you as well," Yuki yawned again. She blushed, looking away and scratching the back of her head. "Just as soon as I get some sleep," she laughed nervously.

Once the... Fusoan, she looked to be, had finished speaking to Luce's general opposite, Luce decided that she would have a little bit of fun, slipping up next to the girl while Friederike was distracted with another. "Well, hello. Luce Campo." She glanced away, pretending to look somewhere in the middle distance, or at something. "So... I've been kinda curious," She began without preamble, "why they decided to let a little kitten onto this airfield?"

Luce pointed her patented smirk toward the Fusoan. By 'kitten' she of course meant the girl, who definitely did not look as disciplined as most of the other witches (so far, anyway), rather than any actual cat, but she figured she might as well have some fun with it first.

[Finorskia]

Klava gave a slight bow to Alexandra, quickly standing back up. While both had been deployed alongside other Orussian forces in Africa, and both had trained to some degree together in the impromptu Su-34 courses taken by Orussian Witches in central Africa, Klava and Alexandra had otherwise not had much in-person contact since then - and that was quite some time ago. Further, Klava had taken the flight to Hispania over far less certain territory, the Tupolev no doubt having taken a much more direct route than the Beriev had.

"I am glad to be here, Alexandria," the Orussian witch said in her typical soft-spoken voice. "It will be nice to work more closely with other Witches."

"Agreed," Alexandra replied. "I was worried everyone would be rookies but it seems most of are experienced," she glanced at the rather professional looking Karslandians. "Especially the Karslanders. Some though..." she looked at Luce, Yuki, and some of the other witches who seemed to be lacking in discipline. Her eyes narrowed in disapproval. "Remind me of Sargent Filipov," she sighed. "Best not leave the drones out," she said referring to her drones.

---

Friederike looked coldly at Yuki as she bowed, right before she yawned in her face. She didn't particularly enjoy the Fuso's faux pas during their conversation. All she cared about in life now was perfection and military bearing and Yuki had neither. It wasn't as bad as Luce's horrid introduction, but it was still a slap in the face of everything Friederike stood for.

" Yes...well let's hope your lack of sleep doesn't affect your military discipline any further. You should hit the rack immediately." Friederike said rather coldly.

"I...I...La...lack di...discipline," Yuki stammered nervously at Friederike's harsh and cold words. Yuki had never though she lacked discipline and no one had certainly ever said she had. Heck no undisciplined witch could have flown the mission she just had. She stomped her foot. "I don't," she began before realizing that Friederike had moved on. "oh," Yuke muttered a tad disappointed that she couldn't tell Friederike off for suggesting that she lacked discipline.

Once the... Fusoan, she looked to be, had finished speaking to Luce's general opposite, Luce decided that she would have a little bit of fun, slipping up next to the girl while Friederike was distracted with another. "Well, hello. Luce Campo." She glanced away, pretending to look somewhere in the middle distance, or at something. "So... I've been kinda curious," She began without preamble, "why they decided to let a little kitten onto this airfield?"

Luce pointed her patented smirk toward the Fusoan. By 'kitten' she of course meant the girl, who definitely did not look as disciplined as most of the other witches (so far, anyway), rather than any actual cat, but she figured she might as well have some fun with it first.

"eh," Yuki replied a tad confused by Luce's arrival. She'd seen the girl land and saunter over to the group of witches as if this were some civilian air show. Yuki glanced over at Friederike. She pouted, balling her fist. This Gallian was a girl who lacked discipline, not her. "A cat on the airfield?" Yuki glanced questioningly towards Luce, then off in the direction Luce was looking in. "I don't see a cat," Yuki looked back at Luce.

---

Senior Airman Josephine Na
Madrid Airbase, Hispania
April 15th, 2021

Heavy-footed thumping of steel-toed boots slightly too large rang out as a relatively small girl with short brown hair walked down the flightline, ABU cap on. Joseonite in appearance, yet Liberion in uniform, she had been marching towards Dmitri specifically whilst the witches spoke amongst themselves, a curious expression on her face.

She approached Dmitri hesitantly, raising a finger to speak. She was told not to salute on the flightline, but still tried to be as polite as possible.

"Sir…? Uh, are you Lt. Colonel Dmitri?"

The girl stood at attention.

"I'm... Senior Airman Na, one of the crew chiefs assigned to your aircraft. I'm kinda' the middle child out of our group, so you'll be seeing me around often."

She hesitated before speaking again, her tongue slipping momentarily before she begun.

"As such, I'm pleased to make your acquaintance sir! I'll do my best to keep your plane in flying condition!"

Dimitri looked away from Alice and down to Josephine. He sized up the mechanic taking in whatever important information he could. The airman was Liberion based on the uniform while her accent suggested that she had been raised there as well. Josephine's willingness to come out and talk to Dimitri personally showed him that she was a hard worker and eager to impress. Josephine's nervousness, however, told him that she wasn't all that used to speaking to such high ranking personnel, suggesting that she was fairly new.

"That would be me," Dimitri replied with a smile, holding out his one free hand. "As you will likely see of me. As for the plane Captain Matveev is the one you might want to be passing on such a promise to. She's the one the one that flies the plane, I just command the mission crew," Dimitri chuckled in a friendly manner. "Though in all seriousness I do appreciate it though not for my sake," he glanced over to the witches. "Remember Airman Na, our job is to keep them alive. You give our plane the best you can, and my team and I will give them the best support we can. A hundred and ten percent all the way right?" Dimitri smiled again. "Now if you excuse me Airman I have to go speak with the Squadron Leader," with one last smile, Dimitri turned and strode off towards Alice.

"Warrant Officer Alice Webley," Dimitri began. "I'm Lieutenant Colonel Dimitri Penkov. I'm the tactical director aboard your squadrons dedicated AWACS. I was wondering if I could have a moment with you to discuss the Witches and the general situation."

[United Kingdom of Poland]

Friederike turned around when she heard someone call her name, spotting a girl in a Karlsland uniform. When she noticed the rank epaulettes were that of a lieutenant, Friederike immediately popped to attention.

" Good morning, ma'am." Friederike said without making any other movements. When the officer mentioned that she knew Friederike, she took a quick glance at her. She knew the lieutenant in question, having heard some rumors of an underclassman making waves in the academy. Friederike knew that the lieutenant, back then, was on the path of graduating top of her class, same as her.

" I remember you, ma'am." Friederike replied, keeping her eyes forward. " Cadet Elise Hartmann. Class 30-5 of the Karlsland Imperial Academy. Class 30-4 heard rumors of your academic marks, ma'am."

"At least she didn't bring up Erica." Johanna muttered under her breath.

Elise frowned at her sisters words. "Johanna, don't you have a responsibility to report to the chief of maintenance here about the special arrangement regarding my striker unit?" Johanna grumbled some more before walking off. "Sorry about my sister, Sergeant. She has a very... poor view of the academy. Thank you for the compliment. Class 30-5 was also well aware of your accomplishments. In fact," Elise gave Friederike as shy smile. "You were one of my role models at the academy."

[Austria-Bohemia-Hungary]

“And a good morning to you, Midshipman. I know you probably don’t want to hear this after you just got done with what I can only assume was a miserable series of flights, but just so you remember, you don’t have to salute me on the flightline.”

" Yes...well let's hope your lack of sleep doesn't affect your military discipline any further. You should hit the rack immediately." Friederike said rather coldly.

"So... I've been kinda curious," She began without preamble, "why they decided to let a little kitten onto this airfield?"

Luce pointed her patented smirk toward the Fusoan. By 'kitten' she of course meant the girl, who definitely did not look as disciplined as most of the other witches (so far, anyway), rather than any actual cat, but she figured she might as well have some fun with it first.

Chiyo put on a small smile as Alice pointed her choice of greeting out, holding the smile she answered with: "Roger that Ma'am, I will take note of it from now on. Permission to retire?"

Once all that's done Chiyo-chan took a few steps and left room for Yamada-san to introduce herself, the same one who had escorted her over to Hispania. Why Yuki hadn't asked to join her on the Dominie until they were in Dubai was beyond Chiyo, but what's done's done now and the consequences would have to be dealt with.
Moving on Chiyo made note to properly apologise to Yuki later, for now, her body strongly demanded that she find a bunk or food, whichever came first stat. Before she could move to do so though, the peace of the airbase was utterly destroyed by a barbarian who thought it funny to buzz the whole place at high supersonic speeds. Hélas, civilisation didn't come naturally to everyone after all.
Just as she was going to give her apologies to Yuki the very same barbarian - Chiyo learned later - that buzzed the airfield got in her way. Immediately after that some other Gallian also joined the fray. Now cocking her eyebrows at the congregation before her countrywoman Chiyo Furuya adjusted her shoulderboards and gently put her heels down behind the Gallian with an audible "Clack!".
"Good morning ladies. I hope we are all getting along?"