Strike Witches 2012 Episode 3: Semper Fidelis pt 1

[Tuthina]

“I, I am sorry, ma’am…” Hearing the suggestion by Orlendo, Nergüi responded with a small, almost inaudible voice. It was as if she was being scolded, even when she was not.

“Thank, thank you Sergeant!” Approved, a big smile appeared on the face of Nergüi, as she saw Yuki evaded several incoming beams and started to dispatch some more Neuroi. Now, it was her time to fight as well. With another box magazine loaded, Nerka dived towards another Neuroi nearby, as she raised her gun and aim through the scope.

With a mix of fully-automatic hail and positioned shots, Nerka was able to chip away the outer shell of the Neuroi relatively quick and exposed the core. She braked down and unleashed several aimed shot against the exposed core, using the increased firepower to penetrate the regenerating shell and shattered the core, causing it to explode.

“Eh… three?”

Another beam interrupted the counting of her and sent her rolling through the sky. While she managed to regain balance quickly, her racing heartbeat and heavy panting still showed its effect despite the reinforced shield. However, she did not plan to give up or take a rest, not before the airport was safe. The rookie shook her head and put the beige ponytail behind, before reloading and flying towards another Neuroi.

[Hetland 2]

As the Neuroi fell to its side and shattered into dust, the Orussian gave an acknowledging nod to Lucinda.

"Agreed," she stated, a hint of approval ringing in her voice, "let's go, Lucinda." Raising her rifle at another Neuroi heavy, she began firing again, keeping her shields up against the barrage of lasers as she drew its attention away. As the black armour peeled away and exposed its ruby core. She continued to pull slowly away from Maria, drawing its fire so that Maria could make the strike.

Maria repeated the proceedure, it was as if she'd done this far to many times before, but without cover. Calling out again "RIDER PUNCH" smashing the core before shooting back to Svetlana, Maria's desert eagle bouncing against her scarred hips. Like the flask it was engraved, unlike the flask the engraving said, "Property of Sasha I. Ahoro". Maria touched the gun, before darting around waiting for another opportunity.

[Finorskia]

Yuki quickly dispatched another Neuroi with her twin AUGs and evaded another volley of fire. "Six, seven." Yuki said keeping her tally. "Oh and Rookie, that's the third time you've counted three, your actually on five." Yuki noticed her rifles were empty she tossed them in the air in a spiral grabbed two new mags, then as the two rifles came back down to her, she grabbed them by the stock, pushing on magazine release, the clips of ammo falling out of the two guns. Yuki then tossed the two rifles up in a more hopping motion, then inserted the two new mags in. Grabbing the rifles she used her leg to pull the charging handle, even though it hurt slightly. By the time she had reloaded the Neuroi had fixed her as a target. The opened fire, and Yuki was forced to erect a shield to protect her. When the volley was done however, Yuki tossed herself back into the fray.

[Orussia]

Orlendo looked down at the battlefield as she detected danger from one of the Neuroi.
It's target was...
...there!

Slinging the MRL and flipping into a dive, she slammed into the dark-skinned Witch as a Neuroi beam shot past, bisecting the space both of them had occupied less than a second before.

Looking down at the girl, Orlendo didn't recognize her, but this wasn't the time for introductions.
She could see that the girl was tired and panting.

"You're tiring. Any longer out here, and you're a liability. Head over to the hotel, or the engineering vehicle, and take a short break. Reload if you can."

Not waiting for a reply, she unslung her MRL and rocketed off at near-ground level towards the nearest medium Neuroi cluster and blasted three of them into fragments at the cost of the rest of her ammo.

Blasting back to the city and cursing a blue streak, she called over the com to the engineers.
"Hey, guys. This is Captain Ivanova. You didn't happen to bring any of my rockets with you, did ya?"

[Tuthina]

“Sor, sorry, Sergeant!” Nergüi responded with heavy panting, as she murmured “five” several times to reassure that, before diving towards another Neuroi. As she approached them, the wings of her deployed again, focusing most of her energy towards weapons and shields, with only enough magic to keep her afloat and flying at a slower – and decelerating – speed.

Several more beams were directed towards her, but her shield and movement were able to negate most of them, even though she still took several hits and rolled sideways for several circles. She raised her rifle and aimed towards the scope, discharging several salvos of magically-enhanced bullets, quickly chipping away the shells of several Neuroi.

“Now!” She shouted as the engines on her Striker Unit stalled. The blue glowing runes disappeared, and the now-unsupported rookie started falling towards the damaged Neuroi. However, the magic engine was still running at full power, as every bits of it was channelled to either her weapon or the shield. After locking at one of the Neuroi, she pressed against the trigger with her full force, as well as swinging the muzzle across the enemy.

The shots glowed blue, as the magic manifested within enhanced the firepower, pierced and shattered the core of several Neuroi, as well as penetrated whatever that regenerated above at the time. Soon, they became a series of white glows, and then exploded, sending pieces of debris through the sky, and then deflected by the shield.

“Eh… Eight? Nine?” The count was of her least concern, though, as the stalled engine was still reactivating when she plummeted. The dim blue glows behind her flickered several times, creating some small thrust to make her barely flying. However, after another trial, the wings finally swept back to their position, and the thrust from the reactivated engine shot her towards the sky before she smashed to the ground.

[Wolfenium]

Orlendo looked down at the battlefield as she detected danger from one of the Neuroi.
It's target was...
...there!

Slinging the MRL and flipping into a dive, she slammed into the dark-skinned Witch as a Neuroi beam shot past, bisecting the space both of them had occupied less than a second before.

Looking down at the girl, Orlendo didn't recognize her, but this wasn't the time for introductions.
She could see that the girl was tired and panting.

"You're tiring. Any longer out here, and you're a liability. Head over to the hotel, or the engineering vehicle, and take a short break. Reload if you can."

Not waiting for a reply, she unslung her MRL and rocketed off at near-ground level towards the nearest medium Neuroi cluster and blasted three of them into fragments at the cost of the rest of her ammo.

Blasting back to the city and cursing a blue streak, she called over the com to the engineers.
"Hey, guys. This is Captain Ivanova. You didn't happen to bring any of my rockets with you, did ya?"

Pausing over the statement over the radio, Fei could only reveal the worst for her.

"Sorry, Captain," he admitted, speaking into the receiver, "We don't have any room in the M-ATV for rocket artillery ordinance. If you want, you can swap out for a pair of RPG-7V2s, or you can switch to your twin rifles. Rockets? I'm afraid not."

[Finorskia]

Yuri placed the weapons that were in the crate up against on of the benches. In total there were 5 HK417 rifles, 10 M1911s, 3 SR-25 marksman rifles, and a single SR-98. Yuri slung one of the HKs and an AT4, grabbed his M249 and headed towards the stairs to the top of the bell tower. "Well Fei, time to go kick some Neuroi ass...From a bell tower." He laughed at the bad joke and began to run up the stairs.

---

Yuki dove down and hovered next to Nergüi. Yuki smiled extend her hand and picked up the young witch. "Look Rookie, kills count, but so does staying in the air. Don't do anything that will knock you out of the air, even if it does give you a spectacular kill count." Yuki said, suddenly shielding the two from a Neuroi laser. "Well Rookie, you should be fine." Yuki said with a laugh, rocketing off to engage the Neuroi that had attacked them. Yuki quickly dispatched it, once gone she reloaded her twin AUGs. "That makes eight for me Rookie, looks like I'm catching up."

[Wolfenium]

Yuri placed the weapons that were in the crate up against on of the benches. In total there were 5 HK417 rifles, 10 M1911s, 3 SR-25 marksman rifles, and a single SR-98. Yuri slung one of the HKs and an AT4, grabbed his M249 and headed towards the stairs to the top of the bell tower. "Well Fei, time to go kick some Neuroi ass...From a bell tower." He laughed at the bad joke and began to run up the stairs.

"Umm... Got it," Fei agreed, pausing for a moment over the bland joke, "radio me when you see trouble - crashing witch, giant Neuroi or whatever - just call me for help."

Raising a set of binoculars up, he observed the laser and round fire crisscrossing over the skies ahead. Pulling at his collar, he gripped his FAMAS as he dreaded at the prospects.

"Two men holding up a church against a force of nearly a hundred and fifty armoured alien invaders," he mused, "feels almost like Camarón.

Well, other than the 'alien invaders' part..."

As Fei looked over at the encroaching Neuroi, he quietly prepped his AT4, ready to fire.
Working in tandem with Maria against the massive Neuroi columns, Svetlana was starting to wear out from fatigue. Panting heavily, she grumbled over the lack of support at the city limits

"I don't get it," she growled, breaking the hull of another six-legged heavy to expose its core, "aren't there any ground forces left!? If we don't get any more support soon, we're done for."

Glancing in the direction of the airport, she questioned, "I hope the others are doing fine. Lucinda, you okay?"

[Tuthina]

“I, I am very sorry!” As she was being picked up by Yuri, the dark face of Nergüi blushed a bit, as she panicked and apologised. “My ability and Striker Unit can, um… enhance my weapon and shield, but it would stall the engine for a bit… I mean, it can help save the ammo… so…”

Though, Yuki seemed not to mind about her clumsiness, as she smiled and released Nerka, and then flying off towards another group of Neuroi that just fired at them.

“Yes, thank, thank you Sergeant!” After saluting her and narrowly got blasted by another beam, the rookie quickly evaded and dive towards the Neuroi. As her heartbeat started to calm down, her breaths slowed and deepened, the dark Witch seemed to be getting used to her first battle against the Neuroi, as she switched between the two modes of her MiG-23 unit to approach the enemy with a fast speed, before chipping through the shell and then core with the increased firepower granted by the low speed mode.

Several more beams blasted towards her, as she rolled sideways to dodge or deflect the attacks from hitting her straight on. Despite being an old Striker Unit, and Nerka herself barely trained for magic, the shield appeared to be noticeably strong, as she managed to take several hits with just temporary unbalance and tumbling.

“Um… how many is that again?” After destroying another Neuroi, Nerka collapsed her wings and pulled up, avoiding the attack and explosion by the damaged Neuroi. After several trials, she managed to unload the clip and reloaded it, before aiming towards another Neuroi.

[Finorskia]

Yuri stood in the bell tower, AT-4 at the ready, waiting for any Neuroi to enter hi firing range. Evetnually one of the smaller four legged Neuroi came within his range. Yuri lined the up the Neruoi in the AT-4s sight and fired. The rocket flew through the sky, colliding with the Neuroi. Yuki then picked up the M249 and began to fire in controlled bursts at the light Neuroi. "Fei, hit it with another AT-4, bring it down" Yuri shouted at the top of his lungs.

---

Yuki did a back flip and then strafed two Neuroi, firing on each one with one AUG. She got lucky and got the cores of both. "Nine, ten." Yuki reported, "You were at nine last time Rookie, count from there." She rolled to the right to evade another shot.

[Wolfenium]

Yuri stood in the bell tower, AT-4 at the ready, waiting for any Neuroi to enter hi firing range. Evetnually one of the smaller four legged Neuroi came within his range. Yuri lined the up the Neruoi in the AT-4s sight and fired. The rocket flew through the sky, colliding with the Neuroi. Yuki then picked up the M249 and began to fire in controlled bursts at the light Neuroi. "Fei, hit it with another AT-4, bring it down" Yuri shouted at the top of his lungs.

Spotting the Neuroi, Fei took aim with his AT4, the fracture in its armour in his sight. Forcing his finger down at the trigger, he sent a rocket surging through the air as it streaked into the fissure, detonating with a vibrant amber explosion as it incinerated its fragile core within. Dropping the used rocket pod, Fei breathed a sigh of relief again watching it disintegrate to white dust. But just before he could ease back, he felt his reflexes twitch over a glint of crimson, ducking on instinct. True enough, a stray laser shot soon tore through the walls of the chapel, just feet away from the two, reducing a section of the chapel to rubble. As the dust settled, Fei could barely force himself up. Grabbing the receiver of the radio set, he called out to Yuri, "Captain, are you alright!?"

[Orussia]

"Sorry, Captain," he admitted, speaking into the receiver, "We don't have any room in the M-ATV for rocket artillery ordinance. If you want, you can swap out for a pair of RPG-7V2s, or you can switch to your twin rifles. Rockets? I'm afraid not."

Orlendo started cursing a blue streak again.
Aw, dammit. I can't reload an RPG-7 fast enough to take out these Neuroi, and the rifles don't have enough penetration...I'll have to go back to the hangar for a reload, then.

Flipping over and heading towards the hotel, she let the rest of the squadron know what she was doing.
"Witches, this is Ivanova. I'm RTB for a rocket reload. Engineers, I'm going to bring a couple extra reloads for you guys to hold on to. DON'T LOSE THEM."

[Hetland 2]

Working in tandem with Maria against the massive Neuroi columns, Svetlana was starting to wear out from fatigue. Panting heavily, she grumbled over the lack of support at the city limits

"I don't get it," she growled, breaking the hull of another six-legged heavy to expose its core, "aren't there any ground forces left!? If we don't get any more support soon, we're done for."

Glancing in the direction of the airport, she questioned, "I hope the others are doing fine. Lucinda, you okay?"

Maria nodded happily, Darting in from the side, shattering the core with a sickening crunch before darting back into the alleys where she'd been hiding preparing for her ambushes, sweat gleaming from her brow, "Of course. Do you need me to take over the offensive duties? I'm still energetic." She limbered up, cracking her neck and shoulder. "I don't want to take all of your kills, Sveta~. I believe it was you who said that you shouldn't put yourself through so much strain, correct? How're you holding up ammo wise? Do you need to borrow lyubimyĭ?" As Maria said the name, it became readily clear that she was not comfortable with Orussian.

---

Katsumi aimed her rifle at one of the Ultras, "Gustave. I need you to hit the following target with everything you can spare. We'll split the kill fifty/fifty, is that fine?"

---

Abigail Stern knelt down and aimed her M2CG at a heavy Nueroi. She lifted her eye patch, visually peeling off the armour of the Nueroi, "Lieutenant-Colonel Bregoli, I'm firing. Get clear." She said this regardless of how close Lieutenant-Colonel Bregoli was to the blast site. She pulled the trigger and a H.E.A.T. round shot out slammed into the heavy Nueroi, blasting its armour into pieces. She finished it off with a trio of rounds from her Glock-17 she snagged another H.E.A.T. round from her backpack. "Reloading. Confirmed." Her voice was soft but still carried a monotonous tone to it. Very fitting for her by the books personality.

[Rupudska]

Things weren't looking good for the two highest-ranking Witches in the 501st. Both Ruya and Sohvi had long since ran out of missiles, and Ruya was running low on the special ammo. But things weren't looking good for the Neuroi in the area, as the two had blown apart thirty-two of the smaller units, and six of the medium ones.

However, one of the large Neuroi tanks was heading straight for them, and with no missiles, it was going to be a hard fight. Ruya keyed her mike. "All units, listen up. There's a big-assed Neuroi heading for the airbase, and I'm low on bullets. Not sure how much ammo Sohvi has, either. Feel free to send in backup pronto. We could certainly use it."

---

Bregoli didn't even flinch when Stern fired her HEAT round. She was so used to the sound of the heavy guns and the explosion of the special anti-tank rounds, she didn't seem to notice. Nor did she seem to notice Ruya's call for aid. But she did hear it. She loaded a HEAT round into her own cannon, and blasted a small Neuroi clean in half, the core destroyed instantly. Smiling as she reloaded, she waved in the direction of the airbase. "All tanks, we're movin' out. Seems like our flighty broads need some help." She cackled as she turned towards the base.

[Orussia]

"All units, listen up. There's a big-assed Neuroi heading for the airbase, and I'm low on bullets. Not sure how much ammo Sohvi has, either. Feel free to send in backup pronto. We could certainly use it."

Clamped to the Striker cradle inside the garage, Orlendo heard the radio call. Stuffing a trio of extra rockets into her bandolier, she spotted a small, marked crate containing RPG-29 rockets.
Oh, I wish I could bring those...

She looked down at her already heavily laden combat webbing.
...but if I do, I probably won't be able to fly...damn.

Turning regretfully away from the crate, she faced forward towards the doors once more.
"Captain Orlendo, taking off!"

The takeoff run was much longer than usual, and the climb-out slower, but she was still airborne.
Casting her gaze down at the outskirts of the city, she noted a rather large concentration of fragments around one of the churches.

Shifting her loadout around, she toggled her comm.
"Hey, engies. I take it that's you guys in the cathedral that's surrounded by Neuroi shards?"

[Hetland 2]

"All units, listen up. There's a big-assed Neuroi heading for the airbase, and I'm low on bullets. Not sure how much ammo Sohvi has, either. Feel free to send in backup pronto. We could certainly use it."

Katsumi responded flatly, "Will do, Captain. We will provide as much support as possible." She switched communication to Gustave, "Gustave. These are the co-ordinates I need you to hit." She sent the co-ordinates to him and readied her rifle to fire, generating a shield below her.

---

Abigail, who'd been listening passively to the chatter, heard Lieutenant-Colonel Bregoli's orders and switched on her mike. "Roger that, Lieutenant-Colonel Bregoli. Do you need my eyes?" She rolled out after her commander, with full faith in her orders. It wasn't her place to doubt it.

[Tuthina]

“Um… nine, ten, eleven…”After being hinted by Yuki, Nergüi tried to count again, as she gradually descended towards the Neuroi tanks and started laying shots on their shells and cores. As she started to get used to both the battle and her new assault rifle, her accuracy increased as well. With the increased firepower in the low-speed mode, she was able to chip through the armour of small Neuroi tanks with relative ease. A short outburst of bullets exposed the core, while a positioned single shot penetrate the remaining armour and shattered the core, causing another Neuroi to explode. “Twelve!”

“All units, listen up. There's a big-assed Neuroi heading for the airbase, and I'm low on bullets. Not sure how much ammo Sohvi has, either. Feel free to send in backup pronto. We could certainly use it.”

The sudden call from the radio broke her concentration, though, as it warned her the coming of the gigantic Neuroi towards the airport. The gigantic Neuroi that blasted her to be ground and, if she was not fast enough, killed her in one blast.

I can do it… It should not be too hard… Despite her whispering to herself, her breaths and heartbeats started to quicken, and became more and more disordered. Even though she got hurt a lot since long before she was recruited as a Witch, that was the first time she really realise that she could be killed, and the fear from it rose from beneath her heart and frozen her for a while. The chaotic and shallow breaths made her brain numb and slow, and her vision blurred.

Another blast from a nearby Neeroi knocked her back to reality, as the shock sent her tumbling. Thanks to the enhanced shield, she did not suffer much from the blast, as she quickly regained balance. However, that did put her in direct sight with the incoming giant Neuroi. Her iris dilated, and the red eyes failed to move away from the glowing red and black. With her brain shut down by the sight, she had only one thing to do.

The blue runes beneath her flickered and extinguished, as she aimed the assault rifle at the general direction of the large Neuroi and fired in fully automatic mode. Hails of bullets, enhanced by the full force of the magic engine, rained towards it, chipping away its outer shell. However, the overwhelming odds between them meant that it was nowhere near to exposing the core, not to mention actually damaging it. Without the flight magic that kept her afloat, Nerka started to plummet. The magazine of her rifle was long-depleted, but her only reaction to this was to fanatically click the trigger with no avail.

The ultra-heavy Neuroi regenerated the damage done by Nerka with ease, but it was enough to catch its attention. A menacing red glow appeared and expanded, before it manifested as a large red beam towards the rookie and the Land Strikers behind her. Her brain mind was in complete blank as she saw the beam soaring through the sky towards her. She tried to restart the flight magic, but the blue runes were distorted, twisted, and only capable to creating a small thrust before extinguishing again, placing her directly in the line of fire.

[Wolfenium]

Working in tandem with Maria against the massive Neuroi columns, Svetlana was starting to wear out from fatigue. Panting heavily, she grumbled over the lack of support at the city limits

"I don't get it," she growled, breaking the hull of another six-legged heavy to expose its core, "aren't there any ground forces left!? If we don't get any more support soon, we're done for."

Glancing in the direction of the airport, she questioned, "I hope the others are doing fine. Lucinda, you okay?"

Maria nodded happily, Darting in from the side, shattering the core with a sickening crunch before darting back into the alleys where she'd been hiding preparing for her ambushes, sweat gleaming from her brow, "Of course. Do you need me to take over the offensive duties? I'm still energetic." She limbered up, cracking her neck and shoulder. "I don't want to take all of your kills, Sveta~. I believe it was you who said that you shouldn't put yourself through so much strain, correct? How're you holding up ammo wise? Do you need to borrow lyubimyĭ?" As Maria said the name, it became readily clear that she was not comfortable with Orussian.

Sveta gave a perplexed glare over Maria's botched Orussian. Despite translating the word, she had absolutely no idea what she was saying. Shrugging off the confusion, she unloaded her rifle as she counted the rounds.

"I'm still good," she stated, reloading her magazine, "plenty of munitions left. And don't worry about kills. A high score matters to nothing if we fail the mission, is it? I just care about the task at hand."

"Oh, and Lucinda," she asked of Maria in a plain monotone, "please stick to Britannian, I can speak Britannian just fine. Besides," she explained, holding up the Hecate II, "I prefer sniper rifles personally."

---

"All units, listen up. There's a big-assed Neuroi heading for the airbase, and I'm low on bullets. Not sure how much ammo Sohvi has, either. Feel free to send in backup pronto. We could certainly use it."

Clamped to the Striker cradle inside the garage, Orlendo heard the radio call. Stuffing a trio of extra rockets into her bandolier, she spotted a small, marked crate containing RPG-29 rockets.
Oh, I wish I could bring those...

She looked down at her already heavily laden combat webbing.
...but if I do, I probably won't be able to fly...damn.

Turning regretfully away from the crate, she faced forward towards the doors once more.
"Captain Orlendo, taking off!"

The takeoff run was much longer than usual, and the climb-out slower, but she was still airborne.
Casting her gaze down at the outskirts of the city, she noted a rather large concentration of fragments around one of the churches.

Shifting her loadout around, she toggled her comm.
"Hey, engies. I take it that's you guys in the cathedral that's surrounded by Neuroi shards?"

Getting to his feet, Fei heard the call from Orlenda from the receiver.

"Yep," he replied back, keeping his head low as he leaned beside the gaping hole in the wall where the shot went through, "the one with the massive hole through the center. The equipment's still fine though, but you better get back to base and reload. God knows how long it would take for those mammoths to reach downtown."

Just as Fei said, the shot ripped through the cross section of the church, splitting the building in two. Fortunately, the shot was far from the duo's positions, but how long it would hold remained to be seen.

[Orussia]

Getting to his feet, Fei heard the call from Orlenda from the receiver.

"Yep," he replied back, keeping his head low as he leaned beside the gaping hole in the wall where the shot went through, "the one with the massive hole through the center. The equipment's still fine though, but you better get back to base and reload. God knows how long it would take for those mammoths to reach downtown."

Dropping through the hole, she hovered in front of the engineers with a grin.
"Actually, boys, I already reloaded. Here, hang on to these for me. And if you lose one of them, I will hunt you down. Got it?"

With a wink, she handed each of the engineers a rocket pack, leaving her with her normal loadout.
Firing her engines back up, she could sense a twinge of fatigue.
...dammit. The battle's just getting into full swing, too...

Soaring out of the cathedral, she unslung her MRL and dove for the nearest Neuroi, firing a trio of rockets towards it.

[Hetland 2]

Maria chuckled, "It wasn't my idea to name it Orussian. It was Sasha's pistols. Sorry for butchering the Orussian..." She scratched the back of her head. "I suppose you're right but still you look pretty tired." Her smile faded slightly as a thought occurring to her. "Don't go looking down on me just because I'm old."

---

Abigail saw the little witch circling the Landkruezer, "Liuetenant-Colonel Bregoli, I am stopping to provide fire support for unidentified witch, presumed 501st." She lifted the M2CG and aimed it at the massive Nueroi. She opened her mike to all friendly units, "Firing. Get clear." She pulled the trigger, letting loose another H.E.A.T. round, dropping the launcher down pulling another H.E.A.T. round and dropped it in before locking it in and raising the M2CG at the Nueroi. "Firing. Get clear." Her soft monotone echoed throughout the com system.
"Firing. Get clear."
"Firing. Get clear."
"Firing. Get clear."

[Malshan]

Gustave recieved the coordinates and adjusted his aim. "Shells incoming. Stand clear. Use of particle rifle has been authorized." said the suit's onboard computer system. The cannons spun up and unleashed a three second burst, sending upwards of two hundred rounds hurtling toward its target. Just after they stopped firing, the suit sprung up into the air and hovered for a split second while the particle rifle charged and discharged, sending a beam of focused energy flying after the 15mm rounds.

[Finorskia]

Yuri pushed off the rubble that had landed on him and got back on his feet. He then watched as Orlenda swooped down, and then he took the rocket pack from her, though he really did not have a choice. "Right..." Yuri said looking at the rocket pack. He then looked around the church and then at Fei. "Well Lieutenant, I think we best relocate, grab whatever you can and move it to the truck." Yuri said grabbing his back pack, M249, and slinging a AT-4. He then left the church at a mad dash towards the M-ATV.

---

"Dammit Rookie!" Yuki shouted as she flew in front of the laser. Yuki raised her shield and blocked the shot, but even at the age where her magical power was at its peak, Yuki's shield was still destroyed. Yuki was sent flying, the 16 year old witch hit the ground hard, luckily already unconscious. Her strikers were torn from her legs as she was sent rolling across the sandy, rocky ground.

[Hetland 2]

Katsumi grinned and pulled the trigger, sending a blast of energy at the massive Neuroi smashing into its flank ripping through it. Katsumi swore. "Shit! We missed the core!" She pulled the rifle's trigger again, firing another shot exposing the core.
"SOMEONE GET IT!!!"

[Imota]

When the Neuroi that Beatrice and Matilde were targeting exploded into a shower of white shards, she didn't know who had landed the killing shot. Then again, it didn't really matter who got the kills as long as the mission was a success and the civilians were safe. She immediately switched her focus to another one.

"One down, tons to go. This is gonna take a while..." She suddenly felt herself drop several feet before recovering.

"Whoa..." she shook her head. "Stay awake, Puller, stay awake. You can sleep when the battle's over. Atta girl."

[Tuthina]

The following seconds were like eternity, as Nerka saw the heavy rounds fired from the ground one by one, trying to distract the ultra-heavy Neuroi, but with limited success, as the beam slowly expanded towards her. Then, the sound of Yuki shouting, both through the communicator and through her ears made her turned towards the Sergeant, as she flew into the place between Nerka and the beam.

“Ser – ” Before she could response, the glow from her shield replaced the red glow, as the large beam was blocked solely by her. However, it was too strong even for Yuki, as the glow from both the shield and the beam dispersed into the cold dawning air of central Australis. The last burst of the attack pushed her out of the way, injured and unconscious.

“SERGEANT!” The dark Witch shouted in horror, as she saw Yuki plummeting to the ground, and hit it hard. The Striker Unit was literally blown away from her, as the three parts of her was sent flying after the initial landing and rolled across the arid land in different directions.

And this is my fault. If only I had not panicked. If only she did not notice me…

The flight magic of her MiG-23 unit reactivated, as the rookie dive towards where Yuki was landing. Her speed increased as the wings collapsed, focusing every bits of energy into the thrust. Several red beams fired towards her, and some of them almost hit her directly, unbalancing her as she rolled sideways. However, she could not care less about it. Covered in scratches and dust, Nerka quickly landed beside Yuki.

“Please, please response! Sergeant Mikhailov!” She dropped the rifle and picked up the body of Yuki, trying to get a response from the now-unconscious Wich, but with no avail.

“This, this is Private Nergüi Bürgedovog! Sergeant Mikhailov is down! I, I…” Confused, she tried to shout through the radio in hope of any instructions coming through. However, she quickly realised that there were no time for such leisure, and the situation is worse enough now. She picked up Yuki and held her body with both of her arms. The weight of Yuki, as well as the wear on the strength of Nerka during the battle made her almost dropped her onto the ground, but she held on.

“Nerka, taking off!” After giving a vague indication of their current location, the rookie took off with Yuki in her arms, as she quickly flew back to the Striker bay at the hotel. Several Neuroi spotted them as she was soaring through the sky, and red beams followed suit. Hugging Yuki as tight as possible, Nerka spinned several circle to dodge the attacking beams, taking several ht on her shield in the process.

“Arriving at the bay… anyone, please help!” As they stumbled back to the Striker bay, Nerka was almost depleted too. With all her strength, she flew into the bay and carefully landed Yuki on the ground, before her Striker Unit shut down from overheat. The remaining momentum from the last thrust pushed her aside, sliding her from the unit and onto the ground. Despite the pain and tire from the battle and the flight, she barely managed to sit upright against a crate and asked anyone nearby to help Yuki.

It was all my fault…