Vol 2 Chapter 2 (1/2)

Chapter 2 - Mikkeli Temporary Air Base

“Sigh…”

In the temporary air base set up in the town of Mikkeli, 80 kilometres west of Slussen – Tomoko let out a deep sigh.

The town of Mikkeli was next to a lake – Saima Lake.

The lake froze over completely during winter, so they were able to use it as an airfield.

In terms of scale, the temporary base was much smaller than Kauhava Air Base.

They had taken over an old brick primary school that was due to be demolished; and put up a command centre and barracks. The inside was a disorganised mess – reminiscent of a warehouse.

Tomoko and the other members of the Suomus Independent Volunteer Squadron had been provided with a single cla.s.sroom, which was to be used as sleeping quarters with the simplest of beds.

They had first sought refuge in Mikkeli Temporary Air Base in the early evening, three days ago.

After that, threatened by an above ground Neuroi invasion, they had been tasked with protecting escaping evacuees living in towns near the border – one town after another.

Fortunately, the Neuroi had only gone as far as taking over Slussen – then stopped.

Although we helped the evacuees get as far as Mikkeli…

“That’s a very glum look, P/O Tomoko.”Haruka said in a concerned voice, herself seated next to Tomoko.

All around the base you would find similar faces, everyone wondered around aimlessly with all the free time they had.

Morale had risen after they had taken down the Diomedia, and it had seemed like nothing could stop the endless joking and smiling however… the squadron was yet again gripped by the heavy atmosphere of days long past.

The sound of footsteps pattering on the tile reverberated – and the door swung open.

It was F/O Elma, her arms swamped with official papers and doc.u.ments.

“There we go!”

F/O Elma placed the wad of doc.u.ments on top of the desk – then made a sweeping look at everyone.

As Haruka asked: “What is that?”, F/O Elma replied with a sullen look.

“It’s aerial reconnaissance photographs of the Neuroi stationed at Slussen, along with official reports containing a.n.a.lysis.”

“It’s aerial reconnaissance photographs of the Neuroi stationed at Slussen, along with official reports containing a.n.a.lysis.”

“Reconnaissance? Who went to get that?”

“The 1st Squadron. Without the armaments, the fuselage of the Messerschaff is light so they went on a sortie.”

Tomoko and the others gulped as they looked at the reconnaissance photos. They were clear photographs of the Neuroi occupation in Slussen.

“What… what is this…?” Haruka asked, a dumfounded look upon her face.

Dead in the centre of the road was a huge over ground artillery battery… It was the first time any of them had seen anything like it - It was the shape of a Neuroi ground unit.

“It’s kinda like a huge creepy-crawly!” Katharine offered her opinion in a sleepy tone.

It was of a quadrilateral shape, with a turret sitting on top; at first glance it looked just like a tank. But thanks to the mechanical legs extended from each of the four corners, it understandably looked like an insect.

However… there was one thing that certainly made it different from an insect.

Its size.

“It’s huge.” Tomoko said.

The bicycles that were parked around it looked to be nothing more than toys. It looked to be three times the size of a normal military tank… no, four times the size.

“That turret looks like it’s of 200mm calibre.” Beurling said in a composed voice.

“That’s cruiser cla.s.s. Not the sorta weapon you’d have on a tank.”Katharine remarked.

That wasn’t all, on its sides it had equipped the hedgehog-like machineguns. When you drew close to it, they showered you in bullets.

“It seems like there are several of these in the town.”

Silence reigned among them. The military couldn’t do a thing against the Neuroi, who were protected by the miasma.

They had no choice but to do something…

“Anyway, we have no choice but to try and bomb them but… we can only carry bombs of 60kg at most…”F/O Elma said, her words mixed with a sigh.

For the witches of Kauhava Air Base, the Striker Unit was everything. They were machines that had been developed to give air superiority over the Neuroi. There was no excuse for them to do their bomber duty poorly – but it wasn’t their primary occupation.

Frankly, the supposed ‘advantage’ of sending them was a little suspicious.

“Regardless of that, we’ve got absolutely no choice but to go, I suppose?”Tomoko said in a stiff voice. Elma nodded in response.

“Exactly. Tomorrow at dawn, we; the Independent Volunteer Squadron will go to where the Neuroi is stationed in Slussen and launch an a.s.sault.”

“But I haven’t taken any bomber training.”

“Me neither.”

“Nor I.”

“I haven’t either, but orders are orders.” F/O Elma spoke with a bitter facial expression – as if she’d drunk some foul tasting tea in one gulp.

That night…

Tomoko was restless, staring blankly at the ceiling. Because they’d set up makes.h.i.+ft barracks in a cla.s.sroom, there was no longer the luxury of individual rooms like in Kauhava Air Base.

Noticing Tomoko's incessant tossing and turning, Haruka, who was in the adjacent bed, spoke up.

“P/O Tomoko, are you having trouble sleeping?”

“A little.”She responded in a chagrined tone.

Ahh, my beloved P/O Tomoko is suffering. It’s surely because she can’t bear losing a battle. As her wingman, it’s up to me to provide her with all the comfort she needs!

Haruka stealthily slipped into Tomoko’s bed.

“W-what?”

Tomoko’s confused voice was sending Haruka over the edge.

She’s confused! Ahh, somehow this is adorable.

“I, as your wingman, will hereby comfort you.”

“Sure. I’ll pa.s.s on that.”

“Don't worry - you won't have to do a thing.”

Haruka snuggled up tight to Tomoko.

“Everything will be fine. P/O Tomoko is strong. Didn't you take down that huge bomber formation, after all? Haven't you only lost once?”

”I'll like that one time to be the last time.”

”It's f-i-n-e. P/O Tomoko will stop at nothing during tomorrow's bombing duties. All we have to do is take that huge ground unit with the bombs. Compared to shooting down enemies in midair, there shouldn't be a single problem.”

Tomoko let out a deep sigh.

“You still fall short in experience.”

“Exactly! That’s why I was thinking of getting some experience with P/O Tomoko…”

With her face-flushed red, Haruka gingerly slid a hand into the gap in Tomoko’s hanten.

Because Tomoko wore nothing but a hanten to bed, she was able to run the tips of her fingers along her smooth skin just by slipping her hand through that gap.

As it gradually got warmer, Haruka was so deeply moved by her beloved P/O Tomoko’s bare skin that she wanted to cry.

“Honestly you… what are you doing?”

“Com-fort-ing you.”

Haruka covered Tomoko’s b.r.e.a.s.t.s with her right hand.

Ah, they're not too big and not too small. Tears of joy are streaming down my cheeks. Sergeant Sakomizu Haruka of the Fuso Imperial Navy has attained the target of the number one mission. From here on, I’ll shoot down…

As her morse code flickered through her mind, Haruka whispered in an entranced voice:

“These b.r.e.a.s.t.s are perfect… Why do they paint such a subtle curve?”

As she asked that, Tomoko firmly seized her head and shoved it away. Haruka gave a disapproving frown.

“P/O Tomoko is a liar.”

“What’re you on about now…”

“After all, you did say you’d sleep with me…”

“Look, I’m not interested in that sort of thing. I humbly apologise! Now just go to sleep already.”

However, Haruka continued to frown – seemingly having no intention of sleeping. She playfully messed around with an already annoyed Tomoko.

“Hey, What kind of girl do you like P/O Tomoko?”

“What do you mean by ‘girl’. I’m straight I tell you!”

“Please tell me what kind of girl you like! I’ll, try my best!”

As Haruka drew closer, Katharine who was sleeping in the same direction as Tomoko - interrupted their conversation.

“You guys are loud… go do your pillow talk in the hallway.”

“Shut up. I can’t sleep.”

“We’ve got a sortie tomorrow!”

“… I can’t read this book.”

Tomoko kept a silent grip on Haruka, throwing her back onto the adjacent bed she had come from.

Lying flat on her face, Haruka pounded her legs against the bed like a protesting child.

In contrast, Tomoko couldn’t sleep; chewing on her nails. As she closed her eyes, her unsightly form from the other day burned onto her eyelids.

I couldn’t do anything against that new model of Neuroi…

My Ki-27 is most likely the world’s greatest fighting unit.

Then there’s the dogfighting.

Is the enemy going to use its speed to get us with hit and run tactics?

Tomoko noticed that her anguish was somewhat of a luxury.

Tomorrow we have bomber duties.

It’ll be nothing like aerial combat. Never mind hand-to-hand combat and hit and run tactics, we can’t provide opposition in case we end up getting knocked down.

With her heart swirling with feelings of anxiety and restlessness… Tomoko didn't manage to get even a little bit of sleep.

The next morning: 10:00am.

Being close to the Arctic Circle, Suomus’ winter nights were long. It was around now that the sun began to rise in the East.

There were only around 7 hours in the day.

So that they could successfully set up an a.s.sault in that small time frame… the members of the Independent Volunteer Squadron were lined up on the frozen lake – the makes.h.i.+ft airfield of Mikkeli Temporary Air Base.

Next to them stood the members of the 1st Squadron, led by Flight Lieutenant Mika Ahonen.

All of them held bitter expressions out in the harsh chill of the Suomus wind.

Stood in front of them was the commander of Kauhava Air Base: Häkkinen.

Noticing new Squadron Leader rank strips sparkling on her shoulder, Tomoko gave an admirable salute.

“Congratulations on your promotion, Squadron Leader, ma’am.”

Häkkinen responded with a small salute.

“I am Squadron Leader Häkkinen, the commander of Mikkeli Temporary Air Base.”

Even though she already knew them, Häkkinen introduced herself as if she had never seen them before.

“What happened to base command?”F/O Elma asked.

Sqn Ldr Häkkinen responded with a pitiful look.

“In the air raid a few days ago, many important members of the base command centre were injured and therefore had to withdraw from the front line. It’s on those grounds that I have been appointed as the senior officer.”

The mechanised air infantrymen chewed on their lips. It had been their responsibility to protect the base.

As if reading their minds, Häkkinen continued to speak:

“You’re not to blame. The responsibility for our loss lies with the command centre that issued you orders. We simply misread the signs.”

Everyone looked up at Häkkinen with sincerity. With the slightest touch of emotion in her voice, the Squadron Leader handed down her orders to the witches.

“However, I am not at all amused by this. Please relinquish control from the Neuroi.”

The 1st Squadron and the Independent Volunteer Squadron saluted all at once.

The maintenance crew wheeled in the aerial bombs on a trolley.

“The success of the military taking back Slussen depends entirely on whether or not you can take down that blasted Neuroi. I expect great success.”

She explained the plan.

The Independent Volunteer Squadron would take down the Neuroi’s four legs using 60kg bombs. The 1st squadron would provide covering fire.

Tomoko and the rest of the squad yelped as they took a hold of the 60kg aerial bombs.

“We’re gonna have a dodgy take-off if we something this heavy!”As Katharine spoke, Beurling furrowed her eyebrows.

“Flying is about all we can do with these.”

Haruka couldn’t carry the bomb in addition to the 20mm motor cannon she already held, so she had to equip a mere 8mm handgun. There were no doubts that a firearm like that would be useless in aerial combat.

Elma was in a similar situation.

The only person who had a magic engine with a strong enough power outlet to give some leeway was Ursula, but, even if she could somehow carry the bomb – there was no hope of her pulling the aerial maneuvers of previous battles.

With a hoist, Tomoko could just about carry the 60kg bomb herself.

Thanks to their magic power the witches were several times more powerful than the average girl but…

“Couldn’t we at least have 30kg bombs?”

As she humbly put forth her proposition, Tomoko was put down by Sqn Ldr Häkkinen.

“Truthfully, we'd like you to have 250kg grade bombs… I mean, if it were possible, we’d have you carry 250kg bombs.”

Words failed Tomoko. Those were the kind of bombs used by specialist bomber squadrons.

“We’re a fighter squadron. We’re not capable of the raw power needed for bombing duties. As soon as we encounter enemy units, we’ll end up dropping them – I’d like to ask for permission to engage in aerial combat instead.”

Sqn Ldr Häkkinen stared intently at Tomoko… then shook her head.