Tales from the 525th ReBOOT: INSEPARABLE HEARTS

Baltland - June 1944

The roar of Strikers filled the skies. Wilma Fiske and Gianna Fibbia, on their normal everyday patrol, fly low over the forests. The patrol had been uneventful the entire flight; nothing to report, despite the fact enemy activity most days had been higher than ever. Even with that thought in their minds, the duo was starting to get bored.

Fiske reduced throttle, causing her Romagnan companion, caught off guard, to zoom right by. The Farawaylander laughed, then using her speed magic zoomed back to full speed and passed upside down overtop her wingman.

“You like that one? Learned that one all the way back in the 601. Was the best way to get the early Neuroi off your back, just hit the brakes and he’ll fly right by.” Fiske laughed.

Gia laughed in response. “Billie, you’re truly something. But don’t forget you can rely on my shield, its always gonna be better than manoeuvring.”

“I know, I know… I got you, you got me. We’re the perfect element, inseparable.” The Farawarylander said.

As the duo cruised along, the radio suddenly came to life.

“Wilma, Gianna. Return to base. I have a favour to ask of you two.” Laurnet said.

“O-Oh, uh, yes ma’am. Give us five and we’ll be there.” Fiske replied. The duo banked hard and turned 180° back towards home.

“I wonder what Laurnet needs us to do,” Gia said, then started giggling, “She must need a really good prank pulled on someone!”

“Heh, I wish. Probably some paperwork or something boring like that. I don’t blame her for wanting someone else to share that chore.” Fiske said.

After a fast flight home the duo thumped down on the runway and taxied in. Exiting their strikers and heading straight for Laurnet’s office, they were met with Sonja and Yvonne, the newest member of the group, standing next to Laurnet. The three of them were looking intently at a map of the northern section of the patrol area, a good few miles from where Fiske and Gia had just been.

“Laurnet, we’re here! What’s up!” The energetic Romagnan yelled excitedly.

The commander turned to face the entering duo, a frustrated look on her face.

“You girls haven’t encountered anything in your patrol sector, correct?”

“No ma’am. Surprisingly its been really quiet over there. Why?” Fiske answered.

“Well, based on what Petra and Rosanna have reported in their night patrols, and what Allied ships have radioed in while you were out, there appears to be a particularly dangerous Neuroi lurking around in the area.” Laurnet said.

“Oh jeez. No, I can’t say we’ve run into anything, at least not that I could tell. You know we’ve run that route every day this past week, so it totally would’ve noticed us by now.” Gia commented.

“Here’s the thing.” Laurnet explained, “This specific Neuroi seems to be quite fast, and apparently pretty stealthy when choosing its target. A flight of two transports during patrol last night were downed by this thing and the girls could barely get a bead on it and make chase before it disappeared…”

“Are you suggesting the two of us go after him alone?” Gia argued, motioning towards Fiske. “I know we’re good but I don’t know if the two of us could handle something like that…”

“No, of course not. What I want to ask is that you two go up with Yvonne and Sonja as a flight tomorrow and try to take it on as a group.”

“Oh? That’s no big deal then. Yeah, they can join us, they can sit down low and bait him out and we can swoop in and bag that bastard before he even knows what hit him!” Gia said excitedly.

“Woah now. Listen. I need Fiske and Yvonne to go in first and bait it out, then you and Sonja work together and kill it.”

Gia’s expression changed.

“W-What?! Nonono! Why does she get to fly with Fiske, we’re an element! She’s got an anti-tank rifle too, she can be down low with Sonja...” Gia looked over at the witch, still decked out in all of her gear from her own patrol, “...no offense…”

“None taken, but you should listen to the commander.” Sonja replied. Fiske stood quietly, her face turning red with embarrassment.

“Thank you, Sonja. I would like you girls to get at least some extra training flying with different wingmen. While yes you two could be the best element in the 525th, theres always the possibility one of you gets downed and the other needs to keep fighting. Plus with Sonja’s magic, we can have her take an MG 42 and be just as effective as normal. So please, just humor me and do this…” Laurnet said.

Gia sighed.

“Fine… just no funny business with my Fiske…” she said, staring at the Soumus witch.

“Eh? I… uh… okay…”

~~~

A few hours later, in Fiske and Gia’s room. The duo had settled in for the night, having just finished their dinner. The Romagnan sat at the desk, scribbling something on a piece of paper, whilst Fiske sat in silence watching her. After a moment she piped up.

“Uh… Gia? Y-you’re not mad about the commander’s orders… right?”

Gia rotating around in the chair to face her companion answered the question for her. She had a very frustrated look on her face; she had kept it since the orders were received.

“Gia…?” Fiske prepared to ask again, but before she could continue the Romagnan turned back around towards her paper.

For a while they sat in their respective positions, a deafening silence between them. Suddenly the sound of their door creaking open broke it. It was Yvonne, giving the door a tiny knock as she entered.

“Ahem. Sorry to bother you two, but I was wondering if you wanted to look over the plan for tomorrow, Wilma?”

“Oh! Uh, Sure sure. That’s a good idea. Usually Gia and I-”

Fiske stopped as she noticed Gia stand up. Grabbing her piece of paper and pencil, she motioned towards the desk.

“Have at it. I’m going to the bathroom, then I’m talking to Sonja.”

She ran a hand through her hair then stomped out of the room, sighing as she walked down the hall.

“Um… oh my... Did I come at a bad time?” Yvonne asked nervously.

Fiske looked at the ground, then back up at the Suomus witch.

“I… No. S-she’s just worried about tomorrow…”

The blond witch could clearly tell what was up. This was just like when she first showed up. She cracked a smile, then sat down next to the Farawaylander.

“You know what I think?”

Fiske looked at her, a confused look on her face.

“You two really like each other, don’t you?”

Those words pierced Fiske and her face immediately flashed bright red.

“I-I-I… we… I mean she… I… ehhhhh…. Maybe…” she mumbled.

“Knew it.” Yvonne thought.

“I thought so, back when I first showed up and you grabbed me in flight.”

The Farwaylander screamed internally, having almost purged that memory from her mind.

“Eh…. yeah… she wasn’t happy after that was she… sorry…” she replied.

Yvonne laughed. “Its no big deal. Been there plenty of times before. I’ve also seen witches just as close as you two are. Inseparable, right?”

Fiske nodded. “Damn this gal is smart, or just pays attention.” She thought.

“Thats great that you two are so close like that. I love seeing it myself. Warms my heart; almost as enjoyable as my gardening. So tell me, how long have you two been an element?” Yvonne asked.

“Oh… uh… s-since back when she first joined. When we were at RAF Banff in Britannia. We kinda… fell for each other right there…”

“That's absolutely adorable. So she's probably all worked up about us flying together tomorrow instead of you two together?”

“I-I guess so… But I’ve never really seen her like that until you showed up… no offense but I think she’s worried about you taking me from her.” The Farawaylander explained.

Yvonne looked out the window and laughed.

“She doesn’t have to worry about me at all. From what I can tell you two are perfect for each other. Look, after this flight tomorrow I’ll help you out, maybe we can set up a nice dinner for you two to make up and all will be well, right?”

Fiske chuckled and ran a hand through her fluffy hair.

“T-That would be nice. Thank you Yvonne. L-lets get our plan ready and get this Neuroi out of the picture.”

“Right back down to business. I like it.” Yvonne replied.

~~~

The sun had barely peeked over the horizon, and a layer of fog made itself at home over the airfield, yet the air was full of sound as four witches completed their final checks before startup.

Fiske stood at the bottom of her unit’s dock, inspecting the rivets and panels on her striker. Nearby Gia had just climbed up and stepped into her G.55.

Across from them Sonja was checking Yvonne’s L-39, the blond witch stood there watching, embarrassed.

“The hell did you do? How do you manage to jam this thing so much?” Sonja grumbled as she attempted to clear it.

“I-I don’t know. It just happened, okay?” Yvonne responded.

As that duo attempted to fix the issue, Fiske looked over at Gia, who was flipping through her checklist.

“Gia? Do you want me to read off the checklist with you?”

The Romagnan looked back, a serious look on her face. “No, I’m good. Thanks though.”

“Oh. Okay…”

Fiske continued their preparations and stepped into her Striker. Sonja and Yvonne had joined them at this point, having cleared the weapon’s jam. Fiske read down her checklist before making one last attempt to converse with her companion.

“You ready?”

“Mhm. Let’s go. Engines on. Ready to go when you are, Sonja.” Gia shouted across the hangar.

The Farawaylander looked over in disbelief. “I can’t believe she’s this mad…” She thought.

“Fiske, you good to go?” Yvonne’s words shook her out of her thoughts. She looked over at the blond witch, who had just stepped into her unit.

“Y-yeah. Starting up now.”

With that the hangar roared with the sound of Striker Units coming to life. One by one the witches disconnected their units from their docks and taxied out. Fiske noticed that this was indeed some thick fog. Perfect for her and Gia’s specialty; bad jokes.

“Man, you almost need a knife to cut through all this, eh Gia?” She joked.

“That’s stupid. Lets focus.” Gia replied sternly.

Fiske looked back towards Yvonne, who after hearing this response had just as much of a surprised look on her face as Fiske. “S-she loves my nonsense jokes though…”

She shook it off as they lined up for takeoff. The group took off in pairs; Sonja and Gia first, with Fiske and Yvonne following.

~~~

After a few silent minutes, the group had popped through the fog and climbed through a low layer of clouds that sat above it. If she was to be honest, Fiske was nervous. The weather mixed with the recent events made it seem like the world was adding to her worries. She and the others remained in silence as they levelled out and cruised along. This was finally broken up by Sonja as they approached the target area.

“Alright girls. Focus. Remember the plan. Yvonne, Fiske. Extend out a bit and sit right along that cloud layer to draw this bastard out. Its low, remember, so don’t get down in it or you’re sure to hit a tree. I don’t want to deal with that mess.”

“Roger that, we’ll be careful here. Watch our six.” Yvonne answered, and the duo accelerated forward. Fiske looked back towards Gia, seeing only the blank facial expression she had the entire day and night before, then looked back at Yvonne.

“Try to keep up.” She said, then with a burst of magic zoomed far ahead of the Soumus element leader, who sped up to follow.

They descended slightly and, per Sonja’s orders, hugged the cloud layer. They were close enough that if she wanted (and the mood was a bit lighter) Fiske could reach out and touch them. She contained her playfulness for now, and she quickly realized what a good decision that was. The very top of a pine tree flashed by her left side.

“Careful… Don’t get too close now, especially at high speed.” Yvonne noted.

“Roger, yes ma’am.” Fiske closed formation more.

Suddenly, without any kind of warning, the sky erupted with fire from below. Bright red Neuroi beams pierced the cloud layer in front of them, forming distinct round holes like Helvetian cheese.

“voi paska! We need to start doing some fancy flying now!” Yvonne yelled. Beams approached closer and closer and the duo went on the defensive, narrowly avoiding a few of them. Yvonne deployed her shield and readied her L-39 and Fiske fired a burst with her .303; she then slotted in behind her to protect herself. The Neuroi then slowly peeked through the cloud layer. It was surprisingly large, about the size of a ship.

“Damn, that’s a big one! Sonja, Gia, we need you guys now!” Fiske yelped.

In response, the two witches sped forward and prepared to defend their comrades, but Sonja stopped before diving in.

“Keep going girls, keep firing. Bait him out just a bit further. We need to catch him with his pants down.”

The defensive flying witches below them led the large Neuroi into a game of chase, the whole time opening fire with their weapons. As they fired, though, Yvonne’s weapon jammed. In the heat of the moment she attempted to fire anyway and the rifle completely malfunctioned. The duo began to panic and in the process let their guard down. The trailing Neuroi had fully exited the clouds and was preparing to fire with what appeared to be its main armament. A massive red glow was emanating from the center of the craft, and Sonja knew that was not a beam they’d want to get hit by.

“Gun’s jammed Sonja, I can’t get it, need your help!” Yvonne exclaimed, focused on her rifle.

“LOOK OUT DAMMIT, HE’S PREPARING TO FIRE!” She snapped.

She turned around to see the Neuroi’s laser about to fire.

~~~

Meanwhile Fiske, who had accidentally broken formation in the chaos, had the Neuroi nearly in her face. Her life flashed before her eyes, it was 1940 all over again. In her eyes, with Gia never wanting to speak to her again, she was all alone, and it was all over.

“This is it… No amount of speed magic is getting me out of this one. Heh…”

~~~

Suddenly the whirl of engines caught her attention. It was Gia… diving towards her? Her G.55 was ripping itself apart at the intense speed but she was still going. Fiske could almost make out tears in the Romagnan’s eyes as she approached, and she started to tear up as well.

As she came in closer, the Neuroi fired.

The screams of Sonja and Yvonne over the radio were masked by the laser firing, and time seemed to slow down. The laser closed in at incredible speeds, but somehow, Gia was faster.

With no time to spare, the witch snatched her companion out of the way.

“Gun. NOW.” Gia commanded. Fiske then noticed that Gia had thrown her rifle away prior to diving, so she handed her the .303.

The Romagnan’s eyes glowed bright blue; brighter than the Neuroi’s beam, which had barely missed the duo and Yvonne. Her whole body gained a blue glow around it, and magic blue flames pulsed through her veins and around Fiske’s gun.

“This ends here.”

Flaming rounds fired out towards the Neuroi, burning through its armour and preventing its regeneration process. Gia made every single round count; every shot hit its target. After a long burst of incendiary rounds they finally broke through and happened to pierce the enemy’s core. With a massive explosion and flash of white the Neuroi split into millions of fragments. Gia had single headedly destroyed the massive enemy.

Above them, Sonja and Yvonne had formed up, both of them looking at the Neuroi fragments with shocked looks on their faces. Sonja soon came to her senses and punched Yvonne in the shoulder.

“Are you shitting me? You almost got Fiske killed for letting her break formation.” She barked.

“W-what!? You’re not innocent either, you let Gia go!” Yvonne replied.

“Only because she could save her.”

“Well I-” The duo stopped arguing when they noticed a piece of paper floating down in front of them.

Yvonne snatched it out of the air and started reading it. With a smile on her face she folded it back up and descended down towards the two witches. They were hovering in place, Gia’s G.55 belching smoke and fire and missing several pieces of paneling. Both girls were dead silent, staring deep into each other’s eyes.

“Ahem”

Fiske and Gia looked at Yvonne, who had positioned herself next to the duo. She extended her hand towards Fiske, presenting the paper. Upon realizing, Gia’s face turned bright red. Fiske nervously grabbed the note and unfolded it, beginning to read.

“G—Gia…?!” Fiske muttered, beginning to cry.

A smile appeared on the Romagnan’s face, and she began to cry as well.

The duo reached out and pulled each other close for a hug.

“I love you…” Fiske whispered.

“I love you more.” Gia replied, then went further in for a kiss. Fiske gladly accepted this offer.

“That's. So. Adorable!” Yvonne said to herself, watching the cuteness unfold in front of her.

Sonja dove down alongside Yvonne.

“What the hell did it say?” she asked, referring to the note.

“It doesn’t really matter.” the Soumus witch replied.

The clouds had started to clear up and the sun shined brightly down upon the four witches. Suddenly the radio came to life.

“Girls, what's your status?!” Laurnet said.

“Enemy has been destroyed, all thanks to Gia. Though we’ll be a little slow coming home, her unit is heavily damaged.” Sonja reported back.

“Affirmative, good job girls. I’ll see you back at base soon. I’ll send Rosanna and Bo out your way to escort you home.”

As Sonja finished her radio communications with Laurnet, the prankster duo had rejoined her and Yvonne. One of Gia’s units had completely failed, so she had resorted to piggybacking on Fiske.

“You two lovebirds ready to head home? I think you two have a long night ahead of you, a little kiss and make up action eh?” Yvonne said, laughing. Sonja chucked a little in response as well.

Now both prankster lovers were blushing. They simply nodded and then followed their fellow witches home. The duo lives on. Inseparable till the very end.