[Strike Witches] Witches of Aurora Novel Adaptation

The Witches and the Complex (Part 1)

(Adapted from the chapter Nipa and Hasse (Part 1), from the manga series Witches of Aurora by Kyougoku Shin)

Hands behind her back, Nikka Edvardine Katajanen stood in front of Commander Luukanen's desk.

"You probably know why you're called here today," said the commander. "After deliberating over the recent cases of damage to your Striker Units, we decided we couldn't let you go unpunished this time."

Sure enough, it was for the Strikers.

"Of course, we didn't take into account malfunction problems due to improper maintenance or bad luck, but even then, your Striker Unit destruction rate is clearly abnormal."

"Also, Second Lieutenant Wind's report pointed out how reckless your flight movements were."

Nipa, who had been quietly listening on, suddenly flew into a fit of rage, "That's just Second Lieutenant Wind's point of view! I never pushed myself to do more than I could handle! And in the previous battle —"

Commander Luukanen let out a sigh.

After returning from the commander's office, Nipa stayed in the hangar with Eila. Aside from taking a rest, they stayed there in order to wait for the mechanics to come and fix the Striker Unit.

"So, you got house arrest and had to clean the hangar, huh?" asked Eila, sitting on top of a launch pad in a laid-back manner.

"Good grief. You idiot. You should've just said 'I will reflect on my behavior' and she would get you off the hook, you know?"

"...Shut up." I don't need you to teach me something like that. I don't need you, who will never get punished for destroying a Striker Unit, to teach me something like that. Nipa pouted inside.

However, Nipa's crash rate was indeed unbearably high, especially in Suomus, where the supply of the components was constantly insufficient and heavily relied on imports. Eila took a look at the wreckage of the Striker Unit on a piece of canvas. At least this one still retained its overall shape, much better than the other ones Nipa had used...

Two mechanics came up.

"Oh man, we've got another shortage of parts..."

"The new ones haven't arrived yet..."

"Even if we had them, with our current food supplies we can't do anything. We need to work with what we got. huh."

"Anyway, putting the cladding aside, we're pretty low on parts for the area around the magic engine."

"We hardly have any spares for the actuators too."

"And recently the number of repairs needed increased..."

"If only they could take better care of the equipment."

Both Eila and Nipa heard their conversation. Nipa lowered her head, saying nothing.

"Hey, Nipa." Eila's voice drew Nipa back to reality.

"What's it, Illu?"

"Recently...you've been looking pretty impatient, no? In the last battle, you kept going too far while chasing the neuroi... Thinking about it again, it's really strange."

Nipa, whose back was to Eila, had a firmer grasp on the broom she was holding, "It's not like... I went too far or... It's just that..." I wanted to score a victory and gain credit, just like you...