[Strike Witches] Witches of Aurora Novel Adaptation

The Prowess Beyond Magic

(Adapted from the chapter Eini Antia Luukkanen of the manga series Witches of Aurora by Kyougoku Shin)

Peaceful days didn't last long. After being inactive for a time, the Neuroi forces made an onslaught on Southwestern Suomus again. In response, the Air Force 24th Squadron put on brand new equipment, ready to fight back.

"Alright! We have new Strikers and brand new weapons too!" said Nipa excitedly as she looked at the Karsland-made BF-109 she was wearing. This might be the Strikers imported from Karlsland which Aurora had mentioned before. Its slim body was much easier on the eye than the barrel-like Buffalo.

"Try not to break them now, Nipa," Eila teased her friend. In fact, she had adopted BF-109 for some time. She was the first one who got the best equipment as she was an ace, and the same went for Hasse. It was Hasse's BF-109 that Nipa used to continue fighting after Hasse got shot down back then.

"Oh course! I know that already!"

Here came the commander in Strikers, "I haven't seen her crash much lately, so I'm not going to worry."

"Are you coming with us too, Commander?"

The commander nodded, "If I stay away from the frontline too long, my limbs will get rusty. Also, I need to release some built-up tension."

The commander not only wanted to join them, but also offered to give out commands, much to Eila and Nipa's surprise.

"It has been a long time since I was assigned here, but I don't think I've seen the commander fly with us before."

"I've heard from Aurora that she was very good at commanding, but I haven't seen it in person."

"That's true! She's very strong. Don't worry," Hasse cut in suddenly, looking so proud as if she were talking about herself.

Before Nipa and Eila could respond, a surprisingly great number of enemies appeared.

"There're so many of them!"

"Cut the chatter, everyone! Don't be overwhelmed! We are different now. We are much stronger than before."

Indeed, Hasse had rejoined them and their equipment was updated.

"Damn it! I didn't hit any of them. There really are too many...!" Eila gritted her teeth as she looked at the escapees. Although she was known for avoidance rather than shooting, it didn't mean her shooting ability was not up to much. The ranking of witches, after all, was decided by the number of kills. The reason why she was the "number one" ace was because she was the highest-scoring witch in Suomus. That being said, the fact that Hasse was the "number two" ace didn't imply she was worse than Eila; it only indicated that she didn't shoot down as many enemy crafts as Eila did. Even among witches all over the world, Eila only ranked lower than three Karslandish super aces, but it could be totally attributed to the fronts. Most believed that if Eila Ilmatar Juutilainen was born in Karsland, where the heaviest fighting was going on, Karsland would have one more nut reaching the score 200. However, even an ace was only human, it would also be hard for her to deal with so many enemies at one time.

"Calm down, Illu. I already have this sorted out." As soon as the commander finished speaking, Eila sighted a line of bullets out of nowhere hit each of the Neuroi evenhandedly. Eila looked up and saw Hasse hovering up there with a gun in her hand.

"Hasse! What are you doing over there?!"

"Just as I had instructed," the commander answered on the radio and continued giving orders, "Lapra, turn to your six-o-clock!"