The sun baked the air at the RAAF airbase, as Lambert sat in a covered jeep, reading a re-reading a personnel folder as he waited for the C-47 transport plane to arrive from Sydney. The somewhat bored Britannian drummed his fingers on the wheel of the jeep, before leaning out and looking up into the sky when he heard a plane approaching.  Aboard the plane was one Lt. James Patterson, better known as Jimmy.  Part of the Liberion Army, Jimmy had recently been assigned to a special unit.  He had no idea from his superiors what this unit was, only that it was important and that it required him to be in Australia.<em>Go figure</em>, he thought,<em>I get just enough accolades to merit leading my own group of guys, and I get sent halfway around the world, by myself, to work with a unit I know nothing about.</em>Once the plane had landed, he hefted his bag, and disembarked.  Graham nodded as he climbed out the the jeep, and made his way over the hard-packed dirt runway. "Lieutenant James Patterson?" he shouted over the din of the engines. "I'm looking for a Lt. James Patterson!"<br/><br/><br/>Jimmy raised his hand.  "That's me.  Are you the guy that they sent to pick me up?"  He recognized the uniform markings as being of the Britannian Navy.  The man jogged over and saluted. "I'm Commander Lambert, attatched to the 501st Joint Fighter Wing," he said. "Got your kit with you?"  Jimmy jerked his thumb over his shoulder.  "I've got what I need for the time being.  The rest of my stuff is being shipped in from Britannia."<br/><br/>"Good man." Lambert said, holding his hat on his head as the C-47 taxied to the hanger. "Come on, I've got a jeep totake us to base."  Jimmy followed Lambert to the jeep.  "So, ah, what sort of unit is this 501st?"  He was of the 506, the infantry unit, but the 501st?  He was a grunt...relatively speaking.  Graham chuckled. "You'll see in due time." he said, as with a grind of gears, the jeep turned, and headed for the road. "I had a read of your file while I was waiting for you." he mentioned.  "And?"  Jimmy knew that his file was a matter of public record for the army, but he wasn't sure what exactly it meant from person to person.  "Impressive as it is, it doesn't say much about you yourself, does it?"<br/><br/>"It's an Army Service Record.  It's not supposed to say much about me...sir?  Do I call you sir?"<br/><br/>"Only on duty. When we're off-duty, call me Graham." Graham said, as he turned onto the road to town.  "Alright."  Jimmy shifted a bit uneasily in his seat.  "Is this some sort of interrogation, sir?  Or a test?  I was only told before I left Britannia to come here that I was well-qualified for the position..."<br/><br/>"Well, lad. The 501st is a rather.... special unit." he said.  "Special, how?  I am a bit confused as to why an Army grunt like me is being sent to an air unit to serve as Weapons Officer..."  Graham pulled over, and reached into the back of the jeep for a worn looking canvas bag. "Have a look through these." he said. "And as for Special... Tell me lad, have you heard about the<em>Strike Witches</em>...?"<br/><br/>"The ..." Jimmy's mouth fell open in disbelief.  "Sir, there must be some mistake!  I'm an Infantry man, I can't even fly a plane to save my life!  And I'm supposed to be the Witches' Weapons Officer?"<br/><br/>"I'm sure you'll do fine, lad. I was in the same boat, back in '44 when they were flying out of Folkestone back in Blighty."  Jimmy sat, numb, in the jeep.  "I just...I just don't understand it, sir.  I mean...there must have been people better qualified then me for the job...so why me?"<br/><br/>"I asked the same thing myself, lad, back when I was first assigned as their Intel Man. I still haven't got a good answer, actually." he grinned sheepishly, before setting out again. "But whatever it is, has to bee a good reason."<br/><br/>"I suppose...sir.  So, ah, why are we here, exactly?  Last I heard the Witches had been doing carrier ops in the Sea of Fuso..."<br/><br/>"The one off Fuso's a tough nut to crack, I'll grant you, but the local Witches are taking  care of it well enough. Downunder here, though?"<br/><br/>"No one to help, huh?  So, how big is the unit right now?  Last I heard it was barely a dozen or so Witches..."<br/><br/>"Well, the Core 501st is here, of course. Their files are there." he waved at the bag. "We're also getting a couple of girls from the Suomus Independent Volunteer Squadron, and some local RAAF girls."<br/><br/>"I see..." Jimmy started going through the bag.  "Any particular Witch I should start with, sir?  Or does it not matter?"<br/><br/>"Best to start at the top of the files with the Colonel's and the Major's, that's who you'll meet first."<br/><br/>"Alright..."  Jimmy took the bag, and looked for the file on the top.  Who did it belong to...?  The file was mostly written in that distinct, heavy Gothic style that Karsland loved for its' official documentation. The name printed on the front, in plain block letters, was Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke.  Exhaling, and trying to make sure that nothing flew away while he read it, Jimmy opened the file, reading up on this...Colonel?  Major?  One of them - Wilcke.  The file listed her as an Oberstleutnant- a Lieutenant-Colonel- in the Karsland Luftwaffe. The photograph attatched to the file was of a pretty, kind-looking woman with rusty-red hair and reddish-brown eyes.  "Says here Col. Wilcke is 23...isn't that a bit old for a Witch?"  He asked Lambert.  Most military Witches, he knew, retired from active duty around the age of twenty.  "That's very true. But..." he paused, and looked around. "Patterson, what I say next doesn't leave this jeep. Am I clear?"<br/><br/>"Yes...sir."<br/><br/>"You remember hearing about the incident with the Warlock machine?"  Jimmy searched his memory.  "I vaguely recall something happening with *a* machine...something that was supposed to be a prototype, I think."<br/><br/>"That's the one. Well, the Neuroi got control of it, and not long after, a Fuso aircraft carrier as well."<br/><br/>"Okay...what does this have to do with the Col.?"<br/><br/>"Well, when Sgt. Miyafuji defeated it, the destruction of it sent a pulse of energy out, and...no one really knows what it did, but whatever it did, sort of supercharged the girls of the 501st."<br/><br/>"So, that's why they're still in service?  Instead of having retired like most Witches?"<br/><br/>"Yes. It helps with the Major as well."<br/><br/>"I see..."  Putting back the first file, he then picked up the second, the name on it Mio Sakamoto.  "And this would be her, sir?"<br/><br/>"Precisely. Major Sakamoto's the lynchpin of the war effort, frankly."<br/><br/>"How so, sir?"  He looked at the file.  "See the eyepatch she's wearing?" he pointed at the photograph. It showed a slender Fuso woman, with blackish-brown hair, dark eyes, and a white eyepatch over her right eye.  "I see it."  He nodded.  "I'm guessing it's not the eyepatch, but what's under it is important, sir?"<br/><br/>"Exactly. Mio's right eye is the source of her power. It allows her to see the energy flows inside the Neuroi, and locate the core inside them."<br/><br/>"Hm.  So without her, we'd essentially fight blind against the Neuroi...not a situation I would like to see.  No pun intended, sir."<br/><br/>"More or less, yes." Graham chuckled.  Once he was done with Mio's file, he put it away, and took out the next one.  Who did it belong to...?  The next was of a rather stern looking brunette, also from Karsland, named Gertrud Barkhorn.  Jimmy frowned.  "Geez...Miss Barkhorn doesn't seem very happy.  Any story behind her?"<br/><br/>"I know it only too well. Back in the Karsland Evacuation, one of the Bastards launched a surprise attack on Trude's home city. Her sister was hurt. Badly."<br/><br/>"Oh."  Well, if you had to be mean about something...at least it was an important something.  "Right."  File done, in, pick up the next one...  The next one was marked with stampings from the United States Army Air Force, and belonged to a genuine celebrity; Charlotte E. Yeager.  "Yeager..."  He looked at Lambert.  "Isn't she the one who broke the sound barrier?"  He'd heard the name before he was even in the Army.  "That's the one. Damn near shook the old Arado I was flying to bits as well."<br/><br/>"Ah-huh."  A comment he'd once heard a friend say crossed his mind.  "Does she still say that all the fat in Liberion women goes to their...you know."<br/><br/>"Yes, and from what I've seen of her and O'Hare, she may have a point."<br/><br/>"Point nothing.  You should see my sister, my mother, and my aunts...they've all got huge...tracts of land."  He smirked.  "Moving on, though."  He put Yeager's file away, and took out the next.  The next was of a silver haired girl, whose file was almost unreadable.  "Ah...sir, I don't suppose you could tell me who this is?"  He showed Lambert the file.  "Not a problem. It's.... Flying Officer Sanya Litvyak, from Orussia."<br/><br/>"I see...she got a story too?  Brother, sister, mother, father?"<br/><br/>"Not as such. She's our night-fighting expert. You hardly see her awake in the day. Her father's some concert pianist in Orussia. She's pretty good as well. Studied in Vienna, before the war."<br/><br/>"Hm.  Well, I'll probably run into her sooner or later."  File in...who was next?  The next was a dark blue file with RAF stampings, of a shy looking ash-blonde girl with Flight Sergeant stripes.  "Lynette Bishop..."  He mused to himself.  She was pretty, with a fairly generous figure - not as big as Yeager's, but not slender either.  "What's her story."<br/><br/>"Her Mother served in the '14-'18 lot. She's the unit sharpshooter. Her eyes are almost as good as the Major's."<br/><br/>"She seems sort of...homely.  Like a girl you'd find as a hospital nurse, or as some fella's girlfriend."<br/><br/>"She used to have.... problems balancing her magic, and it caused her to lack confidence in herself." he mentioned.  "What changed?"  Jimmy had heard the 'used to'.  "She and Sgt. Miyafuji took out a Type-093 Neuroi by themselves."<br/><br/>"So noted..."  Jimmy took a last, lingering glance at the file, his finger slightly drawing over the picture included.   Then he put the file back, and took out the next one.  This next one was of a dark haired, slightly tanned girl with green eyes  "Pilot Officer Francesca Lucchini."  Jimmy stated.  "Romagnan Sovereign Air Force."<br/><br/>"Ooh, she's a mischievous one, she is." Graham said.  "Mischievous...how?"  He asked.  "Or is that something I'm better off not knowing?"<br/><br/>"Probably best not to ask. She's a good pilot though, and when the chips are down she's good to have on your side."<br/><br/>"Alright."  He swapped files once again.  "Now who do we have here...?"  This one was Yoshika's, as it turned out.  "Yoshika Miyafuji...the one Witch that practically everyone's heard about."  He shook his head.  "Took out the Calais Hive by herself...I still can't believe it."<br/><br/>"And can you believe it, she's a Healer." Graham said. "Her forte's Healing Magic." he explained.  "Right..." Jimmy sounded a bit incredulous, but he moved on.  "Next."  The next was the third and final Karslander, a blonde named Erica Hartmann.  "Erica Hartmann...over 250 confirmed kills.  Wow.  Most pilots I know worry about making it to twenty, let alone two hundred."<br/><br/>"Top pilot in the Luftwaffe, but you wouldn't think it to meet her."<br/><br/>"Why do you say that?"<br/><br/>"She's one of the most disinterested people I've met, in terms of rules and regulations. Her quarters back at Folkestone was always so messy, you'd think a bomb had gone off in there."<br/><br/>"I'll...take your word for it."  They probably let her get away with it because she was that good.  Next file belonged to...  This one was a very pale, arctic blonde, wearing a Suomus uniform with Captain's pips on her collar.  "Eila..."  Jimmy shook his head.  "Forget it.  I'm not even gonna *try* to pronounce this one."<br/><br/>"I don't blame you. Four years I've known her, and I still can't get it right myself."<br/><br/>"Good thing, then.  She have a story?"<br/><br/>"Not much of one. She's practically joined at the hip to Sanya." he leaned over. "You didn't hear it from me, but she's very fond of Sanya. Very fond."<br/><br/>"So noted," Jimmy coughed.  "Who's next?"<br/><br/>"How many have you read?"<br/><br/>"Uhh...hang on.  Wilcke, Sakamoto, Barkhorn, Yeager, Litvyak, Bishop, Lucchini, Miyafuji, Hartmann, Eila...Ten."<br/><br/>"That just leaves Perrine's." He said. "Flying Officer Clostermann to us lesser beings." he said with a derisive snort.<br/><br/>"Lesser...?"  Jimmy looked confused, and then opened her file.  "Ohhhhhh...rich girl, I take it."<br/><br/>"Gallian aristocrat." he said, showing him the picture of the glasses wearing blonde girl.<br/><br/>"She looks it.  Got that 'prettiest girl at the dance' air to her.  Anything important I should know about her?  Aside from the fact that we're insects compared to her?"<br/><br/>"Most of the snooty act's covering up the pain from losing her country for so long, I think. Oh, I almost forgot, too... She carries a big torch for Major Sakamoto."<br/><br/>Jimmy frowned.  "Yeah, about that...you mentioned something like it earlier.  Isn't that against regs, or something?"<br/><br/>"Usually it is, but then again, those regs are slightly relaxed with Witches." He then grinned. "Besides, I'm not one to comment, given that the Colonel and I are walking out together."<br/><br/>"I see, that makes...wait, what?"  Jimmy blinked.  "Say who and the what now?"<br/><br/>"Colonel Wilcke and I are an item." he said, blushing red.  "You're seeing the unit commander?"  Jimmy coughed in that sort of unbelieving way.  "That breaks at least three regulations I know about..."  He mused for a moment.  "Though, you're Britannian, and the Colonel is from Karsland...so I suppose Liberion regs don't apply to you..."<br/><br/>"Quite." Graham chuckled. "When we first started walking out together, I was mindful of this, and inquired on that matter. Minna's response was 'Screw them'."<br/><br/>"Alright, well...good for you, I guess.  Everyone's gotta have someone, right?  Especially when tomorrow, you might be dead!"  He laughed.  Graham twitched at that, and rubbed his jaw, where Jimmy now noticed the RN officer had a long jagged scar on his cheek.  Jimmy stopped.  "Sorry...I didn't say anything wrong, did I?"<br/><br/>"Sorry... Just had a few close calls over the years... All of us in the 501st have."<br/><br/>"Hey, now, don't think close calls are reserved just for you guys...I was a grunt, where in the field, all that's between you and harm is the guy in front of you.  If you're lucky."<br/><br/><br/>"I know, I know." Graham said, as they approached Darwin.  "So...this's home?"  He looked at Darwin.  "It doesn't look very good...and I'm not saying that from, you know, a 'cultured' type of perspective, like your Gallian girl would."<br/><br/>"Well, it's the nearest town to the base, so.." he shrugged.  "Well, I mean, like..." He pointed to a building nearby.  "That building looks like it's taken a hit...or maybe two."<br/><br/>"Yeah. That's the thing. Before we got here, Darwin had been 'got' a couple of times, before the local lads drove it off."<br/><br/>"Oh...right.  Gotcha."  Jimmy exhaled.  "Alright.  Show me where home is."<br/><br/>"Right... he said, and turned off onto a dirt road outside town. "It's about 30 miles this way, so hold onto your hat!"  Jimmy had no hat to speak of, but he held on to where he could in the jeep.  Dropping a gear and reving the engine, Graham gunned the jeep down the dirt road. It bounced wildly along.  "Where are we?"  Jimmy shouted.  "Out in the middle of nowhere?"<br/><br/>"Front lines, between the Hive and Darwin!"<br/><br/>"Joy!"  Or, more precisely, no joy.  Over head, they could faintly hear the sound of engines.  Jimmy looked up, to find the source of the sound.  Graham leaned out and looked up. "Allo, it's the Major and Clostermann on patrol."<br/><br/>"Where?"  Jimmy looked around.  He wasn't seeing a thing.  Graham pointed up in the sky.  Jimmy squinted.  "You'll forgive me if I don't spontaneously develop telescopic vision in the next ten seconds!"  The sounds of engines grew louder, and then two figures swooped into view.  "Ah, that's better, I suppose...they can't hear us or anything, can they?"<br/><br/>"They've got damned good hearing, they do."<br/><br/>"Huh..."  Jimmy froze.  "Alright, then...let's just get to where we're going, I suppose."<br/><br/>"All right. Hag on!" he grinned, and put his foot down.  Jimmy hung on, at least until they would arrive at the base.<br/><br/>The airfield eventually came into view. It was a typical Outback station; corrigated iron hangers, wooden huts, a windsock blowing forlornly on the breeze.  Once they stopped, Jimmy got out and gathered his bag.  "So, ah...where do I go now?"  Graham climbed out, and lead him over to one somewhat larger hut. Nailed to the door was a sign proclaiming it to be the OPERATIONS ROOM.  Jimmy followed Lambert.  "I guess this is what we can expect out here, huh?"<br/><br/>"It's not Biggen Hill, I know." Graham said with a grin, before knocking firmly on the door.  "No...it's not DC, either," Jimmy answered.  There was a call of "Come!" from inside the hut.  "Well, ah...I guess I'll see you around, sir."  Stepping inside, James looked for the nearest person, and saluted.  "Lt. James Patterson, ma'am.  US Army, 506th Infantry Regiment."<br/>