So, this is going to be my first Strike Witches Fanfic... Well this will be much different from the other FF's I write but... It was quite fun researching locations to use in this fanfic since it's based on our world :3

Blaze: ...

What...

Blaze: YOU MADE ME A GIRL!?

Get over it... I didn't want you to be a male witch, or some of you out there a wizard, so I made you a girl... No biggy. Anyways! I'd like to thank both Atikabubu and Doran Maya for inspiring me to write this story. If you haven't read their stories yet, I highly recommend both of them with Atika's The Chosen One series and Doran Maya's Legendary Witches series. Now onto saying that I don't own the Strike Witch's series except for my original content and OC's. The rights to Strike Witches belong to their owners respectively... NOW ONTO THE STORY!

Glowing Ember

Ember's POV:

To be honest, I don't know why I'm even alive. With what happened, I should be dead as dead can be. Incinerated in a Striker fire after crash landing, crushed under some rubble, blown to bits by an explosion, or vaporized by a Neuroi beam but here I am, laying in a soft bed of my new base, my sister in arms reach. To understand everything, lets start off from the beginning. My name is Ember Vermillion, and my life was for ever changed on December 7th, 1941.

It all started off with myself being in High School like a good teen, not minding about the war as much for there's nothing I could really do to help with the war. I was no witch, I had no magical powers, so I just stood back and let the people who could fight, fight the Neuroi in some distant land I had no clue about. My father was a mechanic in the USAAF and was stationed out all the way in Hawaii so we didn't really get to see him often. I've always looked up to my father and he had taught me how to be a mechanic when he was home for a visit. He showed me how to dismantle an engine and put it back together, fix nearly anything, and told me the basics of maintaining the Witch's best friend, her Striker Unit. I guess you could say I wasn't your average Liberion girl for I never really got into any of that stuff girls often seen doing. Back to the story, school had only just ended for me and I was walking back home with my sister, Blazette. Opening the door to the front of our house, we announced we were home before our mother greeted us.

"We're home!" I shouted, taking my shoes off at the door.

"Welcome home dears." Her voice carried from the kitchen to the front door with ease, even with the radio on in the background. "How was your day at school?"

"Same old, same old. Teach us this, teach us that. Then there's the reminder about the war over seas." I grumbled, sitting down heavily.

"How was your day Blazette?"

"Come on Mom, you know I like to be called Blaze." She puffed her cheeks in annoyance before going on to answer her question. "The project I finished went well when I presented it." She cheered causing a small smirk to crack on my face. Looking past her out the window my thoughts started to drift.

'I wonder what it's like to fly up there. Fly up there as a Witch.' I thought, looking as the bird flew freely. My thoughts drifted to our father, tinkering away and fixing up Striker unites down at Hawaii in Pearl harbor. How much fun he might be having at the moment messing around with the inner workings of a Striker unit. I was having a perfectly normal life with a happy family and I never wanted that to end. I started to day dream on working on a Striker engine with my father when what ever song was playing on the radio cut out and a voice of a reported started to speak.

"We are sorry for this interruptions but we have some urgent news." Lifting my head from where I propped it on my hand I looked around myself. My mother had stopped cleaning the dishes and turned off the faucet and was looking, with my sister, at the radio. What really had caught my attention was the urgency in the reporters voice. A voice of... Of fear. "W-We have just received information t-that... That the Neuroi have been spotted on Liberion soil..."

'Liberion soil? Could they have come to the main land all ready? But, there isn't a large hive around us unless...' My mouth felt dry and parched as I listened, swallowing whatever spit was in my mouth.

"I am sad to say this but... Pearl Harbor was attacked by the Neuroi." My heart sank instantly. My mother gasped, placing her hands over her mouth while my sister tugged on my sleeve nervously.

"W-What does he mean that P-Pearl Harbor was attacked Ember?"

"I-I don't know... But I'm pretty sure that daddy is all right and will be coming back to us soon." I said, hugging her.

"He would have called us by now if he's been attacked... What if he's-"

"Maybe the phone lines were damaged mom." I persuaded, trying to keep us from jumping to conclusions. "It's to be expected if the Neuroi attacked. The phone lines might have been cut or something. He's alive... He has to be alive." My voice started to quiver slightly as my mind started to think the worse before I pulled myself together, helping my mother with dinner. I tried to sleep that night but the news kept me awake.

'The Neuroi attacked us... We're... We're going to war... The United States of Liberion has just entered the war for humanity. The war against the Neuroi...' Sooner or later, I must have finally fallen asleep because the next thing I see is the morning daylight enter through my window. In almost robotic motions, I got up and got ready for school the same day. Helping my sister get to her middle school, I entered my own high school; the halls filled with chatter about the attack on Pearl Harbor. My friend talked to me slightly trying to comfort me for they knew that my father was stationed at Pearl Harbor. They were sweet talking me, telling me that he's all right and he will be home before I knew it... Two days later we've received a letter in the mail stating that my father, Carlos T. Vermillion was Killed in Action on December 7th, 1941. My mother read the note to us but she didn't cry out loud. My sister had all ready buried her face into my chest, bawling her eyes out but I looked worriedly at my mom. Her eyes seemed to empty of all life as she let the letter slip out from her hands and leaned herself up against the counter top. The slip of paper glided down to her feet but she just stood still, tears falling from her eyes, but no noise was coming out of her mouth.

"Mom, please, snap out of it." I said calmly. No response. "Mom, please snap out of it!" I said louder, getting out of my chair, shacking her slightly. No dice. "Please Mom, snap out of it!" I cried out to her but she only slumped her head down, looking at the floor with her dull, lifeless eyes. My mother had become a lifeless shell and there's nothing I can do now to help her. The shock was to much for her systems to handle and she just crashed. "Come on Mom... Let me take you to your room..." I said softly. She nodded ever so slightly in return as I took her hand to lead her to her room.

'Cold...' I thought, as I touched what used to be the warm and loving hands that belonged to my mother. Blaze had finally calmed down from bawling to sniffs. Her eyes, puffy and blood shot from all the crying. With my mother not able to complete her task anymore, I had to take over this family or we won't survive. I dropped out of high school and obtained myself a job at a mechanics shop. If one thing my father left behind before his passing was his gift of making me a natural mechanic. If it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be able to put food on the table as easily nor would Blaze still be going to school. I had to take over nearly everything in the house from cleaning the dishes, making the meals, doing the laundry, and getting Blaze to school on time before making it to work. It was exhausting but if it meant that we will survive, I will keep on going. Though I guess in all the hard times I've had back then, there were also the good ones. One being how I learned that I had the magical powers of a witch.

A year had passed since the news of my father's death reached us and my powers manifested when I was walking Blaze home from school with some groceries I had bought. We were walking, making haste to get home to my mother when three grown men stepped in front of us, stopping our progression.

"Will you please move?" I asked kindly.

"What's with the rush young lady?" Said one of them, as he looked me over.

"We just wanted to talk to you for a few minutes." Another one said, giving me the same treatment. I met him back with a glare. "Ouch! A fine, yet feisty, one we've got here boss."

"Yes... A very fine in indeed." The three men started to circle around us, pushing us deeper into the alley way. Sticking my arm off to the side, I pushed Blaze further behind me, glaring at the thugs in front of me. "Listen sweetie, darling, don't make this difficult or..." The two thugs on his left and right both pulled out knives while the one in the center pulled out a Colt revolver. "We might hurt you."

"Like I'd do anything I'd tell you!" I growled at them. I wasn't going to let them have me nor Blaze, so I stood my ground.

"Boss, I don't think she's going to give herself to us."

"Oh, what a shame... I was hoping that you would have just come quietly... I guess you give us no other option." He aimed his gun at me and I tried to get as much of my sister behind me as I could. "I bet a bullet to your leg will make you change your mind." With a click, he pulled back the hammer before pulling the trigger. The crack of a gun echoed through the street and alley way we were in and I looked away, eyes clutched waiting for the piercing pain. But it never came. Opening my eyes, I looked astonished as a bright blue shield was in front of me. A Witches shield.

"Y-You're a Witch!?" The leader asked frightened, taking a step back. What fear I had stored up inside of me now burned away leaving only hate for these three. Jumping forwards the three, I noticed that my agility had increased. The leader fumbled with his gun slightly, trying to aim at me before I delivered a high kick upwards, kicking the pistol from his grip and into the air. It landed with a clunk behind me before I pivoted on my left heel, swinging my right elevated leg 360 degrees around me, slamming my heel into the side of the leaders head knocking him unconscious. I also noted my reaction time had improved when I side stepped one of the thugs that was trying to stab me. Grabbing his arm, I pushed inward at the elbow joint before it bent inwards with a snap. Letting out a blood curtailing scream and falling to his, I drove my knee up kneeing him in the face knocking him out as well with a bloodied nose. The last thug tried to slash at me from behind but I grabbed his arm before he made contact and threw him into the brick wall hard enough that some of the loose mortar fell lose to the ground. Looking in a puddle that was in this ally way, I had noticed on my head were two brownish ears poking out along with what looked like that tail of a Golden eagle poking out of my bottom. Willing to turn what ever I had on, my ears and tail retracted into my body before I turned to a petrified Blaze. Taking her hand, we quickly left the alley way and I went to the police station to report what had happened. After they sent a squad car to pick up the three thugs, I made my way quickly back to the house.

"Hey Ember..." Blaze's voice was nearly a whisper. "Thank you for that earlier..."

"Hey, don't sweat it." I said with a slight smile, ruffling her hair before I put the food away. "Go on now. Start your homework and I'll be getting dinner ready."

"Okay!" With a smile, she hefted her bag to the dinner table, taking out some text books and a piece of paper to write her answers down. Meanwhile, I headed to my mothers room for a little talk. With a slight knock on her door, I eased it open to see that she hadn't left from where I last saw her. She was sitting in a green chair in the far side of the room, a distant lifeless look in her eyes. She's been gradually getting better over the year since the news hit us. She's been able to help around the house in small ways. She could cook a meal here and there but with this discovery of my Witch powers means that it won't be enough. Taking a chair, I placed it right across from her and looked at her, hands clasped together.

"Mom... We need to talk." Her head shifted ever so slightly as she looked up at me eye to eye. "I need... I need you to make a promise." I waited a second expecting a reply, getting none before continuing. "I need you step up and take care of Blazette. I know that I had to do everything and you're not ready yet but... Something... Something came up..." I looked down before back up at her face seeing a message as if she's trying to ask why. Doing what I thought was right, I activated my powers, causing small blue glow to outline my body and my eagle ears pop out of my head. Some more life seemed to return to her eyes as she processed what she just had witnessed and just enough for her to sit up straighter.

"I just only learned about this now and we both know what this means..." She nodded her head, her jaw moving ever so slightly as she tried to form some words. "I know I'm asking you a ton to do this but... Please. I need to fight for I am one of few that can fight the Neuroi on their own terms. I will make sure Dad's death wasn't in vain." My face was full of confidence as I tightened my grip around my hands when my mom placed her hands on my shoulder. I looked up at her surprised and I saw something I thought I would never see again. She was smiling. Getting up slowly, she half shuffled half walked into the kitchen and started to cook dinner. I could hear how shocked Blaze was when she saw my mother walk in and started to cook while I sat in my chair with filled with relief.

'If she's able to keep this up, then I won't really need to worry as much as I need about Blazette while I'm gone.' The very next day, I talked to one of my friends asking if she could walk my sister both to and from school after I showed her my magical ability. She agreed and I thanked her. Blaze's school bell just rung signaling that school had ended while I stood outside the gate waiting for her. Escorting her back to our house, she sat down immediately and started on her homework.

'Now's the time to talk to her. Now or never.' Taking the seat across her her, I looked at her as she worked diligently.

"Hey, big sis, when you're up in the sky, kill some Neuroi for me all right?" She didn't even bat an eye towards me. "What? Of course I know you were going to talk to me about you becoming a Witch and going off to who knows where to fight the Neuroi."

"Well if you know what I was going to say... Then there's not much for me to say other than you should not slack off in school just because I'm not around."

"Yeah yeah..."

"Audrey will be coming by each school day to bring you to and from school."

"Will you send letter home?"

"Whenever I can." With a smile I placed my hand on her head, ruffling her short red hair up a bit. The very next day after seeing my sister off, I went down to a recruiter and enlisted into the USAAC. Basic training in surviving on the ground if we were to be shot down, weapons training, and Striker training. That's basically all we did until I completed training. I flew a range of Strikers from P-40 Kittyhawks, P-47 "Jugs" Thunderbolt, P-38 Lightnings and F4U Corsair. The Kittyhawks... Good for beginners but lacks in everything for full combat compared to the others. The Jugs I liked the stability they have and were the primary Striker unit we were trained in but they felt a bit slow for my taste. The Corsairs had a nifty wing design that helped with lift slightly but again, felt a bit slow. Then there's the lighting. Love at first sight. The perfectly tuned up Allison engines just purred and the flight characteristics are to my liking. Sadly though, the group I was in were specifically training in the Jug. Soon after we completed training, we were handed over to the 370th Fighter Group, lead by Colonel Helma F. Nichols. Though to some of my fellow Witches shock, and my joy, Helma had the whole Fighter Group fitted with P-38's. I basically flipped out of joy when I heard this and ever since then, we've been flying Lightnings. I kept on flying and fighting since the group was shipped off to Britannia RAF Andover base. Over that time, I've been writing letters back to my family, happily hearing that my mother has been helping my sister out as well in my absence. Her grades had been higher than usual and that brought a smile to my face. Even if I didn't send a letter home when ever I could, they were still informed that, "The Fire Maiden of Liberion has reached 50 kills in 6 months," in the news paper.

"Fire Maiden of Liberion" A nickname that a reported gave me when he came out to the 370th base to report on my achievement. To be honest, about 20 of those kills were drones belonging to a large mothership like Neuroi but hey, a kill's a kill. And to make things clear, the "Fire" part in "Fire Maiden" is only for play on words because of my name. I don't have any fire abilities... Though how sweet it would be if I did heehee. Through those achievements also came a promotion, which I happily excepted the higher pay grade to send back to my family back in the states. I grew quite close with my squadron mates since it was only the 7 of us Vs. the Neuroi. I especially grew close to our commander, Colonel Helma, and she knew everything about me from my sister, my friends, and my father.

Sitting in her office, I was reading a letter that just came in for me and what was inside of it took me back.

"My god..."

"What's up Ember?"

"My sister... She's a Witch now." A few seconds of silence as Helma gazed at me before what I said finally hit her.

"Blaze is a Witch now!?" She yelled, nearly jumping out of her seat.

"Jeez, keep your voice down all right? Yes, she says that her own powers manifested when she was sitting in class thinking about me." A light chuckle escaped my mouth, thinking about how her powers manifested. As the weeks flew by, more and more letters came in from her, telling me about her time in flight school. Telling me that it was hard, how close she was getting. Good things, bad things. She even befriended a red headed Witch named Charlotte. After completing her basic flight training, Blaze told me that she was being sent off to the 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group down in Orlando Florida. She would be staying there for a while longer, training in using her P-61 Black Widow Striker and the use of her magical antennae she has for night patrols. Weeks later, I got a final message saying that her training was nearly complete and I let out a sigh.

"What up?" Helma popped her head into my room as let my hand slide down the side of my bed, letter entwined in my fingers.

"It's been so long since I saw my sister... She's grown up quickly and I wasn't there to see it. She became a witch, made friend, and now she's about to complete her night fighting training."

"Come on Emb's. Don't think like that! Who knows, maybe she might make it into a very friendly bunch of people. Maybe she'll be in a squadron close to us." She left with a peculiar smile that confused me for quite some time when one day, when I was coming back from a patrol, I noticed something funny. On the rout back towards the base, I could make out what looked like a C-47 Skytrain flying in the opposite direction. That looked out of place to me but I brushed it off to the side as landed. Taxiing my striker into it's dock, I noticed that there was another launcher in the hanger. One housing a P-61 Black Widow Striker. Again brushing it off trying to keep my hopes down, I walked down to Helma's office to report that I didn't find anything on my patrol. With two knocks on the door, I heard a muffled, "Come in," from the other side, prompting me to enter.

"Colonel. I've just come by to report that-" I stopped mid sentence as I saw another red haired girl standing in the office as well. She turned around and looked at me, blinking twice before a stupid grin started to spread across her face and she then lunged at me.

"Ember!" She tackled me to the ground with a glomp.

"B-Blaze!? How- I mean- What are you doing here?" I stuttered out as she rubbed her cheek against mine with that grin of hers when Helma spoke up.

"She's our new Night Patrol Witch for the 370th."

"But... How?"

"I pulled some strings and asked for some favors... Also, with reports from other Fighter Groups saying that there's been a greater number of Neuroi going out at night. Other than that, she will make an excellent edition to the team, bringing us up to a count of 8 units!" I smiled, happy knowing that I was with my sister yet again and for over a month, things been going quite nicely. Blaze even scored three kills in that time. Everything seemed to go so perfectly again and my life had finally righted itself... Then it was flipped upside down and everything just went FUBAR. It was just the beginning of June when it happened.

We were celebrating my 100th kill that night. Blaze had all ready gone out on her night patrol. Everyone was in a good mood and it was all ready getting late into the night when Helma gave me the order to get Blaze on the radio to tell her to come back and enjoy the evening. Going up the the radio and radar room, I contacted my sister.

"Hey Blaze, how's the patrol going on?"

"Everything's clear for the moment." She said through the transponder. "Though it's a bit cloudy out tonight. How's the party going on?"

"Fine... But it's lonely without you..."

"You know I have to be on these patrols."

"That's exactly why I'm here. Helma gave me orders to tell you you're patrol is completed tonight."

"Good, cause I was about to pass over the base again." Looking at the radar unit we have in the radio room, I could make out a blip on the screen. It got closer and closer to the center when another blip on the screen showed up. In the exact moment, I started to sense the presence of Neuroi. I learned about this ability when I was out on my first mission, the same mission that I got my first kill. As more and more blips appeared on the radar, I could hear the shaky voice of sister through the radio. "E-Ember! T-The Neuroi! They're-" She was cutoff as a Neuroi screamed their ear cringing scream and a red laser beam show out of the sky. "AAH!" Was the last thing I heard before the transmission was cut.

"Blaze!" Slamming my fist down on a red button, the air raid siren started to blare. Search lights started to power on and tracer fire from AA guns started to riddle the sky shooting at any Neuroi that was sighted by a search light. Looking out of the window, I could see two of my fellow squad mates all ready take to the sky to take on the Neuroi. I ran down the hall, stumbling slightly as a red beam carved itself into the earth, causing an explosion to rock the base. I ran into Helma on the way there and we both ran out to the hanger to get into our Strikers to help fend off the Neuroi attack when a beam shot out, destroying the entrance to the hanger successfully locking down our equipment under a few tons of rubble.

"God fucking damn it!" Helma screamed as she erected a shield blocking a laser beam. "Without our Strikers, we can't do anything!" Seeing a Willy's Jeep I jumped on it's back and pulled the charging handle of the M2 Heavy Machine gun before firing away at the Neuroi over. I shot at anything and everything in the sky for these monster were every where and I got one of them before I had to dismount the jeep as a laser beam carved through the metal. Getting up from the ground, I spotted my sister. She was running over to us with only a few scratches, but no serious injuries. I took her up into my arms when she got close enough before erecting yet another shield to block another laser beam.

"Blaze! Thank god you're alive!"

"E-Ember! T-The Neuroi!... There's so many of them! We can't take them all on!" As if on cue, there was a flash in the sky before a Witch went down, trailing fire. "N-No! Angelina!"

"Come on you two! Follow me!" Helma grabbed my arm, towing me behind her as we ran into the radio room when another explosions shook the building, dust sinking out from the cracks in the ceiling. The lights flickered on and off before everything started to power down. First the lights went, then the computers and then the search lights. Everything was going to hell. Helma cursed under her breath as she started to open a compartment below the radio. I was standing in the door way to the radio room, dread as I watched the whole base on fire. With a puff and a stutter, Helma had got what must have been a small emergency generator placed under the radio started before flipping some switches and picking up the receiver.

"If anyone is listening this is an emergency! This is Group Commander Colonel Helma Nichols of the 370th Fighter Group! To anyone out there please send help! Our base is under heavy Neuroi attack and-" She stopped talking as her hand trembled as a Neuroi flew level to the window of the radio room. "Oh no..." The Neuroi let an ear piercing scream as it formed a ball of red energy and released it into the room. I pulled up a shield and even with that, the force of the explosion still sent me flying backwards. Both Blaze and myself smashed into the wall 20 feet behind us knocking the breath out of myself and Blaze out. Explosions, yells of terror and pain filled my ears when another sound above me caught my attention. I knew the building was started to fall apart and the roof ceiling was collapsing above us. Using my own body as a shield, along with my magical shields, to shield my sister when the first pieces of the ceiling fell. My body was close to buckling under the pressure of the debris when one large piece of concrete fell on top of the shield. The shield broke and the last thing I remember was warmth of my sisters breath on my arm and the darkness surrounding us.

Minna's POV Minutes before the Distress call:

It was late in the night and I was still working on paper work. I sometimes wonder why there's so much of this work in the first place but I guess with everything that goes on in a single squadron amounts to all of this work. Leaning back in my chair, I reach my arms upwards, stretching out my tiered arms out before looking down at the last sheet of paper when a noise caught my attention. I looked towards my radio that I always have on just in case someone broad casts a distress call. Getting up from my chair, I turned up the volume slightly to see if it was anything.

"-of the 370th Fighter Group!"

'That's Helma's group!'

"To anyone out there please send help! Our base is under heavy Neuroi attack and-" Her sentence was cut short as the unmistakable scream of a Neuroi broadcasted through the microphone and my heart sank. "Oh no..." Was the last words I heard before an explosion filled the receiver and then static. Rushing over to my desk, I pressed the button activating the air raid siren for a few seconds before turning on the PA system announcing for all Witches to gather in the hanger. Pushing the intercom in my ear as well, I radioed Sanya.

"I'm returning to base Commander. I heard it the distress call as well.

"Good. Meet us in the hanger to receive orders." Rushing down to the hanger, the majority of the witches had all ready gathered and Sanya just taxied into the hanger. "We've got a distress call from the 370th Liberion Fighter Group. Neuroi have attacked their base. I want Mio, Trude, and Sanya to go with me to support their defense. I want the rest of you alert and on standby if any Neuroi comes in our dirrection."

"Commander, if I may. I've got a friend in the 370th as well. I want to go with you too." Shirley spoke up.

"You may join us then."

"You've got your orders!" Mio shouted to the rest. "Move out!" Waving her hand outwards, everyone dispersed into multiple directions. Everyone I assigned to go on support jumped into their own Strikers, weapons in hand. Jumping into my own, my animal features popped out of my head when my MG34 slid out of the launcher unit. With a hand motion, the rumbles of 5 Striker starting up reverberated in the hanger before the deafening roar of them taking off filled it up. Taking to the sky, we angled ourselves towards the 370th base.

"Hey Minna!" Trude yelled at me. "What types of resistance are we looking at?"

"Unknown so be prepared for anything." As we were drawing closer to the base, Mio had flipped her eye patch up and started to survey the area but only shook her head.

"I don't see any Neuroi in the area Minna... And the base... My god, it's in awful condition." Looking off in the distance, I can see that the orange glow of what looks like a fire. When we drew closer, we could finally make out the full damage of the area. "Oh my god..." Gun installations were burning, buildings were destroyed, and death was everywhere. Taking a gulp as we circled above I started to issue orders.

"I want both Sanya and Mio to circle above while Trude, Shirley and I search for survivors..."

"Roger..." The three of us descended down into what seemed to be a living hell.

"How many Neuroi swarm this place?" I heard Trude say silently as she looked around, guns at the ready.

"A Striker unit." Shirley pointed out. "A P-61 Black Widow... Please be all right" Her animal ears drooped slightly and her last sentence was nearly inaudible. We hovered around when I used my power to try and locate any survivors.

"...-eas-..." I looked up shocked and looked back at Trude and Shirley as the searched around. They too looked a bit confused so they might have heard the voice as well. "Pl-ase.. -elp." There was that voice again. I focused on the main building when I heard it clearly. "Please help..."

"Minna! I'm picking up a very faint magical aura from inside the building!" Mio pointed out and I nodded.

"I can sense people in the rubble as well. Trude! We got a live one in there!" Cracking her knuckles, she quickly activated her magical powers and started to throw away large chunks of concrete and wood before reaching the bodies of two red headed girls; the older one of the two on top of the smaller one. The smaller one had medical antennae coming out of her head and was conscious for a second before she closed her eyes and her animal features retracted. Jumping out of my Striker, letting them drop on the spot, I rushed over to the two dragging them out with Trude's help before checking for any major injuries, finding none.

"Blaze!" I looked up in surprise when Shirley jumped out of her Striker, rushing to my side. "Is she all right?"

"She's fine Shirley. Is this your friend you were talking about?" She nodded her head. "Now get back into your Striker." Nodding, she got back into it before I handed the girl named Blaze to her. Trude took the other girl while I got back into my Strike when Shirley spoke up again.

"Minna, can you grab the P-61? It's still in pretty good condition." Nodding, I slung my MG42 over my shoulder before picking up the Striker and flying up to altitude again.

"Any signs of the rest of the squadron Mio?" She only shook her head.

"During the patrol around the area I found five of the eight fighters in the 370th Fighter Group. All dead..." I bit the bottom of my lip when Mio looked past me at the two red headed girls. "Those are the only survivors of the 370th... What should we do with them?"

"I will decide that later. For now, all Witches, return to base." We flew back in silence before landing back at base. Quickly docking, both Shirley and Trude rushed off to the medical room with the two survivors. I placed the Striker unit I held on a work bench before docking my own. Getting a report from Eila, telling me that there were no Neuroi activity in the area I dismissing everyone and we all returned back to our beds.

'Tomorrow I'll write a full report and contact the Liberion command to see what I should do with these two girls.' I thought as I got into my night gown and slid under the covers.

Ember's POV:

I was standing in my family house back in California, confused why I was here. I was in the kitchen with my mother, sister, and father.

'Father?' I thought before speaking up.

"What am I doing here? Where are the Neuroi?"

"You're with your family silly." My mother teased. "There's no Neuroi where we're living Ember."

"What about dad!? He's supposed to be dead!"

"That stings Ember. Why should I be dead?" Just then the sky started to go darker before an unmistakable scream of a Neuroi reverberated through the room and both my parents and sister didn't even bat an eye. Red laser beams were cutting up everything around us and they kept on acting as if there's nothing happening.

"Mom! Dad! The Neuroi! They're here!"

"Will you stop spouting off this nonsense Ember? This isn't like you at all." My mother dismissed my reaction when a Neuroi appeared in front of the window, charging up a laser beam. I willed up my animal features and erect a shield but they never appeared. I tried and tried again getting nothing when it released. The red beam enveloped everything before I to was washed away in the red light.

My eyes slowly opened up from the nightmare I was having. Focussing, I realized I wasn't in the Andover medical bay at all. I was confused why I was here when I remembered what had happened last night. Turning my head to the side I saw a red headed girl with a green uniform sitting in a chair with another girl, with long black hair, and an eye patch over one of her eyes, and a white sailors uniform on from what looks like of Fuso origins.

"Good, you're awake." The red headed girl said as I sat up. "I'm Commander Minna-Dietlinde Wilcke of the 501st Joint Fighter Wing and behind me is Major Mio Sakamoto. What's your name?"

"Ember Vermillion. 2nd Lieutenant of the Liberion Air Force and part of the 370th Fighter Group."

"The Fire Maiden of Liberion. It's nice to meet a Witch like yourself." Looking around I only saw the three of us in the room and I started to get worried. "Where's my sister? Is she all right?"

"She's doing just fine. She woke up an hour before you did and she's doing just fine."

"What about the rest of the 370th? How are they doing." She only looked off to the side and I understood everything. "I see... Well, I kind of saw that one coming with the amount of Neuroi I sensed..."

"Sensed?" Mio questioned me

"Oh yeah. I'm able to sense Neuroi in a certain distance but that sense is only limited to Neuroi only. As for the amount... Around 10+ large type Neuroi and 15+ medium types attacking. We managed to down about 4 of them, with one of them I downed, when I ran with Colonel Helma to make the call then... I remember an explosion in the room where Helma was before being buried under ruble."

"That fact made you lucky. The whole base was basically destroyed and they must have forgotten or couldn't sense you under all the rubble." Mio had also pointed out.

"What will happen to my sister and I now? The 370th squadron is basically destroyed and our Group Commander is dead..."

"That, I've taken care of." Minna said calmly. I looked at her with a raised eye brow before she continued. "I've contacted your superiors and they've agreed in letting both you, and your sister, join the 501st JFW." She stuck out her hand with a friendly and I took it kind of shocked. "Welcome to the Strike Witches Ember. Is it all right with me calling you Ember?"

"It's all right... How about my equipment?"

"USAAF command are sending over replacement equipment for both your own and sister Striker along with weapons and ammunition. They said that there's a new varient of the P-38 Striker unit that's being developed for you and it's currently in the final stages of being designed and built. It should be completed in a two months plus. They say it's very unique with a new engine installed and a new airframe to hold these new engines." From then on, I was staying with the 501st. I was later introduced to the rest of the Witches in the group. Apparently the Charlotte that my sister mentioned was actually Shirley after all and was ecstatic knowing that she will be spending more time with her. Blaze had started to join Sanya out on the night patrols helping her out and turned to her night cycle so I have to drag her around through the day when she's not sleeping. Mio soon left for Fuso needing some supplies and that was nearly two months ago. From there, nothing much really has happened since then and that's how I've ended up in this room in the 501st base. Everyone here was very kind to both Blaze and I on our first few days here on base... Some more grabby and touchy-feely in some... Area's of the body than the others but we feel welcome. Everything seemed to be finally righting itself and I just hope to god that it won't be flipped over again.

And there's the first chapter! Though just a heads up, I like writing in multiple POV's in my stories so sorry if the shift from Ember retelling the story to Minna's POV during that retelling was a bit... Clunky or weird feeling. It's just how I write. Still, I hope you've enjoyed the chapter!

Here's also the information about both Ember and Blazette.

Name: Ember Vermilion

Age: 16

Cup Size: C

Rank: 2nd Lieutenant

Nation: Liberion

Animal: Golden Eagle

Striker: P-38-J Lightning (Later Changed)

Weapon: Modified M2 Heavy Machine gun

Squad Affiliation: 370th Fighter Group and 501st JFW

Magic Powers: Enhanced Strength and a power to Detect Neuroi in a limited range

Hair Color: Red and shoulder length

Eyes: Red

Name: Blazette "Blaze" Vermillion

Age: 14

Cup Size: B

Rank: Sergeant

Nation: Liberion

Animal: Silver Fox

Striker: P-61-C Blackwidow

Weapon: Modified 1919 for shoulder fire use.

Squad Affiliation: 370th Fighter Group, 481st Night Fighter Operational Training Group, 501st JFW Strike Witches

Magic Powers: Magic Antennae's that can detect Neuroi, send and receive radio waves and has a limited area where she can broadcast thoughts

Hair Color: Shot spiked-ish red hair

Eyes: Red

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