Jeanne's recovery wasn't particularly slow, but it took too long for her to get back in the sky, considering a witch can't fly without her striker. To the outside observer, it seemed her attitude didn't change at all.

Changing her tune took longer than expected. She had said too much, and a lot of her demons were still unresolved, but silencing all her hostility and criticism, at least if unwarranted, was a massive step forward for her, and it instantly relaxed the entire base. The 512 and 3rd were already making massive strides to actually communicating and cooperating.

There were still some unresolved conflicts nonetheless.

Fernandia Minguzzi, of the 512 was in a massive shouting match with another Romagnan. Giovanna Ravelli was actually standing her ground this time, not shrinking away.

"Stop stealing parts for your stupid bike!" Fernandia was shouting.

"I'm not stealing! These parts are under the discretion of the 3rd squadron, and this is my patrol bike. My commanding officer didn't give me an order to stop so HERE" she followed up that statement by sticking out her tongue to Fernandia and mounting her bright red machine.

"Now, I have orders to patrol the perimeter of the airbase, if I may, Flight Lieutenant"

Her defiance led Fernandia to make way. She didn't exactly allow herself to feel defeated, but the bike issue was as of yet unaddressed and it was getting out of hand. Not only was the machine a waste of fuel and parts. She was also afraid it would affect the Morale of the 3rd Squadron and would perhaps lead Giovanna to be even more alienated.

As she watched her leave and ride to the perimeter to begin her rounds, she walked out to where Remy was standing and found her shielding eyes from the sun to look intently at the bright red machine, and her comrade who rode it.

Remy was studying the red blur as Giovanna skirted the outskirts of the base. Her riding was part skill, part brutality. It was a wonderful dance she put on as she navigated the terrain, alternating between going at full speed, floating on top of the mud, jumping as she went over every hump, brutally using her legs to kick at the terrain, wrangling the handlebars, moving the bike forward. It was a clear display of sublime skill, someone who had done it thousands of times and knew every intricacy of that art.

She was lost staring at her, studying her riding when Fernandia stood next to her.

"Remy, can I ask you something" Fernandia began asking Remy

Remy saluted seriously, and stood formally before Fernandia, even though her eye betrayed her, drifting to follow Giovanna

"What do you think of Giovanna and that bike?" Fer asked her.

"Ravelli? She's really skilled. Having her here is fun"

This made Fer's eyes widen

"Fun?"

Remy went on

"Yeah, considering who she is; having her here is fun. Jeanne disliked her because she thought she wasn't a good enough witch and well…. You know Jeanne and foreigners but well… we get to see her ride, which is a plus"

Fer was dead silent for a moment before asking

"What do you mean 'considering who she is'?"

Remy seemed to be shocked when Fer asked her this. "How do you not know that? And you're Romagnan!"

Fer just looked at her inquisitively

"Ravelli is well… she's a Motorcycle racing prodigy. She's won many races in Romagna. I think she's one of the best riders in Romagna. She'd still be winning races if she didn't join the Regia aeronautica"

Fer was taken aback by this "So… the 3rd ENJOY watching her ride?!"

Remy started looking side to side worriedly before almost whispering to Fer. "I've even seen Jeanne watch her from the window. She'll never admit it though"

Fer suddenly felt very embarrassed, realizing the girl who she constantly attacked for reducing morale was actually doing wonders for it, by giving her comrades entertainment through her riding.

She was even more embarrassed by not knowing a famous racer from her own country.

As Giovanna made her way around the base, she eventually made her way to the Western end. It was one of the more enjoyable sections of terrain, one that included several jumps and several ruts which she needed to use to navigate through a tree section. As soon as she found herself in clear plains, she allowed herself to look around, since she knew that was where the 512 were.

She saw a white uniform, and her rapid perception allowed her to recognize that it was Atsuko. She slammed on the brakes, and did a quarter turn to stop, facing her.

When she did, she saw that Atsuko had a horrified look on her face.

"What's wrong?" She asked her.

Atsuko then went from horrified to giggling, and pointed in front of her.

Eerika was standing some ways away. Her uniform was covered in mud, no doubt as a result of Giovanna's stop. She was also spitting pebbles.

Giovanna was in shock, and instantly started apologizing to the young Suomus while Eerika just stood there seething.

Eerika didn't say a word, but continued to stare at Ravelli as she sat on top of her bike, arms outstretched, begging Eerika to forgive her.

Eventually, Eerika managed to wipe the mud off her uniform, with the help of Atsuko and Ravelli. It was still far from presentable but it was an improvement.

"I've been watching you ride for some time. You seem very skilled" Atsuko began saying to Giovanna.

"Well, Cara's all I have. Riding like this is all that… It reminds me of my Dad" Giovanna's voice was trailing off as she said this.

"I remember you telling me… Cara, was it? ... that your Motorcycle was a gift from him"

"She is" Giovanna said "He… He died racing another bike. He had given me Cara some time before, but I didn't like his new bike. She wasn't nice like Cara. Cara's nice. She takes care of me, and she would've taken care of Dad"

Atsuko was slightly overwhelmed. She felt very sorry for Giovanna, and also felt awkward at how much she loved that bike and treated it like a person.

"I'm… I'm sorry" Atsuko said

"No, it's ok! I love riding. He taught me how to ride. I joined the Aeronautica to defend Romagna and make him proud!" She gave a very strong salute as she said that, setting her upper body upright as she still straddled the bright red machine.

"Well… I'm sure he'd be very proud of you. You're a good witch. I enjoyed watching you fight Madoka"

"I'll beat her next time! Just you wait and see!" Giovanna shouted

Atsuko smiled and saluted her. After saluting her back once more, Giovanna fired up the loud twin cylinder engine of her Moto Guzzi, that she named Cara and rode off, kicking up a lot of mud as she rocketed off, none of it sullying anyone's uniform this time.

Eerika continued to stare at Atsuko

"What… What is it, Eerika?" Atsuko asked almost scared

"Nothing" Eerika said as she walked off, leaving Atsuko looking puzzled

Giovanna continued to make her rounds of the base's perimeter. She knew she would soon find herself in the area of the base that was most secluded. She slowed down then, knowing this particular area deserved her attention most, since it was less frequented by other viewers.

Cara was easy to ride for Giovanna at high speed, but at low speed, her concentration needed to go up. The danger of her skinny wheels digging into the mud was ever present. It was also difficult for her to make good use of ruts by hitting them just right, forcing her to regrettably avoid them.

She tried to move her acute perception not just to the road ahead of her, but also to the forest on the base's outskirts and to the base itself.

She didn't find any intruders or anything out of the ordinary. She instead found something far more threatening.

Two people were sitting in what would normally be a completely private location, both wearing Belgican uniforms.

Giovanna recognized who they were and decided to give Cara the full beans to get out of there.

It took her just a split second too long to change gears though and what she dreaded happened.

"Giovanna! Hello!"

It was the older of the two girls, Victorique who called out to her. Giovanna knew Victorique's tendencies, and contemplated ignoring her and running off.

She knew it was no use. Victorique knew she noticed her. Ignoring her would be offensive, and Giovanna wasn't like that.

She shut down Cara's engine, and found a hard patch of ground to set her on, and waited for the inevitable.

It wasn't Victorique that worried her most though.

Victorique approached her, with the usual airheaded curiosity, and obliviousness to her surroundings.

"Oh, Giovanna! You're riding again? I'd really like it if you taught me how sometime" Victorique said

"Well… I'd like to but… I'm patrolling now, and… well, Fuel is a problem so… It might be hard until we get a big shipment and…"

Victorique looked deflated at that, but she showed no intention of backing off.

"Well, I'll still look forward to it" Victorique said as she started playing with Giovanna's hair, even taking out a handkerchief to wipe the dirt off the goggles that she had placed on her head like a headband.

Behind Victorique, Giovanna saw Francine seething, so much so that she scared her.

In response, Giovanna recoiled from Victorique, starting up her bike, trying not to appear too flustered.

"Well, I gotta keep going. Nice seeing you, Victorique and Francine"

And with that, Giovanna headed off. She had decided there was no need to stick around so she resumed her usual cruising speed.

Victorique then turned to Francine, looking disappointed. She started speaking to Francine, almost oblivious to her obvious state of discomfort. "Shame she had to go off. Very interesting that Romagnan"

Francine took a second before drawing a large breath and shouting emphatically

"Onee Sama is an idiot!" and leaving her to go sit back down and sulk.

'What's so interesting about her anyway?! All she can do is ride that stupid bike real fast' Francine was thinking to herself as she sulked away from Victorique. Her interest in foreign girls, including Giovanna, had been getting on her nerves. Francine told herself she had no quarrel with Giovanna herself, but why did Victorique have to just ignore her every time she showed up. As she trundled off alone, she found herself a quiet place, under one of the few trees in the airbase. She just decided to sit here.

On checking her pockets, she found a disc of chocolate she had been saving for a while, preserved in a tin box. She had been planning on saving it to share with Victorique, but she felt like she was down and needed cheering up.

As she was thinking what to do with it, she found herself being interrupted.

A very angry voice encroached on her short lived silence. It was obviously the sound of someone muttering to themselves.

"What's so special about bike girl anyway?! Atsuko's just being too nice. Who cares about some stupid bike and some stupid race?"

Francine recognized the uniform as Suomus. She then racked her memory to remember the witch's name but she could not piece it together.

As the Suomus witch was muttering, she was looking down, and in obvious rage, she bent down to pick up a stone and threw it.

When Francine recognized the trajectory of the stone, she dodged out of its way, realizing it was headed straight for her face.

It whizzed by harmlessly. "Hey! Watch what you're throwing that at!"

The young witch started apologizing profusely

"I'm sorry! I didn't get you did I?! I was just thinking…. And that Race bike girl! I'm sorry!"

Francine saw the sincerity in her apology, and decided to let it go

"It's alright, I didn't get hurt. And did you say bike girl? You're talking about Giovanna, right? Why'd she make you mad?"

"She keeps clinging to Atsuko! And I don't like it when Atsuko ignores me!"

Francine giggled to herself on hearing that. The young Suomus had helped her put her feelings and thoughts into a concrete form, and she was almost appreciative of it.

She was suddenly all too aware of the chocolate disc she carried, and realized an opportunity. She found an old low wall that was just the right height for her to sit down on, and called out to the Suomus.

"Hey, would you like some? We don't have much, but I've been saving this one"

The young witch's eyes went wide and for a second, Francine could swear she saw heart shapes forming in her eyes. "REALLY?! YOU SURE?!" The young witch sounded ecstatic, and it amused Francine to no end.

"So, you have a name, Suomus?" Francine asked her as she broke off half the disc, giving her new friend the bigger half

The Suomus witch attempted to say something but it ended up garbled as she stuffed her face with a big bite of chocolate.

Francine waited for her to swallow before asking her question again, humorously asking "wanna repeat that without stuffing your face with chocolate?"

"Eerika. Eerika Lehtnine, Suomus Lentolaivue and 512 JFW"

"Nice to meet you, Eerika. I'm Francine Auguste, 3rd Squadron of Belgican Air component"

"Oooh. I've heard of you, you're the one who loves that tall, pretty one. Was Victoria her name?"

Francine instantly went red in the face.

"D-d-d-don't say that so casually! What's wrong with you?! What about you?! I see you sticking like a puppy to that Fuso witch" Francine replied defiantly.

"Yeah, Atsuko's great. Wish she'd pay more attention to me though. I like Atsuko. She's really nice"

Francine was shocked at how casually Eerika said all that. She almost envied her how honest she was, and wished she could express her feelings as freely as she did. She watched Eerika wolf down the last of the chocolate while she herself was taking small dignified bites.

The chocolate wasn't wasted. She had made a new foreign friend.

Tui felt things were coming along smoothly.

512 and 3rd Squadron members were conversing a lot more. Supplies were on the way from Britannia, mostly because in her correspondence she used wording that made her look a lot angrier than she actually was.

Jeanne wasn't exactly friendly with the 512 but at least she no longer showed any hostility or attack, and being grounded because of recovery and because of missing a Striker both instilled a lot more humility in her.

Tui even managed to find time to idly admire Giovanna as she wrangled her bright red bike around the base. She could appreciate what was obviously the riding skill of a passionate expert rather than an amateur, despite her being so young.

The best news of all was the predicted arrival of a new member. Both she and Heinrike agreed it would make more sense for her to be attached to the 3rd Squadron, since it needed far more bolstering.

She was reading up on her file.

She was from Ostmark, a Flying Officer, same as Jeanne and the others, and her Striker was an IAR 80

Tui almost forgot the Dacians made strikers. And was annoyed to see the one she used was almost as outdated as what the 3rd were already saddled with.

The brevity of the information in her file worried Tui somewhat, it made her feel like there was more to her than what service record or Combat history could convey.

Eventually, Tui decided to stop worrying and wait until that time came. No matter what, things were on the up. All it needed was some coordination between her and Heinrike.

Thinking of Heinrike made her decide to visit the office of her old commanding officer.

Somehow, despite being far less opulent and far worse furnished, Tui much preferred the office Heinrike had in Belgica over the one she kept back in Comiso. The chair was leather, but it had cracks, and looked well past its sell-by date, and the desk, despite seeming to have excellent woodworking was scraped and damaged in many areas, and looked aged.

As Tui walked in, she saw Heinrike sitting at her desk, as upright and commanding looking as ever.

"Good evening, Captain" Tui started, addressing the Karlslander who sat before her.

"Good evening, Tui" Heinrike had formed a habit of being casual with the witch who replaced her, while Tui couldn't do the same. Both witches respected and admired each other, but the way they showed it was very different.

"So, Tui. Have you gone over the new arrival's file yet?" Heinrike asked

"Yes. There's a lot of numbers there, and they're good numbers. Somehow, I feel there's something about her the files won't show"

"There's a large probability that feeling is correct" Heinrike said "Witches who are sent here have a tendency of being…. Slightly coarse, in one way or another"

"We got sent here. We're not perfect but we're far from coarse"

"Even the 512, Tui. The reasons were there. You were a recently disbanded unit with one successful campaign. You each were scattered to the four winds, and each of you had little combat success after leaving the unit, including Atsuko who was pulled back to instruction duty. You were the right mix of capable and surplus. Same goes for Giovanna. By raw skill alone, she's fit to be 504, but her head isn't in the sky. It more often than not reverts to the ground and to two wheels"

Tui saw the sense in Heinrike's logic. They don't send incompetent witches to Florennes, but they send ones who aren't essential to their units.

"Anyway, Fer confiscated this from Sam today" Heinrike said as she held up a bottle of Vodka "Want to help me get rid of it?" Heinrike asked with a sly grin

Tui was shocked that Heinrike of all people would succumb to something like this.

"But… drunkenness on base" Tui said nervously

"I'll court-martial myself later" Heinrike said as she poured a glass for Tui

A few moments later, Fernandia Minguzzi stood outside Heinrike's office. She was surprised to hear singing and some crashing of wood on wood. It worried her and she forced the door open without knocking.

She was met with the sight of Heinrike Falkenhausen, holding a bottle of Orussian Vodka, while Tui was red faced, drunk and on the ground singing

"Gory, Gory What a helluva way to die…..

And he aint gonna jump no more!"

"Started without me, I see" Fer said to Heinrike. "How much have you both had?"

Heinrike seemed completely sober as she replied to Fer

"I've had half a cup. Tui has had this much"

Heinrike held up Tui's abandoned glass which seemed to be completely full

"That looks like it's still full" Fer remarked

"There was an extra sip" Heinrike replied.

"She's only had one sip?!"

"I think she was already drunk when she smelled it" Heinrike said, with a guilty expression on her face

"Hey! It'sh Fer! Why don'tch ya hug me too, Fer, Huh? How come it'sh jusht the little onesh?"

After Flight Lieutenant Tui Gray, commanding officer of the 512, and Ace of the Royal Britannian and Kiwiland Air forces passed out drunk in Heinrike's office, Heinrike and Fer decided to never allow the Kiwi near alcohol ever again, and to never speak of this incident, not even to each other, and especially not to Tui.

When lookout reported an approaching flying object, and Heinrike checked the scheduling, she knew what it meant. When they reported that it was neither Neuroi nor aircraft but a Witch was when she knew exactly what, or rather who it was.

The Witch landed on the runway at Florennes, which had been greatly improved since the 512 arrived. As she managed to stop her striker, she met with Heinrike and Jeanne, who had decided to use this as an opportunity to really overcome her prejudices.

The new witch wore an Ostmark uniform, and was using what appeared to be an old fashioned Striker. What truly set her apart was the weapon she carried, a massive Dutch built anti-material rifle. The gun looked close in size to even Sam's huge cannon, but was obviously of a smaller caliber.

Jeanne, in an excellent act of fortitude decided to salute her first. The words coming out of her mouth were mechanical, but she tried to put as much heart into them as she could

"I'm Flying Officer Jeanne Offenberg of the Belgican Air component, 3rd Squadron. I'd like to welcome you to the unit"

The witch saluted back, with a piercing stare into Jeanne's eyes and replied

"Flying Officer Iris von Edelweiss from Ostmark. Reporting for duty, Flying Officer Offenberg"

The two witches seemed at stalemate. For some reason, Heinrike saw fit to break it up.

"Hello, Flying Officer. I'm commanding officer of the squadron. You're welcome to our ranks. I'd like you to make yourself at home before reporting to my office for further instruction"

"Understood. I'm surprised Flying Officer Offenberg would gladly take orders from someone who isn't Belgican"

Jeanne froze in place. Every muscle in her body seemed to tense. It seemed to especially hurt her since she'd been making sincere efforts to reform.

"The Structure of the squadron is little of your concern, Iris besides knowing that you're to take orders from me. I strongly advise against such comments in the future. You'll find I'm not prone to ignoring anything twice"

Iris did not reply. She simply gave a wry smile, and the reasoning for her assignment to the 3rd was becoming obvious.

Iris's comment did more to Jeanne's confidence than she'd like to admit.

Eventually, the Ostmark witch was becoming a big part of Jeanne's thoughts, and not in a good way. She had just arrived at Florennes, and not even reported to Heinrike yet but she'd already made her hit on Jeanne and with so few words.

Heinrike's warning didn't help either, it was only a hit marker for her, a hole on the paper target.

Her gun seemed to hold a small part of the answer, it was an anti-material rifle, a marksman's weapon, a weapon which promotes using less shots to do maximum damage, a weapon where if there are too many bullet holes, you did it wrong.

It'd only make sense that she'd be the kind of person who would ruin your day with one wry comment.

It bothered her even more that that was the reputation she'd garnered, that of a xenophobe.

She decided to ignore her feelings for now. Retaliation was impossible, she decided to seek out Remy. Talking to her friend seemed to put her in a better mood.

Remy was in their room, cleaning out her pistol again, it made her remember her attitude before the incident that broke her striker, and it gave her a small pang of guilt.

The guilt went away when she saw Remy's face. The young Belgican was beaming when she saw Jeanne.

What did I ever do to deserve her as a friend? Jeanne thought to herself.

"So, meet the new girl? And were you nice to her?"

That stung. Even Remy didn't seem to trust Jeanne to be civil

"Yeah, met her. I tried to be nice, but… apparently my reputation precedes me"

Remy looked puzzled

"How come?"

"She asked how I could take orders from someone who isn't Belgican, when she met Heinrike"

Remy giggled, and that made Jeanne shout angrily

"I'm not that bad! I'm still a soldier!"

"Yeah but you really don't like girls who aren't from here"

Jeanne blushed, defeated "I AM trying to change you know"

"And you're doing a great job"

Remy got up, and got close to Jeanne, hugging the taller witch around the waist.

Jeanne was surprised at first, then held her friend close to her, patting her hair.

"I'm glad you don't hate the 512 anymore. They really respect you, y'know… Madoka was acting like she did the impossible when she shot you down"

"I never hated them, Remy. I hated what we were and that no one paid attention"

"Well, the Ostmark will come around. She'll know how great you are too"

Jeanne cursed her luck

Why did the Neuroi have to attack now? Why did they have to attack while she was still grounded?

Jeanne found herself running to the hangar. Instinct overpowered logic. The least she could do was see her friends off… Her friends in the 3rd, and her friends in the 512.

She was among the first there, if her spitfire wasn't in many pieces, she'd already be almost airborne.

In the near distance she saw the multi colored multinational strikers of the 512 in the sky. Here, in the 3rd's hangar, she saw Remy, Heinrike, Victorique, Francine, Mika and Giovanna all launching, all saluting her as they left, promising her they'd be safe, asking her to stay safe herself.

One witch was conspicuous in her absence.

"Where the hell is the Ostmark?!" Jeanne asked aloud to no one, angry and indignant.

She looked on the ground, outside of the hangar, she'd been informed of the protocol if the air raid siren went off. Jeanne knew Heinrike was probably angry as well, but professional as she was, she wasn't going to delay the takeoff while they wait.

The Dacian builr IAR-80 that Jeanne knew belonged to the Ostmark sat there, docked and discarded, so she certainly wasn't in the sky.

Tui was ahead of her squadron, leading the 512 into combat. Soon enough, she looked to the size, and saw Heinrike with the 3rd formed up behind her.

This was the first time both squadrons would truly start an engagement together.

It would be difficult for the two squadrons to coordinate, if Tui and Heinrike weren't as trusting of each other, and didn't know each other well enough that the 2 squadrons became one squadron with 2 commanders.

Most encounters between the 512 and Neuroi usually started with 37mm cannon shells flying at them from far distance, and Sam did not disappoint. On Tui's mark, one of the bomber-Type Neuroi disappeared.

There were more bombers though, and more fighters escorting them. To Atsuko's surprise, the entire third squadron went headlong into the Neuroi formation, starting a huge turnfight. Tui almost ignored them, choosing to climb, getting into an even flight every while, giving Sam the word to shoot another bomber type.

Atsuko found it ironic how she could no longer take part in the close turnfights that the 3rd was engaged in, her Raiden limiting her to vertical engagements.

Eventually, the order was given by Tui for the 512 to dive down and attack the Neuroi.

That was where it was lethal. The 3rd did very well keeping each other covered and surviving in the horizontal engagements, when the 512 dived down to assist. Sam and Renee were ordered to focus on the bombers while the rest of them were ordered to clear the 3rd of the threats they were engaged with.

It took no time for silver dust to fill the sky.

The entire formation was defeated, the Neuroi seemed to be gone.

Remy wished Jeanne could have been there to see how effective the squadrons were when they fought together.

That was when Heinrike's earpiece went off

"Three high speed types. They seem to have snuck under you. I'll use the Ostmark's Striker to engage them. She's still nowhere to be seen"

Heinrike told her to remain safe until they headed back, but the connection cut halfway.

The Belgicans were all in a state of extreme panic, the reality that Jeanne was on her own against three dangerous Neuroi terrified them.

The striker was unfamiliar to Jeanne, it wasn't fitted to her, and she hated everything about it.

It was better than her Spitfire but it was completely different to anything she was used to. Using it without testing it first was near suicide

If this was how she was going to die, using an Ostmark Witch's Dacian striker, fighting 3 Neuroi to defend herself and that witch, then so be it.

Jeanne let her familiar manifest and the magic flow through the Dacian striker.

As she exited the hangar, she saw the three Neuroi coming at her. They slowed down, and charged up their beams.

Jeanne wasn't off the ground yet. She invested all her energy into her shield, expecting the massive hit.

Using an unfamiliar striker heavily affected her magic energy so the resulting shield did not even look remotely big enough.

Jeanne heard 3 shots. Three cannon rounds. They were not Neuroi beams, they were Human weapons.

When Jeanne opened her eyes, she saw nothing but silver dust. Looking to the side, she saw Iris prone on the top of a building, her Solothurn in hand.

Jeanne knew she'd scored three perfect shots on the Neuroi, surprised at her marksmanship.

Her earpiece had been blaring. She decided to pay attention to it. It was Heinrike

"Yes, Captain. I'm okay. The Neuroi have been defeated… No, not me. It was the Ostmark… Understood. I'll tell her she's not off the hook… No, you did well. They snuck under you. We should've left someone back here. I'm sorry I wasn't useful. Thank you, Heinrike"

She then strode forward to where Iris was, after taking her striker off, and shouted to her

"Where were you?! You were needed out there"

"From where I'm seeing it, I was more needed here"

"You were fortunate"

"I was right"

"You're still getting punished for this"

"I know. I get brig time all the time. Is yours big? How often are the meals?" Iris seemed indifferent as she replied

Jeanne didn't have the patience to tell her they didn't have a proper brig, so she just left her and walked off.

Listening to her snigger made her blood boil. The fact was that she saved Jeanne's life, and Jeanne knew it too well.