Preamble: Note that this is a three way mashup and I couldn't find Super Dimension Fortress Macross in the category selection. And no, Robotech doesn't count.

"I remember a time when us 'Steelwings' couldn't hold a candle to them Witches but in this day and age? Well, let's just say the gap between us just got smaller, a helluva lot smaller."

-Attributed to Roy Fokker in the report of the Mayan Conflict, 2008

"They say as a witch ages, their magic wanes. They are incorrect. Or rather, they have been misled, deliberately if I might add. A witch's magic does not wane, it stabilises. Puberty makes magic volatile. That we used to force young girls to constantly sustain the peaks of their power to combat the Neuroi is a testament to our desperation and ignorance. When we finally realised our mistakes, many of that generation had already burnt themselves out. Their ability to even fly Strikers was irrevocably damaged.

[…]

Oh how proud we were at the advent of jet Strikers. We had solved the age old problem of retaining combat worthy witches. A question still remained however. How do we exploit the power peaks in witches undergoing puberty? Well ladies, I believe to have found an answer. With the over-technology of the Macross my team and I have been able to push the esteemed Dr. Miyafuji's Magical Engine Paradigm to new heights. Let me introduce you to the Infinite Stratos concept."

-Copy of an unused draft of Dr. Shinonono Tabane's Millennium Address to the Witch Council

In 1999, an alien spaceship crash landed on Earth in what is now known as South Ataria Island. Having survived not one but several Neuroi incursions, humanity was as ever ready to combat the threat that spilled out. None came, there were apparently no survivors about Alien Space Ship 1, as it was called. The advanced technology aboard thrust mankind ahead in to the future, begetting conflict all over the globe as the United Nations attempted to band its member states together in the face of another potential extraterrestrial threat. After nearly a decade of bloody conflict, the United Nations emerged as the sole military hegemony and government of the planet. As for ASS-1, it was remodelled in to the United Nations Space Defence Force flagship. Christened as the SDF-1 Macross, it was an undertaking that was a decade in the making.

That was why there was a combat air patrol flying around the south edge of South Ataria's airspace. They were a four strong formation consisting of two Witches, callsign Spellcaster, and two fighters, callsign Skull and had been told to expect company. Friendly reinforcements were being flown in to reform the legendary 501st Joint Fighter Wing, the Strike Witches. The Witches of course were like excited at the prospect of flying under such a venerable banner. That didn't mean their current patrol was not boring however.

"Man whoever thought up of night patrol is the worst."

"Just hang in there Huang," her fellow Witch said, "I hear we'll get a proper Night Witch when they arrive."

"Easy for you to say Houki, you're never tired," Huang retorted.

"If only it were so Huang. I still have nothing on the scopes."

"What about the boys?"

"What about us sparkles?" an image appeared in their HUDs.

It was the image of a blonde man in his thirties but that didn't betray the weight of a veteran in his features. That he was using colloquialisms only cemented the fact that he was not someone to be trifled with in the Houki's minds. Few pilots could call a Witch a "sparkle" and get away with it. It was the mark of a man who had out-flown and out-fought a witch.

"Nothing on our end," Huang replied, "You Steelwings see anything?"

"We're flying noses cold remember?" the man replied.

"Then what's the point of patrolling then?" Huang asked rhetorically.

Houki sighed at her flight lead's behaviour. She didn't deny that the patrol was boring and that they had agreed for the Witch unit to use their own sensors as opposed to having the Valkyries fire up their radars. Her, along with Huang, were flying their own specialised, custom-tailored Striker units derived from the Infinite Stratos concept her older sister had designed so tactically it was better for them to be the ones in the thick of it.

There were a limited number of such machines, roughly 450 of them in total. The reason for their rarity was materials in their construction. Their cores were built from an extremely rare and strange material dubbed 'fold quartz'. ASS-1 had a small stockpile of it. Most was used in research but the small amount that Shinonono Tabane had managed to squirrel away was used in her next-generation Strikers she called Infinite Stratos. Initially developed as an EVA platform, the Infinite Stratos was easily repurposed for a more militaristic purpose.

It was a powerful weapon when paired with a witch. The Infinite Stratos contained a true adaptive AI that interfaced with a witch's familiar and thus magic. A witch and her magic could be classified though they were generally unique, possessing its own quirks in line with a witch's personality. That the Infinite Stratos AI could compensate and complement a witch's magic was the miracle enabled by the over-technology of ASS-1 and supposedly Shinonono Tabane's genius. In addition to the general improvements across the board, it was VTOL capable, could operate in barometric extremes and with rapid storage handled via magic. Striker stands were still used of course but with practice IS Strikers could be deployed and stored like a witch did her familiar. This was doubly so for personal IS Strikers, the only time they required a stand was for regular maintenance. It widened the gap between a conventional jet fighter and a Witch, even if the pilot was a veteran and the witch a trainee. In fact, it could be considered the next generation of Striker technology, equivalent to the jump from prop-powered Strikers to jet-powered ones.

Houki was part of a new generation of witches that were being trained in the use of the Infinite Stratos. They still started their education from prop-based units and then moving on to the jet-based ones of course but she was just part of the select few who had been selected for Infinite Stratos training, if barely. Unlike most her peers however, she was given her own personal IS Striker simply because her older sister had made her one. Having passed with average grades from the Witch Academy and having been recruited in to the UN Spacy Witch program, she had protested, if only for the principle of the matter.

In the end there was nothing she could do it, her objections were noted then overruled by the Witch Council. At least they stuck her with her friend from an exchange program during her academy days. That she was also in possession of a personal IS was probably part of the decision, Houki mused. After all, once a personal IS Witch, forever a personal IS Witch. In many ways, they would grow, fight and live with their personal IS and to have someone she could relate to without having to go through the whole process of friendship was a blessing to Houki. That said, Huang may be brutally honest on just about everything but that didn't mean she had to antagonise their fighter complement.

To say fighter technology was always a generation behind Witches would not be incorrect. It may be true that these new Variable Fighters could match a Striker in manoeuvrability but they still lacked the sheer defensive capabilities of a combat Witch. Fighters had always made that up by firepower and range. There were few witches that had the right set of abilities to fight at 'Standoff Range', which was a few klicks. To fighters, that was 'Knife fight Range', shorter than their normal 'Dogfight Range' of a dozen klicks. Needless to say fighters had a different scale in their engagements and it was considered suicide to dogfight a Witch.

That was why when there was a pilot who could they were regarded as the best of the best and jokingly called 'Gnomes'. In their patrol right now was one of them. His name was Roy Fokker or Focker depending on where you were from and he was a Major. His last posting had been the UNS Asuka that took part in the Mayan Conflict, parts of which were still classified and would be for the next half of the century. Houki wasn't curious about the famous ace at all. It was his silent wingman.

Having practically scrambled for the hastily planned sortie, she never did quite catch his face or his name. All she knew was he was Skull-2, the XO and wingman to his flight lead. Whoever it was, it could not possibly have been Kudo Shin however. As far as she was aware, one of the pilots, and an ace, who had flown under Fokker's wing, he had been honourably discharged and sworn to secrecy over the events of the Mayan Conflict. It was thus improbable that he would still be part of Major Fokker's current flight or squadron.

"Gunsight, this is Spellcaster-2, I've picked up a bogey, at least 100 klicks out on our current heading and closing, bull's-eye 163. Do you copy, over?" Huang's report brought Houki out of her reverie.

"Copy that Spellcaster-2, this is Gunsight, we have them locked at angels 35, confirmed friendly. Intercept and bring them home, over."

Command was rather clear with what they saw and what they needed to do.

"Roger, we are moving to intercept, Spellcaster-2 out," Huang replied and switched channels, "Looks it'll all be over soon, alright boys and girls, standard intercept pattern."

"Too right sparkles," Roy returned in good humour on the radio, "Alright Spellcaster we're climbing to angels 60 and are on overwatch."

Standard intercept procedure would have the Witches form up on the package, leveraging their shields and close range weapon systems. Fighters would climb and position themselves to provide longer range interception and support. In the darkness, the Valkyries' scream grew louder as they accelerated higher. Huang barely acknowledged their departure and accelerated, Houki quickly behind her.

For reasons related to aerodynamics, efficiency, range and endurance the IS Strikers usually only materialised on her legs. Until the need to be fully combat ready was present the rest of her systems remained on standby. When they did come online numerous miscellaneous thrusters, avionics and weaponry, appeared looking like terrible metallic wings and over sized armguards. To compensate, her combat boosters kicked in and Houki drew one of her swords. Houki was a dedicated melee Witch, as opposed to Huang. Her friend's IS Striker sported bulbous tumours above her shoulders in which an energy cannon of some kind was mounted. In addition to the equally gigantic curved blades in her hands it made her a well rounded Witch more than capable of filling in for Houki's ranged weaknesses. It didn't quite make her as manoeuvrable but when you had two honking energy cannons, you usually weren't the one getting out of the way.

"Shields up," Houki spoke.

In the dark of the night, the two Witches lit up like a two streaks of red across the sky. It wasn't so much red-shifting as it was the colour of their Strikers.

"Up," Huang confirmed.

A brief, challenge, counter-challenge process later, the transport identified itself and the patrol was brought to an uneventful conclusion. Though it was late, Houki and Huang were by the cargo plane as the rear hatch opened, hoping to catch a glimpse of their new squad mates. Unsurprisingly, their direct superior, Spellcaster-1, or Major Yamada to the two, was also there.

The two young personal IS holders silently gasped when the first witch stepped off the ramp and greeted them.

"Colonel Orimura Chifuyu, I am here to take charge of the new 501st Joint Fighter Wing," she handed their superior a piece of paper who was currently the most senior Witch on site, "My orders are in this envelope Major."

"Orders have been received Colonel."

No doubt they were orders but that wasn't the thing that surprised the two young witches. It was because Colonel Orimura Chifuyu was the first IS Witch. Her hair was long, some of it ended at her shoulders where a low-tied pony tail swung down to her waist, and black like her stern and sharp eyes. There were numerous ribbons on her uniform seeing as she was the first and the best IS Witch. Serial number 001, the Byakushiki or White Knight, was the first combat IS Striker made shortly after the new millennium.

Some would say that its completion was suspiciously in time with a massive missile strike direct at what is now modern day Japan. As an aside, Fuso, along with many other countries had undergone changes in name over the years, some before but most during the U.N. Wars. It was at the tender age of fourteen that Orimura Chifuyu rushed through the takeoff procedures that would have her wield an amount of magic to rival the peak of Matron Miyafuji's power. Called the 'White Knight Incident', it also coincided with the start of the most recent period of international war and global conflict. Despite this, she is considered a poster child of all Japanese and IS Witches.

"The flight was long so I think we'll hold off on formalities tonight if that's alright with you Maya," the famous Witch spoke as if to a friend.

"I'd like that Chifuyu," the Major softened considerably and replied without even opening the envelope, "Let's get these girls to bed."

With a lazy salute, the Major, Houki and Huang led the sleepy witches to their quarters. Right now it was a temporary prefab at the local base. The 501st would rebase to the SDF-1 the following morning at the inauguration. Houki got a good look at the arriving witches. There were three of them not counting Colonel Orimura. From the insignia on their uniform, they were graduates from European Witch academies, specifically, a Britannian, a German and French. The German outranked her as the Spacy equivalent of an OF-2, a Hauptmann whereas Houki was an OF-1, a First Lieutenant. Though shorter than her, the Hauptmann had long white hair, she was that short, and red eyes. If didn't know better, Houki would have suspected the Hauptmann of albinism. The eye-patch over her left eye was also striking. As for the other two, they were both blonde and blue eyed, almost like sisters. The Brit was the one with long hair and curls whereas the French had a shorter ponytail going down only to the middle of her back and her eyes tinted towards purple. Surprisingly, they seemed to get along well despite the former being a lieutenant equivalent and a latter an OF-2 Captain. It must have been the noble bearing they possessed as they walked.

The group encountered a pair of pilots, still in their flight suits, stumbling towards their own quarters. One was still helmeted and was carrying the other pilot whom she recognised as Major Fokker. As their gazes fell on him, he lifted his head up and saluted casually with a charming smile.

"Evening ladies," even his drawl seemed charming.

The pilot helping him, and amidst the dim light she made him out to be a Captain, saluted more crisply before he spoke to his squad leader.

"Told you I should have kept the helmet on," his voice was familiar to Houki but for the life of her she couldn't remember from where, "You owe me one."

"Sure do Siscon," the Major agreed easily, "To the O-Club!"

"We just got kicked out of there Whiskey," his subordinate sighed.

"Ichika?" apparently Colonel Orimura recognised his voice.

"Yes Colonel Orimura, is something the matter ma'am?"

His words were like a slap to the Colonel's face. After all, it was his sister he was talking to. Houki should have realised it sooner but then it had been years since they'd last seen each other. It was brief but Houki managed to catch the tiny frown of the Colonel as well as Hauptmann Bodewig's tiny flash of anger. Most of the others seemed ambivalent to the whole affair. Or maybe they were all just too tired to care at this point.

"No," the Colonel answered tiredly after a beat, "No, carry on Captain."

Without further words, he saluted crisply and dragged Fokker off with him. The witches were settled in short order, most of them anyway. Houki sat at the steps leading up to their temporary barracks. She had one pilot on her mind.

"You should get to bed," the Colonel's voice sounded from behind her.

"Ma'am," Houki returned, quickly getting up.

"None of that right now Houki," her senior spoke, "Just Chifuyu is fine off-duty. How've you've been?"

"To be honest Chifuyu-sempai I didn't think I would even see him again, least of all in Spacy."

All she got was a snort and a tiny grimace in reply.

"It's because of Madoka isn't it?"

"He just couldn't let her go," Chifuyu sadly confirmed, "I believe he keeps a picture of her in his cockpit."

"I see," was all Houki managed.

"Anyway, I'm going to bed, you should do the same, magic or not you still need some sleep."

That was just like her to remember what Houki's magic was like. There wasn't much she could do about Ichika anyway. The U.N. Wars affected every one and the Orimura sibling's relationship with each other had just been another casualty, much like her own but in a different way. With that thought, Houki went to bed.

-2,944 words-