To my worthless daughter,
The stain of dishonour that you have brought upon our family will never be truly forgotten and for that you have my undying contempt and disdain. I for one hope that you find only redemption through glorious death in the service of His Majesty the Tzar, but your father hopes otherwise. Loathe though I am to say it, he wishes that you return soon and unharmed; for all our sakes, do not do this.
Svetlana. For Mother Orussia, for our illustrious monarch and for the honour of House Venediktov, I charge you to die in the defense of our people.
Prove that you are still worthy of your name.
Signed,
Generál-Mayór Viktoriya Venediktov

Leave it to Mother to make a combat assignment sound like a delayed death sentence. The woman carefully folded the letter, flattening out the creases born of a dozen rereadings. She had scoured the words over and over, trying to detect some sense of motherly love hidden in the subtext but to no avail; at least she knew that her Father cared if nothing else. After tucking the letter conveniently away between her ample breasts, Svetlana turned to look out the window; these Liberion aircraft were odd. Good old Orussian engineering would have prioritised ruggedness and practicality above all else, but this plane was strangely... comfortable. Almost as if the design specs took passenger comfort into account; there were even seats for Heaven's sake! The other occupants seemed less impressed; aside from Svetlana's old comrade Mina, there were two other girls and a young man. Three witches and a maintenance tech perhaps? Their ranks seemed to suggest as much; despite being considerably younger than Svetlana's own 19 years, the girls were both commissioned which either implied that they were Sky Witches or that Liberion was running out of experienced officers. After the Kiev Incident the latter was a distinct possibility; after all that was the only reason that a disgrace like her had been deployed.

With boredom pressing in and still a good ten minutes ETA to the Von Braun, Svetlana yawned heavily and tried not to fall asleep; it had been a hell of a flight from Moscow and so far they had been allowed no rest stops. Perhaps it would be alright to to rest her eyes though... 'Mina, be my pillow...' Without waiting for permission, Svetlana threw herself into her friend's lap, snuggling up until she was nice and comfortable. While she had always been very... close to her troops, Mina was a special case. The two of them had been together since training and she was the only member of their old unit that Svetlana had come to rely on, instead of the other way around. 'Wake me when we land...'

Naturally her nap wasn't as long as Svetlana would have liked. Awoken by the buffeting sounds of the plane landing, she sat up with a lazy yawn and set about checking that all her kit was accounted for; clothes, personal kit, armour, emergency supply of vodka... Well, these Karlslanders did things a bit differently, so she needed her own little stash. The idea of going a whole term of service teetotal was... chilling.

She took up the rear as the new recruited filed out onto the Von Brauns's flight deck, squinting in the fierce equatorial sun. She would have liked to say that she listened to the commander's tirade, but in all honesty she only had time for one thought as she sat in that stuffy, overheated briefing room. Chyort, it's hot... Mina would likely be paying attention anyway, so she would get the important bits from her later, once her Arctic-conditioned brain stopped frying... When the briefing was finally over, she filed out and drifted toward their alleged cabins; perhaps, just maybe they would have air conditioning..?

Mina was busy reading with a pair of glasses on on the plane, though she didn't need them they helped when reading for a long time, as was needed on such a long trip from their homeland. No in flight movie or anything, but if she really expected something like that to be on a plane like this she would have been pretty stupid, though she was gullible to the point she almost believed it when Svetlana told her that Liberion aircraft had such things... Speaking of said friend Mina jumped a little when the girl just picked a spot on her lap to start sleeping, honestly she could have warned her much sooner. Though she didn't stop her and just patted the girls shoulder, the small blush from her shock vanishing in the next moment. "Yeah, yeah but make sure not to have any strange dreams ok?"

Soon enough they landed and started to move out, Mina taking note of the others as they exited the plane and she had to wonder how good that mechanic was after being flown out here. She stayed behind to make sure Svetlana even made it to the briefing which was interesting to say the least... "Those two statements don't match" She said commenting to herself on both the flight and ground officers speeches. So many rules and yet they were meant to act how they always had been but just preform well? Svetlana wasn't paying attention, of course not being dressed for the weather like Mina was over heated the girl

Finishing up she noticed Svetlana starting to wonder off and right away moved up to correct her direction to the barracks "Chestno {Honestly}, ya are work sometimes. Come on lets get ya in the shade before ya pass out and I have to some heavy lifting." A small tease escaped her lips as she moved along with her friend to their living space. Wondering why there were no others... Wait, there were no others? Oh dear.

Nicole was a little bit underwhelmed by the tubby little aircraft bringing them to the carrier; while she'd had to work around COD Greyhounds before, she'd also assumed that they'd be making the trip out to the carrier using their Strikers, rather than strapped in between cargo pallets. Clearly she hadn't anticipated working with Land Witches when they sent her here. That said, given how her attempts to make an arrested landing had gone before, going in like this was probably a good thing.

"Thirty Seconds. Thirty seconds to trap." The crew chief's words brought her out of her haze. Remembering the quick briefing she'd been given, Nicole pulled down the goggles on her deck helmet, crossed her arms over her chest, and leaned right back in her seat.

Remember, Nikki, just breathe normally. She thought to herself as the COD swooped down onto the deck. There was an audible clang, then a jerk as the arresting wire caught, dragging the plane from a hundred and twenty knots down to zero in under three hundred feet. The shock of being thrown forward into her harness was still enough to drive the wind from her lungs though.

With a sigh, she released her harness and grabbed her seabag.
Well, at least they didn't have to use a barricade.

Stephen kept toward the back of the cargo plane rides as often as possible. From Britannia to Orussia, then south to the carrier group and the massing fleets, he'd been succesful in keeping a low profile. It helped that most of the other Britannian soldiers were from the lowlands, so while the lot of them clustered together around him, they generally decided the boy in their midst didn't need to be part of the social club. It wasn't as if Stephen cared much anyway- or could care, really. Every three hours he had to take a different round of medication whenever they landed, warding off infections in the air that he might never have been exposed to if his power as a Warlock hadn't been discovered by the Britanninan government.

But he was here now, for Queen and Country, ready to serve in the 707th Wing among the other Strike Witches.

His last round of pills he took an hour before the transport was scheduled to land, and by the time the wheels touched down on the deck of the aircraft carrier, Stephen had already finished getting thoroughly sick and overcoming the side effects. Dressed in Khaki military fatigues with a tartan pattern military cap, he followed the rest of the troops and witches down the ramp slowly and cautiously. The Orussian and Liberion Witches were a colorful sort and judging from the equipment in the cargo bay of the aircraft, he'd be assigned to fight with some of them down on the ground. That could get... interesting.

The briefing and address by their superior officers was a simple matter- Stephen saluted when everyone else saluted and did as everyone else did. He was able to use a natural sense of direction to find his bunkroom after the address, however.

Seeing Room 3's furnishings confirmed the nagging little fearful voice in the back of his head, however. The bunk bed and single loft were not partitioned in any way. No screen, no divider, no nothing to ensure privacy between the other two Witches and himself. As he shuffled his large trunk of a case over to the loft bed, he had to mumble under his breath, reverting back from his carefully practiced Britannian accent back to the Highland speech from his true home.

"Well that's a real scunner! Two lasses an' I bunkin' t'gether, an' how's tha suppose to work?"

"Well, this is going to be an interesting troupe." Remarked Powers as she shouldered her bag in the briefing room after the briefing was over and her squadmates were beginning to amble out. The opening speeches by her new commanding officers were...conflicting to say the least. On one hand their Liberion commander was like most wing-leaders Emily had met before, although she wondered why a witch of her age was on the frontlines. Modern jet strikers were a bit more flexible in their age-range than the old prop strikers, but still very odd. Meanwhile the Karlslander fit every bit the stereotype with regulations and rules and strictness. No difference from her old foreign director back in Hollywood. That old hag was harsh, but Powers owed her a lot for getting her through the rougher parts of WW-N's filming and dealing with overbearing execs. She had no doubt this Karlslander officer would do the same. (Even if she looked to be the type to get in the way of her snacktimes)

Still, as much as she wanted to take it all in stride, Emily couldn't help but notice a few issues. One was the severe lack of sky witches, usually sky witches outnumbered tank witches, but here it was the other way around. Maybe that would be better explained in the tactical sessions to follow. The second-

"Excuse me, Captain Mitchell?" Emily stood up and walked up to her commanding officer with her bag over one shoulder and the paper listing rooming arrangements in hand. "I'm 2nd Lieutenant Powers, transferred from Liberion Witch Force PR. Are these rooming arrangements correct? Do we really have a boy co-bunking alongside witches? That sounds a bit like a recipe for incidents, especially in close ship quarters, ma'am."

Being led by the arm was quite a luxury, one that Svetlana took full advantage of. She leaned bodily on Mina as the two of them headed to their shared barrack room, every so often stopping to loosen or completely remove an article of clothing. By the time they arrived and set down their kit, she had stripped down to her undershirt and shorts, the rest of her thick uniform stuffed unceremoniously into a duffel bag. 'Bozhe Moy, Mina! This room is so big! We even have our own beds; wait, we get beds..?' Another luxury of Western design, proper modern beds were not a thing at the old Siberian outpost. Straw and blankets, just like the good old days. In a way it was kind of sad; at night the whole unit had curled up together to share their body heat, making lights out one of the cuddliest times of day. This Karlslandic design seemed so harsh and impersonal, almost like it was... well, military. After alternately gawking at the accommodation and sighing wistfully, Svetlana set about unloading her bags and making the cabin a bit more homely. For a moment she seemed almost professional as she hid a dozen bottles of vodka around the room, sliding them into all sorts of unexpected places just in case of inspection. An Orussian flag was draped over the door, a set of ancient matryoshka dolls lined the rim of their single porthole and a tattered old pennant took pride of place in the corner, the last remnant of their old unit, stolen by Svetlana before the disbandment. Once everything was in place and the room had a decidedly Orussian decor, Svetlana turned to her roommate with a radiant smile. 'Soooo... You know what I'm going to ask. What were the big boss-ladies saying when I zoned out?'

1415 Hours, CV-04 "Von Braun"
Off the coast of Neuroi occupied Oman

"Excuse me, Captain Mitchell?" Emily stood up and walked up to her commanding officer with her bag over one shoulder and the paper listing rooming arrangements in hand. "I'm 2nd Lieutenant Powers, transferred from Liberion Witch Force PR. Are these rooming arrangements correct? Do we really have a boy co-bunking alongside witches? That sounds a bit like a recipe for incidents, especially in close ship quarters, ma'am."

"Ahh Lieutenant Powers, nice to meet you! Odd to see you not in some USO get up, but glad to have you aboard. The bording arrangements? Yes, the Warlock will be staying with the two of you Powers. The Witches barracks is strategically the closest living quarters to hangar A-5 where the Strikers are kept, so in order be able to take off at a moment's notice, we can cut our time significantly." she paused and rolled her eyes to Paula. "Or that's what Lieutenant Wittmann says."

---

In the afternoon sun, a lone Witch came in for landing on the Von Braun. Upon completion of the landing, she earned a few stares from the deck crew. She not only wore a Liberion "Black Ops" uniform instead of the standard Navy of Air Force ones and flew a strange looking Striker. Soon after her arrival, another C-2 Greyhound landed, carrying the specialized maintenance crew for her striker, known as the "Martians" due to their extensive knowledge of the experimental stealth weapon. After a bit of asking around, the new Witch was able to find her way to the briefing room where she saw a few of her new witches mingling about along with her new commanders. She aproached the two just after Captain Mitchell had finished answering a Witch's question. She gave a sharp salute and handed over some papers. "1st Lieutenant Dorothy Zelco reporting as order ma'am!" Patty looked over the papers and gave a short nod.

"Glad to have you on board Zelco, we could definitely use your.... specialized skills, room assignments and schedule the board over there, your bunking in room two. Go dump your luggage and have a rest. Must had been a long flight." Patty said with a sympathetic smile.

Dorothy was very grateful to the commander, but nodded and saluted before heading to her room. She was exhausted from her journey that started all the way at Langley Air Force base in Liberion to now here in the Middle East on the Von Braun. She tiredly opened the door to her room to find something that sort of shocked her. "Well they've certainly made themselves at home in here." she thought to herself upon looking at her room. Before her was her room utterly decorated in Orussian trinkets and a flag. One her roommates had already stripped down to more comfortable clothing while the other still wore her standard uniform. It seemed Dorothy's unexpected arrival had interrupted their conversation.

"U-Uh... Sorry! I Didn't know if anyone was in here or not.... I-I'm 1st Lieutenant Dorothy Zelco.... Nice to meet you. Pardon my intrusion! D-do you mind if I put my bags away?" Dorothy stuttered out. She was completely unprepared to meet her roommates so suddenly, not to mention her already established social awkwardness she was still trying to overcome. Not to mention the intimidation she felt from them being so much more older than she was. "Dammit! Why is so hard to talk to people!" She thought in internal frustration, trying to ignore the amount of anxiety and nervousness already going on and calm herself.

Mina sighed as they entered the room, thankful that they were able to reach there before anyone noticed the witch stripping down due to the heat, though honestly their outfits left little to strip in the first place, so at least she was glad that Svetlana kept her undershirt on. Mina wasn't feeling the heat as much as her comrade due to the lighter uniform she was wearing, but either way she seemed more in the zone now, even decorating the room as she went. Though Mina just tossed her bag at the end of her bed for the time being aiming to do something about it during lights out.

She was calm and stretching a little up until the point when Svetlana asked what had gone on before and for some reason it pissed her off to know that her friend thought of this as routine! The next moment Mina had attempted to place her foot onto Svetlana's belly to push her back, and with crossed arms she continued to prod her with crossed arms. "And what if I don't tell ya huh? You should really pay attention more otherwise you are really going to be in trouble-, huh?" At the sound of the door opening Mina's attention got drawn to the girl that had entered the room... Right away she grew almost crimson red as she noticed the scene the girl was looking at. "I-i-i thought that it was only us in this room. Ah, I mean not that you shouldn't be uh..." Standing almost at attention Mina tried to play it cool, though failing. "Sure, you can put your bags away. S-So you are our room mate too?"

"Go figure a Karlslander thought of that." Snarked Powers, before promptly blanking out the other half of her line of snark as she mentally registered she was talking to a superior officer. Even though the PR corps were loose on the regs, Powers knew better than to badmouth a superior officer on her first day. (She played that character role often enough thank you!) So she took a different track.

"Ah, I get that kind of planning makes sense on paper ma'am, but in practice.....Well there were some incidents back in USO when we had to co-bunk on occassion, and I'm not keen on a repeat performance." Emily tried to carefully word before just shrugging. "Maybe its me just being paranoid, and I'll try to give the guy a chance, but I hope you understand my discomfort at this scenario. Any rules of engagement I ought to be aware of in this special-case guy, or should I conduct recon first?"

Oh how the mighty have fallen, Svetlana thought as she cowered under her previous subordinate's boot, eyes squeezed shut and covering her head. 'I know, I knoooow... but that's why you're here! You're supposed to be my brain.... eh?' Suddenly the weight disappeared from her side and she dared to peek out from under her hands. Another witch stood by the door, fidgeting nervously and eliciting a rather cute little response from Mina; another member of the 707th? It took a few seconds of nervous conversation for Svetlana to twig on, but once she realised why this girl was here, she bounded back to her feet and threw herself at the unfortunate Dorothy. The poor girl's face ended up at roughly breast height as Svetlana gathered her up in a bear hug, trying not to squeal. 'O moy, you are adorable! I want you all to myself!' She turned to Mina, her eyes aglow. 'Can we keep her? Can we, can we please? I promise I'll cuddle her every night and everything!'

Unsure about the proper placement of a male in these quarters, Stephen hurriedly decided to take the bottom bunk in the cabin before making some decorative decisions. He stripped the top sheet off the bed, then tied it to the posts connecting his bunk with the top one, creating a thin but functional curtain out of the military regulation cloth. With a little bit of privacy now awarded to himself, he hoisted the case he'd brought with him from Britannia onto the mattress and popped the lock.

High command gave him a list of what would and would not be available in the ship's infirmary, so Stephen had made sure to pack other medications he'd need accordingly. The pill bottles rattled quietly within his case every time it shifted, like he was bringing a dozen baby rattles with him into a war zone, but the bright orange bottles were safely stowed beneath his official uniforms and civilian clothing.

The only other item he brought with him was the flag of the Britannian highlands, bright blue with the white X through its center, which he started to hang over the blanket screen as an extra layer of privacy... and not so subtly claiming as his own.

"Maybe its me just being paranoid, and I'll try to give the guy a chance, but I hope you understand my discomfort at this scenario. Any rules of engagement I ought to be aware of in this special-case guy, or should I conduct recon first?" Powers said. At this point, Paula stepped forward and Patty visibly smiled weakly and backed off, as if she was putting some distance between her and what was about to happen next.

"Well Lieutenant, I know this may be hard for your thick headed Liberion mind to understand, but he is your squad mate now. He is part of the 707th, just like you, so take this as an opportunity to learn about the squadmate who will be, in fact, fighting right beside you. Remember, this is nothing like your movies, or PR stunts. There are no special effects, no fake bullets, and no actors. This is what war actually is, and in order to survive it, you need to be in tune with your fellow witches, or in this case, warlock. He is here to fight, just like everyone else in the 707th. Pick up your baggage and go get settled in your new room assignment, Powers." With that, Paula oddly stormed off, seemingly trying to hold back more of her frustration. At this point, Patty sighed and walked up next to Powers.

"Sorry about that. She's been dealing with some personal stuff lately that hasn't put her in the best of moods. Normally she's a hell of a lot friendlier, but right now.... well... just try not to get on her bad side. Anything comes up, just report to me for now. Anyway, don't worry about Private MacTeer. I don't think he'll be much of a problem." Patty patted Powers on the back and smiled. "Now ya better head over to your quarters and meet the guy. Wouldn't want to disobey the Lieutenant's orders now would ya?" Paula said with a chuckle.

---

"Can't....Breath....."

It was all Dorothy could get out as her Orussian squad mate smothered her in her big bear hug.

'O moy, you are adorable! I want you all to myself!' She turned to Mina, her eyes aglow. 'Can we keep her? Can we, can we please? I promise I'll cuddle her every night and everything!'

Dorothy was utterly confused now on what was going on. First she came across her new roommates doing.....something and next thing she knew she was getting choked to death by an Orrusian gushing over her like she had found a puppy. With a little bit of prying, she was able to at least get some room to breath.

"Please....let...me....go...can't....breath.." she was able to once again mutter before the hug tightened again. "How does anyone survive like this? Is this how they greet strangers in Orussia? What is happening?" Dorothy thought, confused and bewildered.

Emily Powers faced the brunt of the Karlslander's tirade with a stern and focused face, taking in the lecture as her due response considering her PR past. Go figure a frontline witch wouldn't take the idea of fighting alongside a USO actor witch and grant little leeway to someone who only reenacted battles and heroines. But on the other hand, this was rather heavy-handed even for a frontline fighter. One thing a actress knew was how to read her audience, and she could tell something was seriously off about the 2nd in Command of the 707th. She said nothing and tanked the unsubtle accusation of incompetence without comment despite her usual maverick streak, deciding it would make a better show to demonstrate she kept up with her A-10 striker training than to get into a verbal sparring match on day 1 on the stage, but on the other hand this Karlslander evidently wasn't practicing what she preached. If you were on the acting stage lady, I'd have words for you.

After she finished her rant, Powers simply nodded and saluted in acknowledgement before the Karlslander stomped out, before turning aside to Patty. "Sorry about that. She's been dealing with some personal stuff lately that hasn't put her in the best of moods. Normally she's a hell of a lot friendlier, but right now.... well... just try not to get on her bad side. Anything comes up, just report to me for now. Anyway, don't worry about Private MacTeer. I don't think he'll be much of a problem." Patty patted Powers on the back and smiled. "Now ya better head over to your quarters and meet the guy. Wouldn't want to disobey the Lieutenant's orders now would ya?" Paula said with a chuckle.

"No ma'am. I'll do my best. By your leave?" Said Emily, before picking up her bags and heading out the room towards her quarters. But not until she pulled out a Hershey bar to snack on the way, both to cool down and to curb her munchies until dinner. She was going to have fun playing with this Karlslander about snacks on duty.

Walking up to her designated quarters, Powers took in a breath and knocked. "Anyone in there? Lieutenant Powers, coming in."

Stephen jumped at the knock on the door, but figured quickly if someone was knocking then there was nothing to really be afraid of here. He shrugged and resumed tying off the flag barrier on the bottom bunk.

"Aye! Is open an' ah'm decent for ye!"

Mina watched for a moment, interested in what the girls reaction would be to such a thing, which turned out well for what she expected to happen. However soon she had little choice but to walk over to the pair and use her impressive strength to pull Svetlana off the girl. "Honestly you don't even know her name yet" Letting go of Svetlana she made sure to be the buffer between them for the moment so that the girl could catch her breath, and of course so that Mina could check her over. Though only to turn to her friend and give a thumbs up

"Ok, but you have to take good care of her"

It was pretty unclear if she was joking or not by this point, but soon she had to get down to the real deal here. "Ah, right I forgot. I am Mina Kalaska, and the one that molested you is Svetlana Venediktov. I can spell it out if you need to make a report." Again, not very clear... "We didn't see your name on the list, so sorry for decorating without consulting you and all, please make yourself at home heh." She throught it may have been seen as kinda rude just ti slap Orrusian colors everywhere.

Aleranicus said
Stephen jumped at the knock on the door, but figured quickly if someone was knocking then there was nothing to really be afraid of here. He shrugged and resumed tying off the flag barrier on the bottom bunk."Aye! Is open an' ah'm decent for ye!"

Hoo boy, he's in there. Okay, easy Powers. Take it easy.

Powers opened up the hatch to find the male member of the 707th already settling in and having laid claim to the lower bunk of the room meant for three with a improvised privacy screen and flag. In fact, the entire room lacked co-ed provisions. Suffice to say things were going to be interesting here.

"Well, looks like we're roommates." Remarked Powers, tossing her bags to claim the loft bunk for herself before turning to her male roommate and holding out a handshake in greeting. "Lieutenant Emily Powers, transferred from Liberion USO and Witch Reserves. Nice to meet you mister...MacTeer was it?"

The sensation of something soft and cute wriggling against her chest was one that Svetlana could kill for... Nothing filled the heart quite as well. Unfortunately Mina was of a different opinion, peeling an unwilling Svetlana off the adorable little thing and blocking her hugging path. But at least she said yes, that was a start, right? Although now that she thought about it rationally, perhaps the girl herself should be allowed a choice in the matter. Her obsession with cute things slowly subsided as her more motherly side took over and Svetlana rested her chin on Mina's shoulder as she peered happily down at Dorothy. 'So you're Dorothy then? I apologise for that... I can get a bit eh, excited at times.' She at least had the grace to look embarrassed. 'As my Mina says, I'm Svetlana and I will be your new Mama.' Not for a moment did she grasp how creepy she sounded or how immensely wrong that statement was. As far as Svetlana was concerned, this girl marked the beginning of her new 'new' family and was therefore quite special.

"Aye," Stephen said casually, offerin his own hand in greeting to Emily though a nagging voice in his brain said he knew this girl from somewhere. "Ah'm called Stephen back home. Stephen MacTeer. Is a pleasure meetin' a Bonnie lass as yer self, ma'rm!"

Waving at the sheet over his own bunk, the Private gave a sheepish smile at the jury-rigged privacy screen. Also realizing he might've been laying on the Gaelic accent a little thick, he tried to switch to a more formal, standard Britannian manner of speech for his bunk mate.

"I tried ta make the best of the situation for ya. If'n you'd prefer this bed, I've no problem moving to another for you miss-"

Then, the name of Miss Powers clicked into his brain- Powers. The USO star. The HOLLYWOOD star. And like that, all his pretenses and junior rank conduct flew out the window. Stephens eyes widened, he drew a sharp intake of breath- and screamed the highest pitched fan girl scream the ship and any of its crew had ever heard or would ever likely hear.

Powers winced at the Britannian's fanboy squee and promptly clamped a hand over Stephan's mouth. Oh great. Not just a boy. But a fanboy to boot.

"Yep, thats me Private." Admitted Powers with a smile, taking her hand off his mouth when she figured Stephen cooled down. "The girl of World War Neuroi and the Liberty Girl series is at the front fighting alongside you, certainly going to be something to tell your folks back home when this is over. I'd appreciate if you don't do that again. Got enough of that in the states."

Powers turned back to her loft bunk and proceeded to take out a few sundry items. A few sets of clothes and uniforms, a pack of pictures of her old stage troupe, and a sizable bag of goodies. Taking a pair of bottles of cola out, she flash-chilled them with her magic and held one out to Stephen as a friendly gesture. "Well, you evidently know a lot about me, but you seem to have me at a disadvantage mister MacTeer. How did you end up getting some magic? I haven't heard a peep in the radio or newspapers or any Witch memos about a male magic user. Whats the big secret?"