The convoy moved hastily through the dry, rocky cliffs of the small ridge that served as a divider on the front. One truck carried soldiers, crewmen, and engineers, another carried much needed supplies and the witche's striker units, and the other carried the 509th's new witches. They had left earlier that morning from a supply depot far from the front, with little evidence of the war around them, but as the trucks drew near their new base of operations, the fighting could be heard in the distance. This particular stretch of the front was one of the hottest, most active areas of combat, and many burnt out wrecks of tanks, trucks, and other vehicles lay on the side of the dirt road as proof. A Britannian Spitfire dug into the hillside that flanked the road still burned from a seemingly recent engagement. Captain Clare Abrams stood in the front of the uncovered truck, keeping an eye out for the enemy. While she did not wear her Striker Unit, she still carried her large 76mm Cannon at the ready. She turned and faced the witches in the back of the truck.
"Alright, listen up! As I've said before, I'm Captain Abrams, your second in command, we are just about to arrive at Farcer's Airfield at the lower end of this valley. There is where your commanding officer will be to-" she was cut off by an AA gun starting to fire from the leading armored vehicle. Suddenly the skies above erupted with combat as Neuroi and joint forces engaged each other over the convoy. The trucks began to speed up in an attempted to get out the combat zone as fast as possible, but one Neuroi had spotted them and began its strafing run. A red beam flashed in front of the witches truck, blowing up the lead vehicle and flinging it off the road, tumbling in a fireball to the valley below. The captain quickly reacted by bracing her weapon against the top of the cabin and taking aim. The Neuroi came in low again for another run, but as it got close, Abrams let loose three shots, the third striking the core and destroying the enemy. The convoy continued on, dodging enemy fire and attempting to flee from the battle raging over head. A flaming B-109 at one point streaked over them and slammed into the road just behind the convoy.
A half hour later, they were out of the combat zone and arriving at the airfield. The base was a rough site to see. Many of the "buildings" where either rusted sheet metal hangars or tents surrounding a cleared, flatten strip of sand that served as a runway. Surrounding the base where trenches and dug out AA positions. The only solid building was the air control tower and building, but even that concrete building was heavily scared by chunks of structure missing or burn marks from the Neuroi attacks. Heavily damaged aircraft were making emergency landings as it was the closest airfield to the battle. However, by the time the convoy pulled into the base, the air battle had ended. As the engineers began to carefully unload the witches' striker units, the witches themselves where directed to an area near the airfield. A camouflage tent covered a small row of chairs in front of a map on a stand. As the witches began to take their seats, a witch ran up to the front from the hangars and stood in front of them, waiting for them to be settled. She was a high ranking witch, based on her insignias, but her uniform was dusty and messy. Instead of the usual officers hat, she still wore her goggles on her head.
"Greeting my fellow witches of Africa! I'm Oberstleutnant Berunhauf, commander of the 509th Joint Striker Unit and your new CO. As you have probably guessed by your bumpy ride in here, this is a very active combat zone." She paused and motioned to the map behind her. "Farcer's Airfield is located here, only 20 miles from the enemy territory. Our mission as the 509th, is to keep the Neuroi from getting past us and to the more vulnerable supply lines the run behind this mountain ridge just behind us. We will also act as a base of forward operations for any offensive against the Neuroi along this front. Our key to success will be cooperation between the Flying and Land Witches here of the 509th! Now, due to our proximity to enemy territory, we may not always have plentiful supplies, thus in combat, conserve your ammo! Here at base, you will only be allowed to bathe once a week with current water supplies. BUT I don't want to see you rationing drinking water. Trying to lessen your intake of water out here in the desert will only get you killed by one of our many enemies from the desert, dehydration. We must maintain peak status in order to operate effectively against the Neuroi." Alivia paused for a moment, sighing as if she had just finished a very old routine. She looked at her witches under her command now with softer eyes. "Listen, I'm not one to lie to my fellow witches so I will be honest with you. This may be the hardest, most dangerous stretch of the front in the entire campaign. That Neuroi attack that you passed through was our third one today. Now when I was first given this command I was terrified. I don't want to loose a single witch, engineer, soldier, or anyone under my command to the enemy. But I have read everyone's files and let me tell you this, after reading them and seeing everyone in person, I feel much better now. All of you are the most capable witches this war has to offer. For some of you this may be your baptism of fire and for others, another day at war, but each one of you can and will hold back the Neuroi. Look out for each other, trust one another, and we will defeat our enemy. Now then! On to more practical points, Captain."
Clare nodded and stepped to the front of the witches, she now wore her full gear with her rifle slung on her back, In her hands she carried a stack of papers. "Everyone eyes and ears! I have here a list of whose staying with who in the tents, patrol cycles, meal times and training hours for our base." she gave the stack to the witch at the front left ans told her to pass it around. As the list was passed between the witches, Clare spoke, "Now we are on constant standby! That means you must be able to reach combat ready status in under a few minutes! You never know when the enemy may strike....... NOW GO GO GO! I WANT TO SEE YOU COMBAT READY IN TEN MINUTES NOW! STRIKERS IN THE HANGARS! BE LINED UP AND READY TO FIGHT IN FRONT OF THOSE HANGARS BEFORE I GET THERE! WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR WITCHES!? GO GO GO!" she yelled.
The story begins here in this forlorn airfield in the desert. These are the beginning of the 509th..... the Weary Witches of Africa.
