An orderly bursts into the ready room and shouts, "Standby squad, mount up, arm up! Sortie in two!"

"What's the situation-"

"Fast Neuroi making a beeline for a railway bridge or maybe a telegraph exchange. You're in range if Scatter pushes you. You and Sparky-"

"Yeah, we're good choices for a fast-mover. Ghost not so much."

"I'm what we've got," the normally-quit girl interrupts. "Quit yammering, every second counts!"

"Quite right," the final member of the little squad speaks up, quickly tying her hair back. "One hundred seconds until our wings are ready. Twenty to get there, eighty for briefing."

"Seventy-five, now. Let's move!"

The small squad boards their trio of metal motorcycles, hastily armed up with whatever weapons were handy at the time, listening to as much of a briefing as they can get. They take off, a fourth following shortly behind.

Scatter, one of the Strike Witches' best teleporters, cheerily says, "Have a nice trip!" - and there's the familiar wave of disorientation and feeling squeezed and-

"...This doesn't look right."

An orderly bursts into the ready room and shouts, "Standby squad, mount up, arm up! Sortie in two!"

"What's the situation-"

"Fast Neuroi making a beeline for a railway bridge or maybe a telegraph exchange. You're in range if Scatter pushes you. You and Sparky-"

"Yeah, we're good choices for a fast-mover. Ghost not so much."

"I'm what we've got," the normally-quit girl interrupts. "Quit yammering, every second counts!"

"Quite right," the final member of the little squad speaks up, quickly tying her hair back. "One hundred seconds until our wings are ready. Twenty to get there, eighty for briefing."

"Seventy-five, now. Let's move!"

The small squad boards their trio of steelwings - constructions that look a bit like metal motorcycles jointly designed by Metallica and the Army Corps of Engineers - listening to as much of a briefing as they can get.

They take off, a fourth following shortly behind.

Scatter, one of the Strike Witches' best teleporters, cheerily says, "Have a nice trip!" - and there's the familiar wave of disorientation and feeling squeezed and-

"...This doesn't look right."

An orderly bursts into the ready room and shouts, "Standby squad, mount up, arm up! Sortie in two!"

"What's the situation-"

"Fast Neuroi making a beeline for a railway bridge or maybe a telegraph exchange. You're in range if Scatter pushes you. You and Sparky-"

"Yeah, we're good choices for a fast-mover. Ghost not so much."

"I'm what we've got," the normally-quit girl interrupts. "Quit yammering, every second counts!"

"Quite right," the final member of the little squad speaks up, quickly tying her hair back. "One hundred seconds until our wings are ready. Twenty to get there, eighty for briefing."

"Seventy-five, now. Let's move!"

The small squad boards their trio of steelwings - witch-carrying vehicles a lot more useful than simple brooms that look a bit like metal motorcycles jointly designed by Metallica and the Army Corps of Engineers - listening to as much of a briefing as they can get.

They take off, a fourth following shortly behind.

Scatter, one of the Strike Witches' best teleporters, cheerily says, "Have a nice trip!" - and there's the familiar wave of disorientation and feeling squeezed and-

"...This doesn't look right."

An orderly bursts into the ready room and shouts, "Standby squad, mount up, arm up! Sortie in two!"

"What's the situation-"

"Fast Neuroi making a beeline for a railway bridge or maybe a telegraph exchange. You're in range if Scatter pushes you. You and Sparky-"

"Yeah, we're good choices for a fast-mover. Ghost not so much."

"I'm what we've got," the normally-quiet girl interrupts. "Quit yammering, every second counts!"

"Quite right," the final member of the little squad speaks up, quickly tying her hair back. "One hundred seconds until our wings are ready. Twenty to get there, eighty for briefing."

"Seventy-five, now. Let's move!"

The small squad boards their trio of steelwings - witch-carrying vehicles a lot more useful than simple brooms that look a bit like metal motorcycles jointly designed by Metallica and the Army Corps of Engineers - listening to as much of a briefing as they can get.

They take off, a fourth following shortly behind.

Scatter, one of the Strike Witches' best teleporters, cheerily says, "Have a nice trip!" - and there's the familiar wave of disorientation and feeling squeezed and-

"...This doesn't look right."