Work Text:
July 26, 432 AC
It took Homura until she looked out her window for her to realize that this timeline would be different.
The first thing she noticed was that the once-familiar skyline of Mitakihara had been replaced by towering skyscrapers intertwined with a distinctive suspension bridge running through them, the massive city stretching endlessly into the horizon. The fighter jets and massive airships circling overhead as well as the naval vessels in the harbor indicated that some sort of military lockdown was in place.
The next thing she noticed was all the orange.
~~~~~~~~~~~
According to Homura’s research, she was in the city of Presidia, which apparently was where the outbreak of a war between Cascadian Independence Force and the Pacific Federation. It was rather annoying for her to get information on the state of the war due to censorship from the Pacific Federation, but it wasn’t too difficult for her to gain access to military documents on the state of the war. It was clear to Homura that the whole situation had gone to hell, with the PF going full scorched earth, launching some sort of superweapon into the city of Prospero which had nearly destroyed the entire continent. It was only very recently that real fighting had actually restarted.
So Homura got to work.
~~~~~~~~~~~
August 5, 432 AC
“Well where is it?”
“I don’t know! It's just gone!”
“How do you lose an entire railgun artillery battery!?”
“I don’t know. It just disappeared in front of my eyes! I have no explanation other than magic”
Sergeant Jameson could really blame the poor soldier, the railgun battery he was assigned to watch did seem to have disappeared by magic, along with the entire base’s armory.
The Sergeant had been assigned to investigate a string of missing weapons. At first it just seemed to be a case of people misplacing their weapons, but then the disappearances started to escalate. At first it was just a couple of missing rifles, some grenades, a few rocket launchers. Then an entire armory's worth of weapons and ammunition disappeared on camera and they couldn’t pretend it wasn’t happening.
Jameson’s investigation had not turned up anything so far. All the testimonies of the guards matched the security cameras, which themselves showed no signs of tampering. This disappearance seemed to be no different.
On his third viewing of all the security footage in the area, he finally noticed something off. Around the time of the disappearance, a young girl, seemingly about 14 years old, with long black hair and some sort of school uniform was walking by the entrance to the base. That alone was rather odd, as all the schools in the city were shut down for the duration of the occupation, and civilians were urged to stay indoors. But that wasn’t what caught the sergeant’s attention.
At the exact moment weapons went missing, she… flickered.
She was standing in the exact same spot, just very slightly to the side. Jameson flipped back between the two frames, seeing no signs the video had been stitched together or edited in any way. It really seemed like she had teleported, if ever so slightly.
‘It’s not actually magic… is it?’
~~~~~~~~~~~
‘The railgun might have been a bit much’ thought Homura.
Over the past week or so, she had spent her time building her arsenal, gauging the current situation of magical girls in the area, and figuring out the situation of the war she had been thrust into the middle of.
One of the upsides of being in the middle of a warzone for Homura was the abundance of munitions and explosives lying around. Previously she would have had to steal them from local yakuza or the police, or make them herself in the case of the explosives. This time, she was able to stock up on pretty much anything an army in the middle of a war would have. She even caught wind of some experimental fighter jet she wanted to get her hands on. She wasn’t sure how she would get it to fit in her shield, but she managed with the railgun so she could probably manage on this.
Regarding the magical girls, due to the occupation, people were basically forced to stay inside, so Madoka had yet to make contact with the Incubator or any magical girls.
‘Good.’ thought Homura ‘One less thing to keep track of.’ Not that she wouldn’t spend whatever time she had free to make sure Madoka was safe and never met that Rat.
In regards to Mami, Homura had managed to build an amicable relationship with her and not get on her bad side due managing to restrain herself from killing the Incubator as well as saving her from being beheaded by the Sweets Witch. After that they decided to work together which was… pleasant, as much as Homura hated to admit it. It had been quite a few timelines since she fought alongside Mami instead of against her.
As for Kyoko, it took her a while for her to get to Presidia. Homura later found out that she had been in Prospero, the city that got glassed by the federation, and consequently wanted nothing to do with the war. Homura was able to maintain a tentative relationship with Kyoko, despite their differences in beliefs.
As for the war, it was clear by this point that the Pacific Federation was going to lose. Ever since their attempts at going full scorched earth, they had only been losing ground. By this point the Independence Force had even managed to retake Prospero, or whatever remains of it.
~~~~~~~~~~~
August 16, 432 AC
As the world seemingly froze around him, Captain Woodward stared in shock at the young girl holding his wrist.
“Captain Woodward, do you value this world? Do you think dearly of those under your command?”
~~~~~~~~~~~
5 minutes earlier
“We have an unidentified contact approaching at mach 3, altitude 500, 100 km east of us, bearing 280, directly for us!”
Chad Woodward, Captain of the Eminent Domain, Immediately snapped to attention. “All hands to Battle stations! Anti aircraft - prepare to intercept! Communication - attempt to make contact! Radar - How many are there? Can you identify them?”
“AA missiles ready to fire at your command, Sir”
“They aren’t making any response or following any of our commands, Sir”
“There’s only one aircraft, it’s radar return doesn’t match any previously recorded, Sir”
The bridge of The Eminent Domain was immediately a cacophony of information, all of it vital for the survival of the ship and her crew.
“Communication, tell them if they don’t change course we will open fire, Anti Aircraft - Prepare to fire on my command”
“Still no response, Sir”
“50 km out, Sir”
“OPEN FIRE!”
“Aye Captain”
The first salvo of missiles launched without issue, heading towards the rapidly approaching blip on the radar screen. Just as the missiles were about to hit their target, the point on the screen shifted, the missiles hitting nothing where it previously seemed to be.
“What was that? Are we being jammed?”
“No, sir. Radar operations appear to be normal”
“Then what the hell was that? Fire again then prepare for close range combat”
The second salvo of missiles approached their target, and the same thing happened. Just as they were about to hit the bandit, it shifted its position, as if teleporting.
“Sir! Visual contact confirmed. It appears to match the description of an experimental fighter encountered by the Hitman team a few months ago.”
“In range for close range weapon systems, sir”
“Fire at will!”
The sky was immediately ablaze with railgun fire as Woodward finally got a good look bandit. It had the telltale orange glow indicating that it was Cordium powered, but that isn’t the only thing that stood out. Along with the orange, there seemed to be a slight purple glow.
Before he could make any note of it, the unidentified jet was circling above weaving in and out of the railgun fire, pulling maneuvers that Woodward had only seen pulled off by the illustrious Hitman 1, solidifying the belief that whoever was flying this was a clear threat.
Just then, a gun seemed to get a perfect shot off. It was clearly about to hit, then suddenly the jet was somewhere else, appearing to teleport directly off the bow of The Eminent Domain, flying directly at them.
The unknown fighter dodged through ship’s last attempts to defend her crew, flickering side to side
“BRACE FOR IMPACT”
Woodward could only stare as the impending doom approached him, when suddenly…
“Captain Woodward, do you value this world? Do you think dearly of those under your command?”
He stared in shock at the young girl holding his wrist. She seemed to be about 14, with long black hair and piercing violet eyes. She was wearing a white shirt with gray and purple trim, a grey skirt with white trim and black tights. She had some sort of metal disk on her left arm.
“Who are you and what are you doing on my ship? We’re in the middle of a fight here, it’s no place for a child.” he said, trying to pull his arm away from her. She had a surprisingly strong grip for someone so small.
“My name is Akemi Homura, I am a magical girl, and I am here to ask for your help.” she replied, her honesty surprising even herself a little.
Woodward looked skeptical. “A magical girl, huh. I think I'm gonna need to see a little proof of that.”
“I believe the teleporting fighter jet as well as the fact that I have frozen the entire world except us is proof enough”
He looked around, fully realizing the state the rest of the world was in at that moment. “Fair point I guess. So what could some who can do all that need from someone like me”
“In 7 days, a powerful witch known as Walpurgisnacht will appear off shore of presidia. To most people it will seem just like a massive storm, but if left unchecked it could destroy the entire country. I need your fire power to help destroy it.”
Woodward thought for a moment. “7 days… that's the day we retake Presidia!”
Homura looked apologetic. “I am aware. Unfortunately, the date can not be changed, and it will happen whether you decide to help or not.”
“So if normal people can't see it, how are we supposed to help? The Eminent Domain is pretty advanced, but I don't think she’s quite suited to hunt a witch.”
“I have taken the liberty of enchanting her targeting and weapons system to be able to track witches.”
“Hmmmm.. Can targeting information be linked to our IFF?” Woodward asked, having an idea.
“I don’t see why not,” Homura replied, understanding where he was going with this.
“Well then, young lady, I'll see what I can do. I make no promises, judging how we might be in the middle of a different battle, but if you truly want to save as many people as possible, I'd gladly lay down my life for you”
“Thank you, Captain, this means more than you could possibly imagine.” she said, a rare smile appearing for just a brief moment.
~~~~~~~~~~~
August 23, 432 AC
1700 hours
<<I'm getting a transcript, hold on, hold on! Let's see, uh..."The Parties participating in a neutral conference held in the land of the Republic of Albion hosted by the United Kerneuropa Alliance with a view to ending the war and restoring peace in relation to Cascadia on the basis of respect to the self-actualization of the Cascadian people have agreed on the following provisions and undertake due respect and to implement them following a->>
<< A what?! Spit it out!>>
<< A ceasefire has been declared. All units, stand down. We would've held Presidia if it was called just an hour ago, damn it.>>
<<Seriously?! God damn, changing IFF parameters now!>>
<<We were fighting less than ten seconds ago, Galaxy, we can't possibly expect everyone to stop!>>
<<I'm less than ten yards away from hostile infantry, what am I supposed to do?!>>
<<All units, stand down, I repeat, stand down, this is what we've been looking for!>>
<<Block off all roads to the Federation Embassy, waive everyone down, I'll be damned if I let any spies through.>>
<< Is that it, is the war over...just like that?!>>
<< We did it, we did it, I can't believe it, we resisted the Federation!>>
<<All units are directed to clear a path to the harbor for surrendering Federation units, they will be transported out by sea.>>
<<If you want to survive, get to the harbor, throw down your guns and run, anyone who's wearing a Federation tag will be taken as a prisoner.>>
<<I don't like this, we've all been blueballed.>>
<<All units, stand by, let them know who won this war.>>
<<I'm flying right next to them, what's our exit?>>
<<All units, stand by, maintain presence over Presidia as the Federation makes their exit.>>
<<Stand by, all units, just hold on… I’m getting updated IFF information from… The Eminent Domain!? The hell does ‘Witch Hunt’ Mean?>>
<<This is Captain Woodward of The Eminent Domain to all willing combatants in the area, CIF or Federation. We have hostile incoming from the west, and we are requesting support. It won't be an easy fight, but we need everything we can get>>
Not one to give up on an opportunity to prove themself, Monarch immediately turned west, followed close by their two wingmen.
<<Jeez, monarch a little warning next time>>
~~~~~~~~~~~
Looking down on the battlefield from high altitude, Homura smiled, seeing all the glory-hungry mercenaries on their way to fight the witch.
‘This is the most help I’ve ever had’ she thought ‘it's kinda nice.’
Then she pointed her PW-MK1 towards the point marked by The Eminent Domain and went full afterburners.
~~~~~~~~~~~
Undisclosed location
Icarus armories test site
Crimson 1 had been humiliated enough by that mercenary dog, and now he would get his revenge for all of the suffering that Crown had caused. Icarus Armories had made the perfect weapon, and he would use it to exact his righteous justice on those who deserve it.
‘That merc won't stand a chance if i have this’ he thought, walking into an empty hanger.
Wait… empty?
“WHERE THE HELL IS IT!?”