>After flying North for a while the three Suomus witches soon see the Viipuri bay & soon after the city itself, due to their unusual direction of approach & the fact that their radio was set on a different frequency from the air defence artillery in Viipuri, Hasse takes out a flare gun and fires the agreed-upon signal to let the soldiers manning the anti-air guns that they are friendly, the soldiers cheer as the trio flies over them, causing Hasse to feel guilty over getting lost after the battle.
>"Orange nine, Ice lady" the radio on the trio's ears comes to life. It's Lieutenant-Colonel Häkkinen, commandant of Immola base.
>"Orange nine", Hasse responds, mentally preparing for the chewing she's expecting for disappearing for such a long time.
>"Good to hear you are still alive, are the usual suspects with you?" Häkkinen asks with an icy tone, referring to Nipa and Illu, the two biggest troublemakers in the squadron.
>"Yes, we are at point V on our way back" Hasse replies.
>"Be advised; the airspace around the base is clogged due to new arrivals, what is your fuel situation?" Häkkinen asks.
>"Running on Holy Spirit for a while now."
>"...Understood, you are free to land as you get here."
>"Orange nine" Hasse ends the exchange, wondering who these 'new arrivals' could be, Häkkinen would refer to enemies as 'guests', and Ilmavoimat shouldn't have any reserves to speak of, who on Earth could they be, and from where?
>As the trio gets within sight of the base they see dozens of witches circling around the base.
>"Whoah, those are Karlsländisch Luftwaffe!" Nipa comments, recognizing the roundels.
>"Ju-87s and...Fw-190s? What unit has both of those?" Illu joins Nipa at marveling the sight.
>"Wilkomin meine fraüleine, how nice of you to finally show up" a voice with a Karlsländer accent calls the trio on radio.
>"Who is this?" Nipa demands over the radio, ignoring the radio discipline.
>"Ach, you must be Feldwebel Katajainen, sehr gut, wir sind Gefechtsverband Kuhlmey, now please land quickly so we can do so as well, bitte."
As they land one by one the trio takes notice of a group of soldiers climbing into a pair of Iron Annies, both under camo netting. The soldiers are each carrying an SMG and wearing a paratrooper helmet, recovery teams leaving on a mission deep behind enemy lines, meaning not every witch got back from the sortie. Hasse tries telling herself the sole reason they didn't spot patrol motorboats and/or other Navy elements rushing towards the scene of the air battle, was because they had been dispatched to the scene before the battle, knowing it's BS.
>"Who exactly went down to warrant risking both of our transports & two jump-trained recovery teams on a single daytime mission?" Nipa asks before realizing she's thinking out loud.
>"'No regard for losses', wasn't it? Someone from Mikkeli said one trained aerial witch is worth an entire conventional fighter squadron, and the Order of The Day number Two, 1939 is still in effect; every serviceman and woman is brought home from the field regardless of the cost" Illu responds with an expression making Hasse worried she'd grab the first fueled unit she can find & go back to look for survivors.
>"Don't even think about going back without eating and resting!" An army captain with long, platinum hair shouts out while making a beeline for Illu, Aurora "Terror of Morocco" Juutilainen is probably the only thing Illu actually fears in this world.
>"I-I wasn't going to!" Illu protests, failing to convince anyone.
>"You know it makes me sad to see my cute little sister lying to me" Aurora says while wiping a non-existent tear from her eye, causing Illu to get even more worked up while the airmen within earshot try their best not to laugh at this all too familiar sight; "laughter equals death" they mutter to themselves and/or each other as they carry on with their work.
Before the comedic routine can go any further a staff car pulls up next to them & an officer gets out.
>"Captain Wind, CWO Juutilainen, Sergeant Katajainen, report to med bay, you are to rest until further notice & you may not leave without my explicit orders no matter what, food and drinks will be brought to you there, that's an order!" Lt. Col. Häkkinen bellows after waving at everyone present to be as they were, despite being a strict disciplinarian she has little interest in "parade ground formalities" like saluting in wartime.
>"Also, Sgt Katajainen, when writing your report be sure to go into detail as to how exactly your striker unit ended up in its current condition."
>"Yes ma'am!" Nipa replies while snapping to attention but leaving out the customary salute, which Häkkinen simply lets slide.
>"Carry on!" she says, not waiting for the witches' response before turning around and getting back in the car.
>"There you have it Eila, shall I carry you there & tuck you in like I used to?" Aurora says to her sister with an unnerving expression.
>"No thanks!" Illu responds turning away and starting to walk towards the med bay.
>"I take it I don't have to, but I can if I want to?" Aurora teases her sister.
>"Cut it out already Aarre, we have had a rough day!" Hasse, Aurora's equal in rank, retorts, calling Aurora by her other nickname, the one she absolutely hates ("Treasure"), before following Illu and Nipa.
(addition: the pilots whom the recovery teams were sent to bring home were Lieutenant Saara Sarjamo and Lieutenant Laura Nissinen, in real life Lieutenant Urho Kaarlo Sarjamo was shot down on June 19 1944 by a LaGG-5 & a piece of his plane brought down Lieutenant Lauri Vilhelm Nissinen as well, neither of them managed to bail out.)
