Illu wakes up just before the Sun starts rising up after barely setting below the horizon. The sound of radial engines draws her to the window where she sees a Ju-88 taxiing off the runway to the fueling station. Immola being a fighter base Illu is intrigued by the appearance of a "fast bomber" in the wee hours of the night, until she notices something's off about this one. The plane has the Suomus Airforce roundels alright, but it also has extra antennas sticking out of the sides and the bottom of the fuselage. Before she can even start thinking of what this means an security force corporal gripping an SMG blocks her view.
>"Get out of the window! This doesn't concern you!" the corporal shouts through the window. Illu wouldn't normally care about rank, but the stress from the last few days has her on a hair trigger.
>"Is that any way to talk to a superior officer, corporal? Do you not know who I am?" she lets the corporal have it with both barrels. Unphased the corporal responds
>"Your rank is irrelevant, Chief Warrant Officer Juutilainen, get out of the window now and draw the curtains, on orders from the chief of Airforce, you saw nothing!"
Upon hearing the corporal's mention of the chief of Ilmavoimat Illu gives in and complies, still seething as she grabs one of the bottles her sister smuggled in earlier. The burning sensation of vodka entering her mouth and going down her throat just barely distracts her from her rage until the effects of the alcohol start kicking in. Taking another sip or three she puts the cap back on the bottle and goes back to sleep.
In the morning Lt.Col. Häkkinen enters the medbay, after waving off the salutes of the medical personnel present & ushering them out she turns to Illu and Nipa.
>"I am told you witnessed something you weren't supposed to during the night" she states in her usual tone, giving no hint of what she thinks of the content of what she has just said.
>"So I was told, I received no orders NOT to look out of the window while staying here, so I don't see what the fuzz is about" Illu responds with a bit of an attitude.
>"The 'fuzz' is that the plane you saw is top secret, even I wasn't aware of its existence until it landed here" Häkkinen says with the same icy tone she's known for.
>"Though I am under specific orders not to discuss the plane, I know the two of you all too well, so listen up; that plane is used to broadcast news about the families of the Orussian witches, specifically family members who have been arrested by the Orussian government, on Orussian Airforce frequencies. I have been led to believe that this has already resulted in a number of defections & the HQ in Mikkeli is hoping for more. None of this is public knowledge & you are, at the risk of facing a firing squad, ordered to keep any and all knowledge about the matter to yourselves, you are not to discuss ANY of the details even between yourselves, left alone in presence of ANYONE ELSE AT ALL, to I make myself clear?"
>"Yes ma'am!" the "usual suspects" reply in unison.
>"Carry on!" Häkkinen shouts as she salutes & leaves the medbay, before the door closes Illu and Nipa catch a glimpse of two soldiers armed with SMGs standing on either side of the door in order to keep anyone from eavesdropping.
>"Bleeegh~!" Illu lets out a sound while making a rude gesture at the back of Lt.Col. Häkkinen.
>"The breakfast better get here fast, I'm starving!" she exclaims as she throws herself back onto her bed.
>"...that girl with the ShVAK sure was cute" Illu thinks to herself.
No sooner has the trio finished eating breakfast than the sirens start wailing, before Illu or Nipa could say a thing the doctor is already gesturing at them that they may go, so they do.
>"Ice lady, Orange Nine, what have we got today?" Hasse asks the commandant over the radio while sprinting towards the hangar.
>"Emergency sortie, 20th brigade defending Viipuri is in danger of being overrun by the enemy, intelligence indicates at least six different divisions, including two armoured brigades from 21st and 23rd Armies as well as three detached armoured regiments and two assault gun regiments" Häkkinen reports the grim situation, causing Illu to stop in her tracks for a split second before faking a laugh.
>"So, we should be back by lunchtime, what are we having today?" she feigns indifference to what she has just heard, this day is going to be the worst ever.
>"That's classified information Orange Four" Häkkinen jokes which is highly unusual for her, she isn't the commandant for nothing.
>"Orange Six taking off!" Nipa interrupts the back-and-forth as she skips the warm-up once again.
>"...Do you think the Karlsländer might have a 190 to spare for her, because I have a feeling that unit isn't coming back in one piece" the crew chief assigned to Nipa asks no-one in particular.
>"Orange Four taking off!" Illu exclaims after giving the crew chief a faint smile.
>"Orange Nine taking off!" Hasse follows her friends.
As the squadron forms up they receive orders to head to Viipuri on their own as it would take too long for Kuhlmey to get ready & the 20th brigade needs close air support yesterday.
Once over the city the 24 squadron doesn't see enemy witches nor even conventional enemy aircraft, but they do see a lot of ruskis, without waiting for orders the Suomus witches split into pairs & start free hunting. Just as they start running low on ammo Kuhlmey arrives to take over the task & 24 returns to Immola, after refueling and rearming they take off again to head back as by now the enemy witches would certainly be joining the party. Illu hasn't said a word after they took off for the day's first sortie, which has Hasse worried, even if Illu is virtually untouchable, she too is still subject to laws of physics.
Once back over Viipuri they sight the enemy approaching from the sea & Illu immediately peels off with Nipa to meet them head on.
>"Wait up Illu, I can't keep up with you!" Nipa cries out as Illu dives into the enemy formation.
>"Then don't even try, pair up with Hasse instead, you know these amateurs can never hit me!" Illu replies while shooting at multiple targets in quick succession.
At the end of the day, despite their best efforts, Viipuri was lost that day, but the enemy had paid a heavy price for it, Illu alone had been confirmed to have shot down six enemy witches that day & was now a living legend, not that she cared, to her her real achievement that day was protecting a lone soldier on a bicycle pedaling away from the Viipuri castle like his life was on the line, Illu didn't need to see the red square on the rear rack of the bike up close to know what it was.
The blue cross of Suomus would rise over Viipuri castle one day, and Illu had made sure the flag that was lowered today would be available when that day comes.
