>"Squadron Leader Alice Murgatroyd, RAF, retired," said the shorter-haired
>blonde. (Amélie noticed, with some amusement despite the perplexing nature
>of this encounter, that the other blonde mouthed the words along with her,
>a mischievous little smirk on her face.)
>

Now I wonder if this is some cover identity/position that Marisa is privy to, or if she's just heard this intro so many times she's lost count.

>Mogami considered the weapon for a few moments, then looked at the cloth-
>shrouded shapes of what she now realized were the other seven, trying (and
>mostly failing) to envision how eight of them would be mounted. However they
>did it, if they managed such a feat, she would have more firepower than an
>entire platoon of heavy tank witches.
>"Awesome," she said.
>

Heh, doesn't even question how in the world they plan to stick the things on her, just stoked to have them. I like this girl.

>She ignored his remark and replied, "I've come a long way to see you,
>Captain. As Inspector-General of His Majesty the Emperor of Fusō's Witches,
>I need to speak to you about this."
>So saying, she slapped the copy of the Zauberschulbuch she'd shown to
>Amélie earlier against his chest, almost as if she were throwing down a
>gauntlet in challenge. He took it by reflex as much as anything else, looked at
>the cover, and then handed it back.
>

Well, the mini and earlier scene had indicated she was curious about the topic, but I was honestly surprised that she was somehow offended by it.

>"And furthermore," Reimu went on as if he hadn't spoken, "that rather than
>slay it, he has chosen to cavort with it."

Them's fightin' words.

>"Well, this is off to a great start, huh, Alice?" Marisa remarked.
>"Yes, I see Reimu has brought all of her charm and tact to bear on this
>occasion, Marisa," replied the RAF witch coolly.
>"It was ever thus," said Marisa philosophically.
>Alice nodded gravely. "Indeed."
>"I can hear you, you two," said Reimu through her teeth.
>"I congratulate you on your excellent peripheral hearing, General," said Alice
>pleasantly.
>

Apparently they are both very used to Reimu having all the tact and grace of a brick to the face.

>«I know, I would never have expected it either,» she said. «I suppose I
>should have, though. Onkel Fritz has always been like that.» She
>paused, then drew back slightly, her blue eyes going wide with surprise.
>«You're joking. He said that?» Pause. «Yes, of course he meant it.
>Onkel Fritz always means what he says.» Pause, head tilt with thoughtful
>look. «You don't say. Well, that will certainly put the cat among the
>pigeons. I wish I could be there to see it.»
>

It gets buried due to events before and after this scene, but someone able to engage in proper, two-way communication with Neuroi-chan is pretty damn game changing. I'm really curious for the reveal of how she's able to pull it off.

>Toshiro Nishimura yawned and looked at the wall clock in the hangar: 0200
>hours had just passed, and there was no sign of, well, anybody. For all he
>knew, the lot of them had gone off to rob a bank once Captain Hutchins and the
>strange witch from Fusō concluded their weird, spontaneous duel.
>

"Where's the kaboom? There was supposed to be an Earth-shattering kaboom!"

I was surprised that none of the duel ended up on-screen, if only because everyone's reactions to it would have been highly entertaining. Given the way she went in, Reimu alone had to end up with the shock of a lifetime discovering that G could make good on his earlier threat vis-a-vis knocking her on her ass.

>"What happened?" Nishimura asked, although the answer was patently obvious.
>Gryphon chuckled, fluffing out a blanket and tucking in the blotto miko. "We
>fought, we drank, she made her ancestors proud. Give me a hand, will you? I
>need to rustle some more bunks out of the storeroom for this crew, and I
>wouldn't trust any of these," (and here he gave a wry head-tilt toward the
>gaggle of still-conscious witches, who were now trying to restart their
>singalong but running aground on the rocks of each of them choosing a different
>song), "with anything more complicated than a hat right now."
>

Ah, defeat means friendship in action. Reimu has some krogan in her spirit. But apparently not her liver.

>"You're not hungover," she croaked in an accusatory sort of way. "How are you
>not hungover? You drank more than I did."
>

And here we see what I take to be G's playful vengeance for Reimu's 'it' and 'slay' remarks earlier, with the bonus that it was her own idea.

>(On the other hand, she wouldn't miss Squadron Leader Murgatroyd's snoring.
>At some point in the wee hours, she had seemed to find the resonant frequency
>of her bunk's metal frame, creating an almost unimaginable racket until one of
>her magic dolls could prod her into moving a little.)
>

I hope either Crone Rock's walls are bank vault thick, or Alice only does this when magnificently drunk. Otherwise Shizuka will need ear plugs to get decent sleep.

>"I'm just glad we don't have to overthrow the Gallian government now," said
>Shizuka blandly, drawing a startled glance from Reimu and a snicker from
>Gryphon.
>

Shizuka has really come a long way from her starting point of being scandalized at any witches being within arm's reach of G. She's even teasing superior officers (though I believe they're technically different branches of the service,) at least mildly.

>"Neuroi!" the Hyperion's radio operator replied. "Aerial and seaborne types—
>I've never seen seaborne Neuroi before! This area is supposed to be secure!"
>

Well, this doesn't indicate trouble ahead for the war effort, nope, not at all.

	-={(Astynax)}=- "This Space For Rent."