The path to Berlin is long, and the shadows over Europe are growing darker, but the 501st is coming back together. The Strike Witches have returned to the sky.

The instinct to protect, something buried but never lost, surges within Yoshika. She doesn't have her equipment, but she has her soul.

As the transport plane stabilizes and begins an emergency landing, Yoshika collapses into her seat, breathless but smiling. She looks out the window to see her old friends hovering alongside the wing, offering a sharp salute.

Back on the transport, the situation is dire. A beam shears off a wing section. As the plane begins a terrifying spiral, Yoshika stands up, her eyes glowing with that familiar blue light. She doesn't need a Striker to manifest her shield. She throws her hand against the fuselage, and a massive, golden pentagram shield erupts around the aircraft, bracing it against the atmospheric pressure and the Neuroi’s assault.

The year is 1945, and the world is still held in the icy grip of the Neuroi invasion. High above the Atlantic, a lone transport plane cuts through the clouds, carrying a young woman whose name has become legend among the 501st Joint Fighter Wing: Yoshika Miyafuji.

Just as her vision begins to blur, the sky erupts in a barrage of MG42 fire. Barkhorn and Hartmann streak through the clouds like silver lightning.

But maintaining a shield of that size without a Striker is draining her magic at a lethal rate.