After a quick aerial battle in which Eila demonstrates her ability to effortlessly dodge Neuroi beams, the Witches discover that they have not destroyed the Neuroi core. the core is not in fact in the fleet of drones they are fighting, but in a massive obelisk looming high above them. After calling off the attack, they discover that the core is at the apex of the obelisk. The plan to combat the Neuroi involves the witches using three stages of propulsion, including 2 stages of rocket boosters, to reach the Neuroi core. Sanya is assigned the destruction of the Neuroi while another witch protects her. Eila volunteers to do this, as she is extremely close to Sanya, but her request is turned down by Mio and Minna, because she has never demonstrated that she is capable of using a shield effectively. Instead, Yoshika is assigned to protect Sanya, because shields are her strongest skill. Eila decides to enlist Perrine's help to learn how to use a shield during a rather glorious sauna scene, but cannot get over her instinct to dodge, forcing Perrine to angrily block Lynne's .55 caliber anti tank rounds herself. Eventually she gives up, which leads to a quarrel between her and Sanya. Sanya leaves to reflect upon the incident in the sea while swimming, and is comforted by Erica, showing for the first time on screen their surprisingly close relationship. Eila is dejected through the launch sequence. At the last possible moment, she realizes that she has to protect Sanya at all costs, and Miyafuji trades places with her. The rearrangement version of Sweet Duet plays, and the Neuroi is destroyed before Sanya and Eila finally make up and return to earth (In Romagna, though they entertained the thought of continuing on to Orussia instead).
Later, in Starlight Stream episode 33, Eila told Sanya that she was heavily scolded by Minna for abandoning her mission role, and were ordered to be solitary confined in her quarters as disciplinary punishment for three days.
Eila's Foresight -- Eila's magical ability, Mirai Yochi, or Foresight, gives her a limited ability to predict the future. She can sense and dodge enemy fire with relative ease and anticipate their movements. However, the ability seems to be focused on the near future and her projections on more complicated issues have been imprecise. This ability is a reference to Eino Ilmari Juutilainen having never been hit by enemy fire.
hax
The Pola -- The Pola was a Zara class heavy cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina. She was built in the OTO shipyard at Livorno and entered service in 1932. She was sunk in the battle of Cape Matapan (29 March 1941) during World War Two. After intensive peacetime activity, at the start of the Second World War the Pola was made the flagship of Admiral Riccardo Paladini, commander of 2nd Squadron, and took part in 12 actions between then and her sinking, including the battles of Calabria and Cape Spartivento. She also participated in the cruise across the western Mediterranean which culminated in the battle of Cape Matapan.
Zara class cruiser, Pola
Avro Lancaster -- The Avro Lancaster is a British four-engined Second World War heavy bomber made initially by Avro for the Royal Air Force (RAF). It first saw active service in 1942, and together with the Handley Page Halifax it was one of the main heavy bombers of the RAF, the RCAF, and squadrons from other Commonwealth and European countries serving within RAF Bomber Command. The "Lanc", as it was affectionately known, became the most famous and most successful of the Second World War night bombers, "delivering 608,612 tons of bombs in 156,000 sorties." Although the Lancaster was primarily a night bomber, it excelled in many other roles including daylight precision bombing, and gained worldwide renown as the "Dam Buster" used in the 1943 Operation Chastise raids on Germany's Ruhr Valley dams. The particular Lancaster in the episode is the B III (Special), specifically No. DV245, Nicknamed “The Saint.” It's noseart depicts the Saint logo riding a bomb, cowboy style. The Saint flew with the 101 Squadron SR-S for a total of 118 missions, and was shot down whike attacking Bremen March 23, 1945 by an Me 262. Known at the time of modification as the "Type 464 Provisioning" Lancaster, this variant was built to carry the "Upkeep" bouncing bomb for the dam busting raids. The bomb-bay doors were removed and Vickers-built struts to carry the bomb were fitted in their place. A hydraulic motor, driven by the pump previously used for the mid upper turret was fitted to spin the bomb. Lamps were fitted in the bomb bay and nose for the simple height measurement system which enabled the accurate control of low-flying altitude at night. The mid-upper turret was removed to save weight, and the gunner moved to the front turret to relieve the bomb aimer from having to man the front guns so that he could assist with map reading.
The Saint
Bouncing Bomb -- A bouncing bomb is a bomb designed specifically to bounce to a target across water to avoid torpedo nets. Unlike skip bombing, which uses conventional bombs as during the March 1943 Battle of the Bismarck Sea, the British, Germans, and Soviets developed World War II bombs specifically for bouncing to targets and then exploding. The inventor of this technique was the British engineer Barnes Wallis. His Upkeep bouncing bomb was used in the May 1943 British Operation Chastise to bounce into dams and explode underwater with similar effect to the underground detonation of the earthquake bomb (e.g. Grand Slam bomb and Tallboy bomb), which he also invented. The operational British bouncing bomb was officially code named Upkeep and was known by the manufacturers as Vickers Type 464. The cylindrical bomb used Torpex ("torpedo explosive") to provide a longer explosive pulse for greater effect against underwater targets. Testing of the bouncing bomb was done at Reculver, Kent. In May 1943, Operation Chastise attacked dams in Germany's Ruhr Valley; two were breached causing damage variously described as "significant" or "with limited effect". The British losses during the operation were heavy (8 of the 19 attacking aircraft did not return), and although plans were made to use the weapon to attack other dams, it was not used again operationally.
Upkeep bouncing bomb
British Commando Sweater -- In one of Fumikane's tweets, he mentions that Lynette is wearing a British Commando Sweater. Toasty.
So warm.
Yuri Gagarin -- Yuri Alekseyevich Gagarin (Russian: Ю́рий Алексе́евич Гага́рин, Russian pronunciation: [ˈjurʲɪj ɐlʲɪˈksʲeɪvʲɪtɕ ɡɐˈɡarʲɪn]; 9 March 1934 – 27 March 1968), Hero of the Soviet Union, was a Soviet cosmonaut. On 12 April 1961, he became the first human in outer space and the first to orbit the Earth. He received medals from around the world for his pioneering tour in space. While the witches never reached space, the multi stage rocket ascent could very well be a reference to Gagarin's historic flight.
