Alright guys, I'm back with another story. This story is not inspired by anything other than historical events of World War II. Wait, there's also Casablanca. Thank you for reading.
Let's March, Let's March!
Chapter 1
The Beginning of the End
Miho crunched through the thin layer of snow on the Oarai school ship. Everything around her had fallen apart, and she didn't know what to do. A single tear rolled down her cheek and fell into the snow.
Suddenly, there was a crunch beside her.
Two Months prior:
"Miho, this is Dragon team, we've blown the tracks off of the Tiger II. You're free to deal with the flag tank," Akio said into the radio.
"Hai!" was the reply.
"Alright, Ben, let's get out of here!" Akio shouted.
It was the finals, and there were only two tanks on the Oarai team left: Dragon and Anglerfish teams. However, it may as well have been a 1v1, since Miho had backed her tank up with only Maho's Tiger I in a position to shoot her. So, now it was down to Miho. Akio couldn't do anything, since he was outside the schoolyard.
The Black Forest tanks were not happy about this, and two Panthers and a Jagdpanther began to chase them down.
Akio's crew consisted of the chess club: Himself (commander), Ben "Kasparov" Naka (driver), Kento "Karpov" Kamashino (gunner), Miko "Checker" Teriyama (loader), and Milo "Holmes" Smith (radioman). They were all very close friends.
"Spin the turret 180 degrees!" Akio ordered.
"Hai!" Kento replied, peering through the gun sights. The turret came around.
"Target one of the Panthers! Miko, load AP!" Akio yelled, peering out of the cupola.
"Loading complete!" Miko announced.
"FIRE!"
BOOM!
The 7.5 cm KwK 42 L/70 spat fire, the shell slamming into the front of one Panther. It shuddered and stopped, its white flag raised. Soon, they were out of sight of the TV cameras.
"Yeah! 6th kill!" Kento cheered.
BOOM!
BOOM!
The other Panther returned fire, as did the Jagdpanther. The 8.8 cm shell from the Jagdpanther missed, but the Panther didn't. The shot slammed into the rear of Akio's Panther, starting a fire. For some reason, there was no white flag.
The enemy Panther fired again, this time impacting the turret. The concussion sent shrapnel flying into the tank.
"Put out the fire!" Akio shouted as Miko handed him a fire extinguisher. It was dented from metal pieces flying around inside.
Desperately, Akio tried to put out the fire, but to no avail.
"I smell sizzling over here!" Ben "Kasparov" Naka shouted.
"It's the transmission!" Milo "Holmes" Smith screamed. "It's going to blow!"
Another shot from the enemy Panther went into the turret. Akio saw another Panther round the corner as he was thrown backwards.
"Bail out!" Akio shouted. Ben and Milo threw their hatches open, jumping out and running for cover. Kento opened his hatch and got half of his body out before stimulation MG rounds hit him. The rounds were chalk, and weren't travelling at lethal speeds.
"Argh!" He ducked back into the tank. "Teriyama, you go first! I'll distract them!"
"Hai!" Miko shouted, sticking her head out of the burning tank and quickly rolling down the front the back of the turret, which was facing the enemy.
"Go Kento!" Akio shouted.
"No, you first!" Kento insisted.
"Fine!" Akio said, hoisting himself halfway out of the tank. The MG rounds came at him, but missed. He held on to his field marshal cap. Another round from the same Panther tore into the stricken tank. This one, however, punched through the cracked armor of the turret. It destroyed the turret ring, but it did much more damage to Kento. The shot slammed against his chest. He fell backwards, limp.
"KENTO!" Akio screamed, trying to get back into the tank. However, the ammunition had finally had it, and blew. Despite the ammunition being stimulation, Akio was thrown out of the tank and onto the hard ground, hitting his head. His vision went blurry. Then, he noticed that his clothes were on fire. He tried to put them out, but only burned his hands. In his dazed state, he tried to stand up, but another explosion from the doomed tank sent shrapnel into his right leg.
One pained cry escaped his lips before he collapsed, his vision going black.
Miho heard the explosion from the other side of the radio, but her thoughts were interrupted by an 8.8 cm round ripping off several side skirts from her Panzer IV.
The two tanks came to a halt, facing each other. Suddenly, Miho remembered what the Automotive club had said. Drift!
"Mako, can you drift the Panzer IV around the Tiger?" Miho asked.
"I'll try," Mako said.
"GO!" Miho shouted. The Panzer IV lurched forward, as did the Tiger. Suddenly, the Panzer IV snapped to the left, drifting around the Tiger. The tracks and remaining side skirts were torn off, but the tank landed where it wanted to be.
"FIRE!"
"FIRE!"
Both guns roared, spitting smoke and fire. When the smoky fog cleared, the Panzer IV's white surrender flag was waving above the tank. The Tiger, while covered in debris and badly damaged, had no surrender flag. There was, however, a whole in the engine where the Panzer IV's shell had torn through.
Oarai had lost the finals.
In the stands, some of the Oarai girls were close to tears. Anzu was contemplating on what to get the school more money. The situation was desperate. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a Kuomorimine student walk up to her.
"We can help your school stay open," she sneered.
Anzu stared her in the eye.
"We don't need your help, thank you very much," Anzu said in an even voice. "And besides, why would you care about our school?"
"I have orders. But, very well," the other girl said, "I'll speak with Mrs. Nishizumi, then, if you refuse to comply."
"Go ahead," Anzu said.
"Good day," the other girl said tensely.
"You too," Anzu said, forcing a fake smile. In the pit of her stomach, she felt that something was about to happen. Something bad. How would she convince MEXT they could stay open? Sell the tanks? Maybe it'd earn enough money to save the school? She would try anything.
Akio awoke in the hospital bed. His head was throbbing. Opening his left eye, he realized that his vision was still blurry. He cracked open his other eye. He managed to make out shapes hovering above him. Were they people? Angels?
He tried to sit up, but his head swam, so he fell back down. Why couldn't he remember how he got here?
"You awake?" a gentle voice whispered.
"H-Hai," Akio stammered, voice cracking. "What happened?"
"Well," Akio recognized the voice as Erwin, "Your tank took a few hits during the finals, and well, something happened."
It all rushed back to Akio's mind. Kento, the Panther, the finals, Oarai, the school, everything.
"I know," he said.
Erwin didn't say anything. She didn't know what to say. She still, however, needed to tell Akio the news.
"Akio, uh, we lost," she said.
"What?!" Akio instantly shot up, feeling dizzy, shifted his legs into a better sitting position. Hold on a second…
He gently picked the covers up. What he saw was, he didn't know how to put it. He was missing his right leg from right under the knee.
"They had to amputate it," Erwin said, tears welling up in her eyes. "They couldn't get all of the shrapnel out."
Akio didn't say anything. He picked up his field marshal cap with the intention of leaving.
"What are you doing?" Erwin asked.
"I'm leaving," Akio snapped.
"No, you have to stay, you aren't ready!" Erwin protested.
"I'm fine," Akio said, grabbing a pair of crutches. He didn't go one step before he almost fell. "Never mind, I think I'll stay."
Over the next few weeks, Akio spent his days in the hospital, waiting for release. Three weeks later, he was released. He wore his fake leg, but he still needed crutches.
On the stricken Oarai ship, the Tankery team welcomed Akio. The Automotive Club had repaired the Panther, which was quite the accomplishment. Akio and the remaining members of the crew were mourning Kento's death.
The next day was Kento's funeral. He was buried in his hometown. The entire tankery team was there.
The next few days would be a blur. Pretty soon, all of the tanks, save for the Panther, Tiger (P), StuG, and Panzer IV had been sold. Of the four remainders, the Tiger (P) had its engine and tracks sold. The StuG's ammunition had been sold off cheaply.
One Friday, five Kuomorimine Panzer III's and a Tiger II pulled up onto the Oarai ship. Akio stood there in his field marshal attire. Erwin walked up to him, followed by Ben.
"What're these people doing here?" Ben asked.
"Don't ask me," Erwin shrugged.
"I invited them here," the principle said from behind the group.
"WHAT!?" Akio exploded. "Why?"
"Because they say they can save this ship," the Principle said, walking up to greet them.
Anzu and the Student Council appeared.
"Why are they here?" Yuzu asked.
"We are here to save your ship," one of the Black Forest girls snapped.
"What? Wait, who gave you permission?" Anzu asked.
"The principle made a deal with Mrs. Nishizumi," The same girl said.
"Why didn't we get a say in this?" Anzu asked curtly.
"Because, none of you are the Student Council anymore," Another girl said, appearing behind the other girl. She was shorter and wore glasses. She had messy brown hair. She extended her hand.
"Riri Serizawa. I am the president of the Student council from now on," she said.
Momo was close to tears. The former Student Council backed off.
"This ship is now property of Kuomorimine High!" she stated. "You will all be transferred to Black Forest Peak, and this ship will now be another ship that bears the name of Nishizumi! Convene in the gym for further instructions!"
Akio silently fumed.
Something wasn't right about this.
In the gym, five girls stood at the podium.
"We will now tell about the changes that will be happening here," Riri said. There were four other girls with her. They were the new Oarai Student Council.
"First, all Third years will remain for the summer to learn the Nishizumi way of Tankery," Riri stated.
There was a general uproar amongst the third years.
"Oh, don't worry, you'll still going to be able to apply for college," Riri stated.
Anzu simply rolled her eyes. That only meant more work!
"Secondly, you all will now report to us, or Mrs. Nishizumi. We are the new leaders of the school," Riri smirked.
More uproar, this time by everybody.
"Lastly, I am disbanding the Morals Committee. Instead, there will be a new Safety Sentinels," Riri stated, gesturing to the side of the stage. A group of twenty or so girls walked up.
"Those are S.S. and Gestapo uniforms!" Erwin whispered to Akio.
"I know," Akio whispered back. "But we can't disagree with what they want to be themed after."
"You can't do that!" Sodoko shouted angrily.
"Says who?" Riri asked smugly. "Okay, dismissed."
The tankery team gathered at the sheds.
"I guess this is it, then," Miho sighed. "I'm sorry."
"You have nothing to be sorry about," Anzu stated firmly, still comforting a crying Momo.
"We all tried and gave our best," Akio nodded. His crew smiled weakly at one another.
"Hey, we need a country to be themed after!" Erwin shouted.
"Which one, then?" Miho asked.
"We're going to merge with Kuomorimine, what's the point?" Saemonza asked.
"We may as well have one," Caesar shrugged.
"Well, our remaining tanks are all German, so Germany?" Yukari suggested.
"Black Forest is Germany," Mako pointed out.
"I think that they're more Nazi Germany," Akio said. "I go with Germany! Besides, it is like the Nazis taking over Germany's government in the 1930's."
"Germany!" was the general cry. Akio and his crew shared a glance. Kento would have liked it.
"Alright then," Miho said.
"No matter what happens, we'll always be together!" Yukari exclaimed. "Right, Miho?"
Miho nodded. "Panzer Vor!"
"Panzer Vor!"
Notes: Thanks for reading! If there is something you want to point out or suggest, please say it. If you would be so kind, please give me the characters from Bonple, Waffle, Chi-Ha Tan, Koala, and most importantly, Maginot. That would be so, so helpful to me.
Field Marshal out!