Mouth of Mutsu bay, Northern Japan
USS Sasebo
Several hours later...
"Ready, Erwin?" Yukari asks as the pair climb into their SDV submersible. Despite her outward appearance, Erwin was anything but ready. Her companion had far more field experience than she did, and while her crewmates had done their best to be supportive, leaving home left much to be desired. Not wanting to worry her companion, Erwin grins and nods.
"Definitely." The two take their seats, and Kay's voice rings out from the sub's bridge a few moments later.
"Starfish, Starfish, this is Shark. Radio check, over."
"Lima Charlie, Shark." Yukari replies, readying her goggles and rebreather. At her side, Erwin does the same, reaching over to open the valve on Yukari's air tank.
"Good to hear, Oddball. In just a minute, we'll be flooding the Dry Dock Shelter. Get yourselves ready."
Yukari copies her friend's movements, testing the air flow in her mouth piece. Erwin places her own rebreather in her mouth and gives Guderian a thumbs up.
"Starfish is ready to go." Yukari confirms.
"Copy that. DDS flooding. It's gonna get real cold, real fast."
As Kay says the words, several flaps in the floor open and sea water rushes into the tiny hangar. Within seconds, icy cold water passes over the girls, Erwin quietly squealing as the water splashes into her lap. Yukari looks up and lets out a breath, watching the rush of bubbles float to the ceiling.
"USS Sasebo Actual, this is Dry Dock Control. We have a go." Alisa announces. "DDS Hangar flooded. Full pressure."
"Begin deployment." Kay orders. Yukari reaches out and bumps Erwin's fist as the hatch in front of them opens. Taking the controls, Yukari steers the SDV out and away from the submarine.
"Shark to all callsigns, Starfish team is away."
"Copy that, Shark!"
"Starfish One, depth twenty meters...bearing two-two-zero." Naomi reads out.
"Go get 'em, ladies! Shark out."
Meanwhile…
Boots slowly sinking in the soggy ground and glasses fogged and smeared with rain, Aya Oono kneels along with her crew inside a clump of trees and sizes up their target, a Pravda checkpoint outside the History Museum.
"Minnow, this is Pufferfish." Nekonya says quietly. "Target is in sight, nyaa."
"Copy that, Pufferfish." Saori-Senpai replied from the Kuromorimine Zeppelin, high above them. "Starfish is en route to their objective, and our radio jammers are active. How many tanks can you see at the checkpoint?"
At the front of the group, Anteater's Piyotan lowers her binoculars and makes several obscure hand gestures that resemble sign language. Nekonya nods along and raises her microphone to reply, leaving the members of Rabbit Team scratching their heads.
"Four. Two T 34/85s and two IS-2s nyaa."
Even in the most serious of situations, the girls of Anteater couldn't seem to drop their verbal tics.
"Understood, Pufferfish. You are clear to engage."
The large group of girls quickly find positions and pick targets. Mika moves to the middle of the gathering and begins giving out orders.
"Rabbits, my girls and the Anteaters each need one of you. Us and the Ducks will each take an IS-2, while the rest take the 85s."
"I'll go with you, Mika-Sensei." Yuuki whispers.
"Ayumi, you go with Nekonya-Sensei." Azusa says. She turns to Mika next. "We'll head for the 85 on the far side."
"Splitting up?" Ayumi asks worriedly. "We've never done that before."
"You'll be okay." Azusa says reassuringly. "It won't be any different than usual. Just pretend Nekonya is me." The Rabbit gunner eyes the Anteater commander, who smiles brightly and fixes her swirly glasses. Mika taps on Shinobu's shoulder and, using various hand gestures, instructs her to knock out the closest guard to the group so that they could move. The volleyball attacker nods, pulling on the hood of her camouflaged rain defender sweater. She quickly and quietly positions herself along the Pravda girl's patrol route. As she starts to pass, Shinobu jumps out and grabs the unsuspecting girl, knocking her out with a stick and dragging her into the cluster of trees.
When Mika signals the girls to move, Aya follows her remaining Rabbits in a dash across the rainy street, nearly stumbling while trying to avoid a water-filled pothole. All of the Pravda tank crews appear to be out of their tanks and inside the Museum, likely asleep, while the commanders either stay with their tanks or roam around the immediate area, wearing rubber ponchos to protect themselves from the rain. The T 34/85 Azusa selected has its commander sitting in her open hatch. She appears to be nodding off, as her head dips several times and she tries her best to keep herself awake.
"Aya, Karina." Azusa whispers. "Go around to the other side and get ready to grab the commander. Saki, throw this rock at the tank when I tell you to."
Saki silently looks at the stone for a moment. "What do we do with her?" Karina hisses.
"Just knock her out. Aya, you drag her back here while Karina gets in the driver's seat. Don't touch anything until I tell you to."
Aya nods and follows her friend to the 85, using the rumbling engine to mask their approach. She braces herself against the tank and lets Karina place her boot in her hands to give her a boost up. After several seconds, the pair hear a 'klang' sound followed by the commander exclaiming in surprise. The Rabbit gunner lifts her friend onto the tank, who reaches up and grabs the Pravda girl by her skirt waistband, pulling her back and off the tank. She lands on her back on the pavement, where Aya is waiting to deliver a knockout punch. As Sakaguchi climbs into the tank, Oono drags the unconscious commander back to the side of the road. Azusa takes the girl's poncho and helmet for herself as Aya brings Saki back to the tank. Climbing up, she watches as Aki from Jatkosota knocks on the commander's hatch of an IS-2. The girl climbs up a moment later, and appears confused until she sees Mikko with a baton, which she quickly uses to subdue the Pravda tanker. Her, Aki, and Yuuki quickly climb into the tank while Mika pulls out the commander, drags her out of sight and takes her tanker helmet, tugging it on and closing the hatch behind her. Azusa arrives moments later and the girls take positions inside their new tank, taking a moment to familiarize themselves with the new environment.
"Minnow, this is Pufferfish." Mika announces. "We've succeeded in borrowing four Pravda tanks without being spotted, and are headed to our objective."
"Understood, Pufferfish. Starfish has not reported in yet, so find a good hiding spot and stand by for the signal."
Meanwhile…
Kuromorimine Zeppelin 'Minnow'
5,000 feet above Aomori
The always calm and collected Darjeeling sat at her station alongside her companion Orange Pekoe, using a sip of tea to drown a 'So far, so good' that was threatening to come up. Of all people, she didn't want to be the one to jinx the mission. Instead, she watched the windows around the cabin get pelted by rain and stole glances at Miho, who was exchanging quiet words with her sister and jotting down notes from what she could hear in her headset. The radio equipment Darjeeling had brought was likely powerful enough to pick up communications all the way back in Ibaraki, so she could likely hear everything happening down below. On the opposite side of the cabin, Saori was managing communications between Shark and Pufferfish. From the sound of things, Kay was slowly steaming south and into the harbor and Mika was leading her team to an ambush position. At her side, Pekoe was managing the jamming operation, keeping the Pravda checkpoint down below quiet for as long as needed. During a lull in the communications, Maho removes her headset and taps Miho on the shoulder.
"How are you holding up, Imoto?"
Miho thinks silently for a moment. "I'm hopeful. Things seem to be going well, so far. I just hope Yukari and Erwin report in soon…"
Maho studies her sister for a moment, thinking about everything she has said about her team and her friends. While heart-to-heart conversations were rare in the Nishizumi family, she felt that now would be as good a time as any.
"Who is Yukari to you, Miho?" She asks quietly. Miho, who was beginning to put her headset back on, is caught off guard by the question.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean...who is she to you?" Maho looks over her shoulder at Saori, then over at Darjeeling, to make sure they aren't listening. Everyone else in the cabin has a headset on, so the older Nishizumi deems it safe to continue. "Forgive me for noticing, but the way you talk about her specifically, makes it sound like she may be...more than your friend."
Miho studies her sister for a long moment. "Was it really that noticeable?" She shoots a glance over her shoulder. "Had Saori said something?" If that was the case, the whole team down below probably knew by now, as well as half the school. Miho began to mentally prepare herself for the teasing she would undoubtedly receive as she looked back to Maho.
"There might be...something...going on. After all of you visited the other day, we had quite the conversation. I gave her...one of my Boko Bears."
"That's something Miho has definitely never done…"
"It's a good thing you came when that bit was over." Miho shudders at the memory of her distraught friend. "She was a mess. We both were really. When the two of us are together...I don't know. It just feels like we're more powerful together than we ever could be separate. You know?"
Maho nods. "You know, I had a similar feeling when you first joined the Kuromorimine team." This was surprising. Maho was rarely open about her feelings. "It felt like we were kids again, riding around on the Panzer II. Stirring up trouble, getting into trouble...I miss those days."
As a matter of fact, Miho missed that time more than anything. Still being at home, having a dynamic duo with her sister.
"I miss having you at Kuromorimine." Maho continues. "We were able to work so seamlessly together. Things haven't quite been the same since you left."
The younger Nishizumi tilts her head to the side.
"Volk-3, Serebro. Otchet o sostoyaniya, pryom?" Crackles through her headset, which she ignores.
"What about Erika? You have her now."
"Sure...Erika was there, too. And she's my second now, but it doesn't feel the same. She and I don't have the same chemistry. She's far more gung ho than you are. In fact, if not for Kuromorimine, she'd fit in well at Pravda."
Miho smiles and nods. "Although, we'd lose quite the pilot."
As Maho glances at the door to the Zeppelin's Bridge, Miho continues. "I miss Kuromorimine, too. But you know I can't go back. Too much damage has been done. And...I've made too much of an impact here at Ooarai." She gestures back at Saori, who was placing thumbtacks on a map to mark each team's position.
"I understand." Maho says. "I wouldn't want to take you away from this, anyway. Miho...you singlehandedly took a rag-tag group of girls who didn't know the first thing about Sensha-Do, and turned them into one of the best teams in the league. Since you defeated the All-Stars University, every single one of you are now on their list for potential candidates when you graduate." Maho studies her little sister for a long moment. "And speaking of graduation, I've recently received an invitation to Niedersächsische, a Sensha-Do university in Germany. I want you to know that you and your friends are welcome on my team any time."
"Volk-3, Serebro. Vy chitayat, pryom?"
Miho can feel her eyes getting misty for a moment. It wasn't often that she heard something like this from her sister.
"Either way," Maho concludes, smiling softly. "The things you've done, the friendships you've made, finding your own Sensha-Do style...I'm proud of you, Miho." She reaches around her sister's shoulders and hugs her tightly, which the younger Nishizumi gratefully accepts. The two sit in silence for some time, ignoring the radio calls between several Pravda units on the ground wondering why one of the checkpoints isn't responding.
Behind them, Saori watches quietly with a smile on her face. Miporin had told her about the difficult relationship she had with her sister, and how different the Nishizumi's were compared to other families. Them working together again, outside of Sensha-Do and out of the peering eyes of their mother seemed to be helping them be sisters again.
"Minnow, this is Starfish. We've reached Checkpoint A. Over."
…
"Minnow, this is Starfish. Do you copy?"
A/N: It goes without saying that this chapter (and the following one) draws inspiration from a few sources, most notably 'The Only Easy Day...Was Yesterday' from Modern Warfare 2.
I also like to think that behind the scenes, Miho and Maho have reconnected to some extent.
Lets see...what else...Miho and Yukari are officially an item. Personally, NishiYama is my favorite ship. Close runner-ups would be KayJeeling and EriMaho, at least the ones where Erika isn't a complete creep. One of those will make an appearance later as well.