Days turned into weeks as the schools were waiting around for a decent day to hold a match. Snow had been battering the school for the past couple of weeks as the students were held out on their ships looking for a way to keep themselves entertained for the time being. Classes were stalling out as the teachers didn't have the means of clearing the snow so the students were pitching in and helping clean the snow from the school.
Fortunately with the snow storms, there had been breaks in between as the students had been getting out and handling some of the snow removal. Pomorie, Rila and Varna were busy shoveling away to clear the path to the classrooms and to let supplies get in. A conversation was beginning to form on the working students.
"You know Pravda just faced off against Jatkosota just a couple days ago." Rila began. Pomorie turned her head as the conversation peaked her interest. She was curious about it.
"What exactly happened against those schools? Who won?" Pomorie asked as there were still a million questions racing through her head. Rila shoveled some snow out of the way as she turned her head to Pomorie.
"Pravda won the match but like all the other matches they faced off with Jatkosota in particular, it becomes a humiliating struggle for them as Jatkosota managed to completely take them down and this was certainly the biggest blow to their school so far." Rila gave out her answer. Srebarna who was busy driving an M3 Halftrack to hand out refreshments and students to replace others when their shift was done.
"Yeah I'll tell you more about it, come on you three, your shift is done for the day." Srebarna told them as some of the students came to take their place. Once boarding, Srebarna drove off as she heard what they were saying. "Yeah this struggle was like any other. The students because Grigori had left them sleepless and many of their teachers never showed up to give them proper training as losses especially with the new freshmen were high. Brook while she did a fine job of taking out a few Jatkosota tanks, she fell asleep in the snow along with many others and nearly froze to death since another snow storm had swept over during the match. Kuromorimine found this out shortly after and it shows that Pravda must be too exhausted from lack of sleep to really conduct themselves to their fullest extent and their humiliation was put on full display." Srebarna finished what exactly had happened as Pomorie wasn't that concerned about it.
"So are we going to face them off later today or?" Pomorie asked as she thought about when they were going to face off against the exhausted school. Srebana turned to her as she began speaking.
"The date that we will be facing off against them is unknown. Sometime when this is over as the weather will be much more mild but still cold." Srebarna told them about the face off date. They pulled into the area where they unloaded and headed inside. Mugs of hot drinks were being served up as Varna grabbed the chocolate packets and placed them inside the mugs. "Well we should be facing them off very soon as we need to get a coherent plan together on how to take on Pravda and win as a whole." Varna soon filled the mugs up with some hot water as Rila took the sticks and began making them around. Pomorie felt the steam on her face, it really began warming her up.
"Yeah Kuromorimine will help us decide on that matter. We can't decide anything since we're in that alliance, we can only do that on the field." Pomorie soon took a sip from the mug she was given as Kamchia approached them.
"Pomorie, Rila, Varna, I just received a message from commander Nishizumi as she wishes to see you this afternoon so you won't be on snow shoveling duty for the rest of the day however the next ride to their ship leaves in 10 minutes so get yourselves down there." Kamchia gave them the news on what was happening. Pomorie, Rila and Varna had no time to waste as they nodded and decided to take the disposable mugs with them. They were heading for Kuromorimine.
It was about an hour later when they arrived onto the Graf Zeppelin as they had never seen a ship like this before, big, beautiful and luxurious. Pomorie couldn't believe her eyes that such a ship of beauty existed. A bus came along as the driver looked out to the three students.
"You three going to Kuromorimine?" He asked. Pomorie, Rila and Varna boarded as Varna nodded.
"Yes we are, we have an important meeting to discuss with the school's commander." Varna gave her response. The Driver of the bus nodded as he was heading straight for there. Soon the door closed and they were now on their way. Pomorie kept her eyes open waiting for the spot where they were going to get off and enter the school. Erika was waiting for them as they didn't know where to go next. Looking at the front desk, they needed directions.
"Hey you three seem lost, you heading to the meeting?" Erika asked them if they were heading to the meeting. Pomorie looked at Erika as she had just the answer.
"Yes we are but we don't know which room it's going to be held in." Pomorie asked if Erika had directions. Erika looked at them as she knew exactly where to go for the meeting.
"Follow me then, I'm heading there in a minute." Erika instructed them. She soon turned as she waved her hand in a follow me gesture. Pomorie, Rila and Varna followed her.
The three of them soon arrived in the meeting room where the meeting was being held. The table was a long, rectangular table with many places to sit. Pomorie, Rila Varna sat close to where the commander was as many familiar faces had gathered around them along with some new faces that they had never seen before.
"We're glad that you were able to make it." Solti greeted Pomorie as she was happy that she was able to see her.
"I'm doing good Solti, it seems everyone has decided to come." Pomorie told her. Istria who sat next to her. Dalmatia was fidgeting with a cube to occupy her time. She stopped for a moment before turning to her right and waving hello to Pomorie. She turned back as there were many unfamiliar faces in this room. Some from Gregor, three students from Blue Division, another three from Anzio that had decided to attend this meeting as well as the other students that had attended the first free for all match. Numbering around two to three students. Maho and Erika walked in as everyone turned their heads to greet the Kuromorimine commanders.
"Hello I hope you're all doing well today?" Maho greeted them as Erika went to set up the projection screen.
"I'm doing well commander Nishizumi, the weather has been dragging us down so we weren't able to practice much with the mobile group." Kafka responded as she hadn't spent much of her time practicing like she wanted. Maho nodded as someone looked at her. She was short and flat with brown hair and blue eyes, she was a Gregor Student after all.
"Yeah and next thing you know we're getting everything ready for our commander to make the next decision. We haven't had much practice as of lately but we are eager to show what Gregor could pull off." She replied as Maho turned her head to the student who said that as she seemed small next to the Blue Division students.
"We know Stefanik. These matches will be a good way to hone your skills so don't be antsy to go in there without a proper plan." Maho told Stefanik to keep calm until a concrete plan was in place. Maho sighed as she went back to her announcements hoping she wasn't interrupted. "Okay so I called you all in here with important business relating to Pravda and we're about to go head to head with them in the matches. The information I got from Mika following their match is certain, Pravda is too exhausted to conduct themselves to their fullest extent. We're thinking that they will have a quick set of matches and then we should be satisfied that we got to defeat an old rival of ours." The students cheered as Erika began speaking.
"This will be mainly a 6 vs 1 type of match as we will be the main school fighting them. Anzio and Blue Division would be volunteering for this type of match since some of our schools don't have enough tanks to max out their requirements which means they want 15 tanks from each school to face off Pravda as Pravda said that these matches would be fair if they fielded 100 tanks at a time since everyone else is going against them and they stand alone." Erika told them as she looked at the schools. "Anzio and Blue division will send their volunteers to help us reach that 100 tank threshold to evenly match Pravda's vast tank horde they have." She also wanted to inform. She decided to give the stand over to Istria as she had some good news.
"Also we have some news, The Bosnia gang has joined with us as we have another gang that is interested in reviving Sensha-Do. And we managed to secure ourselves a Panzer 1 that Erika has finally agreed to hand over but we have a long way before we have a force to build to their fullest extent." Istria told them as the students clapped with excitement. Istria walked away as Maho looked at everyone else as she was ready to conduct the plans.
"Okay as for our plan against Pravda in the struggle for the days to come when our first match will be tomorrow. I will be dividing our combined team into three groups. First group will be School Group North, your task will be to advance along the three rivers to trap Pravda and encircle tanks along the side of the rivers until you get to the delta. This group would be made up of mostly Kuromorimine students with Blue Division volunteers to help them out, Erika I expect you to lead this group. Second group will be the School Group Center. Your job will be to encircle tanks on the frontier and advance directly to where Pravda will be holding their tanks on the flat plains to the hills. Once done we should have them secured. This group will consist of mostly Kuromorimine with Anzio and Magyar helping us out. I will lead this group with Olivia. Last group will be the School group South as they will advance along the dirt roads to the lake and directly to the mountains and take over the mountains. This last group will be remnants of everyone else as I expect them to work together, The Croatian Gang, Gregor, Yogurt and Count will make up the School Group South. Kafka will be leading this group as they will be dealing with what we believe to be Pravda's strongest tanks but even they will be no match for us." Maho laid out her plans. She soon turned on the projector as she reminded the students in the group what their objectives were. The students nodded and yipped with their excitement.
"Everyone, we should be able to get our tanks ready and be able to march on them tomorrow morning if the weather holds out." Maho gave them when they should deploy their tanks and therefore be able to attack. Pomorie and the others had mixed feelings as Pravda was their ally and enemy from the first match of this year so their feelings were mixed. Noemi on the other hand was very excited to get back at Pravda for what they did to their school. Erika decided to rally the students together with one more speech.
"We only have to kick the door in and the whole rotten structure will come crashing down." Erika rallied them saying that Pravda would be very weak and therefore an easy walk across with the matches they agreed with. Once the cheering had quieted down. Some of the students knew their plan. She soon turned to them as she needed a name. "What should we call this operation?" Erika was looking for names to their operation.
"How about Operation Charlemagne after the king of the Franks?" One of the Blue Division students gave her a suggestion. Everyone else was soon on board as they had names for the operation.
"Operation Otto for the chancellor of the German Empire! Much better than King of the Franks El!" The Gregor Student Council president gave her suggestion. Kafka looked at her as she was arguing among themselves.
"Yeah right Augusta." Kafka scornfully remarked as she didn't like the name Otto. Stefanik waited in the background as she didn't want to speak out.
"What about Operation Rheinfelden? That's a good sounding name?" Anna asked if she can get an agreement with her peers. Erika didn't like the name.
"A swiss sounding name? All Switzerland does is sit back, eat popcorn while the rest of the world explodes. How about Operation Hohenstaufen? A dynasty of the Holy Roman Empire would sound very pleasing." Erika gave her snap back. The others were looking for chances to come up with their names for the operation.
"Your Holy Roman Empire wasn't really an empire but instead a nightmarish federation of duchies, bishops and abbots upon which Anzio goes to war over a bucket. I suggest Operation Habsburg." Szell criticized Erika's name. Solti and another student named Rona, a dedicated Gymnast with black hair in a Ponytail was the first to criticize Szell's name.
"Name it after a bunch of inbred royal princes? No thank you I suggest we name this, Operation Maximillian. It will be a good name for our massive operation as we will maximize our capability." Rona gave her suggestion. Anchovy looked on as she had no good names of her own as Istria snapped at Rona.
"Naming it after a maniac responsible for the Reign of terror? I do not want to name it after a poor excuse for a French man. I would name this Operation Wittelsbach. A dynasty that has lasted for 700 years would fit the name." Istria shouted across the room. Maho was at a boiling point as she didn't know how to restore order to the room.
'Quiet down all of you!" Maho shouted as everyone covered their ears, they didn't like it when Kuromorimine's commander was angry beyond her belief. Once she took a moment to cool down, she sighed as she decided to speak in a much calmer manner. "Everyone is shouting over each other and we don't have a name for our operation at all. Anchovy got any good names for the operation?"
"All of our operation names are based on food from our school so we got nothing." Anchovy gave her reply. Maho knew Anzio wasn't going to contribute to this so her eyes turned to Pomorie and her friends as they didn't have a name for the operation.
"Okay Pomorie you're our last shot for a good operation name. If we can get an operation name soon we should begin preparing, I do not want to spend all night arguing for a good name." Maho told Pomorie if she had a good name for an operation. Pomorie thought about it for a second before coming up with a name.
"What about Operation Barbarossa? It would be a good name to wipe Pravda out of the water when we roll through our tanks." Pomorie suggested. Maho gave a thought about it as she was out of options. She looked at Erika before turning back.
"Okay I'm sticking with this name. Everyone okay with Operation Barbarossa?" Maho asked. Pomorie got Maho's attention but was she going to get the support she needed. Istria raised her head as she looked to Maho.
"Yeah I like the name and the nature, we'll name the operation after that." Istria told Maho as she was supporting Pomorie. Solti looked over next as she began to speak.
"Yeah launch it in June of 1941, we'll be able to wipe Pravda off of the map within a matter of days." Solti gave her full support while being the most sunshine-like of the group.
"We agree on the name." Mizuki gave her response to the matter. Maho nodded as Stefanik decided to support it.
"We support the name." Stefanik stepped forth in support for the name. El Nodded with Anchovy as they had no opposing opinion on the matter.
"Yeah we agree, we should be able to host this operation." El gave her full support. Maho's face turned into a small smile as they had all agreed on a name.
"Okay it's done this will be Operation Barbarossa." Maho gave the codename for the operation. Suddenly the door slammed open as Emi was frantic, she was panting hard as she needed her commander's help.
"Commander Nishizumi, you're needed at the nurse's office right away. We got some trouble on the ship." Emi alerted her about what was going on. Maho was confused on the matter as she was thinking why she was needed there?
"What for?" Maho asked curiously. Emi looked at her commander as she knew there wasn't any time to waste.
"Not sure but many of the experienced students are in there." Emi soon turned and ran off. Maho got up as she decided to follow her as well as Erika. Maho turned to the group as she decided on the matter.
"Meeting dismissed, I have something important I need to attend to." Maho decided to dismiss everyone as they all got their bags and decided to leave. Pomorie and her friends watched everyone leave but they were curious about where their commander ran off to. They decided to head to the Nurse's office.
Pomorie, Rila and Varna had arrived as they decided to take a peek inside. Maho was standing over the bed as Erika and Emi looked on. Maho was horrified that her friend was in the nurse's office.
"Is it true that she's sick?" Maho asked as she was worried. The girl turned her head away from Maho as her eyes were heavy with exhaustion. She coughed hoarsely as her throat was dry. The nurse looked at Maho as she was completely helpless.
"Yes. Olivia Kaya has fallen severely ill. And lacks the strength to move at all." The nurse told Maho as she removed the damp cloth from her head. Maho was now without her strongest student to help her. The Nurse turned Olivia's head back to where it was as she wanted to keep her neck straight. Maho looked on as a doctor was attending the school ship to help sick students.
"Do you know what it is?" Maho asked as if the doctor had a diagnosis. The Doctor rested his forehead in his hand as he spoke as he was tired and didn't catch a break.
"It's Diphtheria, 13th case so far in Kuromorimine and 138th case overall on the Graf Zeppelin and I'm out of Anti-Toxins." The doctor responded with a somewhat somber voice. Pomorie was watching as Varna felt pity for the sick. Maho looked over as her most experienced students were down and out. Even Koume and Geshiko were ill as well, then Maho turned to Erika and Emi. She began to think about it as she turned to the staff that were busy treating the students.
"I would like a moment with my friends." Maho told the Doctor as he nodded. Maho, Emi and Erika walked out of the office as she wanted to speak with them. Pomorie heard footsteps as they went off to hide and watch without getting noticed. She turned to them as she wanted to address something. "Well Erika and Emi, I will not be participating in the operation." Maho began as she wasn't going to attend the match. Erika was shocked as to why her leader wouldn't attend the match against Pravda.
"Why not? You're our leader, you need to be there. We cannot conduct ourselves to our fullest without you." Erika pleaded with Maho to help. Emi looked at Maho as she remained calm.
"Is there something you wish to confess to us?" Emi asked, wondering why Maho was deciding to stay behind. Maho looked at Emi and Erika as she looked down to their feet for a moment before looking up.
"I'm staying behind to attend to our sick students. If I come along we might have a nasty outbreak and the staff will be overwhelmed with many students. Plus some of our most experienced students are down for the count so I want to be there to help them recover, once the staff have it under control, I will participate and try to conduct our team to their fullest. As of now, Erika you will be in charge of School group Center and Emi you will be in charge of School group north." Maho walked away as Erika was furious. Maho was leaving her in charge of the forces entirely. She soon walked up to her as she turned her around.
"Do you honestly think you want to sit out and watch our team cluelessly walk into traps in the freezing weather. You must be even more clueless than I thought." Erika responded as she didn't like how Maho was going to sit back. Maho seemed angry that Erika was telling her she was a terrible commander. Maho felt pity for the sick students as she turned to Erika.
"As long as this medicine gets through to help our students out and help them recover. Stop being such a glory hound." Maho snapped at Erika as she thought Erika didn't show an ounce of remorse for her teammates. Erika looked at Maho trying to get on her good side.
"You're one hundred percent right Maho, I wasn't thinking about those students." Erika apologized as Pomorie was off in the distance watching this conversation. It was getting clearer that Erika wasn't taking any responsibility for her actions. Pomorie turned to Rila and Varna.
"Good lord, It's like Erika's face has ten different personalities and they all eat children." Pomorie told the others as she was scared about Erika's lack of loyalty to Maho as she saw them snapping at each other. Maho got up and left as she headed back into the nurses, office. Emi and Erika dispersed. Pomorie, Rila and Varna knew they needed to head back to the ship to prepare themselves.
Maho soon entered the nurse's office as she looked at the Nurse wondering if there was anything she needed.
"Is there a way that I can help out?" Maho asked her if the nurse could use an extra set of hands to help out. The nurse looked at her as she began speaking.
"I'm good at the moment but if you wish to volunteer that would be a great help for us." The nurse replied as Maho knew what she needed to do if all the students were going to make it through.
"If this is so bad? Can't we send the students to the hospital so we don't get everyone else sick?" Maho asked if they could send these students to where there was a possibility of the hospital having the medicine for the sick students. The nurse looked at her as she began speaking to Maho.
"The hospital aboard the Graf Zeppelin is at capacity and it's full of sick children who all have the same sickness as your classmates. I think the school is going on lockdown until we get the anti-toxins on board." The nurse replied as Maho knew the situation was dire. Pomorie, Rila and Varna were heading back to where they were going to be taken back to their school shop as the snow was beginning to fall lightly. One of Kuromorimine's staff took a sign that was covered by a fine layer of snow as he hung it up on the front door of the school. He soon took his glove covered hand as he wiped it off. It read Quarantine. In the main office, a staff worker was buzzing away as his message was dire. He wanted assistance to those who could give it.
"USS George Washington, more diphtheria antitoxins needed. Graf Zeppelin in grave danger. Please help." He repeated to himself as he wanted to get the message out. Kay, who was on board, was listening in carefully as she had a can of 7Up with her. Alisa and Naomi were busy carrying several crates as they were loading them up. The jars they had been loading into the crates were carrying golden liquid as it was the key to the Graf Zeppelin's Salvation.
"Graf Zeppelin, bad weather pinning ships and air down, we can only ship antitoxins by train, train line ends at the stern of the USS George Washington. Select fastest dogs for the sled team to deliver antitoxins from the USS George Washington to the Graf Zeppelin. I pray for the train to make it through." Kay responded as she knew they needed to get the train loaded and running. Alisa and Naomi grab the crate as they begin carrying it out to the train that was waiting outside of the school.
"This is precious cargo for the Graf Zeppelin, do not damage it." Naomi gave the porter the instruction to have this cargo make it there in one piece. The door soon closed as the lock went over it. The train blew the whistle as a hiss of steam came from the cylinder cocks. The wheels slipped for a moment on the cold icy rails before finding their grip. The train was speeding off into the storm with life-saving medicine for Kuromorimine.
[A/N]: Looks like the storm is gathering. Kuromorimine is about to launch their massive attack despite a good chunk of their students getting a crippling sickness so they are relying on their allies to pull it together and hopefully operate as one cohesive force against Pravda. With these schools being much smaller and lacking any good tanks, their fortunes are to be seen. See you soon.