Let's slow it down a little bit, we've got to get our team up to spec and do our inter-match set up. I also just read Rabbit Sunrise, and I really like the whole Azusa/Orange Pekoe dynamic they hinted at.
Also, there's a few Americans I haven't paired up with anyone yet...
Azusa Sawa was incredibly nervous. In fact, she hadn't been this nervous since she first saw a tanks main gun firing at her. That time, the only thing that kept her sane was the calming voice of Hector-senpai in her ear, telling her and her fellow crewmates that they were alright. This time, she was advancing alone, into unknown territory. She was supposed to go to the movies with her friends! She wasn't even supposed to be here, except for that text she'd gotten from Darjeeling telling her that Orange Pekoe had accompanied her to the match, and they should meet up. Apparently, Orange Pekoe hadnt stopped jabbering on about her any chance Oorai came up in conversation. Rosehip had become the worst of her unintentional tormentors, constantly asking why she was so interested in the little Rabbit.
That damned Brit had now caused the poor girls mind and heart to race like nothing before. After their first match, Azusa had felt kind of... lost. Defeated, really, and nothing was making it any better. By chance they ran into Darjeeling and her orange-haired loader, who had given her some words of encouragement and wisdom. Orange Pekoe had then approached her, giving her her hankerchief to wipe away her tears from the matches loss, and told her how much she was looking forward to meeting again. Oh, her teammates had had a ball with that, and the memory made her blush intensely. I-it wasn't like that! At all! No matter what they said! Orange Pekoe was a fellow first year Sensha-Dō athlete, and the two respected eachother immensely! So what if she gave her a hankerchief with a delicate 'O.P.' in fancy, orange embroidery on it? It didn't mean anything, and who cared that her gentle eyes and cute hair were absolutely adorable? Azusa certainly didn't notice. Nope. Nuh-uh.
Azusa had gone to Hector for some advice on the topic regardless. No matter what, Hector was always a safe place. Unfortunately, he was also dumb as a rock in the arts of roman- friendship! Platonic, safe friendship! So, he'd taken her to Sam, who had told her all sorts of... Depraved things. She still didn't know who this Victoria was, but her secrets should STAY secrets, as far as Azusa was concerned! Though a few of those did look kinda cute... Nevertheless, Sam was a bust, so Hector had gone to Saori next, who'd been helping the Rabbits with love for a while. But when Hector revealed it was a girl Azusa was meeting, Saori clammed up quickly, loudly declaring that girls couldn't love other girls, no matter how sexy their thighs were or how romantic the music they played in a tank was, that it just wasn't possible, and then ran off.
That left them with one option: Rachel and Hana. They were the most helpful, Rachel giving her advice on how to comfort her friend after a loss to Kuromorimine, and Hana teasingly encouraging her to steal a kiss. Bleh; Whatever, she'd heard it all from Saki before.
Approaching the movie theater, she straightned little dress she had bought herself. She had to wear a coat and leggings with it- it was very cold out, this time of year- but Rachel had deemed her absolutely adorable, and Hana said she was irresistible. The look in her eye was a bit concerning, but she'd abruptly gotten up and said she was gonna find Saori instead, so Azusa was safe. Sorry, Saori.
Azusa purchased her ticket at the counter, and had just finished buying her extra-large popcorn and soda (Hana said you ALWAYS needed the extra-large, but it was huge!) when she spotted the St. Gloriana loader, standing daintily off to the side. The moment their eyes met, Orange Pekoe smiled, and Azusa's heart beat faster. The red haired girl made her way elegantly to her friend, stopping in front of her
"Sawa-san! It's a pleasure to see you again!"
"O-orange Pekoe-san! You as well, but please, Azusa is fine!"
The girl smiled, "Of course, Azusa, and the same to you. Oh, I spectated your match with Lady Darjleeing and Lady Marigold. You preformed marvelously, I must say. Congratulations on your victory!"
Azusa grinned, a blush spreading to her cheeks
"Y-you as well, I watched the match. I'm sorry for your loss, but you did incredible loading the shells so quickly!"
Orange Pekoe looked downward bashfully, "W-well, it was nothing really. Those shells aren't really that heavy anymore. Speaking of heavy, you certainly seem to be... prepared, for a movie!"
As Orange Pekoe giggled, Azusa yelped and tried to straighten the huge bucket of popcorn she'd gotten and the drink, "Ah, I-I'm sorry! I thought we might need alot!"
"Oh, that's fine, I'm simply teasing. Though, just one drink?"
Azusa balked; Of course she'd forgotten the second one! Stupid, stupid, stupid!
"I-I apologize, I'll go get another!"
Orange Pekoe 'hmmd' at that, walking twords the stand where napkins and accessories were, and picked out two straws
"Oh, no need, we can simply share!"
Azusa was, for the first time in her memory, not paying attention at all to the film in front of her. She'd been terrified that Orange Pekoe would have had taste in films, but to her delight she'd been more than happy to watch The Beast with her. She'd seen it a dozen times, but it was always a treat to see it in an actual theater! It wasn't the movie, or the cute girl next to her that had her distracted; It was the entirety of Rabbit team, who were sitting not 2 rows ahead, watching the movie with great interest. Damnit; She should have known the Rabbits would come by when a theater was showing this movie! What's worse, they'd brought Hector with them, his huge frame contrasting to that of her fellow crewmates. She could have sworn that Saki had seen her, and noticed one or two of the girls stealing glances back, but they said nothing.
Azusa sighed, getting frustrated, before Orange Pekoe's hand and her own met in the popcorn bucket. Instead of pulling away, Orange Pekoe gently took her hand in her own, eyes glued to the screen, before bringing Azusa's hand to her mouth and stealing the popcorn she'd been holding. Her only acknowledgement was a slight little grin on her face, and a quick darting of her eyes twords her companion. Azusa, on the other hand, was hyperventilating; Did she really just DO that!?
Steeling herself, she remembered her tank, and the strength it gave her. Cute or not, the Lee would be embarrassed if she allowed a rival school's tanker to one up her so easily! Daringly, Azusa grabbed Orange Pekoe's hand, kissing the top of it fiercly.
Orange Pekoe blushed, smiling slightly at her as whispers and giggles eminated from in front of them. Four sets of gleaming eyes were poking above the headrests of their seats, as the Rabbit team girls watched and Hector looked confused. Before Azusa could apologize for her decision, Orange Pekoe stood up abruptly, leading Azusa out by the hand
"W-where are we going??"
Orange Pekoe spoke with unladylike glee
"Home!"
Did you ever hear how Hector Perkins was a great cook?
Well, he was. Homemade jams, great with grilling, you get the idea. Wonderful breakfast, too. In fact, it had led to the Rabbit team letting him live in a large communal house with them, so long as he made their meals. He got his own room, so he didn't complain much, though the girls could keep him up all night with their late night film sessions.
So it was odd when he came down to make his usual breakfast, that he would find the coffee can empty again. Grunting on frustration, he was about to leave to get more when he noticed that his electric kettle had already been used. Curious, he went into the dining room, and-
"Good morning, Mister Hector!"
Orange Pekoe was up bright and early, already putting a teapot cozy on to keep the tea warm. She made her way to pour a cuppa for him, handing the steaming hot beverage in a small white cup to him. He studied the teacup; It was delicately designed, with small orange roses all along it. Did she just carry that everywhere?
"I do certainly hope you enjoy it, I've been told by Lady Darjeeling that I brew the most exquisite tea"
Sipping it, Hector had to admit that it really was quite good.
"Not that I ain't happy to see you hun, but uh..."
Setting the pot down, Orange Pekoe straightened her skirt
"Oh, yes! Silly me, where are my manners? Miss Azusa and I went out last night- you may have ran into us, truth be told- And well... I ah... was invited back here. Y-you see, the trek to St. Gloriana's was such a-a long one, and it was so cold, that Azusa graciously permitted me to come aboard"
The small girl became more and more flustered as she spoke, wringing her hands. Hector narrowed his eyes; After that coffee date with Kay, he no longer was quite as blind to these things as before. But, Orange Pekoe was a good girl, as far as he could tellz and Azusa wasn't dumb.
Speaking of the tank commander, Azusa came padding down the stairs, yawning and kissing Orange Pekoe on the cheek, before her face lit up scarlet when she saw Hector
"P-please don't tell the others..."
Hector rolled his eyes; He wouldn't. But now the trio to the store the girls had made after the movie made alot more sense. He just wondered what Azusa's reaction would be to receiving the orange slice plushie they'd gotten her
Sipping his tea, he held back a tear as his heart ached, watching the St. Gloriana girl and his Azusa talk and smile to eachother.
His little Rabbits were growing up.
Michael B. Cooper wasn't one to reject a woman's advances or wishes for attention. He considered himself a ladies man; Suave, cool, and sexy. But when faced with this... Uh... person... He wasn't exactly sure what to do.
Nekota was everything he found repulsive in a person; She looked like she hadn't showered in days, her skin was pale and clammy, she finished every sentence with some weird cat noise, and she would only talk about this weird World Of Panzers and PanzerThunder game she played.
But Michael was a team player, and she'd found a tank. What's more, shed found a Japanese tank that was one of the very very few that wasn't absolutely garbage, a Type-3 Chi-Nu. They'd decided to need at a cafe to negotiate terms, which had turned into her jumping at the chance to join and going off for 20 minutes about her stupid tank games, and pulling out a laptop to play them
But the worst part? Michael was absolutely enraptured watching her play. The game was like digital cocaine, and before long, he was begging to play a match. Nekota was flustered and awkward; never before had a boy been so interested in her hobby before. Soon they'd made plans for Michael to come over and play on her laptop as she played on her PC, Michael justifying missing practice to Joshua and Miho as 'Continued negotiations'
"The plating was about to fail, there was viscosity throughout the transmission fluid."
The engineer set down a cracked piece of glass and metal, warped beyond recognition that had once been a periscope, with a loud CLANG that spoke of its heft
"Optics? totally fucked. And let's not even talk about the power supply. Do you have any idea how expensive these parts are, American?"
Joshua looked up at the large hunk of iron and gunmetal, eyes raking over every little detail
"Tell that to the storage department."
He walked around the monstrosity, hand gently caressing it's armor
"Will it drive, Nakajima? Can it be saved?"
The mechanic signed, cocking her head back and forth
"Uncertain. This Panzer has suffered considerable trauma; it's electric drive motors are highly unstable"
Miho piped up
"P-perhaps one of our technicians-"
"That will NOT be necessary!", Nakajima replied, almost offended at the prospect of someone else touching the Automotive club's most prized project
Suddenly, the armored behemoth roared to life, it's engine drowning out the conversation. The turret slowly traverse one way, then the other, before the engine settled into a steady idle
Nakajima pumped her fist in the air
"Success!"
The automotive girls clambored out of the tank, watching the mechanics of it like hawks as they finished tuning the vehicle perfectly to their specifications.
Joshua's face couldn't stop grinning; The Type-3 would be a welcome addition to the team, but Oorai still lacked heavy, powerful armor. At least, it did.
The German Panzerkampftwagen VI Tiger was one of Germany's most feared and respected tanks throughout the war. However, it suffered from some severe limitations, and (despite it's reputation) it's armor was not actually that great from the front, being only 102mm and not sloped. To make maximum use of the armor of the tank, the driver and commander had to keep enemy tanks outside of its "clover" of angles, keeping the hull at a 30-40 degree angle to increase the effective armor of it.
Not so with the Panzerbefehlswagen Tiger made by Porsche. designed as an alternative to the famous Tiger tank, it used the same turret and gun, but was not selected due to its complicated and finicky but powerful electric-gasoline engines. The hulls had been converted into Ferdinand tank destroyers, with only one kept as original and converted into a command vehicle. The original 100mm of armor had been beefed up with an additional 100mm plate welded on, forming an incredible 200mm of steel at the front of the tank. Indeed, this vehicle could go toe-to-toe with the American T32 and stand on its own. This secret project had been funded by Owl team, and kept in the dark. The budget had listed the expensive restoration under various slush funds, but the fruits of their labor were there to see for the few present.
"As agreed, the automotive club has exclusive ownership rights to the Porsche Tiger, under the condition that we fight for Oorai's Sensha-Dō team. Nakajima, you've really outdone yourself this time."
The mechanic smiled, grease stains on her face making her seem all the more fierce
"Kuromorimine wont know what hit them!"
A bit of a filler chapter, but have to introduce Leopon team and Anteater at some point. Also, unlike the Porsche Tiger in the anime, this is the model that saw actual combat, most famously leading a group of Ferdinands at the battle of Kursk. Because of that, it has a much improved radio communication suite, more suited to a command vehicle than a normal combat one
Read and review, bit of a filler chapter to be honest but next up will be more spy shenanigans
