Let's keep on rolling along, gotta love duty days for writing


As dawn broke, the peace and serenity of the beautiful Oorai morning was shattered by the bellows of a wild animal

"WAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!"

Joshua winced as he watched Yukari tumble over the side of the Tiger (P). She'd been so enthusiastic at seeing the Panzer she ended up calling over 3 times, each time scrambling to get back up.

"Alright, let's try and get her back in her own tank. The new gun on the Panzer is good, right?"

Rachel nodded; She and Hana had been up all night fine tuning the gun and making sure it's mount was perfect. They'd needed to remove the turret from the tank anyway, and took the opportunity to replace the bearings in the turret ring and lubricate the horizontal and vertical drive mechanisms. It was hard work, and Hector's strength had come in handy more than once, but it was necessary.

"It should be! There might be a little bit of sight issues but me and Hana can get those straightened out with some range time!"

Joshua shuddered at the thought of the two girls, alone in a tank, with nothing but the newer, more powerful gun to keep them company

"S-sure... just... bring water, alright?"

Rachel nodded, skipping over to the Panzer IV and talking excitedly with her friend. The American tank commander's focus was interrupted by his driver

"Hey Boss, Anzu is ready for you."

Thanking his driver, Joshua dismounted from his perch stop the turret and made his way down and twords the club meeting room


Joshua was a fan of Japanese food. True, he thought Indian style curry was a bit better, and liked their spice palate a bit more, but Japanese food was great too. Noodles, ramen, rice, sushi, everything was great.

But goddamn if he didn't miss some good old fashioned Italian every once in a while.

Wolfing down the last of his pasta, Anchovy looked at him with a sense of nervousness uncharacteristic of Il Duce. Anzu had enjoyed her meal as well, but wasn't as obsessed as Joshua seemed; Always the cool cucumber, that one. Miho sat calmly off to the side; truthfully, they didn't even need anyone other than Miho and Anzu there-maybe Momo- but he wasn't gonna turn down free pasta

"S-so... what do you think of Anzio's proposal?"

Anzu made a show of rolling her head in thought, but as far as Joshua was concerned, they'd already accepted. It was Miho who spoke up, approving the idea as Anchovy let out a sigh of relief and beamed at them

"You won't regret this, Nishizumi-sama! Anzio will hold our end of the deal, just you watch! You've never had pasta like this before, I guarantee it! Pepperoni herself will transfer temporarily to oversee the food delivery process!"

The deal had been struck earlier; Anzio didn't have a huge budget, it was true. But over the years they'd accumulated several smaller upgrades to tanks that had fallen by the wayside; What Oorai was interested in was their stockpile of smoke grenades, designed almost exclusively to be used on German tanks like the Panzer and Puma, and a large stockpile of 50mm APCR rounds for the Puma's main gun. Anzio had considered fielding Pumas at one point, but it had never gone anywhere, leaving only their ammunition reserves remaining. But the rounds would give the nimble Puma up to 90mm of penetration at 500 meters, and well over 120 at close range. With that kind of firepower, they could even penetrate a Tiger's front glacis at a straight angle at close range.

The price for all this? Anzio wanted to set up a food stall at the championship match, to raise money for the Sensha-Dō team for next year. Miho and Joshua we're fully on board; Anzio wasn't a threat anymore this season, and good sportsmanship was the heart of Sensha-Dō.

Joshua let the girls hammer out the details, as he reached for another delicious plate of Anzio's pasta


CLANG

"Leopon team, angle armor 30 counterclockwise, Kodiak team you're up!"

The heavy German tank rumbled to life, it's tracks tearing the dirt up as the hull traversed. Across the battlefield, Sugar's Blues came to a stop, it's long barreled 90mm gun rocking back and forth, before settling on the hull of the Tiger P. Silence filled the air for two seconds, and the loud report of the American cannon split through the field

CLANG

The automotive club girls had been excellent drivers and operators of the vehicle they'd painstakingly restored, but they still needed to get their feet wet being shot at. Nakajima winced as the round skipped off their front Glacis plate; She would never get used to the head ringing sound of a 90mm round impacting their pure metal box!

Gathering her wits, she keyed her throat mic

"G-gunner, target the enemy tank! One round, armor piercing! Driver, advance once the shot is off! Keep them out of our clover!"

To their credit, the girls complied professionally, if a little shakily, and before long the infamous 88mm gun was roaring a reply to the Americans before the tracer zipped off upwards and to the left, deflected off of the T32's own frontal armor, before the heavy tank lurched to a stop

Nakajima gulped; Here it comes

"BRACE!"

CLANG

This time, the automotive club members gathered their wits about them quickly, and pushed forwards to reply with their own gun. Nakajima saw her friends scrambling to load another shell, and smiled inwardly at their progress


One of the often overlooked pleasures of life was laying your head on your girlfriend's lap as she slowly stroked her fingers through your hair. It was well know through the Sensha-Dō team that Saori's thighs made the best lap pillow, followed by Sam, but Joshua was having a hard time imagining a better experience than laying in Miho's lap as she watched a Boko special at his apartment.

"Joshua?"

"Eh?"

"Do you think we're gonna win? We've come a long way, but mother won't allow Kuromorimine to lose so easily..."

Joshua sat up, abandoning his place of comfort and rest; it was time to be a good boyfriend. He squared his shoulders and grabbed Miho by hers

"Miho, listen. It doesn't matter what you mother wants. When you're on the field, all that matters is us and them, two teams. Kuromorimine had an easy year this year; Chi-ha-tan, Jatkosota, and St. Gloriana. Meanwhile every school we faced, besides Anzio, was an absolute powerhouse. We're alot stronger than Kuromorimine thinks, baby."

Miho hugged him tight, squeezing his back as she dove her face into the crook of his neck

"... told you not to call me that..."

Joshua just laughed at her, patting her on the back before she gently pulled away

"You know that's why I do it"

"I know. I'm still gonna complain, though!" Miho replied with a grin

"Sure, sure. Feel better about our odds?"

Miho tossed her head from side to side

"Hmmm... A bit I guess.."

"Atta girl!"

Their romantic night was interrupted by Miho's stomach growling, much to her embarrassment. Joshua thought it was adorable, however, and offered to go get her some sweet potato ice cream so they could continue


"... I like to drink, drink, drink... Ramune sodaaa..."

The American tank commander was positively skipping as he hummed a song to himself, carrying with him the precious frozen goods that Miho had requested. If he was lucky, he'd return quickly, before Miho had time to start another Boko episode

BONK

Joshua went sprawling, the ice cream falling to the ground as he cradled his head and turned to face his assailant

What he was not expecting was a tall, blonde, germanic girl staring at him with wide, horrified eyes and a small stick in one hand, the other holding what he assumed to be a blindfold and rope

"Gah! What the hell? Who are you?"

"S-sorry! So sorry! You were supposed to be knocked unconscious!"

Joshua glared at the girl, who was shifting her weight from one foot to the other

"You-you- What the hell?! You can't just knock someone unconscious like that! It's not that easy! and if you do you can do permanent damage!"

The girl looked ready to cry, biting her lip and squeezing her stick

"What do you want, money? I don't have any-"

THWACK

"FUCKING OUCH! WHAT THE HELL IS YOUR PROBLEM?!"

"Ah! I'm sorry, I'm sorry! H-hold still!"

"What are you-"

THWACK

"-GODDAMNIT!"


After about 15 minutes, the girl had beat a hasty retreat, throwing a letter in the ground and crying as she ran away. Joshua could only sit there nursing his head; fortunately it had been a small stick, and the girl wasn't particularly strong.

Reaching for the letter she'd thrown, he carefully opened it, reading through it


Mein Schatz,

By now Ilse has no doubt spirited you away to a place of her choosing. Unfortunately, I will not be there to see the look on your face as you awake, my eyes will not be there to comfort you on the dark and the cold. Do not blame Ilse for what she has done; She has a duty to Kuromorimine, and a man such as yourself knows the importance of duty.

How much longer must we dance this dance, meine geliebte? Our souls, our very hearts intertwined through the steel of our Panzers, our passion and love spoken only through the barrel of our mighty guns? Even now, when I feel the recoil of my Köingstiger during a match, I imagine it is you on the other end, Mein Schatz, answering my love with your own.

Soon we shall meet upon the fields of Sensha-Dō once more. My heart flutters at the thought! Never before have I looked forwards to a match as I have this one! Rumors have come to me that you have started up a relationship with Miho; I understand. Without me there, you were lonely, and vulnerable. But fear not; Soon you shall be within my arms once again, Herr Whitman, and we shall make love upon the turret of our Panzers under the moonlight. Wait for me, my beloved, my beautiful Amerikaner, and soon we shall be together as we were meant to be.

Give me a fight, my love. Do not go gently into my arms, but fight and struggle like the man I know you are! It will make our reunion that much more rewarding!

I've enclosed a little bit of a memento of myself in here... I know it is odd for a woman of such stature to send items of her clothes through letters- you must think me a harlot like Koume!- But for you, Herr Whitman, I could not resist. Think of me when you hold it, and remember my love

With love,

-Erika


Joshua nervously opened the envelope even more, terrified of what she may have put in the letter; this woman was getting way too much to handle! Much to his relief, it contained only Erika's garrison cap, and nothing more... inappropriate. Gathering his things, he decided to show Miho as soon as he could; not only was Joshua not the kind of guy to hide these srts of things from his girlfriend, but he was scared out of his mind. What kind of girl who was crushing on you ordered a hit on the guy she liked!?

Dusting himself off, his eyes found the ice cream splattered on the ground. groaning, he turned back twords the corner store, his head swimming

"AHAHAHAHAHA! AHAHA! ERININ- SHE-S-SHE... SHE SENT YOU THIS!? ERIKA??"

Miho was practically in tears as she read the letter; Joshua was much less amused.

"Yeah, she did... what is with that girl!?"

Miho wiped her eyes and folded the letter, handing it back to Joshua

"W-well... oh, oh gosh... well, seems I'm dating quite the popular boy! I don't think I've seen her like this since Valentine's day with Onee-chan!"

Joshua balked "Wait, she gets like this with your SISTER!?"

Miho nodded,

"Mhm! Every year! Oh, don't be worried, it's just how Erika is. She has... trouble expressing herself sometimes. She still hasn't been collecting your socks, so I think you're still second place in her heart next to Maho. But it is funny how she still is up to her old habits!"

As Miho continued to laugh, Joshua had to shake his head; 'funny' isn't exactly how he'd describe this!


Shinobu was, for once, paging rapt attention to the American tank commander and Miho as they sat on the Puma, giving them their spiel. They'd called Duck team early today, and Duck team alone, for what they called 'special training'.

"You guys are good, no doubt... but there's a limit to how much we can teach you. We need you at your best for this upcoming match. Weve managed to get some special ammunition, but in order to make full use of that you need to be able to handle this car like a racer"

Miho picked up

"Fortunately, Azusa has a friend who is in port who knows just the girl for the job! She specializes in fast, light tank manuvering, and she'll teach you everything you need to know!"

An awkward silence filled the tank hanger, and the girls of Duck team began looking around

"Ahem... i said... SHE'LL TEACH YOU EVERYTHING YOU NEED TO KNOW!"

A sudden yelp, follows by the crashing of various metal components from the storage closet drew the gathered tankers attention. Bursting out of the door, there was a small girl with rose colored hair in a St. Gloriana's uniform, who came zipping around and began introducing herself to the Oorai tankers

"Aaaah! An actual Puma scout car desu wa! That thing is so fast it's insane! I saw you guys challenge Saunders and runs cross the field at Pravda and it was socoolyouhavenoidea I even showed Darjeeling-sama so I could get something faster like that and remove the speed govorner on the Crusader but she said that after last time I wasn't allowed to do that anymore but that's ok because I'll try again and if it works she'll see how awesome it is and..."

Shinobu could only stare at the girl as she kept talking a mile a minute, practically vibrating as she dashed around to inspect the armored car. Joshua broke into a grin as Miho supressed her own smile

"Duck team... Meet Rosehip!"


A little bit of a filler chapter here. I wanna set up some characters to do some fun stuff during the match, and I figured who better to teach our speed demons about going fast than Rosehip? Plus, I like Rosehip.

The rest of it is mostly setting up the inevitable reunion of Joshua and Erika, and how that's gonna be... interesting to write.

Sorry about the lack of updates, I unfortunately came down with The Great Plague and have been feeling like ass. Got discharged from the hospital though, so that's good. I may live yet!