"I can't believe we're just stuck waiting here…" Momo muttered and tapped her foot on the floor of the 38(t). "We're the Student Council! Who gave that mad hatter the right to tell us what to do?"
"Commander Nishizumi did, didn't she?" Yuzu answered calmly. "When she made Erwin lead the platoon?"
"So what?! I'm twice the commander that cosplaying numbskull is, and besides, it's only right that we take the lead!"
"Right…" Yuzu sighed, more as a way of trying to remove herself from the conversation than as an answer.
"Why on earth should we just be sitting here?! It's just Anzio, we should charge right in and take them out, instead of hiding like kids scared of a mascot."
"Charging in does sound pretty awesome," Anzu added cheerfully before munching on yet another bit of fried sweet potato.
"I don't know if that's the best ide-" Yuzu began, but a call over the radio interrupted her.
"Erwin?! Erwin! Come in!"
"Those uppity first-years…" Momo grumbled, "They should be paying us more respect. They should be reporting this to us."
"Well, we're hearing it either way, aren't we?" Anzu said nonchalantly, and tried to balance one of her chips on her nose.
"Anyways, we took a shot at three of Anzio's tanks, but they were nothing but wooden decoys…"
"Decoys?!" Momo yelled, and reached for the transceiver. "Those bastards! Screw this scurrying like rats, we're going in!"
"But what about-" Yuzu tried to protest.
"Aw, come on, it'll be an adventure!" Anzu cheered.
"...which probably means-"
"Then we'll blast these cutouts to kingdom come as well," Momo yelled into the radio, "and then take down the rest of them! Yuzu, charge!"
Yuzu sighed deeply, but did as her crewmates asked and sent the Panzer 38(t) up over the ridge of the crossroads, and towards the forest's edge on the opposite end of the clearing.
A second later, the gun of their tank fired, with a shell being sent across the dirt field and bouncing off the very real Semovente parked among the trees.
Another few seconds later, the sound of engines filled the air as half-a-dozen tanks rolled out to greet them, as if the forest was a nest of wasps and Momo had just hit it with a baseball.
"You idiot!" Erwin's annoyed voice sounded from the radio. "If Azusa had nothing but decoys on her end, of course these ones were gonna be-Click!"
"I-I… I need to concentrate…" Momo said nervously while looking like a deer caught in the headlights of a truck as she turned off the radio. "Yuzu! G-get us out of here!"
"I'm already on it," Yuzu sighed, and swerved to avoid Anzio's answering salvo, before utilizing the technique Captain Chono had taught her to swiftly send the small tank into a drift, turning and driving off down the road westwards.
"Viva il Duce!" Pepperoni cheered as her squadron of CV33s set out, giving chase to Oooarai's Panzer 38(t). "Now we have them! Fire!" The collective arsenal of Anzio's four tankettes opened fire, riddling the Czech tank with bullets.
"Commander Pepperoni, sir?!" Panettone yelled from the CV33 to her direct right. "We're not doing anything! Our pesky machineguns can't do a thing against their armor!"
"Yeah!" Gelato chimed in nervously from the tankette on Pepperoni's left. "What are we gonna do?!"
"Not to worry! Fighting is more about brainpower than firepower anyways," Pepperoni said smugly, and tapped a finger against her forehead. "If there's a pizza that's too big to eat in one bite, what do you do?" she asked of her subordinates.
"Uhm… You invite some friends and have a picnic?" Gelato asked in reply, not sounding very confident in her answer.
"No, you cram it into a blender and turn it into dipping sauce!" Panettone said with a confident grin and shook a fist in the direction of Ooarai's tank.
"No, you dolts!" Pepperoni scolded, before triumphantly answering her own question. "You cut it up into pieces, and take a bunch of small bites!"
"Ohhhh…" the two said in unison, looking blankly at Pepperoni for a few seconds.
"So…" Panettone began.
"What does that mean?" Gelato finished.
"It means," Pepperoni answered, feeling very pleased with herself, "That we keep on hammering them from all sides. They might be stronger, but they don't stand a chance against the famous Anzio agility! You two, break away and cut them off!"
"Si, Comandante!" Panettone and Gelato said as one, and moments later their tankettes broke off from the rest of Pepperoni's formation and drove off into the woods on either side of the road.
"Amaretto! Keep on them! Who-a-ow!"
"Yes sir!" Amaretto answered, and grabbed Pepperoni by the back of her jacket, yanking her back down into the CV33 just as the Panzer 38(t)s gun turned to face them.
"Sweetie, I think you missed."
"DON'T YOU THINK I KNOW THAT?!" Momo yelled in answer as she loaded another shell. "JUST GET US OUT OF HERE! AND DON'T CALL ME SWEETIE!"
The mad chase between Ooarai and Anzio continued through the woods, with the rapid fire of Anzio's CV33s filling the inside of the Panzer 38(t) with a noise not dissimilar to the sound of heavy rain on a tin roof. Only much more metallic, high-pitched, and unending.
"DAMNIT! STOP MOVING, YOU BASTARDS!" Yuzu heard Momo yell from up in the turret, most likely along with the rest of the prefecture, and even before she had made up her mind on whether or not to make another light-hearted comment, Momo made the decision unnecessary. "DON'T YOU DARE SAY ANYTHING YUZU!"
Content with merely smiling privately, Yuzu did as she was asked, and simply focused on driving, even if the rather stiff and heavy steering of the 38(t) was starting to tire out her wrists.
"Uhm, President," she asked as she drove, glancing over to her friend in the radio operator's seat beside her, who had just opened a fresh bag of dried sweet potatoes. "Could you maybe help out a little?"
"Hmm…" Anzu answered ponderously, and began to chew on another chip, before shrugging and leaning back even further in her seat than before. "Ehh, maybe later."
"Anzu, I think you really should reconsi-WHOAH!" Yuzu began to say, but had to stop herself to send their tank into a mad swerve when two of Anzio's CV33s leapt out of the forest from either side of them, placing themselves in their way.
Taking the 38(t) off the road and careening into the woods, Yuzu was somewhat surprised to see how quickly their pursuers reacted, and the chase was shortly back just where it had begun. Two CV33s ahead of them, two behind, and a Semovente in the distance that, if Momo's reports where to be believed, was gaining on them by the second. That last part Yuzu had a hard time believing considering how much she was having to swerve between trees and up and down the rocky terrain. It was surely not any easier in an assault gun.
Another shot rang out from their gun, and based on the ever growing intensity and profanity of Momo's cursing, it was safe to assume she had missed once again, but Yuzu had better things to do than comment on it right now.
The two CV33s in front of the 38(t) had just spun around on their axis, while still maintaining their forwards momentum, and where now in practice driving backwards through the forest, while their machineguns joined into the ballistic choir and started to pelt the 38(t) with bullets from the front.
This in no way diminished the ear-shattering noise inside the tank, and for a split moment Yuzu seriously considered whether having to see Ooarai close and spending her last semester in high school at a different school was really that bad of a prospect, at least in comparison to this.
The barrage of bullets ricocheting off the frontal armor of the 38(t) also lit up her viewport with a storm of sparks, turning her field of view out of the tank to not much more than nothing.
"Alright, that's enough out of you," she grumbled, and put her foot down hard on the accelerator, roaring new life into the old Czech light tank and sending it lunging forwards. The CV33s barely had time to react, and were simply barreled out of the way as the larger tank rushed forwards and broke through between them, sending them careening off to the sides, but they had soon recovered and rejoined the hunt.
"Momo! Turn the gun around!" she ordered. "We're getting company!"
As Momo turned the turret forwards and let the CV33s leave her sight, she saw what had caught Yuzu's attention. A few hundred meters in front of them, just at the edge of her vision, she could see the prize. A P40, Anzio's flag tank, driving at full speed perpendicular to themselves, with its attention focused squarely away from them.
"Yes!" she cheered, and loaded a new shell. "We're ending this! Here and now!" She leaned as hard into the gun sights as she could, almost to the point of poking her eye out on it as the tank rattled in its speed, and lined up the shot. As the moments turned to seconds, she carefully adjusted her aim, making sure to line it up perfectly with the unknowing P40.
Finally, she thought, and smirked. She would single handedly take down Anzio's flag tank, win them the match, and then she would finally prove how inferior that arrogant bastard Nishizumi was to herself.
"And now," she said with a grin, "You're. Going. Down," and fired.
A great collective gasp filled the stands, before they all fell silent. No one could quite believe what had just happened, and many a mouth hung agape as the audience tried to wrestle with the facts of what they had just witnessed.
The match was supposed to be over. Ooarai was supposed to have won, especially with the perfect shot fired from their flag tank, the Panzer IV. The gunner's aim and timing had been immaculate, and the shot was going to be a definite kill on Anzio's flag tank. But she hadn't been the only one to fire.
The Panzer 38(t), one of Ooarai's other tanks that had been leading the majority of Anzio's forces on a merry chase, had also fired on the P40, and the two shells had impacted in mid-air, vaporizing one another in an instant.
Slowly, life began to return to the stands, as the audience members one after the other began to reckon with what they had witnessed, and roaring cheers rang out across the field.
But one among them came from a source quite different from the rest.
"[WHOA! THAT WAS AWESOME! MOM, DID YOU SEE?! THAT WAS THE COOLEST THING I'VE EVER SEEN! JUST WAIT UNTIL I TELL EMMA ABOUT THIS, SHE'S GONNA FLIP!]" a girl yelled excitedly in English, standing up with her fists in the air. She was cheering like there was no tomorrow, which drew her a fair number of amused looks from those seated nearby.
Her appearance also drew a number of looks, most likely more so than her excitement.
The girl was extremely tall for her age, at least by Japanese standards, and even if her wild and untamed shoulder-length hair might have allowed her to pass as simply a strangely tall Japanese highschooler, the rest of her appearance would not.
Her skin was well-tanned from the summer sun, but even through the browned shade of her arms and face it was clear as day for anyone giving her as much as a passing glance that she was a westerner of some sort, and her distinct use of English as well as her clothing narrowed it down further. She was pretty clearly an American.
"[Valarie, please, sit down…]" the woman sitting beside her said in a low voice, also in English, looking around slightly uncomfortably, and tugged gently at the girl's shirt to get her to sit back down. "[People are staring…]"
"[What? O-oh…]" the girl answered and gave a quick glance around before sitting back down, a hint of embarrassed blushing only just showing through her tan. "[Sorry, Mom,]" she continued. "[But, that was just so incredibly cool! Wasn't it?!]"
"[Yes, it was pretty cool,]" the woman answered. "[Though I don't for the life of me understand what exactly happened.]"
"[Oh, well, you see-]" the girl began to explain with glee in her eyes, but the woman quickly interrupted.
"[No, Valarie, I don't think you explaining it to me will make it any clearer. But as long as you're happy and understand what's going on, I'm happy.]" She looked behind Valarie, and waved to someone before continuing. "[Oh look, here comes your father.]"
"[Did I miss anything?]" a man asked as he made his way over to the pair, trying his best to manage holding three lidded cups with straws, and three paper plates with pizza on them.
"[Just the coolest thing that's ever happened!]" the girl said excitedly, and took a plate and cup from the man as he sat down.
"[Oh, so nothing important then?]" the man said and laughed at his own joke as he handed one of the remaining cups and plates to the woman. "[And here I thought you dragging us out for one of these matches wasn't going to be a waste of a day of our vacation,]" he added and nudged the girl affectionately with his elbow.
"[You're a real comedian, aren't you, dad?]" the girl muttered and rolled her eyes, before taking a bite out of her pizza and returning her attention to the field.
At first Maho didn't quite grasp what had happened. But then she saw the Student Council's Panzer 38(t) speed by, slipping through between the P40 and Panzer IV, and all became clear.
"I'm going to kill her…" she said flatly under her breath, even if her tone betrayed what was most certainly not calmness within her. "I am actually going to kill her…"
She cursed herself for not having noticed the encroaching disaster, for not having seen the 38(t) speed towards them. If only she could see like she used to, she would have known about the Student Council's errant shot long before she even fired. But she couldn't, and she didn't. And so, she cursed herself.
But most of all she cursed the cyclops. For a moment she contemplated giving Hana the order to simply fire on Turtle team and take them out. Odds were their chances of victory would actually improve by doing so. But as the inside of the tank lit up with metallic noise, and their armor was riddled with machinegun fire, she let such thoughts leave her mind and refocused on the battle at hand.
Seconds later, a quartet of CV33s sped past and began circling them, kicking up a great cloud of dirt around them.
"Gun's reloaded," Yukari called out.
"Hana, do you have a shot at the P40?"
"Negative," Hana replied. "I do not see it."
"Fine," Maho sighed. "If you get a shot, at least take out these tankettes if you can."
"Yes, Maho."
Shortly thereafter, the gun roared to life and the distinct sound of a large metal box being rolled across the ground burst through the ear piercing noise of bullets striking their armor. A quick glance out of the tank confirmed what the noise had already told them; one of Anzio's CV33s was lying still and unmoving, leaned against a tree on its back and with a white flag flying from its hull.
With one of the tankettes knocked out, the rest of its comrades didn't seem overly eager to continue their act of annoyance, seeing as the continuous fire against the armor of the Panzer IV slowly died down, and when Maho stood up and looked from the Commander's cupola, and the dust cloud had begun to die down again, she could just make out the CV33s and a Semovente disappearing in the woods, presumably giving chase to Turtle team that had brought them into the middle of the skirmish between the two flag tanks.
But the mosquito-like annoyance of Anzio's forces wasn't the only thing that had vanished.
"Damned moron…" Maho muttered as she scanned their surroundings, to no avail. The P40 was gone with not so much as a trace. "Well," she said sarcastically as the rest of the tank's hatches opened and the other crewmembers popped their heads out one after the other, "it looks like we're going back to hide-and-seek..."
"Pepperoni?!" Anchovy yelled into the handset of her radio as the P40 rolled away through the forest. "Pepperoni!"
"Hi, uh, if it isn't urgent, please leave a message," Pepperoni answered after a moment from her end. "We're kinda busy here."
"How could this happen?!" Anchovy replied with an accusatory yell. "You're supposed to be keeping them busy at the crossroads, and instead, you lead them right to me! Did you set out the decoys like I told you?!"
"Yep, every one of them!" Pepperoni said cheerfully in reply.
"You idiot! That's too many!" Anchovy yelled back, and sighed. "Of course they're gonna figure out we're using decoys that way!"
"Oh yeah, you're right!" pepperoni said thoughtfully, as if the realization had just hit her. "You're such a smartie, did you know that?"
"No, you're just an idiot! I-I mean… Of course I know that! Just keep them busy so I can take down Nishizumi!"
"So, like, what's even the deal with you and that Nishizumi-gal anyways?" Pepperoni asked back, apparently finding no issue in trying to move on from the subject of her screw-up.
"It doesn't concern you! She's my…" Anchovy began, but her voice died down. "N-Nevermind! Just… just keep the rest of Ooarai busy, and I'll deal with that coward!" She threw the handset down in anger and collapsed back in her chair. grumbling to herself.
"I told her a million times that three of them were for back-up," she grumbled to herself, and sighed. "Alright, alright, let's look at the positives here: they're all enthusiastic and spirited, and as long as there's chaos on the field, it'll ruin things for Maho just as much as me."
"Your orders, Duce Anchovy?" Ribollita, her driver asked.
"Huh? Oh, right!" Anchovy replied and threw a glance behind them. There was no trace of the Panzer IV, or any of Ooarai's other tanks either for that matter. "Keep us on this heading," she said after a moment, and pointed her riding crop forwards. "We're enacting Operation Protractor."
"Come on!" Azusa yelled. "Just get them! Someone!"
The lone Anzio CV33 had by now been leading them on a merry chase for at least 15 minutes, weaving and nipping between the trees, off the road and then back up again. But no matter how well any of them managed to line up a shot, the tankette's driver somehow always managed to duck out of the way in the nick of time.
In short, all of it was starting to get on Azusa's nerves, and worse, it was beginning to show.
"Azusa…" Aya said between shots, leaning back to look up at her while Saki reloaded the 37mm gun.
"What?!" Azusa snapped, before realizing what she'd done, and added with a sigh a moment later "Sorry… What is it, Aya?"
"Should we really be keeping up the chase like this?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well…" Aya replied, hesitating, "I mean, shouldn't we be watching the crossroads?"
"No, this is what we need to do," Azusa replied, and paused while Aya turned back and fired the gun. "The point with us going to the crossroads was to keep Anzio busy there. Instead, we sat around and did nothing for half-an-hour, staring at some plywood decoys. Erwin's got the rest of Anzio occupied, and presumably Phoenix team is dueling their flag tank right now. So, since this is the only one of Anzio's tanks we've seen, we're keeping it busy. Nice shot by the way," she added. "It would definitely have been a kill, if THAT COWARD DIDN'T SWERVE SO MUCH!"
"Thanks, Azusa," Aya laughed, and returned her full focus to the gun, firing again once Saki had reloaded.
Another minute or so passed, and the wild chase continued. But then, Azusa began to see an opportunity arise.
"Duck team," she called over the radio, "Push out and forwards a bit on the left. We're gonna try and box them into the wall."
"Copy that, Commander!" Noriko answered. "Double Back-serve, coming up!" A moment later, the gun of the Type 89 fired, hitting just beside the Anzio tankette and driving it to the side, sending it turning into the narrow passage on their right.
The trap was set.
The M3 Lee and Type 89 turned to follow, and now there was no escape for the tankette. Azusa had studied the map as they gave chase, and knew that there would be no room for the CV33 to maneuver past them. The slopes on either side of the path were steep, and there would be no escape.
A short while later, and they reached the end of their hunt. The path widened and opened up to a small open area, with the slopes acting as walls to prevent escape out of the impromptu arena. The tankette skid to a halt and turned to face its pursuers, its machine guns firing defiantly, like the hiss of a cat trying to scare off predators. But the two medium tanks had no intention of backing down.
Closing the hatch above her, and seeing Noriko do the same in the corner of her eye, Azusa sighed, and nodded to Aya to fire. This farce had gone on long enough.
The 37mm gun fired, and again Azusa could only slam her fist on the wall of the turret, as the CV33 zipped out of the way, and began to move erratically around the arena, making the act of acquiring a clean shot a near impossibility.
"Alright," Azusa sighed, and pressed against her throat mic. "Advance slowly and keep firing. You guys go from the left, we'll go from the right, and we'll just box it in."
No sooner had she finished speaking, than the loud bang of a 75mm gun roared behind them, and the M3 Lee shook wildly from the impact.
"Behind us!" Azusa yelled as she turned to look, but Karina was already turning the tank to face the new threat coming at them down the narrow pathway. But there was no tank there. For a moment Azusa didn't quite grasp what was happening, but as a second shot rang out a few seconds later, slamming into the Type 89, she finally realized.
Looking up at the raised level atop the slopes, she saw a Semovente fixing its gun on them, sitting perfectly placed to reign down destruction upon them from on high. A perfectly placed casemate to block any escape.
She swore quietly under her breath, and clenched her fists. The trap had been sprung alright, but she was the one to fall into it, the role of predator and prey reversed before her eyes.
That they had been led into a trap was annoying. But that she had fallen for what was basically the same kind of trap they themselves had laid for St. Gloriana in their first battle was downright infuriating.
But this time was going to be different. This time, she wasn't going to run away. She would prove herself. She would prove maho, the student council, the team, Irisa, and the entire world how wrong they were.
"Contact, Semovente, up on the ridge," she noted over the radio, in case Noriko hadn't seen the threat yet. "Angle your front armor towards it and reverse. We want to get the far slope in our rear as quickly as possible, and not have any more unpleasant surprises."
"What about the CV33, Commander?" Noriko asked, and Azusa swore again to herself.
"Forget it," she called back. "The Semovente is the big threat now. That takes priority."
"Gotcha! Refocusing on the enemy Libero!" Noriko replied, and the Type 89 started to move in parallel with the M3 Lee towards the far wall.
"Should I call Phoenix team and ask for help?" Yuuki asked.
"No, we're fine," Azusa answered sharply, not taking her eye off the Semovente. "We don't need their help for just one tank."
"Oh, alright…" Yuuki said, unsure, and readied another shell for the 75mm instead.
"Alright, focus fire on the Semovente! The moment we force them away from that ridge, we're busting back outta here," Azusa ordered, and watched the combined firepower of her arsenal begin to train their guns on the Semovente, just as her radio began crackling to life again.
"Hey, Sawa!" the Student Council President greeted cheerfully. "What's up?"
"President?" Azusa asked, confused. "What is it? Aren't you fighting Anzio on the other side of the field?"
"Eh… we had a small change of plans…" Anzu said coyly. "But, assuming that's you we see over there, we'll be with you any second."
"Wait, wha-?" Azusa answered in full exasperation, but as she looked down the pathway that had brought them into the ambush, she could indeed see Turtle team's Panzer 38(t) speeding towards them at full speed. "Wait, no it's an ambush!" she tried to warn, but to no avail.
"What's that? Oh, nevermind," Anzu said, cheerful as ever, and continued talking, blissfully unaware of the danger her team was heading into. "So, anyways, we've kinda got a bit of a tail on us, so, we were wondering if you could maybe help us out a bit?"
"No!" Azusa yelled back, trying to convey the danger and urgency of the situation more with tone than with words. "You're heading into an ambush! Turn around! Now!"
"THAT'S NOT REALLY AN OPTION HERE!" Momo's panicked yell could be heard over the radio, and as Azusa looked once more down the path, she started to realize that there were more than one tank heading towards them.
In the massive dust cloud thrown up by the 38(t), she could just make out a trio of CV33s giving chase. By the trickling metallic sound of bullets striking armor, it was fair to assume they were firing their machine guns. This would normally not pose any great risk to a tank with anything but the barest armor, or at least so Maho had claimed in the pre-match briefing, but today would seem to be a day for surprises.
Just as the 38(t) burst into the arena, the strain of repeated impacts apparently became too great, and one of the tracks snapped, sending the Czech tank spinning wildly out of control and slamming hard into the far wall where it finally came to rest, just between Rabbit team's M3 Lee and Duck team's Type 89.
"Oh, hey you guys!" Anzu said as if nothing had happened. "What's up?"
A moment later, a 75mm shell slammed into the now exposed side armor of the 38(t), fired from the now second Semovente that had taken up position on the ridge on the opposite side of the path from its twin. The trio of CV33s had taken up position in the entrance of the pathway, joined by their companion that had led Azusa and her forces into the trap, blocking off the only way out of Anzio's shooting gallery.
"Well, crud…" Azusa muttered.
"Keep them in our sights," Carpaccio ordered. "Don't let them get behind us."
"Yes, Commander!" her gunner replied, and fired a shot, just bouncing off the roof of the StuG III.
"They're not going to show us their sides, so aim for their viewports," she said as she loaded another shell. "That's their weak spot."
"Copy!"
Another shot rang out, this time from the German assault gun, shortly followed by the Semovente's reply, but neither shell hit home.
"Take us in close!" Carpaccio ordered. "Our shorter barrel gives us the advantage."
The Semovente lunged forwards, and rammed itself right up against the front of the StuG III, the two tanks locked in a deadly grapple as they struggled for a clean shot. The duel looked more like a pair of bulls battling or swordsmen fighting than it did a tank duel as the two barrels clashed, striking and parrying like expert fencers, with the still of the forest being broken every few seconds by the thunderclap of cannonfire.
Slash, parry, cut, fire, block, strike, riposte, fire. The duel continued for the better part of the minute, the two assault guns pushing and prodding in their search for an opening, until finally the two crews, seemingly simultaneously, had enough, and broke away. The two tanks swirled and maneuvered around one another, firing whenever they had the opportunity, but neither could manage to land a clean hit.
"Hang on a minute…" Carpaccio said to herself, as she at last got a clear view of the insignia painted onto the side of the StuG. A cartoon hippo, painted from behind, and one she'd recognize anywhere in the world.
Taka was in that tank. She was certain.
"All right," she said quietly with a smirk as she loaded the next shell. "If that's how you want to play, I'm game."
"All-right, ready on the next- wait, what are they doing?"
For the first time since the strangely close-ranged duel began, Caesar paused and looked up at Erwin's surprise, letting her focus drift for a moment from reloading the gun.
"They're just… sitting there?" Oryou said, equally confused, and sure enough, when Caesar looked out through her viewport, she could see Anzio's Semovente, who had until just now been maneuvering wildly and firing on all cylinders, sitting still and silent on the opposite end of the clearing.
"Maybe they had a breakdown?" Saemonza posited.
"No, don't think so…" Erwin replied, unsure. "There's no white flag flying."
"Uh… okay? So… should we just take them out, or…" Saemonza asked, about as unsure and confused as the rest of them.
"I… I guess so?" Erwin said, before interrupting herself. "Hang on, wait… What on earth…"
Looking back across the clearing, Caesar could see a figure with long blonde hair pop out of one of the assault gun's hatches, and fixing a piece of green cloth to an antenna. After a moment, she recognized Hina, and smiled.
"Oh, hang on, I get it. It's Hina!" she said, putting a hand on Saemonza's shoulder to stop her from firing, and opened the hatch above her own head. A moment later, her red scarf flew in the light breeze above the StuG III, and she collapsed back into the hull of the tank. "It's a duel. A real duel."
"Oh, I see…" Erwin said, and smirked. "Finally, a real showdown. Like Rommel and Montgomery."
"A battle of honor!" Saemonza continued excitedly. "Like Miyamoto Musashi and Sasaki Kojirō."
"Yes," Oryou added, but instead of adding her own example, chose a different path. "Well, Caesar, seems like the band's playing your song. What dance would you like to perform with your beloved?"
"Hu-wha-eh?!" Caesar not so much said as stammered out in embarrassed reply, her cheeks going crimson as Oryou, Erwin, and Saemonza laughed at her expense. "Ju-just cut it out. I said it's not like that!"
"Maybe so," Erwin said with a smug grin, "But who am I to take the lead on your first date? What's the play, Taka?"
"I'm never going to live this down, am I?" she sighed, before pushing a fresh shell into the breach. "Alright, we're gonna go full speed ahead and fire on their side. Then swerve around and hit them in the rear, decide this on the reload."
"You got it, Commander," her three friends answered, and moments later, Oryou revved the StuG's engine. A second alter, and they could hear the Semovente do the same.
"Alea iacta est…" Caesar said low to herself, before yelling at the top of her lungs, "CHARGE!"
The German assault gun's treads spun in the dry dirt for a moment, kicking up a cloud as they clawed for perches, before lunging forwards at top speed, it's Italian opponent doing the same, and the two tanks charged one another, their duel now having taken on the nature of a full-on joust.
"Wait for it," Caesar said, already holding the next shell and in position to slam it into place, "Wait for it…"
"How long do you want me to wait for?!" Saemonza yelled back. "Another few seconds and they'll blow past u-"
"Now!"
The 75mm gun fired, slicing across the side of the Semovente, who fired its own shell in reply, just barely pinging off the gun mantlet, and both tanks, as if performing a coordinated and well-practiced dance, spun around as they passed one another, fired once more, and fell silent.
A few seconds later, white flags flew above them both.
"Commander, we're taking a beating here," Noriko called. "What's the plan?"
"Just keep firing!" Azusa ordered in response. "Sooner or later one of them is gonna pop its neck out at the wrong time, and then we'll get them."
The M3 Lee rattled violently once more as yet another of the Semoventes' shells struck home, and Azusa was forced to pause as she braced herself against the impact. She had already gotten flung around inside a tank one time, and she wasn't planning on doing it again.
"What was that, the sixth?" she asked rhetorically, before shaking her head for a moment.
By this point, she had started to lose count of how many shots the Semoventes had hit them with. How many the Type 89 had taken she had even less of an idea of. The unending stream of small-calibre bullets pinging on their armor didn't help her keep count either.
Ever since Turtle team arrived, and the trap properly snapped shut around them, the four CV33s had been taking turns holding the exit of the arena and roaming around in it to annoy them, while the two Semoventes' that had taken position on the ridges above had gotten into a steady routine of firing a shot at either her own tank or Duck team in the Type 89, falling back into the forest to reload, where her forces couldn't line up their shots, and then popping back out again to fire a new round.
Which made getting a killshot off very difficult, and was slowly unscrewing the lid that Azusa had so carefully put on all the anger she had bottled up inside her.
"Firing!" Ayumi called out, and the 75mm sounded, and while the shell did technically hit the Semovente on the right, it only bounced off the side armor. A moment later, Anzio gave their reply, and the M3 Lee rattled again.
"Commander?!" Yuuki asked from down in the hull while she struggled with the heavy ordnance, "Shouldn't we call for backup?"
"We're going to be fine," Azusa said bitterly, and gestured for Aya to correct her aim a bit.
"But, Commander Nishizumi said that we should call Phoenix team if we needed back up-"
"Yeah, we'll she also says that all you need is one good shot to get the kill. And if we take out one of those Semoventes, we turn this all around. Just keep at it, and we're gonna hit sooner or later."
"But Azusa, are you su-"
"I said; Keep Firing! We don't need Commander Nishizumi to save us. I've got this all under control!"
She did have it under control. Everything was fine. At least, that's what she told herself as she glared at the cowardly opposition on the cliffs. Sure, getting lured into the trap was a setback, but she believed in her team and her teammates. Which was more than could be said for Maho. She could already picture the smug look on the Commander's face if she had to come and rescue Azusa from even numbers. Sure, they were technically outnumbered 3-to-1, but she knew what Maho would say. She could already hear her dour mockery in her head.
"Really? You needed help against some armored sportscars with machineguns?"
"You couldn't even handle even numbers?"
"You fell into that obvious of a trap?"
"Why on earth did I ever think I could trust you to be a commander?"
"Why on earth did I ever think I could trust you?"
"Why did I ever think I could trust you?"
"Why did I trust you?"
"Shut up…" she said quietly under her breath, and shook her head. "I don't need you. I don't need your help. I can do this on my own. I'll prove how wrong you are about me…"
"Sorry, Commander," Noriko said dejectedly over the radio, and as Azusa looked over to the Type 89, she saw a white flag flying over it. "We're out."
At first Azusa didn't say anything, and just went back to glaring at the Semoventes up on high, but after a second or two she caught herself. "O-oh… Anyone hurt?"
"Don't think so," Noriko answered. "Hey, everyone ok?!"
"I'm good," she heard Shinobu yelling in the background.
"I'm fine, Captain!" Akebi said.
"All good here," Taeko added.
"Everyone's A-OK!" Noriko continued. "Sorry about dropping the ball, Commander."
"Don't worry about it," Azusa replied. "You did good. We'll take it from here."
The eighth, or was it tenth, shot slammed into the front armor of the M3 Lee, and Azusa had had enough.
"Aya, the next time the one on the right pops out, you just take a shot. I don't care if you hit or not, just get as close as you can."
"Got it!"
"Ayumi, hold your fire for now. Just make sure to keep the gun forwards, and fire when I tell you."
"Hold fire, shoot when you tell me. Got it!"
"Karina, turn the engine back on. We're gonna bust out of here."
"Where though?!" Karina asked, her voice trembling slightly. "There's no way to go!"
"There will be! Just trust me! Head straight ahead on my signal, and we've got this!"
"Y-yes, sir!"
A few seconds later, the Semovente on the right appeared on the clifftop, and Azusa gave the order.
"Go! Now!"
The treads of the M3 Lee spun to life and propelled them forwards, the Semovente fired what it had thought was a perfectly aimed shot, striking the wall behind them, and Aya sent their reply, pinging off the tank destroyer's armor and cutting a branch off a nearby tree as it flew away.
"Faster. Faster!" Azusa called. "Give her everything she's got! Just don't touch the steering!"
The tank accelerated further, and the wall opposite them, where the Semovente had just retreated from, grew closer and closer.
"Azusa?!" Karina yelled in near fright and panic. "I need to turn! We're gonna hit the wall!"
"Just hold her steady! We've got this!"
"But-"
"Trust me! I know what I'm doing" At least, I think I do…
The wall only crept closer and closer, and the CV33s closed ranks to block their escape through the path. But Azusa didn't care about the path.
"Azusa!"
"Now, Ayumi! Fire!"
The gun roared with a thunderous boom, and a cloud of smoke momentarily blocked their view. A low rumbling sound followed, and a second later the entire tank rattled and lurched unevenly backwards, before finally tipping forwards. Popping out of the Commander's cupola, now that they were in no danger of being fired on by machineguns, Azusa could see that her plan had worked. The wall had collapsed, and provided them a ramp to climb the cliff.
"Keep going, keep going!" she yelled, and Karina was happy to oblige as they charged forwards towards the forest and escape, the Semovente they had just scared off barely getting out of the way in time.
"Should we turn and fight?" Ayumi asked. "I want to see what this gun can actually do against those things, now that they don't have the high ground."
"Looks like they underestimated our power!" Yuuki laughed with a grin, and caused the entire tank to groan.
"No, just keep going forwards," Azusa said, glancing over her shoulder to see the quartet of CV33s start to crest the ramp they had made, and the Semovente begin to turn around to give chase. "We need to get out of here and find a better position to fight from. Karina! Punch it!"
"You got it, Boss!" Karina said excitedly, pushed the pedal all the way down, and threw the tank into next gear. The engine whirred up even more aggressively, and they lunged forwards with equal ferocity, racing towards the relative safety and cover of the woods.
But then, the tank rattled, shook, and then slowly rolled to a halt. A white flag popped out beside Azusa just as the turret had turned to fire on the Semovente, and they were left inoperable. Glancing over the side of the tank she could see a shell wedged into their side armor, and following its path to the other side of the path below, she could see the other Semovente, a thin trail of smoke just visible emanating from its barrel.
"Dammit…" she said under her breath. "Dammit, dammit, dammit, DAMMIT!"
She slammed her fist down on the roof of the turret, and as Anzio's tanks leisurely rolled past them, she could do nothing but watch, swear, and wipe her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. Not that they stayed dry for long.
"Maho?"
"Yeah, what's up?" Maho answered and let her focus drift from scanning the woods around them.
"It's Azusa," Saori answered. "Rabbit and Duck teams' been taken out. Two Semoventes and two CV33s are heading this way. Turtle team's also been eliminated. Hippo managed to take out Anzio's 105mm Semovente, but they're also out."
"So in other words, we're the only ones left," Maho noted, and sighed.
"We can still win though," Hana replied. "All it takes is one shot."
"Still, that's five of them, and just one of us," Mako muttered.
"There could be a hundred of them, and we'd still win!" Yukari countered excitedly. "Isn't that right..." She turned to Maho, and opened her mouth to continue before pausing again, obviously rethinking something, before starting again. "Isn't that right, Maho? We'll still win, right?"
Maho didn't say anything at first, but merely nodded. It was obvious enough what word she had intended on using, before catching herself.
Commander…
Maho sighed for a moment, and put a hand on the roof of the Panzer IV. "Yeah… We can still win…" She gave the depth of the woods a quick solemn look. We have to… or else it won't matter… She thought, before turning to look down at Saori. "How long until the rest of Anzio arrives?"
Saori fumbled for a few moments, looking back and forth between the map, her scattered notes, and her watch, before turning back to answer. "Maybe ten minutes? Fifteen tops."
"It just couldn't be simple, couldn't it?" she muttered to herself. "Alright, fine. Mako, we're gonna move to point C11, and keep searching from there."
"Got it," Mako mumbled, and the Panzer IV turned to advance towards its new destination.
"Hang on, wait... Mako, cut the engine…" Maho said after a few minutes of driving, and the tank rolled to a halt. But still, even with their engine silent, there was a faint noise in the air.
"What's that noise?" Saori asked. "Cicadas?"
"No…" Maho said, and glanced down at Yukari. It was obvious she too knew what it was. "It's a V-12 diesel engine…"
"The P40," Yukari translated with a grin. They had found the scent once more.
"They're close. And it's obvious they don't know we're here, or they would have tried to keep their engine silent."
"But then, where are they?" Saori asked. "The sound's echoing so much they could be anywhere. And with all the trees, there's barely any light here."
"Hmm…" Maho said and rubbed her chin as she inspected her map. "Most likely they're heading to point G2. That's the best place for Anchovy to rendezvous with the rest of her forces… Best we can do is follow. Just keep the engine as quiet as you can, Mako. If we can take them by surprise, we'll win."
"Point G12, keep it quiet. Fair enough."
The Panzer IV turned slightly, and slowly and quietly, at least for a tank, continued rolling through the forest.
Another few minutes passed, with all five of them keeping their heads popped out of the tank's various hatches, scanning the dark woods around them for the P40. Which was an endeavour comparable to finding a needle in a haystack, with the dark green flag tank perfectly suited to blending into the forest.
"Psst, I think I see something…" Yukari whispered, and tapped Maho on the leg. "Three o'clock, 1200 meters…"
"Halt the tank," Maho ordered quietly, and turned to look where Yukari was pointing. Raising her binoculars, she could indeed make out the P40, its rear armor facing right at them, and the turret turned around and fixed on the road a few hundred meters further away. The woods were quiet, with the exception of the P40's diesel engine still echoing through the forest from all sides, and the Italian "heavy" tank wasn't moving. Their approach had gone unnoticed.
"Finally a bit of luck…" Maho said under her breath, as Hana slowly and cautiously rotated the turret into position. Meanwhile, Yukari reloaded the gun with far more care than was really necessary, as the only people on the planet who could have possibly heard the light clanking of a shell sliding into a gun breach were on the opposite end of the country in Kumamoto.
"Make sure you aim right," Maho noted as Hana fiddled with the sights and elevation. "You're not getting a second shot."
She didn't say anything more than that, and instead simply let Hana take her time with aiming. But even as she followed the barrel of the gun with her eyes, calculating the coming trajectory of the shell, something didn't feel right. Some miniscule compulsive thought nagged at the back of her mind, and made the hairs on the back of her neck stand at attention.
Whatever it was, it insisted on her turning her head slightly to the right and peering into the darkness of the forest, even though there was nothing there to be seen. Even with binoculars raised, all Maho could see was the inky blackness of the woods and the scant few beams of sunlight that managed to break through the dense foliage above.
Just ignore it… she thought. There's nothing there. I can clearly see the P40 there. Hana just needs to take the shot, and we're done here. Just take a breath, and calm down. There's nothing there. You're just imagining things. Breathe, calm down, let Hana shoot, and win.
She took a breath like she told herself to, and then another, trying her best to ignore her body's obsessive need to look into the darkness and instead keep her eyes on the P40.
Oh for pete's sake, stop worrying. You can see it, it's right there, the rest of Anzio's forces are miles and miles away. You're fine. There's nothing out there. You can even hear it. And sure, Chiyomi's smarter than to let her engine run when she's planning an ambush, but it's perfectly reasonable that she's distracted. Just like you are. Or maybe she's let it run just to trick you. Did you ever consider that? So stop worrying...
"I have a shot," Hana said in a low voice, to the point that Maho almost didn't catch it. If it was from Hana's low voice or her own distracted thoughts however, she didn't know. "Firing, no-"
"Wait!" Maho said under her breath, and put a hand on Hana's shoulder to stop her. "Don't!"
"Maho?" Saori asked. "What's the matter?"
"I… I don't know…" Maho answered, uncertain. "I just… Something's off…"
"What do you mean?" Hana asked as she turned away from the gun.
"I'm not sure… something's just… wrong…" Maho sighed, and shook her head. "I don't know… maybe I'm just going insane…"
"You have been doing Sensha-Do since you were little, have you not?" Hana asked. "I may not have been doing it anywhere close to as long, but I know that when I do flower arrangements, I listen to my instincts when they speak to me."
"Yeah," Saori continued. "It's just like with relationships! There's no feeling like gut feeling!"
"How would you even know that?" Mako asked with a low mumble. "You've never had a bo-"
"So!" Saori interrupted, and glared at Mako. "You're the best tanker here, and if your gut tells you something, we're gonna listen!"
Maho paused for a moment, glancing over at the still stationary P40, its turret firmly fixed on the road. "Alright," she said and steeled herself. "Hana, switch with me."
After a few seconds of clambering around in the turret, the two of them had switched seats, with Hana now in the commander's cupola keeping watch, and Maho by the gun, adjusting the sights to fit her better and carefully fiddling with the trigger.
"Is the gun loaded?" she asked, and glanced over to Yukari.
"Yes, sir!" she answered with a salute and a low cheer.
"Good…" Maho nodded, and began adjusting the aim of the gun. "Twelve degrees right… two centimeters up… adjust for wind…" she mumbled to herself, running the calculations in her head.
"Maho, are you certain?" Hana asked. "You are not aiming for the P40 anymore. The shot is going to miss."
"I know…" Maho answered, leaning into the sights to get a better look as she made the final adjustments.
"Then what are you aiming for? You said yourself that we are only going to be allowed one shot at this. If we do not hit, the enemy will have time to both move and fire on us while Yukari's reloading. And when Anzio's reinforcements arrive, we will be outnumbered and unable to defend ourselves."
"Yeah... I know…" Maho replied, exhaled, and pulled the trigger. A moment later, the gun roared, and sent a shell flying into the inky blackness of the forest depths.
Next time on Dein Weg ist Mein Weg: The battle concludes, to thunderous applause, a long overdue talk is had, blame is thrown around, and several years prior, two very different girls have an unexpected meeting
Author's Notes:
So yeah, you guys know the drill by now. Can't have a chapter as exciting as this not end on a bit of a cliffhanger. Force of habit, and I apologize for that, but this was just such a perfect way to end the chapter.
So this is now the third battle I've written, and I think it turned out pretty nicely. We've got Momo and the Student Council causing chaos across the entire field, Caesar and Carpaccio duking it out in their little duel, Maho and Anchovy playing cat and mouse, and Azusa falling into a trap.
Oh, and we of course have another little cameo, by a certain Valarie Woodlin and family. Valarie, if you don't know her, is the Commander of Mojave Rose High School's Tankery team, and the main character by the gigantic Dust Devils - A Girls und Panzer Story by AAHW. If you're looking for another Ooarai-esque underdog story and world-spanning tournaments, then do give it a read. Although, at 500 thousand words and counting, I should give fair warning that it's quite the monumental undertaking.
I suppose I coil also give a bit of a behind the scenes of how this chapter was originally laid out. I was originally intending for another scene with Saunders and St. Gloriana spectating and commenting on the match, but I couldn't come up with anything funny or interesting for them to say other than to have Darj and Kay bicker some more, Assam and Naomi flirting, and Orange Pekoe just be completely done with everything. So, it ended up on the floor of the cutting room.
Another scene that was originally planned was a very different take on the duel between Hippo team and Carpaccio's Semovente. In the end I obviously went with something very much resembling canon, but originally the plan was for them to break off from one another and instead have a sniper duel, stalking one another through the dense and dark woods. This ended up getting reworked pretty early on however, since 1) it felt very similar to how Phoenix team's hunt for the P40 ended up, and 2) it would have moved focus away from Carpaccio and Caesar and how fast they could reload, to Saemonza and Carp's gunner and how well they could aim. Which wasn't as interesting or relevant for the plot. So the scene got reworked into the more canon-ish joust and barrel-fencing instead.
As always, thank you all so much for your kind words and support, and if you have the time, energy, and interest, feel free to leave a review or comment to let me know what you think. It always warms my heart.
Some parts of Chapter 33 are already written even by the time of publication for this, so my hope is that it will be out some time in the first half of May. But again, no promises.
Thank you all for reading, I'll see you all next time, and in honor of Anzio and the great Duce:
Arrivederci!
/Rihno