Dein Weg ist Mein Weg
Chapter XLI
A Match upon which the Sun never sets
"Four Matilda II's, and one Churchill Mk VII, two o'clock."
"I see them…" Maho answered and followed the St. Gloriana formation with her gaze as it advanced perpendicular to themselves. Lowering her binoculars, she could still easily make out the blooming cloud of dust and sand the tanks kicked up as she stared out across the dunes and wastes of the desert.
"They've got a really tight formation going there," Azusa noted, and lowered her own binoculars. "It's incredible that they can keep moving as a group while keeping everyone in line at that speed."
"That's what years of training gets you," Maho muttered. "St. Gloriana specializes in firing on the move, and maintaining a proper formation as they advance," she sighed and shook her head. "It looks pretty, that's for sure, but it's still a strategy from another age. All just left over from the time of muskets and cannons."
"Still, a lot of our tanks can't pierce their frontal armor except from really close-by, right?"
"That's where tactics and skill come into play," Maho smirked.
Azusa glanced over to Maho in fascination for a moment, before nodding and smiling. "Right!"
The two girls cautiously rose from where they had been lying and performing their recon, and Azusa began sprinting back towards Ooarai's tanks beyond the crest of the escarpment, but Maho remained for a moment. As she turned back to look down on the five tanks, she couldn't help but feel a sense of unease.
Four Matilda II's, and a Churchill VII as the flag tank… she thought. Just like Darjeeling said…
Despite her seeing the evidence of Darjeeling's words before her, she still couldn't let herself be convinced of their truth. Either Darjeeling was bluffing, and there was something far worse than just the scorching sun waiting for them out in the desert, or she was double-bluffing, and knew that giving Maho perfect intelligence would unnerve her and turn every shadow into a potential monster breathing down her neck.
The problem was figuring out which was the case…
"Maho?" Azusa asked and turned back when she realized Maho hadn't come along with her. "Aren't you coming? Is something wrong?"
"No," Maho sighed, and wiped her brow as she looked out across the vast mass of sand and rock one last time. From their position atop the escarpment, she and Azusa had been able to survey miles upon miles of the battlefield, to the point of even being able to make out the far wall of the Odawara arena in the distance if they squinted. "Everything's fine," she added after a moment, and began walking back towards the waiting tanks
"Mako, wake up," Maho said as she leapt up onto the hull of the Phoenix, giving the half-asleep Mako a light nudge with the side of her foot as she passed the open driver's hatch.
"Fine…" Mako mumbled and began to right herself in her seat.
As Maho reached the top of the turret, she paused for a moment as she looked down at the waiting chasm of the Commander's cupola. Come on, Maho. It's "only" St. Gloriana, she thought mockingly to herself as she sighed. You used to eat teams like them for breakfast...
"Once more into the breach," she mumbled under her breath as she filled her lungs with air, as if she was preparing to leap off a diving board, and dropped into the open hatch before her.
"So, what're we up against… Maho?" Yukari asked as Maho entered the turret.
"Four Matilda II's, and a Churchill VII as the flag tank," Maho answered dourly. "Just like we were told…"
"You do not sound convinced," Hana noted. "Do you still believe it is possible that Darjeeling is trying to deceive us in some way?"
"I don't know…" Maho muttered. "But whatever the case, I don't like it…"
"Who cares about what tanks they're using," Saori grumbled with a pout from the hull. "This place is like an oven, so can we just get going already?"
"Copy that," Maho mumbled, and put her throat-mic and headphones back on as she fiddled with the radio. "All tanks. We've spotted the enemy flag tank; the Churchill Mk VII with four Matilda II's as escort. They're currently moving west towards point GJ-36. We'll advance parallel to them for now, while Hippo Platoon moves off to secure our flank. Panzer Vor."
The engines of Ooarai's combined arsenal rumbled to life in answer as the gathered tanks rolled out once more, a dense cloud of dust, sand, and exhaust smoke following in their wake.
"Maho?" Hana asked after a little while. "Is everything alright? You seem nervous."
"What?" Maho replied, uncertain, until she followed Hana's gaze and realized that she had been tensing and untensing her right leg. "Yeah…" she said after a moment, putting a hand on her knee to steady herself. "Everything's fine."
It was a complete lie, but Maho didn't feel like discussing the truth. She could feel her chest tighten and her breathing wanting to speed up as her body tried to recoil from her being in the tank, to spring her up and out of the cupola and back into "safety", but instead she closed her eyes and drew long, deep breaths, slowly breathing in and out in an attempt to acclimate herself. It was far from a flawless procedure, but so far it had worked decently enough.
What it didn't help her with were the scars on her back. If anything, they only burned her even deeper as she breathed and fed the flames of their pain further, but Maho had no intention of giving in. She knew she was stronger than that. As the scars scorched her skin, she could feel sparks begin to catch, and then ignite into a full-on fire within her chest. And the more she fed the flame, the more strength and energy it fed her in return, even as she could feel a cold and choking doubt build within her and try to douse her flame.
She needed to win this battle. Ooarai needed to win this battle. And if she didn't, it was all over, even more so than for any other team in the tournament. The warmth of her flame and the chilling cold of her doubt battled for dominance within her as she once again wondered about Darjeeling, her motives and her methods.
Why would she tell Maho what tanks they would face? Surely there was some trick at play, she just couldn't figure out where or what….
Stop it… she quietly chided herself, as she felt the flame within her waver. You're doing exactly what she wants by worrying, and you're playing into her hand. She shook her head and tried her best to follow her own advice. Darjeeling held more than enough advantages as it was, and Maho had no intention of providing her with any more.
With St. Gloriana not only having more and better tanks and crews than Ooarai, but also spending a significant amount of their time studying and practicing desert warfare, it meant fighting at Odawara was more or less equivalent to giving Darjeeling the home field advantage.
If the battle dragged on and became a war of attrition, Ooarai's numbers would dwindle to nothing far quicker than St. Gloriana's would, and if they were careless and just committed everything to an all-out assault, Darjeeling's more skilled subordinates and more powerful tanks would put a quick end to the match regardless.
And so, Maho's only real hope lay in a swift and surgical strike, taking out the Churchill before any of Darjeeling's other forces could respond. But to do that, Ooarai needed to know where the enemy forces were, and what they consisted of.
"Janus, we've got a contact," Erwin's voice sounded over the radio. "Clocking 5 tanks, definitely Crusaders, moving south along a ridgeline at CL-13."
"They're moving away from the flag tank?" Maho asked for confirmation. "They're not on any sort of intercept course?"
"Nope," Erwin replied. "Looks like they're a scouting force, trying to find us."
"Have they spotted you?"
"Not in the least," Erwin laughed. "We're the ghosts of the desert! Should we go after them?"
Maho paused for a moment, and considered the situation. With the original five tanks her and Azusa had seen, and Erwin's platoon spotting the crusaders, Darjeeling's tour of St. Gloriana's lineup seemed more sincere with every moment. It still left five tanks unaccounted for, but she needed to make a call. Would it serve their chances of victory more by spending additional time locating the rest of Darjeeling's forces, or to go in now when they knew where the flag tank was, and could be reasonably sure of reinforcements not being closeby…
Climbing up and looking out from the cupola, scanning the landscape around them but seeing nothing, she drew three deep breaths and closed her eyes, trying to block out as many distractions as she could.
To the north of them, she could still hear the Churchill and its escort of Matildas, continuing on their course just as before. Breathing again and concentrating, she found Hippo, Anteater, and Heron teams by a gully and, beyond them, she could just make out a group of cruiser tanks to the south-west; the Crusaders Erwin had reported seeing. She tried for another few seconds, focusing every part of her being into attempting to find the last five tanks, but to no avail. Whether it was because of the sand dampening the sound, the tanks being too far away, her ability to "see" being rusty, the conflict between doubt and confidence within her, or all of it combined, she couldn't find anything.
She sighed once more, raised her hand to the mic on her throat, and made up her mind.
"No, let them go," she ordered Erwin. "Stay out of sight, and move to point HK-47."
"Copy that, Janus," Erwin replied.
"All tanks," Maho continued once she had flipped a few switches on the radio. "Prepare to move into attack position at point IL-14. Operation: Die Sarazenin begins now."
"Eyy! Hiya, Chobi!"
"My name is Anchovy! Duce Anchovy!" Anchovy growled, and glanced over to the stairway where Kay and Naomi were walking over towards her, Kay waving like a moron as she approached, completely oblivious to the scattered looks she was getting, nor Anchovy's annoyance at her involuntary nickname.
"Sure thing, Chobi!" Kay replied with an insufferable smile, and paused by the entrance to the row Anchovy was sitting in to glance over at the giant screens showing the match. "Did we miss anything good?"
"Not really," Anchovy answered with a sigh. "Why are you late though?"
"Someone thought having a party run way into the middle of the night was a great idea," Naomi said with a pointed nod towards Kay. "May we?" she added, and gestured to the open seats beside Anchovy and Carpaccio.
"Please," Carpaccio answered with a smile, ignoring the mutterings of her commander as she stood up to greet the newcomers. "I don't think we've had the pleaser, Miss…?"
"Just call me Naomi," Naomi nodded as she took the seat beside Carpaccio, leaving Kay to sit down besides Anchovy. "XO for Saunders. I assume you know my commander."
"´Sup?" Kay winked as she sat down besie Anchovy, blissfully unaware of the win-tailed girls bitterness.
"I'm Carpaccio," Carpaccio said with a light bow, taking her seat once more.
"My right hand and second-in-command," Anchovy bragged with petty confidence.
"So, why'd'you come to see the match?" Carpaccio asked Naomi, accepting a bottle of soda. "Saunders usually doesn't come out to watch matches live, right?"
"Well, not usually. Especially not after we're already out of the tournament," Naomi said as she leaned back in her seat. "But on this particular occasion"—she added with a smirk—"I've still got a horse in the race."
"Huh?" Carpaccio said in confusion, not really following. "A horse?"
"My girlfriends in St. Gloriana's command tank. Gotta show her all the support I can, right?" Naomi chuckled. "What about you two? Anzio also doesn't tend to care for the tournament after they're out, so who are the lucky girls?"
"Wh-wha-what?!" Carpaccio stammered, feeling heat rise to her face. "N-n-no, it's it's nothing like that. I… I just… I just have a… a friend! That's it! An old friend is on Ooarai's team. A-and the commander decided to come along. Th-that's all…"
"Oh, I see…" Naomi said with a suspecting smirk, but decided not to push the question any more, instead simply holding her own bottle out towards Carpaccio. "Well then, to friends, and may the best team win."
"Y-yeah..." Carpaccio answered nervously, letting her bottle clink against Naomi's before they both drank.
"So hey, Chobi?" Kay asked, not caring overly for the conversation happening on the other side of her colleague. For once, Anchovy appreciated this show of ignorance from Kay, as it gave her time to calm her own breathing and hide her flushed cheeks under the guise of covering up a sneeze.
"What?" Anchovy sighed.
"While we're waiting for something cool to happen, want some grub?"
"Uh, sure, I guess?" Anchovy said in surprise.
"Great! Here!" Kay said with a grin, and held out what looked like a thick and stale, yet somehow near liquid, piece of bread doused in some sort of red paste, with what could only generously be described as cheese on top. All of it absolutely dripping in grease.
"What... what on earth is that disgusting thing..."
"Whaddyamean?" Kay asked with a quizzical look as she held up the culinary abomination before her to inspect it. "It's pizza," she answered after a moment, as if it was obvious.
"I... I have no idea what that is..." Anchovy said, trying to hold back her breakfast, "but whatever it is... that is not pizza..."
"We're coming up on point HK-47," Oryou said, and momentarily let go of the controls to take a swig of water from her canteen. "It's a good thing Janus ordered the plan into motion this soon. This is exhausting enough even without the heat."
"Yeah, well just let me know if you want to swap roles," Caesar said sarcastically as she laboriously loaded a shell into the gun in preparation for the upcoming attack. "Lugging these damn shells isn't exactly helping me cool off."
"Well, 'Sweat saves blood'," Erwin noted. "Plus, the StuG III was one of the powerhouses of the Afrika Korps. We're basically on home turf!"
"I don't think that's exactly what Rommel meant with that," Oryou mused.
"And besides, wasn't the Crusader a big part of the Eighth army's success?" Saemonza asked.
"Just let me have this, OK?" Erwin sulked, before poking her head up through the hatch above her to check up on the rest of their platoon. Looking back to the rear elements of their small wedge, she saw Heron team's lumbering Char B1 bis following in good order, but the recently formed Anteater team inside seemed to have a harder time. The Chi-To seemed more to skitter than roll across the desert sand, coming to abrupt stops and starts, turning off course for several seconds before hastily trying to readjust and get back in line.
Normally Erwin wouldn't have blamed the three girls in the least, they were all new to the team and Sensha-Do after all, and Oryou hadn't been much of a better driver when they first started out either. But in this particular battle, where practically every movement would kick up sand and dirt into a cloud one could see for miles, keeping the formation tight and orderly was key.
"Anteater?" she asked over the radio. "Is everything okay over there?"
"Wh-wha?" Nekonya's panicked voice replied. "N-n-n-o, M-miss Matsumoto. Or… yes… I mean… no… I-I-I… I mean…"
"Just calm down, Nekonya," Erwin said calmly. "What's the matter? Talk me through it, and we'll figure it out."
"W-w-well… s-s-see the-the thing is…" Nekonya began, but quickly broke down once more and her answer descended into a barely coherent barrage of panic and self-doubt.
"One second, Nekonya," Erwin said after a little while, and disconnected from Anteater's panicked plea. "She says something seems to be off with the engine," she then said to the hull of her own tank.
"Let me talk to her," Oryou said with a small but gentle sigh, and let the StuG III come to a halt, with Heron team following soon after.
"Be my guest," Erwin answered, and tossed Oryou the headset and microphone.
"Hey, Nekonya. It's Oryou. Could you hand Momoga the radio, and we'll sort this out in no time." A few moments later, the hull of the StuG III filled with Oryou's end of the conversation, slowly and carefully guiding Momoga through whatever issue was plaguing the Chi-to. Trying their best to escape the, to them, unintelligible babbling of their friend, the remaining members of Hippo team climbed up on top of their assault gun, both to stretch their legs and refill their canteens from the larger water tank kept in the back. After a few moments, Sodoko and her crew did the same.
"When I think of Britain, tanks, and the desert…" Erwin sighed after a while as she adjusted her cap.
"It makes you think of El Alamein," Caesar noted and shook her head.
"But let's not think of that…" Saemonza added.
"Yeah, let's not," Erwin said quietly and shook her head, glancing over towards the Chi-To that now seemed to be driving a lot more smoothly as it made its way to their position.
"Are you sure we should have told Janus we saw five of them?" Caesar asked tentatively. "We only saw three after all…"
"We did see five tanks though," Saemonza countered. "We just couldn't see exactly what the last two were for all this blasted sand. But like, what else would they be? We know there's supposed to be five Crusaders out here, and Matildas definitely couldn't keep up with them. So it has to be them"
"Either way, Janus has enough to worry about," Erwin said. "If we see three Crusaders and two more tank-shaped blobs in the dust, all of which are keeping pace and in formation with one another, and we know that there's five Crusaders out here, then basic logic says that those were them."
"I suppose…" Caesar said with an unsure tone. "Still… I have a bad feeling about this…"
"Awww, I bet you're just worried about not screwing up in front of your girlfriend," Saemonza teased.
"I told you, Hina is not my girlfriend," Caesar hissed.
"Oh yeah, sure she isn't," Saemonza grinned. "You two sure were acting real friendly after the second round."
"You're just jealous," Caesar snapped back.
"As if," Saemonza laughed.
Erwin just sighed and shook her head, deciding to ignore the teasing argument that the two quickly descended into, and instead focused her attention on another issue that was brewing before her eyes.
"- and don't try and give me excuses! Orders are just like rules, and rules are meant to be followed! That means you're supposed to stay in formation when the commander says so!" Sodoko berated, violently pointing an accusatory finger at the dejected-looking trio having climbed out of the Chi-To.
"W-w-we're s-sorry…." Nekonya stammered as she looked down at her shoes, fidgeting. "I-it's just… just…"
"It's a-a-a lot easier i-i-in WoA…" Momoga said in a low, nervous voice, only glancing up from the ground for a moment.
"I said no excuses!" Sodoko scolded. "Now quit messing around and get your act together, or I'll-"
"Go check up on your tank, Sodoko," Erwin said calmly. "I'll handle this."
"But Commander-..." Sodoko began, but a short, pointed nod from Erwin was enough to get her to walk away and return to the Char B1, after a quick, final bitter glare at the three girls.
"C-c-commander… I-I-I mean… M-miss Ma-Ma-Matsumoto!" Nekonya spluttered as she began to bow profusely, her two crewmates doing just the same. "W-w-we're sorry!"
"Y-yeah!" Momoga added. "It won't happen again!"
"We promise," Piyotan finished.
"Hey, it's alright. There's nothing you need to apologize for," Erwin said and put a hand on Nekonya's shoulder to try and get her to stop bowing. "You're still learning, so of course you're not going to do everything perfectly from the start."
"B-but, Miss Matsumoto…" Nekonya stammered, staring gloomily at her feet., "We're just dragging you down…"
"Who cares?" Erwin shrugged. "As long as you try your best, that's enough for me. Oh, and you guys really don't have to call me Matsumoto. Erwin's much better."
"Y-y-yeah…" Momoga said in a low voice. "We'll…. We'll do that, Miss Erwin…"
"You can skip the Miss too, if you want. We're friends after all, so no need for formality."
"F-friends?" Nekonya said tentatively and looked up for the first time since she climbed out of the tank.
"You… think we're friends?" Piyotan said with a quizzical look.
"Of course we are!" Erwin replied, slightly baffled. "We're teammates, right? Comrades-in-arms. We might not know each other very well yet, but of course we're friends."
"Oh…" Nekonya, Piyotan, and Momoga said in unison, trading a few blank stares back and forth.
"We… uhhh… I mean…" Nekonya mumbled.
"No one's ever really said that they're friends with us…" Piyotan said in a low voice.
"We've just had each other…" Momoga added. "Anyone else was ever just some random nickname in our WoA friends list…"
"Oh, you guys play World of Armor?!" Erwin exclaimed enthusiastically.
"You… you know about WoA?" Nekonya asked.
"Of course I do!" Erwin smiled. "I used to play a ton back in middle school. Kinda fell off it once I had to start studying for exams and all that, but I remember it being super fun. I had this awesome Löwe I'd specced out to the teeth-what?!"
"Sorry, Miss Ma-... Erwin…" Nekonya said, correcting herself while still trying to hold back her laughter.
"It's just…" Piyotan giggled.
"The Löwe is just completely worthless. It's never been anywhere even close to the meta," Momoga finally clarified
"Oh yeah?!" Erwin said indignantly and crossed her arms. "Well, I thought it was great."
"Hey, Erwin!" Saemonza yelled from the StuG III, waving her arms. "We need to get going if we're gonna make Janus' rendezvous."
"Coming!" Erwin yelled back. "Sorry guys, I'd love to talk more, but we've got a match to win. Have you drunk enough water?" she asked the three gamers as she turned back.
"Uhh… Kinda?" Momoga said with an uncertain shrug.
"Okay, then drink up whatever's left in your canteens and get them refilled, then we're moving out. We don't know how long we'll be out here, or when we'll get another chance to fill up, so make sure to drink plenty now. Beyond that, just keep trying your best and everything will be fine," Erwin added, before sprinting off towards her own tank.
"Yeah!" Nekonya said with a nod and a heavy dose of newfound confidence. "We'll do our best!" she added and looked to her two nodding crewmates, both just as pumped up as her.
"Ooarai are making their move," Jasmine said in a low voice, and adjusted her binoculars. "Their main force has turned towards the flag tank, advancing in a Vee formation, approximate speed is 20 kilometers an hour. They'll be in range to engage in 20 minutes or so."
"Enemy main on offensive, Stop, V toward Superb, Stop, Speed 20 K, Stop, ETA 20 min, Full Stop," Lovelace said as she transmitted the message, using her free hand to keep the earpiece firmly against her ear and listening intently to make sure the rapid burst of beeps were correct, which indeed they were.
"So, what's next?" Jasmine asked impatiently, glancing over her shoulder to where her radio operator was transmitting a metre or two away, safely hidden from view by the sand dune Jasmine was observing the enemy from.
"One moment," Lovelace said calmly, nodding and tapping her ring finger in time with the beeps of the return message as she listened. "Mincemeat swallowed… Rendezvous with Victory at AL-12."
"Finally…" Jasmine muttered, crawling back a short bit down the slope of the dune before rising to her feet and trying her best to brush herself off. "I've been lying there so long I thought my skin was gonna moult and my tongue would fork. Next time the commander wants some recon done, she can damn well send someone else off, and then they can find out how it feels to crawl and grovel in the sand like a snake."
"Hey, be careful please!" Lovelace exclaimed as Jasmine passed by her, dragging her feet and kicking up sand as she walked. "This is a very delicate and sophisticated piece of machinery!" she continued, trying her best to brush away every grain of sand that landed on her telegraph, making sure not one had gotten into any cracks where it could damage the internal workings, and simultaneously shielding it from any more sand Jasmine might kick up.
"You mean unnecessary and antiquated," Jasmine scoffed, and rolled her eyes. "Just use a radio like a normal person, you weirdo," she muttered and walked away towards the tank parked a little while further down the dune.
"It's not weird, it's specialized GI6 equipme-H-hey! Wait for me!" Lovelace yelled. "I need to pack this up properly!"
"Leave it, four-eyes!" Jasmine yelled back. "And get back in your seat, or we'll take off without you. The only thing that piece of crap is good for is loading it into the gun to fire shrapnel." As much as she wanted to, Jasmine did not however tell her driver to simply start the engine and drive off, and instead only muttered and growled to herself as she crossed her arms and tapped her foot in the commander's seat.
"Thanks for waiting, Miss Jasmine," Lovelace panted as she clambered up onto the hull after sprinting to the tank, and stowed away her telegraph.
"That's Commander to you," Jasmine growled, before reaching down and giving Shino in the driver's seat a kick. "Now get us out of here. The Commander wants us to rendezvous at AL-12."
"Copy, Commander," Shino replied, and released the brakes on the tank, sending them gently and slowly rolling down the dune and onto flat ground once more, and putting them well away from the enemy force before Shino even started up the engine. Jasmine just rolled her eyes and sighed as the lumbering tugboat of a tank she had been given command of instead of her trusty Crusader slowly began to creep along the sand at a snail's pace.
"Oh come on, this is ridiculous!" Jasmine complained. "We have an engine for a reason, so punch it!"
"S-sorry, Commander," Shino said anxiously. "It's uhhh… it's the commander's orders. I'm supposed to keep the engine as quiet as possible at all times, unless the commander gives her express permission."
"Great…" Jasmine muttered and kicked the back of the loader's seat in frustration. "We're miles away from another soul, and that moron wants us to keep quiet… Typical…"
"All scouts are accounted for, Lady Darjeeling," Assam informed, returning her headset to the small telegraph station beside her. "They will rendezvous with us shortly."
"And Ooarai?"
"All of their tanks are moving to attack Superb. Lovelace just called in the final confirmation, but we still have plenty of time. Everything's proceeding to plan."
"Excellent news, Assam."
"Lady Darjeeling, don't you think all this skulking about is a bit… unnecessary?" Assam asked. "We hold the advantage in strength, numbers, and terrain. Surely an all-out battle would be far easier of a victory?"
"Perhaps…" Darjeeling said pensively, gently swirling the tea in her cup. "But have you heard this saying? 'Never attempt to win by force that which can be won by deception.' Besides," she added with a small smirk, "If Nishizumi won't face me through the mirror of her own accord, I'll just have to get her there myself. Orange Pekoe?"
"Yes, Lady Darjeeling?" Orange Pekoe answered, a hint of anxiousness breaking through her otherwise calm voice.
"How are you feeling?"
"I'm… uhhh…"
"No need to worry," Darjeeling said calmly. "You may speak freely."
"W-well… I mean… I guess I'm just a bit nervous is all," Orange Pekoe said anxiously. "Is the tea to your liking, Lady Darjeeling?"
"I should have known that would be a sticking point," Darjeeling chuckled. "It is sadly far from your usually spectacular blend, but we shall make do."
"Yes, Lady Darjeeling…"
"Now, I believe it's time to start the music, is it not?" Darjeeling smiled to Assam, before setting her cup of tea down and addressing the rest of her team. "All tanks, this is Victory. Ooarai have graciously accepted our invitation, and it is time for our little ball to begin. Superb platoon, maintain your course as planned, Victory platoon will join you shortly. Defiant, your platoon will reverse course and close on the enemy's ambush. You are authorized to engage in any way you see fit."
A chorus of cheers and "Yes, Commander!" answered her a moment later.
"Ruhuna, if you would be so kind?"
"With pleasure, Commander," Ruhuna replied from the driver's seat. "I've been looking forward to seeing how she'll fare." A moment later, the Bedford engine began rumbling to life, joining in the choir of their escort as the platoon finally rolled out across the desert.
"Hey, Azusa? Azusa?!"
"Huh? What?" Azusa looked around in confusion for a moment, before descending back down into the M3 Lees turret. "Y-yeah… what's up?" she asked Aya with a sheepish attempt at confidence.
"You feeling ok? You've seemed really out of it for the last couple minutes."
"Yeah… I'm… I'm fine…" Azusa sighed. "I… I guess it's just my nerves acting up…"
"Pfft... you? Nervous?" Aya laughed. "Why on earth are you nervous?"
"I… I just…" Azusa stammered indignantly. "I just don't want to mess up like I did last time we met St. Gloriana…"
"Hey, that's not fair," Aya protested.
"Yeah!" Ayumi chimed in from down in the hull.
"We all messed up in that match!" Karina added. "But that was ages ago!"
"Yeah, we've changed a ton since then," Yuuki said. "Back then, I was still with Chotaro. Like, what was I thinking?"
"Wait, you two broke up?" Ayumi asked in confusion. "When did that happen.
"Hmm… sometime around the first round of the tournament, I think?" Yuuki answered after a few moments of thought.
"But… weren't you and him on a date just last week?"
"Oh, gosh no," Yuuki laughed. "I was with Koji, at the aquarium. It was incredible! He had made bentos for us both, and he told me all about the different fish-he just loves fish-and then we went for dinner, and we walked by the sea and then we kis-"
"Anyways…" Aya said pointedly in an attempt to get her pep talk back on track. "The point is we've all changed a bunch since then, and you have nothing to worry about. Except for Commander Nishizumi, you're the best commander on the team!"
"You… you really think so?" Azusa asked with a nervous blush.
"I know so!" Aya answered triumphantly. "Plus, you super-look the part," she added, before leaning in to give Azusa a hug.
"Thanks guys… You're the best…" Azusa said with a small smile.
"We're almost at IL-14," Karina yelled up a few moments later, and Azusa drew a few deep breaths as Aya let go of her and returned her focus to the 37mm gun.
"Noriko, Miss President," Azusa said as she pressed against the mic on her throat and stood up to look out from the Commander's cupola, "we'll stop behind the ridge for now, turret down."
"Copy that, Azusa!" Noriko replied enthusiastically.
"Sure thing, Azu," Anzu said nonchalantly. "Oh and bwy fe wuay, juft caw me Anfu."
"Uhm… could… could you repeat that?" Azusa asked confusedly.
"She says to just call her Anzu," Yuzu clarified. "She just doesn't have the manners not to nibble on snacks when she's on the radio."
"Oh, I see…" Azusa said, still not entirely sure how she had gotten herself into a position where her seniors were so casual about taking orders from her. But whatever the case, a minute later the three tanks, as well as the Phoenix a few meters further away, rolled to rest behind the crest of the ridge from where they would launch their attack. "So… now we just wait... right?" Azusa asked with all the confidence she could muster, looking over towards Maho in the Phoenix' cupola.
"Yeah…" Maho answered a few seconds later. "Now we wait…"
"And… and you're sure this plan is going to work?"
Silence answered her.
"Maho?" Azusa said cautiously. "Are you sure your plan will-..."
"Yeah…" Maho muttered. "I'm sure it's gonna work. There's nothing to worry about."
Looking over at Maho, and seeing the confident smile and shrug that she flashed towards her, Azusa couldn't help but think that Maho was lying. There was something to worry about. Maho wasn't sure the plan would work. There was something she wasn't telling her, there had to be, why else would she-
No, Azusa thought angrily. Stop it. She shook her head and emptied the last of her canteen into her mouth, trying as hard as she could to brush all her doubts and worries away. If she started to doubt, she'd get anxious. If she got anxious, she'd get scared. If she got scared, she would just run away again when the fighting started. Just like last time…
"Janus, Azusa," Erwin's voice called over the radio, dragging Azusa back to the here and now. "You there?"
"Copy, Erwin, this is Phoenix," Maho replied with the confidence and steely voice of a seasoned tanker. "We're at IL-14, ready to grab the enemy's attention. What's your status?"
"We're in position. If we got any closer to the edge we'd fall off the escarpment," Erwin responded with confident glee. "Heron, Anteater and Hippo are all loaded and ready to fire. You just get those sand rats to show us their rears, and we'll finish them off for you!"
"Good," Maho said solemnly.
"I hope you're ready down there," Erwin continued. "The flag tank and its escorts will be passing you by any minute now."
Stretching herself up just a tiny bit in her seat to better see over the dune, Azusa could indeed make out the stormcloud of sand that slowly rolled towards them, with five tanks in a line at its fore. The four Matilda IIs, and the Churchill flag tank in the center.
"Alright, you know the plan," Maho said over the radio. "We're not going to be able to knock much of the enemy out from this distance, what's important is that we get their attention and make sure to keep it. Everyone, ready your guns and wait for my signal."
"W-we're r-ready, C-commander N-Nishizumi…" Nekonya stuttered.
"Orders clear and received!" Sodoko answered.
"Copy that, Janus!" Erwin replied. "Hippo platoon is ready to strike!"
"Rabbit team loaded and ready," Azusa said with newfound calm.
"Yes-sir-e! Determined and ready!" Noriko cheered.
"Just take it easy everyone," Anzu said lazily. "Don't exert yourselves too much."
"No, please do exert yourselves," Yuzu added pointedly, while Anzu's laughter could be heard in the background.
The next minute or two passed in deafening silence as they all waited, the only sound loud enough to break through being the engines of their prey coming closer and closer with every second. At one point, Azusa caught herself not having even been breathing for the past few seconds, and had to force herself to start once more, filling the turret of the M3 Lee with gasping heavy breaths.
"Now," Maho called over the radio, and the tanks of Ooarai's main force all let their engines roar to life in unison, cresting the hill and opening fire.
The desert air crashed and roared with boisterous thunder, and the dune to their left lit up with flashes of lightning as Ooarai's motley collection of tanks crested it and launched their assault. A second or two later, the Invincible shook and rattled, throwing everyone inside back and forth.
"What?!" Nilgiri yelled, as the engine beneath her sputtered, hissed, and ultimately fell silent as the Matilda II slowly and gently rolled to a halt. "Nonononononono…" she protested, but the computer charged with tracking the tank's damage and calculating their capability to fight cared nought for her plea, and above her, a distinctive Pop could be heard, followed by a Schwipp. A noise she knew all too well.
Moments seemed to stretch into eternity as Nilgiri dreaded the next second, but she had to know. Cautiously and with great terror, she reached up to open the commander's hatch and slowly peeked out, only lifting her head just far above the edge to see for herself. Of course, she was met by exactly the answer she knew she would meet, even though she had hoped she wouldn't. A white flag flew over the Invincible, and a chorus of cheers and whoops sounded from her comrades' tanks.
"Wooooo!"
"Yeah! The streak holds!"
"Now we can't lose! Destiny foretells it!"
"Way to go, Nilgiri! Taking one for the team!"
"S-settle down everyone!" Orange Pekoe's voice called over the radio. "Move to engage the enemy as planned, making sure to protect the Superb. M-miss Nilgiri? Is-... Is everyone alright over there?"
"Yeah… we're fine…" Nilgiri replied into her handset. "Keep going and win for us."
"Y-yes, Miss Nilgiri! Thank you!"
Glancing up and out of the turret, Nilgiri saw the rest of their platoon, now down to three Matildas and the Superb, their Churchill flag tank, continue on their path, turning to face Ooarai's force like the commander had planned, even through the continuing thunderstorm of the enemy barrage.
"Commander?" Nightingale asked from the gunner's seat. "Are.. are you alrig-"
"Dammit!" Nilgiri yelled and kicked the wall in frustration. "Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Why did it have to be me? Just... WHY?!" she cried, and curled up in a ball as she furiously pawed at her face to try and keep the tears from falling. A moment later, Nightingale did her best to clamber up further into the tight turret and give her commander a hug.
"That's the spirit!" Erwin cheered as she watched the skirmish unfold beneath them. "One Matilda out in the first salvo!"
"Who got the hit?" Saemonza asked excitedly.
"Looked like the Rabbits to me," Caesar said. "Ayumi's getting really accurate with that 75mm."
"Yeah, she really-..." Erwin began, but stopped herself and looked down at St. Gloriana's formation. "Wait… why are they moving like that?"
When Maho had proposed the plan, it had seemed simple enough: Find the enemy flag tank, distract them with a straight-forward attack, and get them to focus on the main force attacking them, thus revealing the vulnerable rear armor to the StuG III's 75mm gun and the other more powerful guns of Erwin's platoon.
But St. Gloriana didn't seem keen on following said plan.
In fact, they didn't seem particularly keen on doing anything at all, apart from continuing on their way and moving in a straight line with Ooarai's main force on their left and Erwin's platoon up on the escarpment to their right. The only indication that St. Gloriana even realized they were under attack was that their turrets turned to face their attackers and return fire.
"Dang…" Erwin muttered as she followed the Churchill with her binoculars. "Saemonza, can you get a shot?" she called down into the hull.
"Nope!" Saemonza yelled back. "They're just showing the side armor, and not giving me anywhere near a clean line of fire."
"Oh, crud…" Erwin sighed, before ducking back into the StuG's hull and grabbing her radio. "Nekonya, Sodoko, this won't work. We're gonna have to improvise!"
"But Commander Nishizumi's orders were to-" Sodoko protested
"I know what the orders are. But Janus gave me command for a reason, so we're gonna go full Moltke on them!" Erwin yelled back. "We'll pull back from the ridge and prepare to-"
A storm of explosions and the clatter of steel on steel interrupted her, as the StuG rocked and rattled like they were in an earthquake and Erwin and her friends were thrown violently around in the hull.
"S-sorry, Comma-... Erwin…" Nekonya said in an embarrassed tone over the radio. "W-we've been KO'd…"
As Erwin looked up from the StuG, and turned to scan behind her, she saw their attacker on the horizon. A massive cloud of sand, dust, and loose rocks swirling behind the glittering steel armor of five cruiser tanks, growing larger and larger by the second.
"They're being a lot cleverer than I thought…" Maho mumbled to herself as Hana fired another shot towards the Churchill.
"Bounce," she called out. "Again…"
The small platoon of British infantry tanks hadn't reacted the way Maho had predicted. Nothing close to it, in fact. At first, they simply drove past Ooarai's attacking force as if they were a curiosity, until they had completely passed their attackers by. Only then had they decided to maneuvre themselves, but again choosing not to move as Maho would have expected. This wasn't how Darjeeling usually played. There was something strange going on, but she couldn't tell what.
Ooarai and St. Gloriana's tanks were now at a complete right angle to one another, with Maho and Azusa's forces holding position behind the ridge, while Darjeeling had placed her own tanks in a straight line where the end of one tank simply continued into the front of the next, perfectly keeping the vulnerable rear armor of the Churchill safe not just by simply hiding it from view, but by putting an entire tank in the way as well.
"Just keep at it," Maho ordered. "We need to keep them occupied and busy so Hippo platoon can deal with them."
"But at this point, aren't we running the risk of them calling for reinforcements?" Saori asked.
"They already have," Maho muttered. "Thankfully, we know that they don't have anyone else anywhere near here. It'll be at least another half-hour before they can come at us with anyone else."
"Janus!" Erwin called over the radio. "Janus, we've got a problem. A big problem!"
"Erwin?" Maho answered. "What's going on?"
"It's the Crusaders!" Erwin replied, panic building in her voice. "They're here! And… uhh… it turns out…"
"It's not five Crusaders," Sodoko commented. "It's three Crusaders and two Meteors."
"It's Comets, Janus!" Erwin said with a tone that made it clear she was correcting. "We've got three Crusaders and two Comets pounding us with all they've got!"
"How?!" Maho yelled back. "You said they were going the other way? There's no way they could have gotten here that fast! And why are they attacking you and not us?! To do that they would have had to have known where we were going to-..." Her voice died down and the world seemed to slow to a crawl for a second as her hand fell from her throat, and a great sense of unease overtook her, the hairs on her neck standing at attention as her subconscious screamed for her attention.
She barely had time to close her eyes and focus her thoughts before she felt it, and looking out from the cupola, she saw it.
On the horizon another cloud of sand, five tanks at its fore, grew steadily closer. Four Valentine Mk IXs headed straight towards them in a perfect line, and in its center was nothing short of a monster.
Painted all in black, the tank rumbled ominously towards them like an obsidian shark swimming through the sand, its 17-pounder gun taking the place of a dorsal fin as it began trying to put the Phoenix in its crosshairs. The monster carried only a single source of discernable color: A blonde girl with braids in a bright red tank jacket, standing resolute in the cupola as light glimmered off her porcelain teacup.
"Is… is that… is that really-..." Yukari stammered, almost dropping the shell she was holding as she stared in awe at the new arrivals.
"It is," Maho muttered bitterly, cursing under her breath. She cursed herself, she cursed Darjeeling, she cursed tanks, and she cursed the world itself. The Victory. A43 Black Prince. Of course Darjeeling would have slipped the most infamous tank in St. Gloriana's history into battle, right under Maho's nose. With all the rumors about spare parts no longer being available, Maho thought the last time anyone would have seen the British colossus in battle would have been 10 years ago, when Ami knocked it out and started Kuromorimine on their way towards a decade's worth of invincibility. But, somehow, it turned out Darjeeling had found the parts needed, cause here it was…
Maho gave the Victory and its escort one final look, before surveying the completely new battle she had suddenly found herself in.
To their left were the Churchill and Matildas, still eager for a fight with Ooarai's main force.
In front of them was an escarpment, and atop that, Crusaders and Comets pummeling Hippo and Heron into submission.
And now, to their right, Valentines and the Victory, come to finish the job.
Maho gave one final sigh, and reached up to her throat mic once more. There was only one course of action.
"This is Phoenix…" Maho said coldly as she gripped at the microphone. "All tanks… full retreat."
Next time on Dein Weg ist Mein Weg: Darjeeling's ace has left the sleeve and entered the battlefield. Is there any way left for Ooarai to turn the tables, and is Maho really capable of making the choice?
Author's Notes:
So yeah…
This battle has gone through an incredible number of rewrites, and it honestly feels like this chapter has brought me nothing but anguish, cause I've been really struggling with this for the past couple of weeks, worrying back-and-forth over pretty much every single detail.
But anyways, here we finally are: The semi finals against St. Gloriana.
This became a way more talk-centric chapter than I would have originally liked, but I felt like it was necessary to provide a lot of interactions to make things work. A lot of the latter half of this chapter was also written really late at night, so apologies for any potential dip in quality. Hopefully you all don't mind too much.
As some have guessed, yes, Darjeeling's ace up her sleeve was a Black Prince, and yes, I'm fully aware that it's performance IRL was… let's say less than stellar. But, this is GuP where tanks can sorta do what they want, and I really like the Black Prince, so here we are.
I thank you all so much for reading and following along in my ever continuing descent into madness, and I hope you enjoyed the chapter. I'll be honest, I feel like this is a chapter like ch38 where I pull my hair and hate everything and can't accurately tell if it's good or not, so if you want to and have the time, please leave a review to let me know what you think, good or bad. It absolutely means the world to me to hear what you guys think of the story, and it makes my day every time a new review shows up.
My hope is that I'll be able to continue this battle with the next chapter before the year ends, but if not, then I shall endeavour to give you all some more to chew on in January.
Again, thank you all so much for reading, and I'll see you next time!
/Rihno