A/N : So uhh, y'all remember the thing I said last chapter? Well that didn't age well lmao.
I apologize for this chapter taking so long to make. I've just been very busy is all with all the irl stuff and the other fics I've been working on (which will come soon). I don't know if I can drop another NewGen chapter this month, but I will work hard on it. I won't let y'all down!
Anyways, enough of my rambling, enjoy the chapter!
Saturday, 4th Week of June, 2033
Tibbets Island
3:20 PM
It's only been mere minutes since Oarai's first engagement with Saunders and the outcome of the battle had already been decided.
After a frontal assault against the American school's main force which led to a humiliating defeat, the tankers of Oarai consolidated at an open field about a kilometer away from their adversary's position. Would they be able to at least make a decent counterattack? Only time will tell.
Hippo Team's StuG III laid in wait in the middle of a grassy plain. Takeda Shingen, their commander - sat on a folding stool, gunbai in hand as her crewmen lay on the grass. They were waiting for any of their teammates to arrive so they could make a plan of attack.
The samurai girl sighed, "This feels like Nagashino all over again…"
Her fellow history buff, Michael Wittmann, quickly corrected the girl, saying, "Stick to the roleplay man. Shingen died two years before Nagashino."
"Oh right…" she then sighed once again, "This feels like Uedahara all over again."
"Or the First Battle of Bull Run…" added General Sherman.
"Or Agincourt…" said Jean d'Arc
"Or the whole Western Front," Wittmann said.
To which the other three replied with, "Exactly"
After that, Takeda said in a snarl, "Assigning Fujiwara the overall commander role was the biggest mistake this school's ever made."
"Agreed," replied the German tank ace, "It's like she's not even trying! I should've just been the overall commander. We would've won that Bellwall fight then."
"Hah! You've gotta be joking! A fool like you, leading a team like ours? We would've lost the very second you sat on the commander's seat!" Takeda exclaimed mockingly.
Sherman quickly defused the growing argument however. "Shut up you two, no need for another yelling session. Let's just wait for the Anglerfish Team to get here."
And just as she said that, the Panzer IV, which was tattered with bullet holes and scratches from the recent firefight, pulled up and the crew promptly got out using their respective hatches.
Unexpectedly, the Turtle Team's Hetzer was also part of the survivors. The tank destroyer was currently making its way towards them too.
Once she hopped off her tank, Yuna went over to Takeda and her comrades while Eiko and Ayano took a rest by laying on top of their tank.
"Takeda-san, everybody. Are you guys alright?"
"We're fine, Fujiwara. Thanks to that foolish decision you've made, sending us to our demise, I won't be taking orders from you again."
"What? B-But I'm your commander! You can't just disobey me, that's treason!"
"You have no right to boss me around, Fujiwara. In fact, you can't boss around anyone at all. You are a horrible commander! So from this day forth, I will be handling the tactics and the orders myself."
"W-Wait, you're saying you're the overall commander now?! You can't do that! That's against the rules! I-I'll tell Nishizumi-sensei!"
"Go ahead," Takeda called her bluff as she pushed her katana out of its scabbard with her thumb.
The samurai's fear tactics worked and Yuna was quickly spooked into submission. "A-Alright, I won't tell her! B-But you still can't do this! Senshadō rules state that changing of commander roles can only occur if the commander herself steps down or is retired from battle due to injury!"
"To hell with the rules! A change must be done to ensure our team stays afloat!" Takeda yelled. Right before she unsheathed her sword, the Hetzer arrived just in time and a very angry Akira Kawashima came squeezing out of the commander's hatch.
She walked over to the commander before grabbing her by the collar and lifting her up.
"You fucking bastard! Why'd you leave us there?! We're the fucking Student Council for God's sake!"
"Wha- What are you talking about Kaichou?!" the brunette stammered.
"Don't act stupid! You know what you were doing weren't you!?"
Before Akira could harm Yuna though, Eiko and Ayano intervened and managed to get their friend off of the President's hands.
"K-Kaichou! It's not that serious!" Eiko exclaimed.
"I've had it with your incompetence, Fujiwara! Without the Hetzer, we have no chance of fighting against Saunders, yet you left us to die just like that?!"
"I-I didn't have a choice! It was either that or we all lose!" Yuna replied, "L-Listen, I'll make it up to you alright? I-I'll get better next time, I promise!"
"A sorry isn't gonna cut it! Next time you fuck up, you can kiss Senshadō goodbye! One more mistake and I will kick you out of the club, permanently!"
"Everyone please calm down!" Izumi Saikawa suddenly spoke which silenced everyone. "Clearly Kaichou's overwhelmed by the recent battle. Let's give her some space, okay? Makoto-san, you take over for now," she then turned to Yuna and Akira. "Now we mustn't blame each other's mistakes for our loss! It was no one's fault that we got pushed back. Now let's just leave everything to the past, and start planning for the future. Does anyone have any plans for a counterattack?"
"I have," said Shingen as she stood up from her stool. She then picked up a stick from the ground and began drawing symbols on a patch of dirt.
Everyone else went over to her to inspect what she was doing.
"The hell are you doing Shingen?" asked Wittmann.
"Getting us out of this mess." After Takeda finished drawing on the dirt, she then turned to Yuna and Akira and asked them, "It's a simple yet effective tactic, once used by Satomi Yoshihiro against the Hojō. I call it, Operation Konodai!"
"Well, how the hell does it go?" Wittmann asked again.
"Patience, Wittmann. I'll explain it in careful detail…"
While the Oarai tankers planned their next attack, their adversaries were planning their next move too.
Three of Saunders' tanks were still left standing in the battle. One of the Pershings was routed and probably wouldn't be able to make its way back to position now. They also had three M24 Chaffees which acted as scouts but they're M.I.A as of now.
Mari Oyama, Saunders' Vice Commander and gunner of Kelly's Sherman, was sitting outside said tank scouting for any Oarai tanks as well as her team's missing ones. So far, nothing significant to note.
Kelly meanwhile was at some sort of dining area the tank crews set up to interrogate the Rabbit Team, whose tank fell in battle.
The six freshmen were tied together as they sat on the ground while Kelly sat on a chair in front of them, teasing them with food.
"I'm telling you man, if you tell us what your friends are planning, Im'ma give you this delicious American hotdog!"
"Oi, Ryu! What the heck is she talking about?!" one of the freshmen loudly whispered to the other.
"I don't friggin' know! Last time I checked, I didn't speak English!"
"Uhh, I think she's asking us where the others are."
"Well then don't tell 'em!"
Mari then appeared and walked over to them. "Kelly, they don't understand what you're saying, just leave 'em be."
"But I'm trying to get information here!"
"If you're gonna ask them, at least speak their native language!"
"What? You know I'm not Japanese! I can understand it, sure, but I can't speak it!"
The Vice Commander facepalmed. "Jeez, why'd I hand over the reins to you…"
"Ay, my fault OG!" Kelly apologized with a shrug.
"Don't you 'My fault OG' me now! Are you planning on going after Oarai or what?"
"I told you we'll wait for them."
"Well, they're taking their damn time! You gonna do something about it or are you just gonna sit here eating glizzies all day?"
Kelly took a bite of the hotdog before replying with her mouth full, "Okay first off, pause, the hell do you mean by 'glizzy'? Secondly, I told you to be patient didn't I? No matter how long it'll take, Oarai's gonna come. They've got no choice!"
Mari then crossed her arms. "And you're just gonna wait here until they take our tanks out?"
"Hah! As if!" the blonde commander then stood up, patting her clothes of bread crumbs. "They've got weak ass tanks, Mari! There's literally no chance they can win now!"
"You call a Hetzer 'weak?"
"Depends on the crew. Anyways, as I said, there's no way they're gonna win. Even if they turn the tables on us, we can just call in our assets!"
"Ah yes, your signature move right?" Mari said before she and Kelly made their way back to their Sherman.
"Hell yes! It always works, so why not use it all the time?"
"Right… What's that one saying you got the idea from again?"
"'When in doubt, call an airstrike'!"
Mari chuckled, "What a dumb doctrine…"
Once the pair made it to their entrenched Sherman, Mari climbed up while Kelly stayed on the ground to check out the other teams' tanks to satiate her boredom.
The blonde commander went over to the M26 Pershing entrenched beside her tank and banged on its hull to get its commander's attention. Soon enough, a girl with long black hair emerged from the tank.
"Kelly? I thought you were streaming the match?"
"My driver's got it covered. Anyways, how's it going in there? You guys hurt or something?"
"Nope. We haven't been hit the whole match. It's boring really…" she propped her head up using her hand and stared aimlessly at the empty fields to her right. "Kinda wish we had more of a challenge outta these Oarai folks."
"Ay, you don't gotta worry 'bout it homie! On God, it's boutta be lit out here when the time comes. Give it twenty minutes aight?"
"Whatever dude. So uhh… anyways, what else d'you need?"
"Well, you drip your tank out a bit? I remember this thing looked so vanilla the first time you got assigned to it." Kelly asked as she began walking in circles around the tank.
"Sure man, I pimped my ride. Only a little bit though, I don't wanna stand out too much after all."
"Aight, aight, I getcha… Ooh what's this?" Kelly noticed something stickered on the side hull of the Pershing. "Is that a giant sticker of Kermit the Frog with two samurai swords smoking a blunt? And is that a mudcrab from that old Skyrim game wearing a top hat and a monocle?"
"I-I just put on the first thing I could, Kelly," the Pershing commander shrugged. "Tank drip doesn't really matter that much to me."
"Ay, not gonna lie, these are some banger ass stickers." Kelly said, ignoring the last line and instead was scrutinizing every detail of the stickers.
"Uhh… thanks I guess?"
The blonde commander looked up at her comrade and said, "Ayy no problem OG! Im'ma catch you later at the party dawg!"
She then decided to finally head back to her tank but before she could climb up it, a shot from out of the blue landed a mere five feet from where she was standing, causing her to trip and fall.
"Shit! It's Oarai!" the Pershing commander yelled before going back inside her tank.
Kelly's loader then appeared with her head popping out of the Sherman's loader's hatch. "Ayo Kelly! Get the hell inside!"
"Hold on, I'm coming!" the blonde quickly got back up and mounted her tank. Meanwhile the other tank crews were still scurrying over to their vehicles as they got bombarded by tank shells and machine gun fire.
Kelly dropped down into the commander's hatch and landed on her seat. "Alright peeps, what's the sitrep?"
"We got enemy contact at twelve o'clock, and guess what? it's Oarai's Panzer IV," Mari reported.
"Just the Panzer? Where're the other two tanks?" she asked before being given her phone back by her loader.
"Dunno, they're probably staying back. It might be a lure, Kelly."
"No shit, it's a lure. We've seen this play out a hundred times haven't we?"
"Alright, what's your plan then?" Mari asked as her gun was being loaded.
A shot from the Panzer IV in the distance grazed the Sherman's turret, creating a loud noise before Kelly made a response. "I'd say… we fall for it!"
"What?!"
"Now hold on, hear me out. If Oarai's leading us to a trap… then that means they're leading us to more of their tanks! Smart eh?"
"That's common knowledge, dumbass," said Mari, "They're just using the same technique they used with Bellwall."
"Yeah, what the heck's up with that anyways?" the loader asked before Mari fired the Sherman's gun.
"Either Yuna doesn't know what a strategy is, or they've just given up at this point. Either way, I guess we get after them."
Kelly then pressed her throat mic, "Aight, y'all heard Mari! Get after that Panzer!"
"Bet, say less," replied the Pershing commander.
"This plan sounds stupid, but I guess we're doing it!" the Sherman Easy Eight commander said next.
Saunders' three tanks reversed out of their fortifications and began pursuing the lone Panzer IV in the distance. In turn, the German medium retreated as expected.
Oarai presented no serious threat at this moment so Kelly was free to pop her blonde head out of her tank's cupola. While she was outside, she held a camera in her hands which streamed the match on a particular website.
"Aight, y'all finna get a whole front row seat when I eventually smoke that Oarai pack! Plugs don't touch! Oh shit-" she ducked to dodge a shell flying past her.
Soon after, Kelly heard chuckling from inside the tank and saw her live chat spamming "LMAO" on her phone.
"Shut yo stupid asses up!" she yelled, banging on the roof of the turret.
"Why'd I have to be the bait?" Yuna whined as her Panzer was being chased by three American tanks.
Takeda answered, "Because your tank is the weakest out of the three of us. That, and because this task is impossible to fuck up. Unless you're a bigger idiot than I thought."
"Hey, that's just rude!"
"It's the truth," Akira chimed in, "We can't risk you messing us up even further. Our forces are equal to theirs right now and I want it to stay that way until we get to the ambush point."
"How do we even know if that will-" Yuna flinched as she heard a shell bounce off the hull of her tank,"I-I'll call you back!" she exclaimed before opening the side hatch of the turret and peeking out.
The brunette saw the three American tanks still hot on their tail. "Crap! I think they're getting closer!"
"Why don't you do something and actually fire back at 'em?" Eiko said via intercom.
"Oh yeah! Forgot I could do that!"
"Good grief…"
Yuna then went back inside the Panzer, closing the side hatch on her way in. She then traversed the turret around.
"Aya-chan, load a shell in!"
"Already did, Yuna!"
"Ah nice, thanks!" she said with a grin before peering through the gun sight to locate her target.
After adjusting her aim a bit, Yuna fired a shot which unfortunately missed by a large margin.
"Yuna, don't waste any shots!" Eiko reprimanded her commander, "Just wait 'til we get to the ambush spots!"
"But you told me to fire back at them!"
"I forgot you were trash at firing! Sorry, but you gotta stop!"
Yuna sighed in exasperation at this before she pivoted the turret back to its initial position and leaned back on the gunner's seat. There she did the only thing she could, and prayed they wouldn't get hit.
Eventually, the Panzer found itself in the middle of a small abandoned village of sorts. It was like one of those places you'd see in an old western flick.
The Panzer fired some smoke rounds before it entered the town so a window of opportunity opened. In order to survive whatever the next attack Saunders is gonna dish out, the German medium has to hide. But unbeknownst to its crew, hiding won't get them nowhere…
The trio of Saunders tanks parked themselves on the outskirts of the old ghost town. Even though Kelly was a bit of a blockhead, she knew better than to charge in there blindly.
"So that's the ambush spot huh…" Kelly remarked as she surveyed the settlement with a pair of binoculars.
Her loader then suddenly popped out of her hatch which startled the commander a bit. "They're all in there, all three of 'em. Shouldn't we just call an airstrike and raze that place to the ground?"
"We will," replied Kelly, letting go of the binoculars. "We'll do it once we reach the dono milestone."
"Uhh, what?" the loader tilted her head.
"Hol up, speak of the devil, we just did!" the blonde suddenly exclaimed as she looked at her phone. "Thanks for the two hundred dollar donation! And now we move on to the final act of this show! We boutta wrap the stream up in a few moments y'all!"
After Kelly slipped her phone into the left breast pocket of her Saunders jacket, keeping the camera lens out so her fans could see the carnage that would unfold, she then pressed her throat mic. "Ayo HQ! Wake the hell up!"
"Kelly, you don't have to yell at the mic like that!" an annoyed female voice responded.
"Ayy my bad man, I was just trollin'!" Kelly said, chuckling, "Anyways, Imma need you to do your magic and commence Operation Manhattan!"
"Manhattan?! Are you crazy?! You do know you're risking the lives of everybody on that island right!?"
"Bro, just trust me aight? Ain't nun' bad gon' happen!"
"Last time I trusted you, you put a hole in the side of the George Washington…"
"That was a one time thing, my dude! Just trust me on this!"
Kelly's coercion tactics worked and the woman on the other end ultimately agreed to do it. "Sigh, fine… Commencing Operation Manhattan. Make sure y'all are in cover alright? Your face melting off don't exactly feel pleasing."
"Bet" the blonde commander responded before ending the transmission and dropping back down inside her Sherman.
Once she landed on the commander's seat, Mari told her as she was looking through the gun sight, "You did something dumb didn't you?"
"Well, eh, you know… Prolly not."
"I call cap on that one," the gunner turned around to face Kelly. "What's the operation?"
"Uhh… Manhattan?"
This caused the former commander to facepalm. "Jesus Christ, how stupid can you be?!" she turned back around to face the gun and sent a transmission. "Mari Oyama to HQ, abort operation Manhattan."
A response was immediately issued, "Yes ma'am!"
"Well, what the heck are we gonna flush em out with now?!" Kelly asked, a bit annoyed.
"A normal friggin' airstrike dumbfuck!"
"Oh… right."
Up on a quiet hill overlooking the ghost town was the history buffs' StuG III.
The assault gun's crew were patiently waiting for the time to strike, and to prevent boredom from festering among them, they resorted to their pastimes.
Wittmann and Jean d'Arc were on top of the StuG playing a game of Poker while Sherman lay beside them staring at the sky. Her mind was filled with nothing else but a hundred shower thoughts. Meanwhile, Takeda was sitting on the ground next to her tank as she played Sakura on a shamisen that she brought along with her.
All was peaceful and tranquil, with the only disturbance being the distant gunfire on the fields below.
That was until Yuna's voice blared through the crew's comms. "Oi! Hippo Team! Do you copy!?"
One of the shamisen's two strings snapped immediately after the brunette commander presented herself.
Greatly perturbed, Takeda pressed her throat mic and answered, "What do you want?"
"Oh, Takeda! Umm, so are you gonna open fire at Saunders or not?"
"I will, once the opportunity presents itself."
"But the opportunity's showing itself now! There's three Chaffee's charging towards us fast!"
The samurai raised an eyebrow before she set her instrument aside and stood up to look down the hill. She saw three fast-moving figures making a beeline towards the town, kicking up large clouds of smoke as they went.
"Three light tanks huh…" Takeda muttered to herself before telling Yuna, "Fujiwara, you're gonna have to deal with them by yourself."
"Wait, what?! Um, hello!? There's three of them and one of us! How am I supposed to beat them?!"
"I never said you should defeat them; I don't expect you to do that much. I only want you to serve merely as a diversion so I and the Turtle Team can take out the Saunders vanguard."
"Hey, don't underestimate me like that! I'm better than you think, ya know?"
"I highly doubt that. Takeda out," she then turned around and mounted her tank. After which, the StuG turned its gun towards its adversaries in the distance.
"Wittmann, take the Pershing out first. Turtle Team will take care of the Easy Eight for us." Takeda ordered.
"That's a bit too far for my firing range. You sure this shot will hit?"
"I didn't order you to doubt me, Wittmann. Now fire the goddamn gun already."
"You guys always have to be arguing when we're in the middle of a battle huh?" Jean said, chuckling.
"It's in their nature after all," Sherman retorted with a chuckle of her own.
This led to Takeda issuing them orders too. "Alright, d'Arc, get ready to charge at our enemy after the first salvo fires…"
"Wait, you want us to charge right at them?!"
Takeda ignored this and continued, "...Sherman, load HE shells. We'll startle our enemies before going in for the kill."
"Gotcha, Take-chan!"
"Don't call me that. Now comrades, commence Operation Konodai! Open fire!"
The StuG fired its explosive shot, which landed close to the Pershing but did no significant damage. The Hetzer - which stood on another hill in the distance - fired a round off too. It hit the Easy Eight in its tracks, hindering its ability to move but overall not causing good enough damage.
The HE round kicked up a ton of smoke upon impact, giving Hippo Team a window of opportunity to charge at Saunders' tanks.
While the StuG rolled down the hill at high speeds, Takeda received a transmission from Anglerfish Team. "Takeda! pant, We… pant We got em! The Chaffees I mean!"
"Alright, now focus fire on the Americans." she said sternly.
"Gotcha! A-Anyways, are you like, gonna congratulate me? I took out three tanks on my own after all!"
"You'd have to do more than that to earn my praise, Fujiwara. Takeda out."
She then ended the call right before two shots landed in close proximity to her tank. Takeda looked through the cupola's vision slits and caught sight of both the 76(W) and the Pershing's turrets pointing directly at them.
"We've got company," she said calmly. "Brace yourselves girls. Things are about to get ugly!"
Takeda then held on to her seat and braced for impact as her assault gun charged towards the Pershing with the intent to ram it.
And ram it they did. Upon impact, the American medium tank banked to its side a bit and was almost about to tip over completely. The StuG's gun was pressed against its cold metal hull and without a second thought, Takeda ordered her gunner to fire.
The result was that both the StuG and the Pershing were disabled. The American tank was obviously taken out by a point blank shot while the German assault gun took its own life when the barrel destroyed itself upon firing. Nevertheless, that was one less tank for Oarai to worry about.
Inside the StuG, the history buffs were recovering from the injuries inflicted by that foolish yet effective attack.
Takeda pressed her throat mic, rubbing her bleeding forehead as she said, "Attention all teams. The M26 Pershing has been taken out. Though I've suffered a concussion, I'm fine overall."
"Great," responded Yuna, to Takeda's displeasure, "H-How about the other guys?"
The samurai paused to take a look at her comrades. "Well, Jean has been knocked out but I think she's fine. Wittmann and Sherman are unhurt too."
"Hey, come on, that's a friggin' lie! I hit my head ya know!?"
"Yes but it's not that serious. Anyways, we'll be off now. I trust you don't make any foolish decisions, 'commander'. Takeda out."
"Eh, you know I won't Take-cha- I mean, Takeda-san!" replied Yuna.
"What the hell did you just call me?!"
"U-Uh, nothing! Bye!" then the call abruptly stopped.
After that, a transmission from Turtle Team came next. "This is Akira of the Turtle Team. We have - unfortunately - been taken out. We leave the rest to you, Fujiwara-san."
"What?! How'd you get taken out at that distance?!" exclaimed Yuna through the comms.
"That's not your concern, Fujiwara. Take out those tanks and get this over with."
"Alright, alright, fine Kaichou! Wait, what's that sound?"
"What sound?" Takeda asked.
"That… buzzing sound?"
"It sounds like a plane," said Akira, "They're bringing in an airstrike, Fujiwara. You should seek cover."
"Can you guys at least show a tad bit of concern for me?! A bomb's about to be dropped on my head!"
As Akira and Yuna rambled on, Takeda stood up from her commander's seat and decided to see the goings on outside.
She poked her head outside the cupola and inspected the sky. There was indeed a loud buzzing noise blaring loudly.
The Pershing commander, whose tank lay next to the StuG, noticed the samurai's appearance and so she waved hello at her. "Oh hey! Wassup dude! Nice day for a battle eh?"
Takeda then turned to the girl with her usual stern look. Not understanding what the young woman said, she decided to consult with Wittmann. "Oi Michael, the gaijin's talking to me. What's she saying?"
"I can't even hear her, dumbass!" the self-proclaimed tank ace replied.
Realizing she had no way of communicating with the American, Takeda simply ignored her and didn't answer back. Instead, she went back to gazing at the sky.
"Oh come on, at least say hi!"
Soon enough, a large plane appeared out of the clouds. As far as Takeda can tell, it was a light bomber.
The strike plane commenced its bombing run on the quaint little ghost town where it released its payload of four 500 pound bombs.
What came next was a gigantic explosion resulting in the utter evisceration of the town with no name. All the buildings in the area were razed to the ground as if a tornado had passed through. It was glaringly obvious that the Anglerfish Team did not survive that.
"Nice, looks like we won the Saunders way!" said the Pershing commander, now wearing aviators as she watched the destruction in the distance with a wide grin.
Saunders… What a bunch of barbarians… Takeda thought as she gazed at the fiery hell in front of her.
Oarai had once again lost the battle, and only God knows what fate would befall its poor commander, Yuna Fujiwara, because of this defeat.
Tibbets Island
Saunders Boot Camp
7:35 P.M
That evening, all the crews of Oarai and Saunders gathered together in one camp to sit around the campfire and sing Kumbaya together. Actually, it was more of a high-energy afterparty than a formal gathering.
There was food everywhere, even alcohol; music was blaring loudly as per usual; and everyone was enjoying themselves.
On one part of the camp, there was a stage set up where anyone could step up and perform whatever they wanted.
Right now, one of the Pershing commanders were on stage about to perform a song. Her other crewmen as well as the other Saunders tank crews were gathered before her.
"Alright y'all! I'm bout to perform a certified hood classic! It's an oldie my auntie used to sing a lot!" the performer said as she held a mic. "It's called WAP! Y'all oldheads in the crowd prolly know this. Now DJ, hit it!"
The beat then started and she started to sing. "Uh… yeah… I said certified freak, seven days a week. Wet ass p-"
"Ayo!" Mari, who was there in the crowd suddenly yelled to which both the singing and the music abruptly stopped.
"What? It's a classic!"
"Nah, get off the stage bro. Get off the damn stage 'fore I ban your ass from the night parties."
"Come on, Mari! I'm pouring my heart and soul out in this performance!"
"Bruh, I'm sleep…" Mari sighed, "Just get the hell off the stage man... You can perform at the afterparty later!"
Ultimately, the singer gave up and dropped the mic. "Man, this some bullshit…" she grumbled before walking off the stage.
The former commander sighed once again before a few familiar faces appeared. It was Oarai's Anglerfish Team.
"Oh hey, you guys! Don't mind what happened on stage aight? Our music club's gonna perform soon anyways."
"You guys are having an afterparty?" Eiko asked.
"Yeah, it's Saunders tradition. We get lit for six hours then go back to our normal way of life. Pretty draining if you ain't used to parties. Anyways, I'm glad y'all could come here tonight!" she then grouped them up into a hug. "That was a great fight if I do say so myself! I mean, you guys were pretty trash but I know you can improve!"
"Well, Kaichou's not gonna be happy with the results though," said Shiori.
"Oh damn, I guess it do be like that sometimes, eh? Don't worry Yuna, you'll get to see her good side soon, I promise you that," and with that, Mari walked off.
"A good side to Kaichou? Heh, she must be kidding…" said Shiori before she too walked off along with Ayano.
"Where're you guys going?" Eiko asked.
"Where else? The most secluded spot in the camp so we don't get bothered. Also to get away from you."
A passerby who heard Shiori, said, "Ayo pause bruh, what the heck y'all finna do?" but the driver ignored this.
Now that Eiko's all alone with Yuna, there was nothing else she could do.
"So uhh, where to Yuna?"
"Right, I need to check up on Gottlieb-san and the others. To see if they're hurt." the brunette replied with a surprisingly concerned expression.
"Gottlieb?" the redhead tilted her head.
"Oh yeah, she was my commander when I was the temp loader for her Pershing. She hit her head earlier in the battle and I think it's my fault. 'C-Cause I left her behind and all that."
"Do you have Stockholm or something?" the redhead quipped.
"No Eiko, that's not it! Now come on, let's find the infirmary," Yuna then held Eiko by the hand before looking around, "It's gotta be somewhere around here…"
"Why don't you ask her other crewmen instead? They're here too, right?"
"Oh yeah! I think I saw Tremblay-san over by the tables with all the food! Come on, Eiko!" and without warning, Yuna began dragging her friend along with her.
The pair squeezed through the tight crowds, occasionally running into the other crew from their Senshadō Team, before they finally arrived at the tables where lo-and-behold, Charlie Tremblay and her fellow crewmen were there.
"Tremblay-san!" Yuna exclaimed, which got their attention.
"Huh? Oh hey kid! Nice shooting earlier! I was quite surprised when you took out our Chaffees. Guess I shouldn't have underestimated you eh?"
"Hehe, thanks! Y-You were great at shooting too!" Yuna said as she scratched the back of her head in flattery. "A-Anyways, do you guys know where Gottlieb-san is? I wanna apologize to her for you know… leaving her behind like that."
"You mean Miss Cowboy Copas? Yeah she's in the infirmary back there with her Filipino Baby right now." Charlie answered, pointing to a nearby cabin.
"Miss… Cowboy Copas?" Yuna asked, tilting her head.
Rae Cohen then appeared from behind Charlie and said, "You wouldn't get it kid. You're not cultured like that."
"What? The fuck are you even talking about, Rae?" said Charlie as she began snickering.
"I thought that was what I was supposed to say! We're a duo aren't we?!"
"Umm, okay then… thanks for the tip Tremblay-san!"
"It's Charlie, Yuna. We don't give a shit about honorifics in Saunders."
"R-Right!" the brunette commander nodded before making her way to the aforementioned infirmary. Eiko decided to stay behind and help herself to absolutely bussin' food.
Before the brunette could even open the door to the cabin, she could already hear her Saunders commander's voice. She was clearly speaking to someone else so Yuna put her ear against the door and decided to eavesdrop.
"You should really wear a helmet, Jude. You're gonna crack your skull at this point!" said a female voice with a noticeable accent.
"Sigh, I know Marianne… I just don't wanna since it's friggin' uncomfortable you know? Besides, if I always get sent to infirmary, doesn't that mean I get to spend more time with you?"
This resulted in Marianne laughing, "Man, shut your corny ass up!"
Yuna was about to continue eavesdropping until suddenly, a tanker from Saunders appeared behind her.
"Ay bro, whatchu doing man?"
The brunette jumped in surprise and quickly turned around. "U-Uhh, n-nothing!"
"Haha! You were peeping on someone weren't you? Gotcha in 4K dawg!"
"Shh! Quiet!"
Then the infirmary door opened behind her and Yuna was finally caught.
"Y-Yuna?! What the heck are you doing here?!" Jude exclaimed. Her head was wrapped in bandage and she was wearing a black tank top instead of her tanker jacket.
"J-Jude-san! I-I was just… I came here to apologize is all!"
"Apologize? What for?" the commander asked.
"For peeping on ya, hahaha!" said the other Saunders tanker before she squeezed past the two of them into the infirmary.
"Y-You were eavesdropping?!" Jude exclaimed and her face immediately turned red.
"N-No I wasn't!" Yuna replied, her face also red. "That- That isn't the point why I came here!"
The Pershing commander calmed down after this. "Really? Then what is it?"
"I umm… Well I came to say sorry. For leaving you behind there earlier. You were hurt when our Pershing got taken out, you hit your head and I didn't help you 'cause I wasn't thinking straight, and-"
"Hey, it's not your fault kid. That's just the norm when you're in Senshadō. Sometimes, you're filled with so much adrenaline that your body decides to move on its own. It's pretty common for rookie tankers like you kid."
"It- It is?" asked Yuna.
"Yep, that's why you gotta work on it. Remember kid, a good tanker doesn't panic. 'Cuz panicking ends up in someone getting hurt. Like me over here. You got that?"
"Y-Yeah!" the brunette answered.
Jude smiled before giving Yuna a headpat. "That's good, kid. Now get outta here will ya? If you've eavesdropped on us earlier, then I assume you know I have business to attend to!"
"R-Right, Jude-san! Sorry for the inconvenience!" Yuna bowed as an apology before she decided to go back to the party and enjoy herself.
Jude watched on, and she even felt some type of way. She believed it was called "being proud".
Yuna seems like a good kid. Heh, haven't seen one of those in a while…
Meanwhile, back on the Zuikaku; the Student Council room to be precise, Akira and her two subordinates were sitting around, enjoying some "grape juice for adults" they've stashed as a form of celebration.
"I swear to God… If Fujiwara fails us one more time…" Makoto grumbled as she sat with a wine glass in her hand on one of the couches.
"She won't fail us another time, Makoto," said Akira who was sitting at her desk, "Because to fail the next battle, is to fail the school entirely."
"Huh? What do you mean by that?"
"The National Tournament, Makoto-san," Izumi answered, "The first battle's only a month away."
"Wait, what?!" the Vice President exclaimed.
"Calm down, Makoto. We have plenty of time to train."
"But that won't be enough, Kaichou! Everyone's still gonna be idiots by the time the tournament rolls around! No offense, but Nishizumi-sensei isn't exactly the best instructor. Neither is Fujiwara!"
"What do you suppose we do then?" asked Izumi.
"I dunno, hire another one perhaps?"
"We don't have the funds though."
"Gah! All this instructor shit's makin' me mad!" Makoto yelled before she took a swig from the wine glass to cool her jets.
"We don't need to hire another one," said the President, which got Makoto and Izumi to pause and look at her. "I know a guy."
"You do, Kaichou?"
"Yes. You two might know her."
"Wh-What? I'm sorry Kaichou, but I don't get you."
Akira then sighed, "Does the name 'Isobe' mean anything to you two?"
To be continued...