Chapter 15:
"Ohh! Minna, I think I ate too much!" Usagi groaned, clutching her stomach while the Panzer she sat in jostled its way across uneven ground.
"Serves you right, Usagi-chan." Rei muttered at the girl from her jouncing perch beside her gun's breech. "Two cheeseburgers, a hot dog with all the toppings you could possibly cram onto it, and... I lost track of everything else you devoured this morning."
"I was really hungry, Rei-chan! Starving! But now I'm way too stuffed! Why did those stupid burgers have to taste so good?" She felt the front of the Panzer rise as Minako drove up a hill, trailing closely behind Riko's STuG.
"Try to forget about the food, Usagi-chan" Makoto's voice ordered from above the cupola of the Panzer IV. "Concentrate on your radio, ok? The match starts in about fifteen minutes, and I want you to monitor Pravda's radio frequency too, not just Ooarai's. Tell me every time you hear that a tank was knocked out of action, from any team, and where it happened if you can find out."
"That sounds like a lot of work!" the blonde grumbled. "Hai. I'll try, Mako-chan."
"Minna, I need everyone to stay as sharp and as focused as you possibly can be today. It's our only hope of surviving against those big guns Kuramorimine and Saunders have." The brunette frowned, her voice becoming ice cold, "We've got a little score to settle with Nishizumi Maho. And with her flunky Erika too, if we're lucky enough to get the chance. So let's make it happen!"
"Hai!"
Ami sat attentively at her gunner's sights, primed for action and already slowly pivoting her weapon from side to side. "Didn't Katyusha say her T34s would be taking care of the Shermans, Mako-chan?"
"Hai. She promised Miho that Pravda would keep Kay's tanks off our backs, so all Ooarai supposedly has to worry about is Maho's Tigers and Panthers. At least that's the plan."
"As if that wasn't enough" Rei murmured. "Tigers and Panthers..." She shifted uneasily in her seat. "You want me to load our gun now, Mako-chan?"
"Do it. And as always, reload as fast as you can after we shoot. Try to break your old record, Rei-chan. Every second is going to count in this battle."
Rei opened the breech and slid a heavy shell into place. "Our gun is loaded and ready to fire, Mako-chan."
"Arigatou." Makoto carefully examined the marks she had added to her map after the Ooarai commander's meeting with Miho. "Our starting position for today's match is on flat ground at the other side of the hill we're now climbing. South of us will be a pretend town with lots of buildings and streets and stuff like that. And south of the town is... a whole lot of enemy tanks. When the match begins, we'll be moving slowly into the town behind Erwin's STuG, so be ready for anything, Ami-chan. I'll keep an eye on what's happening behind us, so you may need to spin our turret around and shoot fast. Miho believes that if her sister sticks to her usual tactics, we could be getting swarmed by groups of at least two or three enemy tanks, maybe even more. We definitely need to get the first shot in, and Erwin's STuG does too, then we'll try to run around them and hit them again before they can accurately return fire."
"I'll do my best, Mako-chan" Ami nodded. "I assume you'll want me to target their tanks' engine compartments if possible?"
"That's right. It's about the only weak spot anywhere on Kuramorimine's huge machines, other than their undersides. If you can't hit them where it hurts the most, aim for their tracks."
"Understood."
Makoto chuckled, "Minako-chan, I think you know what I'm going to ask you to do."
"No need to worry about my part, Mako-chan!" her blonde driver exclaimed. "I'll have us spinning around those enemy tanks so fast it'll make them dizzy! My Panzer's gas pedal is going to get the absolute life stomped out of it! When we need speed, I'll drive our tank like the wind! Or even better" she giggled, "like a raging typhoon!"
"Typhoon Minako" Rei grinned. "Oddly appropriate, considering your lead-footed lunacy at the controls of every other vehicle you've ever driven, from that tiny garden tractor at Yuuichirou's parents' home in Okinawa to Haruka's Ferrari."
"Well, today I need to drive harder and wilder than I ever have before, Rei-chan. Maho made me really upset when she told Miho those cruel things about her relationship with Yusei, so I'll make sure we'll be in a good position for Ami to get revenge on those silly Tigers and Panthers! They won't know what hit them!"
"As long as you don't actually hit them with our tank" the miko muttered. "Or wedge us between two of them like you did in practice last Wednesday. No more tank sandwiches this time, Minako-chan."
"Sandwiches? I ate one of those too!" Usagi moaned, gently massaging her tummy. "Or was it two? Ohh! Minna, please don't anyone mention food again today! Just the thought of eating makes me feel all queasy and awful!"
"That has to be a first" the girl behind her snickered. "Who would've believed it?"
Usagi spun around in her seat and glared up at the loader. "Can't you be less sarcastic just this once? I'm suffering here!"
"Food! Food! Burgers and milkshakes and cake and-"
"Shut up, Rei-chan!"
. . . . .
"I just heard from Erwin's and Makoto's tanks, Miho" Saori told her commander over the intercom. "Luna and Hippo teams have reached their assigned starting point."
"Arigatou, Saori. That's everyone in place. We still have about five minutes before the match begins, so does anyone have any final questions about today's game plan?"
"I have a question" Hana said. "But not about our strategy, Miho. It's about you. You don't seem yourself since the school commanders met at the staging area earlier today, and I was wondering... is it because of what your sister said? About your mother possibly demanding you break off your relationship with Yusei?"
Miho lowered herself into the turret. "Hai. That's exactly it" she admitted with a deep sigh. "I'm supposed to always act like a good commander, Hana, appearing strong and positive in front of my teams no matter what the circumstances are. But those hurtful words..." She gave her head a shake and forced a smile onto her lips. "Minna, please forgive me. I promise I won't let it interfere with my leadership in today's match. I... can't."
"Did what Maho say really change anything, Miho-san?" Mako spoke from the driver's seat. "Do you and Yusei still love each other? Are you going to keep seeing each other?"
"Hai. We certainly do and we most definitely are!" Miho replied, her smile becoming brighter. "I won't let anything or anyone come between my Yusei and me, Mako. Not my sister or my mother either!"
"Then what's the problem?"
Miho fell silent for a moment. "There... uh... I guess there isn't one?" she giggled, realizing that her driver was right.
"Exactly." Mako murmured, "There isn't one. Now, if I may, I think I'll take a quick nap. Someone please wake me when the match is about to start."
"I'll wake you, Mako" Yukari volunteered. The curly-haired girl reached under her seat and produced a small wooden box, grinning evilly.
Miho's eyes widened. She leaned close to her loader and softly whispered, "Is that what I think it is, Yukari?"
Her loader whispered back, "Hai! It is, Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari quietly opened the box and lifted out her bugle. "I bet it'll sound great inside our Panzer!" she giggled.
. . . . .