A/N: The fourth chapter is here! Since it can get confusing with many of the events taking place at the same time, I'll clear some of it up.
Chapter 1 starts on Day 1, ends on Day 1.
Chapter 2 starts on Day 2, ends on Day 2.
Chapter 3 starts on Day 2, ends on Day 3.
Chapter 4 starts on Day 3.
-4-
In Feindesland
The midnight air hung heavy with anxiety above the base. As noisy as a tank base should be, it was absolutely silent. No engines were on. No one spoke. No one moved. All the girls were gathered in a circle, giving much needed space to the individuals in the center.
One girl in the center began to sob as medics lifted a mangled body of a girl onto a stretcher. The injured girl was missing her right leg just above the knee. She was unresponsive and unconscious but she was still breathing with very short breaths.
As she was wheeled to a waiting helicopter, the attention rested on the two remaining girls in the circle.
Nonna and Katyusha.
Katyusha was unconscious but was in much better shape than the girl who was just wheeled away. The Pravda team captain was bleeding from multiple wounds but was intact overall. Nonna was next to her, gently moving the blonde's bangs away from her eyes. Katyusha's eyes were closed and her breathing kept a rhythmic beat as did her heart.
The medics came over and lifted her onto the stretcher and took her to the helicopter. On the way, Katyusha opened her eyes.
"Nonna," she said.
"Yes, Katyusha?" Nonna responded.
"Bring...Bring me victory."
The doors closed and the helicopter left the area.
Silence fell over the base once more. Nonna clenched her fist as she thought of the events that had transpired.
Katyusha had ordered every tank to charge over the hills towards Kuromorimine's postition. During the chaos, Katyusha's T-34/85 was hit in the turret ring. The shell pierced through the tank's armor and sent shrapnel flying around the compartment as well as taking off the gunner's leg. The leg which is still inside the tank...somewhere.
How could Kuromorimine do this?
Nonna clenched her fists even tighter.
I know they are competitive and that they want to eliminate the competition by any means necessary...but to go as far as willing to permanently remove them is a whole new level of savagery.
There was a whine of an engine coming from an IS-1 entering the base. It was towing the knocked out KV-2. The IS-1 pulled the other heavy tank in for a couple more feet before its engine quit and started smoking.
"Well...we're back," the IS-1 commander said.
"What should we do with this?" the KV-2 commander asked.
"Repair it."
The crowd of girls looked behind them to see Nonna walking towards the tanks.
"Repair it," she repeated.
"It will take a while if we repair it-" the IS-1 commander began.
"Then take that while," Nonna interrupted. "It is Katyusha's favorite tank. Repair it and have it operational by sundown."
"But that's-"
Nonna ignored her and addressed everyone else.
"I am now in command. I want everyone on this base to get ready to move out in five minutes. Our mission is to flush those Kuromorimine girls out of those hills. Understood?"
"Yes, ma'am," everyone shouted in confirmation.
The crowd began to disperse and Nonna picked the four tank commanders that were directly in front of her.
"You four. You won't be using your T-34s. Come with me," Nonna ordered.
Pravda started to move out with Nonna in front with the IS-2, followed by a handful of T-34/85s, and plenty of T-34/76s. They weren't alone however.
Not far from Pravda's base, there was a tree that was watching them. There was black haired girl among the leaves, watching Pravda through binoculars. Carefully, she skillfully walked across the branch on all fours until she was on the other side of the tree trunk. She leapt off and rolled as landed on the ground with grace. She then ran towards three awaiting Hellcats. The girl's tank destroyer had the silhouette of a dark gray cat carrying a rose as its emblem. The next one had a white snowflake while the last one had a yin-yang.
"Pravda's leaving. Maybe we should tell Ruby," the black haired girl remarked.
"Or Kay," the blonde commander of the M18 with the yin-yang commented.
"We wouldn't have to tell anyone if we didn't decide to spy on Pravda," announced the icy haired commander of the snowflake Hellcat. "Within one mile of their base!"
"You're always so strict about rules," the blonde said. "We can't hurt anyone accidentally. The weapons are unloaded."
The other commander just made a sound of annoyance and disapproval.
"We are going to follow them," the raven haired girl said as she jumped into the turret of her Hellcat.
"Alright!" the blonde said as she planted her fist into the palm of her hand.
"Ugh. We should leave the stalking to the Night Witches," the albino commander groaned, referring to the Saunders platoon who exceled at stalking their prey and night battles.
It was still early in the morning. A lone Panther G belonging to Kuromorimine sat on top of a hill, using some foliage for concealment. Their job was to act as the early warning system for the rest of the armored forces in the hills. The gunner climbed out of the tank as quietly as she could so she wouldn't disturb anyone. After making her way to a small gathering of trees and bushes, the gunner pulled down her skirt and underwear, then knelt down.
After she finished her business, she pulled her bottom back up and walked back to the Panther. She had just climbed onto the engine deck of her tank and after she had straightened up, there, no more than fifty feet away, was the barrel of Pravda's IS-2. She blinked before reality caught up with her.
"What the-?!"
The IS-2 fired and destroyed the Panther. The gunner was blown off the tank. The IS-2 returned its gun to the forward position and left the white-flagged Panther to burn.
The rest of the Kuromorimine forces jumped out of their sleeping bags at the sound of the IS-2's gun going off.
"What was that?" someone asked.
"Misfire?"
They were soon given the answer when a horde of Kuromorimine's T-34/76s crested a hill in the distance.
"Get in your tanks!" Anzu shouted.
The silent hills broke out into a clamor of orders and engines coming to life.
"Go, go, go!"
"Get the engine started!"
"Load AP!"
The first T-34 came over the hill and started firing. Geshiko was running towards her tank. Her loader was farther ahead and tripped.
"Come on, let's go!" Geshiko said as she pulled her loader to her feet.
The T-34 fired and it bounced off the gun mantlet of the Panther. The Panther returned fire but missed. Geshiko and her loader finally made it to the tank.
"Get up there!" Geshiko pushed the loader onto the engine deck. The loader successfully made it up and crawled through the rear hatch in the turret. Geshiko was about to climb up herself when the T-34's bow machinegun came to life. The stream of tracers were headed right for her! She dove fore cover behind the tank and proceeded to climb onto the back of the tank.
"What the hell do they think they're doing?!" was all she could say before flinching when her tank became the center of attention of all the enemy tanks within a line of sight. Not bothering to climb into the tank, she took cover behind the turret and shouted through the rear hatch.
"Back it up!"
The driver threw the stick into reverse and slammed her foot onto the pedal.
"How could they do something like this?" the radio operator whimpered. "We didn't report that we were combat ready."
"It's just like that little brat to put others in danger," Geshiko said as she closed the rear hatch behind her. She was referring to last season when Pravda tried to level a building with Ooarai still inside it.
Erika held her jacket over her head as she made her way towards the dorms. It was raining and most of the tanks were deserted as the crews went for cover. There was no telling when the rain would stop so the vice-captain decided that it would be a good time for a quick nap. She made her way to her room and just as she put her head on the pillow, there was a furious knocking on her door.
With an annoyed grunt, she swung open her door. The girl that had knocked on her door was already halfway down the hallway, knocking on all the other doors.
"Would you stop this immature act you first-year!" Erika shouted.
The doors of the other rooms opened as their occupants looked up and down the hall to figure out what is going on.
"Commander Nishizumi told me too," the girl said.
At that moment, Maho spoke over the intercom.
"We have an emergency situation. Pravda has begun their attack on the hills again, so everyone get to your vehicles immediately!"
The formerly empty hallway instantly became crowded as all the girls rushed to their respected vehicle. Erika joined the fray, but instead of heading to Tiger 131, she went to Maho in the briefing room first.
"What is our plan of attack?" Erika asked.
"Get in, then bug out," Maho said as she brushed past Erika and out into the rain.
"That's not a plan!" Erika said as she followed.
"It's what we're going to do."
"But we can't just rush in there! If we go in blind-"
"Shut up and listen!" Maho whipped around when they reached Tiger 212. "Why did we take the hills?"
"To give Pravda less breathing room," answered Erika.
"Correct. At this moment we don't have the numbers to keep defending every strategic spot. We are spread too goddamn thin. We will retreat, consolidate our forces, and set up an ambush elsewhere. Am I clear vice-captain?"
"Yes."
"Get to your tank," was all Maho said before climbing into the Tiger.
Erika did as she was told.
The rest of her crew were already in their positions. Saya held an ice pack to her head. She apparently still had a headache from the encounter with the KV-2. Eko, the radio operator, was tuning her radio to Maho's frequency. Chikari, the loader, was slipping on a pair of gloves and grabbed a shell from the rack. The driver, Maya, toggled the ignition and made the engine rumble to life.
"Get ready," Maho said.
Ahead of the advancing Kuromorimine reinforcements were the hills. Even through the downpour, the tankers could see a fiery orange glow coming from the other side of the hill as well as individual columns of black smoke.
Maho went over the hill and immediately started firing. The two Tiger IIs and Panthers did the same. Erika looked out of the viewports of Tiger 131's cupola. The hill shrunk as the Tiger climbed and when she was able to look over the hill, all she saw was absolute chaos.
Muzzle flashes dominated the battlefield as glowing tracers flew all around. Tanks burst into flames and the familiar clink of the white flags popped up. Most of Kuromorimine were slowly backing up and only stopped to fire. Pravda swarmed over the opposite ridge in an endless stream. The more aggressive commanders on Maho's team ordered their drivers to charge in and meet the enemy. Erika was one such commander.
"Get in there!" she ordered Maya.
Maya shifted gears and planted her foot on the pedal. Saya already shot and Chikari was loading in another round. A T-34 was approaching rapidly. Saya turned the turret and knocked it out. She barely had to move the gun before acquiring another and taking it out as well.
Maho was having similar results. Just like Erika, she was at the front. Luckily, mud streaked the Tiger 1 and covered up most of the identification markings so she wouldn't be the center of attention of every Pravda tank.
"Commander, behind you!" Maho heard one of the Tiger II commanders yell over the radio. Maho looked behind her and saw a T-34 coming up on her rear. The Tiger II turned its turret and fired. The white flag popped up.
"Thank y-. Watch out!" Maho shouted to the Tiger II.
The Tiger II commander turned her attention in front of her. A T-34 was barreling down a slope right towards the Tiger II. The heavy tried to turn its turret to engage it, but before it could, the medium used the front sloped armor of the Tiger and lodged itself on the Tiger. The Tiger II could not move its turret with a twenty-six ton tank sitting against it.
"What the hell are they doing?!" Erika exclaimed as she witnessed more T-34s ram their opponents. Some succeeded in ramping of the sloped front armor while others did not. One Panther traversed just as the T-34 made it onto the front armor and flipped it over. The Panther fired a shell into the belly of the Pravda tank in anger.
"Fall back!" Maho ordered. "Fall back immediately!"
Maho's driver began to back up but a T-34 stopped right behind it and fired. A hole was put through the storage box on the back of the turret but it was not white-flagged yet. Another T-34 tried to ram the Tiger I head on but was taken out, its carcass rolling down the slope into Maho's tank.
Maya rammed the T-34 that was blocking Maho's retreat and pushed it into a crater that was made by the KV-2 earlier in an earlier battle. While Maya backed up, Saya shot the already stricken T-34. Erika reprimanded her for that.
"You're clear, commander!" Erika said.
The two Tiger Is turned around to retreat.
Anzu was at the very back of the pack with Kuromorimine's tank destroyers when she spotted something approaching in the distance.
"Is that…?" she asked herself. The student council president couldn't get a clear image of what was approaching. She opened her hatch and tried to look again through binoculars.
"It is! Nishizumi, this is Kadotani! There are seven T-34/85s and an IS-2 headed your way!" Anzu exclaimed.
"Maya, get us out of here now!" Erika ordered upon hearing the incoming foes.
"I'm trying! This mud isn't helping!"
A couple of Panthers put themselves between the incoming enemy and the Tigers. The Panthers halted in a line. They fired and took out two T-34s which left five mediums rushing towards them. Nonna hung back in the IS-2 and fired, taking out one of the Panthers. Four T-34s gunned their engines and rushed the Panthers. As the Panthers reloaded, they were met by a wall of fire.
The bow guns of the T-34s opened up with flame. The Panthers were engulfed by the flamethrowers much to the surprise and shock of Kuromorimine. The T-34s fired and disabled the opposing Panthers.
The remaining Tiger II fired at the IS-2 and crippled its drive shaft. Nonna turned the turret and destroyed the heavy. She looked just to catch sight of the retreating tanks cross over the hill.
Erika ordered Saya to turn the turret around and fire. The 88mm shell found its target which was the IS-2's turret ring. The commander of Tiger 131 looked on in dismay as she saw Pravda's forces rushing towards them.
"They're still coming for us!" Erika said.
"Launch smoke," Maho ordered.
All of Kuromorimine tanks that were equipped with smoke grenade launchers, or still had them, launched the canisters. A wall of white smoke covered Kuromorimine as they retreated into the storm.
Night has fallen and Tiger 131 hid in a clump of trees as its crew decided what to do. After the smokescreen, Erika and her crew were separated by the poor visibility during their retreat.
"Do you even know where we are?" Chikari asked.
Erika was looking at the map with a flashlight and out of the viewports. She could tell that there were trees, but not a densely wooded area. There were also small farm fields on the shallow hills. There was no distinguishable landmark however.
"Eko, radio for some assistance," Erika said.
The radio operator nodded and had just touched a dial when sharp bang impacted the front of the tank.
"Go, go, go!" Erika ordered.
Maya quickly started the engine. She drove downhill and deeper into the trees. As the tank moved there were two more shells that flew past them.
"What was it?" Saya asked.
Erika took a peek out of a viewport and saw something move quickly before vanishing behind the trees. The enemy vehicle was the size of a medium tank but was as fast as a light tank. That could mean only one thing.
"Hellcat. At least three of them," she said.
Her entire crew groaned at the thought of facing the tank destroyers. Erika thought about how they could possibly come out of this fight as the victor.
"Okay," she began. "Stay in the trees and at the bottom of this ditch. Chikari, load high-explosive."
There was a metallic 'thunk' of the breach, signifying a fresh shell was loaded.
Hellcats depended on their speed and maneuverability to survive. As long as Tiger 131 stayed in an area that negated the Hellcats' strengths, it was possible for them to win this fight.
The Tiger slowly crept along, weaving between the trees to minimize any sign of its presence.
"Stop," Erika whispered. Why she whispered was anyone's guess.
Looking through the viewports again, she looked around the tank. As she looked, the smallest bit of moonlight had shown through the trees and landed on a yellow lightning bolt. Erika tapped Saya on the shoulder and motioned that she wanted the turret to turn right. Saya slowly turned the turret and stopped as she saw the bolt. She pulled the trigger and it instantly went up in flames.
First Hellcat down.
Immediately, two glowing tracers sliced through the trees towards them. Maya reversed behind the stricken Hellcat. When one of the other tank destroyers fired again, it hit the wreck. Erika saw a flash further in the trees. It was followed by dirt kicking up next to the Tiger.
"Saya-!"
"I got 'im!"
The gun was already pointed in the Hellcat's general direction. Saya adjusted her aim and fired. A fireball quickly followed.
"Where's the last one?" Saya challenged.
Maya was still reversing when a tree fell behind them. The last Hellcat had circled behind them!
"Forward! Go forward!" Erika ordered.
Maya shifted gears and gunned the engine. The Hellcat fired only to have its shell slam into the ground. Shrapnel from the shell peppered the rear of the Tiger and damaged the exhaust covers. Saya turned the turret around and fired. The high-explosive shell shattered the trunk of a tree. The tree fell on the Hellcat.
"One more, Chi!" Saya told the loader.
Chikari punched another round into the breach and Saya fired again. The shell found its mark.
Third and final Hellcat destroyed.
The Tiger crew breathed a sigh of relief as they followed the ditch way from the battleground.
"Stop here," Erika ordered.
The weary Tiger creaked to a stop among a patch of bushes and shrubs.
"What's our fuel like?"
"It's almost empty," Maya responded.
"Eko, can you call for assistance?" Erika asked.
The quiet girl turned the dials on the radio. After a couple of attempts, she looked at Erika and shook her head. The radio was shot.
"Okay. Let's refuel and rest here for the night," Erika said as she began to climb out of the commander's hatch.
"Isn't it dangerous to sleep outside?" Saya asked. "We can't tell the marshals where we are."
"We won't be sleeping outside. We'll be in the tank," Erika declared.
"Wait. Are you serious?!" Maya exclaimed. "We spend all day inside a metal box and you expect us to sleep in it?"
Erika ignored her and was already out of the tank.
"You've got to be kidding me," Maya said.
"Be thankful you're not in a Panzer II," Saya said as she climbed out.
When they were all outside, Maya filled the fuel tank with the only three remaining gas cans they had. Erika and Chikari were going around gathering branches and brush. They weaved and tied the plants onto the Tiger to allow it to blend easier in its immediate surroundings. Saya and Eko were gathering blankets and brought them into the tank.
The moon was high in the sky by the time they were finished preparing for the night. They were all obviously uncomfortable and it would not take much to set one of them off. Erika was just contemplating about the situation they were in and a song came to mind. It was not one that she particularly liked but it just fit their position well. She softly started to hum the tune. Then the humming became words.
Wir marschiert in Feindesland,
Und singt ein Teufelslied.
Ein Schütze steht am Wolgastrand,
Und leise summt er mit.
The rest of her crew looked at their commander.
Wir pfeifen auf Unten und Oben,
Und uns kann die ganze Welt
Verfluchen oder auch loben,
Grad wie es ihnen gefällt.
Maya and Chikari joined in. Saya sleepily blinked and Eko curled up in her blanket.
Wo wir sind da geht's immer vorwärts,
Und der Teufel der lacht nur dazu!
Ha, ha, ha, ha, ha!
Wir kämpfen für Schwarzer Wald,
Wir kämpfen für Endsieg,
Unser Feinde kommt nie mehr zur Ruh'.
The sun was already above the horizon when Eko woke up. She yawned and tried to stretch but her hands hit the metal ceiling of the tank. Silently, she rubbed her hands in the brief moments of pain. Then her ears pricked. There was something moving outside. She leaned forward and looked through the hull machine gun's sights. Thrown into full alert, she turned around and tapped Maya on the shoulder.
"What?" the driver asked. "What is it Eko?"
Eko excitedly pointing towards the front of the tank. Maya looked out the driver's viewport. Once she saw what was out there, she pounded on Saya's boot. Still half asleep, Saya accidently kicked the driver in the face.
"Wake up!" Maya shouted and shit hit the gunner's leg.
"What?!" Saya demanded. Her shout woke up Erika and Chikari.
"We got tanks!" Maya said.
"Friendlies?" Erika asked as she opened the commander's hatch.
"No. Shermans."
Erika poked her head out of the cupola. Sure enough, there were four Sherman tanks traveling left to right on the road that was about 800 yards away. The Tiger roared to life as plumes of smoke came out of the exhausts.
"Gun's loaded," Chikari reported, shaking in anticipation.
Erika looked at the Shermans through her binoculars.
"Target the Firefly, the last tank," Erika ordered.
The turret moved as Saya found her target.
"Fire!"
A/N: And end on Day 4. I apologize if Katyusha is your favorite character. I, frankly, do not like her that much.
I did use SS Marshiert in Feindesland with some lyrics changed.
"We marched into enemy territory" instead of "SS marches into enemy territory"
"We fight for Black Forest" instead of "We fight for Germany"
"We fight for victory" instead of "We fight for Hitler"
"Our enemies will never get to rest" instead of "The red one never gets to rest"
Anyway! I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please comment. Have nice day and I hope to see you guys in the next chapter!