Disclaimer - I own nothing but the plot. But even that was influence by SCE2AUX's story Shinjuwan.
I am not Japanese so I apologise for what is most likely very bad use of honourifics and titles.
"What are your orders commander?" came the composed voice of Maho Nishizumi, despite being under heavy fire from the enemy, she remained calm.
For Miho Nishizumi, commander of the combined Ooarai/Kuromorimine team, things weren't going well. The battle had started off well, with her capturing the high ground and moving her biggest guns, the 88mm's, to the top of the hill to provide fire support. She had then used her smaller, faster tanks to counter the St Gloriana Crusaders and Saunders Stuarts that were racing around, trying to hamper the forward progress of her medium tanks, lead by her Panzer IV.H. It had been going well, with many of the light tanks falling to their guns, but then something unexpected had happened. One of the King Tigers on the hill had been taken out by a long range shot, followed by the other Tiger. Miho had been trying to find out what could have happened, when the tree line ahead of her seemed to start moving. It was only when she saw the flash of a gun that she realised it was a tank. Her friend and loader Yukari Akiyama had quickly recognised the tank and started fangirling out over seeing an A39 Tortoise in use.
From there things had quickly gone down hill, leading to her current situation. She had been forced to retreat to the top of the hill and hunker down. All she had left were the Panzer IV.H, the Hetzer of turtle team, the Stug III of Hippo team,the Porsche Tiger of Leopon Team, the Tiger 1 of her sister, and the King Tiger commanded by Erika Itsumi.
Facing off against her was the Churchill of Darjeeling, the last Crusader of Rosehip, the M4A2 Sherman of Kay from Saunders, the M4A2 (76) W of Alisa, and the Sherman Firefly of Naomi.
However, despite however the advantage in both firepower and armour, Miho couldn't risk moving, because the 32pdr of the Tortoise was still operational, despite it's tracks having been blown of by a few well placed 88mm rounds.
#
It had only been three months since the battle against the All-Star University Team which saved their school, but a lot had changed. After the battle, the Ooarai team had thought that they finally had a chance to relax. But the world seems to like chaos.
Only a week after the match reports had come in that there was a massive build up of military forces in China, and they seemed to be mobilising for war.
In response the Senshado Foundation had ordered that a supply of live ammunition be provided to all Senshado tanks amid fears of a Chinese invasion. As such, each tanks was carrying 20 armour piercing rounds and 15 high explosive armour piercing. It was unlikely that they would be able to fight off modern main battle tanks by themselves, but maybe they could delay them. A special system had also been installed on each tank that disabled the Senshado restrictions, and the white-flag scoring system.
Amid growing tensions, the Nishizumi sisters had decided that in an attempt to help people relax, an exhibtion match would be organised. It was decided that the teams of Ooarai and Kuromorimine would face off against Saunders and St Gloriana.
#
So this is how she found herself, under heavy fire and unable to move location.
During her inflection she heard her gunner and friend, Hana Isuzu, chuckle quietly, "Once again, St Gloriana has the upper hand over us. They are the only team we haven't beaten once."
Miho smiled at that realisation, what did it say about Darjeeling that she could consistently beat Miho Nishizumi. Miho understood though that before now Darjeeling had been commanding on of the teams with the least firepower, with their biggest gun being the 75mm of the Churchill.
Before she could think any further another 32pdr shell landed nearby, rocking the tank violently and throwing up a cloud of dirt.
"Miho, orders," repeated Maho.
"Oh, yeah, ummm," Miho couldn't think of any way out, any movement would put them firmly in the sights of the 32pdr of the Tortoise, or the 17pdr of the Firefly.
Before she had a chance to respond however, there was a great clap of thunder, and wind began swirl around them.
"What's going on?" asked Saori Takebe, voice wavering.
Miho looked out of the tank, where before there had been bright, sunny blue skies, now there was dark, grey clouds, with heavy gale force winds. There were slight flashes of green within the clouds, before a swirling green vortex appeared, growing larger and larger.
As the vortex engulfed the hill, all the equipment shorted out, and they were plunged into darkness.
#
#
#
"Mi..."
"...umi...no"
"...porin"
Sowly the world came back to her, the voices of her friends breaking through the fog in her mind. Sitting up she saw the relieved looks on the faces of her friends.
"Miho-san, are you ok?" asked Hana
"Yes, I'm fine. What happened?"
"Some sort of storm, other than that we don't know."
"What about the other tanks?"
"I haven't been able to raise them on the radio, and we haven't had time to look outside as we've been focused on you," answered Saori.
"I can see the St Gloriana tanks, Darjeeling is standing in her cupola staring, she looks shocked," came the tired voice of Mako Reizei.
Miho decided to do the same, as she stood in her cupola, she too looked shocked. She had no idea where they were.
The hill they had been stationed on was gone, instead they found themselves on a large open plain, broken only by a few hedgerows. What caught their attention though, was the large hill slightly to the north, with a town sitting on it. What was interesting was what they could see of the architecture, it definitely wasn't Japanese.
Looking away from the town, Miho took stock of who was with her. It seemed that every tank that had been on the hill was now on this large field. The only tank not present was the A39 Tortoise. Much like her the commanders of the other tanks were standing in shock at their status. Miho looked over at Maho who to anyone else was composed as normal, but Miho could tell that she was uncomfortable. The sisters looked at each other, and despite any differences, they held a conversation with their eyes and came to a quick conclusion. They needed to have a meeting with everyone.
Looking across at Darjeeling and Kay, Miho waved her hand in a 'come here' gesture. Trusting their friend both commanders began to move all their tanks towards them.
Pulling alongside the Ooari/Kuromorimine tanks, Kay and Darjeeling disembarked from their tanks, Kay jumping down, Darjeeling alighting gracefully. Miho and Maho did the same, and the four commanders gathered in the centre of the tanks.
"Miho-san, Maho-san," Darjeeling said politely, "How do you feel?"
"We're fine Darjeeling-san," answered Miho, "How about you?"
"We're fine as well, but we are unsure as to our location."
Kay spoke up, her normally boisterous voice quite subdued, "That storm looked familiar to me, it reminds me of an American film I once watched, what was it called again? The Final Countdown, that's it."
"What does a film have to do with our current situation?" asked Maho bluntly.
"If you would give me a minute to explain, you'd find out."
"Kay, Onee-chan, please don't argue. We don't have the time for it."
"Sorry,"
"Sorry,"
"Now, Kay, what were you saying?"
"The storm reminded me of the one from the film, it was about an American carrier that encounters a storm and ends up on December 6th 1941, I don't need to tell you anything about that date. But basically, they decide to stop the attack, but end up back in their time before they can."
"And you think, that that is what happened to us? Something out of a film?"
"It would explain our change in location, and it would also explain that plane heading towards us."
At her words they looked up, flying towards them was, to them, a vintage 1940s propeller aircraft. It was obvious to all the girls what plane it was, given their interest in tanks and history.
The drone of the JU-87 Stuka grew louder as it approached, still in shock the girls just stared. But they were quick to react when it changed direction and dove towards them. A sound they all knew, but never expected to hear from the sky, a sound that terrified a generation, a sound that hailed death became audible to them. The siren of a diving Stuka scared them all into action, "Take cover," screamed Maho, her composure broken.
The girls outside their tanks began to scream, and ran to take cover, diving to the floor wherever they could. The siren grew louder, they could hear the engine droning as the Stuka closed on them. Then the siren faded away, only to be replaced by a piercing whistle. None of the girls moved, they knew what that sound meant.
The ground shook violently and dirt filled the air, the 1000lb bomb exploding close to them. Everyone's ears were ringing in the aftermath, and each of their heart's was racing. Any doubts they had had about their location were gone.
Standing up, the girls looked at where the bomb had landed. Thankfully it hadn't hit anyone, but it had landed near one of the tanks. Luckily it had landed near the Churhcill, which was one the most heavily armoured there so it wasn't damaged.
The commanders looked at each other, they were unprepared for this sort of situation, what did they do? How did they get home? What if they couldn't get home?
Maho spoke first, "The first thing we need to do is find out where, and when we are. It's obvious we are in Europe, given what just happened, but which front, and what year. To that end, I think the best thing to do would be too head to that town."
Before she could get any further though they were interrupted by loads of high school girls climbing out of their tanks and clamouring for answers. Miho grew uncomfortable at being surrounded, the noise was deafening.
"Quiet!" shouted Saori, "Let the commanders answer."
"Thank you Saori-san," said Miho, relieved at the quiet.
#
It took a while, but finally they explained to their crews what had happened to them, none doubted it, the evidence being overwhelming. As a result within the hour all tanks were ready, the crews as calm as they could be under the circumstances. Given the danger they were in, the commanders had agreed to break out the live ammunition in case they were attacked.
The tanks formed up, the Churchill in the lead and the three Tiger tanks at the other points of the compass, one to the left, one to the right, and one at the rear. They put the less well armoured tanks in the centre to protect them, this was the Panzer IV.H, the Stug III, the Hetzer, the Crusader, and the three Shermans. With the formation ready and their guns loaded, the tanks set off for the town.
As they slowly got closer to the town, they began to see signs of war, craters and shell holes filled the land, with wrecks of trucks at the sides of the roads, discarded possessions lay in the ditches. Soon they came across the wreck of a tank, a tank everyone recognised, especially the St Gloiriana students.
"A Mathilda ," said Yukari in awe, "I think I know roughly when and where we are Nishizumi-dono."
Miho nodded, "So do I Yukari-san, so do I. Saori, are the radios working yet?"
"Yes they are Miporin, I can only raise the other tanks though,"
"That's all I need, contact Rosehip-san and tell her to move up next to Darheeling-san. We need the British tanks at the front, hopefully it'll prevent anyone firing on us."
"What if we're in German territory?" asked Mako
"Then hopefully the presence of German tanks will persuade them to hold fire."
She didn't say that maybe the British would fire when they saw the tanks, but she didn't need to as the thought was on everyone's minds.
#
Closing on the town, the girls grew tense, and despite the fact that they were expecting it, they all screamed when a shell landed near them. Immediately, each tank stopped and lowered their guns to aim at the floor, showing that they meant no harm.
A voice called out from the cluster of trees ahead, "Identify yourself," the voice said in English, "You have both British and Kraut tanks, so we don't know whether to fire or not, now Identify yourself."
"What did he say Miporin," asked Saori, as she was unable to speak English.
"He asked us to identify ourselves," replied Miho.
"How do we answer?" asked Yukari
"They'll never believe the truth," said Hana
"I think having a tank crewed by high school girls should tell them that something is wrong," said Mako in an obvious tone.
"Hush Mako," Saori, "We're scared."
The cupola hatch of Darjeeling's Churchill opened and she raised herself up, hands in the air as if a prisoner, "We mean you no harm," she said in perfect English, "Our story is quite unbelievable but if you let us we'll tell you. Just please, can you tell us where we are?"
There was silence for a few minutes, they could hear a faint murmuring, but soon the voice replied, "You're in France miss, the town of Cassel, about 15 miles south of Dunkirk."
"Did he say Dunkirk?" Yukari asked fearfully.
There was no reply as Darjeeling asked another question, "And what is the date good sir?"
"The date, why do you want to know that?"
"Please sir, it's important."
"May 26th 1940. Why is that important?"
In the Stug III of Hippo team, the history club were putting things together quite quickly, "May 26th, the town of Cassel, this must be one of the holding actions the British Expeditionary Force organised to slow the German advance. And if this is Cassel then this must be Somer Force under the command of Brigadier Nigel Somerset," said Erwin in realisation.
"How do you know this stuff?" asked Caesar
"The same way you know Italian and Latin. I made sure to research everyone of Rommel's campaigns," Erwin turned to the radio, "Darjeeling-dono, ask to speak to Brigadier Somerset, tell him that we have important information regarding the German attack."
Recognising the voice, and knowing of her knowledge of WW2, Darjeeling took the advice, "Please, let us speak with Brigadier Somerset, we have information regarding the German advance."
"Sure you do, and I'm the king of England," the voice was understandably skeptical, despite the fact that they obviously knew who was in charge despite not knowing where they were five minutes previous.
"Is there any way we can prove it?" asked Darjeeling.
Any further conversation was interrupted by the roar of an engine, a bren gun carrier roared around from behind the trees and pulled to a stop in front of the tanks. In the carrier stood a tall, roughly 50 year old man with a pipe hanging from his mouth. His uniform was crisp, and the rank denoted was that of Brigadier.
"What's going on here then?" he asked, his voice quiet yet commanding
A British soldier emerged from the trees, rifle held ready, "I don't know sir, these tanks just appeared coming down the road, we fired a warning shot and they stopped."
"Why did you fire a warning shot? They could have been Germans and you could have given your position away."
"I thought that too sir, but one of the tanks is definitely British, but I don't recognise the insignia."
"Did it not occur to you that it could be a captured tank?"
The soldier looked abashed, "No sir,"
The Brigadier dismissed the soldier and turned to Darjeeling, "Right then miss, what's going on here?"
#
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#
The explanation of who they were and where they had come from shocked the Brigadier, he desperately wanted to dismiss their claims but they kept providing evidence, the tanks spoke for themselves as although he recognised a few of them, others were of designs he had never seen before.
Then there was the mobile telephone they showed him, which also served as a camera. There was also the knowledge one of the girls had about the war and what happened so far.
In the end he had no choice but to accept their claims and listen to them. Leaving orders for the men to shoot first and ask questions later, he led the tanks up into the main square where he had set up headquarters.
He asked the commanders of each school, along with the history buff, to follow him. Gathering in the command room he finally asked some important questions about the future of the war, "So, when can we expect the German attack?"
The girl Erwin, who seemed to idolise the man responsible for the collapse of the allied front, spoke up, "Tomorrow. It will start with an armoured attack, which you will repel, but then over the next two days the Germans will subject the town to a major aerial bombardment, before finally you are forced to withdraw and retreat to Dunkirk on the 30th. Not many of you will make it, and even fewer will be evacuated home. You yourself will spend the rest of the war in a POW camp."
The stoic girl in grey, who was commanding what looked like a German tank sighed, "That's a nice, subtle way of putting it."
Erwin blushed in embarrassment, "Sorry."
Brigadier Somerset sighed, he had already know that he wasn't going to make it home. But he didn't want to sacrifice his men in vain.
"Is it worth it?" he asked quietly, "Is the sacrifice of my men worth it?"
"The sacrifice of lives is not to be taken lightly," said Miho Nishizumi, speaking up hesitantly, "But in this case it is. The delay you cause here, along with other divisions like yours, allows almost 340,000 British and French soldiers to be evacuated. This gives Britain a fighting chance to defeat the Nazis."
"Understood," the Brigadier sighs, "Alright then, the knowledge you girls have, along with your tanks, is more important than anything at the moment. Are you willing to help us?"
This was a question that each of the girls had been pondering since they had arrived, to help the British would be to help those fighting against Japan, their own country. To many this would be seen as treason, and this was a thought that many of them had tried to forget about. But the Brigadier's question brought it to the front of their minds. Would they commit treason against their country. In the end though, it boiled down to two factors, did they want to live under Tojo's regime, and did they want the Nazis to win. Despite any differences the girls had they all agreed that regardless of committing treason, none of them could honestly help the Nazis.
As one, Maho, Miho, Kay, Darjeeling, and Erwin turned to Brigadier and said one word that would change the future, "Yes."