Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament!

Chapter 22: Rising Action

Tank Garages, Ōarai Carrier

"So Ms. Katyusha was like 'If you fail your duty, fork over 50 rubles!'"

The small gathering of girls laughed at the impression. Mona recomposed herself from the little show as she clutched onto the issued PPSh.

Alina laughed for a moment, then caught herself and looked around cautiously. "Shh! Quiet! What if Klara hears you!?"

"Speaking of which," Aisha asked, "Where is Klara?"

"I haven't seen her..." Mona said.

"Actually, has any of you seen Nina either?" Alina thought.

"Maybe being grilled by Klara?" Aisha said. "She has a tendency of being caught like that."

"Still," Anna said, "it's not like Klara to be absent for so l-"

She paused mid-sentence.

"What?"

"Shh!" Anna said as she focused hard on the horizon. The girls followed her gaze. They stared out into the tank field, active in the day but now silent like a hibernating bear. The darkness bled in as the lights on at the tank garage kept them at bay.

"I don't see anything."

But Anna kept staring off. "There's something moving out there…"

The girls looked back again, still trying to see what Anna was seeing.

"Call the others," Anna gesture to Mona.

Mona looked at Anna funnily, but she flipped her phone to the contacts and got to the numbers. The number was reserved for emergencies only, with the few going straight to Captain Kay, Anchovy, and Ms. Katyusha herself. She hesitated on pressing the call.

A startling crack blasted in the air. Everyone flinched. The vicious sound rattled through the air. There was no order, no pattern, it all came in one continuous pattern straight towards the girls.

The first few whistles came in, cracking onto the garage walls, sending bits of dust and various materials into the air on impact. Glass shattered as windows and lightings got caught in the cross-fire. Self-preservation kicked in and the girls fell flat onto the concrete. "Get down!" Mona cried as she flung herself down under this new terror. The cracks came in at a speed they could feel the ripple in the air.

"Gaah!" Aisha's voice cried. Mona looked and saw Aisha clutching onto her right arm, rolling about with her eyes clenched shut in pain. Alina tended to her as the situation unfolded.

Mona was down on the ground, her friend was hurt, and above them felt like a blanket of death, the red tracers outlining its boundaries. She looked to the sides of the garage and saw the other Pravda students on duty rushing into the scene. A few were hit on the way, and they fell down gripping on their impact points. Some of the girls, designated medics with white bands with red cross on them, started to drag away the wounded students away from the field of fire.

Mona reached for her phone, it was absent, missing from her possession. She scanned the ground, feeling the darkness seep with the only lights now the tracers dancing above them like a night show.

A dim light beamed up in on the ground, one with a hue familiar in the digital age. Cell phone! Mona instinctively rolled on the ground towards it and picked it up. She then crawled towards the concrete roadblocks set up by that British girl a few days ago. Suddenly, those blocks felt very important to her survival. The other girls started to stack behind the piece, hugging it close as the only wall between them and the bullets that were raining on them.

Safe, crouching behind their man-made cover, she peeked over the top to see the people who are causing this mess. A few proactive students were already raising their weapons over the concrete and firing back. Out there in the blank darkness, lights blinked in dancing motion like a Christmas decoration. The lights covered the entire landscape as the rounds whistled by. Aside from the zips of the round, the blasts of the firing congested the air. The rhythms of each weapon could be made out. An eccentric BZ-ZT-ZT-ZT-ZT sounded from a submachine gun, and a stunning DA-TA-TA-TA-TA sounded from a machine gun. Accompanying these repetitive noises were the loud BANG of a rifle round that sounded outside the standard patterns. A round cracked by in front of Mona on the concrete, the impact of the dummy round sent dust and particle upwards to her face, forcing her back down.

Mona opened her phone, its light reflecting the blue background. She fumbled around the touch pads, small for her trembling hands. She impatiently saw the icons flick onto contacts. Mona picked a number, any one. She didn't pay attention to the names, it didn't matter now.

The return fire intensified as the Pravda girls got together. Their fire made up a good amount of volume, though its effect was unclear. One of the Pravda girls readied her submachine gun, brought it up to aim above the concrete block, then Mona saw a tracer round plant right into her belly. The girl fell back as though she was sucker-punched, the submachine gun clattering on the ground. She cried out, gripping on her abdomen as a medic came and dragged her away.

The concrete block took the brunt of the rounds, each round mercilessly cracking onto the material. The phone rang a few times. C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon, C'mon! Mona pleaded.

The instance the phone clicked with a connection, Mona shouted, "HELP US!"

Apartments, Ōarai Carrier

"Ow!" Kay instinctively took the phone away from her ear in response.

"Mm? What's up?" Naomi looked up from her dimly lit desk. Alisa also stirred from her silver-coat laptop on her bed.

Kay gave them a "shush" gesture and put her ear back on the phone. "What's going on?" She asked with a serious tone.

The chatter from the phone could be heard outside the phone's ear shot, and it wasn't on speakers. "SOMEONE OUT THERE IS SHOOTING US!"

Kay took a moment and digested the comment. She got up from her bed, phone still on her ear as the girl on the other end continued shouting and pleading for help. Kay walked towards the apartment window and opened it up.

In the distance, the rattling noise of machine guns and rifle fire sounded off in the neighborhood. Each BANG and DRT-T-T-T blasting around the air proudly and showing the world of their presence. Naomi and Alisa got up on this message.

"Suit up!" Kay shouted in the room. "Codeword: Cobra!"

"Roger that, Kay!" Alisa and Naomi shot from the bed and headed to the closet, changing out of their pajamas into their tanker uniforms along with a hard steel M1 helmet, rather than the softer tank helmet. Once done, they took their weapons in their closet, Kay and Alisa a M1A1 Thompson for each while Naomi received her M1903A4 Springfield rifle.

Kay took up her Thompson, clacked the bolt back into its open position, ready for a magazine to be inserted. "Alisa, Wake everyone up on third floor! Naomi, the second! I'll get the first!"

"Roger that, Kay!" Alisa said as she cocked her Thompson into the same state that Kay has.

"Got it, Kay," Naomi said as she slung her M1903A4 rifle.

"Let's go!" Kay opened the door and the girls spread about. On their floor, the second, Naomi started pummeling on the doors, loudly, then screaming the code word "Cobra" to the rest of the Saunders student. Alisa and Kay sprinted off to the stairs and went their own directions. Alisa headed to the third, which housed the students of Anzio, Chi-Ha-Tan, and Continuation.

Downstairs housed St. Gloriana and Pravda, and Kay rushed through that with her weapon in hand, loudly banging on each door. "Cobra! Cobra, people! Cobra!"

She ran down the hall banging each door, crying out the codename as loud as possible on each door. As she went on, the doors she passed by opened up. Some were girls alert and ready, some were clueless and wondering what the heck was going on while still in their sleep wear.

Kay reached a door and it opened right as she was about to pound on it. Darjeeling stood in front of her with a cup of tea.

"Some refreshment for your run?" Darjeeling asked the energetic, but breathless Kay. Kay stared at the cup for a second before taking it and slurping it down without a second thought.

She put it back on Darjeeling's plate. "Someone's attacking the school, get ready."

"Will do," Darjeeling said calmly as she closed her room door.

Everyone was stirring about, sending the message. Kay could hear the commotion upstairs as well. Kay ran back towards the apartment lobby area when she came across a midget. Oh, wait...

"Kay! How dare you wake me up!" Katyusha was still hastily putting on her tanker uniform, with her black helmet on top. Kay looked at Katyusha and wondered if she could even hold a submachine gun, even a folded up MP40.

"Sorry, Katyusha! But you do know what's going on, right?!"

"Yes! But you'd figure my team would call ME first!" Katyusha shouted among the commotion. She sounded slightly heartbroken.

"We'll settle that later, there are more important tasks at hand! Group up your team in the lobby!"

"Right!" Katyusha scampered off in the crowd. Despite her size, she made a good leader when her team actually listened to her.

The entire building was alive as the students were rudely awakened by the messengers. Stomps could be heard as the feet battered about on each floor. There were screaming as the girls organized and bumped around each other in the stairs. Kay emerged from the hall into the lobby to see a large gathering of students, each grouped up according to their school with their uniforms.

If anyone else saw this scene, they'd think it was a school mutiny. The load of girls wearing their own colors and toting around weapons of war was a sight to behold. Even Kay found herself baffled to find herself leading a fire team. It was one thing to command over platoons of tanks, it was a completely different story for a platoon of girls.

Still, as the girls of Continuation, Pravda, and Saunders filled the lobby, their respective team captains got to work trying to organize the batch as planned. The crowd was shifting as each leader called out for their team's attention. Katyusha crying out from atop a table to get her team in order for instance.

"Alright, Saunders! Right here!" Kay boisterously shouted on a corner of the room. The large glob of Saunder students, wearing their signature olive-drab jackets and black shorts. "Rally up and-" Something caught her eyes on the hallway entrance for the first floor rooms. "ohmygod Darjeeling, what are you wearing?"

Darjeeling and her trio; no, the entire St. Gloriana students, were wearing a khaki uniform, the type one would see in a desert campaign full on with shorts and rolled up sleeves. On their head was a flat helmet that looked like an explorer's hat, with the brims shining with the metal alloy it was made out of. Darjeeling looked proud and is enjoying the uniform very much, while the rest of the students are wearing it with a sense of awkwardness as they stood out from everyone else.

"'A change is as good as a rest,'" Darjeeling said calmly, though with her eyes gleaming, as she wielded a STEN submachine gun. "It is time we fought not as tankers, but in the boots as the queens of the battlefield!"

"Yes, that is, Ms. Darjeeling," Pekoe, who seemed to begrudgingly going along with her antics. "But we're not fighting the Afrika Korps here…"

"Hmm, hmm," Darjeeling ignored the naysay, "'A danger foreseen is half-avoided.' Besides, these uniforms are quite fancy for us, aren't they? We should make this a part of our utility outfit!"

"Yeah, whatever," Kay butted through the conversation. "Get your girls in gear and get ready to move out!"

Tank Garages, Ōarai Carrier

"Oh my gosh! They're getting closer!" Lana cried a distance away as Mona reloaded her PPSh, again, after her second drum magazine jammed up on her. The large disks of ammunition were heavy and bulky, and they jammed occasionally too.

Mona peeked out the side of her cover. In the distance, she could see the flashes dancing about still in the darkness. But much closer, she could see figures running about with weapons in their arms. They looked like ghosts, fading in and out in the darkness as they moved about. She could make out their weapon, their helmet, and their faces as they stare right back towards her. The faces, dark under their helmet with only the reflection off their eyes to deal with, did not emote as a group got down to the ground and fired off their weapons. As one group did, another started moving forwards, just like in a tank battle where one tank kept an overwatch as the others moved into a better position. The closest group could not be more than 200 meters away from their position, a distance that looked way closer than it felt like.

Injuries were soaring among the stationed girls. There were 25 students at guard per time slot. Half that amount was already cut down by the fire, in pain and combat-ineffective. Some rounds hit light, others hit hard. Several girls were lucky and a round hit them, they flinched, and they were able to recompose themselves for another effort. Those were most likely the submachine gun rounds like that of the PPSh, but several of the hits sent girls straight to the ground and numbed in pain. Mona could only look back at them as crawling medics came at them and dragged them away with haste, their time here was done.

Mona poked out with her submachine gun and fired a few aimed bursts towards the other end. Despite her volume of fire, she couldn't hope to hit anything accurately from here, but it was all she had. As Mona went back into cover, the bullets became heavily attracted to her location. She waited impatiently for the fire to abate.

Mona looked towards the garage area and saw a group of girls run from the right side. There were maybe 20 girls coming. They weren't wearing Pravda uniforms, but the dark blue uniform of Ōarai.

"About time you girls got here!" Mona yelled out, eager for more reinforcements.

"Yeah, we could hear the commotion 'cross town!" Shinobu said as she steadied her MP40. "Wow, it's like you have an entire army raining on you!"

"We're not going to miss it for the world, Duck!" Noriko shouted, holding up a submachine gun. "Forwards with GUTS! Let's go!" And with that, Noriko vaulted the concrete block, with the rest of her team following forwards to the prepared positions in front.

"Wow… they're crazy…" Mona thought as they ran into the hail of gunfire. She then turned to the next set of girls, "What about you girls?!"

"W-we have to maintain public o-order!" Sodoko muttered out, though she was trembling under the whole commotion. "T-The fastest way to restore order is to f-finish this! Gah!" A round flew right above.

"Yeah? Well, get over there and lay down fire with everyone else!" Mona pointed to another part of the area.

"All the way over there?! This is insane!" Sodoko continued to grumble as she along with Nozomi and Moyoko ran off towards the direction as tracers blitzed in the air.

"W-wow, so this is what it's like to be shot at…" Nekota muttered. "It's so different than in a tank!"

The Anteater team agreed. "Right, well, we're not gonna get any kills here, spread out and start shooting!" Momoga shouted. "Best kill count buys dinner tomorrow!"

So those girls ran off to their own stations.

"I suppose we're the 'normal' ones here?" Satoko said, clutching on a MP40. Behind her were two group of girls with a machine gun each.

"Yeah, spread out. You're no good bunched up here. One machine gun on the right here and the other on the left, like we planned! Go!"

"Right! C'mon Leopon!" the girl said as the four ran off. The one remaining, whom Mona remembered as Hippo team, started setting up their machine gun here.

Saemonza held up her rifle as she stared out into the wilderness at the enemy. "Just like the Sengoku samurais with Tanegashimas!" She cried out as she fired a shot from her Kar 98k. Caesar stayed by her side with the MP40, though she was concerned on covering the other two. Erwin set up the MG34's bipod on the concrete block, with Oryou preparing a belt in the receiver. Erwin then took aim with the stock on her shoulder. With a firm pull on the lower end of the double-crescent trigger, she fired the MG34.

The incoming long stream of green tracer rounds indicated heavier resistance.

"Aw hell! That's an MG to the left!" Lavnov cried out. The DP machine gunner shifted his firing direction closer to the source of MG fire, his red tracers seemingly interlocking with the green.

The MG34's tracers raked through the ground. The 900 rounds per minute fire rate put up noticeable traces on the ground with each impact. Two troopers in the line took a few rounds to the chest, they crumbled in pain.

"Focus fire on that MG! Go!" Viktor ordered as he himself picked up his SVT-40 and tried to get a bead on the distant machine gunner. Then another series of bursts came out on the right side. Two machine gunners were firing into the darkness. Evasive maneuvers were needed!

"Spread out!" Vikor cried, "Don't let them get a bead on your muzzle flashes! Keep moving!"

The rifleman and machine gunners took the hint, and picked up moving. The source of fire on the other end intensified. The belt-fed MG34 machine guns supplemented a lot of firepower, especially over their DP machine guns that only shoot out at 550 rpm with a 47 round drum magazine. At this rate, the Ōarai girls were about to gain fire superiority.

Then new tracer fire came in, red colored from the right side of the garages.

"Incoming riflemen! Antalov! Get your squad onto the right side and flank!"

The new source of fire came in not as loud, single rounds like that of bolt-action rifles, but in a rapid tone. Not quite like a machine gun, but not like the bolt-action rifles either. The girls looked back at this new commotion to see a new cavalry arrive. The instructors were here, each owning a bold weapon in their arms as they ran forwards, swinging the wooden form to fire a round as the moved. One of them dived behind the concrete block close to Mona, who first noticed the split hair color of blonde and coffee brown.

"You!" Mona cried.

"Yes! Me, you blimey bong heads!" Emma cried out as she loaded the open bolt of her M1 Garand with a clip. The two other Americans spread out among the parts. Emma and one of the instructors, Kyline, brought up their Garands to fire. Their blasts came in cacophony with all the moving parts on the rifle. Mona went back and checked on her submachine gun, but not before Emma grabbed for Mona's attention. "Why aren't you guys occupying the primary defense lines?!"

"There aren't enough of us!" Mona yelled back. "Besides! Have you tried moving under this fire!?"

"I just did! That's no excuse!" Emma looked around at the available forces. "We need that primary line up there!" Emma pointed over the concrete block to the dirt in front, towards the ruptures that made up the newly made foxholes. "If this secondary line falls, it's all over! I need you to rally your troops and move forwards to the position!"

"Are you crazy?! Under this?!" Mona referred to the atmosphere, she could feel the little shocks of bullets whizzing around.

"Go! Take those foxhole positions!"

Mona looked at Emma incredulously, then over the concrete block towards the jaws of the enemy. The blasts were raining out all over the place. Mona then noticed some muzzle flashes pointed towards the enemy in the front where Emma pointed out. Mona wondered what sorts of die-hards would have occupied that position first and foremost.

Then she remembered the girls that yelled guts and all. Those thick-headed numb nuts...! "Graaah! C'mon girls! Take the forward positions!" Mona cried to her fellow girls as she rushed forwards.

Emma watched Mona take off, then looked at the Pravda girls at the sides as they watched as well. "Well?" Emma gestured to them "Go on then!"

The other girls took the hint and followed Mona's lead. As they moved, the Ōarai firing line looked alive, providing covering fire. Emma let loose her Garand. Klang! Klang! The semi-automatic rifle went as it fired each .30-06 rubber round.

Erwin kept the MG34 firing as Oryou pointed out that the Pravda girls were running up. The MG34 created a continuous stream 7.92 mm rounds out in bursts as Erwin tried to get an aim at the muzzle flashes in the darkness. After she kept a considerable time at one target, Oryou tapped her shoulders for new targets and Erwin responds by shifting the arc of fire.

Soon, a girl slid over to their position, the concrete ground grated under a boot and sand particles. "Hey, how're you girls doing?" Kyline came over with her wooden rifle.

"Nothing much, miss! What's your plan for tomorrow?" Erwin replied as she took aim at another target.

Kyline looked out and held up her rifle and fired towards the enemy. "Oh, not much! Just planning how to beat the Russians!"

"Yeah?!" Caesar said as she came down to reload her MP40. "Well maybe if we hold fire for a few minutes, we can talk to one!" She slid the sliding bolt on her MP40 back open, then placed a magazine of thirty-two 9 mm rounds into the submachine gun. She brought it back up with the sights set to 100 meters and fired in controlled bursts.

Kyline moved on as she inspected the other girls stacked behind the cover. There were many wounded still that has not been evacuated. A few feet away, a group of girls were huddled down with some wounded.

"C'mon... What am I doing? I'm a public morals student, not a police...!" Sodoko chanted to herself as she cuddled her Kar 98k. Moyoko and Nozomi were on the same boat. The girls managed to grab together a bunch of the injured Pravda students, but they haven't budged from their pile and cover.

Kyline was just pondering on moving over there to make them proactive before she saw a calm figure walking upright towards them.

"What are you girls doing down there?" Hawkins asked as she slowly took a knee.

Sodoko broke from her curled position and saw Hawkins, low yet still imposing. "Are you crazy?! Get to cover!"

"This is nothing but rain, Mallard Team," Hawkins said. "Got bigger problems to deal with," She pointed to the downed Pravda students, immobile and groaning. The public morals girls looked down at the gathering they've managed to drag in. "You girls did a good job getting them here, but now I've got another job for you."

"W-What?" Nozomi fearfully asked.

"I'm going to start moving the girls in by twos, but I can't do that without you three providing some cover fire." Hawkins pointed over to a neighboring cover. "Move over to that position and lay down some rifle fire. If you can shift the enemy fire, I can get these girls to safety."

"B-but what about you?" Moyoko asked.

"Don't worry about me," Hawkins said. "I'm a medic. I'm not allowed to get myself killed now."

"K-killed?!"

"Don't worry about it! The faster you three can do it, the sooner we get these girls to safety. You're public morals aren't you?! Let's pick up the morale here, let's move!" Hawkins clapped her hands together, stirring them into action.

Sodoko clapped her hands on her cheeks as she composed herself. She grabbed her rifle firmly with her hand. "Alright team, you heard her! Moyoko, Nozomi, move over there with me, now!"

"Yes Sodoko!" The two yelled as they moved.

"Don't call me that!"

Hawkins moved over to the downed Pravda students. She checked the more serious-looking ones on their injuries. Okay, not too bad... Ooh, this girl's gonna be bruised for days...A few seconds she looked over to the public morals team as they were huddled up behind their cover. Hawkins gave an okay sign with her right hand. That moment, the three girls raised up and fired their rifles. The girls took to cover as they acted on the bolt-action, and fire started to follow them. That was when Hawkins grabbed two of the Pravda girls and started to haul them across the concrete quad into the aids station.

Sodoko saw Hawkins starting her move, she fixed the bolt-action back and raised up for another shot. As she came down, she tapped for her team's attention. "Gather up any other wounded girls around here too so we can help get them out of the danger zone!"

The fighting seemed protracted, but after the first minutes, the team started to arrive. First like a stream, then as a river when the groups came in until everyone was present in some shape or form.

Saunders student made themselves at home behind the covers. The girls came in, with their blue blazoned stars on their white shield evoking a sense of optimism in the ranks of girls. "Hiya, Puma!" Kay shouted as she made her way in.

"'Least you're on time, blondie!" Emma called back.

"Right, so what's the plan now, half-blondie?" Kay asked. "Naomi! Get yourself into position with your rifle!"

"Right!" Naomi said as she ran off on her own initiative.

Emma looked about with all the new reinforcements available. "Some of you have to move up and defend the primary line! We need to spread out the troops for maximum cover and firepower!"

"Right!" Kay looked back at some of the available girls she could send out. "Hey Darjeeling! Job opportunity in the front!"

Darjeeling came up with a STEN machine gun in hand. Kay explained to her the objective. "Understood," Darjeeling said with a smile and went back.

"What's next Ms. Darjeeling?" Orange Pekoe said, also gripping onto a STEN as she crouched under cover. The other St. Gloriana girls, wielding stuff like the Lee-Enfield and BREN guns, were taking pot shots at the enemy in the distance. The whole place was getting crowded with the different school groups present that it was practically begging for some girls to take to the next position.

"We move forwards and be the wall against the enemy," Darjeeling told her. "Do you know this saying?"

"Now's not really the time!" Pekoe and Assam said in unison.

"A chain is as strong as its weakest link," Darjeeling continued regardless. "Now, let's go! Weapons up, ladies!" Darjeeling held her STEN firmly as she dashed off gallantly into battle, with the girls following her, carrying an assortment of English weaponry like the famous Lee-Enfield rifle and the BREN light machine guns.

"Oh I hope they'll be alright," Kay muttered.

"They will!" Emma said confidently with a smirk. "They've got the British spirit with them!"

"So...uh," Katyusha popped up behind Kay and the two looked at the short girl, crouching under the block with them. "What do I do?!"

As much as she wasn't one, Emma couldn't help but think Katyusha as a kid. It almost seems heartless to throw her out there. "Keep everyone's spirits up!" Emma replied.

"Ha? What's that suppose to mean?!"

"It means be dependable," Kay simply said.

"I can be dependable!" Katyusha loudly proclaimed.

"Then go!"

Tank Field, Ōarai Carrier

"Mountain!" A voice cried out in the darkness.

"Shilka!" Albert responded as he and his six cadets halted. Two silhouettes emerged in the darkness with their distinctive SVT rifle profiles, approaching the small squad.

"Who're you?" The older one of the two figures spoke.

"Corporal Albert, sir" Albert said for the team. "We were blown off course on our way in.

Nikolai, standing right by Vasiliy, watched as the pathfinders looked at the squad. They didn't question on why Albert was soaked head to toe. One of the pathfinders walked by doing a headcount, making sure all was accounted.

"And what's your plan now, corporal?" The one in front said.

"We were planning to join up our platoon attacking Ōarai right now, sir!" Albert replied.

"Not anymore you aren't," Antov said. "You're with us as support. I'm Antov, head of the pathfinders. We'll form a third unit and hit them where they won't expect."

Albert registered the reassignment, "Yes sir!"

"Alright, we'l-"

A loud crash was heard in the darkness and everyone turned towards it. Coming from it was a rattling, dragging noise as something plowed through the dense dirt and breaking down various foliage. The noise could be heard diminishing as the vehicle came to a halt.

"Well, scratch that. Looks like we'll have an extra hand in this." Albert said as a roar sounded in the darkness.

Tank Garage, Ōarai Carrier

Mona dived into one of the foxholes in front at the left sector, along with another Pravda student, Katya.

"This place isn't big enough for the two of us!" Mona cried to them as she got up from her fall.

"Well, maybe we should've dug more before today!" Katya replied. Mona didn't say anything back as she reloaded her PPSh again with a drum and moved to her position. The foxhole was a simple hole, at least to Mona's eye, that was dug in deep enough for the two. The structure was cut into a Y-shape for each girl to take up position on the split ends to fire on their sides without getting into each other's ways. Small dirt mounds provided from the digging packed up in front and around their little ends provide decent cover against the physical force of the rounds as they dig in and dissipate energy into the earth.

Mona made herself comfortable on her left end as she peeked over in a crouched position over the foxhole brim towards front. The Russians were getting closer, she could hear their loud shouts as they closed in. She rose from her cover and fired a spray into the general direction of the voices, but they still kept coming. Katya on the right end raised a rifle and pointed at one, fired, then managed her rifle for the next round. Despite their fire, they came at them relentlessly like cyborgs.

As they fired back, it seemed like each muzzle flash from the enemy was coming closer, and closer.

Naomi found herself elevated on a small leverage on the second floor windows inside the second tank garage. The interior was dark, giving her ample background concealment as she peeked out a shot out window with her rifle. She aimed through her scope at the distant targets, tracing her vision from close to far by watching the St. Gloriana girls make it to their foxholes. A further up she could see the enemy fire come in from the darkness. With only the lighting as a reference point, she mentally gauged the distance.

250 yards... Naomi estimated as she adjusted the knobs on her 4x zoom scope for the appropriate elevation. The antiquated scope had none of the mil-dots that she was familiar with in today's marksman rifle, or even anything like in a tank's optic with the ranging marks. It was a simple cross reticule and a simple meeting point in the center for the mark.

But a few clicks on the knob, and she relaxed her rifle. She laid it atop of a concrete block for a contact point and she steadied the rifle with her right hand on the stock grip and her left grasping the stock to provide control. Naomi controlled her breathing and stopped chewing her gum for a second as the reticle hovered over a flash. She waited for the flash to appear again before she fired.

She estimated the time of travel, only a quarter of a second, was it? She lingered on this as she raised her head to clear room for the bolt movement as she managed the bolt-action. When she put her cheek back down onto the stock and her eye through the scope, the flash was no more.

Onto the next.

"Georgiy is down!" Someone cried over at the direction of 2nd platoon.

Viktor grumbled "Son of a... Put pressure on the forward group! Get in close enough the rear guard can't fire on them!"

"Aye sir!" Some of the cadets raced off again as the squad leaders pushed the riflemen on.

Viktor looked back at a gathering point in the foliage. Four medics between the two cadet platoons were in charge there. Casualties on their side was low to begin as they only encountered pistol-grade ammunition at a long-distance. But the presence of machine guns and rifles are starting to take its toll. Ten casualties were present on the ground, clutching their arms, legs, and ribs. With only a total of 76 men in the landed force, these casualties are an impact to their overall fighting strength.

Viktor hoped some of them would walk off their wounds and rejoin them in the front, but he knew their pain. Those rifle dummy round deliver quite a punch for their purpose. They transfer a force that feels greater than a full-on punch to the guts. However, the force is given on the small surface area of a spitz-pointed round that all the energy transfer to one spot. This often lead to severe bruising, trauma damage, and in the most severe cases even broken bones at the impact point.

Pistol rounds were the easier of the two in long-distance fighting. Their designs do not retain high-amount of energy in range. So even if a pistol round of the 9 mm hit them from more than 100 meters out, their force is splashed on like a heavy punch, but one could walk away from it, especially so if it lands on a thick layer of clothing. Individually and in distances, the round was not so bad, but up close and fired at full automatic...

"Antalov, where are you?" Viktor muttered on as he watched a medic apply an ointment on a black spot a cadet's arm, the cadet yelped as his arm was moved. Viktor checked his watch, 9:34 PM. He then checked on his rear. Where the hell are those gliders?!

Mona focused in front at the men shooting at her, then a flash appeared in front of her on the ground. Mona ducked into cover on instinct. She listened curiously to a loud fizzing sound in the background and raised up to see a cloud of smoke beginning to form from where the flash took place. Smoke bombs? Mona thought, then saw the muzzle flashes disappear between the new concealment.

The smoke filled the air, the wind spread it. Mona found herself without a target or a lead.

"I don't see anything, what about you Mona?!" Katya screamed. She seemed to poke around in the smoke with her rifle.

"No, nothing..." Mona replied. The foxholes on her sides were still firing at something, so she kept her muzzle up and ready, her fingers twitching on the trigger guard. The smoke emission stopped, but the cloud stayed. Mona couldn't see more than 30 meters in front. The smoke worked both ways, though she can't see them, the enemy fire has also stopped coming to her as well.

"Do you see them?!" Katya asked again.

"No…" Mona commented softly.

"God damn it, are they even coming from here…?"

A few tense seconds passed. A whiz of rounds flew over her, the rounds impacted on the dirt mounds around Mona and the blistering bits tossed about forced her down for a moment. That came from the left! Mona thought instantly as she turned her PPSh towards that direction.

That's when two figure appeared out of the darkness just like that on their left. Katya responded, but her rifle was too unwieldy for such an encounter. Mona brought up her PPSh up to them and pulled a trigger. A click. The chromed bolt assembly slid forward on the receiver, but a round did not chamber. Mona brought down the PPSh for a look and she missed the actions of her opposers.

The two men, clad in a brown uniform with khaki gear on them, ran up to the edge of the girl's fox holes. They brandished their weapons on their hip to the two girls, the metallic PPS-43, a cruder counterpart of the PPSh-41. Except in this instance, their weapons did not falter when they pulled the trigger.

Assam heard the rattling of close by enemy fire, in the same repetition as those across the field much closer to home. She looked left and saw the two Russians on top of the fox hole, with their weapons pointed down and blasting away at the occupants. Assam brought up her Enfield, sighted the targets and fired a shot. The rearward Russian crumpled. As his fellow compatriot realized that he was down, Assam already cycled the bolt on her Enfield in one stroke and fired again. The next .303 dummy slammed onto the man's back and he fell, rolling back into the foxhole.

Darjeeling took notice of Assam's attention and looked over at her targets. The foxhole they were above has fallen silent. "We have to fill the hole!" Darjeeling said, "C'mon! Let's go girls! Rosehip, you stay here!"

She jumped out of the foxhole, much to the surprise to Pekoe and Assam.

"Hey, wait a minute!" Rosehip protested, manning the large BREN light machine gun pointing forwards. "How come I got to stay back here?!"

Assam looked at Rosehip, "Because you're dependable."

Rosehip scoffed as Assam and Pekoe followed Darjeeling out into No Man's Land.

"You think Ms. Darjeeling is really getting into this?" Pekoe asked Assam.

"I'm not so sure what goes in her mind sometimes…"

The girls ran a fair distance before they reached the foxhole. They dove into the hole for cover and found the two Pravda girls in there. Pekoe kept an eye out over the foxhole with her STEN submachine gun for cover as Darjeeling and Assam checked on the girls.

They were not in good shape, both clutching onto their many wound marks on their body. The impacts of each 7.62 mm Tokarev rounds could be seen on their clothes and skin, with the depressions still present on their marks. The trio knew this was a serious concern. "Medic!" Assam cried out into the wilderness.

Rounds started to come from their left. Pekoe kept her eye at the direction and fired her STEN sparingly. The flashes came down low, and Pekoe looked closely. The fire came from a neighboring foxhole that made up part of their defense lines. Pekoe thought it was a case of friendly fire, but as the figure ducked back into cover, Pekoe could make out the bowl-shaped helmet top on the Russians.

"Ms. Darjeeling!" Pekoe shouted back down. "We got enemies on our left flank!"

Darjeeling was about to answer as they saw someone scuttered over the brim from the lower end of the Y-shape into the foxhole. The Glorianas quickly pointed their weapons at them as they confirmed their identity.

"H-hi!" A petite girl with her blonde hair in pigtails said nervously, looking up at the arrangement of muzzles. It was Aki from Continuation. She was followed by a redhead with the same hairstyle, with Mikko rolling into the foxhole. Another assortment of girls fell flat prone above the foxhole, all wearing the same uniform as Continuation.

"Supportive fire!" Janne cried as her crew laid a heavy spray of fire with their Suomi M31 submachine guns, the 9 mm laying a more intimidating and rapid blasts over the foxhole.

"These two girls here, they need help!" Assam pointed out to the two Pravda girls. Aki crawled over and checked them as Pekoe continued firing back at the neighboring foxhole as she and the Russian duked it out, taking cover behind their hole as they popped in and out for a burst of fire.

Pekoe looked down at the scene below as Mikko was unfolding a stretcher and placing it over behind the foxhole. Pekoe looked down and saw the downed Russian that Assam shot. He wasn't moving, so Pekoe got down and checked. His pulse was running strong still so he was stable at least, then Pekoe got an eye on his equipments on him, all the ammunition strapped on his front body, as well as some cylindrical shaped materials. Upon closer look, Pekoe read the labels as smoke grenades.

Darjeeling eyes Pekoe's find and nodded as Pekoe looked towards her. She reached down and unlatched a smoke grenade from the Russian's gear, then edged back to her area. She fired a burst from her STEN over the top, keeping the other side suppressed and down. A few bursts and she got back down and reloaded the STEN side-mounted magazine. Pekoe then looked at the grenade, it was a common design with the pin atop and the release hatch in her palm. She pulled the pin and kept the latch on as she reached up once more for an aimed burst at the foxhole.

Pekoe then released the latch and kept it for a second before throwing it. The white cylinder flung in the air between all the bullets as it landed right into the occupied foxhole. A bright flash emitted, then men shouting from within as the smoke rose, followed with coughing as three men climbed out of the congested air. Darjeeling and Pekoe together took basic aim as their submachine guns rattled the three, with one only able to point his weapon towards the girl before being knocked down by rapid rounds, five puff of dust pounced off his clothes as the rounds impacted.

Pekoe held up her submachine gun, its barrel slightly smoking as she inspected Darjeeling's and her's work.

"Okay!" The brash voice of Mikko shouted. "We're carrying this girl out! Aki, put her on the stretcher on my mark!" Mikko and Aki got into position to lift the Mona out.

"We'll cover you!" Darjeeling said as she checked her STEN ammunition. Aki and Mikko hoisted the girl up and outside the foxhole. "Alright… go!" And she and Assam and Pekoe kept a base of fire towards the other side as Aki and Mikko climbed out and grabbed the girl by her shoulders and feet respectively and dashed back.

"Here comes the stretchers! Covering fire!" Kyline shouted as she started firing her Garand down range. Hippo team also kept the fire up as they watched the girls from Continuation run all the way back under all the fire, as if even the enemy were watching their fire as well.

Kyline noted a presence of smoke rise from her right. She looked and saw Hippo team with their MG34 starting to become a hot rod.

"Stop! Stop firing!" She warned the girls. Erwin fired for a few moments before taking attention to Kyline.

"What? What?"

"The barrel! You have to cha-" Kyline pointed out and then a blistering THUD blasted off her right shoulder and she was thrown back, hitting the ground hard. She tried to get back up, but a heavy pain overwhelmed her right side. Kyline yelped, gripping onto the area for pressure on the pain as though it was bleeding.

"Lee!" Saemonza dropped her Karabiner and attended to the down instructor. Erwin and Oryou looked down at Kyline as Saemonza checked the wound, but got her message.

"Which button was it?" Erwin felt around the MG34 in the darkness as Oryou put on an asbestos glove. Erwin found the lever in the front of the receiver, pressed it down and then fumbly rolled the receiver on the right side as the barrel shroud stood in place, exposing the barrel inside. Steam, or smoke, emitted from the barrel's surface through the shroud rear, the cooling holes on the shroud, and the muzzle end. Erwin lowered the gun carefully and the barrel slid out right into Oryou's gloved hand. She then put it aside as her left hand reached for a spare barrel and chucked it in. Erwin closed the receiver shut and she was back firing nine seconds later. The green tracers came out like no worries as she fired away.

"Lee? You're okay. Not bleeding anywhere." Saemonza commented over the instructor, who calmed down from the sensation.

"Oh, I'm more worried about what happened under the skin…" Kyline weakly said as she recovered, getting up. Her arm felt limp and unresponsive due to an overriding pain, but she felt she could make an effort around her elbows.

"If you can't use it, can I take your Garand?" Saemonza asked innocently and eagerly. Kyline looked at her with a funny look as she evaluated her physical well being.

"Yeah, whatever. You know how to use it?"

Saemonza took up Lee's Garand and held the bolt back a bit, checking the ammo, then she forced the bolt closed again. Kyline, somewhat satisfied, held up a few 8-round clips for the Garand in her left palm for Saemonza. Saemonza confidently took the clips and returned to Hippo's side, continuing to support their fire.

A large figure soon approached on Kyline's left. "You twink, how'd you manage to get shot?" Hawkins said as she picked her up in a fireman's carry.

"Don't speak so soon, you'll get one to the eye," Kyline quickly joked as she was rushed to the aids station.

The two instructors ran by as the girls kept on the fire. Emma kept her sight picture clear with her Garand as she fired some shots. The shots went POW POW as .30-06 dummy round cracked out methodically. After a few rounds, a CLINK then a PINGsounded as the empty metal clip of the Garand ejected out automatically and made a trademark noise as it fell onto the concrete.

Emma ducked down as she pulled a clip out for a reload. She looked up at her nearby companions. Kay and Alisa nearby fired their Thompson at any moving targets she could see. The .45 ACP rounds made a very noticeable tracer arc as they traveled at sub-sonic rates. Kay kept her Thompson in automatic for steady bursts while Alisa had her Thompson set on semi-auto as her trench-sweeper fired its pistol ammunition in a extremely conserved mode.

Though their accuracy would be unmeasured from here, the other Saunder girl has made her mark. A loud shot echoed again as the window of the garage lit up briefly from the muzzle flash. Naomi was on a different level from them all, literally, as her skills as a marksman delivered. As the time passed, each machine gun location on the Russian's end were disappearing one by one as they were targeted specifically by the Firefly gunner with a Springfield rifle.

Emma got back up with her rifle steadied. The Ōarai's fire concentration in the primary lines focused on the left side as the Russians were trying to make a flank maneuver, so Emma brought her rifle there and took aim.

Ōarai Girls High School, Ōarai Carrier

Miho ran up to the school entrance.

"S-slow down, Miporin!" Saori breathlessly cried out as Hana and her were left to the dust behind Miho.

Miho couldn't as she felt something spur inside her. The conflict happening now was something she couldn't ignore. There were girls out there helpless, it would be almost criminal to leave them to their own, even if people like Emma was present to manage it.

She turned on the side as she made her way through the property. From here, Miho could hear the crack of the rounds flying in the air. The lights were all out in the school except in the tank area and the darkness consumed her. Her navigation was only based on memory of the area, tracking her distance by the foot step. So as she rumbled around outside the school, she felt herself scrape aside the branches of hedges along the path as she neared the garage location.

Miho turned a corner and KLUNK, she crashed into an unfamiliar object. "Gah!" Two voices cried on impact, Miho caught on quick and glanced in the darkness. The being in the darkness, only outlined by the dim light here, moved and Miho could see two reflective white pools in the air.

Eyes. The eyes floated above Miho as the man regained composure. He was a good few inches over Miho. Miho could make out the outline of his gear and equipment on him, he was surely part of the opposing force.

He reacted first, swinging his arm up. Miho caught the light reflection off the metal on his weapon. Miho responded as the muzzle swept up, her right arm moved to flick the weapon away from her to the right. She didn't know when, but her right hand had become a fist and came as a hook, swinging around and plowing into the man's right cheek.

The man started to fall when another voice shouted behind him. "Oh my gosh!" Saori yelled from behind as the two caught up to the scene. With her friends behind her and an angry Russian in front, Miho can't just hide away.

The other man, sharp with his tone, screamed as Miho reached down onto her victim as he was stunned from the blow and grabbed hold of his submachine gun. Miho felt around with her right hand for the trigger and grip as she forced the weapon's barrel end towards the voice, a sling seen on the weapon that stuck it onto its proper owner.. She pulled the trigger and the weapon, cold to the touch, blasted in the darkness. The muzzle flashes brought light and Miho traced the direction onto the other man, the blinking muzzle blast continuing until she saw the man on the ground.

Her victim has regain composure and tried to retake his weapon. Miho quickly elbowed him with her left arm in the face, the sling wobbled about in the struggle and Miho's right hand moved to the connectors. Unhooking the sling from the submachine gun, she freed it from the stunned man and pointed it at him. She steadied her aim, watching his actions. The man looked at Miho in the darkness. Instead of giving up, he sat up and quickly reached for something on his belt, and Miho quickly pulled the trigger.

RA-TA-TA-TA

"Eeek!"

The submachine gun blasted again and the man fell back down. Miho kept an eye on for a second to make sure he was incapacitated, then looked at the other one ahead and found him still on the floor. Miho then kept back to the task, the new submachine gun in her hands. "Let's go!"

She continued to run towards the tank garage.

"W-wait! Miho!"

Her sprint, given from the rush she felt inside her, brought her to the common path between the school and the Sensha-dou area. A large white tent has been erected there. A hasty one, but one that has the necessary materials to function. Miho slowed a bit to inspect the zone from outside.

"Mi-po-rin…." Saori finally caught up along with Hana. The two caught their breath, but Saori, the poor girl, looked ready to collapse.

"Is that a red cross tent?" Hana asked.

"We have to get across…" Miho said as she started a slower jog across.

"Wait…" Saori muttered with her thin breath as Miho moved towards the tent.

Inside was heartbreaking. Rows of makeshift beds on elevated positions or on the ground were present, with a good amount of them filled with a patient. What was perhaps more shocking was the presence of officials in the same referee uniforms Miho recognized from the Sensha-dou nationals. Their presence, as well as the medical professions, indicated that this event was not an uncoordinated attack done by one side. The assault on Ōarai Girls High School and the Sensha-dou students was a scheduled, coordinated event with the approval of the League for its go-ahead.

As Miho walked past the scene, a familiar figure came in carrying a wounded girl on her shoulders, towards a bed. Miho recognized the girl as Hawkins, carrying Kyline, who looked pained and weak. "Hawkins! I-"

Someone puts a large metal machine in front of Miho. Miho looked at it for a moment, a MP40 submachine gun. Compared to the submachine gun she took from the Russian, it was a finer piece of craftsmanship. Instructor Ami, giving the MP40 to Miho, looked at her with the same smile she usually carries. "You're late, Miho."

Miho looked at Ami. Her usual mannerism just confirms that she and the other officials had a head-up in the Russian's approach. How else would she have set up this whole operation? Miho wanted to protest to this endangerment to her team, but something in her told her to shut up and go with it. Still, an uneasy feeling gnawed on her as she put down her acquired submachine gun for the MP40. "What's going on here, Ami?"

"Your Russian opponents in a few days have launched an airborne assault against you."

"We can see that!" Saori shouted.

Ami went down and brought up two more submachine guns, and gave it to the two girls.

"Whoa-whoa-whoa, I can't do this!" Saori pushed the MP40 back to Ami. "Firing this at dirt is one thing, I can't shoot people like that!"

"I suppose you can help out here then," Ami surmised. "Hey, Hawkins, want to take Saori here with you?"

"Yeah, sure!" Hawkins spoke above the commotion in the tent.

As Ami conversed with Hana and Saori. Miho looked at all the team members already down. Each girl present had some form of damage, mostly in body bandages, but some have arm slings on them. Medical professionals in uniforms were about, quickly administering first aid to each girl before moving on. A majority of the patients were Pravda students, though there were a considerable number of Saunders as well.

Has it been this bad? Miho thought as she watched some of the girls squirm on their beds. She could hear the sound of a van driving up closer to the tent. She peered outside the tent and saw the white paint and symbols of that as an ambulance approaching without its siren.

Miho looked at the MP40 in her hand. All its difference was from a real gun was the fact the internal parts has a tolerance against pressure and a different mechanism prevent firing of authentic 9 mm rounds. That was all there was from this weapon of sport into a weapon of war.

"Miporin," Saori grabbed Miho by the shoulder, which got her attention.

"Y-yeah?"

"You alright?"

Miho felt a blood rush up to her head, and suddenly felt hot. She put her hand onto her forehead and found she was sweating. "I-I'm fine, I… I'm just going through a moment."

Saori looked at her funnily. Ami came up, "Miho, the team is waiting for you. Join them out there, they'll need your support."

"I'm coming with you too!" Hana said, gripping a rifle in her hand.

Miho focused her senses outside the tent. The blasts of gunfire and thuds of the bullets landing haphazardly. A distant cry came in over the noise. Miho gripped onto the MP40 harder, then dropped the bolt from its safe open position into a ready state. "Okay, wish us luck!'

"Be careful Miporin!" Saori said. "I don't want to see you back here until you kick their butts!"

Miho gave a small confident smile to mask her own worries before she runs out of the tent towards the gunfire, Hana followed right behind.

The whole place was riddled with automatic fire. Tracer bullets flew around, and Miho felt like a needle weaving through the hole in fabric, avoiding the bullets tearing through the air. Miho ran in low and fast, her lively heart pumped her red blood through her circulatory system. "Hana! Go help those girls over there!"

"Okay, Miho!" Hana shouted as she parted from Miho.

The bullets continued to whistle past Miho's ears as the bullets riddled the area as she came up to a concrete block.

Two Saunder girls were there, noting the girl who just arrived, they turned towards Miho were surprised. "Le-legen-, I mean, Ms. Nishizumi!"

Miho looked at the girl, and recognized her as the Saunder girls she talked to the other day. "What's going on around here?"

"I don't know!"

Figures, Miho thought. It was hard to tell the big picture from this place. Miho peeked over the block. Though the Russians were advancing, they were held off at bay by the firepower from the primary and secondary lines. She would have to thank Emma for setting up the defense strategy in a later time.

Miho moved over the blocks, passing by the next section towards the group huddled there. She looked one of the girl, one with a mixed hair color, and so Miho got her attention. "Emma, what's going on?!"

"Miho Nizhizumi!" Emma cried out as she broke into a smile. "Glad for you to join us this fine night. You ready to shoot some reds?"

"What's going on here?"

"We managed to stabilize the field," Emma said. "We got machine guns on our left and right, as well in the primary sector to provide our base of fire. Some Russians managed to get on our left flank."

"Oh, so that's what that was?" Miho realized.

"What do you mean?" Emma asked curiously.

"Not important now," Miho thought. Handled part of the problem.... "Anything else happening here?"

"Currently, we got fire superiority over them!" Emma said gleefully. "One bad thing about these kinds of airborne assaults is that they're limited on the number of force to bring. Two planes pass by, that means they only got two platoon's worth of soldiers."

"These kinds... Do these things happen often?" Miho asked.

"Oh yeah," Emma confirmed. "All the industrialized team love to do this. How other way to affirm your military might than with a joint operation between tankery and airborne in a tournament?!"

Miho glanced over the cover as Kay shot some more. "Okay…" Miho said. "I'm going to check on the front group."

Miho was about to run up before Emma grabbed her by the arm. "Whoa! Where are you going?"

"I need to check on the team up there!"

"Look, Nishizumi," Emma brought her back down under the concrete. "I know you care about your team, a'ight? But we also care about you. The worst thing that can happen from this battle now is if they cripple you days before our match!"

"But I-"

"No buts, Miho!" Emma shut her up. "You're the commander! You stay here! We'll send a runner up instead!"

Miho still felt a heavy urge to go. She wanted to go up front and get a lick in the whole event. She wanted to make sure the girls up front facing the enemy were alright, that they knew she was here. A crack beamed up, feeling only inches from her forehead, and so she got back down.

"Okay, then Emma…" Miho looked at Emma. Despite her skills in Sensha-dou and Tankery, Emma was clearly more experienced in this type of battles than Miho. "What now?"

"Well, we need to beat back the Russians for one thing and..." Emma's voice trailed off as she looked at the distance. Miho glanced towards the direction as well. "What the hell is that...?"

Assam fired her Enfield, the authority it emits struck its fifth man that night. Darjeeling and Pekoe also kept busy with their STEN, burning through three magazines within their short time in their new foxhole. The three girls managed to make it work against the Russians in their front and left, keeping a base of fire with each respective weapons as Assam kept at it for precision fire. She quickly struck the bolt back for it to lock behind the magazine feed spring. I'm out... Assam thought, losing count of the ten-round magazine. She ducked down and reached into her shirt pocket for the five-round stripper clips.

"Well, this is quite thrilling…" Darjeeling said with a smile as she stacked in another magazine.

"Yes, Ms. Darjeeling…" Pekoe also said, watching their left flank. Assam examined in the center of the foxhole shape as she scanned with her rifle. All the other Pravda and St. Gloriana girls in the other foxholes are currently holding. In their established positions with a firm base of fire, the Russian advance has stalled to avoid running into the machine gun fire.

"Now what?" Assam asked, as she finished reloading her rifle. She relaxed her eyes, after straining them so long keeping on the iron sights.

"Say, how long have we been fighting now?" Pekoe asked.

"The swiftest hours, as they flew…" Darjeeling said.

"Shakespeare huh? You make this easy, Ms. Darjeeling."

Darjeeling made a light chuckle when she heard something in the distant. Not the usual gun fire, it was something mechanical. The ground was lightly shaking, the disturbance was getting heavier and soon they can feel the vibration under the soles of their boots.

"What's this…?" Pekoe noted the abnormality.

The girls took a moment to consider before Assam spoke, "Sounds like a tank!"

"Whaaat?" Pekoe expressed her doubt. "How would they get an enemy tank onto the carrier?"

"Then what else is it?" Assam asked. Pekoe couldn't answer, even Darjeeling felt the options dry up. The girls slowly came into a doubtful realization, then peaked up over the foxhole together.

The clacking of the tracks grew, as well as a roaring engine. Beyond all possible means, the Russians have managed to bring a tank onboard with their assault.

"What do we do, Ms. Darjeeling?!" Pekoe said as calmly as rationally possible in the given position to Darjeeling.

"'She who defends everything, defends nothing,'" Darjeeling said, examining the situation

"And what do you mean by that?" Pekoe asked.

Darjeeling's eyes glint, "We'll hold our ground here."

Nikolai rode on the T-60 tank into battle. With the engine exhaust coming straight out the right side, there was plenty of room on the rear deck for desant troops. Tank commander Breshka, an airborne trooper himself, had his body up with the huge turret hatch up forwards. As a one-man turret, however, his current position makes it impossible for him to operate the guns. Still, the driver drove the menacing tank into battle, with a second tank to their side about 50 meters away.

In the distance, Nikolai could see the girls that they've been trading shots stunned. For a tank to come out negating all their rifle fires, a new feeling of power filled in the air cadet's strike force. A combined arms assault of paratroopers and a tank was a very effective surprise strike. The tanks formed the spearhead of the assault, with the rest of the cadets in the platoons gathering around the tanks as their vector of attack.

A stream of machine gun bullets soon came from their left from one of the trenches. The bullet sparked off the front of the hull and turret, and so the Breshka shouted, waving his arms to warn everyone off, and Nikolai did with the five cadets on the T-60 engine deck. Breshka began to button up into his T-60 as the cadets spread out.

"Spread out!" Viktor ordered nearby.

"Spread out!" Albert relayed the order, hearing Viktor. The cadets spread out to provide cover and recon for the tank. The tank rolled forwards under its diesel power towards the entrenched girls up front. Though Nikolai stood out by the side of the T-60, the fire focused more on the tank as the tracers plinked off the front armor. What would be swiss cheese against tanks in normal Tankery battles were proof against regular rifle rounds.

As they approached the trenches, now roughly 100 meters away, the coaxial on the moving T-60 opened fire. The DT machine gun blasted off the 7.62 rimmed rifle rounds out. The rounds raked the trenches and the girls ducked down in cover as red tracer scattered the place. As the girls got down, the next order followed, "Forwards!"

The infantry split from the tanks. In controlled firing, the cadets held their weapons on their hips and fired towards the trenches. The walking fire supplemented the suppression fire on the enemy trenches as the riflemen cadets moved up. The two T-60's focus of fire shifted from the trenches to the machine gunners in the distance, keeping their heads down as the rounds flew around them. Nikolai leveled his M44 carbine as he moved up.

Rosehip's BREN gun was worthless against the tanks. On first glance, she responded with leveling a magazine of the .303 rifle rounds at the lumbering machines. The tracers showed the bullets simply bouncing off in various angles with little effect against the tank and the infantry. The BREN then clacked empty and Rosehip got down to reload, in time too as the machine gun round from the opposing side started to rain onto her.

"Hate being dependable!" She shouted, loading another banana magazine onto the top feeder and racked the bolt for round. She looked up at the enemy tanks and saw them halt a distance away. Their machine gun tracers now up above her, but the infantry moving up in a steady pace with their weapons raking the foxholes. Rosehip looked over to Ms. Darjeeling's location as they kept their heads down in all this.

Rosehip didn't really decide as much as she acted on that. She took her BREN and ran up and over her foxhole.

"What are you doing, Rosehip?!" Her tank mate, Vanilla, cried out for her as she left. Running to the foxhole, Rosehip leveled the BREN on her hip and fired towards the opposing force. The BREN's ergonomics allowed her to hold and fire as she ran across the field towards the next fox hole, which she fell in as soon as the last round from her BREN ran out.

"Enjoying your time there, Rambo?" Darjeeling said back as Rosehip realized where she landed in.

"What do we do now?!" Rosehip asked. "We can't do a thing against those tanks!"

"We have to hold our position," Darjeeling said. "Aim for the infantry, Pekoe. Assam, try aiming at the optic ports on that tank. Rosehip, fight!"

"Yes, Ms. Darjeeling!"

"Wow…" Miho looked at the two incoming T-60 tanks with awe.

Emma, not so much, "God damn it, Ivan. You really had to bring everything?" She gritted, looking as the infantry moved forwards towards the foxholes.

"We have to do something!" Miho shouted, more of a suggestion to Emma.

"Not happening, Miho," Emma said, her eyes unwavering. "Those tanks just made the space between here and there a No-Man's Land. Besides, I don't think these girls have the mental fortitude for that kind of attack..."

Miho was confused at Emma's last remark, then looked over at the other girls. They were no longer firing, but stared in stunned silence at the tanks. Questions seemed to sprout in their heads. How did it get here, why are they here, was this all a bad dream? They all seemed shocked at the scene that was unfolding.

Emma grumbled. "Those forward positions aren't going to last more than a few minutes... Kay! Alisa! With me!"

"Hah?" Kay responded to her name, "Where?!"

Emma didn't answer as she ran off towards the right somewhere, leaving Miho alone while Kay and Alisa figured out what transpired. "Grr, c'mon Alisa, let's go!" Kay got up with her Thompson, Alisa followed closely in a stumbled sprint.

Miho looked over and saw the Russian cadets running into the foxholes under the tank machine gun fire. Miho wondered how many girls down there were getting hurt from this. How vicious the Russians must be to get up so close for the fighting, with the fighting coming up close and personal for all of them.

The Russians menaced the foxholes in the primary defense lines, then the tanks started to move forwards.

"Get down!" Assam cried out and the Gloriana girls got down in their foxhole as the tank rolled their way. The metal tracks crunched the dirt and formation of the foxhole as it drove over the holes. The ground rumbled, the particles shook and fell all over the girls as the 10 ton machine moved over them. Darjeeling looked up at the tank over her. She hadn't seen the belly of a threatening vehicle ever since the T28 Super Heavy. It was very surreal until the tank finished its travel across the trench.

Infantry soon made an appearance over the foxhole and Rosehip immediately responded by raising the conical muzzle of her BREN and fired a quick burst at the men up top. The surprised Russians dove back in surprise at the amount of firepower presented to them.

"Go!" Rosehip shouted, then fired another burst up.

Darjeeling seized the opportunity, "Assam, Pekoe, out the other way!" Darjeeling climbed out of their now exposed fox hole. Assam and Pekoe got out as Rosehip provided cover fire with her weapon. The Russians were all over the place as they made their advance, Pekoe and Darjeeling emerged in the middle of the squads. In the confusion, the two fired off suppressing shots at the crowd, their shots focused on those who acknowledged their presence. The 9 mm rounds brought them down, but some were getting back up from the shock of the pistol rounds. As Darjeeling, Orange Pekoe, and Assam fought their way out of the area, Rosehip climbed out under their fire blanket.

The girls ran to the farthest foxhole from the chaos. "Aaaggh!" Rosehip shouted as she fell to the ground, she clutched her leg.

"Rosehip...!," Darjeeling saw her teammate fall, and she ran back.

"Ms. Darjeeling!" Pekoe yelled as she then brought up the STEN against some Russians taking notice of them. The bullets whistle through the air between the few as Darjeeling hustled Rosehip on her shoulder towards the nearby foxhole, occupied by downed Pravda students from the onslaught of Russians.

"I'm okay, Ms. Darjeeling," Rosehip got out as she gripped onto her right calf. "A leg's nothing!"

"Yes, but let me take a look at it…" Darjeeling said.

"Ms. Darjeeling! We've got trouble!" Assam said as she got closer, "Those tanks are going to crack right through the defense!" She then raised her rifle towards an enemy and cracked, the man took cover as she cycled the bolt.

"We're on our own now, Assam…" Darjeeling said. "It's up to them to do something about the tanks now…"

"Oh my god! The tanks are coming!" The girls were panicking. Their screams only made more chaos as the tanks approached towards the secondary lines, closing in the distance towards 50 meters, the infantry at its back taking cover behind the hulk of metals as the tanks made its advance. Out in between the primary and secondary lines, the tanks slowly made their way forward in a menacing manner.

The girls who saw their rifle rounds simply bounce off the intimidating tanks as their coaxial fire red tracer into the crowd lost their nerves. Some girls tried to run for it, leaving their cover only to have a round plant on their back as they tried to break for it.

"Stay down!" Miho yelled, inspiring the girls to heed her. "Fire at the infantry around the tanks!" She yelled this several times, hammering the message into her fellow teammates on priority targets. Miho extended the stock on her MP40, lined up the sights, and fired with her team. Her own tracer fire helped direct the enemy away from the center mass of the tanks to its weaker support units. There was nothing she could do about the tanks at the moment, but the infantry were still cannon-fodder to the rifle. The fire shifted slowly towards the cadets that exposed themselves behind the tanks. The tanks, however, continued like a stone wall against the fire.

What to do, what to do... Miho's mind raced as the tanks approached with its coaxial continually firing. It took a stop in the middle of the zone as its turret slewed around, firing away. The gun mantlet noticeably lowered. Then a pounding BZH-TA-TA-TA emitted from the main gun barrel. A large blast emitted from the cannon as the tank fired. The rounds cracked the concrete cover the girls on Miho's left. Unlike the rifle rounds, the 20 mm auto cannon broke the cover. Concrete particles flew into the air, the sound of the impact screeched in the air with each BLAM-BLAM-BLAM!

The cover was no good now. "Fall back into the garage!" Miho yelled out on top of her lungs as she saw the turrets of the two tanks rotate as they locate targets to destroy.

The crowd of girls didn't hesitate to run back. "Run!" "Fall back!" "Move, move, move!" "Take cover!" "Displace!" were shouted haphazardly with the withdrawal. TheŌarai girls rapidly moved, preferring to be exposed to return rifle fire opposed to being powdered to dust by the cannons. Miho kept at her position, yelling at her team to fall back. Everyone moved, the rifle fire above didn't matter anymore. The tanks are the issue now. Miho kept at it, yelling away as the crowd of girls passed her.

The T-60 to the right has aligned its gun straight towards Miho's position. Miho's eye could see the eye of the cannon barrel pointing right at her.

BOOM!

Miho flinched as a cannon blasted, but the explosion erupted on the enemy tank. The kinetic impact screamed as the smoke and sparks blew off from the tank, with the tank left in a condition quite ready to fall apart. Miho and the everyone else noted this scene and stared as the oh so familiar tone of a white flag popped out of the hull roof of the T-60.

Another familiar sound arrived, the clacking the tracks and the gasoline whir of an approaching assault tank.

"Tank down!" Emma yelled above the open cupola hatch.

Naomi sighed as she lifted her eye from the telescopic scope.

"Okay!" Kay yelled out in joy from the bow machine gun position.

"Don't let the other one get away!" Katyusha cried out as she, in the loader's position, brought up a 75 mm AP shot from the ammo stowage in the hull. She hauled the 20 pounds round into the breech, sliding it in and the breech block automatically seals shut.

The M4A3E2 Jumbo from the second tank garage was still with maintenance for the 76 mm conversions when this whole conundrum started. Emma started it up as soon as possible, with Kay and Alisa following her lead in the crew compartments. Along the way, they picked up Katyusha seemingly out of the bunch and Naomi, who was sniping in the same building. The girls quickly adapted to their hastily chosen positions. Katyusha fell into the loader's hatch to the bottom of the turret basket, Naomi climbed into the cupola to the gunner's position. Emma climbed the tank swiftly and swung along the barrel of the new M2 Browning into the cupola. Kay climbed in the loader's hatch and Alisa took to the driver's seat.

There wasn't any time to let the garage door opens, so with a nudge from the crew, Alisa accelerated the tank into the large double metal doors, forcing them open with a sickening crunch as the lock mechanism on it broke.

On their appearance, Emma called out the nearest tank target and Naomi serviced the 75 mm appropriately.

Suddenly, a bright burst of purple and red flew into their front hull. KYOW-KOW-KOW-KOW-KOW, the impacts went as the rounds touched the armor like a love tap.

"Target: Second tank!" Emma screamed as she ducked down to viewing through the vision blocks on the cupola. "Our 12! Fire at will!"

The power traverse on the Jumbo activates as Naomi turned the traverse mechanism with her right hand to the left. The turret turned rapidly as it faced its target. The T-60's 20 mm auto-cannon was beyond puny as a tank armament from its very inception, the full load of the shells showed a clear tracer trajectory of each round bouncing a near 45 degree angle from the glacis plate.

Naomi lined the reticle onto the target. The blasts from the autocannon continued futilely before finally stopping, out of ammo. Naomi could see in her scope the Russians around the tank starting to run, scattering away from the tank, as the tank itself started to reverse.

However Naomi lifted her right foot and slammed it down on the right of two buttons on the turret basket floor. The 75 mm gun fired off its AP round and Naomi watched the tracer fly right into the tank's side armor. The blast blew off a few wheel and cracked the tracks, right as the white knock-out flag came up.

Naomi relaxed her eye as she leaned back, "Tank destroyed."

Emma up top looked at the two smoking tanks on the paved plaza in front of the garage. Hatches opened on the tanks as the crew made their escape. "Driver, forwards!" Emma shouted as she climbed out of the cupola, "Gunner, BOG, target infantry with the MG!"

"Okay!" Kay shouted as she manned the M1919. The M4A3E2 slowly drove forwards, with the turret also moving. Emma got down onto the hull roof, then walked behind the turret towards the M2 Browning, mounted on a pintle-mount on the rear of the turret. She took up aim with the heavy machine gun and targeted the Russians.

"Bloody... what was that?" Rosehip asked as the explosions sounded. Pekoe and Darjeeling peeked out over their foxhole to see the spectacle. The Russians were pulling back, the two tanks were smoking. All of a sudden, three deadly stream of red tracer rounds flew out of a tank, driving forwards from the building that housed their tanks.

"Sherman!" Pekoe cried out to Darjeeling. Both of the girls sported a grin spreading cheek to cheek before they started laughing. Darjeeling patted Pekoe in the back.

Assam and Rosehip made it up as well for the scene. All four stared and laughed in exhausted joy as a new feeling swelled inside them. "That's right you rascals, run!" Rosehip cried out, taunting their foe as she lifted her BREN and set its bipod right on the brim.

The girls brought up their weapons and fired at the withdrawing cadets. Their fire seemed miniscule to the amount of firepower the M4A3E2 was pumping out.

Miho saw the M4A3E2 emerge out of nowhere from the chaos, knock out the two tanks, and now was firing wildly into the enemy crowd. Emma was on the rear of the heavy machine gun firing, the coaxial M1919 was firing, and the hull-machine gun was also firing out front towards the tank field.

Miho saw the enemy reel back, and Miho turned to the other girls still there stunned. Cheers started to spread as a new hope arose within them.

"Oh, you beautiful baby!" A girl cried in elation.

"Check it out, the Sherman!" Another shouted, pointing out the tank.

"About damn time!"

Miho looked at the swelling morale as she capitalized on the fresh adrenaline rushing through all of them. She stood up and faced them. "Let's go girls!" Miho shouted towards them. "Drive them back out of Ōarai! Use the tank as support!" Miho grabbed her MP40 and ran forwards.

A new direction of assault has taken place. They were no longer bogged down, the girls ran forwards, retaking the primary foxhole lines. The M4A3E2 moved forwards and paused in front of the foxholes as the girls secured the area. Most of the Russians have withdrawn, leaving the wounded behind. Miho and the girls took cover as the medics got to work on the many injured girls left in the front from the Russian tank thrust. Miho climbed onto the M4A3E2 as Emma continued blasting away with her mounted weapon. Bullets were still flying around her as she stood on the exposed area.

"Keep moving forward at walking pace!" Miho shouted behind her. Despite the deafening noise of the rapid .50 caliber rounds being shot out the muzzle, Emma understood and took a moment to talk through the comms. Miho dismounted and the M4A3E2 Jumbo rumbled forwards slowly. Saunder girls kept up with their weapons, taking cover behind the rear as the Jumbo moved forwards to absorb the incoming fire. Miho moved amongst the crowd, urging them to move forwards with the tank. She comes across some familiar faces.

"What now, Ike?" Caesar said as she ran up to her. Behind the scarf-wearing girl was the present Ōarai girlsgathered in their make-shift squad.

Miho pointed towards the field, "Get those machine guns in cover on the upper hills and provide suppressive support for the rest of the team! Go!"

"Roger that, Ike!" Hippo team replied as they, along with the others, ran off. Miho wanted to follow before she felt a firm grasp on her shoulder stopping her.

"Legend!" Hawkins present, her uniform all rugged and wrinkled from her activity, said as she stood before her. "You get back to cover or else you'll be shot down! If you go down, we'll all go down! C'mon!"

Hawkins half-dragged Miho back to the garage, with Miho somewhat resisting the idea of leaving her team alone out there in the night as the battle continued to rage away from the school. But Miho reluctantly followed along to the situation back at the garage front.

The remaining students were cleaning up the mess. It seemed as if each able-bodied student was carrying a wounded one back to the aids station. Miho saw Hana helping an injured Saunders girl along. From one casualty, Miho could see many more: Noriko, Rosehip, Rukuriri, Momoga, Suzuki, Taeko, and many more were being escorted to the aids station. A stretcher ran past Miho as she inspected the blasted tanks.

T-60's... Miho put her hand against the hull of the light tanks. Had this been a real battle, the T-60's hull would've warped from a 75 mm shell impact and the ensuing fire, but these Sensha-dou models absorbed the shot while only registering the knock-out phase of the tanks. How did they get these tanks here?

"Move it!" A stern voice cried to her right. A Pravda student was walking three men, arms raised a bit and their combat gear stripped from them, as the girl walked past Miho. "Uh, Ms. Nishizumi, where should I direct these guys?"

"Umm..." Miho looked around the area for a suitable place. "Just gather them by that wall right there for now, we'll find a better place later. Make sure they don't try to run."

"Roger that! C'mon bastards!" The girl urged the men up with a harsh voice. The men reacted confusingly, not understanding a lick of Japanese. "Let's go, boys!" The girl said in English and the men responded. As they moved past, Miho figured out they had another problem to consider about the Russians now aboard their school.

"Ms. Nishizumi," another voice appeared behind her. Miho turned to see a girl holding a man on gunpoint with a TT-33 Tokarev pistol. What was strange was the combination, the man had on a uniform that indicated a different standing or role than the other Russians, and the one holding him at gunpoint was Klara.

"Klara, you're here," Miho said in surprise. Klara was the senior student present tonight and she was absent from the fighting.

"This сука got a jump from me in the beginning," Klara explained. The man did a light grin and shrugged upon that mention. "I was held up the whole time before I could free myself. Forgive me."

"Oh no, that's quite alright. At least you're not hurt," Miho said. "Put him with the others, and help the other girl watch over the captured Russians."

"да, переехать Лоза!," Klara said as she prodded the man's back with her Tokarev. The man moved along with Klara's motioning. Miho watched the Russians gathered up as the Pravda students watched over them.

"Miho!" Someone in the crowd called out, their voice getting closer. Popping out were the Anzio and Chi-Ha-Tan students.

"You girls!" Miho replied. "You're late!"

"We're sorry!" Anchovy and Nishi replied. Despite their armament, the girls look so out of place that Miho privately wondered if it would be more efficient overall if they just stood by the sidelines like Rabbit and Turtle team.

"Well anyways, glad you could make it," Miho continued. Though the instructors helped them train to know how to use their weapons, they could help in other ways than fighting. "Go help everyone carry the wounded to-"

THWACK!

Miho jolted as something smacked into her. Her arms darted on their own as she felt her MP40 fling itself away from her meters away.

"URAAAAAAA!" They yelled, with a new barrage heading towards the girls. Whistles blew and gun fire raged. The bunched up groups of girls got hit from the rounds as everyone reacted to the new threat.

"It's coming from the left!" A Pravda student cried as she raised her rifle. Miho looked towards the direction. A squad of Russians had emerged on the left flank, blasting away at the vulnerable girls recovering from the first assault. Some of the wounded were hit again as they were caught in the opening shots.

Where did they come from?! "Take cover!" Miho yelled out. The scene was chaotic, ths Russian group had caught the unexpecting girls hard. Many of the girls were running about looking for a place to hide behind. Miho dove and caught her MP40. However, she found out why her weapon flew off her on inspecting it when she grabbed it. A round had ricocheted off the top cover on the MP40. Her firearms saved her, in exchange it was bent beyond usability. Miho tossed it aside and grabbed the nearest weapon, a PPSh-41, that she could grasped.

Miho, the weary, and the new, all fought back desperately against this surprise attack. Their foe proved to be like machines, dedicated and hard, and did not stop until defeated. It was 10:03 PM.

Even though the front lines had moved, the Battle for theŌarai Garages lasted for hours.

Top Deck Port Side , Ōarai Carrier

Miho took a long-awaited seat on a wooden bench on the outskirts of the school carrier. Her eyes weighed in heavy, her head spinning from an adrenaline crash, her arms and legs ached under the stress it had been through the night. She and her team fought on until the garage territory was stabilized, it wasn't until then that the toll of combat reached her mentally and physically. Miho couldn't find solace until she found herself staring out into the tranquil sea. Her PPSh-41 leaning on her body, the drum magazine out and its bolt closed, safe from firing. She took a break from it all as the firing continued in the tank field.

The Russians were routed. However, even now, the Russians have split up into the massive arena of the tank field. Each pocket of Russians has formed their own resistance circle, fighting with partisan tactics against the girls who volunteered as to sweep them out. A long, drawn out battle awaited them as the battle raged between small squads out in the tank field now.

"Hello Miporin," Another weary voice said as she approached. Saori was exhausted from the night.

"Hello Saori," Miporin replied back with a tired, burnt out voice as well. The two sat down side-by-side, contemplating the events that has transpired.

"That was something..." Saori said, her only words about the situation.

"Yeah..." Miho relived it in her head. "It was nothing I've ever seen before in Sensha-dou, even with Kuromormine..."

A pause took place between the two tired girls.

"Say, Saori," Miho found a topic. "What time is it?"

Saori looked at Miho as she registered the question, her actions sluggish with her stamina. Saori brought up her phone and turned on the display. "1 o'clock AM..."

Miho stared out into the sea. 1 AM. "Gosh, it's late..."

"Yeah, Miporin..." Saori sighed as she laid back. "They take these things really seriously... too seriously..." Saori muttered. "Why did they even do this anyways? What were they planning to achieve? They didn't even actively try to make it to our garage like Yukari does with her missions."

"It's because they didn't plan for that," an icy can touched Miho's forehead. Miho looked up to see Emma with a few fruit juice cans from a vending machine.

"T-thanks," Miho said, taking the cold refreshment. Saori also received one as well as Emma rounded the bench in front of them. "What did you mean by that?"

Emma had her own can as she took heavy sip from it, then clearing her throat. "The Russians don't conduct these operations for a scouting purpose like we and the Americans do. These attacks are shock-and-awe."

"S-shock and awe?" Saori asked.

"They strike you hard, right before the day of the match, to disorient and exhaust the opposing team with the strike force," Emma explained. "So you wouldn't be able to perform at your full capacity."

Miho didn't have the energy to react to that, but sighed in acceptance. If the Russians planned to exhaust them, then by god they accomplished their mission. The firing in the distance still in the middle of the night already ensured that the Ōarai girls were going to have their hands full for the next couple of days.

"What happened to all the ones we captured?" Miho asked Emma.

"The officials have allocated the desolate lot of land that used to be part of the Tankery clubrooms. The place is still good enough to house the Russians."

"The place where we found the Panzer IV's barrel, right?" Saori asked. Miho nodded in confirmation.

"The school official is looking at it optimistically though," Emma continued, "Since tomorrow is still a weekend, they can announced some sort of foreign meet-up for girls interested in the Russian culture."

"That sounds nice at least," Saori said.

"The Russians that were injured tonight were also carried to the nearest hospital for treatment," Emma said. "We got some serious ones, but it is not like anyone is going to die."

"Yeah, that's nice..." Miho followed up. A question nagged on her as she heard this. She didn't want to ask it, but Miho felt it was her responsibility as the team leader to understand it. "And what are the casualties for tonight?"

Emma sighed, then she reached into her right pocket and pulled out a folded piece of paper. "The aids station reported...124 admittance. On our side, we have 83 hospitalization, and 45 are long-term." Emma folded the paper back up. "The long-terms won't make it in the next match..."

"45..." Miho and Saori pondered on that number. "We lost nine tanks...?"

"That's how it is," Emma defeatedly gestured. "This is also tankery."

Miho crumpled her face in her palms, rubbing her eyes as she thought of the situation. The match coming up in two days now is forty tanks per side. Miho thought about the casualties, who were going to be absent, were there replacements for them?

Emma shaked her heads. "Don't worry about that right now, Miho Nishizumi. When everyone is up and at them tomorrow, we can organize the team composition once more."

Miho took a deep breath, then exhaled. She thought of the situation over the rapid footsteps. "You're right... right now we got some other stuff to worry about."

"Yep, just leave it to me on dealing with the Russians. We'll snuff them out before... hey, what's going on?" Emma glanced at the scene.

"I-I'm not sure." Even Saori was flabbergasted. The ship girls were rushing on the deck, running towards the bow direction. The girls acted with haste with a mannerism of obedience to protocols. The sailor uniformed girls nearly created a sea of white on the ship itself with the crowd that formed.

Miho got up, placing her submachine gun down as to not cause alarm as she waved a girl down. "He-hey! Excuse me! What's going on?"

"Huh? Man overboard!" The girl shouted quickly before continuing with her routine.

"Huh...?" Miho wondered. After everything that happened, now there was a man overboard? Did some drunkard just stumble off the ship at this time?

Miho decided to follow the crowd, leaving Saori and Emma behind as they tiredly just watched as Miho made her way.

She ran along the crowd as they gathered by the railing on the deck. A crew operated a nearby crane, the lights blaring as the heavy equipment got under way. Miho went towards the railings and looked down. A heavy mechanized effort was underway with the target. A bright orange lifeboat was present in the water. Ship girls in the lower decks were using long rods and pulling the large, encased lifeboat towards the carrier's hull.

It was the large type of lifeboats that Miho has seen across the carrier, big enough to carry up to 20 people if they squeezed in and had its own propellor for power. The large boat was kept in place as a crane lowered its hook to snag the latch above the boat.

Miho watched the event unfold as an ambulance rolled in. Just after a heavy day with the Russians, the emergency service has to deal with another circumstance. The crew readied a rolling stretcher as the lifeboat was hoisted above the deck. The crane rotated slowly in an uncivilized manner compared to the ball bearing turret rings on the tanks as it brought the lifeboat over land and brought it down to the ground. The paramedics opened the door on the lifeboat and went in.

A moment later, they pulled a body out of the lifeboat. Miho moved in closer to take a look.

She couldn't believe her eyes.

The girl's clothes was a disgusting yellow, a full coverall bright in the darkness that was made for eye-catching high visibility. She was bare foot below the yellow pants, her feets were darkened from the filth it has been through.

But Miho would recognize that face anywhere. The face that always exhumed pride around her presence. A face so stubborn, so dedicated, so heartened by her goal for success in this world. The face was smothered with grime and filth, its refined texture smeared from inattention and time. From only those details, Miho would not have recognized her at first glance, but the grey blonde hair, reaching down to her shoulders, and as the paramedics checked for life on the unconscious girls, they opened her eyes for iris movement. The light blue eyes shined brightly as a medic waved a flashlight over her face. The features match, and Miho couldn't help but gasp in shock as she realized who this person was.

"Erika?!"

THE PLOT TRAIN HAS NO BRAKES

When I originally wrote this chapter, it was actually combined with Ch.21. I wrote it all out and it clocked to around 23K+ words. However, after consulting with some people, it seemed that this length was quite excessive for a single chapter so that's why I elected to split it into the previous chapter and this one.

Regardless, Happy FOURTH OF JULY for my fellow Americans and anyone else willing to celebrate with us! If you haven't already, feel free to Follow and Favorite this story to keep up to date with the newest updates! Feel free to leave a review as well, because it is always nice to hear from you all on my story.

Have a nice day!