The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Sechs: Es ist die Herbstwoche der öffentlichen Moral Kontrolle!
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Out in one of Ooarai High School's yards aboard the Zuikaku, Lemu and Sodoko were getting mighty pissed off.
What was getting them so pissed was the sight of three groups of people that they knew held no respect for the school rules. There was the group of history buffs, the group of gamers, and the sports players.
Seeing the history buffs in their costumes, the gamers with their unruly looks and other additions, and the sports players in their sports uniforms, was enough to push them over the edge.
Finally, both Lemu and Sodoko exploded and loudly yelled out, "It's time to tighten discipline!"
"What the…?!" Wolf reacted in surprise.
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About a minute later, all of the offenders were grouped up on the floor. The girls except for Caesar, Piyotan, and Momoga were on their knees. The three girls not kneeling were seated on the ground, as were the boys. The groups were currently talking amongst themselves while waiting for Lemu and Sodoko standing before them to speak up. Both of the leaders of the Public Morals Committee looked a bit calmer than before, but they still easily looked pissed.
"Yeesh, could you understand that yell?" Alex asked Harry.
"Nope, not at all," Harry replied with an oblivious smile.
"So the rise of the lion has finally come, as the prophecy stated…" Gustav referenced among the history buffs.
"Is this another witch hunt?!" Abe questioned among the group.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Nekota kept apologizing as she hung her head.
"But they haven't even said anything yet," Nevi commented with the other gamers.
"It's high time this was drilled into your heads!" Lemu announced as he began addressing the groups. He then pointed at all of them. "You're all violating the school's rules!"
"You only just realized that?" Wolf spoke up with a deadpan.
"Why now, of all times…" Leonidas similarly wondered.
"I'm sorry!" Nekota continued to apologize as she cried. The other gamers just awkwardly looked on at her.
"The week for strengthening the public morals begins now!" Lemu declared. "At school, you will properly wear the school uniform! Any additional accessories are forbidden! Only black hair is allowed, and absolutely no facial hair is allowed!"
"Was?!" Wolf reacted in disbelief. He was in such a state because of his deep red hair under his peaked cap.
"But this is natural…" Harry tried to object as he pointed to his slight beard.
"You have until tomorrow to shave it off! And make sure to dye your hair, too!" Lemu ordered. He then folded his hands behind his back and continued. "For hairstyles, the ideal ones would be the same as ours, but we'll let that one slide! The correct length is to the shoulders! Girls, anything longer will have to be put into braids! Boys, you must cut it down to shoulder level! That is non-negotiable!"
"This is tyranny!" Wolf objected as he raised his fist. "The rise of evil!"
"Your authority means nothing!" Abe objected as well.
"This is an unlawful expansion of your powers!" Gustav also objected.
"I'm gonna give you a taste of Spartan law!" Leonidas proclaimed as he drew his spear.
He was stopped, though, when Sodoko unrolled a scroll. The scroll was a license to control public morals, and it had the student council's stamp as a signature.
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Some time ago at an unspecified date, Anzu was in a room with many, many boxes of her favored dried sweet potatoes. She was getting a relaxing massage from some members of the Public Morals Committee. Kolari was massaging her shoulders while Satiainen was massaging her leg. Lemu was also there as he stood before her.
"Public morals?" Anzu asked as she ate another of her sweet potatoes. She was in her typical carefree mood again. "Eh, it's such a pain, so I'll leave it all to you guys."
Lemu then grew an evil grin at the permission he received for his committee.
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Back in the present, the history buffs had recoiled in defeat at the revelation of the Public Morals Committee's authority.
"Guh!" Wolf grunted in defeat as he held the brim of his peaked cap with one hand.
"For a noble cause…!" Gustav similarly said in defeat as he clenched his teeth.
"Kai sas, Madam President?" Leonidas wondered as he put his hand to his face in frustration.
For the moment, Seth was watching the history buffs' reactions. 'For these guys to submit to this kind of authority…' he thought. He decided to end his thoughts there, as he didn't wish to imagine what awaited ahead of them.
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Later that day, there were many members of the offending groups at the Akiyama Barber Shop. There were very few people of said groups that weren't there.
"We request your services, please…" all of them began.
"Welcome!" Yoshiko Akiyama greeted with a polite smile.
"Finally, some cust-oof!" Jungorou Akiyama began, but was cut off by his wife elbowing him in the ribs.
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The next day, Christoph was entering the school grounds cheerful as ever. He was whistling as proof of how cheerful he was.
"Chris, good morning!" he heard an American voice greet him.
"Aye! Mor…" he turned to respond, but he trailed off upon seeing who it was who greeted him. It was another boy that had black hair and a chin area that appeared to be recently shaved. Also observable was him wearing the regular Ooarai uniform for the boys, that being black pants and a white button-up shirt with a green tie.
"Who are you?" Christoph finally spoke up in confusion.
"I'm the smasher of the badminton team! Harry Wilbur!" the 'new' guy responded with emphasis. Harry didn't look happy that he wasn't recognized.
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"For some reason…" Erich began as he and Miho entered the hangars later that day. "Today seems to be filled with unfamiliar faces…"
Erich had on his usual clothes, but he also had a slight rise underneath the rear of his jacket that betrayed the presence of something underneath it. Both he and Miho were simply looking on at everyone in a bit of confusion. A slight breeze was also passing through the opened hangar doors, something that a few girls had complained about.
Many of the people in the hangars appeared very unfamiliar at first, but in reality they were all the same people that were on the Arts of Warfare teams. They just had to bend to new regulations about appearances.
Among the changed groups were the history buffs. All of them were in normal Ooarai uniforms. Caesar had her hair in pigtails and dyed black, and she was without her usual Focale. Saemonza had her hair braided without her usual headband. Oryou had her hair pigtailed into a much tidier state than was usual for her, and she didn't have her usual coat.
Leonidas didn't appear that different minus the lack of his breastplate and spear. Abe was the same way, except he now lacked his top hat. Gustav, however, had his formerly light blonde hair now dyed black, and he also lacked his blue cuirass with a yellow cross.
Soon after, Wolf and Erwin approached them. Erwin had her hair dyed black and wore the normal girls Ooarai uniform without her signature coat and field cap. Wolf similarly had black-dyed hair replacing his deep red hair color. He also wore the normal boys Ooarai uniform without his signature dark green Luftwaffe trench coat and peaked cap.
"Everyone…" Wolf greeted with a small wave. He and Erwin both had slightly awkward looks for their current situation. "Um… morning."
The other six history buffs turned to the two German history buffs, and both sides stared at each other for a second. They then all exploded into laughter at seeing how extremely different they all appeared. Their laughter continued for a while until they all exhausted their laughter out of them and grew some desire for their old looks.
Elsewhere in the hangars were the sports groups that were also different in appearances.
"Chris didn't recognize me…" Harry lamented.
"Hey, cheer up, er… Harry?" Alex responded unsurely. He now had his previously blonde hair dyed black, and he also had on one of Ooarai's normal uniforms instead of his badminton uniform.
"Why are you unsure?!" Harry yelled in response to Alex.
"Even without our uniforms, the Badminton Club's spirit won't falter as long as we have our hearts in it!" Ron proclaimed. He was also different with his formerly brown hair being dyed black. He also had on one of the normal Ooarai uniforms.
"I don't get that," Seth commented. Unlike the others, he didn't have to dye his hair, as it was naturally black. But he was also wearing a normal school uniform like the rest.
Erich and Miho then noticed one more group of people that appeared different. The first one they noticed was a somewhat tall boy with black hair of shoulder length. The hair appeared to be recently dyed.
"Who's…?" Miho began to Erich, but trailed off. Erich also looked curious about the boy's identity.
Said boy noticed the two Ooarai commanders out of the corner of his eye and shyly turned to them. "Ah…" he began with a shy smile. "I'm… Nevi…"
Miho looked on at him in disbelief for a bit before she and Erich looked to the rest of the gamer group.
"Bot one…" Dexter emotionlessly spoke up. He no longer had his gray hair. It was now dyed black.
"Bot two…" Mark spoke up in the same manner. His burgundy hair was dyed black like the others. The girls appeared similarly different in their appearances.
Across the hangar, the history buffs started to throw huge fits at their new appearances.
"We have no more individuality!" Gustav yelled out with displeasure.
"Our way of life is gone!" Wolf similarly yelled out.
From the entrance to the hangar, Lemu chuckled evilly as he and the rest of the Public Morals Committee watched everyone. They all soon stepped forth.
"My my, everyone!" Lemu began with a triumphant look. "Looks like you're all in high morals!"
"This pleases the Public Morals Committee!" Sodoko spoke up with a similar triumphant look. The rest of the committee members stood behind them with emotionless looks.
Everyone in the hangars turned to them in response. Many of them had looks of displeasure.
"So you showed up, Public Morals Committee!" Wolf hostilely greeted. "The dictators of pure evil!" He then tried instinctively grabbing his peaked cap, but he just noticed it wasn't there. "Ah, it's not here."
"Your sins are unforgivable!" Leonidas declared with similar hostility as he tried reaching behind him for his spear on instinct. But he just remembered it wasn't there, either. "Ah, it's not there."
"Question, Sodoko!" Noriko began as she lifted up her uniform shirt. She apparently had her usual gym clothes underneath. "Is it okay to wear gym clothes underneath?!"
"Huh?" Sodoko wondered. "Well, I guess that's fine."
"Great!" Noriko responded as she put her shirt back into its previous state.
"That's all you care about?" Ron muttered in wonder at Noriko's question.
"With this, Ooarai's dignity has been preserved!" Lemu proclaimed. "Ah, so pleasant!" He then turned away with the rest of the committee to leave.
"Continue being good kids!" Sodoko responded in a similar mood as she began to walk off.
"Grrr! How about I blow your D.520 apart in training with a 50 mm Minengeschoß..." Wolf growled with clenched fists and teeth as the Public Morals Committee started to leave.
"Let's fucking do it!" Ron agreed with a passion as he swung his fist about.
"We'll be fine without the Ki-10," Leonidas spoke to Wolf. "He can't catch up to him anyway."
Before the Public Morals Committee could fully leave, Erich and Miho had approached them.
"Guys, I don't mean to tell you how to do your job, but isn't this being a little too harsh?" Erich asked. The committee stopped to look back at the two of them. "This is going to really affect morale for all of us."
Lemu then grew a dark look as he stared at the two of them.
"Er… Lemu?" Erich tried. Miho looked on at the committee with a lost look.
"Hair color, accessories!" Lemu barked at Erich and Miho as he pointed to the two of them. He then pointed in such a way as to dismiss someone. "Out!"
"What?!" Miho reacted in fear as she stepped back with a start. Erich just stared on at Lemu in confusion. "Ah!" Miho then yelped as she was grabbed from behind by Satiainen.
At the same time, Erich also felt someone try to grab him from behind, and he instinctively slammed his head backwards to break free. He had struck Kolari's head with his own and forced him to stumble back as he grabbed his head in pain. Lemu turned back to Erich in surprise.
Lemu then ran toward him in anger as he tried throwing a punch at him, but Erich ducked and sidestepped to escape his flying punch. After Lemu flew past and Erich placed himself behind him, Erich then threw a quick chop at Lemu's neck to stun him. It worked as Lemu stumbled and fell to the ground. As he tried to get up again, he heard the sound of a gun's bolt being cycled to ready, which stopped him dead in his tracks.
Lemu looked behind him to see Erich behind with his Sturmgewehr 44 drawn and pointed directly at him. Erich held a professional stance with his rifle that suggested he was already highly trained with it as he looked at Lemu with a cold stare. The Sturmgewehr itself was already loaded with a magazine containing thirty rubber bullets in the assault rifle's 7.92x33mm Kurz cartridge size.
"You better order him to let her go," Erich gave Lemu his ultimatum. "Otherwise you're a dead man."
"The school's benefactors won't overlook this!" Lemu retorted with a cocky grin. "Everyone is already on their way to get you!"
As he said, hundreds of members of the committee started lining up at the front of the hangars by the hangar doors. Erich looked around the hangar and found each and every hangar door get blocked off by members of the committee. Lemu continued looking on at Erich with his cocky grin.
"Bubi!" Erich heard Miho call out. He looked over to her to find her being held in a full nelson by Satiainen. Erich instinctively tried targeting Satiainen, but he stopped after realizing he would end up hitting Miho. "Get out of here! Don't worry about me!"
Erich looked back to the exits and to Miho as he tried deciding on what to do. He didn't much like being put in the position he was currently in, with deciding between the well being of himself and that of Miho.
During that time, Lemu had gotten up fully and stood at his same position with his same cocky grin. "Everyone, get him!" he ordered as he pointed at Erich.
Erich then saw the members blocking off the hangar doors start advancing toward him. Erich looked back to Miho with a more troubled look as she continued being held in a full nelson by Satiainen. Miho once again motioned for him to go on and leave her behind as she looked over to the closed side doors. Erich hesitated a bit before he nodded in regretful acceptance.
He then hardened and started off into a sprint over to one of the side doors for the hangars. He saw the door open up and reveal several more members behind it advancing to him. In response, he raised his Sturmgewehr and opened fire at them. Erich dropped all of them within the seconds it took to empty the magazine. He then sprinted through the now cleared doorway as he reloaded the assault rifle with a fresh magazine from his jacket before he drew back the bolt again to chamber a round and ready the gun.
He looked back to find all of the Public Morals Committee members running after him with Lemu standing back at the hangar entrance Erich had exited. Lemu was looking on at the manhunt he ordered as he held his cocky grin.
"With Madam President's approval, we can do anything we wish!" Lemu proclaimed for everyone to hear. He then performed an evil laugh as he raised his hands in an appropriate way to fit the laugh.
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Authority can drive people mad. After the gunfight at the hangars, the management of the Public Morals Committee suddenly became much more vigorous. They justified their most recent changes to the school rules by presenting the hangar shootout as proof that the school needed more strict regulations.
Originally, it was planned for there to be just one week of reinforced public morals, which were solely meant to target the intolerable violators. However, with the Public Morals Committee Chairman Lenard Mulberry and Chairwoman Midoriko Sono wielding the big sticks of authority, their visions for a master set of morals would soon shape themselves into oppression for all.
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After escaping the rest of the committee members, Erich was hiding out atop one of the buildings with his Sturmgewehr ready to go in a second. He kept his right hand around the pistol grip and the stock against his shoulder with the gun pointed down. He was now holding his GwZF4-fach with his left hand as he used it to scan the streets below for any of the committee members that were ordered to hunt him down.
He soon spotted Miho, Saori, and Anton being heavily escorted by other committee members into the Akiyama Barber Shop. Miho especially had many escorts around her, so as to make sure she didn't contact her lover that was also currently their main target. All of them looked defeated and hopeless as they were escorted along. He could guess that they were getting their hair dyed black like Lemu and Sodoko had determined for their new master set of morals.
"Don't worry," Erich quietly spoke as he looked on at them. "I'll save you all from this Nazismus..." He then dropped his scope down again to hang around his neck. He brought his Sturmgewehr to the ready as he went back into the shadows and continued moving on to throw the committee off his trail.
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The oppression of the Public Morals Committee went so far as to include those who had never done any wrong in their time at Ooarai. Such innocent victims included Christoph and Julius, who had never done any wrong during their short time at Ooarai. Nevertheless, they were among the many to be taken away by the committee. The official reason for their 'arrests' was because of their inappropriate hair colors. Inappropriate hair color or offensive attire suddenly became the de facto reason for these arrests of innocent people.
Many bans were also instituted by the Public Morals Committee. Bans existed on things such as buying and immediately consuming sweets, loitering, study attitudes, and eating habits. Soon, the bans grew to include things like personal tastes.
Lemu's and Sodoko's master set of morals were soon proudly posted everywhere to inform everyone of what they were now expected to do. Those who disobeyed would face internment and even forced labor as punishments.
That still wasn't enough for the committee, so they also eventually started interfering with people's private lives, as well. However, an authority that goes too far will simultaneously give rise to resistance forces…
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One evening, Erich was in Anzu's office to speak with her. He had his Sturmgewehr with him on his back as he stood before the President's desk.
"Please, Anzu," Erich requested. "We have to stop them. These… Führer," he spat out the term derisively, "are going way too far! They're having people arrested left and right for simply having different color hair! The entire committee is all acting like they're under Nazionalsozialismus! Those committee members are practically Schutzstaffel now!"
"It seems like they've gone too far, then…" Anzu mused as she sat within her chair. She was looking the opposite way out the window behind her as the sun continued setting.
"Definitely," Erich confirmed. "They must be stopped. I refuse to let them oppress anyone like that."
"Alright," Anzu determined. She then turned around to face Erich and look directly at him. "You have the go to initiate Unternehmen Walküre."
Erich lost his previous attitude as he blinked in confusion upon hearing Anzu pronounce Unternehmen Walküre as any other German would. He was, however, able to immediately recognize the dialect as being Bavarian. He then tried something to be sure of himself. "Warte eine Minute, seit wann kennst du Deutsch?" he asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Aprikose habt mich gelehrt," Anzu revealed with her typical grin. Her German was flawless, but it was once again spoken in a Bavarian dialect.
Erich blinked again in response to seeing her speak his native tongue flawlessly, along with learning how she was even able to in the first place. "Wait, so you're both growing closer to each other?" he asked with a mischievous grin. "What's going on there?"
Anzu grew a blush and looked away with an embarrassed look. "… Nothing for you to know…" she responded amidst her state. She then recovered her previous demeanor and looked at Erich again. "Anyway, you have your orders, Erich. Your troops await you."
Erich snapped into a straight stance as he shuffled his feet. "Jawohl, Fräulein Präsident!" he confirmed as he brought his hand up to his eyebrow and saluted her.
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Later after the sky went dark, Lemu had started to settle into his bed as he prepared to sleep. His Public Morals Committee armband was proudly placed on the nightstand beside his bed.
"Ah, so many people disobeying the school rules," he commented as he closed his eyes. "They'll all be indoctrinated soon enough, though…"
As he entered his sleep, he did not notice his apartment door start opening quietly. Behind the door was Erich in his usual clothing. Since it was mostly black, he blended in well with the darkness. He also had his Sturmgewehr at the ready as he entered and scanned the apartment with it for any other hostiles.
He then pointed his assault rifle at the sleeping Lemu as he silently approached him. Upon reaching him, he saw Lemu move a bit before he tiredly opened his eyes. Erich quickly reacted to the sight.
"Huh?" Lemu wondered sleepily. He then widened his eyes upon seeing who was above him, and he tried to cry out, but he was too late. Erich quickly slammed the butt of his Sturmgewehr down onto his head and knocked him out, which kept him silenced.
Erich then approached the door with his assault rifle at the ready as he opened the door and peeked out of it both ways. Upon seeing the surrounding area in the apartment complex clear, he went back over to Lemu. He used his left arm and hoisted Lemu up. He supported him with his left arm around his upper back under his armpits and with Lemu's right arm around his own shoulders. Erich dragged him out of his place in that state. His Sturmgewehr was also at the ready in his right hand in case he ran into trouble.
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Meanwhile over at Sodoko's place, the four history girls were just outside awaiting someone's arrival. Finally, they spotted the one they had been looking for.
"There you are," Erwin noted upon spotting Erich walk over supporting the still unconscious Lemu. "Any difficulties?"
"Nein, alles klar," Erich replied.
"Gut." Erwin then turned to the other girls there. "Alright, let's infiltrate. It's time for a 20th of July."
And so everyone there quietly entered Sodoko's apartment.
"That's against school regulations," Sodoko was heard. Everyone froze upon hearing her. Saemonza chose to risk getting a look at her, and she found her still asleep. Sodoko had muttered her phrase in her sleep.
Saemonza gave the all-clear signal to the rest, and everyone moved forth to her bed. They then began implementing their plan.
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Later as the sun began to rise the next morning, the resistance members that had performed Unternehmen Walküre were by then gone without a trace.
"Uwah, that was a good sleep…" Sodoko commented while she woke up. "Well, it's another day to crack down on violators…" she noted while rubbing her eyes.
She then fully woke up and looked around her room.
"Wh-What the hell?!" she started in surprise. She saw Lemu laying on her bed beside her with almost nothing on him.
Her start was enough to wake up Lemu, and he woke with a start. "Wh-What?!" he started as he shot up. He then looked around and widened his eyes in great surprise.
Sodoko then chose to look more at herself. She found herself in a very slutty outfit that consisted of very short shorts and a top that was way too short to cover the midriff. She also had her hair styled in a huge poof of hair as she had extreme amounts of makeup applied to her face. She also had skanky and mismatched earrings hanging from her earlobes.
"Hello, it's the press!" they heard Taiga Ou greet as she entered Sodoko's apartment. The two Public Morals Committee leaders quickly turned over to her in response as she approached. "There are rumors floating around that the Public Morals Committee Chairpersons are actually-Wait, that's it! Scoop! Scoop!" She soon spotted Lemu and Sodoko in their current state and started furiously taking pictures of them. Both of the committee leaders tried resisting, but it was all in vain.
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Later that morning, one of those pictures appeared on the front page of the Ooarai Spot. It was one where both Lemu and Sodoko were trying to shy away from the camera with their hands. The scoop it was in was one that ended up serving to humiliate the Public Morals Committee.
Below it were two more pieces. One was about Anzu and Aprikose. That article was about what the two Ooarai Presidents were supposedly doing with each other all day. Another article was guest-written by Mako and David. It was one where they wished for the days of old when Lemu and Sodoko were less powerful.
"Now that freedom and peace have come back to our school…" Erich commented as he stared at the same newspaper in his hand. "It seems like that was the right thing to do after all."
He then looked up from the paper to across the table from him. He was in his shared apartment along with the other person who lived there. "Isn't that right, Miholein?" he said with his calm smile.
"Absolutely," Miho replied from across the table with a smile typical of her. She now appeared as she normally did. She was her typical cheerful self and no longer had her hair dyed black. Instead, it was its natural light brown color.
She then reached over and softly held his hand with one of her own. "It's all thanks to you, mein Held," she told him with her everlasting kindness.
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Next time, it's the central colors and Anzio!
Part of Projekt Jägermeistern.
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The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer" or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. Any references made belong to their respective owners.
Feel free to ask any questions if you have them. Please note, however, that questions asked without being signed in will not be answered. The author would prefer to address questions outside of the story, and leaving questions while signed in provides that ability.