The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Sechzehn: Es sind die Bedingungen in Anzio!
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Over aboard the Aquila, the folks from Anzio were having a snack in their cafeteria. It was hard to tell whether it was just a snack or if it was a full-blown meal because of how large the servings were. The servings themselves were pasta, of course.
In her usual outfit as Il Duce of Anzio, Anchovy was walking around carrying her tray to find a seat. "Ah, today's pasta appears as tasty as it always is!" she remarked in satisfaction.
"Ehi!" someone called out to her. "Duce!"
Anchovy looked over to the call and found someone at a table waving a hand, as if beckoning her their location. She saw and started over to the table upon recognizing who had waved.
The one who had waved the hand was Franco, Anzio's Comandante, and at the table also were Pepperoni, Carpaccio, Furio, and Fernando. All were in their usual Anzio uniforms, and Franco had his unique outfit as Il Comandante.
"Ciao, guys," Anchovy greeted them all with a friendly look as she took a seat there. She took a seat between Pepperoni and Carpaccio. On the other side of the table was Franco in between Furio and Fernando.
"Ciao," they all greeted in a friendly way as well.
"Now," Franco began as he stuck his fork in his pasta. He now had a grin on his face. "Buon appetito!"
"Buon appetito!" the others similarly stated with eager looks, and they all dug into their delicious pasta.
But Anchovy soon widened her eyes as she made a sound much like a "Hm?" sound, but it was distorted with her mouth full. She reacted that way because she tasted another thing in the pasta that she didn't find too appetizing.
She then took to separating the element she had tasted from the pasta, and she set them on a plate to the side. 'I don't really like carrots…' she thought with a queasy face as she held another carrot on a fork.
The other five around her noticed, and Franco grew an idea as he tapped the shoulders of Furio and Fernando with a light smack, as if beckoning them. He grew a grin as he looked to them both, and through that grin was his plan also conveyed to the other two. They grew grins as well when they comprehended.
"Duce! Duce!" Franco started chanting.
"Duce! Duce!" Furio and Fernando joined in as well. Anchovy grew some raised eyebrows from surprise at the chants.
"Duce! Duce!" Carpaccio joined from beside Anchovy.
"Duce! Duce!" Pepperoni joined with the chanting. She and the guys began to pump their fists up with their chanting as well. Anchovy was by now getting nervous at hearing the chants as more people joined.
"Duce! Duce!" Many in the cafeteria were now involved in the chanting, which included using their fists to emphasize the chanting. The cafeteria now was filled with chants for Anchovy as they egged her on, and leading the chanting was Franco, who was now standing up with one foot on his seat.
"Duce! Duce!" Anchovy now was also standing up as she grew stage fright from everyone chanting her on to eat the carrot. She was sweating a bit as the fork in her hand shook ever so slightly from her nerves.
"Duce! Duce!" Finally, Anchovy, reluctantly, decided to give in to the peer pressure, and she quickly munched down the carrot to avoid tasting it if possible.
"Urrà!" everyone cheered for her as they started to clap in congratulations. Meanwhile, Anchovy had a real queasy and scrunched up face from the taste of that carrot she ate.
In other words, it was just another peaceful day in Anzio High School.
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After the snack/lunch/whatever meal it really was, Anchovy was standing before all the students of Anzio. With her at the front were Pepperoni, Carpaccio, Franco, Furio, and Fernando.
Furio and Fernando were each counting the heads of the crowd to make sure everyone was there and that there was no one trying to desert. After several seconds, they nodded in satisfaction with similar grins of satisfaction and turned to Carpaccio.
"All the boys are here," Furio informed first.
"I don't see any girls missing from here," Fernando informed.
Carpaccio nodded and grew a gentle grin. "Bene, grazie," she responded in kind. She then turned to Anchovy. "Duce, everyone is here."
Anchovy nodded with a satisfied and confident grin. "Bene," she remarked. She then glanced to Pepperoni. "Pepperoni, if you would?"
"Si!" Pepperoni responded, and she turned to the crowd. "Attenzione al Duce!" she broadcast with a loud voice so the crowd would hear.
The entire crowd held their attention to everyone at the front, as instructed.
"Very well," Anchovy remarked in satisfaction. "Now then, il comandante and I will go over today's agenda with you all." Anchovy glanced over to Franco in implication. "Comandante?"
Franco took the cue and took out a piece of paper. He held it up for everyone to see. "For those who haven't yet turned in their attendance sheets for this weekend's party, hurry up!" he informed. "Especially for those that want pasta!"
"Urrà!" the crowd cheered in agreement with plenty of raised fists. Such is the love for pasta in Anzio.
"We're gonna have to be stingy this time," Franco continued with the agenda. "So make sure to properly put in the ingredients. That way we can all enjoy-"
"Comandante!" someone called out with a raised hand.
"Eh?" Franco wondered in confusion at someone wanting to ask something. He was also lost about wondering if it was important enough for an interruption.
"A request?" Anchovy quietly said to herself as she grew a look of intrigue. She had some interest in what the question was.
"What is it?" Franco permitted.
"I'm gonna become a student in Ooarai," they said with no sign that they were joking.
Everyone at the front all grew silent, and they grew blank looks as they processed the seemingly random statement.
Finally, Franco and Anchovy broke it. "Cosaaaaa?!" both of them went in shock.
"What's with those kinds of words coming out of nowhere?!" Franco questioned in disbelief.
"Didn't you like the pasta from yesterday evening?!" Anchovy asked with a similar tone of not wanting to believe what she just heard.
"Yeeeeeaaaaaah, how do I put this…" the one who said the random statement voiced as they thought. Many other people in the crowd started to chat amongst each other.
"Doesn't it seem like they're richer than we are?" one wondered.
"Ah, yeah, I know what you mean," another replied to them.
"The amount of war materiel they had increased all of a sudden, no?" another wondered in relation.
"Maybe the Nishizumis and Hartmanns send them money?" another guessed to the materiel question.
"Uh…" Franco went. He and Anchovy had somewhat panicked looks at hearing many of their fellow schoolmates talking about Ooarai so favorably.
"There were many ladylike girls there," one remarked.
"There were also a lot of true gentlemen there," another said.
"But there were a lot of strange ones around there, too," someone else noted.
"Yeah, I heard one of their comandanti is really odd," another voiced.
"But some of those freshmen were really cute," another said.
"They've got to have some tasty food there, no?" another asked.
"Oh, yeah! Nice catch!" another commented.
"Um, wait…" Anchovy tried to gather everyone's attention, but she was unable to.
"Hey, I'm sure they've got an anglerfish stew food stall!" one person mentioned. Many of the Anzio students were gathering together now off to the side as if about to leave. Franco and Anchovy started panicking a bit more at that, but they couldn't do much about it.
"Oh, no way! I wanna eat that!" another replied to them.
"I wonder if it's free? It would be nice if it was," another voiced.
"I wonder what they have for snack time?" another wondered.
"Well, I heard that the local specialty there is sweet potatoes," another noted.
"Oh, I love fried potatoes," another opined.
"They'll bring out potatoes! They'll bring out tons of them, for sure! After all, they're rich!" another spoke up with enthusiasm.
"All right, then let's go!" another proclaimed.
"Yeah! Let's go!" the others of the crowd agreed, and they all started off away from those that had called their attention.
"Fu-Furio, what do I do…?" Franco practically begged for help as he turned to face Furio. "They've all become Ooarai folks now since they're way too honest with themselves…"
"I know, what a bunch of troublesome folks," Furio agreed. But Franco did not respond verbally as he stood there with his mouth hung open at Furio's current attire.
What Furio was currently wearing was one of the Ooarai boys' uniforms. Anchovy meanwhile was looking around for Carpaccio, who had disappeared for the moment.
"… Just what the hell, Furio…?" Franco finally asked with a look of betrayal on his face.
"Oh, you're wondering how I got this?" Furio asked as he gestured to the Ooarai uniform he was wearing. "Well, suffice it to say that I know a guy."
"Carpaccio, what's up with that uniform…?" Anchovy spoke up with a look of exasperation on her face as she slumped a bit. The others turned to her and found Carpaccio had come back. But this time, she was in a girls' uniform for Ooarai.
Franco blinked in response. "Even the girl most honest with her feelings…?" he lamented upon seeing her as he slumped his shoulders.
"Well…" Carpaccio began as she flipped her hair with a hand. "Through a certain someone I know, I met a certain gentleman who happened to live there, and they arranged to have one lent to me." She ended with putting her hand to her chest in a gesture to herself.
She then grew a bit of a dreamy look as she imagined a particular boy that often wore a breastplate and wielded a spear standing in a heroic pose, as if awaiting a battle. Carpaccio sighed dreamily as she imagined said person. "I can practically smell his distinct Spartan scent…" she sighed in bliss.
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Aboard the Zuikaku in the house of a certain group of history buffs, Oryou sneezed. She was still in her sleepwear for the moment in her room.
"Hey, what's up Oryou?" Saemonza spoke up from nearby. "Hurry up and get dressed. The others are waiting for us to spring into action." She currently had a red towel around her body along with another similar towel on her head. The towel on her head featured the Sanada clan's emblem.
"I can't seem to find my uniform, though…" Oryou responded as she looked through various drawers to try and find a uniform for her. "I know one set is in the laundry, but where did my spare go?"
"Ah, so that was Oryou's…" Caesar spoke up at the door with some revelation in her voice. She was ready to go in her usual outfit. "I thought it wasn't being used, so I borrowed it for a bit. Leonidas said he wanted to lend it to someone."
"Hey, you girls ready yet?" Leonidas asked as he came to the doorway. He was also ready to go in his usual outfit. Along with him also came Gustav, but he wasn't at all ready to go. He was in just his sleepwear.
Leonidas stopped when he noticed Oryou. "Oh, so that was yours…" he realized. He then waved off. "Well, don't worry about it. At least Gustav won't be alone in heading out without a uniform."
"I just don't give a fuck anymore," he said with lowered eyebrows. He looked like he was just done with dealing with the random things everyone there did, and the girls could see that.
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Back aboard the Aquila, Carpaccio had just gotten out of her little fantasy and now addressed Anchovy. "And with that, I've got a date waiting for me!" she told her with a happy tone. "Ciao!" She then grabbed Furio by the arm. "Come on, Furio, or we're gonna be late!"
As the two ran off with some eagerness, Furio offered a farewell wave with his other arm. "Ciao!" he called out before they disappeared.
"Traitors!" both Anchovy and Franco yelled back with clear displeasure for them. Franco then lit up as he remembered some particular people.
"Pepperoni! Fernando!" he called out as he turned to them. "At least you two will stay, right?!"
Both Fernando and Pepperoni had their arms crossed as they faced away from Franco and Anchovy. They did not respond to Franco.
"Pepperoni?" Anchovy asked this time. She was lost as to why Pepperoni didn't respond.
"Comandante…" Fernando began as he turned to Franco. He grew a face of frustrated determination. "There seems to be something called 'SC-katsu' in Ooarai! Pepperoni and I tried to make one of those, but we failed…"
"No matter what," Pepperoni continued as she made a fist. She held a similar frustrated expression. "It just proved to be impossible to get it to the size of an SC 1000!"
"That's because you're thinking about it all wrong!" Anchovy yelled at the two of them. "And what kind of meat did you even use for it?!"
"Ah, don't worry about it," Fernando waved off as he grew a more confident look. "We're gonna try to steal the recipe for it, so just enjoy yourselves for the moment!"
"Ciao, amici!" Pepperoni responded as she gave an enthusiastic salute before she and Fernando ran off to get on with their self-determined mission.
"Wait!" both Anchovy and Franco called out to them as they waved their hands in a gesture for them not to go.
"Please just try and think with your heads for once!" Franco yelled out at them.
Both Franco and Anchovy then looked around them and found that there was nobody left besides them. They sunk to their knees in despair. "E-Everyone…" they half-heartedly called one last time, but such a call had no effect. They were now all alone.
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Later on, two Alenia C-27Js with the Anzio school markings and inscriptions of 'Anzio Aereo Stormo' at the nose were flying west over the Atlantic Ocean searching out the Zuikaku. They were heading there for another regular trade of supplies and resources between schools. Within each of the transports could be heard a lot of eager chatter that sounded distinctly Italian.
"Man, today's stowaways are awfully noisy, huh?" one of the pilots commented over the radio.
"Yeah, I wonder what they've got planned this time," the other thought aloud.
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Later on aboard the Zuikaku, all of the stowaways from the C-27Js were now running through Ooarai High School's halls as they searched for the cafeteria. Why they were searching for the cafeteria was because those stowaways were all students from Anzio, and as such, they simply loved food too much to ever ignore it. All of those Anzio students were by now wearing Ooarai's school uniforms, with each gender wearing the respective boys' or girls' uniforms.
"Ehi! Over there!" one of them called out as they pointed to some doors. The Anzio group stormed over there, and they all gasped in delight upon seeing what the Ooarai cafeteria was like beyond the doors.
"Wow! Their cafeteria is so spacious!" one remarked in glee. Ooarai's cafeteria was not too special in size, but each table had plenty of space between them and was plenty big enough, and there were definitive columns of tables. Between those columns were spaces that were large enough to have people walk through them with ease.
"They don't have to save electricity!" another observed. Indeed, all of the overhead lights and other electrical items in Ooarai's cafeteria were all on.
"How modern!" another noted. There were a handful of actual Ooarai students currently eating in the cafeteria or otherwise in the area.
"The air conditioning actually works here!" another noticed. None of the Anzio students were sweating or otherwise feeling hot, because Ooarai did have air conditioning in their cafeteria.
"They're rich! It's a school for the rich!" another claimed. Ooarai was in actuality a far cry from rich, but compared to Anzio and in the eyes of their students, it certainly was.
"There's even a piano!" another went. There was indeed a piano in the cafeteria. It was on a stage at the very front where the Anzio students were. Also on that stage was a rolling chalkboard.
"Oh, there's something like a TV over there!" another pointed out. What they were referring to was one of the display screens on one of the pillars. Those screens were also used for announcements.
By this time, many of the Anzio crowd had started storming the serving lines, effectively pillaging the food there with how enthusiastic they were now.
"The seafood is so tasty!" one went in delight as they ate out of their bowl.
"Their nattou is really good!" another observed as they ate their own food.
"There's some real cute girls there!" another went. Some of the Italian boys there had already caught sight of girls they found to be very cute, and they let the rest know of that. So honest are they with their feelings.
"Ooarai, fuck yeah!" all of them called out together with an unrivaled amount of enthusiasm. "Urrà!"
From near the serving lines, two particular people were watching all of the Anzio students with somewhat puzzled looks. The reason behind that was because they did not know that they were in fact students of Anzio, since they all currently wore the Ooarai uniforms.
"… Is it just me, or do we have a lot of people acting very differently today?" Erich asked as he looked on at the so-called 'Ooarai' students alongside Miho. Both of them were in their normal school outfits.
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Elsewhere, Carpaccio had just run into a particular boy she had been searching out ever since Caesar told her about him.
"Ahh, it's you, my fearless Leonidas…" she sighed in delight as she held both of her hands in Leonidas' own. Both had an Ooarai uniform on, but Leonidas had his usual apparel to go with his.
"Ah, so this is the famous Carpaccio I've heard so much about…" Leonidas remarked with a grin that had lowered eyebrows. "Well, it seems to me that she's a really naughty girl, and that she needs to be punished…"
"I just had to see you so badly, Leonidas…" Carpaccio responded with a dreamy voice as her face came closer to Leonidas'. "Punish me… I want you to punish me for it…"
"You better believe that I'll punish you…" Leonidas told her in a sultry voice as he brought his own face closer. Carpaccio giggled and moved to press herself against him.
Meanwhile, three particular people were watching from behind a nearby corner. They were the rest of the history boys. Gustav was distinct for not having his usual outfit like the others did. Instead, he was wearing a blue sweater that had a yellow Nordic Cross with the crossbar closer to the top along with some similar blue pants with a yellow stripe running up the sides.
"Haven't we seen that guy somewhere before?" Abe wondered.
"Isn't that guy a history buff that we know?" Wolf similarly wondered. "From the Balkans or somewhere around there…?"
"I can't tell," Gustav said. "The whole thing appears different from what I usually see."
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Elsewhere in a gym, there was an intense game of badminton that was just about to start.
"Alright, here it comes!" Fernando called out on one side of the net as he got ready to serve the shuttlecock. He was now in some gym clothes, which were mainly a white t-shirt and black baggy shorts.
"Alright!" the other badminton guys distributed throughout the makeshift court in the gym responded affirmative.
"Serve's up!" Fernando called out as he tossed the shuttlecock up and served it. It was a decently powerful serve, and Ron took notice. In the meantime, Alex hit the shuttlecock and returned the serve.
"You!" Ron said as he looked over to Fernando. He paused to hit the shuttlecock back. "You've got some good skill! Nice guts you have there!"
"Thanks!" Franco responded as he prepared to receive the next return. He then mentally stopped himself as he grew a lost look. "Wait a second… How did I get to this point again?" He was still in good enough condition to return the shuttlecock and continue the rally, which he did. "And why did I even come here, anyway?"
But he forgot about why he had come there and dropped the whole idea when he saw the shuttlecock get returned. "Ah, whatever!" he dismissed as he moved and returned it to continue the rally.
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Meanwhile back aboard the Aquila, Franco and Anchovy were walking around the school's halls with a very gloomy mood. They couldn't find anything they could normally do since many of the Anzio students left for Ooarai.
Finally, Franco stopped as he grew an idea. "Wait, I know what we can do!" he voiced.
"What is it?" Anchovy responded without any enthusiasm.
"Maybe if we make some tasty pasta, then they'll all come back!" Franco suggested with confidence.
Anchovy lit up as she processed the idea, and she soon grew an enthusiastic look as she turned to Franco. "You're a genius, Franco!" she praised. She then turned and pointed onwards. "To the kitchen! We have pasta to make!"
"Si!" Franco responded affirmative as both started running for the kitchen.
They soon arrived at the school's kitchen. Franco got there first and quickly took off his cape as he grabbed two cooking aprons off a hook. Both were light green, but one had P40 on it with a heart between the 'P' and the '4.' The other had G.55 on it with a centaur stylized below it.
He tossed the P40 apron over to Anchovy just behind him, and he quickly slipped on and tied the G.55 apron around his body. Anchovy caught her apron and quickly shed her mantle before putting on the apron and tying it. Both of them were by now highly motivated.
"Hey, where did the usual pots go?" Franco noticed when he arrived at the ovens and stoves. He then called out on instinct, "Ehi, Furio! Carpaccio!" But he took a second to stop and look around, and he depressingly remembered that neither of them were there. "… aren't here…"
"Well, let's get with making the salad!" Anchovy suggested to keep the mood up. She then turned on instinct to look behind her from the cutting boards. "Help me wash the vegetables, Pepperoni! Fernando!" But she then grew depressed when it registered in her mind that they weren't there, either. "… who aren't here, either…"
Both Anchovy and Franco took off their aprons without much energy to cook anymore. They just dropped them right there and left the kitchen with their heads hung in depression.
They exited the school and walked through the neighborhood aboard until they entered an apartment complex. Anchovy soon opened one door with a key and entered with Franco. This was her apartment. It was quite bare of decoration as a consequence of Anzio's poor status.
Finally, the two of them soon dropped down to the ground in depression. Anchovy hugged her knees as she sat on the floor while Franco lied beside her all sprawled out as he looked to the ceiling. Both had depressed looks from having nobody left at the school besides each other.
"Now that everyone's gone…" Anchovy muttered. "… It's all quiet…"
"Yeah…" Franco absentmindedly agreed. He soon sat up and looked over to Anchovy. "It may not be a great idea, but we could try and follow after them," he suggested. "I mean…" He looked around the room. "… There's really nothing better to do here."
Anchovy looked down in depressed thought. Finally, she sighed. "Fine," she acquiesced. "Let's get our uniforms."
Franco nodded. "Alright," he confirmed as he stood up. "I'll be back in a bit after getting mine." He then left the apartment.
Anchovy then went over to a drawer chest and rummaged through it for a bit until she pulled out some clothing. She hesitated for a bit as she thought about whether to do what Franco suggested or not. The clothes she was holding were clothes that together made up the Ooarai school uniform.
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Back at the Zuikaku, things were proceeding just as predicted with a group of unruly Italians. Some of them were for now hitting on some of the Ooarai students.
"Mio dio, heaven must be in a huge uproar right now," one of the Anzio guys began to one of the Ooarai girls in a flirty voice. "After all, their cutest angel is missing from there." The girl he was flirting with was clearly entranced by him if her embarrassed grin full with a blush was anything to go by.
"Eeeeeeeh?!" one of the Anzio students went in shock. Some of the other Anzio students had their attention drawn to the student in response.
"What's up?" one of them asked as a few gathered around the Anzio student that had cried out. Said student was currently very unsteady in their balance, which seemed to have resulted from whatever it was that they figured out. Whatever it was, it had a profound impact.
"Was there a fight?" another asked.
"You got hit on?" another questioned.
"In Ooarai…" the stunned one began. "… There's no snack time…"
"Cosaaaaaa?!" the other Anzio group went in disbelief. They absolutely could not believe that Ooarai had no snack time.
"N-Not even once?!" one asked in disbelief.
"But wouldn't that cause the Ooarai folks to starve?!" another questioned in similar disbelief.
"Speaking of that, I don't see any food stalls up, either…" another noted as they looked around.
"Huh? Food stalls?" Lemu wondered with a raised eyebrow. He was nearby with the rest of the Public Morals Committee. "Well, today's not a festival day, so of course there aren't any."
Sodoko grew a suspicious look as she looked more closely at the Anzio group. She didn't know they actually were Anzio students because of their Ooarai uniforms, but she had a suspicion that those particular 'Ooarai' students were not normal. "Wait a minute…" she began. "I don't think I've seen you all before…"
"Ehi, everyone!" one of the 'Ooarai' students called out as he ran over with a plate of pasta. The others of the same group turned to face him. "Something terrible has happened!"
"Cosa? Cosa?" many of the Anzio students asked as they gathered to him.
"T-The ship…" he began with dread. "… Has run out of pasta!"
"Cosa diavolo?!" many of the students went in shock.
"T-The pasta is…?" one of them fearfully tried, but they couldn't finish the question. The question itself was simply too scary for them to finish.
"Just what are we supposed to eat now?!" one of them demanded.
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A little later, Pfirsich was walking alone through the lower decks where all was quiet except for his own footsteps against the metal floor. Like the other Ooarai folks now, he also had his uniform on, but he also carried a small notebook with him.
As he walked through the lower decks, he soon started to hear some voices. He grew a raised eyebrow in curiosity, and he chose to follow the sound. He followed it all the way to one of the storage rooms. Said room currently had its door opened, and he stopped in the doorway.
"Hey!" he called out. "I didn't receive any requests for anything here today."
There was a number of people inside currently messing with a lot of what was in the room, which held a resemblance to food.
"Hey, what are you all doing?!" Pfirsich barked when they didn't respond to him.
This time, he was met with a response, but it was one that he didn't expect.
"Ha?!" he went in surprise when a long string of bundled noodles was whipped around one of his arms.
"Pastaaaaa…" the people inside the room said with a trance-like voice. All of them were the Anzio students. They were currently raiding the room in search of more pasta. Among the foods to be looted were some pizza dough, ketchup, and general noodles. "Pastaaaaa…"
"Why don't we turn you into pasta as well…" one of them suggested in their trance-like voice as many hands reached out for Pfirsich. Some of those hands also held noodles.
Pfirsich was breathing heavily now as he grew to be terrified by the Anzio crowd closing in on him with a massive glint in all of their eyes. "Pastaaaaa…" they went again in their trance-like voices.
"Aaaaaaaaaah!" Pfirsich was last heard yelling out. The yell echoed through all of the nearby halls below deck, and all that could be heard was mushing and whipping sounds mixed with a distinct impacting-with-flesh sound.
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On the top deck in the gym, the badminton folks were all taking a breather as they relaxed. Fernando was still there, and he was currently drying up his face from the sweat with a towel.
"Ah…" he sighed. "I sure broke a real sweat there."
"Hey, take one of these!" Alex offered as he tossed over a drink.
"Ah, grazie," Fernando thanked as he caught it. He popped the cap and took a swig.
"By the way," Alex began as he took a rest beside Fernando. "I don't think I've seen you here before. What class are ya from?"
"Oh, me?" Fernando asked as he stopped drinking. "I'm from Anzio. Name's Fernando."
Both of them then lied back onto the floor and relaxed for a bit. But after several seconds, they both rose up and looked to each other. "Huh?" both went with blank looks when their situation finally sunk into their heads.
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Elsewhere in the halls, Carpaccio and Leonidas were still having a lot of 'fun' with each other, and the history boys were still looking on. At the moment, Carpaccio was fully lip-locked with Leonidas, and the two were moving around quite a bit as they held a struggle for power between each other. They both wanted to gain the dominating position over the other.
As a consequence, they were not paying attention to anything besides that, which included them not paying attention to their surroundings. Carpaccio soon ended up bumping into someone behind her, and she and Leonidas immediately separated.
"Oh, I'm sor-" she began as she turned to who she collided with, but she then noticed who exactly she had bumped into and stopped herself. It was Caesar and Furio, who were, ironically, just previously in a similar scenario as Carpaccio and Leonidas.
As the two pairs both registered what had just happened while looking to each other, Carpaccio and Furio grew dark looks aimed at Caesar and Leonidas respectfully. They were utterly pissed that their friends interrupted their specific moments of enjoyment.
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A little later, there were four CV.33s barreling through the streets aboard the Zuikaku at top speed. All of them had a large number of Anzio students on top of each of them.
Behind them and giving chase were Ooarai's Jagdpanzer 38(t), I-Go otsu, Char B1bis, and Type 94. All of their crew members had on their normal Ooarai school outfits.
"So you all were outsiders after all!" Sodoko yelled out at the Anzio students within her Char B1bis. "Capture them! Capture them!" She fired her 47 mm SA 35 gun at the CV.33s.
The shell missed as the Italian tankettes took evasive maneuvers, and the shell simply hit a wall and broke it apart. The chase rounded another corner, which took them through one of the neighborhoods of apartment complexes. The Anzio students atop the tankettes were hanging on with determination as the chase continued.
"It doesn't matter if you're from somewhere else!" Ron called out from the Type 94, which was at the front of the pursuing group and currently passing the CV.33s to get a shot on them. "Just join our club!"
"We have a hostage!" one of the Anzio folks yelled back, and the CV.33 group turned off on another street, leaving behind the Type 94.
"Just shoot them!" Anzu ordered from her Jagdpanzer 38(t), which was the current leader of the pursuing group now that the Type 94 was shaken off. "Even Pfirsich!" She ended by firing her 7,5 cm PaK 39 at one of the tankettes.
But the small size of the CV.33s benefitted them as the shot missed all of them, though only barely. Instead, after nearly skimming the hair of some Anzio girls, it sailed onwards ahead and finally hit an apartment complex with spectacular damage resulting from the impact.
"President…" Yuzu nervously said when she realized that Anzu wasn't kidding with her order. Although unwillingly so, she continued to drive the Jagdpanzer 38(t) onwards and follow Anzu's orders.
"Mmm! Mmm! Mmmmm!" Pfirsich tried to say from his spot in one of the CV.33s, but he could not. Why he couldn't speak was because he was tied up, and his mouth was taped over to silence him.
"Hey, shut it," Fernando said from beside him. He was driving this CV.33
"We'll be driving to the airstrip aboard and using the transports to escape!" Carpaccio notified from her point at the front of the tankette group. "So follow me!"
"For real, Carpaccio?!" Pepperoni said from beside her with a stunned tone. She was driving the lead CV.33. "I thought they were gone already?!"
"They haven't left yet!" Furio determined. He was on top of the CV.33 Fernando was driving, which was the second one in line for the group. "Otherwise we would have heard the whooshing of their engines!" He then pulled out his phone and looked at its clock. "But we're going to have to hurry, because they're scheduled to leave anytime now!"
"Si!" Pepperoni responded affirmative as she understood.
"Attention passengers!" Fernando yelled out. "Hold on to your fucking seats! We're gonna give these guys hell with trying to chase us!"
All of the Anzio folks atop the tankettes moved to hold on tightly as the CV.33s made another sharp turn. By now, they were on the edge of the neighborhood and closing on the school itself. By this time, the Char B1bis had fallen too far back from the chase and was forced to break off. It was only the I-Go and Jagdpanzer 38(t) now, though only the Hetzer was any true threat.
"Come on!" Noriko called out from her hatch. "Just join our club! We don't care if you're from somewhere else!" Accordingly, the I-Go never fired its gun.
"Yuzu, keep it steady!" Anzu ordered within the Jagdpanzer 38(t). She had managed to reload the gun by herself, though it was hard because of how cramped it was in there, how small she was, and how large the shells were. Not to mention that the gun was reloaded from the right side, which was problematic since in the Hetzer, the gun was offset to the right. But she had gotten it done regardless, and now, she was back in the gunner's seat and aiming through the gun sight at the CV.33s.
"Sorry, Madam President, but that's nearly impossible if we don't want to lose them!" Yuzu responded as she tried keeping up with the CV.33s.
Anzu huffed a bit at that, and she instead chose to open her hatch to stand through it so as to get a better look at the situation. She noted that the CV.33s were driving relatively quickly and maneuvering with ease, which was making it impossible for her to line up a shot.
"Where are they even going, anyhow?" Anzu wondered to herself. She observed that they were currently at the edge of the apartment complexes, and that they were currently closing in on the school itself. But she raised her eyebrows when she heard the distinctive whooshing sound of some turboprop engines starting up, and she immediately realized where the Anzio folks were going.
She dropped back down into the Jagdpanzer 38(t) and got on the radio. "They're trying to escape on the transports at the airstrip!" she broadcast over it. "Orkan, get down there and cut them off!"
"But why not just capture them?" Ron argued over the line. "They've got some people we could really use here!"
"I don't care!" Anzu retorted. "Just do it! If they board the planes, then shoot them down!"
"Alright, alright! Jeez, no need to be so pushy…" Ron acquiesced, and the line then went dead.
"Madam President!" Yuzu called from her driver's spot. "We're there already!"
Anzu raised her eyebrows in alarm. "Dammit, it's just us then!" she realized as she hastily manned the gun again.
Outside the Jagdpanzer 38(t), the chase had now come to the school's airstrip. The CV.33s had a good lead over the Hetzer because of the Italians' skilled driving.
"Go! Get on the planes!" Carpaccio ordered the group. In response, the CV.33s drove up the ramps of the two Alenia C-27Js that now had their engines running. Two tankettes went to each transport. Furio and Carpaccio went into separate ones with their respective tankettes.
"Hurry! Go!" Furio called out to the pilots afterwards. The transports themselves did not wait to close the ramps, and they both began to take off with the ramps still open.
"Yuzu! Traverse and keep the planes in sight!" Anzu ordered. Yuzu halted the Jagdpanzer 38(t) and now simply traversed the hull to keep the planes in Anzu's sights. "I've got only one shot at this…" Anzu lined up and targeted the planes as best she could. She chose to target the one in the rear. The limited time she had forced her to eyeball the target in her sights, as the time to range it and dial the range in simply wasn't there. Not to mention the target was moving away from her.
The Anzio students within the rearmost C-27J were all watching the Jagdpanzer 38(t) line them up, and they were on their knees praying that the shot would miss. It was a very desperate prayer, as they had seen just how accurate of a gunner Anzu was during the tournaments.
Anzu then fired the 7,5 cm PaK 39 at the rearmost C-27J. The shell dropped off until it struck the ground just below the C-27J that had started to lift off. The Anzio students breathed a huge sigh of relief upon seeing it miss. But they didn't have long to wait until they were under fire again.
"Incoming!" the pilot advised over the plane's intercom. The Anzio students hunkered down by the CV.33s in response as the clanging sound of bullets striking the fuselage surfaced.
Firing on the transport from outside was the Type 94, which was driving along the airstrip's side as it fired on the plane. The 20 mm shells came at the transport and pelted it repeatedly, but the plane was not yet downed as it continued absorbing the punishment.
The C-27J was able to withstand the fire and continued getting higher into the air until it had gotten away from the airstrip. The Type 94 stopped at the end of the airstrip and ceased fire.
"Dammit!" Anzu slammed her fist in frustration on the roof of her Jagdpanzer 38(t). She was standing out of the hatch looking at the C-27Js fly away. "They got away!"
"Madam President?" Yuzu began. Anzu looked over to her back down in the hull. "It may just be something I imagined, but did you hear any aircraft engines besides the transports? I could have sworn I heard one earlier when we chased them out of the school at first."
Anzu thought for a bit. "… You know, as a matter of fact, I did…" she recalled. She then lit up and dropped down into the hull to get on the radio. "Hey! Is anyone in the air right now?!"
"Autsch, that yell really hurt my ears, Anzu," she heard Erich's voice respond.
"Bubi, are you in the air now?" she questioned.
"Yes, I am," Erich replied affirmative. "I'm about twenty or so miles to the east, three thousand meters high thereabout. Why do you ask?"
Anzu then grew a predatory grin. "Look for two transports of Anzio flying east away from the Zuikaku," she ordered. "I want you to intercept them, and if they don't cooperate with our demands…" She then grew an extreme version of her predatory grin, not unlike her rape face she often wore when playing the role of the hunter in fights. "… I want you to shoot them down."
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"Urrà!" the Anzio crowd cheered for their successful escape. They were now relieved to see that they weren't being shot at anymore. At the current moment, all of the Anzio folks looked quite hammered from the escape with their mangled outfits. Both transports were now flying beside each other.
"Buon lavoro, everyone," Carpaccio congratulated everyone in her transport. She had a great look of relief on her face since everyone managed to escape. "Now, let's head-"
"We've got trouble coming in!" one of the pilots notified. "There's a fighter approaching from ahead!"
"Cosa?!" the Anzio folks panicked upon hearing they weren't out of trouble yet. They were even more so now since they had practically no way of fighting back now.
They all turned their attention to the outside when they heard a fighter aircraft zoom past the opposite way, and they made to get a good look at it through the still-open cargo ramp.
Carpaccio got some binoculars out an she scanned the fighter that was now pulling an Immelmann to come back toward the two transports now flying beside each other. She soon lowered them with eyes wide in dread. "We're so fucked now…" was all she said. The Anzio students grew into even greater despair as they all shuddered in fear at the aircraft they were looking at.
Why she said such a thing was because of the aircraft she saw. She recognized it as a Messerschmitt Bf 109 K-4 painted in a late-war camouflage and wearing the Ooarai markings. There was noticeably a knife on the tailfin, but what made her and the rest of Anzio shake in fear was the distinctive black tulip design at the nose of the aircraft. This was the aircraft of one of the world's top two aces: Erich-Dietrich Hartmann.
The Messer came up behind the left C-27J, which was the one Carpaccio was in. Erich closed with it and matched its speed. He then placed himself directly behind the still-open cargo ramp, which allowed him a look into the cargo bay.
"Hey, Carpaccio!" the copilot called over to her from the cockpit. Everyone there looked to the cockpit to find the copilot with a walkie-talkie in hand. "Here!"
Carpaccio blinked, but she walked over and took the walkie-talkie. She then walked back to the rear and looked over to the extremely threatening-looking Bf 109. She gulped a bit to swallow that fear, and she switched the walkie-talkie on.
"Hey," she heard Erich's voice greet her over the line. The Anzio crowd was still shaking in fear of the fate they could potentially suffer from him. "Just to clear things up, you do plan to pay for the damages you all caused, riiiiight?"
"… But…" Carpaccio tried to respond, but her current fear of the blond-haired German ultra-ace was preventing her from speaking. "… We don't have any money..." she lamely muttered in response.
"Oh, that is sooo unfortunate for you all, then," Erich responded with a voice that sounded pleasant, but also had a threatening tone to it. "Because if you don't have the ability to correct your wrongdoings… Then I see no need for you to continue flying on."
The rest of the Anzio crowd started to shake in even greater fear now, and some of the girls even started crying at what their implied fates were. Carpaccio tried to respond to the threat. "Bu-But please!" she begged. "I'm being honest!"
"Well that's good of you to be honest," she heard the German voice everyone there feared now respond as if it was nothing. "But that does nothing to change the fact that you all were responsible for a lot of trouble." There was silence from the walkie-talkie for a few seconds. "Well? What's your decision then? Just know that we're currently about a thousand meters up, and also that it would be a very painful experience to get shot down at such a low height. Who knows? You might not even live to see rescue."
Carpaccio trembled as she held the walkie-talkie and tried to think of how to satisfy her executioner. She finally lit up upon remembering something that might work. "We'll make you as much potato pasta as you like!" she offered.
Silence reigned for a few seconds. "… You will?" she heard Erich ask with skepticism.
"Yes! We will!" Carpaccio promised. "Just please don't shoot us down, and we'll come back with all the potato pasta you want!"
Silence reigned for several tense seconds. The Anzio group was still shivering in fear at the 109 being wielded as their executioner's primary weapon.
"… Alright," they finally heard Erich later. "You owe us all the potato pasta you can make with your current shipment of potatoes. Is that a promise?"
"Yes! It's a promise!" Carpaccio promised with a greatly relieved smile.
"Good. Now get out of here," Erich ordered. "Remember that promise. If it's not fulfilled, we will storm your ship and take every single gram of pasta you have, including the pasta you stole from us, and we'll gun all of you down while doing it. Ciao," he ended as he bunted the 109's nose down before banking away from the C-27J and turning around to head back to the Zuikaku.
All of the Anzio students finally breathed a huge sigh of relief when they could no longer see the Bf 109.
"You can close the ramps now," Carpaccio said over the walkie-talkie she still had.
"Okay," the copilot responded. "It's coming up."
The Anzio group all relaxed inside the C-27Js as their cargo ramps shut, and they all continued on to their destination with no more threat of being shot down by any German aces.
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Later aboard the Aquila, Franco and Anchovy were walking through the main square that Anzio's students often gathered at. It was empty with the current lack of students.
But what stood out most was the fact that both Franco and Anchovy were wearing the Ooarai school uniforms.
"In such a place as this…" Franco started as he looked at himself in his current outfit. He looked a little unsure about wearing it, but he wore it anyways.
"I-It doesn't look too strange, does it…?" Anchovy asked as she looked at herself. She looked much more unsure of herself while she was wearing the outfit.
Franco turned and prepared to respond, but another voice gave the response for him.
"It really suits you!" Carpaccio commented with a pleasant smile. She had her usual Anzio school uniform on.
"Guh!/Gah!" both Franco and Anchovy reacted with a jolt upon hearing the voice as they both turned towards Carpaccio in surprise.
"You two are looking nice today!" Furio commented similarly from beside her with his own polite smile. He also wore his Anzio uniform.
"What the-… You all came back!" Anchovy observed with great disbelief. She and Franco saw everyone that had left were now back as they stood behind Carpaccio and Furio.
"Yo!" Pepperoni greeted with an exhausted voice. She was still in the gym clothes she had worn during her time playing volleyball at Ooarai.
"Ehi, we're back…" Fernando notified with a similar exhausted voice. He also was still in the outfit he wore during his badminton experience.
All of the Anzio students looked exhausted with their current slumps, and the rest were also still in their Ooarai uniforms. They were all covered in dust and bruises from their great escape.
"You all look pretty mangled up though…" Franco observed. "Anyway, how was Ooarai?"
The crowd got more fired up when they were asked that.
"Ooarai was horrible! They didn't have any pasta!" one complained.
"The students there were kinda cute, though," one voiced.
"There weren't any food stalls there, either!" another complained.
"There wasn't any snack time, either!" yet another complained.
"It's gotta be the good ol' Anzio!" one claimed.
"O-Oh…" Anchovy went as she started growing delighted with everyone's current opinions.
"I wanna eat Duce's pasta!" one said.
"Anzio is the best!" another claimed.
"You idiot, Leonidas…" Furio grumbled.
"Self-effacement!" another called out as they tore off their Ooarai uniform.
"Duce and Comandante are the best!" another claimed.
"Screw you, Caesar…" Carpaccio brooded.
"Duce! Duce!" people started to chant. "Duce! Duce!"
Franco looked over to Anchovy after observing the crowd, and Anchovy got the message behind his look. Both nodded with determined grins.
"Alright!" Franco broadcast his voice over the crowd's chants as he raised a fist. "Today we'll be having a party after all this is settled! And be sure to enjoy Duce's special pasta!"
"Urrà!" everyone cheered in agreement. Both Franco and Anchovy were now back to their usual selves with everyone back.
XXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile back at the Zuikaku, rebuilding was already underway for the ship after the Anzio students plowed through the ship. The Public Morals Committee was overseeing the effort, but Sodoko was distinct as having a displeased face. She was still brooding over not being able to capture any of the Italians earlier.
Up in the student council office, Zitrus was reading off a report in front of Anzu's desk.
"Damage on this case included the complete appropriation of the ship's pasta supply, various property damages in the closest neighborhood to the school, an expenditure of around 20 tank shells, an expenditure of roughly 200 bullets from AA guns, and near-complete consumption of the C3 avgas from the 109's tank during its intercept," he detailed. "Oh, and Pfirsich was taken prisoner, as well."
"I see…" Anzu nodded. She then turned to another person in the room. "But why didn't you shoot them down?!" she demanded. "Just how long were you even flying up there?!"
Erich kept a calm smile as he responded,"For the record, I was flying ever since lunch ended. Or about..." He tilted his head side to side in thought. "... one and a half hours, give or take." Beside him with a more awkward smile was Miho. "Also, they offered to repay us with potato pasta."
Anzu blinked in response, but she then leaned back as she regrew her carefree look, which was completely opposite of how she was earlier. "Oh, well that's nice," she commented. "Looks like they enjoyed themselves then." She was satisfied now that she heard the promise to pay with potato pasta.
Miho awkwardly laughed a bit as she leaned close to Erich's ear. "Why did she perform a 180 right then?" she quietly asked.
Erich shrugged. "Because she's like me," he provided. "Someone with a huge Kartoffelnsucht."
Elsewhere in the halls, Leonidas and Caesar were rubbing their faces with somewhat depressed looks.
"What was up with Furio there?" Leonidas wondered as he rubbed his nose from where Furio had punched him in the face.
"Carpaccio… I wonder why she got so upset," Caesar similarly wondered as she rubbed her cheek from where Carpaccio had slapped her.
All of the other history buffs, including the girls now, were looking on with awkward looks at the scene as they remained behind a corner.
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Fine.
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.
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