The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Siebzehn: Fortsetzung - Es sind die Bedingungen in Anzio!
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"Eeeeeeh?!" Anchovy went in surprise. She also had a face red of embarrassment as she waved her hands around in a gesture saying no. "Taking pictures of me in a bikini?! No way, no way! Nope, just nope!"
"But being il duce means doing stuff like this," another woman told her. She most notably had a black jacket with the International Panzerkraft Federation's logo on the back of it. She then gestured to Anchovy's current outfit, which was her usual outfit. "And that mantle is a no-go!"
"Ehi, come on duce!" Franco encouraged from nearby. He was in some black swim trunks. "You'd look real cute in one!"
"Yeah, don't waste this opportunity," Furio similarly encouraged. He was in the area with some white swim trunks that had an orange stripe along the sides.
"You're really cute, duce," Carpaccio encouraged from Anchovy's side. She was still in her Anzio uniform. "It'd be a shame to miss out on this."
"Eh…" Anchovy went upon hearing them all. She was quite unsure still of doing what was suggested initially, but now she was considering doing it a bit.
"Du-u-ce! Du-u-ce!" Fernando and Pepperoni started to chant from behind her. Fernando had some orange swim trunks on while Pepperoni kept her Anzio uniform on for the moment.
"Cute, cute, cute, cute…" Carpaccio took the hint and started whispering in Anchovy's ear repeatedly that she would be cute, in an effort to encourage her. It was doubtful that such encouragement had a positive effect on Anchovy, as she was currently wide in the eyes upon figuring out what was happening yet again.
"Duce! Duce!" many Anzio students started to chant.
"Bi-ki-ni! Bi-ki-ni!" many Anzio students chanted as well.
"Want to see! Want to see!" many other Anzio students chanted also.
"Duce! Bikini! Duce! Bikini!" Anzio's crowd chanted also.
"Cute! Bikini! Cute! Bikini!" was also among the chants.
By now, Anchovy had realized she had fallen into another state of peer pressure, and she still didn't know what to do to satisfy the Anzio folks without doing something she didn't want to do, which in this case involved taking a picture while wearing a bikini. It didn't help that Carpaccio was still whispering in her ear how cute she would be along with Pepperoni, Furio, Fernando, and Franco egging on the chants.
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A little later, all was said and done, and Anchovy had succumbed to the peer pressure anyway. She had chosen to do the photo shoot with Franco, Furio, Pepperoni, Carpaccio, and Fernando, while they all wore swimwear.
Now, Anchovy had locked herself in her room for the photo shoot, but outside were still many people knocking on the door and squealing fangirlishly.
"Duce! Please sign this bikini bromide!" one requested.
"Sign this poster, too!" another asked.
"Hey, about the photo album project…" someone began.
"Duceeee!" another called.
"Duce! I'm bringing in some fan letters!" one notified.
"So cute!" one squealed.
"Duce! Duce!" some people started chanting.
Meanwhile, Anchovy was sitting on the floor facing away from the door with her mantle draped over her body. She was covering her very red face with her hands from the sheer amount of embarrassment she felt from doing the photo shoot.
"I hate you five so much…" she muttered with regards to the main five encouragers that were also in the photo shoot with her.
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To briefly recount what had occurred previously, the students of Anzio High School, who are bluntly honest with themselves, went on a rampage aboard the Zuikaku. From that rampage, they had also managed to nab a POW by incident.
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"HRRRRRR-Hrm!" Pfirsich went. He was still tied up and there was still a strip of tape covering his mouth. But that didn't stop him from looking extremely angry.
He was currently in a locked room that appeared much like a jail cell on the inside. It had no sign of color and practically no amenities besides a basic bed and a toilet beside each other plus a small table across the room. There was a locked metal door with a barred-off space in the upper half and a small door below that allowed people to slip things in from the outside. In one of the walls was a square cutout that was barred over, which served as a window to the outside world.
Also in the room standing before Pfirsich were Anchovy, Carpaccio, and Franco, all in their usual Anzio outfits. Franco was the closest to Pfirsich out of the three, and he and Anchovy were looking down at Pfirsich with awkward looks.
"Well, it's great that you all managed to come back from Ooarai safe and sound, but…" Franco began to address Carpaccio while still facing Pfirsich. "… What exactly were you all planning to do with him?"
"Let's just return him when we head over there next time," Carpaccio suggested. She was the odd one out in that she had a smile on her face that seemed to imply she didn't think much of what was happening, which sharply contrasted with Franco and Anchovy at the moment.
"When exactly is the next time?" Anchovy asked while still looking to Pfirsich.
Franco then tore off the tape from Pfirsich's mouth, which finally allowed him to speak. "Geh!" he went in a brief cry of pain from the tear-off.
"I'll make you follow the Arts of Warfare's regulations concerning the treatment of POWs!" he barked out very loudly, almost as if a beast had just been released from its cage. Franco accordingly stepped back with a start as the other two grew a start as well. "Because you're fucking dreaming if you think I'll yield to the torture of you Scheißkerle! Just try me!"
"Ugh, so noisy…" Anchovy remarked during the tirade.
"Pfirsich Nikolaus, junior in Ooarai!" Pfirsich continued on. "Even if I end up rotting away here-!"
"Stai zitto!" Franco barked as he slammed the bottom of his boot into Pfirsich's face via a kick, which sent him falling back to the ground. He was now silenced after getting knocked out, though his thin glasses were destroyed from the kick, and he also had on his face the tread pattern of Franco's boot now prominent from where it had struck him.
Franco then huffed with a bit of a relieved tone, even while he was still hopped up on adrenaline. "Damn Bavarians don't ever shut up," he said with some tenseness. He then turned to leave out the door. "Someone get him a new pair of glasses. I don't want to hear him whining about how his old ones were smashed."
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Later when night had fully set in, Pfirsich was now up after getting knocked out earlier. He had some new glasses that Franco had told someone to go and get, and he was currently lying on the bed in the cell looking to the ceiling.
"Gott, to think that I of all people got taken hostage…" Pfirsich mused to himself. "This has to be the biggest blunder in my entire life! And it's because of the ship's security! What the hell was up with them?!"
He shook his head as he looked out the barred opening in his cell, which served to be a window. "Oh, damn that security!" he cursed. "Once I get back there, I won't let them stay that way!" He then grew a more distant expression as he looked up at the moon in the night sky. "Once I'm back… I'll get back, I'll definitely get back… I'll get back to Ooarai… Back to everyone's side…"
He then abruptly stopped himself when another thought entered his mind. "… They must have surely noticed that I'm gone… right?" he thought aloud, but there was a bit of doubt in his voice. "There's no way that… Nononono…"
He then grabbed onto the bars of the window as he looked outside some more. "I'm sure that Mr. President is organizing a rescue squad to come and save me!" he said with a forced determination. "Yes! That's what's happening now! It has to be! … Right?"
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Soon enough, morning came. But Pfirsich didn't notice this until he heard the sound of the little door within the main door to the cell open up accompanied by a tray being set down on the ground.
"Ehi!" he heard Furio's voice. "It's breakfast time! Eat up!"
Pfirsich took notice of the food on the tray and grew a bit of disbelief. "Whoa, this is…!" he went with a stunned look.
The food itself was a typical Italian dish of pasta with a salad as a side. The pasta was served hot, and it was delightful in its scent.
Pfirsich then rushed to the little barred window in the door. "Hey!" he called out to Furio. The Italian stopped when he heard the call. "What's with this?!"
"What's with what?" Furio responded with a raised eyebrow. "It's a meal, so eat up."
"A-A meal for me?" Pfirsich asked in disbelief of having a meal offered.
"I thought that was obvious," Furio responded with a face that said he didn't really understand the big deal with Pfirsich's questioning. He then walked off for good. "Eat up!" he called one last time.
Pfirsich looked on for a bit with a lost face, but he was brought out of it when he smelled the delicious pasta he was offered. He looked over to it for a moment.
"… Guess I should eat…" he figured, and he went over to eat the meal. He brought the tray over to the small table and sat down to eat it.
"Mmm, this is fucking tasty," he remarked when he took the first bite. "To hand out such a wonderful meal to a POW…" He then stopped with a start as he widened his eyes. "Wait, don't tell me… Don't tell me that my execution is near?!" He was extremely dreadful now as to what he thought his fate would be.
"Mr. Presideeeeent!" he cried out in an attempt to get help. "Zitruuuuuus! Eriiiich!"
At the same time, Franco was walking by just outside, and he stopped when he heard Pfirsich yell out. He stood nearby looking at the door for a few seconds before he continued walking, but not without staring back at the cell door.
"Man, what a noisy Bavarian…" he observed.
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After some time passed, it was roughly lunchtime for the Anzio folks. This also meant lunch was being delivered to Pfirsich, this time by Fernando. He was currently walking down the hall to the cell with a plate of warm pasta in hand. He was also in the normal Anzio outfit, and he also had some headphones in his ears. He was absentmindedly singing along with the music coming from them as he walked on without a care in the world.
"In the heart of holy sea
In the home of Christianity
The seat of power is in daaaaaanger
There's a foe of a thousand swords
They've been abandoned by their lords
Their fall from grace will pave their path
To damnation"
Fernando snapped out of it when he noticed he had already gotten to the cell. "Ehiiii, POW!" he called out. "I've got your meal for you!"
Pfirsich quickly turned to the window in the door with a sharp glare in his eyes. He then lunged forward like a beast against the bars. "You're late!" he barked with extreme anger.
"Gah!" Fernando jumped back in fear.
"What time did you think it was?! Bring out the meals at the times you've already decided on!" Pfirsich continued scolding. "Keep your slack within tolerable bounds! No excessive slack! And what's with your outfit anyway?!"
"I-I'm sorry…" Fernando tried to apologize.
"You're wearing it like a real lazy buffoon, and in front of an enemy soldier too!" Pfirsich continued unabated. "Have some self-awareness as an officer!"
"But I'm not strictly an officer, per se…" Fernando tried, but he had no change in Pfirsich's intensity.
"Turn off that music!" Pfirsich demanded. "Fasten those buttons on your uniform! Wear that uniform properly and in presentable fashion! Stand up straight!"
And so, once resigned to his fate, Pfirsich quickly returned to what he does best: scolding people mercilessly.
"If your attire is not proper, then your mind is also not proper!" Pfirsich scolded later on. He was now in some white clothing as he did some laundry in front of some Anzio students. "Is that understood?! Answer once wholeheartedly!"
"Si!" the crowd answered with confidence as one.
At first, it was mostly just venting anger, but Pfirsich's scolding had a very unexpected effect on the Anzio students, who had never taken anything like that seriously prior.
"Why aren't you keeping track of the time?!" Pfirsich barked. He was now in a kitchen in a chef's outfit with some more Anzio students gathered in front of him. "You have to make plans! Look at your watches! Look at the place you're all in!"
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"If you just keep engaging at your own whim and flee with no regards to where you're going, then how long do you think you'll be missing out on victory?!" Pfirsich barked sometime later. He was now in front of a rolling chalkboard in a normal Anzio outfit. He had a group of Anzio students in front of him taking in everything he said.
He then slammed his hand against the chalkboard in emphasis. "Make sure to hammer both sides' combat strength into your heads, and choose the means that will get you to victory!" he continued. He then pointed to all of them in his scolding. "You are all wolves that are starving for victory! Don't you dare think about dying out until you can raise the triumphant cries of victory!"
"Urrà!" all of the Anzio students cried out together with a determined passion.
Not as much time seemed to pass because of it, but let it be known still…
"Everyone, attention!" Pfirsich ordered later. He was now wearing a black cape in addition to the Anzio outfit he was wearing. He also had a crop in hand as he stood with hands behind his back.
At the order, all of the Anzio students snapped to attention in a professional way. All but one of them held a similar professional look. The one exception was Franco, who now didn't have his usual black cape on. He had his head looking a bit down as he stood there behind and to the side of Pfirsich.
Further to Franco's left was an Anchovy who had deliberately not worn her mantle. This was because she found it disrespectful to Anzio as a whole to stand beside Pfirsich as Il Duce at the moment. To the right of Pfirsich were Carpaccio, Pepperoni, Furio, and Fernando, who did not hold such qualms about standing beside Pfirsich.
… That this ended up becoming the rise of a new comandante.
Pfirsich then had a realization within his head. 'Ach Scheiß, what do I do now?' he thought. 'I'm all the way at the top now… Might Anzio be a fine place?'
"New comandante!" several Anzio students called out.
"New comandante! What are we going to do today?" one asked.
"Ah, yeah, right…" Pfirsich came back to the world with.
Franco turned his head to look to Pfirsich. By now, he had a look of resignation on his face. "Please don't mind some insignificant person like me, new comandante…" he began. "You've done something that not even I or il duce were ever able to do… You reformed Anzio."
He then turned to face Pfirsich in full. "We will be the loyal, faithful subordinates of the new comandante Pfirsich!" Franco proclaimed with a fist to his chest.
"Hey, don't say stuff like that!" Pfirsich barked in a panic. "What is that comandante title all about anyway?!"
"New comandante! New comandante!" many of the Anzio students started to chant, and Pfirsich looked back to them.
He soon grew a calmer and more satisfied look when his mind registered where he was now. 'Wow, to see my scolding, which was completely ignored in Ooarai, had accomplished all this just from a change in scenery…' Pfirsich thought. 'Now that I see it, these Italians are rather simple in nature. Once I understood them, I found that they're just a bunch of folks that are really upfront with themselves… Maybe this might be my place for living in peace…'
At the same time, there were six people looking around a corner at the edge of the plaza from an alley, and they were observing the events going on. They were the six freshmen that all together made up the air and ground crew for Ooarai's F4F. All of them had on Anzio's normal school uniform at the moment. They all were also armed with their Maschinenpistolen 40.
Matthias determined that they had seen enough from his point closest to the corner, and he made a hand signal to head back. The others nodded, and they moved out. They kept their weapons at the ready for any unexpected encounters as they made their way through some alleys.
Finally, they soon stopped by a metal door in one of the alleys and secured the area. Mesut, Bastian, and Julius held their aim in the direction they came from as they rested on one knee. Christoph and Erik did the same thing, but they aimed in the alley's other direction.
Meanwhile, Matthias knocked on the door twice. A metal slit opened with some brown eyes staring back. "Commanders," they requested.
"Baden-Württemberg," Matthias responded and answered the access question being implied.
"Alright, enter!" the voice beckoned as the slit shut and the lock was undone from the inside.
"Los!" Matthias waved the rest in. The rest exited their perimeter and all six entered through the door. The door was shut behind and immediately locked afterwards.
What awaited them was a storage room filled with some crates here and there. There was a single light hanging directly above the center crate, which had two maps on it, both for the Aquila. One was of the top deck from straight above, and the other was of the lower decks via a side view. Around the makeshift table were Anzu, Aprikose, Yuzu, the freshmen girls, the volleyball girls, Caesar, Leonidas, Yukari, Miho, and Erich. All of them wore Anzio uniforms as well.
"So, boys, what's the sitrep?" Anzu asked in her carefree tone as she ate another dried sweet potato.
Matthias and the other freshmen guys stood in the unfilled area around the table, which was the area that pointed to the door. "It seems like Pfirsich is now the comandante of Anzio," he informed as the guys stood at ease. "From what we could see, he seemed to be enjoying the position."
Everyone had different reactions to the information. The freshmen girls and Yuzu all raised their eyebrows with some concerned looks. The volleyball girls didn't hold any particular reaction as they held their attention to the freshmen boys giving the info. Yukari grew a thoughtful expression as she brought a hand to her chin. Miho raised her eyebrows as she thought, as did Erich. Anzu and Aprikose both continued to look lazy at the news as they leaned back against the back of one of the crates.
"Eh, so what?" Aprikose shrugged. "It looks like Pfirsich is enjoying being with the Italians."
"This is a very complicated scenario now…" Yuzu observed a bit timidly.
"Let's just leave him be," Anzu suggested as she held her arms behind her head. She then laughed a bit in amusement at Pfirsich's current title. "Comandante Pfirsich..."
"Madam President…" Yuzu awkwardly responded at Anzu's blunt carefreeness.
"Well if that's the case, then why are we even trying this?" Leonidas asked.
"With all due respect," Yukari interjected as she raised a hand. "I think this is just a clever trap! They're probably trying to make Mr. Nikolaus reveal our secrets by appealing to him!"
"I dunno," Akebi thought aloud amidst the volleyball girls. "Did we have any sorts of secrets again?"
"Beats me," Shinobu responded with a shrug.
"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah…" Taeko thought aloud with a finger on her chin. She then glanced over to Noriko beside her. "Hey captain, do you know if we have any secrets?"
"I dunno," Noriko responded with a shrug.
"So… Pfirsich…" Aya began among the freshmen girls. "Does he intend to never return?"
"Regarding Pfirsich," Miho began as she voiced her opinion. "Leaving things as they are now might be for the better in the long term."
"Lady Nishizumi…" Yukari said in a conflicted way. She didn't want to accept leaving someone behind, but she also couldn't argue against Miho's opinion, as it did make a lot of sense, hence her conflicted state.
"But," Erich interjected. "I think that this is a problem that only Pfirsich can decide for himself. We'll have to ask him how he feels about the idea, and only upon getting his answer can we carry out the rest of the plan."
"Yes, it's just as Erich says," Aprikose agreed as he stood up. "We'll carry out the operation as planned. But whether or not he wants to return will be up to Pfirsich to decide. Now, Erich, Miho, what's the status for the other operatives?"
Erich and Miho both tapped their ears, which had a small earpiece within them connected to a radio channel being used by Ooarai's current forces. "Hey, TF Pasta and TF Airborne, you there?" Miho asked.
"Hey, what's up?" Anton responded.
"Hear you loud and clear," Momo responded.
"Hey, you two," Erich greeted. "What's your current status?"
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"Ah, well we secured a path for transport, and now we're about to breach their pasta storage area," Anton reported from the scene. "Anzio cuts no corners with their pasta, so we had to bring out the breaching charges to crack this tough nut."
He was below decks with several other people. There with him were Herz, David, Saori, Mako, and Hana. All had on the all black combat outfits used during the survival fight sometime earlier, and all had their weapons from that fight, too. For Anton, it was an M240B that was currently slung over his back. Herz had a Barrett M82A1, Hana had an Accuracy International AW, Saori had a TAR-21, David had himself a Heckler und Koch HK416, and Mako had a Heckler und Koch Maschinenpistole, the MP7.
All except for Anton were standing guard with weapons ready. Anton was currently setting a charge of Composition 4 on the thick metal door that led to Anzio's pasta reserves. "Charge set! Stand back!" he alerted as he ran to take cover against the wall.
"Any contact?" he heard Erich ask over his comm link.
"Not yet, but we're most definitely about to," Anton responded. "Clear!" He then squeezed the detonator, and the charge went off. It blew the door in and clean off its hinges.
After the smoke that resulted from the blast cleared, Anton dropped down and set up his M240 on its bipod within the hall ahead of the door. "Get the pasta back to the supply ship!" he ordered. "We'll cover you!"
All of the others that were armed took up positions to support Anton as the rest of those that had come along went in and started looting the pasta. Those that had come were the Public Morals Committee, the automotive girls, and the aeronautics guys. Also there were the rest of the history buffs excluding Caesar and Leonidas, but they were not there to take the pasta.
"Ladies and gentlemen, we are headlong unto battle once more!" Abe announced. He and the other history buffs were in the outfits they had worn for the survival fight, which also included their weapons for that fight. Abe had his bayonet-equipped Henry rifle, Wolf had his Fallschirmjägergewehr 42, Gustav had his Carolean sabre, Erwin had her Maschinengewehr 42 plus some protective asbestos gloves, Oryou had her katana and musket, and Saemonza had her armor along with her uchigatana.
Overall positioning at the moment consisted of Saemonza at the very front of the group with Gustav and Oryou accompanying and using her as a shield. Further back were Wolf, Abe, David, Saori, and Mako peeking out of the little crannies provided by the ship's structure they had taken cover by. Behind them close to the door were Anton, Erwin, Herz, and Hana. Anton and Erwin had set up their machine guns on bipods on the floor to cover the hall. Herz and Hana were standing behind them watching down the hall with their sniper sights in the overwatch role.
Saemonza and her two followers were the first to establish contact. Upon hearing many footsteps approach, Saemonza performed a shoulder ram when one of the many, many Anzio students sent to investigate approached her in a charge. "Ngh!" she grunted as the student fell back. "We've made contact!" She then shoved another back. "Back off!"
"Ehi, give us back our pasta!" the Anzio students yelled at the crowd.
"Tough shit!" Gustav barked back. "You shouldn't have stolen ours!" Gustav and Oryou used their swords to hold back the Anzio hordes, but the three of them soon found that there were too many for them to deal with, and they started a fighting retreat as they used their swords against them. They were blunted, of course, to simply incapacitate rather than kill.
"Hey!" Saemonza yelled over to the others further back. "Need some help over here!"
"Got it!" Anton responded from further back. "Take cover!"
"Alright!" Saemonza yelled back. After shoving some away and using their swords to swat away a few more Anzio folks, they took cover in one of the crannies.
"Pastaaaaaa!" the Anzio folks performed a battle cry as they charged forth en masse.
"Engage!" Anton ordered, and a whole hailstorm of bullets came at the Anzio group, courtesy of those armed with guns. Five in a row were immediately dropped courtesy of a .50 caliber round delivered by Herz knocking the lead one back into the four behind them with great force. Two more were dropped by a single shot from Hana. Various others were taken down by the hail of fire from the others.
The Anzio students started to fall over in droves, but they were far more numerous and determined than anticipated, and Erwin realized it as they continued coming forth in the name of pasta.
"Hey!" she called out while firing her MG 42 in bursts. "Conserve ammo! There's a lot more than we thought there were!"
"Yeah, I'm gonna have to talk to ya later, Bubi," Anton said over his comms link while still firing his M240 in bursts. "We've got literal tons of Anzio students coming at us now." He then cut transmissions and focused on gunning down droves of pasta-obsessed students.
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"Right now we're about five minutes out, give or take," Momo responded to the request on their current situation concurrently. She was currently in the copilot's seat in a Boeing CH-47JA, which was flying low over the waves towards the Aquila.
Zitrus was flying, and Momo was reading the radar and GPS screen among the controls. She found that they were getting close to the Aquila.
"Five minutes!" Momo barked to the cargo hold after getting off the line.
In the cargo hold were all of the badminton guys in the all black combat outfits and armed with HK416s. Nathan was also there in the same outfit, but he added a Stahlhelm to his outfit and wielded a Heckler und Koch Gewehr, the G11.
"Alright!" Ron responded and began at the same time in the cargo hold. "Check your equipment!"
All of them then checked all of their guns so that they wouldn't let them down along with any other equipment they carried. They also readied their guns at the same time while checking them.
"Good!" Ron called out.
"Good!" Alex called next.
"Good!" Nathan called.
"Good!" Seth called out.
"Good!" Harry called.
"Alright! Get set up!" Ron ordered. "We're about to get into the fire here, so no mistakes! Got that?!"
"Yes, sir!" the others responded. Afterwards, they all moved to the rear of the Chinook as the ramp opened in preparation, and they all held onto ropes hanging down from the roof.
"Man," Nathan went as he looked at the sea passing by. "Water, water, and more fucking water, eh."
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Back at the dark alley storage room requisitioned by Ooarai students as a planning room, Erich and Miho heard all the information over their comm links, and they then turned to Aprikose and Anzu.
"TF Airborne will be here in five minutes thereabout," Erich began. "But TF Pasta has run into trouble and made contact already."
"If we wait any longer, then we'll be compromised," Miho continued.
"Alright, then," Aprikose nodded before he wolfed down another jerky strip while he stood up from his crate. "Everyone! Ready up, 'cause this is happenin'!"
"Got it!" everyone else confirmed as most of them drew and readied their weapons. Erich had his Sturmgewehr 44. Yukari had a Mauser M712 Schnellfeuer. Aprikose had a Heckler und Koch Gewehr, the G36A2. Yuzu had a Steyr Armee Universal Gewehr, the AUG A3. All of the volleyball girls had FN P90s. The freshmen boys had their MP 40s. The only ones not armed were Miho, Leonidas, Caesar, and the freshmen girls.
"Now, with all said and done," Anzu began as she approached the door. She then pulled back the charging handle with her left hand on the M4A1 carbine she wielded. "Let's get moving, TF Bayer!"
"Understood!" everyone responded. They all left the room together in short order.
They made their way through the surrounding alleys with their guns up and ready in case they ran into trouble. Soon enough, they reached a position at the end of one alley that offered a great view of the main plaza where the Anzio students were gathered. It was in the complete opposite direction that Pfirsich was facing. It was also, by coincidence, the same alley that the freshmen boys had observed from only minutes prior.
At the front, Erich made a halting gesture, and the Ooarai folks stuck to the walls to avoid drawing attention. They observed Pfirsich lecture the Anzio crowd before him for the time being.
"All right everyone!" he continued. "Sun Tzu's Art of War described it as such…"
"Who's that again?" one of the Anzio students asked to the one beside them during the lecture.
"I dunno, um… Was he the guy that wrote that book about traveling to America?" the one next to them responded. They didn't really know the answer.
From the alley, Erich was relatively amused by what was occurring. "'The onrush of a conquering force is like the bursting of pent-up waters into a chasm a thousand fathoms deep,'" he quoted as Pfirsich said it. He then heard the distinctive sound of helicopter blades start to grow. "And now, it's time for us to flash forth from the topmost point of heaven." He looked to everyone else. "Time to smoke the area out."
"Understood," the others responded as they got out smoke grenades and stood at the ready.
"Now!" Erich ordered. Everyone primed their smoke grenades and chucked them over into the plaza. They clanged a few times along the ground before they started steaming out smoke.
"Huh?" Pfirsich reacted in surprise seeing the smoke start to form. But he soon turned to face above him when he heard the sound of helicopter blades turning almost directly above him. He couldn't see it for the moment, but what was hovering above was the Chinook with its ramp open.
"Wh-What is this?!" Pfirsich wondered with a start as five ropes dropped down to the ground from the Chinook, and down them rappelled five people in all black uniforms with similar color bandanas covering their faces and goggles over their eyes. They were mostly armed with HK416s, but there was one exception that wielded a G11 and donned a Stahlhelm.
"Invaders!" Pfirsich realized. He turned to where the Anzio folks were. "Blunt the attack… wait, what are you guys-?!"
"Aaaaaah!" many of the Anzio students ran away in panic and left Pfirsich to his fate.
"Oh, damn those fuckers!" Pfirsich cursed the Italians. "Weak when attacked, as always! Well, this will be w-w-where I…" He was growing more cowardly at the prospect of facing the enemies alone in the smoke, but he tried to suppress that as he turned to face them. He was wielding his crop as a weapon in what was clearly a desperate measure. "Bring it on, maggots!" he dared.
"Pfirsich!" one of the enemies called out as they lowered their bandana. The person that called over was Ron, and Pfirsich opened his eyes wide seeing it was him. "Just remain calm! We're here to rescue you!"
By this time, the five that rappelled in adopted a defensive circle around Pfirsich with their guns at the ready for enemies. Also, the Chinook had flown away from the area after fulfilling its current objective.
"Hey, target secured!" Alex notified over his comm link. "Phase two can be executed now!"
"Verstanden," he heard Miho respond over the line. "Beginning phase two."
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Although many of the Anzio folks had run away by now, two realized what was going on after recovering from the initial shock.
"Invaders!" Carpaccio and Furio realized as they moved to close with the rescue squad surrounding Pfirsich. "They're trying to get the new comandante!"
"Hey, Carpaccio!" a voice called. Carpaccio stopped and looked to the voice in surprise, for she recognized it.
Her eyes then lit up in delight upon seeing Leonidas standing in the smoke. "Oh! Leonidas!" she called in delight as she rushed forth to him and grabbed his hands with her own.
"Hey, I came to visit," Leonidas revealed with a grin. "Just like I promised I would."
"Aw, jeez," Carpaccio blushed. "Though I would've preferred if you had told me in advance."
Meanwhile, Furio was just watching with a look of exasperated disbelief seeing Carpaccio get so easily distracted. "Oh, forget it," he shook his head. "I'll save the new comandante myself!"
But he stopped as soon as he felt a hand start circling around his body. He recognized the touch as belonging to someone he knew.
"Hey there, Furio…" Caesar's voice greeted him in a flirty tone.
Furio immediately forgot about saving Pfirsich and turned to Caesar with a lusty grin. "Oh, it's been way too long, Caesar…" he responded in a similar lust-filled tone.
XXXXXXXXXX
"Pfirsich!" Pfirsich heard a familiar voice call out to him through the smoke. No longer was he surrounded by the badminton guys and Nathan, as they were now further away, but they still held a perimeter in the plaza.
He turned with a start to see Aprikose, the one who had called out to him, Anzu, Yuzu, Miho, and Erich. He did not miss that all but Miho were armed. Those that were armed had their weapons pointed down and away from Pfirsich, but they were still ready to go in a second.
"M-Mr. President!" Pfirsich hastily reacted in acknowledgment.
"Hey," Aprikose responded with a carefree grin. "We came here to rescue you, but…" He then looked around a bit. "Has this become nothing for us to be concerned over?"
"No!" Pfirsich hastily denied as he stepped back with a foot. "No, this is just…"
"Are you gonna stay in Anzio?" Anzu questioned in a more serious tone with a similar serious look to her face.
"… That's…" Pfirsich began, but grew silent. He knew what Anzu was like when she got serious, and it made him dread speaking to her at the moment.
"Hey, the smoke is starting to clear, eh!" Nathan called back to them from his point in the perimeter. "Hurry up and make a choice!"
Pfirsich closed his eyes as he thought of what to do. He remembered all the times he had scolded people in Ooarai, along with how that scolding was most often ignored. But he also remembered the times he wasn't scolding people. Even if they were hard times, or in some cases painful times, they were now prominent in his mind.
He clenched the cape he wore with one hand as he thought hard. "I'm…" he began, but he didn't continue after some others came up to him.
"Pfirsich!" he heard some voices call out. He looked up to discover that the freshmen girls had run up to him with some expressions that betrayed a sense of urgency in them. "Pfirsich!"
"So even you all came, huh…" Pfirsich observed with a look that displayed some remorse now.
"Pfirsich, are you really going to stay in Anzio?" Karina asked with a face that said she didn't want that statement to be true.
"No, that's…" Pfirsich began, but he didn't get very far when the girls all started to whimper and shed tears.
"I-I-It'll be really lonelyyyyy!" Karina cried out.
"T-This way might be best for Pfirsich, b-but…" Aya began as she and Azusa held onto each other during their crying.
"But…" Azusa tried, but her tears prevented her from continuing.
Pfirsich now had an even more troubled look upon seeing all of the freshmen girls cry over the prospect of him not coming back. "N-No, please girls…" he begged as he reached out for them with a hand. "You don't need to cry over…"
But he was stopped when he felt his cape be taken off of him, and he looked behind him to find out who did it. The one who took the cape was Franco, who now had an understanding grin on his face.
"Former comandante?" Pfirsich wondered in confusion as Franco held the cape in his hands.
"It seems like Anzio isn't destined to be your home," Anchovy observed with a noticeably more gentle voice, but it had no less of an impact than usual. She had come up to Pfirsich's other side with a small grin of understanding. She had chosen to wear her mantle again after predicting how the scene between Pfirsich and the others would play out.
"Don't worry," Franco assured. "You have no need to worry about how Anzio will fare. Because I…" He then flipped and whirled the cape around in one smooth motion so he now wore it the way he did before. "Comandante Franco, will take care of everyone!"
Franco then looked over to one area of the plaza, where the Anzio crowd had by now come back and stood around in. He then pointed to them as he addressed them. "Everyone!" he beckoned. He then waved a hand to the Ooarai folks. "Do not let these intruders out of here! Treat them with no politeness!"
"Urrà!" all of the Anzio students cried out in agreement as they charged for the Ooarai intruders.
"Return fire!" Erich ordered, and everyone in the current group brought up their firearms to the ready. They then opened fire at the Anzio crowd. Several of the Italians dropped over after getting struck by the predominantly assault rifle fire mixed with some submachine guns.
"Fighting retreat!" Miho ordered over her comms link as she led the way away from the charge. "TF Bayer, it's time to exit!"
"Got it!" she heard in response as everyone started to perform a fighting retreat. Yukari was closest to Pfirsich, who was at the front just behind Miho as the Ooarai group ran through the alleys.
Pfirsich was in the meantime glancing back at Franco, who was standing back observing everyone. 'So once the necessity arises, they all gather at Franco's side like they should, huh…' he noted in his thoughts. He had a slight grin of satisfaction at the thought. 'Those Anzio folks are really something…'
The two of them soon made eye contact with each other. 'Just hang in there, Pfirsich,' Franco conveyed his thoughts with a single grin.
'Same to you, Franco,' Pfirsich conveyed his thoughts back with a similar grin.
"Everyone, hold fire!" Erich ordered as he broke contact with the Anzio folks and turned around to run. "Only engage if it's necessary!" As he ran, he reloaded his Sturmgewehr with another magazine.
"Understood!" the others with weapons responded affirmative, and they all broke contact to run. All of them took advantage of the break-off to reload their weapons again.
"Keep running!" Miho instructed at the front as she led them all through back streets on their way to the edge of the Aquila. "We need to reach the lower decks, and we need to make sure we don't get cut off by Anzio!"
"Understood!" the group responded again. Among those in the group were Miho, who was serving as the leader and guide for their movements, Pfirsich, Yukari, Nathan, Erich, the badminton guys, the volleyball girls, both groups of freshmen, Yuzu, Aprikose, Anzu, Caesar, and Leonidas. The last two were currently dragging along love-struck versions of Furio and Carpaccio respectively.
All of them soon reached the edge, and were now running down a staircase that descended into the ship proper. The Anzio folks giving chase were not too far behind.
"Badminton guys, volleyball girls, take the lead!" Miho ordered when they exited the stairs onto one of the lower decks.
"Roger!" Ron replied, and all of the sports folks rushed ahead with weapons up and ready. The sports groups continued to run through the lower decks with the main group a little ways behind until they encountered a few Anzio folks after rounding a corner.
"Engage!" Ron ordered. All of the sports folks opened fire at the roughly twenty Anzio students and dropped them all to the ground in a hail of automatic fire.
The group continued on after the threat was eliminated. They came to another hall that had some of the crannies created by the ship's structure.
"Urrà!" they heard two voices yell out as they charged out from behind the crannies. It was Fernando and Pepperoni that were coming straight for the sports groups in a charge.
Ron charged forth and used his HK416 as a plow. He knocked Fernando to the ground and immediately used the stock of his rifle to subdue Pepperoni as he swung it in a typical stock melee takedown. He then looked back to the others in the lead group.
"Hey, get these two tied up!" he ordered. "We need their talents in sports activities!"
"Yes, sir!" the remaining seven responded. They slung their weapons over their backs and quickly tied and bound both the knocked out Italians with some rope and tape.
"Don't worry, this won't take but a few seconds!" Ron assured the others in the group. The Ooarai folks had stopped for a bit to let the sports folks do their things.
"You're kidding me right now…" Erich muttered. He was now ahead of everyone as he scanned the area ahead while on one knee. He then raised his eyebrows in alarm. "Kontakt voraus!"
He immediately opened fire upon spotting several more Anzio students come from ahead. As he was dropping the highly motivated Italians, he also soon heard the sounds of firing MP 40s at the rear of the group along with some other assault rifles and an auto pistol.
"Contact behind!" Matthias called out as he and the other freshmen boys gunned down some more Anzio students coming from behind. Also engaging at the rear were Anzu, Aprikose, Yuzu, Yukari, and Nathan.
"Hurry up, you all!" Erich yelled to the sports groups as he ran out with his current magazine.
"We're done!" Ron called out. "Let's get moving!" The sports groups had finished tying up Fernando and Pepperoni, and Seth and Shinobu were chosen to carry the captives over their shoulders. They did so in a way that they could still fire their weapons.
"Finally!" Erich remarked with some annoyance as he continued reloading his Sturmgewehr. "Engage enemies ahead!
All of the sports groups' members consequently opened fire on the Anzio students coming in great numbers from ahead. The Italians were all dropped relatively quickly from the concentrated fire.
"Quick!" Erich beckoned as he ran ahead. "Advance!"
The others didn't have to be told twice as the group mobilized again. The freshmen boys at the back fired at the Anzio folks behind while walking backwards, and soon after they turned to run and reload as they stuck with the group.
XXXXXXXXXX
Over at the pasta storage facility below decks, it was a fierce fight between Anzio and TF Pasta. The Anzio students were slowly pushing forth against a wall of gunfire.
TF Pasta had shifted tactics and placed most of the fire duties on Anton and Erwin with their machine guns while the others stood behind and supported with their own weapons. The wall of fire was mostly provided by the M240 and MG 42 that Anton and Erwin had set up respectively. But the MG 42's barrel soon grew to be red hot after firing a very long burst and taking down several more Italians. The gun soon ran out of ammo, but there was a more pressing concern now rather than its ammunition.
"Wechseln Gewehrlauf!" Erwin called out as she opened the side hatch of the MG 42 and quickly removed the barrel. She then reached into a bag of barrels she carried and pulled out another fresh barrel. The new barrel was inserted and the side hatch was closed. The whole process took around seven seconds, and was followed by a reload with a 250 round belt that took a similar amount of time before Erwin finally ended and pulled back the charging handle. The Säge was then back to gunning down hordes of people, something it was doing better than practically anything else.
During that time, she was covered by the others of TF Pasta as Anton laid down the majority of fire with his M240. Firing in support further back, Herz repeatedly took down multiple Italians with just single .50 caliber bullets from his M82, which was only rivaled by Hana, who had managed to take down at least three at once a few occasions.
"Out!" Anton called out upon exhausting his own ammo supply. After removing the spent box of ammunition, he lifted the feed tray's cover, got another ammo box out from his equipment load, attached it and set the start of the 250 round belt on the feed tray, shut the feed tray cover, and then pulled back the bolt. After performing the roughly seven-second reload, he then opened fire again.
Covering him during his reload were the others. David and Mako had no shortage of their own kills as they gunned down Italian after Italian in controlled bursts. The same applied to Saori, Wolf, and Abe, who also used controlled fire with their weapons to land a large number of accurate shots.
But the Anzio students kept coming forth in hordes. They continued coming back after recovering from the blows they received earlier. Their determination to get the ones that had stolen their pasta was extremely high.
"Pastaaaa!" they cried again as they charged forth. This charge came very close to the wall of gunfire put up by TF Pasta, and it did not go noticed by TF Pasta. They couldn't yet do anything about it besides returning fire, though.
"Heeeey!" they heard Nakajima call out behind. "We've got 'em all cleared out now!" She and the rest of those that were assigned to loot the pasta left the pasta storage facility for the last time. They had finally taken all of Anzio's pasta in retribution for their earlier attack on Ooarai.
"I think it's about time we start falling back, yeah?!" Anton called out over the wall of gunfire.
"Roger!" everyone said in response, and everyone of TF Pasta got out of their camped-in positions and started performing a fighting retreat. They were slowly walking back while continuing to put up a wall of gunfire.
"TF Pasta, you all still at the pasta storage facility?" Anton heard Miho over his comms link.
"Yeah!" he had to practically yell out over the sheer amount of gunfire. They were still slowly walking back as they put out their fire. "We finished the looting and now we're slowly falling back, but they're pushing us real hard! I'm sure each of us has at least a hundred individual kills by now!"
"Ah, well watch your fire to the stairwell on your right rear," Miho notified. "TF Bayer is coming through there."
"Got it!" he replied, and the line went dead. "Hey! Friendlies coming from right rear! We need to cover their approach, so hold your ground!"
"Understood!" he received the group's confirmation. The entire conversation was overlaid with the massive amount of gunfire they were still dumping out towards the Anzio hordes. After the confirmation, they all stopped walking back, and they stood their ground against Anzio's hordes of pasta-obsessed Italians.
All of those with firearms continued dumping bullets into the Italians in an effort to hold them back, but the Anzio hordes were still pushing forth a bit.
"Hey! Saemonza!" Anton yelled out. "Get Gustav, Oryou, and Abe and get to the front! We need you to make a counterattack!"
"Got it!" Saemonza responded from the middle of the crowd. "Let's go! This is our moment of glory!"
The history buffs chosen to counterattack all made their way through the group and wielded their melee weapons.
"Everyone, charge!" Saemonza ordered as she led the counterattack from the very front with her armor. The four history buffs charged forth and held their upper bodies lower. Such a strategy proved to work in two ways. First, the others could still shoot over them and assist. Second, they could literally sweep the Italians off their feet by nailing them in the middle of their body at the hips.
The entire plan worked out for the moment as the Anzio hordes were stopped by the counterattack. They were jolted back by the initial impact of Saemonza colliding with them in her armor using herself as a battering ram and with her uchigatana drawn. The Italians were further held back by the other history buffs charging forth with their melee weapons at the ready.
But the Anzio hordes were able to soon turn the tables. "Pastaaaaa!" they cried out again as they renewed their charge. They had started pushing back the counterattack, but it was a very slow process. The four history buffs were pushing back as well, and they had soon equalized the pushing match into a stalemate where neither side advanced.
"Back the fuck off!" Saemonza grunted out as she repeatedly jabbed her uchigatana into whoever was directly in front of her. She was taking on the brunt of the Anzio hordes with her large and heavy armor. On her flanks were the other three that were with her, and they were similarly repeatedly thrusting their melee weapons into the hordes of pasta-obsessed Italians. Abe on occasion shot a round from his gun into whatever Italian was unfortunate enough to be right in front of him.
All the while, scores of Italians were still being dropped as quickly as they came back up by the rest of the group with their firearms. But soon enough, behind them through the stairwell came TF Bayer as they entered the hall.
"TF Pasta, fall back!" Erich called out. "TF Bayer is here!"
"Saemonza!" Anton called out. "Break off! Time to fall back!"
"Get out of my face!" Saemonza taunted one last Italian that she thrusted her uchigatana towards. The Anzio student stumbled back and fell to the ground, and Saemonza and her group took advantage as they pulled back.
They ran back just in time, as the Anzio hordes that were chasing TF Bayer just came down the stairwell to link up with the Anzio hordes that were pressing TF Pasta hard.
"Pastaaaaa!" they all angrily called out as a battle cry in another charge forward. But the Ooarai folks did not turn back to fire.
"Keep running!" Miho ordered as she led the group through the maze of halls in the Aquila's hull. Through the halls and around corners, they got to one corner and rounded it. Miho picked this time to try an idea out. "Anton! Erwin! Distract them for a bit!"
"Got it!" both responded as they fell to the rear. Both took aim at the corner they just rounded as they slowly walked backward, and as soon as Anzio students came from behind it, they unleashed a hailstorm of machine gun fire. The fire stunned the Italians for a bit, as it was unexpected at that moment, and they were forced back a bit because of it. But their jam did not last much longer than several seconds, and they stubbornly pushed onwards again.
"Think it's time to get moving!" Erwin suggested to Anton. Both of them ceased fire and ran back to catch up with the Ooarai folks.
"Just a little more running!" Miho tried to encourage as she led the way for the rest. They were nearly at the end, as they could see the light at the end of the hall that led to the docking area for smaller boats and ships. "Then we'll be home free!"
The long line of Ooarai operatives soon had its front reach the docking area, and everyone started gathering into two rigid-hulled inflatable boats. "Get on!" Miho ordered as she led the boarding. "Hurry up!"
"Hey, Bubi!" Anton called out from the rear. Some of the Anzio hordes were starting to catch back up to the group's rear, which was still in the halls. "You see anything that can cause an obstruction if, say, a charge was blown on it?! 'Cause those guys are catching up!"
Erich heard the question and started looking ahead for anything that fitted Anton's request. The only things he could possibly see that fitted such a description were the pipes running along the top of the hall. He saw nothing else that would work, and blowing the pipes he figured weren't as useful of an obstruction in this scenario. But it was better than nothing. Plus they were getting to the end of the hall, so they had to do something now.
"The pipes above!" Erich called out to Anton. He had fallen back a ways to the rear, and was now firing a few bursts at the Anzio hordes with his Sturmgewehr to keep them back from the two machine gunners. "Chuck one up there!"
"Alright!" Anton responded. He slung his M240 on his back and grabbed another charge from his equipment. Originally intended as a spare breaching charge if the first one was faulty, it was now being used to aid their escape as he chucked it up at the pipes with his right hand. He stormed through the corridor to the docking area, and as he jumped onto a boat, he used the detonator in his left hand to blow the charge.
Erich was a little further back as he fired on the Anzio folks a little more while strafing backwards, but he soon turned around and started sprinting to the boats. The charge went off just after he came through the corridor. At the same time, he jumped onto one boat in a way that made the moment appear very dramatic as the blast went off behind him, with him airborne in a long jump type of jump as he held his Sturmgewehr with just one hand.
The explosion caused some ear ringing in the Italians' ears for several seconds. The ear ringing was made even worse since the hall was a confined area with no way of dissipating the blast besides through the length of the hall itself, so the blast was much more deafening than it normally would've been.
Although they were far enough back to avoid the lethality of the blast, the shockwave of the explosion still forced much of the Anzio horde back, but what also was forcing them back now was the plumbing being run through some of the pipes that were now broken and spraying their contents down into the hall, all under pressure. Hot water, normal tap water, sewage, compressed air, and compressed nitrogen were among those pipes in the roof of the hall. Bits of shrapnel from the burst pipes also found their way into the mess.
On his boat, Erich landed in a crouch of sorts, and the two boats immediately sped off with each other. The Anzio hordes had unexpectedly recovered rather quickly, only several seconds to be specific, from the initial blast, mostly because of their current mood of making those who took their pasta pay dearly. But they had stopped at the edge of the docking area after realizing they could not give chase anymore.
XXXXXXXXXX
Up on the higher decks, Franco and Anchovy were watching the boats speed away with the Ooarai folks aboard them along with some other Anzio students. Also just barely visible was a supply ship sailing through the waves in the same direction as the boats were.
"Ah, so they escaped…" Anchovy remarked, but she did not appear disappointed by the fact judging by her slight grin.
"Should we pursue, duce and comandante?" one of the Anzio students asked. The others besides Franco and Anchovy appeared to still be fired up to take down the Ooarai folks, but Franco and Anchovy did not appear to be upset at the missed opportunity.
"No, just let them be," Franco responded with a slight grin of satisfaction on his face. "It doesn't matter what we do now, considering they're already long gone."
A brief moment of silence set in, and Franco looked around upon not hearing anything. He then noticed something was amiss, and the rest of the group followed as they also grew looks of confusion.
"But even though that's fine…" Franco began. "Did we somehow lose some people?"
He said such a thing because he could not find Furio, Fernando, Carpaccio, or Pepperoni anywhere in the group.
XXXXXXXXXX
Meanwhile riding over the waves were the two boats used in Ooarai's escape. Soon appearing over the waves was a CH-47JA with its ramp lowered. The Chinook soon slowed to a hover a distance ahead of the boats and hovered very close to the water. It was hovering so close that it was actually in the water ever so slightly.
"Let's get inside," Miho ordered over her comms link. In response, the boats aimed to sail directly into the Chinook's cargo bay, one behind the other. The first one sailed in, and the second followed. Once the second boat was in, the Chinook applied more power and began to gain altitude to get out of the water. The ramp was then shut.
Everyone inside immediately relaxed after getting into safety, and they dismounted from the boats. Miho went over to the cockpit to get a word in with Momo.
"Hey, Momo," she began in the doorway. Momo turned her attention towards her in response. "Is the supply ship loaded with what we came for?"
"Yes," Momo nodded affirmative. "All of Anzio's pasta is aboard."
Miho grew a relieved smile. "Oh, great," she remarked with some exhaustion. "Thanks."
Momo nodded as she turned back to copiloting duties, and Miho turned back to head into the cargo hold again.
"I've got to remember to thank Hauptmänner Chouno and Honda for lending us this helicopter…" she noted to herself. She then came back to the real world. "Everyone!" she began in a louder voice. She drew everyone's attention to her, and she had a relieved smile still on her face. "Mission success!"
"Yeeeeeeeaaaaaah!" all the others roared in celebration. They had completed both of their main objectives in their raid. They had rescued Pfirsich, and they had pillaged all of Anzio's pasta in retribution for their attack on Ooarai.
"All thanks to your good planning, Miho," Anzu came up beside Miho with a friendly slap on the shoulder. She also had a grin of accomplishment on her face.
"Hä?!" Miho reacted as she flushed red in embarrassment. She then waved her hands around in denial. "No, no, that wasn't me at all! That was Bubi's work!"
"Suuuuure it was…" Anzu rolled her eyes in amusement at her shyness. She then took a greater look around the cargo hold and grew a more awkward smile at what she saw. "But did we somehow have an increase in people?"
"It's just your imagination!" several people responded. Those that had answered were both of the sports groups, Leonidas, Carpaccio, Furio, and Caesar. The badminton guys were still carrying around a tied up Fernando, and the volleyball girls still had a tied and bound Pepperoni that they were all carrying.
Both Fernando and Pepperoni were now awake and were trying to struggle against their binds. They had both been tied by the ankles, by the wrists, around the torso, and even around the eyes. There were ropes tied around their heads that went directly over their eyes. Finally, both had their mouths taped over, yet they were still grunting in an effort to speak anyway.
Suffice to say that all of those Ooarai folks that had responded had more personal reasons for bringing along those particular Italians.
Pfirsich soon gave off a sigh. "Everyone…" he beckoned, and everyone turned their attention to him. "I really caused you all a lot of trouble this time… I want to give my sincerest apologies for that…"
All of the freshmen girls started to grow hopeful smiles at his words, as if anticipating his return.
"But also…" Pfirsich continued as he grew a very slight smile, but it appeared much more heartfelt now with the given scenario than it would otherwise. "I want to thank you… I know full well that you didn't have to go to all this trouble to rescue me. You could've simply left me there. That's why I thank you all for actually going to all that trouble to come get me."
Erich and Miho, both beside each other now, grew some proud grins at what they were seeing. Seeing all of those that came for Pfirsich being properly acknowledged by him for their efforts warmed both of their hearts. Neither of them really cared too much whether or not they themselves were acknowledged, but seeing everyone else grow more at ease by knowing their efforts were not wasted in the least was very satisfying to both of the Germans.
Erich then remembered something he wanted to do now that he noticed Carpaccio was also aboard. He started over to her.
"Hey, you," he beckoned as he pointed to her while he approached.
Carpaccio turned to face the voice she heard, but she immediately grew a look of dread upon seeing Erich was the one who spoke to her.
"We're going to have a long talk about what you said the other day…" Erich said with a threatening undertone as he dropped his hand. He also held a similar threatening glare at her.
Carpaccio gulped in fear of that voice and shuddered in fear. "Oh cazzo," was all she could say under that gaze.
XXXXXXXXXX
The next day rolled around, and everyone that took part in the great Anzio raid was now back to their normal lives. Well, for the most part.
In the student council office of Anzu was Pfirsich, who was standing before the desk of the President. Also in the office were all of the freshmen girls who were all following Pfirsich around. They did such things mostly because they were just glad to have him back, even if he had scolded them a lot in the past. All wore their normal school outfits now.
"With all being said and done," Pfirsich began. "I do have the intention to start over on a fresh slate, but there are still some open questions regarding the ship's security." He then coughed in implication for his next statement. "Particularly as of recently…"
"Hey girls!" Yuzu called out as she came through the door. She was now carrying a tray of some small plates with some food on them. "The Nourishment Department gave us some trial products they made, so eat up!"
"Yeah!" the freshmen girls cried out in delight as they swarmed around Yuzu.
"Hey!" Pfirsich barked out in anger at the current scene. Although he wasn't necessarily interrupted in his statement from earlier, he was still not too pleased to see the diversion of everyone's attention to a matter that was relatively insignificant in his mind.
He soon breathed out and calmed down a bit. "Fine, then," he acquiesced as he continued on anyways. "Since the work dealing with public relations has almost surely backed itself up, we should get moving on that."
"Don't worry, I took care of everything," a voice said. Pfirsich looked to find it was one of the many, many members of the Public Morals Committee judging by their armband. They were also distinct as having some thin glasses, not unlike the ones Pfirsich normally wore. They also carried a stack of papers with them.
"Ah, well then the practices…" Pfirsich tried next.
"It's all under control," he heard another voice. He turned to find it was yet another member of the Public Morals Committee, wearing the same thin glasses. "Madam President appointed me to take care of your share." This one also had some papers they carried.
Pfirsich grew a heavily discouraged look mixed with an equally heavy look of disbelief at the idea that he was replaced during his absence.
Meanwhile behind her desk, Anzu laughed a bit awkwardly. "Those guys are here just because I wasn't sure whether Pfirsich would come back or not…" she explained. She then waved her hand around in a dismissive manner. "But just think of it as a long break for you."
XXXXXXXXXX
Some time later, Pfirsich stepped off the back of a cargo ramp for an Alenia C-27J belonging to the Anzio Aereo Stormo. He was wearing some casual clothes, which consisted of some Lederhosen and a plaid button-up short-sleeve shirt. The shirt's pattern alternated between white and blue square patches, which appeared similar to the pattern for the Bavarian Rautenflagge.
The C-27J had landed on the airfield aboard the Aquila. Franco was there at the airfield after he had gotten word of an arrival. But he grew a very confused look upon discovering it was Pfirsich.
"Oh, is something wrong?" he asked with some politeness in his voice now. "Or did you perhaps forget something?" Franco really had no idea why Pfirsich was there.
XXXXXXXXXX
And it's back to square one.
Part of Projekt Jägermeistern.
XXXXXXXXXX
The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. The music belongs to Sabaton. 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.