The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Neunzehn-komma-ein: Extras Fünf und Sechs
Kapitel Zehn: Der echte Körper!
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Up above the Zuikaku in the clear blue skies, the sounds of aircraft engines were plentiful. The large-displacement piston engines dominated the skies, although there was also a hint of rocket engine sounds interlaced with them. The firing of guns of all sizes was also present, beginning and ending at random. All of these sounds helped to create a symphony of an all-out warzone.
Are you playing?!
Do you follow the conductor's lead?
The causes behind the orchestra of death were none other than the Ooarai Jägermeistern Staffel, with some help from the Ooarai Panzerkraft Zug. The mish-mashed teams were participating in one of the large-scale practices that the collective Arts of Warfare programs of the school sometimes orchestrated for the purpose of increasing the cohesion of the Panzerkraft and Jägermeistern teams.
No one knows you!
No one cares about a single violin
At least, that was the official reason. In reality, this current session was a bit different. Down on the ground, things were relatively normal; it was a practice fight with both sides having four tanks each. But in the air, it was an all-against-one type of scenario; all of the other Ooarai fighters chose to try and take down Erich's Bf 109 K-4, much like how it was during the school's first ever practice. Since it was a large-scale practice, everyone wore their combat outfits respective to their team.
Play the score of the damned!
On the ground within a small clearing in the Panzerkraft training grounds, the Panzer IV H commanded by Miho came to a stop and fired its 7,5 cm KwK 40 L/48 from within roughly 200 meters of its target: Rabbit Team in the M3 Lee, at the other edge of the clearing within close range. The Panzergranate 39 hit the unaware American medium tank directly in the rear of the hull, which obliterated its engine and sent up its white flag to signify its defeat.
Know the devil within!
Up about 5,000 feet in the air, rather low altitude for an air battle, things were not going according to plan for the seven fighters, as they were much like the single violins compared to their sole opponent; the 109 piloted by their Staffelkapitän, the conductor of the score of music played by the masterful war machines.
"The sound of the mortars!
The music of death!
We're playing the devil's symphony!
Our violins are guns!
Conducted from hell!"
The blond-haired German ultra-ace remained focused on his surroundings, though he chose to self-indulge a bit and sing along to some Swedish power metal from his phone since he had no need to be on radio comms. They weren't needed since he was playing the role of a one-man air force at the moment due to his team's wish to try and take him down. He broke out of his current zoom climb to double back and dive on an unaware F4F-3 trying to climb up to higher altitudes in a different direction.
"Hallo zusammen! Ich bin es wieder!" Erich next heard the DJ from the radio station his phone was set to. "Ich hoffe, ihr seid gut! Jetzt-" Said DJ greeted everyone with their own reintroduction of self and said they hoped everyone was doing well, until Erich mentally tuned them out. During the chatter, he closed the distance with the Wildcat, and he fired his weapons from extremely close range. The F4F was simply obliterated from the short burst of 30 mm Minengeschoße striking it: its tail was torn off from the massive explosive power of the MK 108's shells, and the plane's remaining fuel was set ablaze as well. Whatever remained of the burning American naval fighter was abandoned by its pilot, Matthias Klose, as he swung back the canopy and bailed out of the now useless fighter. The 109 continued on its current heading for a few seconds.
"Ugh, Sauanzeigen," the blond-haired boy muttered his annoyance with the advertisements the DJ was no doubt about to play. It didn't seem that he was paying much attention to the fight, but such thoughts were most certainly wrong. He simply found an opportunity to have his own fun simultaneously, even if it seemed extremely odd to anyone that wasn't him.
He pulled up on instinct to meet the attack of the fast-diving Me 163, built to the specifications of the Me 163B V18 with the HWK 109-509B dual-chamber rocket engine. The blond-haired German's move foiled the Komet's attack, and Yeager, the pilot of the rocket-powered fighter, had to head into a climb to recycle his energy levels.
Erich looked around for a bit and took notice of both the burning F4F fuselage falling from the sky and its parachuting pilot, and he briefly got onto the radio for a quick transmission to every radio device he could reach. "Hey, burning plane falling from the sky with its pilot parachuting," he calmly broadcast an alert before he went silent, having said what he wished to say. He then jerked the controls and broke left to evade the Fw 190 D-12 diving on him, forcing Aprikose Novat, the Dora's pilot, to miss his shot.
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"... burning plane... from sky... its pilot..." was all Miho could hear of Erich's broadcast from her Panzer IV H on the ground. Static interfered with the transmission, but from what she heard, she immediately grew a look of terror upon comprehending it for herself.
The light brunette girl sprung up through her hatch and quickly inspected her surroundings with her heart racing. She was, by her very nature, heavily determined to not let anyone die on her watch, hence her look of horror upon finding the burning plane mentioned finally impact the ground and incinerate itself and the surrounding area.
Miho briefly raised a hand to cover her eyes from what remained of the fuel load and ammunition combusting into a bright fireball on impact with the ground. "Mako, get to that wreck! Quickly!" she commanded with a greater insistence than usual for her after removing her hand. Every time someone's life was in danger was a moment where Miho lost all thoughts in her mind except for those concerning how to save whoever was in trouble, and her entire crew fully understood the reasons behind her reaction immediately when it occurred. That being said, the sleepy tank driver complied immediately and set the Panzer IV into motion towards the fallen fighter.
The wreck itself was in the forest for the tank grounds, though the trees in the forest still made traveling off the paths difficult and slow-moving. The German tank still continued through the shrubbery and thick tree trunks, trampling over them until it was forced to come to a stop a little further away than what its commander wanted.
"Terrain's too obstructive to pass through," Mako calmly notified with her usual impassive tone. "You'll have to continue on foot."
"Got it," Miho nodded with a fierce determination in her eyes. She then turned to look over to the loader's spot while she herself popped open the commander's hatch. "Yukari, come with me!"
"Yes!" Yukari replied affirmative with the same fiercely determined expression as she swung open the loader's hatch and moved to climb out.
Both the commander and the loader dropped down from the front of the Panzer IV and continued forth from there, making their way through the thick shrubbery and dense tree concentration with haste. There was no way the German tank would get through that kind of terrain without digging itself a ditch. Add to that the fact that the burning remains of the F4F some distance ahead had been spreading their flame front over time, and the self-determined rescuers found a great challenge ahead of them.
"Matthias!" Miho called out at the top of her lungs, trying to get the F4F pilot's voice to return her call and give her a rough direction of where he was. The light brunette German girl heard nothing, so she called out again in the same tone as before. "Matthias!"
Miho then heard a very slight noise, almost too quiet to be picked up over the crackling flames, and she stopped heading in the direction of the fallen naval fighter to listen. She faintly heard the sound of something rustling, and she strained her ears to see if she could zero in on the direction of it.
"This way!" the light brunette determined and took off again, heading in the direction of her ten o'clock with Yukari following. Both made their way past some more trees and shrubbery, which also took them further from the flames, and then Miho called out again. "Matthias!"
"Sieh nach oben!" a young German voice was heard in response.
Miho stopped upon hearing a return voice, but she did as they asked and looked up. What she found was one Matthias Klose hanging from his parachute that had gotten tangled up in the tree branches. She let out a brief cry of relief seeing him seemingly alright, but she thought it would help to ask anyway. "Are you alright?!"
"I could use a bit of help getting down!" Matthias responded in good nature. Aside from the fact that he was stuck high in the tree branches tangled with his parachute, he appeared just fine.
Hearing the young German talking like he was fine greatly relaxed Miho and wound down her adrenaline. She let out a huge sigh of relief as she held a hand to her chest. "Yukari… could you…" she tried to ask, though her sudden lapse of energy didn't allow her to fully verbalize her request.
"On it," Yukari responded, having foreseen what Miho wanted to ask anyway. She had moved to climb up one of the trees that the parachute was stuck in with a knife drawn as she moved into a position to try and sever the tangles.
While she did that, Miho chose to lean back against another tree and let the rush of adrenaline flow out from her. She closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh as she slid down the trunk to the base. 'Gott sei Dank…' she mentally thanked God for the well-being of a comrade.
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Part of Projekt Jägermeistern.
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The author doesn't claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. Any references made belong to their respective owners.
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