The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Dreiundzwanzig: Willkommen in Russland
Kapitel Zwei: Vorschau – Eine verschmähte Heldin
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"So," Kolenka casually began as he held his Tokarev TT pistol aimed at his target with just one hand. He had a smirk displaying how in control of the situation he was, something the Kapitan of Pravda Srednyaya Shkola's Tankovaya Brigada loved to possess whenever possible. He was someone who was completely unfamiliar with the sensation of not having complete control over something. "May I know the name of this unbelievably good-looking girl that just so happened to fall out of the sky right in front of me?"
Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann knew she was in a very compromising position, what with being held at gunpoint by the leader of Schwarzwaldspitze's arch-rival. It wasn't made any easier by the fact she was wearing nothing more than her black undergarments – don't ask – but the blond-haired ultra-ace held her ground and betrayed no elements of fear on her face or with her actions. "You can call me Erika," she gave out, deciding to acquiesce at least her first name to the blonde bulking Russian aiming the pistol at her.
Kolenka raised an eyebrow, but kept his shit-eating smirk. This girl very much intrigued him, because normally anyone else would be shivering before him in utter terror. But not Erika. He wanted to learn more about her, but that would have to be pushed back until later.
The burly Russian's interrogation of the young German girl would have to wait because the two of them were out in the open, where anyone could spot them. Erika's unique Bf 109 G-6 was resting behind its pilot with no sign of getting back in the air, while behind Kolenka was the T-34-85 he commanded. The two of them could not remain in the open because the blonde Russian knew he would be spotted if he stayed a moment longer. As the saying went, business before pleasure. But Kolenka very much intended to get some pleasure out of this while he could.
Erika thought back to earlier that day, about how in the hell things got to this point. The day started out as any other day would in the east: just another day getting up in the air and shooting down scores of Russian fighters. The blond-haired girl was too lazy to bother suiting up and went up into the air wearing nothing but her black bra and matching black panties. She ended up thanking herself for that decision later, because it was hot as hell that day in Ukraine.
It was just a normal day for her, until a load of shrapnel struck her 109, courtesy of the Yak-1 she had shot down earlier. The parts that flew off the Russian fighter had somehow found their way to the Gustav, impacting the German fighter with a hail of shrapnel. After all was said and done, Erika's fighter had its oil tank pierced, and eventually the blonde had to force-land, too far away to glide back to her airfield.
Though she had a Luftwaffe M30 Drilling combination rifle/double-barrel shotgun stowed away in her 109 just in case, Erika was quickly outmatched when a T-34-85 had driven up to the at-rest Gustav. There was no way she could compete with a tank with what she had, so she did the smart thing and raised her arms in surrender, lowering her weapon when the order to do so was barked by the blonde bulky commander.
Despite how much her fellow Jagdgeschwader comrades criticized her for being asleep all the time during lectures, Erika was a very smart girl. She perhaps wasn't someone who exerted all possible effort into learning, but she was still an intelligent girl. She was someone who was more street-smart than book-smart, someone who had great instincts.
And her instincts now were telling her to not put up a fight against Kolenka, because that was a fight she would not walk away from victorious. Oh, sure, she would still live, considering that the Russian's Tokarev was no doubt loaded with rubber rounds. But it would still hurt like hell if she got shot by those rounds, enough to stun and immobilize her easily.
She could also recognize by instinct the type of person Kolenka was: he was someone who would undergo any means necessary to get what he wanted. It was just so unlucky for Erika that his current want turned out to be her.
Kolenka used his free hand to point behind him to his T-34-85 while also keeping his Tokarev aimed at the blonde German girl. "Get in the tank," he ordered.
Erika had no choice but to obey the command, because if not, then she would be royally fucked. She didn't discount the possibility that she could be royally fucked in the most literal sense of the phrase, either, because she could see in the bulky Russian's gaze that he could become extremely cruel to get what he wanted out of her, if it was necessary. So Erika slowly got onto the T-34-85, being cautious so as not to give Kolenka a reason to shoot her, and dropped into the commander's hatch of the Russian tank.
And that was how Erika ended up being captured and taken farther east. Inside that Russian tank was the hottest place she had ever been. By that token, she was somewhat glad she had only worn her black undergarments, because she would've been on fire by now in anything heavier than that.
But she also cursed her choice to go with just undergarments that day, because she was forced to sit in front of Kolenka within the cramped interior of the Russian medium tank. It was humiliating, to say the least, when the Russian practically shoved her down to the floor and pinned her torso back toward him with his legs, which led to Erika's head being situated in between his legs as he commanded the T-34. Thankfully, she didn't have to face the brutish Russian and look at him. That would've been even worse, because she could already picture the taunting that would occur if that was the case.
But it was discomfiting when he started absently running his hands through her short blonde hair. The fact that he was making an effort to do so gently unnerved Erika, because she was now even more afraid of what could possibly happen if she went against Kolenka when he held this much of an interest in her. In particular, she was getting a bad vibe that he would simply bend her over and fuck her into submission if she did something he didn't like. Erika had heard stories about how brutal the Russians could be, but the possibility of being on the receiving end of such brutality terrified her.
But she didn't betray that feeling at all. To the outside world, she appeared to have a blank mood. She was convinced that she would eventually get back home, whether it be via a rescue mission or her taking the initiative and escaping. For now, though, she had to wait and bide her time.
The dawn of grudge meeting
Lone girl caught in Ukraine
It was a long, uncomfortable ride for Erika as the T-34-85 that acted as her transport traveled further east. During that time, she retained her blank mood, but the gears in her head turned faster than ever before as she ran many scenarios through her head. She knew she had to get back to her comrades before the fight between Schwarzwaldspitze and Pravda occurred. She was determined to not be useless to them, especially when a tenth consecutive overall victory was on the line.
Transported to Pravda's domain
She was interrupted from her thoughts, though, by Kolenka as he used his hand to turn her head toward him. "Welcome to Rossiya," he revealed their itinerary with a dark grin. The Russian was loving how submissive Erika was with regards to her actions, but he knew that she had a fire to her that was just waiting to boil to the surface. He wanted to see if he could quench that fire, or if that failed, then to see how much futile resistance she could put up against him when she snapped.
Gone to a land overpowered!
As the great fight neared
After reaching their destination and getting out of the T-34, Kolenka was quick to get Erika back to his room before anyone saw her. Everyone involved in Pravda's Arts of Warfare program was too occupied watching the May Day parade to notice the two. The blonde German girl, however, managed to catch a glimpse of a map laid out on a table before she was ushered out of the area where Pravda's tanks were tucked away. From that brief glance, she was able to deduce that she was somewhere south of Kursk. Well, great. That made the task of getting back to friendlies even harder, considering they were by now likely only just reaching the Ukrainian-Russian border, and that was being optimistic.
Unleashed her shadow on this world!
Until she could get an opportunity to escape or was rescued, Erika resolved to make herself useful while she was held captive by Kolenka. She purposely submitted to the burly Russian's demands, and for that, she was able to gain the opportunity to observe Pravda and gather intelligence. Kolenka's massive ego made him want to trot around his tamed prize for everyone to see; he was pleasantly surprised by the German girl obeying his every whim, no matter how embarrassing, which inflated his great ego even more. Erika used that time spent outside his room to gather as much information as she could about Pravda's forces. She was deep undercover now.
Whoooooaaaaa, no!
Whoooooaaaaa, no!
Whooooo knows her name?
While Kolenka toured Pravda's positions to get reports on everyone's status, Erika stayed beside him as his little personal pet. The blonde German girl had hardened herself to be able to endure whatever the Russian could throw at her, which at the moment consisted of being trotted around like a pet. It was made even more embarrassing and humiliating by how Kolenka kept her in her black undergarments the whole time.
It was humiliating, but Erika endured it without betraying a single ounce of emotion on her face. She kept her focus on her self-appointed mission: to gather intelligence on Pravda. As Kolenka chatted with those reporting to him, Erika subtly listened into the conversations to try and gleam anything useful out of them.
Living through hell
A heroine imprisoned
Her situation was easily comparable to being a slave. She had long since lost hope of getting aid from anyone in Pravda. The other Russians simply turned a blind eye to Kolenka's antics with Erika, because everyone knew better than to go against him. That basically left the blonde German girl to fend for herself and do one of two things: bide her time and hope Schwarzwaldspitze sends a rescue team for her, or pave her own path to escape.
Pilot in Russia
Who knows her name?
"Ugh," Sasha scrunched her face up in disgust when Kolenka came to see her and brought Erika along. "You're such a bear, Kolenka." The Russian Komandir Divizii was perhaps the only person Erika had seen so far that didn't bend over to Kolenka's will, as she had immediately displayed an obvious disgust with him when he brought the blond-haired ultra-ace with him. Perhaps she was Erika's ticket out, but also, maybe she wasn't, considering she was the Komandir of Pravda's Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya.
Sasha was a bit curious about Kolenka's girl-toy, because she swore she looked familiar. Erika thanked her lucky stars, though, that the Russian ace didn't recognize her. While they had never met before then, Erika's striking resemblance to her older sister made it relatively easy for most to identify the connection she had to Schwarzwaldspitze. The blonde German girl was eternally lucky that she wasn't recognized, otherwise she was guaranteed to be put under lock and key and endlessly interrogated.
Toll of the bell
Yet plans war from her prison
Over her time spent as Kolenka's pet, Erika was always under constant threat from the big burly Russian himself. He never looked to be more than a twitch of the muscles away from pinning her against the wall and brutally fucking her into submission. Yet somehow, Kolenka managed to never get physical with her. That worked out well for Erika, because that meant she had done nothing to get on his bad side.
Even under the oft-repeated threats of getting bent over and brutally fucked into submission if she ever disobeyed, Erika continued her mission of gathering intelligence on Pravda. Hopefully the intel would be of use during the Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight coming up soon.
Hiding in Russia
Who hides behind Rotlila-Ein?
"I wouldn't hope to ever get rescued if I was you," Kolenka darkly grinned as he continued to play his game with Erika, who was trapped by his massive body, the wall, and his arms on either side of the wall. The hulking Russian was trying to get the comparatively tiny German girl to crack from his scathing words and taunts; Kolenka wanted to break Erika. "It's clear that nobody there cares about you one bit. Otherwise, they would've already come to rescue you by now. But no. You're simply another disposable part to them that was tossed away as trash. You're useless. Unwanted."
Outside help never came
She decided to break free
Erika resisted Kolenka's verbal onslaught with plenty of defiance in her face and didn't let him break her, but it didn't change the truth of at least part of his words: nobody had come to her rescue thus far. So the blond-haired ultra-ace determined that she must break out if she ever wanted to get back to Schwarzwaldspitze before the fight against Pravda started. So when Kolenka grew alert after a nighttime air raid in the area, Erika took that as her chance to act.
The big burly Russian was stunned, for lack of a better term, that the Germans had found Pravda's base of operations, as he made sure his forces were concealed well. It was no secret that Pravda was a master in the art of maskirovka. But Kolenka was soon literally stunned when he felt a chop strike him in the neck. Though not a very forceful strike, it was powerful in the sense that the Russian dropped unconscious like a sack of potatoes thanks to the strike being aimed at key nerves.
She's harmless, the fool so believed
Erika looked down at the unconscious Kolenka at her feet for a moment. "Dummkopf," she commented how he was an idiot for underestimating her before moving quickly. She dug up an old Soviet-era trench coat and ushanka. She donned both to at least get something to cover herself up with and to make it harder to recognize her before booking it out of Pravda's barracks.
However, she was not able to evade the eye of Sasha. The Russian fighter ace was ordering around the rest of Pravda's Istrebitel'naya Aviatsionnaya Diviziya in response to the German nighttime air raid, but she managed to spot Erika out of the corner of her eye. Sasha gave a look of understanding toward the blonde German girl and turned back to attend to her current duties, not bothering to stop Erika's escape. Erika blinked at that, but quickly moved on and continued her escape. Perhaps the enemy Komandir Divizii was her ticket out.
Sasha cared not for how Kolenka would react when he got word of what happened, because she was ready to tear him a new one for hatching such a stupid idea in the first place.
Joined the fierce battle, fight in the skies!
Hid her time held hostage
Erika was eventually able to make her way back to German lines, though she was quite pissed when one of the members of the patrol that found her had fired upon her. The shot passed between her legs, through the trench coat she had taken from Pravda. No harm came to her, but it still pissed her off to be shot at in the first place.
Afterwards, Erika was able to get back to Schwarzwaldspitze's base of operations on the night preceding the Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight. Isabel had tried to ask where she had been for so many days, but got no chance to and let it drop. Clearly, her younger sister was tired out from whatever it was she had done, so Isabel let her sleep.
Erika made no mention of what happened the next morning, because it would've interrupted preparations for the big fight. Instead, she kept silent on her time spent in Kolenka's captivity. Once again, she didn't want to be a burden during this time. She simply suited up and climbed into her recovered and repaired Bf 109 G-6 to join the fight.
Takes command all while helping her comrades in need!
"Just get them away from me!" Erika ordered the remaining pilots in her small flight. She had led a small flight separate from Schwarzwaldspitze's main concentration of aircraft to force Pravda to have to look over their shoulders, but the blond-haired ultra-ace called for a change of plans amongst her flight after Hanna Jochen's Bf 109 F-4 was downed after some Russian fighters ambushed the flight. That was problematic because the trees below were very unforgiving to crash landings. That set off an instinct in Erika to try and rescue Hanna, because she just had a nagging feeling something would go to shit. "Don't worry about me!"
If she had to be honest, Erika had already known even before breaking off with her small flight from Schwarzwaldspitze's remaining fighters that this idea wasn't anywhere close to being guaranteed to work. Pravda simply had such a great numerical advantage that really any plan would've been hard to execute against them. Luck just wasn't on their side, and this latest development was just another thread in a string of bad luck.
Whoooooaaaaa, no!
Whoooooaaaaa, no!
Whooooo knows her name?
Erika took the time Pravda's fighters were distracted by what remained of her flight to her advantage and set down her 109 by the forest's edge. She then jumped out and proceeded into the forest to try and find her comrade. It wasn't difficult to find Hanna, because her own 109 had caught fire, much to Erika's fear. Even though she didn't get why Hanna was always so snappy with her, and even if she was extremely overconfident and cocky, Erika still saw her as a comrade-in-arms, which was why she had practically abandoned her previous role in favor of trying to save Hanna.
Upon reaching the fallen Friedrich, Erika had to watch her breath to stop from breathing in the smoke from the fire that broke out. Judging by the smell, it was likely a combination of several causes as to how the fire got to its current state, but it was discernible that it wasn't a fuel fire. Otherwise Hanna would've already burned to a crisp seeing as the Bf 109's L-shaped fuel tank was below and behind the cockpit.
Living through hell
A heroine imprisoned
Erika immediately jumped onto the port wing of the still-burning Bf 109 and tried to pry the canopy open. It wasn't the safest of moves, but she had to do what was necessary, because Hanna was no help whatsoever. The perfectionistic blonde was unconscious, likely from either the impact of crash landing or a lack of oxygen in the canopy from the fire that broke out.
After getting the scorching-hot canopy open, Erika quickly swung it to the side and grabbed Hanna before jumping down. She then shoulder-carried her and put distance from the fire until reaching the edge of the forest where she had come in from.
Pilot in Russia
Who knows her name?
Erika had to quickly drop into a prone position, unleashing a pained groan from Hanna, because there were a couple of Pravda's T-34 1942s in the area. Her 109 was shredded to bits and laying as scrap metal. She was behind enemy lines again, this time with someone who needed help badly. Hanna had a number of burns over parts of her skin and face from her predicament earlier. Erika had to hide them both from the Russians because she knew from experience, recent experience, that they were cruel and probably wouldn't help them out at all.
Toll of the bell
Yet plans war from her prison
Erika had to lay deathly still at one point when the T-34s stopped pretty close to her and Hanna's location. The Russian crews had started talking with each other over something. Erika didn't know what, but what she did know was that if any one of them looked not just a smidgeon down from their level, they would find two blonde heads of hair, Hanna and Erika, lying in the shrubbery. A few times Hanna let out some pained moans, which Erika silenced by covering her mouth with her hand.
Hiding in Russia
Who hides behind Rotlila-Ein?
Luckily for the two Germans, the Russian tankers soon ended their conversation and their T-34s drove off away from the area. At that point, Erika deemed it safe to uncover Hanna's mouth, which unleashed some hacking coughs from the Friedrich ace.
After that close brush with the enemy, Erika was on the move again in an effort to find help, supporting Hanna via an arm around her shoulders. It wasn't easy by any means considering the nearest source of help was likely miles away from them. Add to that the overwhelming likelihood that they would be discovered by the Russians and taken captive, and things were not in Erika's favor at all.
Another time arose where she heard the distinct diesel exhaust notes of Russian tanks, and like before, she found her and Hanna a place to drop to the ground and hide from view using the grass. But accompanying the exhaust sound were also the sounds of cannons firing and shell impacts. It chilled Erika to the bone that she might've been discovered. By instinct, she got Hanna up off the ground and started to run.
But the unmistakable sound of an 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56 cannon told the blond-haired ultra-ace the cause of the cannon fire: allied Panzers. Braving a peek around a tree, she caught just in time Tiger number 217 destroying the Russian T-34-85s that she had heard before seeing.
Erika nearly cried out of relief then as three Panzers advanced forward: two Panzer III J1s and Tiger number 217. She hoisted Hanna up and along with her arm around her shoulders while waving high with her free hand in an effort to get the Schwarzwaldspitze Panzers to notice her.
Manfred Nishizumi was honestly horrified when he saw Erika limp Hanna along to his Tiger, though he did his best to push down that feeling. Looking at Hanna's various burns and how rough Erika's appearance was, he could see that they needed help. The light brunette was concerned that something like this would happen one day in the Arts of Warfare, hence why he didn't much embrace being part of the Schwarzwaldspitze Panzerwaffe early on. If he had to choose, he would always put his friends' well-being before his orders, which was something he knew his father held zero tolerance for.
But he stood firm in his beliefs as he helped the two blonde German girls up onto the engine deck of his Tiger I, being sure to help Hanna on first and carefully so. "Change of plans," he spoke into his headset to the rest of his detachment. "We need to get these two to safety and get them help."
It was that easy for Manfred to disobey orders. If it was his friends on the line, then he would gladly disobey orders if it meant he could help them, especially so in the case of his best of friends, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann, needing his assistance.
As she looked over Hanna again and did her best to give some rudimentary aid to her on the Tiger's engine deck, Erika didn't like how she was being so counterproductive to the fight. Don't get her wrong, she would choose helping a comrade over a victory any day of the week. It's just that she was starting to feel utterly powerless and felt like she was bringing everyone else down with her. No matter how much she denied it, she could still feel Kolenka's taunts affecting her mindset.
Silenced by sister as a heroine judged a traitor
Accused of betrayal by her own
"Schweigen!" a royally-pissed Isabel-Justina Hartmann sharply demanded her sister be silent, interrupting the blonde's attempt to explain what had happened. The Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight was over, with the Russians victorious, even though they had only one tank remaining. It was no wonder the black-haired Geschwaderkommodore was pissed: Isabel had always been a fiercely competitive person, and to lose to Pravda left an extremely sour taste in her mouth. She grew even more bitter when she recalled how Erika never answered her calls over the radio for her, for what she assumed was the blonde abandoning her post and disobeying orders. "Why can't you just do as you're told like anyone else?! Why must you be such a bane?!"
Erika was scared that something like this would happen even before committing to it, but the inevitable confrontation with her older sister went a lot worse than she had expected it to go. Isabel gave her an extremely scathing and derisive scolding, displaying just how royally pissed she was with Erika. Those brown eyes were filled with so much anger directed at the blonde, the likes of which she had never seen before. Isabel was unrecognizable to Erika at that moment. She only wanted to tell her what really happened during the fight on her end, as well as where she had been for the days preceding the fight, but having such hostility directed at her made Erika want to just curl up into a little ball to get away from it all.
After a few minutes, Isabel finally ran out of words to berate her little sister with. "Get out of my sight," she rudely dismissed as she turned around, the edge of her jacket flipping with the motion. "I can't even look at you right now."
Spat on by countrymen under the name of common sentiment
Those she once fought beside
Something snapped within Erika. It felt as if her whole world had come crashing down after enduring that scathing from Isabel. As the blond-haired ultra-ace walked back with her head hung down, she had to endure all of the spiteful words that the rest of the Jagdgeschwader aimed her way. It seemed after drawing her sister's ire that Erika's eyes were opened up. She now saw that the rest of the Jagdgeschwader had never liked her in the first place, only putting up with her because of her talent. But now, they were free to throw their hatred out into the open after Isabel did so, venting their massive frustration with the loss to Pravda onto Erika.
All of those words of scorn for abandoning her comrades and causing Schwarzwaldspitze to lose were getting to the young German ace. Her sister's attitude towards her especially was what got to her the most. It was then that Kolenka's words resurfaced within Erika's mind: 'You're simply another disposable part to them that was tossed away as trash. You're useless. Unwanted.'
It was then that Erika drew the conclusion she most didn't want to draw: Kolenka was right. Nobody in Schwarzwaldspitze cared for her. The heartlessness shown by Isabel toward her was all the proof she needed, and that was exactly what broke the blond-haired ultra-ace.
After getting back that night to where she stayed with Isabel and the two Nishizumis during the campaign in the east, Erika scrawled out a note to leave on the table, tears dropping from her eyes from the pain her sister's wrath had left her in. She just couldn't take it anymore, such hostility. It had broken her to discover that her sister's love was not unconditional. It was like the life was sucked out of her upon that discovery, because for the longest time Erika and Isabel had greatly loved each other as sisters. And then that notion was abruptly turned on its head after the Schwarzwaldspitze-Pravda fight. So Erika decided she had to leave and go somewhere far, far away to try and escape that pain.
Erika figured she should at least leave a note behind to inform the others of what she was up to, even if she felt it would be immediately scrapped, but she went ahead anyways with it. She silently reviewed it.
'I'm sorry I wasn't good enough for your love, Isabel. I tried and tried my hardest to make you proud of me, but I guess I wasn't trying hard enough. Perhaps I was going in the wrong direction the whole time. You can consider this as my resignation from the Jagdgeschwader, but if I can make one last request, then please make sure you pick someone worthy of being your next Oberleutnant. I still want to see the team do well, even if I'm not a part of it anymore. With that being said, then I guess this is goodbye. I will always love you, Isabel, never forget that. I just can't deal with the pain of that love being unrequited. That's why I need to leave. So, goodbye, Schwester. -Erika'
Living through hell (Black devil!)
A heroine imprisoned (Fearless hero! No regrets!)
Deciding that was sufficient, she left her finished note and headed for the door to leave before anyone else came back, but she stopped upon finding Manfred Nishizumi standing before her. The light brunette raised his eyebrows in concern for Erika's distraught appearance. After taking in her state, he tentatively handed a small box with a bow to her. "It might be late in the day, but I didn't forget," Manfred said after she took it.
Erika grew confused briefly, but when she opened the box and pulled out a knife with her name, Erika, engraved into the hilt along with an engraving of the flower of the same name underneath, she let out even more tears upon discovering what he meant by those words. Because of everything that happened recently, she had forgotten it was also her birthday that day, May 8th. The fact that her best friend had still gotten her a present even after what happened earlier that day made her start to doubt her decision to leave, because she knew that she would miss him extremely.
Pilot in Russia (Forever! Do remember!)
We know her name (True warrior!)
Manfred Nishizumi. Erika was always free-spirited, never wanting to settle down for longer than five minutes, but she had to admit that if there was ever a time she decided to get intimate with a boy, then the light brunette Tiger ace would be the one she would choose. He would be her choice because of situations like this. He was always there for her, always stood in support of her, always believed in her. Even in her darkest hours, Manfred was always there for Erika.
It was ironic because Erika had only entertained the distant possibility that she would end up with Manfred before. But after this past year and especially now, she couldn't possibly see herself surviving without him. He was far too good for her, she believed. The idea of leaving behind the one person who was always there for her brought even more tears to her eyes.
Toll of the bell (Black devil!)
Yet plans war from her prison (Fearless hero! No regrets!)
But she hardened her resolve, reassuring herself that this needed to be done, even if it meant putting a rift between her and her lifelong bestie. She needed to leave Schwarzwaldspitze. But once more, Erika knew she would miss Manfred extremely. That was when a strange idea popped into her head. Normally, she would not do this, but considering this could very well be the last time they saw each other, Erika felt like she had to at least have something to remember him by.
Without even questioning her instinct, she leaned up and gently kissed the Tiger ace on the lips. Manfred's eyes flew open in surprise at the sudden soft sensation of Erika's lips on his, but the blonde's eyes were closed as she tried to savor the last thing she would have to remember him by.
Hiding in Russia (Oh, no! Oh, no!)
She hides behind Rotlila-Ein (We know her name!)
The kiss lasted for about five seconds give or take before Erika broke it. Manfred was stunned at what just happened, because he had been entranced by her for a very long time now. It was always something he had felt too embarrassed and shy about to bring up to Erika herself. Because he had gotten a kiss from the one girl he wanted to get one from, his brain just quit working for a bit afterwards. He would later wish that he had actually been aware of his surroundings then, because maybe then he could've stopped his crush from walking out of the room and changing everything.
Erika made her way to the open door, but before reaching it, she took off her Schwarzwaldspitze aviator's jacket. It was an article of clothing that she liked to wear even outside of Jagdgeschwader activities. But now, the jacket was something that just couldn't tag along with her because of what it symbolized. To her, it now symbolized the inability to meet expectations, the inability to be useful, the inability to achieve greatness.
The jacket just brought up too much pain for her to keep, which was a shame because she actually did like it. She ran her thumb across the German black, red, and gold tricolor shoulder patch in fondness for her homeland, having grown up in the land for all of her now-fifteen years of existence. She didn't really want to leave, but she felt it was necessary. So she let the jacket drop from the edge of her left hand's fingers down to the ground as she walked out the door, and as she walked out the door and left behind everything she ever knew, Erika never looked back. As far as anyone of Schwarzwaldspitze was concerned, Erika-Dietlinde Hartmann and her callsign Rotlila-Ein did not exist anymore.
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Part of Projekt Erika.
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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. 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.