The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-ein: Extras Neun und Zehn
Kapitel Dreizehn: Belastbarkeit
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"So, Miho…" Anzu began as she drew a discerning gaze over Miho, with a tone reminding the German Panzerkommandeur of the superior she had reported to at Schwarzwaldspitze whenever her sister was otherwise too preoccupied to report herself: one that oozed authority at the seams. The shorter of the two, while a subordinate to Miho in battle, was effectively her direct superior upon stepping out of the hangars, what with her being the school President and all. So it made a lot of sense that Anzu would become serious like this from time to time.
Miho was in Anzu's office, both of them being seated at the table off to the side reserved for strategy meetings. The German girl was at one far end while the Japanese girl was at the other. Also present to Miho's right was Erich, who lazily lied along the couch that lied length-wise with respect to the table, the other side of it being lined with chairs. The blonde appeared utterly bored as he stared up at the ceiling, counting the tiles up there to pass the time.
"You said you had some concerns regarding the whole team?" Anzu prompted, observing the German's response intently.
"Yes," Miho responded with the no-nonsense, no-distractions mindset she dropped into in battle. The Miho speaking now was the so-called Captain Nishizumi. The differences in personality she underwent whenever heading into battle were vast enough that it came naturally to refer to that side of her by a different name entirely. Calculating, fierce, bold, and ruthlessly efficient: all of which and the like described Captain Nishizumi.
The Captain had a folder beneath her folded hands, and with a graceful flick of one hand slid it across the table. It came to a stop squarely in front of the reddish-brown-haired President.
Anzu took it and looked through the papers inside as Miho continued in her same efficient speech pattern, "The imminent lack of spare parts for both the tanks and the aircraft is very concerning, as without them we could end up in battle with numbers much less than ideal due to unserviceability, making it that much more likely we would lose. But parts cost money, especially so for our more capable vehicles whose parts are more advanced in nature and rarer. That's where you come in." She ended with a nod in Anzu's direction.
The twin-tailed President looked away from the papers back to Miho with an appraising look. She had seen the typical parts costs for the major components of all the German vehicles they had, as outlined by Miho, which was quite high compared to the rest of their lineup. She didn't know exactly why that was the case, but Anzu could intelligently guess that it was just typical supply-and-demand. German vehicles were among the most desirable vehicles for Arts of Warfare programs the world over, hence most in demand, but production levels of the German tanks and fighters were nowhere near as high as the production levels of American and Russian equipment, which also had high demand. Naturally, that meant the German equipment would be more expensive by comparison.
"Well…" Anzu began, passing her bright brown eyes slowly over Miho and Erich both, even though the latter was in no way paying any attention. "The costs for all the essential parts is probably not within the budget. Keep in mind I say probably. I'll have Yuzu check to be sure. But even if we don't have the money necessary, I'm sure I can find a way to get what we need regardless."
Miho could believe the President's words a hundred percent, as she was extremely skilled in negotiation and bargaining. It was very much her forte, having come to develop the skills during her rule. Her position was not nearly as straightforward as it seemed on the surface. As the President of Ooarai High School, that meant that every school program reported to her. And the amount of programs Ooarai had was indeed numerous, the vast majority of which were not even on school grounds. Many programs, especially those devoted to providing sustenance and maintaining the Zuikaku, operated below decks. These were vital to the ship, so in a sense, Anzu held authority over the entire ship, as she was responsible for making sure everything ran smoothly and, more importantly, prospered. In that light, Miho could see that the twin-tailed girl could one day rule an entire country with ease judging by how successfully she was running the Zuikaku. "Understood," the vibrant brunette Panzerkommandeur nodded.
"Are we just going to sit here and pretend she's not sitting on the back of the mountain talker?" Erich nonchalantly said, not taking his eyes off the ceiling and continuing to look bored out of his mind.
The blonde was referring to Aprikose, who, for whatever reason, was being sat upon by Anzu at the head of the table. The twin-tailed President was perched on his back with him down on all fours. Miho snapped out of her Captain Nishizumi mindset and went back to just being Miho upon noticing. And, upon greater thought, she preferred not to ask why Anzu was doing what she was with Aprikose. She could guess this was a rather lewd in nature game they played, her face flushing in kind.
At Erich's 'mountain talker' comment, though, the Bavarian looked up, head just clearing the table, to shoot an offended-but-not-really glare at the blonde. The Bavarian and Swabian often picked on each other in good nature for the way they both talked, with Erich claiming the way Aprikose and the other two Bavarians spoke was so archaic it reminded him of mountain men.
"You disappoint me, for I had hope that you were not so deluded, Haring," Aprikose returned, calling him a thin, weak man with no presence. "I think the two fesche Madln here can agree with me in deeming you a Schmarrnbeppi." He referred to Miho and Anzu with his 'pretty women' comment and ended with calling Erich an utterer of nonsense.
Erich finally got up into a sitting position on the couch, his full attention on the banter-like sparring of words between him and the Bavarian. "Well, you know that they say-" the retort on his tongue ready to fly.
Both Miho and Anzu sighed with smiles saying they knew this would happen. "Jungs," they both said simultaneously to get the boys' attention, cutting off Erich in the process. "Halt." Anzu went a step farther and deliberately rested more of her weight on Aprikose's back while using his brown hair as reins, making him strain against the pull and from the increased load he had to bear.
"Autsch, autsch, autsch, autsch!" the Bavarian reacted to the pain. Anzu, satisfied he wouldn't speak up again and continue the bantering, let go of his hair and got off of him. She then took the chair to the right of her own, one that rested along the other long side of the table, while Aprikose stumbled back into Anzu's previous seat.
Though quite obviously reeling from the twin-tailed girl's treatment of him, Aprikose smugly grinned at having the last word after the command to stop. His back and his head would be killing him tomorrow, he could predict, though, thanks to Anzu.
Erich turned to Miho with a pout. "I thought such a smart Schneggle as you would see logic, but neeeeeiiiii-heeeeeiiiiin…" he said to Miho, or the attractive young woman, as he had just referred to her as in the Swabian way. It was obvious he was pretending to have been slighted.
Miho blushed faintly upon the endearment, but made no move to help restart the banter, instead turning to Anzu. "Thanks for hearing out my concerns, fräulein Präsident," she politely thanked the twin-tailed girl for her time with an appreciative smile. She then flushed a bit upon remembering a small detail about the other half of her personality. "Oh, and sorry if I was rather blunt."
"Eh, no worries," Anzu assured, waving off her apology with a hand. "Your concerns will be resolved, I guarantee."
Miho smiled, satisfied that the meeting went well. Before she and Erich could stand up and leave, though, the blond-haired ultra-ace himself spoke up as if remembering something he wanted to say. "Oh, by the way, Aprikose," he led off, getting the Bavarian's attention.
"What?" the Bavarian looked to Erich in question.
"The 24 Hours of the Nürburgring is coming up soon, you know," Erich notified, referring to the high-profile 24-hour endurance race around Germany's infamous Nürburgring race track. "The Automotive Club's hosting an event this weekend to watch all twenty-four hours of it from start to finish. I thought you might like to come."
"Oh, I am definitely coming," Aprikose confirmed, eyes alive with a flare. "I would not miss seeing BMW triumph over all once again for anything else." The Bavarian was, predictably, a dedicated fan of BMW in motorsports, being from Munich where the Bavarian automaker was based.
"Oh, really?" Erich raised an eyebrow with a challenging grin. "Because I get the feeling that Porsche will beat everyone to the overall victory again this year." In motorsports, the ultra-ace was a proud Porsche fan, having lived only a cross-town's walk away from the sports car maker's research center in Weissach.
"Maybe at Le Mans, that would hold true," the Bavarian conceded with a tilt of his head, acknowledging the record nineteen overall victories Porsche earned at the famous 24 Hours of Le Mans race in France to BMW's single overall win. "But at the Nürburgring, they'll have to go through BMW first." He was referring to how at the Nürburgring race, BMW held the record with nineteen overall victories to Porsche's eleven overall wins.
"They will go through BMW," Erich retorted, confident in Porsche coming away victorious. "And they'll kick their Ärsche all the way back to München!"
"Oh, like how Porsche retreated to Stuttgart when they dropped out of sports car racing this year?" Aprikose shot back.
"They're already overflowing with achievements in sports car racing," Erich retorted, his face still holding that competitive shine to it. "It's not like they need more."
"If they're hoping to walk all over everyone in touring cars, then they must have completely forgotten that BMW already does that," Aprikose returned, all too happy to continue the debate. "Porsche may know what they're doing with sports cars, but in touring cars, there's none better than BMW!"
Miho and Anzu both looked to each other with unsurprised looks, and then sighed, shaking their heads. Boys will be boys, they figured.
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Part of Projekt Jägermeistern.
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