The Legends Still Live On
Bogen Siebundzwanzig-komma-vier: Extra Zwölf
Kapitel Drei: Vorschau – Eine starke Wehrmacht
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Around his Panzer IV H, Manfred Nishizumi distinctly felt five explosions rock the ground around him in quick succession. No doubt there were more than that, but that was the amount he felt directly. Following was the roar of aviation engines above, and it was simple enough for him to deduce what just happened: an air raid. It was still extremely early into the battle, but, catching sight of the Iron Cross markings on the underside of the wings of the Bf 109Gs and Fw 190Ds that had performed the attack, he wasn't exactly surprised.
The deafening boom of cannons rung out simultaneously, five times in quick succession. They had come after the ground erupted from the impacts of tank shells. That, Manfred knew, was the opening attack of the Panthers, coming from the tree line. They had always been more suited to the thrill of mobile warfare, perhaps being one of the best at it with the tank's great all-around abilities that did not sacrifice speed in the slightest.
Five more deep bellows of cannon fire rung out, one after the other in quick succession. The vibrant brunette did not even need to look to classify those as belonging to Panthers as well as Jagdpanzer IV/70s. Again, this was just the typical opening attack of Ooarai's latest foe, so he wasn't exactly surprised by it. It was kind of their thing, this enemy, to strike hard and fast when least expected. And, for the most part, Ooarai's forces did not expect it.
Three more booms echoed, one after another, from cannon fire, as Manfred was able to discern. However, these were notably deeper, which made it easier to place their identity, but the identity was not at all comforting. The deeper cannon fire had come from larger-caliber German cannons, as was commonly used in their heavy tanks and tank destroyers. But the specific foe that Manfred knew was likely to give the most trouble for him out of all of them was Tiger number 212.
Because this was the Kapitän of the Schwarzwaldspitze Panzerabteilung he was up against here. Manfred was smart to fear his brother Michael, for he was an extremely accomplished tanker, commonly called the best in the world. As for the foe in their entirety, the might of Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzerabteilung, Jagdgeschwader, and other supporting groups, could only be described as being just as fierce and intimidating as the Wehrmacht.
And what an intimidating force it was as the Panzerabteilung came out of the trees to pursue Ooarai's motley of tanks. Numerous Panthers, Jagdpanzer IV/70s, and many other powerful German tanks and tank destroyers. A Jagdpanther, an Elefant, a Jagdtiger, a couple of Tiger IIs, and of course that Tiger number 212.
It was no different up in the air. When Ooarai's Jagdstaffel began counterattacking, most of their pilots could only gape at the highly organized, versatile, and capable Jagdgeschwader of Schwarzwaldspitze. All those late Bf 109Gs, those Fw 190Ds, that Ta 152, those few Me 262s, but perhaps most terrifying of them all, was that Bf 109 G-6 with the black tulip nose.
By now, all of Ooarai was aware of who piloted that Messer. And really, it was almost impossible not to know of the girl often referred to as the number one fighter pilot in the world: Isabel-Justina Hartmann, the Black Demoness.
The black-haired ultra-ace kept her distance from all the fighting presently. Though it was for a tactical benefit to stay aware of surroundings and be able to respond quickly to unforeseen attacks, underneath that reason was how she so desperately wanted a one-on-one fight with her younger sister. And she would never get that if everyone else was still in the fight.
Erika took note of how her older sister had hung back, and she correctly assumed it was to retain a tactical advantage. It gave her reprieve from the prospect of having to face her immediately. Although the two would, inevitably, face off with each other at some point, she was relieved to know that would be postponed until later.
Though neither of them were able to admit such publicly, in private, both were terrified of encountering one another. It had been just about a full year, to the day, that they had last interacted with each other directly. And neither were all that optimistic about the reception they would be given, thanks to the circumstances under which they last spoke.
Pulled into war
To serve a vision that's supposed to last for all their years
"Hören Sie, Hartmann," Schwarzwaldspitze Schulratspräsident Bruno Novat spoke with Isabel in his personal quarters at the Schulratszentrale, or Student Council Center, commonly called der Bunker due to how compact the facility was and the bunker-like environment it alluded to. "Dieser Bürgerkrieg hat uns geschadet, ja." The Austro-Bavarian nodded as he said yes. "Jedoch…" He paused for a bit to analyze Isabel before continuing. "Wir werden wieder auferstehen. Unser Platz in der Sonne wird unser bleiben."
Isabel wasn't really sure why he was saying all this to her, all this about how, yes, the very brief-yet-chaotic Schwarzwaldspitze Civil War may have damaged the school's people. But he assured her that they, together, would rise again, that their place in the sun would remain theirs.
But what the black-haired ultra-ace did know, was that she would give her very best to propel her school into the spotlight, as an unstoppable powerhouse of elite warriors. "Ja, Herr Präsident," she nodded her confirmation and promise of service to him.
Part of a machine
Unstoppable, as merciless as tidal waves!
The basis for rebuilding the powerhouse of elite soldiers and warriors was that of bringing everyone back on the same side. Fortunately for Isabel, the Jagdgeschwader had learned this lesson themselves during the Civil War, an event they would prefer to forget now, if they had to be honest.
The Panzerabteilung had always been united together for the most part, so no such work was needed on Michael's part, either. They were a well-oiled machine, and now with a stable Jagdgeschwader, Schwarzwaldspitze easily gained back its reputation of being an absolutely merciless and irresistible force.
No matter what happened now, rest assured that Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare groups were all under the same flag. They would be unstoppable.
Were they the victims of their time?
Or proud parts of larger goals?
Just because they were all under the same flag now did not strictly mean everything about the Civil War had vanished. It was simply swept under the rug. Some didn't feel as if they were welcomed due to reasons dating back to the war. Helmine Bimmel, formerly the crew chief for Erika's Bf 109G, was now in a position to pilot an Fw 190D, but she did not necessarily feel like she was all that liked by everyone due to her association with Erika.
Another was Karl Ackerschmidt, a good friend of Manfred and, by association, Erika. Now commanding a Panther, he was not terribly comfortable with the role despite knowing he was better suited for it than the other possibilities. He could feel the tension towards him when speaking with a few people.
But then there were those that were all-in on the goal of reclaiming Schwarzwaldspitze's place in the sun. Erik Ignatz, the new Stellvertreter, or second in command, of the Panzerabteilung, always wished to bring glory to Schwarzwaldspitze and to Germany as a whole by ruthlessly conquering all foes that stood in their way.
And then there was Hanna Jochen. Despite having been burned in the past – literally, and the burnt scar down the left side of her face was lasting proof of that – she came out of it even stronger than before. While she was still an extremely self-assured and very confident person, she wasn't quite as narcissistic and self-serving as before. She still desired to be better than everyone else, but nowadays that came second to following Isabel's orders. Isabel herself was happy she didn't have to regret making Hanna her Oberleutnant, her second in command.
Propaganda from council
Masterful machine
Schwarzwaldspitze's reporters and media had not published anything regarding the Civil War, namely because they were too busy trying to stay alive and well, leaving them with no time to report on the war. Not like they really wanted to report on it, either, because it would've given a horrid image of the school.
However, when they tried to push out one little piece debating who was responsible for causing it, they were immediately smacked down by Präsident Novat. The piece itself blamed Erika for causing it with her departure, which technically was true, but everyone involved in the war knew that, while she may have been the catalyst, it was the Sicherheit, the security division, called the SH for shorthand reference, that had escalated it to the point of war. Those with good insight saw how they didn't much like how Erika had usurped their place and become the one the Präsident favored most. As punishment for their role, Bruno had the Sicherheitsführer clean all the toilets in der Bunker.
But a hidden motive for that was how Bruno did not wish to allow a bad image of Erika to form in everyone's mind. He adored her while she was there, and the least he could do, he felt, was to honor her memory. So that little piece was rejected as soon as it was shown to the Öffentlichkeitsamt, the PR office.
But the issue with censoring the school media fell away when they had Schwarzwaldspitze's victories to start reporting on. When those reports started being published, Schwarzwaldspitze's Arts of Warfare program regained its image of being a machine, being absolutely unstoppable and full of master warriors.
Time and again
The battle rages on
Beyond the gates of misery
Schwarzwaldspitze's forces always fought their best in each battle, and refused to put forth any less of an effort. It was a matter of principle that everyone provide their best each battle, to perform their duty. Those in the Arts of Warfare program were very much duty-minded. They took their duties seriously.
But with each successive battle, Isabel could feel herself getting colder and colder. It felt extremely empty without her sister there, and though she did her best to not let that affect her abilities, she had begun losing herself. She had started withdrawing, isolating herself. She did not have any true friends outside of Michael, and even that contact was starting to get cut off.
Already, the dark brunette was familiar with the ultra-ace jolting awake screaming in the middle of the night due to whatever nightmare her head had played for her regarding Erika. Some nights it was her committing suicide in despair, others it was her coming back to kill Isabel in revenge, and everything in between was there as well. That haunted look in her eyes became a fairly common sight to Michael.
As casualties rise!
And millions fall around them!
Did they see it all?
Though Michael also suspected the reason for the emptiness in Isabel's eyes was in part due to their past battles finally coming back to her in an unpleasant way. During the Civil War, she had taken up arms herself, along with the rest of the Jagdgeschwader, to defend the airfield. She had the task of making sure the chaos couldn't find its way off the Graf Zeppelin via the skies. And, though it was a success in the end, she was not left undamaged mentally.
The fact that she was responsible for so much pain and suffering against her fellow schoolmates, even if for a greater good, shook her. She remembered in particular the few SH officers she had previously worked with on a daily basis now becoming enemies she had to put down. Those fights were personal. The entire SH had been pulled onto the side that fought to eradicate and punish those who had supported Erika in response to her fleeing, though their original cause, Isabel knew, was the jealousy a number of the higher members had felt to the blonde. Now they could take advantage with this supposed betrayal by her. Isabel had fallen onto the side that did not wish such and instead fought to clear her name from being used as the scapegoat for the defeat against Pravda, which the rest of the Jagdgeschwader fell into out of convenience and Michael had roped the Panzerabteilung into as well.
However, it was after a massive bout of indecision when she finally decided, one that had been at the behest of Präsident Novat. As usual, he had gone on a huge tirade about the whole situation with the SH failing to bring Erika to him for fair justice, ending in declaring everything hopelessly lost. He refused to allow anyone in his presence to start a war or get involved in fighting with each other, because he did not wish to sully her name further through escalation. Of course, the problem with that was that a war had already started to begin behind the scenes, with no way to stop it. Isabel was conflicted on whether or not to join the fight, and if so, then what side to join. She was unaware that Erika had decided to permanently flee by this time, so she was still ticked off with her a bit.
Crazy warriors on a leash
Or young kids who lost their way?
That Civil War was when Schwarzwaldspitze's warriors had collectively lost their minds. It was their downfall, and it was a very, very long ways they had fallen. When it finally ended after all sides finally came to a mutual agreement to end it, nobody was willing to bring it up again. Since the war ended, nobody has outright spoken about it. But it still rang fresh in their minds. And many people honestly wished to forget it even happened, because it was most assuredly the weakest moment in the school's history.
Honestly, even after it had passed, Isabel still wasn't sure to consider herself a victim of it or a willing aggressor, a warrior with nothing to hold her back. She just couldn't help but consider herself a monster for what she had done, because when she deeply thought about it, all of this could've been avoided had she not treated Erika with such nastiness. Who was she, really? That was the question she asked herself every day. Was she just a youngster who had lost her way, or was she an unhinged warrioress who needed to be leashed before she destroyed everything?
Grand illusions given flight
May seem real at times
"Wenn wir dieses Jahr gewinnen, dann verspreche ich sie davon nicht für jedermanns persönlichen Namen, nicht für jedermanns persönlichen Ruhm…" Präsident Novat spoke within der Bunker's main meeting room. Everyone normally present for these meetings was standing around the table, silent as they listened to him. The black-haired, shorter-than-average young man looked up to everyone before him as he briefly paused his speech, to emphasize his next words. "Es ist für die Geschichte!"
Isabel and Michael were present, as were their seconds Hanna and Erik. They all understood that, were they to win this year as expected, then Bruno had sworn to them all not to allow the victory to be used for personal fame. Rather, he would see it written into history, to create a permanent reminder of Schwarzwaldspitze's supremacy.
Though he wanted it to be true, Michael knew it would be a long road until that was accomplished. He looked at it with a realistic outlook, knowing that they were still too tense and divided to accomplish that goal as they were. Such an objective was but an elusive dream now.
But many people, including Isabel, were all for bringing Schwarzwaldspitze back into the sun despite any possible limitations to achieving such. For the black-haired ultra-ace, she saw it as a possible way to achieve redemption with her sister. If she could win yet be humble about it, she felt she could convince Erika she had fixed her past mistakes.
(Panzers on a line!
Form Black Forest's spine!
Lethal grand design!)
In the present day, the line of Schwarzwaldspitze Panzers stood together in a stand-off against the motley collection of tanks Ooarai had perched on the hilltop before them. It felt like a contest to see who would blink first, in a sense. The tension in the air was so great that not even a knife could cut it. The knife would've broken first due to how rock-solid the tension was.
Yet, in the air, it was practically the opposite. Ooarai was fighting Schwarzwaldspitze's Jagdgeschwader with all they had, not holding back any part of them. Aerial engagements were occurring constantly, without falter, as the Ooarai Jagdstaffel bitterly fought back against the Germans, even though they themselves were being pushed right up against the wall. The air battles were mainly taking place at lower altitudes and practically directly above the tank battle, a deliberate move on Erika's part to intercept any attempts at air raids. However, also smart on her part of manipulating the situation to her advantage, she kept the fighting just high enough to remain out of reach of Schwarzwaldspitze's Flak-Abteilung.
What about the ones executing ordeeeeers? (Panzers on a line!
Form Black Forest's spine!
Lethal grand design!)
"Feuer!" Michael commanded without any drama or flare whatsoever. He had a no-nonsense style of commanding, giving orders as concisely as possible and nothing more.
As commanded, the Schwarzwaldspitze Panzerabteilung all fired just about simultaneously at the Ooarai tanks. Such coordinated fire control was only possible with the archetypal German discipline inherent to each student of Schwarzwaldspitze.
As the Germans began scaling the hill to encircle the Ooarai tanks, the air war was still developing. Ooarai's Jagdstaffel had collectively forced Isabel to hold back her own forces a bit, as their numerical advantage was dropping slowly but surely. Hanna protested to going on the defensive, to which Isabel nearly heaved a long-suffering sigh. Though the blonde had not sounded like a child this time as she did whenever she protested last year, it was still obvious that holding back was something she didn't want to do. "Sei nicht so unvorsichtig, dass du denkst, dass du kannst sie alle alleine besiegen," she calmly reprimanded the scarred blonde to not be so careless as to believe she could defeat the enemy all by herself.
What about the ones executing ordeeeeers!?
Hanna growled under her breath at Isabel's rebuke, but made no effort to retaliate. The reasoning behind her dislike of the Geschwaderkommodore's order was that she herself wanted to push Erika as much as possible, to get her to fight them at her best. Because she wanted to be able to beat her at her best, something she was never convinced she had managed to do. She had a huge rivalry with Erika over the past several years that saw them going off and having one-on-one fights every practice, and they were at a dead heat in victories. Hanna wanted to swing the tally in her favor, so it was no surprise she wanted to go after Erika.
But that would have to wait until later, as she was not one to disobey orders nowadays. So she reluctantly eased her attacks, breaking off after her latest pass.
Yet, despite the more common instances of her sucking it up and following orders, Hanna did have a few times over this season where she had spoken out. One such time was back when the Arts of Warfare program was still out in Egypt, for their semifinal fight against St Gloriana. It was… well, no word could describe it better than 'weird,' because at the time, Isabel had actually ordered her to do this.
"Fein!" Bruno said to end another meeting, ending with letting his arm fall to the table, the resultant smack echoing content. "Ihr alle gehen und entspannen. Das ist ein Befehl."
Hanna, who was the temporary leader of the Jagdgeschwader – since Isabel and Michael were away spectating the Ooarai-Pravda fight – just didn't see the logic in giving relaxation time based on what the black-haired ultra-ace had told her prior to then. She wanted to airlift as much of the Panzerabteilung to Berlin as quickly as possible, as she had heard rumors among some of the sport officials that the anticipated Pravda-Schwarzwaldspitze final was to be held in the city of Berlin. So Isabel wanted them to get there as quickly as possible to blunt a Pravda opening attack. And, with the ridiculous budget the German school had, that meant they had an entire fleet of cargo planes at their disposal.
"Aber, Herr Präsident, die Luftbrücke ist bereits nach Berlin unterwegs!" Hanna objected to Bruno, lightly smacking her hand on the table partway through in emphasis, that the airlift to Berlin was already underway. Isabel had given the order to begin it, not seriously believing Ooarai would win against Pravda.
But that was the wrong thing to say as Bruno's face twisted with fury. "DANN SOLL DIE FLUGZEUGE EBEN KEHRTMACHEN!" he passionately retorted, heavily smacking the table once as he did, that the planes should turn around then.
"Dann entblößen wir die Hauptstadt!" Hanna tried to convince him of her reasoning that such a contradicting order would expose the capital to an attack from the Russians should Pravda win, as was heavily predicted.
"Haben Sie noch ZWEIFEL AN MEINEM BEFEHL!?" Bruno shook his head in disbelief at the ridiculousness before wildly flinging his hands before him in frustration as he launched into a rant. "ICH GLAUBE," he brought a hand down to the table, not to smack it, but to illustrate his coming point as he looked up at Hanna directly, "ICH HABE MICH KLAR GENUG AUSGEDRÜCKT!" He aggressively brought his fist down twice more, not hitting the table but clearly not far from doing such, and finally ended with letting out all the explosive anger with an erratic shaking of his head and fist, ceasing at the end of his speech.
Paying heed to the tirade, Hanna backed off and didn't speak up again. She did still have doubts with his orders, as Bruno had said. But he had then gone on to rant about how he thought he had expressed himself clearly. And that was when the blonde Me 262 pilot decided to just stay quiet. She never understood the Präsident's fascination with Erika, especially not now when he seemed to be just convinced that Ooarai would somehow defeat Pravda, making the quick deployment to Berlin unnecessary.
In the end, he was right, but it wasn't as if Hanna would ever acknowledge it. With Ooarai's victory over Pravda, the higher powers-that-be decided to switch the location of the final match to the area around Remagen, Germany, in the Rheinland.
In the present day, the match had developed into Ooarai's Panzerzug successfully escaping Schwarzwaldspitze's encirclement and heading for the Rhein. Specifically, they looked to cross it. As one of the surprises the officials had implemented, a pontoon bridge was present, following one of the ferry routes present downstream – to the northwest – of the remains of the historical Ludendorff Bridge. The crew for Ooarai's StuG III F had a moment of fun by placing a sign at the pontoon bridge's east anchor that said 'Ludendorff-Brücke' as a joke and historical reference.
"Die Brücke?" Isabel repeated with a raised eyebrow after receiving the report that Ooarai had been heading for the east bank, specifically for the bridge. With that information, Isabel had the Jagdgeschwader load up on air-to-ground ordnance before taking off again for the Rhein.
The timing was such that Schwarzwaldspitze's Jagdgeschwader showed up over the river from the northwest just as the Ooarai Panzerzug started crossing the bridge, the few Me 262s leading the way. Now Ooarai had prepared for this. They had deployed their Flak-Batterie to either side of the river by the bridge to help fight back, and their Jagdstaffel was arriving on scene simultaneously. However, the danger of the situation – namely, that if Schwarzwaldspitze succeeded in destroying the bridge with Ooarai's tanks still on it, then they would all fall straight into the Rhein – made one of Manfred's hands shake nervously.
Ad victoriam!
The first attack against the bridge was by the Me 262s, with their blazing speed. Two of them unleashed a salvo of R4M rockets while the third opened up its massive 50 mm Mk 214a cannon. Almost nothing hit the bridge itself, rather just barely missing in many cases to strike the water instead, ergo not really damaging the bridge itself.
Ex machina!
The reason the jets missed so much was because of their speed. They were simply going too fast to have time to line up their targets. Hanna had tried slowing down her Me 262 – uniquely identified by its yellow number 14 – by closing the throttle completely, but it was useless for the most part due to the jet's slick aerodynamic form. And the jet pilot ended up paying for it, for when she opened up the throttle again, the engines abruptly flamed out and soon began to burn in earnest, not at all liking the quick and rough treatment of the throttle. Her scream of utter frustration was likely loud enough to be heard by the entire valley.
Non sibi sed!
"Feinde aus dem zehn Uhr!" Helma von Benz heard the callout from who was on watch for the enemy Jagdgeschwader. The Me 262 strikes were too fast for Ooarai's Flak-Batterie to counter, but the rest of Schwarzwaldspitze's fighters could be dealt with. So the high-born German took aim with the big, unwieldy 88 mm Flak gun at the enemy fighters still a ways off. And, with all the hawkeye-like precision she was infamous for among Erika's little circle, she fired.
Patriae!
"Feindliche Jäger voraus!" one of the two crew for the He 219 was heard calling out the Ooarai Jagdstaffel during the approach. Up in the sky, just as the Schwarzwaldspitze Jagdgeschwader entered the area, the sole He 219 they'd brought out, and which led the formation, seemed to just explode spontaneously. Right after announcing the enemy's presence, too. Slightly behind, Isabel was suddenly grateful she didn't lead from the front this time. Otherwise she would've fallen to that deadly Flak instead. She mentally made a note to find that gunner and commend them after the fight was over. Because that was one hell of a shot.
Ad victoriam!
"Engagiert euch!" Isabel commanded to engage, not specifying whether to engage the enemies in the air or those on the ground. She purposely left that clarification vague, to allow her pilots to choose the most important target. All of those with air-to-ground ordnance chose to target the bridge, which was a good majority of the Jagdgeschwader.
Ex machina!
The battle, collectively, was now utter chaos, with Ooarai tanks trying to cross the bridge that Schwarzwaldspitze aviation desperately sought to destroy, yet were countered by Ooarai Flak and aviation. The Ooarai Jagdstaffel fought on pure instinct, thrusting themselves into the hive of their German adversaries and shooting at the first enemy they saw. Bullets flew everywhere, water from the river splashed everywhere from various weapons, the bridge shook violently with each close impact, and the general picture was that of a struggle in its purest form.
Non sibi sed!
The Schwarzwaldspitze Jagdgeschwader lost a lot of its fighters in this engagement, either to Ooarai's Jagdstaffel or to their Flak-Batterie strategically placed at either end of the bridge. Their remaining two Me 262s were both claimed by Trace Yeager, flying Ooarai's Me 163 B-1a, who was later shot down herself when she ran out of fuel for the rocket-powered fighter. Many other Schwarzwaldspitze fighters were claimed either by various other Ooarai fighters or by their Flak, whether it be through direct combat or through shooting them down during their attempts to attack the bridge. Most of them were shot down when they tried attacking the bridge.
Patriae!
"Floor it!" Kazuki Nakajima commanded with an eager face. The reason being for that, was because he and the rest of the Automotive Club had played around with the VK 45.01 (P) that was now rightfully theirs to use. So, being the last in line, the Porsche-designed German heavy tank accelerated, much faster than expected, and drove up the west bank like an entirely different kind of Porsche. It was just in the nick of time, too, as the very next of Schwarzwaldspitze's attacks on the bridge struck, and finally caused it to collapse below the water.
Screeching past after its failed strafing run was an aircraft that literally nobody outside of Schwarzwaldspitze had ever expected to be deployed. Back at the Ooarai airfield, Natalie McBraun had a brief fan-girling moment when she discovered exactly what it was: the Ho 229 V3. A jet-powered flying wing, faster than any other wartime aircraft excluding the Me 163, and an even more fearsome opponent when taking into account its incredible turning abilities for a jet. Its appearance was exactly as it was when it was first assembled fully, with a few exceptions: the Balkenkreuz markings, which were replaced with Schwarzwaldspitze's Iron Cross markings; and, most noticeable, the swastika to the port side of the stinger-like tail, which was done away with and replaced with a red number 9.
Effortlessly, and with an amazing reaction time, the German jet-powered flying wing acquired target and deposed of Ooarai's Ki-10, ending the aerial recon it was performing with only a handful of shots fired. A struggle ensued where much of Ooarai's Jagdstaffel attempted to take down the Horten, resulting in numerous close calls for most of them as they reeled from the great resistance provided by the German jet-powered flying wing. The incredibly fierce Ho 229 was fighting as such due to how there were very few Schwarzwaldspitze fighters left flying. Most of them had already been taken out during the fight for the bridge, leaving only a handful of them left in total.
On the ground in the city itself, the Ooarai Panzerzug all froze at the sight of something absolutely massive cutting off their pathway. Whatever it was, it had a three-color camouflage scheme more suited towards the woodland environments, with a tan, brown, and green color scheme. Also, and not quite so obvious, was the red number 100 on the side of what was discernible as the top half of the machine.
"Wow… It's a Maus!" Yuudai Akiyama had sat there and just awed at the monstrously large tank. Indeed, it was a Maus, and the tank guru/tank loader was far from the only one to be stunned into silence at its presence. The super heavy tank just held that aura of incredible and stunning power, and it took advantage by using the time nobody reacted to slowly get itself into firing position.
Finally, Manfred seemed to get his wits back and desperately ordered, "Retreat!" Naught but a second later, the massive 128 mm cannon that was the primary armament of the Maus opened fire at the cluster of Ooarai tanks with a deafening boom. 'Primary' was the keyword here, because, as big and overly ambitious as the tank was, the Maus also had a secondary short-barreled 75 mm cannon, which was extremely useful in wiping out Ooarai's secondary groups from the west bank.
Pulled into war
To serve a vision that just didn't last for all their years
The Horten was a very potent foe. Almost too potent. But the keyword was 'almost,' because it was eventually shot down. However, it had done a great amount of damage before then, taking down all of Ooarai's planes excluding Anna's Fw 190D, Erika's Bf 109K, and Wolf's Me 410. The one responsible for shooting down the flying wing was actually Alena Klose's F4F. The fight's circumstances allowed her to set up a head-on with the Horten, and she just let loose. Of course, she herself was annihilated by the two 30 mm cannons of the Ho 229, but the streams of .50cal fire she had unleashed was, in part, ingested by the jets via the exposed frontal air inlets, which eventually set the jets ablaze and burned out the flying wing, taking it out of the fight as well.
There was nothing Ooarai's Panzerzug could do to take out the Maus by themselves. 188 tons of pure German engineering were simply too strong for them to defeat. So, they got a little help from their friends up above.
The Fw 190D was not easily observable from the skies, having purposely flown at low altitudes in its approach to the city. Upon getting in range, Anna climbed and gained altitude to get a better view to help with identifying her target. And, really, it wasn't all that hard to miss that 188-ton rolling bunker. But the added elevation did help with setting up for a dive.
And so, with a single 500 kg bomb strapped underneath, Anna bowed into a dive aiming for the Maus. She held her dive for as long as possible, releasing and immediately pulling up, only a couple dozen meters from hitting buildings. The satisfying, intense explosion of the bomb sounded in her ears, and looking back, she saw that little white flag pop out of the turret. Mission accomplished.
Part of a machine
Though stoppable, as merciless as tidal waves!
When the bridge collapsed, Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzerabteilung was forced to take a very long detour around – somewhere around fifteen to twenty kilometers – to cross the river. They had to go all the way downstream to just before Bonn, taking route 562 over the bridge far to the north. With the amount of time it took to drive all the way to the other bridge and all the way back to Remagen, it would've not done well to hold anybody back, so Michael allowed his Panzers to take their own pace, knowing that some were faster than others.
Schwarzwaldspitze's Panzergrenadierabteilung stayed behind to force the Ooarai Flak-Batterie and their small Panzergrenadierzug to capitulate, and capitulate they did eventually on the east bank, with the west bank being taken out by the Maus beforehand. Schwarzwaldspitze's Flak-Abteilung had suffered many losses during the previous fight for the hilltop, having been deliberately targeted by Ooarai's Panzerzug. Instead of wasting shots on impenetrable Panzers, they had decided to thin out the herd of comparably weaker Flakpanzers, which was paying off very well now.
How, exactly, did it? Well, with the diminished aerial presence and the greatly weakened anti-air force, Wolf had practically free reign in her Me 410 to thin out the number of Panzers in Schwarzwaldspitze's ranks. First, she had gone after the slower heavy tanks, knowing that Ooarai's tanks wouldn't be able to take those down very easily. That sequence had her claim the Germans' two Tiger IIs and their lone Jagdtiger, but Michael's Tiger number 212 remained elusive.
Then the wine-red-haired history buff next went after the Panthers, which had already reached route 562 with the bridge. The German pilot managed to take some of them out with her 50 mm cannon, but there were still a few Panthers remaining, along with Jagdpanzer IV/70s. Regardless, the reduced numbers she was certain would be enough for the Panzerzug to handle.
Crazy warriors on a leash
Or young kids who lost their way?
"What the devil was going through your mind then? Please do tell, because I can't understand it one bit," Hanna sneered at Erika. About a week before the big fight, she had flown her Me 262 over to the Zuikaku when it and the Graf Zeppelin had gotten close enough to each other so she could 'pay a visit' to a couple of old comrades. And to make an impression on them as a whole, by displaying the kind of foe Schwarzwaldspitze was. "It was bad enough you decided to just get up and leave without a word, but then you decide to go ahead and become the Staffelkapitän of some insignificant, backwater school?" She had a lot of choice words for her for all her actions had caused.
Hanna was not much taller than Erika, but she still held a few centimeters over her, which gave her the natural position of power over her. Not like she needed it, with how her former superior did not bother to oppose her. "Just how much pain and agony must you spread around?" Hanna asked next, not even close to finished with venting her rage with Erika. "It's bad enough that I got this," she pointed to the scarred left side of her face, "due to your failures as a leader, but where do you finally draw the line? Helmine? Karl?" As she listed them off, she even decided to gesture to Manfred with a hand. "Him?" Bringing her hand back down, she listed off even more people who had been hurt through her actions. "Michael? Der Präsident? Your sister? Where do you finally STOP!?"
Erika could not say anything in response because she was trying her hardest to not feel guilty. She still failed at that, though. Hearing of all her old comrades that had been hurt by her actions had gotten to her. The reminder of Manfred had her feeling a whole new level of guilt, considering she had turned completely against him in her power lust and had actually fought him physically, and brutally.
Grand illusions given flight
May seem real at times
"And yet you still sewed chaos after you left," Hanna scathingly accused in a low tone. "You just couldn't stop and think for once, could you? Have you, for once, considered the consequences of your actions?" She didn't even allow Erika the time to answer. "No, you didn't, because you did not suffer the consequences. We did. And, oh, how we suffered."
The entirety of Erika's group of friends were present, which should've given Erika the position of power, but the pure, unadulterated, and staggering amount of bitterness and hatred in Hanna's voice dissuaded any of them from interfering. Once, Natalie McBraun tried speaking up in her friend's defense, "Lieutenant Jochen, with all due respect-!"
"OUTSIDERS WILL STAY SILENT!" Hanna sharply retorted at the interruption, cutting off the Canadian. In response, the walking aircraft encyclopedia immediately quietened and backed off meekly, fully understanding this was none of her business. With that dealt with, Hanna focused on Erika again. "You may be ignorant of this, but I know one of you is not," she began again, giving a meaningful glance to Manfred, who shrunk a bit in answer. Looking back to the blonde, Hanna continued. "Your departure was the catalyst to an outright war between all of us. You were much more important than you believed yourself to be, and yet you could not recognize that! By your hand, you have injured numerous amounts of your schoolmates because you could not recognize your own importance!"
The scarred blonde eventually decided to wrap up her venting. "You sicken me," she spat. "Mark my words: I will avenge each and every one of your offenses, and I will crush you personally." With that, she walked off back to her Me 262 parked outside the hangars. "See you over the Rhein!" she taunted over her shoulder.
(Panzers on a line!
Form Black Forest's spine!
Lethal grand design!)
Looking up at the skies from further north, still a ways from the battlefield, Michael took note of the lack of numbers on both sides' air forces. Namely, two for each side plus the Me 410 still working on ground attack. However, with how it was unaware of him, he thought to try something he had really only dreamed of doing as a passing thought. "Ziele auf der Zerstörer," he commanded his gunner. Wordlessly, the order was obeyed with nothing more than a raised eyebrow as the gunner aimed for the twin-engined bomber destroyer.
The amount of deflection necessary to achieve this shot, and the amount of sheer luck for the target to stay on the same path, made an aircraft in flight arguably the most difficult target of all for a tank gunner. But Michael held confidence in his gunner's abilities, and let him fire when ready.
The cannon soon fired off its shell, and it streamed through the air much faster than sound itself. Everyone in Tiger number 212 held their breath collectively watching the tracer continue going and closing the distance. Soon enough, they witnessed the extremely satisfying sight of the Me 410 just blow up in the air, thanks to the shell's landing on target. But there was no time to celebrate, and Michael immediately ordered the driver to continue driving to Remagen, "Voraus."
"Es gibt nur noch uns," Isabel was told by Helmine over the radio that it was just them left. The black-haired ultra-ace absently nodded, knowing it was just the two of them left against Erika and her own wingman, that other Fw 190D that was flown by Präsident Novat's twin sister. She still couldn't believe he had a twin sister, fraternal twin yeah, but it just surprised her so much. In answer, Isabel began to climb off to the side, with Helmine following. The two remaining Ooarai fighters did the same in the opposite direction. Such a scenario gave the impression that both sides were sizing up one another and having a battle of wills.
What about the ones executing ordeeeeers? (Panzers on a line!
Form Black Forest's spine!
Lethal grand design!)
On the ground, Ooarai was in another desperate last stand with what remained of their Panzerzug. Their only remaining tanks were the VK 45.01 (P) participating in its first battle, the StuG III F, the Jagdpanzer 38(t) undergoing its first trial by fire, and the Panzer IV H. Collectively, they managed to eliminate the rest of the Panthers and Jagdpanzer IV/70s, but at a heavy cost. Out of the remaining four of them, only Manfred's Panzer IV survived, the rest falling at various other points in the battle. With no one else remaining, that allowed the vibrant brunette to set up a showdown with his older brother in the streets of Remagen.
Up in the air, the long-awaited final air battle began, with both sides turning towards each other. Now, Anna and Helmine both knew that their commanders thought them truly talented pilots in a high skill league. However, it must be underscored that the two of them were nothing compared to the two Hartmann sisters, who had years of experience over them both. So nobody was exactly surprised when the two wingmen fell first. What was surprising was how long they both had managed to keep up, which earned them notable respect in the eyes of the spectators.
Both Erika and Isabel backed off from each other when they lost their wingmen, going back to sizing each other up, trying to predict what the other would do next. This was the fight Isabel had been waiting for, the one where she swore she would redeem herself for her inexcusable offenses at this time last year. And she was determined to not lose.
Down on the ground, the showdown between the Nishizumi brothers was just about ready to begin. Both held their fire as they stared each other down from opposite sides of a campus square, both sitting heads-up style. Michael openly challenged Manfred to a duel, the purpose of which both knew well enough, so it was left unsaid. A few seconds passed as the younger of the two thought it over. "Ich akzeptiere," Manfred finally answered to his brother that he accepted.
What about them all!?
And so followed the duels, both in the air and on the ground. The duel on the ground was very fast-paced, full of blink-and-you'll-miss-it moments where shots were still fired despite that. Much of it was waged on the residential streets, which often led to houses getting dragged into the carnage. Michael commonly used HE shells to cause further destruction to prevent Manfred from creating ad-hoc paths to evade him, which culminated in one occasion where he shot down a church tower to block a road.
In the air, both girls were pulling out every last bit of knowledge they had in aerial combat to combat one another. Isabel often tried to set up situations where Erika would be forced to shoot from a distance, knowing the 30 mm MK 108 cannon on Erika's 109 was shorter-ranged than the 20 mm MG 151/20 on Isabel's 109. However, the blonde saw this coming and instead tried luring the black-haired ultra-ace into energy traps. The two of them eventually came to the conclusion that the fight would only be settled through a head-on, as they were just too highly skilled to be defeated any other way. So they set up for a head-on, and just let loose with all their guns, pouring their souls into it in hopes to claim victory.
Down in the grandstands, the one known as the God of Mischief had kept his sight on the two Messers fighting each other for their entire duel. He wore an all-black suit – black jacket, black undershirt, black tie, black pants, black shoes – and his hair was shorter, like how it was before he jumped from the Rainbow Bridge, to be just unrecognizable enough to the majority of the mortals. He was still considered an enemy of Earth, after all. Watching the aerial duel, he grew one of those unique smiles only he could pull off, one that could make anyone feel as if he was mocking them. "I like them," Loki muttered to himself.
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Part of Projekt Erika.
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The author does not claim to own "Girls und Panzer," the music used, or any other references made. "Girls und Panzer" belongs to Actas. The music used 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.