Chapter 13 – Double the gun, double the fun
When they all landed, Trude did nothing but boast.
"Hah! I beat both Elwyn AND Toshiro! What a day! I should kiss everyone in the Karlslander R&D personally!"
"Yeah, yeah…" Shirley responded mockingly. "Try repeating that in your own Striker."
"Why should I? If this prototype doesn't cause any problems, I will move mountains to keep it!"
"Okay, shut up you two." Toshiro commanded. "Let's get something to eat. The second phase of the competition will be held before dinner."
"Yessir…" The two mumbled.
Everyone was seated at the table. Toshiro besides Yoshika, Lynne besides Perrine, Francesca and Shirley besides themselves, and with Trude and Erica on the other side, next to Eila and Sanya and Mio with Minna.
"The potatoes are really good, Yoshika." Toshiro said between one and the other potato. "But I could really dig some salt…"
"Oh, wait a second!" Yoshika said and ran off.
In the meantime, Shirley snatched the first potato of the pile before Trude could.
"Ha-ha! I win!" She said while waving the skewered potato before Trude's face, ultimately eating it.
"Bitter over losing earlier?" Trude said with superiority. "That's pathetic, Captain."
"Ah, it's so good…" Shirley said as if Trude said nothing herself.
"Good luck next round, Shirley!" Francesca cheered.
"Oh, thanks, Lucchini! But you know I'm gonna win."
"Oh stop it and eat like people…" Erica said and chowed down a potato.
Yoshika returned with the salter, and Toshiro sprinkled some salt over a potato. After his taste buds processed the new info, he gave of a verdict.
"Even better! Everyone, try the potatoes with some salt!"
After a round of everyone salting their potatoes, only praise could be heard, in both Toshiro's and Yoshika's direction.
After dinner, everyone scattered in their own direction, with Shirley and Erica tagging along Toshiro.
"Huh? What's up you two mischief makers?" Toshiro asked.
"You have new stuff to show us, bro!"
"Yeah, show us some new toys!"
"Okay… The next thing I wanted to show is a cannon I believe, but it's disassembled. You can watch me assemble it though…"
"Oh, I can help you build it!" Shirley cheered.
"Fine, follow me then."
Toshiro approached a long and sleek package, and opened it. Inside was a 75-millimeter caliber, 562.5-centimeter long barrel, fitted with a triple baffle muzzle break painted with a gray-black paint.
"Sweeeet Jesus! This thing is epic!" Shirley shouted. "Any info on the rest?"
"I only know the name. It is designated as Rheinmetall 7.5 cm NaK 45 L/75 ME Ausf.B."
"Oh pfff, typical Karlslander bureaucracy… I want to know how much punch can this deliver!"
"It's a 75 millimeter gun, and it probably fires APCBC-HE rounds, so I reckon it has a rather hefty punch." Toshiro smiled. "Okay, we now have look for the rest…"
They scoured the boxes, and found a double recoil dampener, and a single one, the breech, the whole autoloader assembly, the casing, a pressure tank, the sights and the trigger assembly.
"Wow… This is all so high-tech… Toshiro, I don't even know what half of this does!"
"Neither do I… But that's what manuals were made for, right?"
Toshiro fetched the manual, and they both skimmed it.
"Well, I don't know Karlsländisch, but the pictures were very descriptive. So it has a pneumatic autoloader? Why not an electric one like last time?"
"Maybe they couldn't make an electric motor or actuator that could run it? The difference between the shell masses is quite big you know…"
"And the trigger handle… They moved it a bit forward, and lengthened it… Also, the autoloader button is on the same handle, which in turn got the handle on the other side remodeled a bit…"
"Very good, Shirley. I wonder if it won't impact the stability too much…?"
"Never fired such a big gun… But the muzzle break and recoil dampeners, damn! This would probably rip you apart if those got damaged!"
"Prolly… Look at the shoulder pad, it's on springs moving on one axis, so it dampens recoil even further."
"Uhuh… And it looks like the scope got variable zoom… I must say, it's almost a revolution, not evolution."
"Karlslander tech, what did you expect?" Trude suddenly appeared.
"And what do you want, Frau Panzerfaust?"
"What did you call me, Elwyn?"
"Hah, we're even now!"
"Shut up…" Toshiro grumbled. "Shirley, help me assemble this, Trude, you either watch silently, help or get the fuck out."
"No need to be so harsh, jeez…" Trude mumbled and went to the Jet Striker.
"Told, heheh…" Shirley said silently.
They started assembling the gun, but even with Shirley's speed magic, and the mechanical skills of both, it took them five hours to complete, breaks included.
"Wheeeew… Done…" Shirley said with relief. "Now, fire that gun!"
"I would probably refrain from that, because we have to conserve ammo, but I saw that we got a mag with training rounds." Toshiro looked around the hangar and saw Trude entering. "Hey, Trude, want to shoot… two rounds?"
"Do I ever!"
"Shirley, fetch me a mag from that crate." Toshiro pointed out a crate. "The rounds should be painted blue."
"Okay!"
Shirley ran up to the crate, opened it, and after carefully browsing, she pulled out a mag and threw it to Toshiro.
"Hey, Elwyn! Those may be training rounds, but they still have propellant inside!" Trude shouted angry.
Shirley only huffed in response.
Toshiro looked that the rounds on the top of the mag. It was almost ninety centimeters in length, and the projectile was painted blue, so nobody would mistake them easily. He popped the mag in, and pressed the autoloader button. A series of whistles were heard, and Toshiro felt some vibrations. It all took about two seconds.
"Woah, already loaded? Damn…" Toshiro muttered. "Okay, let's walk to the end of the runway."
Toshiro threw the gun up to his shoulder.
A bit heavier than the previous one, but it was predictable... And they used every possible light material they could get… Ehhh…
"Hey, Toshiro, did you forget about me?" Erica suddenly appeared from behind the crates.
"Why were you hiding there?" Toshiro asked.
"I was sleeping. I dozed off watching you two assembling the gun…"
The four of them walked to the end of the runway, and Toshiro pointed the gun somewhere to the East. He turned a new dial on the scope, and saw that the magnification switched as he did so.
"Okay, everyone watching?"
"Yeah!" The girls cheered.
"Then let's… Oh, wait a second…" Toshiro activated the transponder and said, "Minna, I'm testing the new cannon, so if you hear a loud bang…"
"Sure, fire away." Minna said.
"Okay, that was close…"
Toshiro didn't even bother to aim, because there was nothing to aim at. He just pulled the trigger. The recoil force was minimal, as was the muzzle flash, but the firing sound was as if thunder struck by his head.
He saw the trans-sonic projectile flying across the water, and at the same time, the empty casing was ejected with a whiz, as well as the next shell being reloaded.
"Shiiiiiiiiiit… I wonder what that will do to a Neuroi…" Toshiro pondered aloud.
"It certainly is loud…" Shirley said while digging in her ear with a finger.
"Yeah…" Erica concurred.
"You gain some, you lose some…" Toshiro said. "Okay then, I'll shoot two, and Trude can shoot two."
Toshiro raised the cannon, and fired two shots in two seconds.
He looked at Trude, who was flapping her hands, unmistakably showing him a gimmie, gimmie gesture.
Toshiro grabbed the cannon by the carrying handle, and passed it to Trude. She put in on her shoulder with a bit of effort.
"My… This really is heavy right now… I hope the new Striker you'll get will be more powerful than the old one… But when life gives you lemons, you make lemonade!"
Trude fired a shot without warning, and another one after it.
"Wah, Trudy! I didn't cover my ears!" Erica cried.
"Oh, sorry, Hartmann…" Trude said with a guilty face. "Well, anyway, nice gun, Toshiro. If your new Striker is nearly as advanced, then I should already be afraid that new toy is obsolete, heheh…"
Trude threw him the cannon, and Toshiro had to do a full body turn with the gun to keep his balance.
"Trude, you bitched on Shirley, but you threw the cannon like a damn sack of potatoes."
"Sorry, Toshiro…"
"Since we have this behind us, I have to set up a target for you two."
"A target?" Shirley asked.
"Yeah. I saw a hydrogen filled dummy zeppelin on the manifest. The next test will be about you loading as much gear as you can, and shoot the target before the other does. Simple enough?"
Both the contestants nodded.
"Good. Let's get back inside…"
As they went inside, Toshiro stowed away his new cannon, and went for the crate with the dummy target. He pulled out the rolled and deflated zeppelin, a tank with hydrogen, a piece of rope, a metal cylinder, and weights.
"Well, time to prep this…" He muttered to himself.
"Toshiro, what are you doing?"
He turned around and saw the smiling Yoshika.
"Oh, Yoshika. Well, I'm preparing a target for the girls, and I would be glad if you'd move away."
"Why is that?"
"I'll be filling the zeppelin with hydrogen. A mere spark can set it off, so I don't want to endanger you."
"Oh, okay. Thanks for the info, heehee. I'll be cooking beef stew on fish stock now."
"Yummmm… I'm salivating just at the thought…"
"Heehee…"
Yoshika ran up to Shirley, where Perrine and Lynne were standing. Toshiro filled the cylinder with the weights, and fastened it to the yet uninflated target. After he connected the hose to both the tank and the zeppelin, he turned the valve. A silent hissing sound could be heard, but nothing else happened. The target inflated gradually, and soon, a plump target zeppelin was trying to float off the floor, hindered by the weights. He took the target with him like some balloon he got from a fair.
"Oh, Toshiro, what's that?" Perrine asked.
"This I the target for the competition. The girls will fly there with their maximum load, and whoever destroys it firsts is a winner."
He looked at Shirley and saw that she had a plethora of ammo pouches on her.
"Oh, Shirley, can you fly with all that?" Yoshika asked.
"My Mustang is an all-purpose weapon. And after Toshiro upgraded the engine, I can carry even more."
"You should start off by shedding some weight of your chest…" Perrine mumbled.
Lynne looked down on her bosom and stroked it a few times, making the breasts bounce a little.
"Where's Trude?" Toshiro asked.
"Here, sorry for the wait!"
She came in from the right, where the weapon rack was. She had the BK 5 on the back and the two MK 108's in her hands. She also had an ammo belt, with shells for the BK 5.
"Holy shit, Trude! You are taking more than I ever did in my Akuma!" Toshiro shouted. "I'm proud!"
"Thank you, Toshiro! I feel like I could probably replace the BK 5 with your new cannon, but you wouldn't let me, right?"
"No, it's my new toy, and you've already treated it like junk…" Toshiro said.
"Oh stop pouting…"
"Well, anyway, this is the target." Toshiro said pointing at the zeppelin. "I'll fly it a few kilometers east from here, and radio you in when I'm ready. I will do you two a countdown, and supervise the target destruction."
The two nodded.
"Shirley, Shirley! Good luck!" Francesca appeared out of nowhere, cheering for Shirley.
"Thanks, Lucchini."
"Okay, I'm off." Toshiro said and went to his Striker.
After a few minutes, he was at the designated spot. He started carefully pulling out the weights out of the cylinder, waiting for the zeppelin to float in a spot. Afterwards, he pulled back a few hundred meters and turned on his transponder.
"Girls, do you hear me?"
"Loud and clear." Shirley responded.
"Affirmative." Trude said
"Okay, the target is in place. Are you both ready for takeoff?"
"Yes." The both said in one time.
"Fine. Then I'll start the countdown… Three… Two… One… GO!"
Toshiro was looking at the base. He could see it clearly, thanks to the good weather today. Two dust clouds were kicked on the runway, and after a few seconds two spots were flying towards the direction of the target. Ten seconds later, Toshiro could recognize both spots, and saw that Trude, despite being loaded like a pack mule, clearly gained on Shirley.
Trude raised the two coupled Mk 108 cannons and slowly but surely started firing, puncturing the zeppelin and igniting the hydrogen inside, causing a big fireball to appear.
"Woooooooooooo!" Toshiro could hear Trude cheering despite being a few hundred meters away.
""Good job, Trude." Toshiro said through the transponder. "Sorry Shirley, better luck next time…"
Toshiro only heard a sigh in response.
"Okay gals, let's go back home, Yoshika is cooking beef stew."
Toshiro flew to Shirley, and heard Trude closing in on him.
"So, Elwyn, it's already two-nil, why not give up already?"
"Me? Give up in a speed contest? Never! I'll at least win the last one!"
"Fat chance."
"Shut… Oh, whatever! You two quarrel here, I'll go forward."
Toshiro accelerated and flew forward to the base. When he was approaching to land, he heard a metallic bang in his right Striker leg. The engine shut down, and he saw a red light, indicating critical oil pressure.
"What the fuck!?"
He still had a few dozens of meters to the ground, but the Striker leg started vibrating dangerously.
"Well, time to ditch this it seems…" Toshiro sighed and pulled the emergency latches on his Striker.
It came of his legs, and he jumped down to the ground. However, he didn't account what would happen when his bare feet would land on rough concrete at this speed. As he was decelerating rapidly, he felt a sharp pain in his soles, but he endured until he stopped.
"AWWWW FUUUUUUCK!" Toshiro screamed.
He fell down on his ass, and looked at his feet. They looked almost exactly like his hand after Erica's unfortunate prank, however the heel on his right foot was ripped down to the bone.
"Toshiro!" Shirley and Trude shouted from over his head. "Are you okay?!"
"Besides the fact that I just busted my feet, peachy…"
The two landed and looked at his feet. They went pale immediately and turned around.
"I… I'll go fetch Yoshika…" Shirley mumbled and rushed into the hangar with her Striker.
"What happened, Toshiro? Why did you have to crash land?"
"Something bad happened in my Striker. I didn't want to risk a replay from that incident in Britannia, so I ditched my Striker while I still was in control."
"Toshirooooo!" Yoshika shouted from the hangar entrance.
The apron wearing Yoshika was being carried by the Shirley, still in a Striker.
When she stopped before Toshiro, Yoshika gasped.
"OH my… Toshiro… What happened?"
"I had an unpleasant landing… Just please, don't point a finger at anyone, it was my fault I landed in such a stupid fashion…"
"Okay… I'll heal you now!"
Yoshika started healing his wounds, supported by Toshiro's magic. It was a truly wondrous sight, looking at the tendons, muscles and skin being regenerated in an instant.
"There. How many times will I have to heal your wounds… Stupid Toshiro…" Yoshika pouted.
Toshiro stroked her head gently and said, "I hope not too often, heh…"
He stood up, and took a few steps to confirm if his feet were okay. After doing that, he went to the faulty Striker with the girls following him. He opened the hatch, and saw a rather sad sight.
"Oh crap… The engine block cracked…" He muttered.
"But how is that even possible? You didn't do anything to strain it, right?"
"Not today at least… But you know, there always could be some hidden material fault. You wouldn't detect it no matter what, and there could be some fault that under the right circumstances would reveal itself."
"Then we should assemble your new Striker ASAP!" Shirley said aloud.
"Yeah… Okay, let's clean up this junk, and grab a bite. I bet Yoshika outdid herself as usual."
"Oh… Heehee…" Yoshika giggled.
Toshiro took one part, Shirley took the other, and they went inside of the hangar. They dumped the destroyed Striker under a wall. Trude stowed away her weapons, and Toshiro put on his shoes.
Minna went inside the hangar with Mio, and they saw the wrecked Striker.
"Toshiro… How did that happen?" Minna asked curiously.
"Material fault in the engine block. It simply cracked on its own, and I had to dump it…"
"Oi… Well, you should give a report to Ursula on that."
"Later, Minna. I'll include it in the evaluation of the Me 262."
"Speaking of which, how is it?" Mio asked curiously.
"Trude won again. She carried the BK 5 and two Mk 108, and still managed to get closer to the target before Shirley."
"Incredible… Well, let's eat to that!"
They waited for the rest to arrive, and they ate the beef stew.
"Why do we have to sit in a dirty, smelly and oily hangar, and not in a dining room like normal people?" Perrine complained.
"No complaining during dinner." Toshiro said. "Besides, we will contract some workers to renovate the kitchen in the dorm."
"Oh, I hope so…" Perrine mumbled.
"Nice soup you made, Yoshika." Shirley praised. "Is that fish stock that you used?"
"Yes, bonito. Lucchini fished them out herself."
"True!" Francesca cheered.
As Toshiro was eating, he saw that Trude was looking gloom, bent in half, and poking her food with the spoon. She was sitting on her Launch Unit, so Toshiro stood up from the table and sat beside her.
"Hey, Trudylein, what is it? You look… beat."
"Wow… Last time I heard somebody call me like that was when I was leaving home to go to the military… I'm just a little tired… I think I went a bit overboard, heh…"
"Well, eat your food then, or I'll incarcerate you for insubordination."
"Yes sir…" She said with a faint smile and started eating slowly.
"The third part of the competition will be held tomorrow, so get in shape, okay."
"Awkay…" She said with the spoon in her mouth.
Toshiro returned to the table and finished his portion. Afterwards, he took Shirley and they started unpacking the Striker parts. They were packed one leg in each box, so they took that approach with assembling.
"Toshiro… What the hell is this?" Shirley asked stumped after seeing the parts of the Striker."
"You ask me, I'll ask you. But let's consult the almighty manuals for that one."
Toshiro skimmed through the manual and blueprint, and a smile came on his face.
"I know what this is, Shirley."
"What is it?"
"It's a hybrid of a propeller based aircraft and a turbojet, a turboprop."
"A turboprop? Damn, never heard of one… So how does it work?"
"Basically the same way as Trude's jet, but instead of using the jet stream for propulsion, it propels a crankshaft and propeller in turn. I basically got the first working turboprop Striker in the world it seems, heheh…"
"You have got to give me a go in this one!"
"Sure, sure… But first we have to assemble both legs. Let's study the blueprints, and off we go."
"And so they did. It took them until 1800, but they finished assembling one leg.
The finished product was stunning. The piano black paintwork, with an edelweiss and Karlslander flag, shone in the faint sunset. The design was a bit more rounded than the Akuma, but the air intakes were even bigger, due to the increased air demand. The exhaust system was also changed. It now had no visible pipes going outside of the Strikers fuselage, only outtakes marked with yellow warning signs.
"Wow, Toshiro… This is just… Wow…"
"Not bad, huh? But let's stop for today, okay?"
"Yeah, I'm beat as fuck… I could use a bath…" She said and looked at Toshiro. "Saaay…"
"A bath? I want!" Francesca shouted and dropped down on Toshiro's back a strut.
"Okay, so it's you two wanting a bath. Come on then."
"Yahoo!" Shirley cheered. "Come on, Lucchini, let's get our bath stuff!"
"Yeah!" She cheered and ran off with Shirley.
Toshiro went to his room, but he was caught by Yoshika on the junction.
"Say, Toshiro… The two were cheering and saying something about a bath…"
"Yeah, they'll take a bath in my place."
"Oh… Ummm... Well…"
"Three is a crowd, but you could fit in. Fetch your stuff."
"Okay!"
Yoshika ran away after Shirley and Francesca. Toshiro went up the stairs, and heard a radio broadcast in his transponder.
"501st come in. 501st come in."
"This is the 501st."
"Ah, Oberst, good to catch you."
"Jawohl, Herr Generalfeldmarchall. What is it?"
"There's a chance that Neuroi could appear near your base tomorrow. Be on standby for the next day."
"Affirmative. Anything else?"
"No, that's all for today. Have a good day, Oberst."
"And a good day to you, Herr Generalfeldmarschall." Toshiro waited for the connection to end, and said. "Minna, we will be on standby tomorrow."
"Understood, Toshiro."
He went up to his room, and fell flat on his bed after turning the tap on.
The peace didn't last for long, because the three scheduled for the bath ran into his room, and dog piled on him, and mysteriously, Shirley's breasts landed atop of Toshiro's face.
"I'm too old for this…" Toshiro mumbled. "Okay, get off of me, I have to check the water."
Toshiro turned off the water just in time, and he heated it up with his magic.
"Now, undress!" Toshiro shouted with a perverted smile.
"Sure!" Shirley shouted, and she was naked before one could spell Supercaliflawjalisticexpialidoshus.
Francesca took some time, but Yoshika was visibly shy.
"Oh come on, Yoshika, undress!" Shirley motivated her.
"It's just… I… You know…"
"Someday you'll have to undress before him, Yoshika. The sooner you overcome your shame, the better."
"As if you should teach me about shame…" Yoshika mumbled. "Okay, here I go…"
Yoshika slowly pulled of her sailor outfit, and started pulling down the swimsuit under it, revealing her small body.
"See, was it that hard?" Shirley said.
"No… But… Toshiro… Do you like me naked?"
"Yeah, why shouldn't I? Every woman's body is something a man could admire ad infinitum. Well, except for the extreme cases… Okay, climb inside the tub, and let's get this over with."
"But who should do whose hair?" Yoshika asked.
"I'll do yours, you do Shirley's, and Shirley will do Fra…" Toshiro stopped because he saw Francesca behind Yoshika.
"What, why did you stoOOOOOOP!" Yoshika shouted. 'Luchiiiiniii! Not noooow!"
"You've grown a bit, Yoshika!" Francesca cheered. "Boy did I miss groping you, heehee!"
Toshiro sighed, and he let Francesca continue. After half a minute, she stopped molesting Yoshika, and they climbed into the bath. They looked like they were riding a tandem bicycle for three. They washed each other's hair as agreed, and Toshiro washed Yoshika's.
"Mhhhmmm… It feels good when you do it, Toshiro…" Yoshika almost moaned.
"Don't do such noises, sheesh… Be at least somewhat decent…"
"Heh…"
During the hair washing, Yoshika's hands wandered close to Shirley's boobs.
"Yoshika… You had enough for today already…" Shirley said.
"Oh, okay…"
"I'm kidding, have a quick grab if you feel like it."
"Weeheee!" Yoshika started fondling Shirley's breasts with her hands slippery from the shampoo.
"You are spoiling her…" Toshiro mumbled.
After it all ended, Toshiro helped dry Yoshika, trying not to touch her body with his bare hands.
"Thanks for the help, Toshiro. And for not touching my naked body, heehee, there will still be time for that." She said and winked.
"The longer the wait, the sweeter the prize…" He whispered into Yoshika's ear, making her jitter involuntarily.
"Thanks for the bath!" Shirley said went out.
"Yeah, thanks!" Francesca followed Shirley.
"Hmmm… Since we are all alone…" Yoshika whispered. "Why not do our daily ritual?"
"Being?"
"Oh stupid…" Yoshika pulled herself up and kissed Toshiro passionately. "Take a hint, heehee…"
"Riiight… What's for supper?"
"Oh you! Sandwiches."
Yoshika went out of his room, and Toshiro soon followed after a few minutes. He went into the office, and asked, "So, anything to help you with?"
"Paperwork always needs to be done, Toshiro. Please, sit."
Toshiro sat at his desk, and they processed reports until they were summoned for supper by Lynne.
One person was missing, and it was Trude.
"Oh, Trudy? She's a bit tired, I'll carry her the sandwiches." Erica answered when asked about Trude.
After a while, Mio asked, "Is that your new Striker I saw, Toshiro?"
"Yes, Mio. A turboprop prototype."
"Turpoprop?"
"A hybrid of a turbojet and propeller."
"Sounds… intriguing… Can't wait for you to do a test run."
"Me neither… Since my Akuma busted…"
After supper, Toshiro went to his room to take a bath and read a book before going asleep. When he turned off the lights, Yuki spoke to him.
"Toshiro, I have news, and you won't like it one bit…"
Rheinmetall 7.5 cm NaK 45 L/75 ME Ausf.B. – aaaand we need a whole section for this one…
Rheinmetall – the producer
7.5 cm – the caliber
NaK – Neuroiabwehrkannone – Anti-Neuroi Gun
45 – introduction date
L/75 – barrel length in calibers
ME – Mehrladeeinrichtung – Multi-loading assembly AKA Autoloader
Ausf. – Ausführung – revision
Oh, and look into my profile for my rendition of the gun :P
Turboprops – yeah, Germany has prototyped a few turboprop engine models during WW2. I know of the Jumo 022, HeS 21, and BMW 028, but I bet if I searched a bit more… Who knows…
And if you want to praise/rant about my story, please leave a signed review, so we can continue via PM's. Seriously, I don't bite. Unless provoked :]