Author's Notes: Been a while, eh? For those who don't know or got hooked into other works that update more frequently than mine, I've worked on two one-shots in these past few months.

The first one, Shamrock Serenade, is posted on my good friend, Sharkycast's account. The second, on the other hand, Riot of Colour, is posted on mine, on Valentine's Day of all the days on the gear. I highly recommend you check them out both simply because I explored a bit more of key Shamrock characters more so than I can do in this story.

Anyways, I'll continue my rambling at the end of the story. Later!

Oh and almost forgot, tried another experiment in this chapter, please tell me what you think about it. See you at the end of the chapter~


Chapter 8
Six Shooter

Shamrock Training Field
25th of April
9:06 AM

Spilt coffee or not, Rosehip was already having a bad day. Not only was her head feeling like it wanted to explode, but she had also managed to drag her senpai into a mess her own stupidity had caused in the first place.

The armoured car that had been making rounds around the grounds suddenly came to a stop, kicking up a cloud of dust. From it, a small redheaded girl emerged and walked straight towards the crowd, who went crazy at the sight of her, making Rosehip wonder if they were die-hard fans or mere simpletons.

After some handshakes and photos, the ginger, who Rosehip recalled from last night but whose freckled face she couldn't put a name to, and her entourage started approaching, so Rosehip made the effort to stand up from her seat. The carrot top walked up to her with a wide grin and stood on her tiptoes and planted kisses on her cheeks.

Once done, the redhead moved on to Roselle next to her and did the same, before repeating the process to the rest of them, finally returning back to her when the shortstack was done pecking all their cheeks.

"Ah, so this is our champion then?" the girl asked, her voice booming, surprisingly, coming from such a small package.

"Uh, no, actually that would be me." Assam-senpai raised her hand.

Guilt rushed down Rosehip's throat and into her stomach, making her even feel worse. Rosemallow had kindly asked for the key to the Crusader earlier and the simple act of unclasping the chain around her neck and then handing it over was something she was very much ashamed of.

"Ah lovely, I look forward to your duel and by the looks of it, so does everyone else!" the little green kissing machine explained as she gave Assam-senpai another set of cheek kisses, making Rosehip uneasy.

With the twin-tails was a tall girl who had an iron leg who seemed eerily familiar, walking next to her as if she was her bodyguard or chaperone.

Rosehip made an extra effort to remember this girl from last night. She couldn't particularly recall anyone with a prosthetic leg but the girl did look similar to the barmaid that spilt drinks all over her only perfectly good jacket, forcing her to use the tight-fitting one she brought as a backup.

That's it! Her name was Laune!

She gave herself a pat on the back as she felt the burning gaze of the girl slowly boring a hole at the back of her head, as the pair left off to go somewhere else.

After all that excitement, Assam-senpai excused herself and said she wanted to check out the Crusader first and so left the three of them behind, carrying the key with her.

She probably wanted to familiarise herself with the tank for a bit.

"Scoot over, will you?" Roselle asked as she sat beside her, forcing her to have some of her butt hanging on for dear life. The crate they were sitting on creaked ever so slightly.

Around them, was a crowd of onlookers, all dressed in a variety of clothing; from casual wear to what she remembered was the team's green uniform, all of whom were munching on snacks and gossiping, waiting for the battle to start.

"Word on the street there's a duel going to happen here."

"Yea, apparently Erina made a post about it last night."

"Fancy a bet? It's 1-to-5 versus 13-to-1, in favour of the redcoats!"

The last one, in particular, was quite audible as not only was its speaker repeating it with rapid intensity but also the fact that it was slowly getting closer. A small girl dressed in a green Senshadou uniform with mousy black hair eventually broke free from the crowd and began sizing the three of them up with blue sparkling eyes, before finally deciding to approach them.

"Greetings, ladies! I'm fairly certain betting isn't particularly refined but it wouldn't hurt to try. In for a yen, in for a pound, am I right?" the newcomer said, in a cheery manner that Rosehip was too under the weather to care about.

In fact, the delivery was so jolly that even Roselle, who usually tried to match other peoples' energy was suspiciously silent as the dark-haired girl took off her beret and pulled out a small vertical notebook, along with a ballpen as well.

A momentary pause came as the bookmaker awaited their response, her pen lightly touching the paper of the now-opened notepad, ready to move at lightning speed as soon as the confirmation came in.

"Is there a problem here, Ballintra?" Clare announced her arrival, having sneaked up on the bookie and placed her hand on the smaller girl's shoulder, causing her to jump up in surprise and dropping her writing implements to the ground.

"Ahhh... Clare, it's been a while, would you... Would you like to place a bet as well?" the girl who was apparently called Ballintra replied, trying her best to regain her bravado as she bent over to pick up the items she dropped.

"I would like for you to sod off!" Clare replied, kicking the notepad a few feet away, causing the bookmaker to chase after it.

Rosehip felt Roselle next to her shift on their seat, causing her to give up more seating space to her driver, who was too busy exchanging looks with the still-standing Rosemallow to care if she was about to fall off.

Ballintra got a hold of the notebook and picked it up from the ground, dusting off a few traces of sand on it. "Ey, no need to get your knickers in a twist! I'm just a-"

"-scammer, a cheat and a fraud. Did I miss anything?" Clare cut her off, her arms on her hips in a similar fashion to Rosemallow's, giving her somewhat lanky demeanour an almost frightening look.

Sensing hostility in the air, the black-haired girl sighed in defeat and walked off, looking crestfallen before returning to her cheery state when she caught sight of new targets.

"What an a-hole," Clare muttered quite audibly, before noticing the dumbfounded looks all three of them had on their faces.

"Ballintra is one of the shadier people in the team. If there's money to be made out of something, you bet your bottom Ballintra has already done it, from selling breakfast snacks to answer keys," she cleared up.

"I tried my hardest to get her nicked by the Garda but to no avail. Even inside the team, she's beloved by too many for me to make a move against her," Clare further fumed, getting more worked up by the minute.

Roselle, for some reason, was listening in keenly, more than she ever did in class and was even capable of throwing a question. "Garda?" she asked.

"Ah, the nickname for our public morals committee, literally means guardian, which is appropriate since there's only one."

"You only have one prefect?" Rosemallow questioned.

"Yup, idiotic, isn't it? It's the only reason why fiends like Ballintra can operate without fear of repercussion. It doesn't help that Rozzer, that's our prefect's nickname, by the way; I'm pretty sure no one even knows her real name at this point but back to the topic at hand. As I was saying, it doesn't help that Rozzer has her priorities all upside down, she would rather stake us out to catch us cruising on the roads with our tanks than to crack down on this racket, she probably gets a cut of the proceedings or something," Clare clarified, speaking so fast that Rosehip had trouble comprehending a fair bit of what was said.

After explaining, the girl with the thigh highs noticed Rosemallow standing and so went off for a while before returning with another crate, placing it next to the one Rosehip and Roselle were sitting down on so that Rosemallow could sit down as well, before leaving again to do some errands.

Before the match began in earnest, Rosemallow announced that she was going to check up on Rosemary. She brought her handbag from her side onto her lap and with some effort, pulled out her tablet from the bag.

With the iPad out, the redhead tapped the screen a few times to initiate the call, which to no one's surprise, was answered immediately by their friend back in St. Gloriana.

Brilliant, but aloof, Rosemary was often seen with her eyes on her phone, doing Gloriana knows what and so it was expected that she would already be up and scrolling through her mobile at this time of the day.

"Hello, what do you want?" a snarky voice replied, its source still locked behind pixels as the camera took its time to connect through the Internet.

"Still cheeky as ever, just checking up on you, Ari, is that illegal to do now? Roselle said loudly, unable to inch close with her, Rosehip, in between them and so wanted to get heard.

The connection came through and before them, through the grainy resolution of her camera was the face of Rosemary, hair still a mess and her glasses unable to hide her eyes bags; tell-tale signs of her staying up late. "Haha, very funny Elle."

"How's it going, Mary?" Rosemallow asked, aiming the camera at all of them, giving their fallen comrade a good view of all their faces.

"Not much really, can't talk too much to my nurse since she doesn't speak Japanese but other than that I'm doing fine. Oh and Darjeeling and Pekoe visited yesterday," Rosemary said, tucking some of her mahogany-coloured hair behind her ear as she nonchalantly mentioned the news.

"What did they say?" Rosemallow inquired while fighting off Roselle, who in typical Roselle fashion wanted to take hold of the iPad, forcing Rosemallow to now fight the bodacious brunette who was hellbent on seizing the tablet.

"The usual; kind words and get well soons. Darjeeling also tried leaving some abomination of a dish behind but fortunately, lethality transcends the language barrier and the nurse immediately threw it out after the two left," Rosemary answered back, unfazed at the commotion happening in front of her, adjusting her phone to find the perfect spot to prevent her arms from tiring because of holding up the device.

"Glad you're doing well over there," Rosemallow remarked, holding out the tablet out of their driver's reach.

"How are things on your side?" Rosemary asked, her bangs parting ever so slightly to reveal the dressing used to cover up a pretty nasty gash on her forehead.

Roselle jumped up and finally succeeded in snatching the device from Rosemallow, shoving it in front of her so Rosemary, who was still laid on her bed, could see her in all her glory.

"Rosehip here got wasted last night and passed out! Better yet, she forced Assam-senpai to take her stead in a fight her drunk arse started in the first place!" Roselle talked in a blur, fighting off Rosemallow on the side.

"Idiot! Are you trying to make her hate you? Because if you are, you're halfway there!" Rosemary bellowed out.

Rosemallow seemed to have had enough and pulled on the brunette's ponytail, distracting her long enough for Rosemallow to take back her tablet. Just a regular day for the Rosebush.

The quartet stood at a standstill and threw a question to get the ball rolling again. "By the way, you didn't tell me that Rukuriri senpai visited a few days ago! You should have woken me," she said, breaking the silence.

"So you can wet your knickers?" Roselle joked, quickly recovering from the embarrassment earlier. It was an open secret how much 'Mary adored their fellow first-year, to the point of copying the girl's signature braid.

Engine noises reverberated through the field and Rosehip watched as an oddly shaped tank slowly made its way to the centre of the grounds.

"Looks like the match is about to start. Anyways, what would you like as a souvenir, Ari?" Rosemallow asked their bedridden buddy.

"Anything but flowers, you hear me?" Rosemary replied, who had been sent to the school clinic more times than they could count due to her pollen allergy.

Things had come to a head when Rosemallow announced that she wanted to grow roses in their garden, much to Rosemary's protests. In the end, a compromise was reached that stated that Rosemallow could only grow her flowers in a small box at the far end of the garden and only a set number of flowers at a time, thereby limiting the chances of Rosemary getting sick.

Even as recently as a few days ago, they had to, unfortunately, remove the bouquets given by Assam-senpai when they were discharged from Nightingale's or they risked prolonging Rosemary's stay at the hospital.

"Bye-bye!" The trio said goodbye for now as Rosemallow ended the call, stowing the gadget back in her trusty sling bag.

The three of them gawked at the green-painted tank slowly trudging its way across the grounds before coming to a halt and from inside, the small girl from earlier gingerly made her way to the top and brought her speaking cone to bear.

"DUELERS, TAKE YOUR PLACES!"

"That's my signal, time to drive the Crusader. Hopefully, Assam-senpai didn't manage to find my secret stash of treats," Roselle said as she ran off to ride their senpai into battle.

With just the two of them alone, Rosehip was afraid that Rosemallow would have launched into a tirade and told her how she screwed but she was aptly saved by the scent.

Rosehip smelled their guide long before she made herself known as the whiff of food announced her presence a long way off.

"Well, it looks like the crowd here has become so big that food stalls have been set, can you believe that?" Clare said, bags of snacks in hand and a wide grin on her face.

"Where's your friend, Roselle?" she asked, the smile disappearing from her face, noticing the absence of one for their numbers

"She went off to drive the Crusader," Rosemallow calmly explained.

As if on cue, additional engine noises soon followed Shorty's tank as the trio made a mechanical symphony of sorts, as the opponents from both sides followed the short stack's command. The weird tank soon found its place on the sidelines, in between the Crusader and what looked like Valentine infantry tank.

"Oh, right, guess more treats for us!" their guide said with a forced cheery manner as she adopted another smile, but more muted this time around.

"What's inside, popcorn?" Rosemallow asked as they were given the still piping hot bags, both of them being curious as to what its contents may be.

"Nope, spice bag," Clare replied.

Although still hot to the touch, Rosehip eagerly accepted her grease-soaked bag and was hit by the combination of exotic smells that were filling up more and more of her nostrils by the minute

"What's that?" Rosehip found herself asking, opening the brown bag to reveal a wide selection of fried finger food all dusted generously with fine colourful powders.

"Chicken balls, chips and onion rings, all seasoned with the finest spices Shamrock has to offer," Clare embellished as she looked a bit nostalgic for the moment, most likely reliving a distant happy memory.

"A cornucopia of flavour."

"Sounds delicious" Rosemallow answered back, smacking her lips.

"It tastes delicious as well!" Clare assured them. "But, if you can wait, I know of a perfect spot to watch this match from and enjoy our snacks. Fancy a climb?"

"Hmmm, sure thing," Rosemallow responded for the two of them, not even bothering to ask Rosehip if she wanted to go.

The tall girl led them to the watchtower that loomed over the rest of the grounds, where a rusty ladder stood before them.

"Hold onto your bags! You don't want them being gone with the wind!" Clare told them as the redhead began ascending up the tower, leaving them behind in a shower of dust.

"After you," Mallow said to her as she did a mock bow while her palm was outstretched towards the ladder.

Rosehip gripped the first rung within her arm's reach but found it impossible to climb while her other hand was holding onto her precious spice bag.

She tried stuffing it inside her Senshadou jacket to no avail when she noticed her loader zipping her bag open and keeping the food there.

"Can I put mine in your bag as well?" she asked.

Rosemallow looked up after she was done fixing the bag back to her side and replied, "Heck, no."

With no other choice, Rosehip bit down on the top of the paper bag with her lips and started climbing. She assumed Mallow followed suit when she heard the noise of another person climbing the same ladder.

Rosehip could start to see the top of the heads of the people making up the crowd as she grasped one rung after another.

A loud proclamation from the little carrot top standing smugly on top of her tank caught Rosehip by surprise and almost threw her off the ladder.

"TOP OF THE MORNING TO YOU ALL!

WELCOME TO TODAY'S DUEL, I'M YOUR HOST SHANNON AND I'LL BE COMMENTATING OUR MATCH FOR TODAY."

After the announcement, she heard a constant Psst from below her and doing her best not to open her mouth, lest she send her food down onto the ground, Rosehip looked down.

"Finally, just hurry up, will you? The duel will be over at the pace you're going," Rosemallow grumbled.

Rosehip chose to ignore her and sensed that she was halfway up when she heard the brunette loudly speak again.

"Well well, yellow today, aren't we?"

"What are you talking about?" was what Rosehip wanted to ask but with her mouth currently clamping down on something, she had to reserve her question until the end of their climb.

Wait a second…. Yellow, she can't be talking about my knickers, right?

As if she read her mind, Rosemallow simply said, "Look above you and you'll understand."

With her busy biting onto her bag while simultaneously holding on for dear life, Rosehip looked up and was in for quite a surprise. Clare-san's skirt was fluttering in the wind, her pearly-white lace panties bared for Rosehip to see.

"Enjoying the view yet?" Clare asked and Rosehip didn't know if she's referring to the grounds around them or her exposed bottom.

"I-I guess?" Rosehip tried mumbling out but whether her Shamrock guide understood or not was never known as they reached the top.

She climbed up the remaining rungs of the ladder and was astonished to see a small grey-haired, bored-looking girl, wearing a wacky coat with different shades of green, brown and black.

The wind blew calmly into Rosehip's face, freshening her up and alleviating some of the pain in her head. The warm embrace of the breeze also helped her feel like the poison in her body was slowly ebbing away.

The visuals from this height were quite something else, Rosehip thought. The tower gave her a full 360-degree view of not only the training grounds but also the surrounding forest as well.

"Make way for the Breadbasket!" Rosemallow mockingly said as she urged Rosehip to step aside so she could climb up as well.

"Oh Tolka, what are you doing here?" Clare inquired as she dusted herself off.

"Hey, Clare-senpai. I wanted to bird watch today but the ruckus of the crowd scared the birds away. So might as well watch the match, I suppose," Tolka replied while looking through what appeared to be her binoculars and randomly pointing them at points in the crowd below.

"What do you do?" Rosemallow asked politely, probably curious at the girl's garments as well.

"Oh, I was just here for the birds," Tolka answered back as she raised her binoculars. "Bird-watcher."

"Neat!" Rosemallow replied and began tinkering with her bag once again. It was only when she brought out a particular paper bag did Rosehip remember about the one she was still biting on.

She let go of her bag, the top of which was now half torn to shreds and wet with her saliva, but the crucial part was relatively unharmed and most importantly, was still quite warm.

With a bit of glee and ecstasy, Rosehip opened the bag and took a peek inside. She was greeted by a smorgasbord of snacks and as promised by Clare, all covered in a layer of powder.

No ceremonies were needed as she picked out the fattest chip she could get a hold of and popped it down the chute. It took a moment for the spices to kick in but once they did, Rosehip was thunderstruck at the zing of the spices, which reminded her of the curry served every other Friday back at St Gloriana's cafeteria.

"Darn, that's spicy!" Rosemallow spoke her mind for her, trying to stifle a round of coughing.

Clare, who was watching them take their first bite, smugly replied, "They don't call it the spice bag for nothing," and started cracking up.

This fit of laughter was soon cut short by a loud rumbling of someone's stomach and the search for the culprit began.

"It wasn't me," Clare commenced.

"Don't look at me, I had a big breakfast," Rosemallow replied.

Rosehip only shook her head for her reply.

The three of them looked at the only other person on the view deck and was quite surprised to see the birdwatcher rosy-faced and looking a bit sheepish.

"Sorry…"

Clare simply smiled and held out the bag meant for Roselle. "You want some?"

The mousy girl's canty spirit returned and she cheerfully replied, "Definitely!"

"Here," Clare said as she gave her the food.

"Thanks!" Tolka exclaimed, snatching the bag and immediately digging into her amalgamation of nibbles.

"LET ME INTRODUCE YOU TO OUR ESTEEMED GUEST FOR TODAY-" The little girl abruptly stopped her declaration and bent over, consulting a blonde that suspiciously resembled Assam-senpai, as if asking the girl's name- "ASSAM-SAN!"

Clare next to her paused in her eating as she took the time to sigh in disappointment. "Oh Shannon!" she exclaimed in despair.

The blonde girl skillfully breasted her way on top of the machinery and hesitantly received the megaphone from Shannon.

At first, the girl's voice was meek and barely audible, even if she was already using the megaphone, giving Rosehip time to ask Rosemallow for a chance to use the binoculars, which in turn she had borrowed from the girl named Tolka, who was really grateful for the food.

With an advanced optical device in her hands, Rosehip was able to verify that the blonde girl was in fact, Assam-senpai; the long, luscious blonde hair, her little black ribbon that held back most of said hair, its simplicity complimenting her extravagant hairstyle and finally, her charming purple-tinted eyes that were currently sweeping the crowd nervously.

After gaining enough confidence, Assam-senpai began explaining the rules but with Rosehip's head being clouded in alcoholic overcast and her stomach suddenly acting up, she had difficulty in making sense of what was being mentioned.

Luckily for her, Clare was diligently taking notes, after borrowing some paper from Tolka's journal, and Rosehip was given them after she asked if she could borrow them for a while. Assam-senpai's fabricated rules included:

1.) Duelers take control of a tank of their choice and use it to fight each other. It is common courtesy to pick a vehicle that is on par with your opponent and using a tank that has a massive advantage (e.g. using a Panther going up against a CV 33) is considered dishonourable.

2.) The seconds, which traditionally served as the backups of the duelers, are now the drivers of the tanks selected by their companion and would attempt to reconcile the two parties before the duel began in earnest. If no common ground was reached, then the duel will proceed

3.) From a prearranged starting point, each tank would drive 250 metres, in opposite directions, which would separate the two by half a kilometre. After the points are reached, the two opponents would face one another and wait for the signal.

4.) The signal to fire will be given by an arbiter, who is located alongside the original starting point, by using either a signal rocket or a flare gun.

5.) Should the first shot miss, ricochet or fail to knock out the opponent's vehicle, a chance is given to the offending party to issue an apology. Though, if either the offending party chose not to do so or if the apology was not accepted, then the duel continues until one party chooses to surrender or is promptly knocked out.

6.) Additionally, if the duel was not finished by the first shot, then the two parties are allowed to manoeuvre however they see fit, either by closing the gap or by dodging incoming shells.

After a while, Rosehip saw Assam-senpai clamber down the tank, being helped by a brunette that she sure hoped was Roselle, as she had already returned the binoculars so she couldn't be sure this time around.

She started taking notes on the other occupants of the platform. Rosemallow was just casually eating from her bag, her handkerchief in hand to wipe out any grease stains from her fingers.

Clare, on the other hand, was either just happily staring out at the sky, deep in thought or eyeing the properly shaped tank facing the Crusader; something that didn't have the distinct crab-like turret of the latter and in its place was a perfectly cylindrical one. The bag in her hand was growing colder and Rosehip was thinking of asking for it, for hers was being depleted at a dangerous rate.

Tolka meanwhile had brought out her journal and at the back page of it, was drawing a short-haired blonde with glasses, lovingly colouring it with her wide array of colour pencils. Occasionally, she would take a peek at her binoculars, possibly, probably checking her references if she got things straight.

Rosehip was just content on munching on her spice bag, savouring the crunch of each individual chip, unlike the soggy mess pubs back in Gloriana offered, when she heard a familiar jingle emanating from Rosemallow's lap.

"Mallow, I think someone's calling."

"Ah right," Rosemallow answered back, hastily wiping her hands on her hankie, before messing with her bag.

"Who is it?" Rosehip asked, delightfully picking out a squeezy chicken ball, which she soon found was filled with creamy melted cheese as soon as she bit into it.

Rosenallow took out her iPad and turned it on. "It's Roselle! What does she want this time? The match is about to start!"

Her loader looked at the two other persons on the watchtower and courteously asked, "Mind if I take this call?"

"Not at all," Clare replied, while Tolka was too engrossed at her work to take notice.

"Hello, Elle, what is it?" Rosemallow said, holding up her ridiculously large device to her ears.

"What do you mean we forgot to restock the shells?!"


Inside the Crusader, Assam sat in the tank gunner's seat, drinking in her surroundings like the cup of tea she desperately needed right now as she waited in anticipation. The cruiser tank's interior was pretty similar to the Churchill's, especially with the gunner still being at the left of the gun and the loader at the right.

One of the major differences of note was that, unlike the Churchill, the Crusader had no proper seat for its commander, so Rosehip had to stand around all day long or stoop down so she could sit on the small lip at the back of the turret without hitting her head on the hatch. The Crusader's unique turret shape also gave crew members at both sides of the gun more elbow space than they would normally have in the Churchill, but apart from those differences, the turret layout of the two was more or less identical.

So, what is it that makes this tank have a different feel to it? Assam wondered.

Perhaps it was the atmosphere? Maybe the many small changes to the interior design were what gave it a Rosebush feel; like the small lamp just above her head (which she assumed was used by the gunner, Rosemary, for reading her books) or the photograph of the four of them together on the first day they were assigned to the tank, taped neatly into the right side of the inner turret.

All the details, every little imperfection or personal trinket, even though small, came together to form an atmosphere that warmed her insides up. It was basically all the things she didn't have in the Churchill and so, even without the four usual crew members inside the tank at the moment, Assam still felt their presence.

Or maybe it was just her who was out of place altogether?

That was when her eyes settled on the now infamous 'fridge' which had divided the team, with some saying it should be a standard-issue while others wanting it banned entirely.

To calm herself down, Assam tinkered with the tea set on the back of the tank. Among the paraphernalia and doodads for making tea, which included a set of cheap china bought to replace the fine porcelain broken ages ago, she came across a small jar of sugar cubes. Knowing they wouldn't mind, Assam popped one cube onto her mouth and enjoyed the sugar crystals slowly melting in her tongue, releasing their sweet nectar.

She had just conferred with Roselle that there were only a limited number of shells, sending the brunette scurrying to her side of the tank, seeking to check the ammunition storage over there and as she waited for her driver to get back to her, she tried out the gun mechanism as well.

Just like the Churchill, the Crusader also had a six-pounder but the infantry tank had rebored guns to fire better high explosive shells and so Assam expected no trouble in using it later on.

That was when she noticed the blood.

Whoever cleaned up after the accident did not exactly do a thorough job and Assam still found flakes of caked blood on the edges of the gun sight. Taking matters into her own hands, she used her own handkerchief to wipe off the blood.

She could do nothing about the smell, however, and so to distract herself, Assam looked around more of the nooks and crannies on her side of the tank. Inside a notch on the tank's walls, was a book belonging to the Sharpe series; presumably the property of the gunner that was still bedridden in Florence Nightingale's.

Guess you can say she's a Sharpe Shooter.

Assam grabbed it and began flipping through the pages, walls of text unfolding before her very eyes before a particular piece caught her eye. Amidst the script, was a detailed map of a particular European battlefield, which one exactly she wasn't so sure. The sheer level of detail and complexity of this map made the ones they used before every match look like a child's scribbling.

There was no time to appreciate it, however, and she closed the book with a flourish, before quickly returning it to its prior position. She contented herself to hear Roselle talking loudly on the phone as she told others of the latest developments inside the tank.

"Wait, let me ask," she heard the brunette say as she heard noises coming from the front. In no time, Roselle's head popped from below her feet and asked, "Assam-senpai, how many shells do you have again?"

Assam pulled out each individual shell inside the ammunition bins and counted every shell type, there were a total of eight; two with red bands of the Shot Mk 9, APCBC while the rest were Shot Mk 10, HE shells marked by their had black bands.

"Eight. Six of which are high-explosive," she replied.

Assam couldn't really blame them for the lack of ammunition, after all, the four had been in the hospital for quite a while. They barely had enough time to scrape away the bloodstains, much less do the more labour intensive restocking of ammunition.

"She said she has eight shells, only two of those are anti-tank though," Roselle said, her voice slowly growing weaker as she returned back to the front.

"No, luckily, I have some spare in my compartment. That brings her total ammo count to six AP shells, the rest are HE," Roselle spoke on the phone.

I exactly have six rounds, just like an old Webley. Assam thought.

This has become a real duel now.


Author's Notes: Felt the winds of change blowing over, so might as well adjust sails now or else be blown off-course. The format just feels like a burden rather than a useful tool, so I tried something new.

Special thanks to Sharky for proofreading this and helping with the general outline. I would also like to offer thanks to those who helped along the way, like Rihno, Salocin, Shrimpy and AAHW.

What else is there to say? Oh! Depending on where you live on this green-blue planet, it's my birthday three or four days from now!

So consider this chapter as a birthday treat from me!

If you want to give gifts, just make sure to leave a comment on the story and you'll certainly make my day. Anyways, cheerio!