Flower of Oarai

by DomWeasel

What if Erika had been involved in the accident and had gone with Miho to Oarai? An AU where Oarai benefits from Nishizumi and Itsumi experience.

3. The British Are Coming

The rock had torn her cheek open. It had not neatly cut it as a knife would so she did not in fact have a 'Glasgow smile' as it was called. Or a half-smile. What she had was a jagged gash which having been stitched back together was now flanked by angry red dots along its length and all of it vivid on her pale skin. No amount of makeup could conceal it. She could wear a Phantom of the Opera mask or grow her hair long on one side and forever look as though she was peeking from behind a curtain.

No way in hell.

Erika had never given much thought to her face once she had started Sensha-do. The uniform had always been the first priority, the part of her appearance that had truly mattered and she had always ensured she was turned out impeccably. Now she was in a different school uniform and Oarai had no Sensha-do uniform, like Blue Division. She was disobeying the school uniform rules now, lax as they were at Oarai, by wearing her grey cap. She liked it.

The only time she had made herself up was at home. It was expected. Just as she had been a feminine dresser because it was expected. Now nothing was expected of her. She could do as she pleased and so she chose to apply a little eyeliner and the hint of wings. She had been told she had an icy stare and now she enhanced that appearance. She wasn't trying to draw attention away from her scar; never. She was simply making it so that if people did stare at it, she could give them a look which would make them never forget not to do it.

She scowled at herself. She had a lot of practice with this, Kuromorimine emphasised a particular 'war face' as it were. The Nishizumi matriarch was famous for hers, as was Maho. It was the lack of such a face and instead that perpetual worried expression that had made everyone question Miho's capability as Vice-Captain. Erika had been first and foremost among them. Now here she was in a place where the default expression was a smile, or inane grin. The Automotive Club smiled when things blew up in their faces, Saori grinned when she was insulted, the school president laughed when she was threatened. Oarai simply had a different take on things.

Erika headed out the door where Miho was waiting. While things had been changing for herself, Miho's transformation was almost alarming. Erika was certain that if they didn't live side by side, Miho would have been skipping to school every day. The comical nature of the Oarai Sensha-do club meant her anxieties about it were at a minimum and so all her feelings were focused on simply going to school and being a schoolgirl. For Miho, sitting in the school cafeteria eating and chatting was one of the best things in life. For other people it might have been driving a tank and blasting apart crude wooden targets on the range but no; school dinners and jokes about the Public Morals Committee and their attempts to regulate hair length were what pleased Miho.

"No one should be happy they're going to school." Erika declared. "It's against nature."

"I like school." Miho replied, beaming.

"So is saying that." She said, failing to make any impression on that smile.

It was a relief in many ways to find Mako slumped against a lamppost, murmuring about the unfairness of early rising. Overblown as it was, she had the normal feeling toward school. As they did far too often, they carried her onto the school grounds and Erika found that she actually enjoyed listening to Mako's ramblings about the struggles of humanity versus the evils of the morning. She definitely looked forward to the back and forth between her and Sodoko.

In class, Yukari was always counting the minutes until Sensha-do. She was completely on autopilot during these lessons she considered trivial and meaningless and in some ways was more focused now that she had an outlet for her tank love. Erika found it interesting to observe her before Sensha-do and then again after. Some days she was more relaxed afterwards, other times it looked like she was frustrated being back in the real world of school. There was Miho revelling in a normal school routine while Yukari cared only about the part of school where she got to drive tanks and fire cannons.

Hana and Saori were perfectly balanced. While they had both taken to Sensha-do, it didn't dominate their lives. Hana was a natural hard worker with a well-honed sense of balance while Saori viewed everything based on how it might increase her appeal to boys. She wanted to be smart but not too smart, strong but not too strong. Her favourite magazines and websites had very conflicting dating advice and she tried to follow it all, despite attending an all-girls school and only seeing boys her age onshore. That was Saori's idea of normal.

Erika had no idea what to call her normal. She had a new routine now, a group of people around her who were all pleasant, if eccentric and overly optimistic, and the only people who had expectations of her weren't telling her how to dress or how to think. No references to Christmas cake… She didn't know if she could call it all normal, not when the expectation was that she save their school through Sensha-do. An expectation that came with the caveat that she keep that intention to herself, not informing her sole teammate that her beloved hobby would be taken away from her without a few miracles… Not informing the closest thing she had to a friend that her new wonderful life hung by a thread.

She didn't know whether to feel sadness or pity for all these students going about their lives, oblivious to the doom hanging over them all. If the school was shut down and they were all transferred to different schools, it was likely their lives wouldn't change overmuch. Maybe their cliques would be broken up but they would form new ones and finish their short time left in school. But maybe it wouldn't be the same. She couldn't say. This was all very new to her.

Sensha-do continued on its previous course. Gunnery, driving, formation drills and Chōno giving advice in the form of anecdotes when she was present and straightforward in her emails. The anecdotes bothered Erika because they were about Chōno's time at Kuromorimine and Oarai's line up simply didn't allow for them to adopt Kuromorimine's tactics. Sooner or later, the others would get around to looking up the other schools and their performances in tournaments and they would realise just how outclassed they were. The only school she could think of that Oarai should have been emulating was Jatkosota, though if she thought Chōno was an unconventional tutor, all the gods of every religion wouldn't have known what a Continuation High educated instructor would have had them doing. She imagined their tanks mocked up to look like hay bales, sand dunes and trees would be the most conventional tactic and learning how to fire point-blank into a heavy tank destroyer's weak point while balancing on one tread would be the more insane.

When she considered the challenge the Student Council had set for them all, the forces that would be arrayed against them, the might of Kuromorimine, Pravda, St Gloriana and Saunders, insane tactics were the only ones that might work. Conventional would lead only to one logical outcome so they had to be unconventional and Erika kept coming back to another conclusion; she didn't know how to be unconventional. She could be aggressive and she could be cunning but only in by-the-book ways. She had read extensively about every armoured engagement that had been written about but Sensha-do was not war. Without the lethal aspect, there were things you could do that no soldier ever could, risks you could take that made reading about these stories of war somewhat meaningless. Then there was the capabilities of the vehicles they used. On paper their machines were identical to period vehicles but they were made with modern equipment and with high quality materials. As such they could be pushed much harder and were less likely to breakdown, though if a tank was flawed that flaw was replicated; like her T-50's unreliable engine or a King Tiger's steering gear or drive train breaking because of the weight of the vehicle.

Kuromorimine used many German tanks that during the war had suffered from numerous mechanical issues because of inferior materials and poor craftsmanship. The replicas used in Sensha-do could not be relied upon to breakdown as much as they had in real life. Which put Oarai in an even weaker position.

Which put Miho into an even worse position. A position she didn't even know about. Every day that Miho didn't know was a lie. Every day she was lying to her by not telling her. Every day she told herself that telling Miho just to be truthful was selfish. But still couldn't convince herself that leaving Miho in blissful ignorance was the right thing to do.

[][][][][][]

For herself and Miho, the training session hadn't been anywhere near exhausting but the rest of the club were spent and could barely get the pleasantries out. This was when the Student Council decided it would be best to let them know what was in store for them.

"Apologies for the short notice." Momo declared in her usual pompous way. "But we'll be having a practice match this Sunday." There were murmurs as the club assumed it would be another contest between themselves. "We'll be up against St Gloriana Girls' College."

This got a more energetic reaction and Erika listened to the few who knew what this meant letting the others in on what they knew. Yukari made some odd sounds, doubtless picturing those Gloriana tanks and mentally rattling off their statistics and comparing them to their own capabilities. She glanced at the other teams with their colourful tanks and obviously imagined the carnage.

Fortunately, distraction came in the form of the Student Council announcing they all had to be at school by six AM. Which naturally broke Mako.

"I quit." She declared.

"What?!"

"I'm quitting." Mako turned and marched away.

"Mako isn't a morning person." Saori explained wearily, as if they weren't all well aware of this by now. Her weariness however contained an edge and Erika decided she wanted to see this play out. She followed as Miho begged her to wait, Yukari said they would give her a wake up call and Hana said they would pick her up. Whether Hana meant physically the way Erika and Miho often did or actually would bring the tank to her, she wasn't sure.

Mako wasn't having any of it. "Humans cannot wake up at six in the morning!" She declared and Erika wished that were true.

"Actually." Yukari said. "We have to be here at six. You'd have to wake up at five."

"How is that going to help?" Erika asked, flicking the back of her head which was a meaningless gesture as her hair completely cushioned the strike. Mako meanwhile looked like she had been slapped.

"Impossible." Mako announced, turning robotically around with a swish of her long hair. "It's just impossible. It was fun while it lasted and I enjoyed fighting with you. But no."

The others had used kindness and Erika looked on expectantly as Saori stepped in. "Who'll drive if you're gone?!" Guilt. "And you think you don't need the credits?! You'll have to repeat the grade!" Shame. "You'll have to treat us as your upperclassmen!" Pride. "Try it! Call me, Saori-senpai!"

Mako choked on the words.

Saori then swung low. "And you know, your grandma will be mad at you if you graduate late."

The noise of alarm Mako made was hard to describe but the way she straightened up made her look as if she had just been hit in the back with a bucket of ice water. Every muscle in her body seemed to spasm for several seconds and then she slumped, defeated, broken.

"Fine." She practically whispered. "I'll do it."

Her teammates looked relieved. Yukari was delighted that someone wasn't quitting sacred Sensha-do. Erika found herself staring at Saori as they trudged off for another post-training bath. Staring so intently that the ginger girl fell back. "What?"

"I'm telling myself I don't ever want you as my enemy."

Saori was genuinely shocked. "Why?"

"I saw what you did back there. And before when you recruited her. You can almost see the strings you're using to make her dance."

"I'm not manipulating her! I just... I know what's best for her."

"You do. It's just a little scary you know better than she does."

"Scary?" Saori's eyebrows arched.

"When are you going to do it to me?" Erika asked.

"You're a very suspicious person, Eririn."

That this nickname appeared to be catching was somewhat disturbing although she had heard Saori refer to Miho as 'Miporin' and Yukari as 'Yukarin' so it wasn't too jarring. "We're in Sensha-do. We're supposed to be suspicious."

"But not of your own side."

"Especially your own side!" She hissed and Saori's eyebrows disappeared into her hair.

[][][][][][]

The Student Council summoned the team leaders to what Erika liked to think of as Anzu's throne room for a briefing on the upcoming St Gloriana match. It started badly because Erika brought Yukari with her.

"This is supposed to be for commanders only." Momo was at her most imperious.

"There's just two of us." Erika pointed out wearily. "What's the point in her not being here?" She rolled her eyes. "Besides, Fluffy knows more about tanks than all of us." It was a toss up whether Yukari was embarrassed over the compliment or being called Fluffy. "Probably knows more about Sensha-do than me and Nishizumi."

"Yes, yes." Anzu flapped her hand at them. "Sit, sit."

They joined Yuzu on the sofa and Erika took a moment to appreciate the commanders before her. There was Miho looking nervous at being seated at the President's right hand. Beside her was Noriko, the leader of the Volleyball team and at four foot eight, she was a good nine inches shorter than the next shortest member of the Volleyball girls. Erika assumed that it was her slightly older age that gave her authority over the three amazons of her team. That and she gave off a scrappy vibe, like one of those seemingly cute rodents that was capable of fighting off a predator a hundred times its size through sheer ferocity.

Next there was Caesar. Through her observations during training Erika had realised that while the StuG was commanded in battle by Erwin, the leader of their clique was actually Caesar; the loader. In effect, the two shared command and some dusty part of Erika's mind had summoned the knowledge that Roman consuls had ruled Rome in pairs and likewise commanded armies as a duo. All her instincts told her that sharing command was foolish and yet besides the abomination they had made of their tank destroyer with their paint job and flags, they had never shown any issues working together on the training field. If anything they were the most cohesive team because while the Volleyball girls were a close-knit team already, they didn't have the ability to finish each other's sentences the way the history girls could. It was almost as if they could read one another's minds and that was definitely a useful skill within a noisy tank. Caesar carried herself with considerable aplomb and Erika could easily picture her in the cupola of one of Kuromorimine's heavy tanks, pointing at the target she intended to crush.

That confidence contrasted sharply with the Mini-Miho Asuza. Her team had gotten to grips with their ungainly machine and could even be said to be becoming proficient. They were however still frightened by the thunder of guns and nervous around their senpais too. Except for one, but that had less to do with fear and bravery and more to do with that girl apparently not quite existing on the same plane as the rest of them. For the other girls though Asuza was a little more confident and doing her best as a leader, even if for the moment she wasn't sure about herself, especially in the presence of the older girls. Or maybe it was because she was sat opposite Erika and it was only her that made her nervous.

Momo gave them the run down on St Gloriana and it was nothing that she didn't already know. Miho and Yukari both knew about St Gloriana's heavily armoured Infantry Tanks that enjoyed more speed than the originals from the war, though they were still slow compared to medium tanks and certain heavy tanks. The tanks Oarai possessed could run circles around them but St Gloriana was known for its steadiness and that translated into impressive gunnery; they wouldn't be able to get near enough to run circles around them. Momo had a diagram of a Matilda II up on her board, specifying its only weak point was the rear hull and that was debatable considering it was still more than fifty millimetres of armour.

"Basically, their armour is very tough to breach." Momo concluded. "Our guns won't work if we shoot from further than one hundred metres."

"The StuG could do it." Erika cut in and heard Yukari made a noise of agreement. "And at two thousand metres." Caesar momentarily lost her poise as she took in the power of her vehicle. "A direct hit on that front plate or glacis could do it and definitely would if it struck the flanks."

"For the rest of us-" Momo tried to continue but this time Yukari interrupted.

"The Lee could manage the flanks too under five hundred metres. With their 75mm." She said.

"She's right." Erika agreed. "Their 75's more powerful than the Matilda's 40mms." Yukari made a noise and Erika sighed. "Their QF 2-pounders."

"They are?" Asuza asked, animated for the first time.

"Yes they are!" Yukari answered excitedly. "The StuG III F has our most powerful gun but the M3 Lee's 75mm gun can penetrate 70mm of armour at five hundred metres! Our 45mm can only do that at one hundred metres like…" She trailed off as she looked at Momo who was shooting her daggers. Erika wanted to reach out and turn Yukari's head to look at the others who had been listening intently and seemed to be grasping their tanks full potential for the first time. "Sorry." Yukari murmured.

"As I was saying." Momo continued haughtily while Erika glanced at Miho who looked even more pensive. Even though she and Yukari had pointed out the advantages their side possessed in firepower, Miho knew what she knew, that it would not make a difference against the seasoned St Gloriana players. They knew their tanks and their crews were well-trained. The Lee and the StuG in their 'LOOK AT ME!' paintjobs would be spotted miles away by the St Gloriana girls, robbing them of their advantage and even if by some miracle they weren't; their gunners didn't have nearly enough practice to score a hit on a moving target at that range. They had been training on static targets on the range and hadn't yet begun practicing on moving targets; at least not until this friendly practice match… More learning by doing.

Oblivious to this, Momo laid out an ambush plan, a crude one at that. Using a decoy tank, they would lure St Gloriana into a killzone while firing from an elevated position and her diagram and demeanour suggested she knew the exact place she intended to set this ambush. Caesar and Noriko were excited by this plan while Asuza looked worried about allowing the enemy to get so close. Miho however saw all the flaws. Erika was thinking that the gunners had no practice firing from an elevated position either, only across a flat field.

Not all of them were oblivious to it. "Nishizumi-chan, what's the matter?" The diminutive president inquired, her arms folded in a power pose. "Don't be shy." She adopted another power pose by opening her legs and clapping her hands on her knees as Miho stammered she had nothing to say. "Just say it!" It was said cheerfully but struck Miho as an order.

Miho took a moment to find her words. "St Gloriana… They'll anticipate they're being baited. They may circle around us, and attack from both flanks." Meaning the ambushers would become the ambushed and as Erika anticipated the would-be ambushers with their lack of gunnery skills were unlikely to knock out a single tank in the killzone, the whole scenario would only work to St Gloriana's advantage.

"That's a good point." Yuzu mused while Anzu looked intrigued.

Momo however exploded with the force of a tactical nuclear missile. "SHUT UP! DON'T YOU TRASH TALK MY PLAN!" Perhaps it was Erika's continued antagonising of her, maybe the club's inability to become crack veterans in a matter of days or simply Miho's pessimism. Whatever it was, a vein had appeared on Momo's temple and looked like it might actually burst. "YOU TAKE COMMAND IF YOU'RE SO SMART!" She screeched, as if that hadn't been their intention from the day they had learned she was a Nishizumi.

The others were all staring aghast at Momo with Asuza and Noriko having raised their hands like they expected to have to protect themselves. So none of them noticed the President's twin tails drooping as she gave Momo a death glare that could have buckled titanium.

"I'm sorry." Miho addressed the floor.

Anzu glanced at Erika, as if she expected her to rise up and pulp Momo on Miho's behalf and it was certainly on her mind. Instead she fixed the Student Council President with a hard stare and the girl got the message.

"Hey, hey! Chill out, Kawashima." She raised her hands like she was directing an especially large lorry to back up slowly. She sighed and sat back. "But it might be a good idea to have Nishizumi-chan be our captain."

"Whuh?" Miho squeaked.

Anzu took the question at face-value. "You command all our teams." She explained, as if Miho was simple.

Which in her anxiety, she was. "Whut?!"

In reply, Anzu became to clap and in the way of things, Asuza, Caesar, Noriko, Yukari and Yuzu joined in. It was neatly done, a promotion Miho had no way of refusing though she did try.

"But, Itsumi-" She began.

"It would be an honour to serve under a Nishizumi's command again." Erika replied, making President and Vice-President light up.

"Try your best." Anzu told Miho, having just strong-armed her into position, she was gentle again. "If we win, you'll get an amazing gift."

This was news to Yuzu. "Um? What's that?"

"Enough dried sweet potatoes to last you three days!" Anzu pointed at Miho like a gameshow host. As prizes went, the only person excited by this was Anzu herself while everyone else looked more than a little weirded out.

"What if we lose?" Noriko inquired.

Anzu folded her arms and sat up. "I'll have you perform the Anglerfish Dance at the summer festival."

Whatever this was, it alarmed the Oarai girls far more than Momo's outburst. They looked genuinely terrified.

[][][][][][]

She had been up to the roof a couple of times since finding the T-50 turret because although there were many quiet places on the grounds, this was the only spot which no one else seemed to come to. It was a peaceful place though it seemed almost inevitable that she was followed.

"Itsumi-dono. What are you doing up here?"

"Maybe I'll see another tank from up here." The thought was never far from her mind that there could be more tanks hidden across the ship, especially if they had found one in a pond and another in a cliff.

Yukari took a few moments to gaze out over the school, wondering herself whether there were more tanks out there. She only kept the pretence up for a short while. "Itsumi-dono… Why did you let them make Nishizumi-dono captain? She didn't want it."

"She didn't want it but everyone else did. Just like she didn't want to be commander of the Panzer IV. But Miho needs to be pushed, if people didn't push her she'd be sitting in a box in a room clutching one of her Bokos someplace, afraid to leave."

"But you-"

"I didn't want it." Erika cut over her. "And no one wanted it for me either. If I was captain of this lot, half of them would quit within a week. I could be a Kuromorimine Captain but never an Oarai Captain." She wasn't bitter about this. It was simply her reflecting on the differences between the schools and the command style that had been imparted on her. She couldn't just transform to suit Oarai. "She can be good cop. I'll be bad cop."

"What's Kawashima then?" Yukari inquired with a hint of mischief.

"Deranged and psychotic cop." Erika answered. "That girl needs help."

They continued to stand and gaze out over the school and once again Erika thought about the impending doom hanging over it. Based on her talk with Yuzu, that same doom must have been there for other schools and she wondered how they were coping with it. Did they have Student Councils taking drastic steps to show their school was still important? It seemed unlikely.

"Thank you." Yukari suddenly blurted.

"For what?"

"Bringing me along to the strategy meeting."

"Like I said, there's just two of us in the team so what's the point in you not being there? Thank you for backing me up correcting the cyclops about what our tanks are capable of. Some of our tanks anyway."

"I feel like they don't know anything about their vehicles." Yukari said worriedly.

"The history girls know more because of Erwin but only generally. They don't know the specifics. You should tell them."

"I can't do that…" The girl began to squirm, reaching for her hair.

"Why not? You know more than the rest of us and it'd be stupid if we didn't use that. If you didn't use it. Are you embarrassed you know more than them? Why? There's nothing wrong with being better than other people."

"There isn't?"

"Of course not! Not if you actually are." She thought about this and everything she had been through. "It's only a problem if you start thinking you're better than other people when you don't know them. Just because…"

"People don't want to know about tanks."

"You're in a Sensha-do club now! Of course they want to know! Why wouldn't they? You told Miho to let her team benefit from what she knows, didn't you? If you can tell the others how best to use their tanks, do it." She paused. "Not yet though."

"Not yet?"

"What do you think's going to happen when our lot goes up against St Gloriana?"

Yukari hesitated and twisted one of her curls even curlier. "We'll lose." She said carefully.

"Why?"

Yukari continued to hesitate, afraid to criticise even though they both knew what the other thought. "Their tanks aren't battle-ready." She finally said diplomatically.

"One's bright gold and another's decked in flags. They may look pretty but they're in no shape for a battle and they're going to get shot to pieces. When it's all over, they'll look at their tanks and realise what they've done. Hopefully they might learn some other lessons too. They'll take this seriously…" Erika frowned. "As seriously as this school can take anything anyway."

"It's going to be embarrassing when St Gloriana sees those tanks."

"More embarrassing than St Gloriana's former commander showing up before a match in a kilt and playing the bagpipes? Which she didn't know how to play… St Gloriana really can't take the high ground when it comes to eccentrics."

"Still…"

"They'll paint them right again after the match. Don't worry about that, Fluffy. We'll fix a lot of problems then…" She thought about it all, trying to decide whether she should let Yukari know what she knew. She chose not to. It seemed unlikely that Yukari would be able to keep the secret, not when it would threaten her new happy existence. "But hopefully a lot of the problems will solve themselves after this." She thought about St Gloriana and their current commander and smiled to herself. "Do you know this saying? 'Experience is a hard teacher because she gives the test first and the lesson afterward.'" She laughed dryly as Yukari smiled and then had to ask. "What's this Anglerfish Dance anyway?"

The smile fell off Yukari's face and dropped dead at her feet.

[][][][][][]

For once she slept well and woke up at five without any issues. It felt wrong not to be putting on a proper uniform before a match and so she made do with her school uniform and her cap. She accentuated her eyeshadow and her wings and then glared at herself. White was not her colour and she missed the black jacket. No one would see her in her tank except Yukari and it was all for her own benefit but it was important to her.

Miho was nervous about Oarai's first real match, about being Captain for the first time and distraction came in the form of Saori making a phonecall to inform Miho that her gunner couldn't get out of bed. It was ludicrous but very Oarai. At Kuromorimine such a thing would have resulted in immediate expulsion from the Sensha-do club. Oarai however had other options.

The other teams were taken aback as Hana and Miho took the Panzer IV out early but most were too sleepy to care overmuch.

"Where are they going?" Yukari asked.

"To pick up Mako."

"Pick up Mako?"

"Probably literally." She had the mental pictures of Mako being bundled up in her bedlinen, carried out and put on the back of the tank like cargo. The match didn't start until eight after all so if necessary she could nap until then, incongruous and undisciplined as it was.

Yukari thought about this and then looked around at the other teams. Their tanks were not the least bit reassuring though they were all excited for their first team versus team match with only the First Years looking nervous. Nervous but in a good way.

As the final checks were made and they prepared to move out, they heard a shot ring out from town and Erika smiled. That was one way to wake a girl. The blank round acted as a starter's pistol and the Oarai armoured column set off to be ready to disembark from the ship the moment they made port.

When they met the Panzer IV, Erika discovered she was half-right. Mako was asleep but she was dressed and sitting up. She could almost be described as presentable. Saori declared her intent to go shopping while Hana said she would show Miho around Oarai. Oarai the land-based town rather than the ship-based town. Erika was looking forward to seeing it too. The little town would be interesting compared to Kumamoto; Kuromorimine's home port.

As they began to disembark, a shadow fell over them and everyone looked up in awe at the immense leviathan that drew up in the next dock. For Erika and Miho, it was nothing new. They already knew how much smaller Oarai Girls Academy was compared to Kuromorimine. For the others though, the arrival of St Gloriana Girls College was hugely intimidating as their ship dwarfed their own.

"Are those St Gloriana's tanks?" She heard Hana say and looked up to see a column of British tanks making their way to their own disembarkation point. Four Matildas, a Crusader and a Churchill.

"A Churchill." Yukari breathed with awe.

"Wonderful." Erika didn't remember the exact figures but she knew that the frontal armour was all but impenetrable to anything they had, even the StuG, at anything less than literal point blank. The sides were more vulnerable but not by much. A Churchill's flanks were thicker than the front armour of the Matildas. "What's the weakspot?" She asked Yukari.

"The rear hull. 51mm."

"11mm more than our front."

"Forty one tons versus our fourteen."

"So they don't have to shoot us. Just roll over us." Erika mused dryly.

They all met up in a field outside the town, the St Gloriana tanks arriving second so that they might make an impression. The Crusader led the way, advancing ahead of the wedge formed by the Matildas with the Churchill at its tip. The 75mm gun of the Churchill wasn't as powerful as their StuG's, but it was more than capable of annihilating all of them by itself. The Crusader drove two circles around the wedge which became a line and then the five Infantry Tanks came to a halt in front of them and the Crusader parked behind the Churchill.

The Matildas were dressed for the desert, the Churchill for the woodland while the Crusader was a bluish grey. It was no wonder that the St Gloriana Captain had trouble keeping her dignity at the sight of the four colourful Oarai tanks. Erika took her in. Darjeeling. Elegant. Beautiful. Resplendent in her red uniform coat with its black trim matching her black skirt. Confident, even when she wasn't faced with such absurd vehicles. Erika couldn't help but smirk as she politely described them as looking 'Unique'.

"Nonetheless, we always fight to the best of our abilities, no matter our opponent." Darjeeling declared. "We refuse to fight in a vulgar manner like Saunders or Pravda." It was a boast but delivered in such a polite and measured tone it seemed more like an apology. "Let's each do our best as honourable knights." She finished and Erika wondered if it was a prepared speech or off the cuff. With Darjeeling it wasn't possible to tell.

The officials spoke their words. The two teams then exchanged their words, and then they bowed. As they made their way to their starting positions, Erika found it hard to concentrate on driving as memories of all the matches she had been part of and gone through the rituals with passed through her mind. It concluded with the dark, rainy day of her last match. She had been a driver that day too. The driver of a Panzer III. An insignificant cog in the Kuromorimine war machine. Now she was the driver slash commander of a T-50, a failed experiment of a Russian tank, with only one teammate who was giddy with excitement and she was one of only two experienced members in the entire club.

Still, whatever happened today couldn't possibly compare to that dark rainy day, nor the fallout afterwards.

The minutes made their way by sluggishly, as if time was conspiring to build tension and then mercifully the call came through on the radio.

"Commence match!"

They immediately advanced and she took up the lead, similar to how St Gloriana had arrived. Yukari could not contain herself. "We're finally doing it!"

"Mmm." Erika grunted and then rolled her eyes as the First Years, today designed D Team asked for a reminder of what they were doing. It was all she could do not reply for Miho, and far less graciously than she did, explaining annihilation rules and then the current plan which was for Erika and Yukari, designated F Team, to scout ahead. Anzu inquired if they had an operation name, and Erika couldn't help but groan as Miho declared 'Operation Sneaky'. The Americans had a term to describe Oarai's Sensha-do club; a 'Mickey Mouse Operation'.

Miho had decided to go with Momo's plan, despite its flaws. The position had its advantages and it was unlikely that St Gloriana would choose not to be drawn. They would be confident in the strength of their armour and the lack of skill of their opponents. As any alternative plans relied on the teams having the necessary skills and experience to coordinate, it was good to at least try it. Erika hadn't tried to talk to her out of it; they would all learn a lot from it.

With the enemy unseen, the others headed to that position and she went looking for St Gloriana.

[][][][][][]

The Automotive Club had overhauled the engine or so they had told her. She wasn't convinced. It seemed to be running very hot to her eye although that seemed typical of these Russian tanks. Pravda never needed to worry about being cold in their tanks and they had the ones that worked. The match had barely begun and she was worried about mechanical failure, yet somehow everything felt… Better. Better than it had in a long while.

She was on a battlefield, doing what she did best and sharing that experience with someone who looked like they might burst from happiness. They weren't just operating a tank, now they were conducting reconnaissance and they left their tank to cool down and observe the open plain. Erika had bought binoculars for the tank while Yukari had possessed her own; produced from the infinite void that was her pack. She suspected Yukari's were superior.

They lay on the rocky ground, using their eyes to scan for movement and keeping the binoculars flat so they didn't betray their position by reflecting the sunlight. Erika had learned this in Sensha-do, Yukari had read it in a book. She gushed about how modern scopes on rifles had the lens covered to prevent this and Erika half-listened, trying to focus on the job. In the early morning it was warm until a breeze caught them and then not for the first time she resented the school uniform skirts. Not for the last time she wondered why even in winter so many of the schools maintained skirts for their uniforms; even those that roamed waters where snow was guaranteed. Maybe it was to make them all tougher. What easier way to produce generations of strong women than tempering them to cold weather as a start?

"Crusader advancing." Yukari reported formally. "Burning fuel."

The Crusader was certainly moving far faster than it needed to, and erratically as well. It would have made sense if it was under fire but from their perch, it seemed the driver was simply wasting fuel by making a series of fast meandering turns. Perhaps they were also enjoying being out on the battlefield again and unable to contain that joy in St Gloriana's typical restrained manner.

"Four Matilda IIs and one Churchil advancing." Yukari continued her report and Erika panned with her binoculars until the Churchill leapt into view. It looked like such an ungainly whale and yet, it seemed to be sailing rather than driving, across a still pond. Inevitably they set up dust but not nearly so much as the Crusader and Erika wondered if that was the point, with the Crusader providing a covering haze for the Infantry Tanks to advance through. Perhaps. Perhaps not. "They're in such a pretty formation!" She heard Yukari gush.

Pretty was not the word that sprung to Erika's mind but then she didn't share Yukari's adoration of tank aesthetics. "They're well-trained. Can you imagine our lot maintaining anything close to that while in motion?"

"Not yet." Yukari replied cheerfully.

"Ever the optimist, Fluffy."

"We can't penetrate that frontal armour." She said, apparently in an effort to sound more professional.

"Only the StuG could. With the right shells." She tried to calculate the distance. "What do think? Three kilometres? The StuG could only manage the Churchill at one hundred metres from the front. A kilometre from the flanks. We couldn't manage either…"

"We could knock out a track."

"Maybe. Those skirts ride low." Lower than ours she thought, feeling another cool breeze and suddenly happy to soon return to a hot tank.

"It's a shame they brought the Churchill." Yukari said. "We could manage the Matildas and the Crusader but the Churchill… I think it's out of our league."

"We'll see." She might have been resigned to defeat before but now she was in the field and the enemy was in sight, she knew she would make their victory as hard-fought as she could. "Time we moved up."

St Gloriana continued on their course which would bring them closer to the ridge and within a kilometre. Erika felt conspicuous in her green tank and wondered if perhaps Miho should have been here instead but then dismissed the thought. The Captain was where she was supposed to be. In a perfect world, it would have been the StuG here with its low profile and powerful gun. Perhaps in another match… If Oarai actually had many more matches in its future.

Yukari gave very formal declarations of her actions and observations that made even Kuromorimine seem loutish. She loaded the cannon, declared it, and then took aim. The Crusader was still performing its energetic manoeuvres and so she aimed for the nearest Matilda.

"Even if I hit them…" She sounded nervous.

"Make them spill their tea. That'll be enough."

Yukari giggled, sounding even more anxious and Erika was puzzled by this sudden stage fright. She had had no trouble during their free for all practice match after all. But, she thought, this was different. She was about to fire Oarai's first shot on another school for the first time in decades. It was significant. A milestone.

Whatever. "Fire!"

The sudden snap of command startled Yukari into action and the tank shook as the gun roared and the shell went screaming through the air. To Erika's astonishment, it struck the leading Matilda on its turret and a moment later the clang of the impact reached them. It was a fluke hit, a completely lucky shot, and Yukari babbled away in a combination of shock and awe and didn't begin to reload until Erika snapped that command as well. It was however something St Gloriana would not forget. Something the others wouldn't forget either when they saw the highlight reel.

The Crusader immediately turned for them, like a hunting dog that had caught the scent, and a few moments later the Infantry Tanks gracefully altered course, maintaining their formation as they brought their frontal armour to bear. Yukari's second shot slammed into the ground to the Churchill's left and Erika pictured Darjeeling within, holding her cup and saucer and probably making a gallant remark about the audacity of Oarai striking first.

They struck back. First the Crusader and then its heavier brethren returned fire and while the moving tanks had no hope of hitting them while firing on the move and uphill, it was a testament to their skill how close their shots came to landing.

She let Yukari fire a third shot, this time at the Crusader which had closed the distance and whose six-pounder gun yapped at them. Either its commander decided not to press their luck or received orders to back off. Whatever it was, it circled back and the Infantry Tanks took the lead. It was time to leave.

The T-50 was the fastest tank she had ever driven and fairly flew. They left the British tanks behind but still within sight. Still within range. She drove erratically and the St Gloriana girls continued to demonstrate their gunnery prowess by raining shells around them. They straddled them with their shots, even while firing on the move on a zig-zagging target. Not for nothing was St Gloriana one of the Big Four and a well-respected opponent.

"F Team reporting. Enemy in pursuit. ETA, three minutes." Erika broadcast, and received no response. "Acknowledge." Still no response. "Miho!"

"Understood, F Team." Miho sounded as if she had been caught unawares and Erika decided not to think about what she must have endured setting up the ambush point with Momo breathing down her neck. Momo with her neuroses, Anzu's placidness and herself shouting down the radio. What were the other teams doing? Nope, she wasn't thinking about it. It was not a well-oiled machine. There was no oil at all.

Erika saw the 38(t) first. It shone like a phoenix about to rebirth, almost blinding her to the presence of the red StuG beside it. She wasn't sure if it was possible to set a worse ambush, and then Momo screeched into the radio. "FIRE! FIRE!"

Five shells spat dust into her face and Yukari shrieked at the sudden assault from the wrong direction. Five shells. Only Hana had held her fire and not obeyed.

"WHAT THE F-" Erika's own screech caused too much feedback for the expletive laden first half to be heard. "Are you insane?!"

"They fired on us." Yukari said reproachfully and Erika didn't need to see her to know she was pouting. "Now St Gloriana knows they're there."

"They already knew. It's not like you could miss them." Erika replied bitterly, steering the T-50 up the slope and taking position alongside the Panzer IV. They arrived in time to see the St Gloriana tanks approach and for Momo to scream again.

She watched the fall of shot and it was as she suspected. Oarai had no experience of shooting at rapidly moving targets and Yukari didn't replicate her fluke. Not a single shell came close to landing and then the St Gloriana force split up, just as Miho had predicted. Three Matildas went left while the other went right with the Churchill while the Crusader sheltered on the far side of the Churchill.

They kept firing and St Gloriana didn't respond to the provocation. They advanced inexorably, a slow, measured advance that seemed almost calculated to fray Oarai's inexperienced nerves. She guessed that was exactly Darjeeling's intent and the St Gloriana commander had no idea she had the additional advantage of Momo's frenzied screams to 'Fire! Fire! Fire at everything!' rattling even her.

And then they opened fire.

They were moving and shooting uphill and so their barrage was thrown off but it was still close enough for her to feel the passage of shells and the detonations of near misses in the rocky ground. Yukari fired back and she saw the shell shatter on the Churchill's turret.

"Aim for the tracks!"

"Understood!"

Erika angled the T-50, keeping them hull-down behind an outcrop and it was a paltry defence as the Matilda blasted it and sent rocky fragments flaying into them. Yukari fired and this time her shell exploded harmlessly in front of the Churchill's right track and the behemoth rolled over the hole smoothly. Darjeeling wouldn't have felt as much as a ripple to disturb her tea.

"Um… B Team?" Saori's voice came over the radio, shaky and uncertain. "How's it going?" She asked, like she was saying good morning.

"We're hanging in there!" Taeko's reply came back with the determination to be expected of the Volleyball team.

"C Team?" Saori seemed a little more confident.

"In our element!" Erwin sounded genuinely elated.

"D Team?"

There was no reply, only a yawning silence punctuated by the fall of more Gloriana shells.

"E Team?"

"We're done for." Anzu's voice came through clear and nonchalant and Erika had to grip the controls tight to bite back her response.

"Keep firing!" Momo's hysteria had reached a special level and she drowned out Saori's attempt to ascertain Erika and Yukari's status. "All tanks, keep firing until your tank falls apart!"

"What do we do?" Noriko's voice contained genuine worry.

"Captain, awaiting your command." Erwin however sounded like a consummate professional, despite her clownish vehicle.

"FIRE! FIRE!" Momo screeched.

Erika's patience snapped. "Shut your damn mouth!" She made the command loud enough to rattle them all but not loud enough to be distorted. "Captain Nishizumi. D Team immobilised." It could be the only reason they were silent. Hopefully. "E Team immobilised. Enemy advancing. Remaining units awaiting command." She felt a prickle on her neck. "What?" She asked Yukari.

"You sound so professional."

She felt herself blush furiously. "Someone has to be."

Fortunately, she was not the only one. "Teams B, C and F." Miho's voice came through calm and firm. "Follow our lead! We are leaving!"

"Understood. Proceeding." Erika responded with Noriko and Erwin adding their acknowledgements; the worry absent from Noriko's tone now that she was given direction. They sounded cool and professional. Momo did not.

"WHAT?!" She shrieked. "I'll never forgive you for this!"

"I'll give you ten thousand Yen if you shoot her." Erika told Yukari, and meant it. Yukari made an odd noise, as if she was considering it but was embarrassed about it.

"Commencing Operation; More Sneaks!" Miho declared and Erika would have groaned if she hadn't been busy with slewing them around and beginning the retreat. "F Team, please cover the rear." Meaning she wanted the experienced Erika and knowledgeable Yukari watching their backs.

St Gloriana didn't rush to pursue them and Yukari excitedly reported the Type 89 landing a hit on the Churchill as they drew away. Rushing would have been vulgar and against St Gloriana's creed. They would follow at their own elegant pace. At least, that was what she expected.

"Crusader!" Yukari warned. "Closing!"

The Crusader. Erika thought back to the opening ceremony and it was hard to forget the girl with the striking pink hair. She had not fitted in with the prim and proper girls and now Erika guessed she was a First Year and not yet fully integrated into St Gloriana's way of doing things. Either Darjeeling had let her off the leash, or hadn't been able to restrain her.

"A Team, we have a problem." Erika reported in her best American accent. A shell scraped along their flank to accentuate her point. "Keep going. We'll deal with this… Terrier."

Yukari fired back and Erika took a glance at the Type 89 and then left the road. Miho was heading for Oarai to take the battle into the streets and their green tank would stand out there. Not as much as the others perhaps, but at least out here among the trees they could blend in. Erika knew Miho hoped to split up St Gloriana's forces and that was what they would do now. "They're following." Yukari informed her, meaning St Gloriana had just lost their fast scout. A tree exploded ahead of them and even with the danger of collision, Erika increased their speed. Would they be crazy enough to match her?

"How's it smell back there?" She asked, meaning the engine.

"I think we're okay." Yukari said as she rammed another shell in place. "We're okay." She amended.

"Tell me what you need."

"A steady sight?"

They plunged down a slope and Erika threw them into reverse so that they abruptly lost speed and Yukari was given her steady aim. She held her breath.

The Crusader didn't fall for the trap. Yukari squeaked a warning and then she felt and heard it pass them on the right rather than following in their tracks. It was moving too fast for the gunner to fire on them and it tore down the slope before ripping the bark off a tree as it reached level ground and scraped by. Erika immediately pursued and Yukari frantically rotated the turret forward. It was a slow traverse, though not as slow as some of the German tanks she had worked with.

They pursued and she thought the Crusader driver was either fearless or insane. It was easy to follow because of the trail of devastation left in the undergrowth with smashed bushes and gouged trees along the way. The insurance would pay out but she imagined environmentalists would not be happy. People were excited when Sensha-do took place in their backyards… Until it was literally their backyard. It was one of the more controversial aspects of Sensha-do because even though the insurance companies would pay for all the damages, there were things that couldn't be replaced when a tank crashed through your kitchen and into your living room. Or if a shell exploded inside.

The Crusader fired and the shell rang off their sloped armour and Erika felt herself smirk. There were issues with this tank but she couldn't complain about the armour.

"One hit is all it'll take." She told Yukari. She knew it was unnecessary; Yukari certainly knew the exact specs of the Crusader's armour.

"I think they removed their speed limiter." Yukari replied.

"So who's going to breakdown first?" It did explain how the Crusader was staying ahead despite their considerable advantage in speed. That and she was being cautious because she didn't want another fire or to ignominiously total them against a tree.

Another shell came their way, not making contact this time, and Yukari answered back. She saw it fly over the Crusader's turret and mused that the British tank was actually taller than theirs, but its sleek shape made it seem lower. She heard the sound of other shots being fired in the distance, the two pounder guns of the Matildas.

"We'll be entering the town soon." Miho's voice crackled over the radio. "Take advantage of the terrain as best as you can."

"Bei Gott!" Came Erwin's enthusiastic reply, making Erika smile. She was definitely revelling being in character.

"We know Oarai! Leave it to us!" Noriko's confidence seemed to have reached a new height now that she definitively had the home advantage.

"F Team, what's your status?"

A shell struck one of their cheeks, making Erika's throb. "Situation is stable." She reported. "We'll see you soon." One way or another.

They emerged suddenly onto a golf course and the sudden switch threw her for a moment and then her mind clicked.

"Hold fire!" She snapped at Yukari and hit the brakes. The T-50 slid on the green, the weight of the forward positioned turret causing the rear of the vehicle to lift before righting itself and they came to a halt. Yukari had already been aiming the gun, understanding why Erika had snapped at her. Ahead of them the Crusader commander realised they had misjudged their opponent. Instead of chasing them and continuing to fire on the move, they had stopped and their gun was now stable while they were in the open. Exposed. "Fire when ready." She spoke firmly but not a bark or snap this time. She watched the Crusader evading, steering for the cover of more trees but they could not reach it before Yukari could take her shot.

The 45mm cannon boomed over her head and the shell was a pencil streak. For a moment it seemed Yukari had misjudged and the shell would scream across their bows. Instead the Crusader seemed to steer into it and it severed the tracks and if the shell could have penetrated, it would have gone on to explode within and take out all of the crew. She watched the Crusader swing around as the right treads failed and then the flag popped from the turret as they finally came to a stop.

"Don't hug-" It was as far as she got. Yukari fell on her once again and there was nothing she could do to stop her. All she could do was sit there in her school uniform on her seat cushion in her Soviet tank as her gunner snuggled her. "Okay." She patted her arm. "Okay." The pink-haired commander of the Crusader was climbing out. "Get off me!" She pushed at Yukari who finally released her and straightened her headset. "F Team, target eliminated. Heading for town now." She looked around. "I have no idea where that is."

Yukari provided some directions that took them out of the golf course and back onto the road and as they trundled toward the town at a measured pace, neither of them said anything about the temperature inside their vehicle. There was no need to. She heard the distinctive boom of the StuG's 75mm and then a few moments later, the smaller yap of the Type 89's 57mm.

"C Team, we got a tank!" Caesar and Erwin's voices merged together.

"B Team, we got one too!" Noriko's excitement was palpable.

"Four against three." Erika thought aloud which was unexpected. She would have loved to have seen Darjeeling's face as she received word of her downed tanks. She doubted it was Darjeeling herself who had gone down although perhaps they had gotten lucky and the StuG had ambushed her. It seemed unlikely. She would not have exposed herself that way. "We might actually be able to do this."

Before Yukari could reply, they heard the report of a Matilda's gun and it was more than ominous. A few seconds later they heard a second blast from a different location, the Type 89 firing once more and then a Matilda's gun.

"C Team, immobilised!" Erwin reported, her tone frustrated. Desperate.

"B Team… Failed to eliminate the enemy! Immobilised too!" Noriko's pitch rose painfully. "Sorry!"

"Two against four." Erika remarked.

"Nishizumi-dono; she's all alone down there!" Yukari clutched a shell protectively.

"She knows what she's doing." Erika assured her.

"F team, where are you?" Saori's voice came over with a slight edge.

Erika had no answer to that question so she pulled off the headset and handed it to Yukari.

"We're now entering town. Where are you?"

Erika tried not to laugh as she remembered the conversation when they had sailed into town that morning, the offer to show the newbies around. That tour would have been better if it had come before, not after, this match. Just another thing they could do right in the future. She could hear gunfire, meaning St Gloriana was likely pursuing Miho.

"What? What is it?" Yukari asked suddenly into the headset.

"What's happening?"

"They drove into a dead end."

"Schiesse." It was all she could say. If Miho was cornered, there was nothing they could do to help her. They would be too late.

"What do we do?" Yukari pressed her.

"Keep going." It wasn't as if they had any other options. It was an annihilation match after all. But then she heard the wrong gun fire. She knew the sound of a 38(t)'s 37mm intimately. "Where did they come from?" Any response from Yukari was drowned out by a clap of thunder as all four St Gloriana tanks fired simultaneously. "What's happening?"

There was a pause, the blast of the Panzer IV's short-barrelled 75mm and Erika tracked the sound. There were getting close and she increased speed, the tracks slipping momentarily on the asphalt.

"They got a Matilda!" Yukari reported excitedly. "Two against three."

"What happened?"

"The Student Council, they were only disabled, not immobilised. St Gloriana mustn't have realised. They shielded Miho."

"And took out a Matilda?"

"No they missed." Yukari said cheerfully. "St Gloriana destroyed them. Hana-san took out the Matilda. "We're approaching." She replied to Saori. "We can hear you all. Hug the wall." She commanded Erika who duly complied. "Stop!"

They screeched to a halt and saw the Panzer IV emerge from an alley down the street. It tore toward them and hugged the wall to its right just as they were hugging the one to their left. She lost sight of them and then heard their gun fire.

"Stay!" Yukari commanded again and the Panzer IV reappeared and shot past them. A moment later Erika's view was filled with the desert camouflage of a Matilda before erupting with smoke as Yukari fired point blank into them. Smoke belched from the Queen of the Desert before its flag coughed up but then it inexplicably began moving toward them. For a moment she was puzzled and then the enormous green bulk of the Churchill lumbered into view. It disappeared as a shell slammed into its turret and without thinking, she sent them lurching forward and they fairly flew past its front. She heard the Panzer IV fire again as she brought them around, saw that Miho had taken another Matilda before passing them and brought their gun to bear. Yukari's shell slammed ineffectually into the turret's port side as it fired at the Panzer IV. "We can't beat that armour!"

"Only from the rear." Erika replied and the Churchill driver knew it too, drawing back down the road so that its left flank was shielded by the first Matilda as the gun fired again. "Let's make their ears ring though."

They lunged forward and Yukari fired with her gun barely two feet from the Churchill. The shell crashed into the space between the turret and hull and as the smoke cleared, it was evident they had done nothing except as Erika had intended; made their ears ring.

She went into reverse gear and the T-50 responded sluggishly, almost as if they were caught in mud and the 75mm was turning to face them, ignoring the Panzer IV even as it sent another shot into the turret. The 75mm continued to turn for them and Erika had a thought.

"What are you-" It was as far as Yukari got before Erika drove them alongside the Churchill and into the barrel of its gun.

"I always wanted to do this." It was completely orthodox, utterly insane and yet in their light tank against this behemoth, she couldn't think of anything else.

"Miho wants to know what you're doing."

"Tell her I have no idea." She really didn't, especially as the Churchill began to reverse to bring its much greater power onto them. They were dragged back into the Matilda and then the Churchill began to centralise its gun, releasing them. She didn't wait for them and the T-50 took off. "We need to draw them out."

"How?"

"No idea." She had no idea where Miho was.

"They say draw their fire."

"Of course." She rolled her eyes and swung them around again, drifting about maniacally and flying forward once more as their engine made sounds like a meat grinder. Yukari aimed and fired another harmless shot, she lost sight of the Churchill and the open street lay ahead. For all of two seconds.

The blow that struck them seemed to lift the tank off the ground. She felt them thrown into a building before she was knocked from her seat and then Yukari promptly fell into her lap.

"I think they got us." Even with her ears ringing, Yukari's voice was loud and piercing.

"You think?" Erika didn't even try and extricate herself from her gunner. "Sit still!"

Yukari obeyed, even as she realised she was on top of Erika. They were still, letting the dizziness and nausea pass. Only then did Erika untangle them. They rose in time to hear the rush of the Panzer IV's engine and then an almost instantaneous boom. For no reason, they both looked upward at the roof.

"Oarai Girls' Academy." The voice rang out over the town. "All tanks immobilised."

"Sure." Erika sighed. For a moment she had allowed herself to think they might win.

"Therefore, St Gloriana Girls' College wins!"

[][][][][][]

Perhaps maybe it might have been possible for Oarai to have won, to have defeated the Churchill with the Panzer IV and T-50. But their guns could have only defeated their armour from the rear and only then in a precise place. Once the StuG had been knocked out, their chances had plummeted and while it might have been possible with the short-barrelled Panzer IV and their light tank; she wouldn't have advised anyone to place any bets on them. Not on a side with their total lack of experience of working together and with little more than a few weeks of training under their belts. There were underdogs and there was cannon fodder.

The members of the club however were mostly happy with the results. After all, St Gloriana hadn't steamrolled them and the history girls were very pleased to be the first team that didn't contain Erika or Miho to score a kill. The Volleyball team had enjoyed the ambush they had set, even if it hadn't worked out and they were already planning for what they would do next time. The First Years were… Missing. They had been assured by the umpires that they were perfectly safe and well, although they would receive a reprimand for abandoning their tank under fire and putting themselves in great danger.

It was dispiriting to see their battered and smoke-stained tanks being driven away and there was a definite slump to Miho's shoulders watching them go. It was balanced out by Yukari's flushed cheeks as she was unable to contain her exhilaration at her first proper match; no matter the outcome.

Darjeeling had changed back into her school uniform although she looked no less elegant in blue than she did red. Erika found herself eying her gunner, Assam, the one who had timed her shot perfectly to take them out as they attempted to streak past. In retrospect it had been a foolish thing to attempt against a talented gunner but it wasn't as if they had had many options.

"You must be the Captain." Darjeeling declared, gazing not so much at Miho as into her. Enough to make Miho squeak as an affirmative. "May I ask your name?"

The question. The inevitable question. Miho bowed her head before speaking. "Nishizumi… Miho."

With the inevitable response. "As in the Nishizumi style?" Darjeeling seemed momentarily taken aback which was saying something for a St Gloriana girl. She attempted to cover the slip in her poise. "You're quite different from Maho." She said and while it was meant as a compliment, Miho slumped a little more. "Today's match was truly a pleasure." She told her. All of them.

The pink-haired Crusader commander had no such restraint. "You tricked me!" She gushed to Erika. "I knew you were lying in wait on the slope, but letting me get ahead and expose myself in the open?" Her choice of words made Darjeeling visibly wince. "I didn't think you would be smart enough to stop to steady your aim." The girl giggled to herself. "I didn't know I was facing another experienced player."

"She's the one who got you." Erika jerked her head at Yukari. "I was just the driver."

"You kept up with me in the trees!" She took hold of Erika's hand and pumped it. "That's more than 'just' a driver." She released her hand so she could seize Yukari's. "Amazing!" She gushed. "Amazing shot! Even if you hadn't immobilised me, you would have disabled me! A moving target!" Yukari's face now matched the Crusader commander's hair, and her arm might have been pulled off if Darjeeling hadn't placed a gentle hand on her subordinate's shoulder to draw her off.

They watched the quartet of St Gloriana girls walk away, their two little teams subdued by the graciousness in victory. It would have been easier to take if they were sneering and condescending; at least then she could yell insults at them.

"Oh well, we lost." The ever cheery voice of the Student Council President startled them and they turned to see her grinning, Yuzu beaming and Momo glaring disapprovingly for not achieving a miracle. "No biggie." Anzu declared with a little flap of her hand.

"As agreed, you'll perform the Anglerfish Dance." Momo declared with more than a little relish.

Erika joined the collective groan. Not only had she seen the dance online but Hana, Mako and Saori had pledged to do it with Miho, and then Yukari had decided to show solidarity with her captain by offering her support; effectively forcing Erika into it. The dance itself was rather weird but not as bad as she had been initially led to believe by their horrified reactions. Then they had shown her what she was expected to wear. She had been resigned to defeat from the start and by extension this cruel and unusual punishment.

"Well…" Anzu said slyly. "All of us are to blame for the outcome…"

There was something truly beautiful about seeing Momo's superior façade come crashing down and Yuzu raising a fist to her suddenly rapidly beating heart. "President!" She protested. "You can't mean…" Momo meanwhile was speechless.

Erika doubted anyone had ever looked quite as pleased with themselves as Anzu in that moment.

When Anzu had made her threat to make them dance at the Summer Festival, Erika had pictured a small stage and a bemused crowd. There was a bemused crowd. A crowd lining the streets as they were paraded through town on the back of the same vehicle that had carried away their tanks and if that didn't draw enough attention to them, the music through the sound system and Oryou and Saemonza pounding a vast drum did.

At Kuromorimine, punishments in the Sensha-do Club included being made to take inventory of the supply of ball bearings and having to clean an entire tank single-handedly with nothing but a bucket and sponge. She couldn't imagine Maho having them wear skin-tight outfits that emphasized all their intimate areas performing a dance that drew further attention to those areas. With fins sticking out from their butts and googly eyes on their heads.

"I'll never get married now!" Saori moaned.

"Deal with it!" Yukari snapped back in a most un-fluffy manner.

"Try not to think about it." Hana advised, with a degree of optimism that bordered on insanity. "It'll just feel worse."

Erika was certain that the only way it could be worse was if someone turned a hose on them. She wondered if anyone else had noticed that one among them seemed to actually be enjoying themselves and she was left wondering; did Anzu genuinely enjoy this exhibitive dance or did she get a sadistic pleasure from forcing it on the rest of them? She leaned toward the former based on her rather innocent smile. She looked as if she was just enjoying a day out with friends.

All in all, it was an experience she would not forget.

When this ordeal was over, Mako stated she had to go visit her grandmother otherwise she would 'kill her'. Her tone and Saori's understanding made it seem that it wasn't hyperbole. Erika noted that this grandmother was unaware of both Mako's participation in Sensha-do and the Anglerfish Dance. The latter was certainly for the best.

Predictably, Saori wanted to go shopping and after the exhausting events of the morning, Erika thought this was a decently mind-numbing activity to rest to. Even better, Oarai was a peaceful town; at least when it didn't have tanks blasting each other in the streets. Kumamoto was a crowded place while Oarai's streets were deserted by comparison. The five of them added a presence. Saori wanted to visit 'cute' stores, Yukari predictably wanted to find the Sensha-do shop and naturally, Hana was hungry. Miho was happy to be among people. Everything was as it should be. Even Saori making eye contact with a young man pulling a rickshaw and having a moment which turned into a bigger moment as the man smiled and came toward them.

"Shinzaburo." Hana greeted him somewhat stiffly.

There was no stiffness in his tone. "Miss, I'm glad to see you're well." He sounded affectionate, though not in the way Saori seemed to think.

"What's going on?!" She demanded.

"This is Shinzaburo." Hana was obviously amused by Saori's interpretation. "He works at our home." The stiffness was gone and Erika wondered where it had first come from.

He nodded to her, evidently knowing Saori despite having not met her before. "Thank you for always looking after the Miss." He said formally and bowed and Erika tried not to laugh at how Saori was taken aback.

The laugh died though as her attention was got by the woman who stepped from the rickshaw, holding a parasol over her head and the very vision of grace and elegance; an older version of Hana. The original model. The mother.

They greeted each other warmly, though formally. Too formally and Erika looked away from the overly familiar scene despite how rude it was and pretended to be interested in a shop display. She managed to blot out the small talk, even when she heard her name mentioned and no matter how hard she tried to suppress it, the last conversation she had had with her mother played out in her head. It was not a place she wanted to visit but she could not blame Hana for having a mother, let alone for having a chance meeting with her in her home town.

There was a muffled thump and she turned to see that Mother Isuzu was down. That was an unexpected development.

[][][][][][]

Erika wondered if it was correct to say that it was 'ironic' that Hana's mother was so obstinately against Hana doing Sensha-do it had caused her to faint while Miho's mother was so obstinately for her doing Sensha-do she had been completely oblivious to her daughter's misery. Irony, no one ever got the concept right. It was ironic though that the first time Yukari overcame her awkwardness and spoke to a stranger without prompting, she had said exactly the wrong thing.

Naturally, Hana absolved her of all blame. "I'm at fault for failing to tell my mother." She said with a rueful smile and Erika looked at Miho to see how strongly that chimed with her. A little too strong.

Fortunately, Shinzaburo arrived to dispel those thoughts. "Miss, your mother has regained consciousness." He made it sound overly dramatic but then no more than fainting in a public square. "She wants to speak to you."

"I must go back now." Hana replied.

"Miss!"

"As much as I feel sorry for her…" Hana trailed off, having brought Erika back to her own thoughts.

"I may be overstepping my bounds, but I think you should tell her exactly how you feel." It clearly took a lot for the man to say it and once again his words were apt for more than just Hana though Erika knew that honesty was not necessarily the best policy when dealing with parents.

Miho hovered awkwardly in the passage asking about the ethics of eavesdropping on their friend while the rest of them pressed their ears to the door. Saori called it recon, either still in Sensha-do mode or using her powers to bring Miho into the fold. She half-expected Yukari to produce a stethoscope to listen with.

It was strange to listen to Hana and her mother talk because they maintained a veneer of politeness the whole time. Even when her mother started to sound hysterical, it didn't become ugly. Even stranger was learning that Hana, the girl who seemed to have it all together and was a rock of common sense and rationality among them, had doubts. She felt too passive. Too passive… Hana felt she lacked aggression while Erika had heard too often she was too aggressive, too quick to anger.

Her mother looked as if she might faint again. "What has become of your true and gentle nature? Did Sensha-do do this this to you? Tanks are barbaric, ugly, noisy… And nothing more! They should all be turned into scrap metal!"

Yukari made a noise like an angry cat so Erika placed her finger and thumb on her neck and began massaging. "Easy, Fluffy. Go to your happy place." It did little to placate the girl.

Meanwhile Hana stood her ground, even if she had hunched her shoulders and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, mother." She looked up, looked her mother in the eyes. "I won't quit Sensha-do."

Erika was still massaging Yukari but for her own benefit now. It was all so different and yet so familiar. No shouting. No screaming. Just firm tones. Tranquil fury. "I understand. Then I don't want to see you in this house ever again."

Different. But same.

Hana's exit was in her characteristic grace. She excused herself to her mother like she was going to powder her nose and while Saori and Yukari leapt away from the door, scattered like startled dogs, Hana was the vision of dignity. What had just happened to her was earth-shattering and what she had to say was simple. "Let's go back." Yukari was using Saori as a human shield and Miho had raised her hand protectively across her chest. "Perhaps one day I'll be able to create a flower arrangement that will open her mind."

In any other world, this might have seemed strange but Erika came from a place where life revolved around a high school sport. She didn't know much about Ikebana but she couldn't judge Hana's mother for taking it as seriously as she did, not with how fanatical she had been about Sensha-do. She didn't want to be a hypocrite. She only wished she could have handled it all with as much grace as Hana, and not with the histrionics that Shinzaburo displayed.

"Please smile, Shinzaburo." Hana said wistfully. "This is the beginning of a new life for me. I'll work hard." She declared forcefully.

"Isuzu?" Miho's near whisper startled Erika. "I'll work hard too."

They exchanged a look, an unspoken guarantee and a lump rose in Erika's throat at how unlikely it was that this promise could be kept. "Welcome to the club." She said.

[][][][][][]

Mako was waiting on the dock for them and looked more alert than Erika had ever seen her. She had the audacity to say they were late. As did the over-zealous hall monitor who snarled when Mako called her Sodoko once more. Erika wondered just what it was she was writing on her clipboard, and who exactly would read it. She doubted Anzu was interested in such things.

On deck they finally learned what had become of the First Years. After their day, their disappearance during the match had slipped their minds. They had always been meek before but now they were practically submissive.

"Captain Nishizumi." Asuza was positively crushed. "We're very sorry for abandoning our tank and running away!" The six of them bowed so low they became right-angles as they apologised.

"You senpais were so cool!" Ayumi gushed.

"I thought you'd lose right away." Yuuki admitted sheepishly.

"We'll try hard next." Aya assured them.

"We'll try very hard!" Karina doubly assured them, milking the giant cow in the process.

"From now on, Nishizumi-chan." The Student Council appeared with all the expectancy of the Spanish Inquisition. "You and Itsumi handle all the tactics." Anzu made the pass over complete and it was hard to say whether it offended Momo more for the unwilling Miho to have this responsibility, or the belligerent Erika.

As always Yuzu was there to keep the peace. "This is for you." She said, presenting Miho with a basket. Erika knew immediately what it was, even before the note was read and she made a mental note to damage Darjeeling's calm by giving her a big hug for saying that today's contest had been more fun than competing against Maho. It was just what Miho needed to hear. St Gloriana hoped to face them again, in an official match.

"You better win that official match." Anzu warned, with a big smile on her face that meant everyone who wasn't Erika, Momo or Yuzu thought it was a threat of another embarrassing forfeit. It made Miho's declaration that she wanted to win next time awfully poignant.

[][][][][][]

"Itsumi-dono… You look awful." Yukari couldn't sugar-coat it.

"Couldn't sleep." She said. She had slept well before the match but after it and all the thoughts raised in the day, she hadn't slept a wink all through the night afterwards. Now it was morning and Erika understood Mako much better. It was all she could do not to openly snore in class.

Instead of lunch, she took the opportunity for a nap and the only place she could think of where she wouldn't be disturbed was in the refuge of her tank. Taking shelter in a Russian tank, despite Russian tanks being responsible for them being here in the first place. As always the universe laughed at her.

They worked with the Automotive Club to repair their tanks. The girls had been doing their own thing the previous day and night so for once they hadn't performed one of their repair miracles. What they had been up to, they didn't say, but they were cheerful enough about the work that went into restoring six battered tanks.

The Sensha-do class was straightforward repair and maintenance, a far cry from the previous day's match but necessary for them all to unwind. A few seemed to expect some kind of sweeping New Order speech but that wasn't Miho's style, Erika certainly didn't have one in her today and Anzu apparently prevented Momo from making one. When the day finally ended, it was all she could do not to just fall asleep in the doorway. She had things to do, school things. At Kuromorimine, Sensha-do had taken centre stage to the rest of education while Oarai took the normal approach that as Sensha-do was only an elective, everything else mattered. That meant she had homework to do.

Ordinary schoolgirl things. Like Miho wanted. She meanwhile cared little for schoolwork and while Sensha-do fitted like a comfy slipper, it wasn't something she had chosen to do. There seemed to be very few opportunities in this life to make choices for herself.

At first she thought she imagined the knock on the door and as she was tired enough she had begun seeing things skittering on the edge of her vision, it seemed likely. But the knock was polite and the second one just as much.

She expected Miho. Yukari maybe. Hana however seemed like an exhausted hallucination.

"Miho's next door."

"I know. I came to see you."

"Why?" The suspicion in her voice was jarring even to herself.

Hana's answer was to lift her bag and pull out a bottle. A wine bottle.

"Please come in."

She knew what Hana was thinking. Miho's room was warm and inviting while hers was stark. They could have packed up her room and moved in someone new within two hours. Easily. There was only one personal touch and Erika coloured at Hana's pleased expression as she took in the stuffed rabbit on the nightstand. It might not have been Miho's Boko army but it was something.

"How did you even get this?" Erika inquired of the German wine.

"No one ever IDs me. Saori's very envious that they always think I look like a mature adult."

"How did you know to bring it?"

"Miho said you like that… And that she thinks you shouldn't drink it."

"She's not wrong." She pointedly poured them both a glass and Hana was naturally too polite to decline. Erika raised it in salute and then enjoyed the expression Hana pulled as she tasted it. "It is an acquired taste. Some people think German wine is only good for stripping paint." She invited Hana to sit in the chair while she took the futon. "Now why would you come to see me? Alone? No Saori in tow and no invitation for Miho…"

"You're a suspicious person, Itsumi-chan."

"Suspicious, cruel, fanatic… No one ever says anything nice." She took another sip of wine.

Hana chose to ignore this. "I wanted to talk about what you said the other day."

"What did I say?"

"When we were leaving my mother's, you said 'Welcome to the club'." She said gravely.

"Yes… I did, didn't I?"

"You seemed upset."

"Did I?"

"Itsumi." Hana said reprovingly, demonstrating very well why cashiers didn't ask to see her ID.

"Did you do your research on why Miho and I came here?"

"I read about the match and what they say did and didn't happen but I really didn't learn much. There were lots of… Euphemisms."

"There were, weren't there? I loved when they called it 'Technical difficulties'." She patted her cheek. "Doesn't this look 'technical'?"

"They said there were a few injuries."

"There's always injuries in Sensha-do but two girls nearly drowning, one of them inhaling half a river in the process and a third getting…" She swallowed. "Koume was still in that tank when it hit the bottom. Miho swam to the bottom to get her out. You didn't read about that, did you?" Hana shook her head and the only part of her that couldn't maintain her poise was her deep blue eyes. She would have seen the official pictures and video of the raging river and now she was trying to imagine Miho in that water and it unsettled her. "Anyway afterwards… Kuromorimine takes winning seriously and because the authorities kept what happened quiet, few people actually knew why Miho abandoned the flag tank in the middle of the match. A lot of people turned on her. Her mother… I don't know for sure. The only person who knows what's going on in the mind of Nishizumi Shiho is Nishizumi Shiho.

Maho told me her mother let her leave Kuromorimine, and Sensha-do, and she doesn't know if it was kindness to let her leave a place she was unhappy… Or if she was letting her go so everyone would forget about the younger Nishizumi sister. Maho didn't know. Miho thinks her mother's ashamed of her. She's scared of her." Erika pulled a face. "We're all scared of her. I really don't think Shiho knows Miho's doing Sensha-do again, or that she's now been made Captain of Oarai. If she did, I would have heard her knocking on Miho's door, demanding an explanation."

"So this is why Miho-san didn't want to do Sensha-do."

"She did it for you! For Saori! She was so touched that you were standing up for her against the Student Council, she…" Erika trailed off, hearing the huskiness developing in her voice. "She never felt she had friends before."

Hana's eyes widened. "But you-"

Erika laughed, bitterly. "We weren't friends. Not even close. I hated Miho. She got everything given to her for nothing. For nothing. Just because she's a Nishizumi. People gave her respect and admiration before she earned it just because they assumed as a Nishizumi they had to give it to her. They made her Vice-Captain just so her mother could tell people about her two daughters leading Kuromorimine as a team. Never mind that Miho couldn't lead a dog. Next time you're hungry, ask her where she'd like to eat and then suggest an alternative, and watch her just go along with what you said. There's being meek and there's being bloody docile. Kuromorimine is supposed to be a wolf pack and she was a sheep."

"You sound like you still hate her." The worry was heavy in Hana's tone.

"No." Erika shook her head. "I don't. Because when the accident happened, that was when I finally realised she doesn't want it. Any of it. She didn't want people treating her like a daimyo, or a Chinese emperor… Leaving her to sit by herself while eating so they wouldn't disturb her with their presence… I thought they were treating her like a Queen and she was looking down on us and now I know she was miserable because she was all alone! No one ever bothered to know her, she's a Nishizumi so they think they already know. They think she's her mother, or Maho, and she's not. She never was. I hated her for being a weak commander and because I thought she was enjoying the privileges, then I understood she didn't want to be Vice-Captain. She didn't think she was right for it either and hated herself for not being able to be… To be Maho."

"Why did you come her to Oarai with her?" Hana pressed.

"Miho was the only one who said they were sorry. Everyone else… They had other concerns."

"Sorry?"

"For this." She indicated her torn face. "Miho still feels guilty about abandoning her tank, losing the match, failing to live up to the Nishizumi style and so on, but she doesn't feel guilty about this anymore because she told me she was sorry and she kept saying it. Over and over. Until I slapped her." Hana couldn't control her emotions for once and visibly flinched at the mental image of Miho being struck. "I didn't need to forgive her because it wasn't her fault and she accepted that once I smacked her. It was one thing she could actually forgive herself for, even if only because she was afraid I would hit her again."

"But why did you transfer with Miho?" Hana pressed.

"Because Miho said she was sorry this happened to me. No one else at Kuromorimine did." And here of course was the most bitter part. "My parents didn't. They didn't say anything while I was in the hospital, when they had just stitched my face back together. She waited until I got home and then… I thought your mother was being dramatic by fainting but mine…" Erika shook her head. "Mine was angry with me for saving Miho's life. Not because of what she had done. Not because I got a share of the blame of the defeat. Because of this…" She tapped her face again. "Because apparently I've ruined myself." The smile that crossed her face was not intentional. "What young man would want to marry a girl who looks like this? They had such a pretty daughter before and now they have a disfigured mess." She bit at her scarred tissue. "You were amazing with your mother. So polite. Dignified… I was… I was… Me. I was me. I thought the other parents acting like we were lepers was bad but my own mother caring only about my appearance? Two girls almost died and she was only concerned about how I look? Whether boys will want me?" She couldn't think of how to truly describe that confrontation. "Your mother told you to leave. Miho's mother suggested she leave. I told mine to go to hell, and left." She finished her wine.

Hana took a minute to process what she had heard and Erika let her. She knew what she was thinking, that it explained a few things about her abrasive personality. Hana of course hadn't known her before and how there wasn't much difference between her now, and then.

"Why did you choose to follow Miho?"

"I didn't follow her, I asked her what she was doing and when she talked about Oarai, I decided it was my best option. Instead of going somewhere alone I'd know at least one person. I told you I hated her but after everything, I wanted to make up for it. And then I got orders."

"Orders?"

"When Maho heard I was going to Oarai, she came to see me." She laughed sourly. "Everyone at Kuromorimine wanted to get the attention of the Captain. Everyone was convinced she didn't know they existed as individuals. I never thought she noticed me… Turns out though that Maho knows every girl in the Sensha-do club by name, even if they don't know it. She came to where I was staying and she called me by name. A few weeks earlier and that would have been the most amazing thing in the world for me. She wanted me to take care of Miho. To 'watch out for her' was what she actually said. Turns out that Maho's well aware that Miho is… Miho. She just had to pretend she didn't, pretend she was a proper Nishizumi…" She laughed again. "That family would work so much better if they would just talk to each other. Instead they use proxies. Their mother talks to Miho through Maho. Maho talks to Miho through me. Miho doesn't know her sister's looking out for her and I'm not allowed to tell her."

"Not allowed? She isn't your captain anymore."

"It's hard to explain." She didn't understand the hold Maho had on her herself.

"Maho didn't say she was sorry you were hurt helping her sister."

She had guessed Hana would pick up on this. "I think she would like to."

"But that would mean showing weakness." Hana understood. "What a horrible school."

"Sometimes. Not always… It's the parents who really make the place toxic. I guess Oarai benefits from no one knowing it exists. We can do what we like."

"Miho didn't want to do Sensha-do… Did you?"

"I always enjoyed Sensha-do."

"That doesn't answer my question."

She was tempted to tell her the truth but the fact was, Hana was a good honourable person. She would be unable not to tell Miho what she knew. "I didn't want to at first but… The way I found the T-50… I took it as a sign. And it's different when you command your own tank, and when Yukari is your crewmate."

Hana beamed. "Akiyama-san does love tanks."

"She's a bit nuts but in a good way. If we had a dozen like her, we'd be invincible."

The smile left Hana's face. "Did you want to be Captain?"

"No. I didn't. I could command at Kuromorimine. At Viking or Chi-ha-tan or… Pravda… But here? If I was in charge, half of them would quit within the week. They need someone like Miho. Someone patient." Someone who didn't want to crack skulls for their mad paintjobs.

"It doesn't bother you the Student Council picked Miho over you?"

"She's the right person for the job." The Council had that right. "She's never been happier. You heard her; she wants to win next time." Hana still looked bothered. "I'm not jealous. I know I said I hated her and… Sometimes she drives me crazy with her naiveté, and every time she's clutching one of those stupid Bokos." She saw Hana glance at the bunny and she coloured once more. "I came here to start again. So did she. And we did. We got off on the wrong foot before but now I know who Miho really is and I respect her. Miho understands what's really important when everyone else loses sight of it. If Kuromorimine had more like her, none of this would have happened. But they also wouldn't have won nine years in a row either."

"You think ruthlessness wins?"

"Yes." Erika answered bluntly. "But it's not the only way to win. Maybe there's a Miho way to win."

Hana smiled. "The Nishizumi Miho style."

Erika decided not to tell her those words would be considered heresy at Kuromorimine. There was a lot of things she was keeping back. "We'll see. I'm just surprised we managed as well as we did against St Gloriana."

"The Student Council really wanted us to win." Hana said and it was yet another meaningful statement. "Why do they care so much about the Sensha-do Club do you think? To recruit you and Miho and come up with silly forfeits?"

She declined this second opportunity to come clean. "I think they want Oarai to stand out and Sensha-do's one way to do that. If we even reach the quarter-finals, it'll get the school attention."

"They seem very determined though."

"Maybe they want to make their mark before they graduate." Erika shrugged.

"We'll need to make our mark." Hana said, referring to their outcasts club now rather than Sensha-do and she frowned as she tried to think of a polite way to address the issue. She could not think of one. "Can you manage?"

"I never spent my allowance while I was at Kuromorimine. I'll get by for now." The question had been asked with the intent of reciprocation. "And you?"

"I'm not welcome in the house but I don't know about finances. Not yet. I think though that…" She trailed off, afraid she had implied her mother cared more than Erika's did.

"We'll see." Erika said tactfully.

Hana smiled again. "Do you think my mother would find tanks less offensive, if she learned my hands were working for Sunkus?"

"Mine would not be amused."

They sat awkwardly. They both had lots to think about. Lots to absorb. Everybody had their own lives to lead, their own baggage to carry and while the two of them could share some thoughts and feelings, they were both ultimately dealing with it alone.

"It gets easier." Erika told her. "Once you get used to the thought that you're taking care of yourself. That you're your own safety net… It does get easier." She shrugged. "And you've got friends. I'm sure if you ever need some help Saori can help you."

"And you?"

"I don't know how I could help."

"You can take care of yourself." Hana said, meaning much more than simply living independently.

"I don't think you want life advice from me. I'm still trying to shed the 'Survival of the fittest' mentality Kuromorimine gave me." She trembled and tried to shake the feeling away. "Do what you do best… But don't believe you're better than everyone else. Or you just end up alone."

(16,242)

Author's Notes; This one came out longer than expected.

The OTL Erika is to my interpretation a lonely character. She wants the attention of her aloof commander and once she's gone, she had no one to turn to. You see that when she video chats with Maho in Das Finale. My Erika has people and even if she isn't eager to open up, they bring her out of her shell. The conversation between Erika and Yukari and Erika and Hana treads the same territory, the question as to whether Erika is jealous not to have been made captain. Obviously, it's tempting to make that an issue to set up conflict between Erika and Miho but I would prefer that conflict to come about from their clashing personalities than who's wearing the captain's hat.

If you debate the armour-piercing capabilities of the StuG as outlined here, I'm not saying a StuG is guaranteed to pierce the frontal armour of a Churchill at long range; I'm saying it's possible. Even more possible from the flanks. I intend for Erika to push Yukari into properly educating the other teams about what their tanks can and can't do.

On this note, Erika bringing them to a halt on the golf course so Yukari can fire a steady shot at Rosehip is for every time in the series they're racing around firing wildly on the move at an enemy tank they're pursuing when they could simply stop, steady their gun, and shoot their opponent in the arse. Lampshade hung.

If you're wondering how the match concluded, I intend in the next chapter for them to watch the results. Miho wanted Erika to draw their fire while they came up on the Churchill from behind. Erika's misjudgement and Assam's gunnery eliminated Erika, with the Churchill given enough time to manoeuvre and take out the Panzer IV without presenting its vulnerable rear. Even with a direct hit in the rear, it would have been unlikely they could have taken it out with the Panzer IV's low velocity gun.

I'm taking Shiho's offer to Miho to transfer to another school in Saga of Pravda as canon for this story though as Erika points out, whether this was a compassionate offer or Shiho simply getting a potential embarrassment out of the spotlight is up for debate. This will be addressed in a later chapter. Erika's own parental issues are my own invention. Again, I perceive her as a very lonely person with parents who aren't abusive but simply neglectful. They expected her to play the role of dutiful daughter.

It was good to give Hana and Erika a commonality connection. A big part of the show is the bond of the Ankou team and I don't want to subtract from that because of Yukari being in a separate team. They may have separate tanks but I still want them to be close.

Next chapter… A breather before Saunders as Oarai overhauls its tanks and Erika spearheads some initiatives to increase their fighting strength. But not too much. Don't worry about them getting OP too soon.