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Training field, 14th of September 2015, 1300 hours:
Leafs have started to fall from trees. Fall has arrived late; it was cold, but it has yet to turn water into ice. The students were already near the old garage, wearing their supposed uniforms, this time with an extra sweater or jacket to keep themselves warm, along with some scarfs. Some sat down, some leaned on the wall, and some were talking to each other.
Alisia herself was shivering from the cold despite the warm clothes and the scarf she was wearing. The cold breeze passed through her face, and she was shaking like a leaf. "When will those three arrive?"
"Eh? You good, Alisia?" Miyuki looked at Alisia, her face showing a look of worry.
"C-Cold... "How are some of you not freezing?" Alisia hugged herself; she covered most of her face with her scarf.
"Huh? Here, I thought everyone in here loved the cold." Anoki looked at Alisia with a look of confusion.
"Well, I am a home girl, ok! Lily would be shaking like a sick child if she were in my position." Alisia said in a weak tone, still shivering as the cold breeze continued penetrating through her warm clothing.
Miyuki placed her hand on her chin, thinking of a solution, until an idea came into her mind. "Well, I know what you just need!" Miyuki grinned. She approached Alisia before wrapping her arms around her and holding her tight. "Heee, so warm..."
Alisia froze in place, and before then her eyes stared daggers at Miyuki's eyes. "Who are you? My family? Get off.." Said Alisia in an annoyed tone.
Miyuki looked at Alisia; she blinked with a confused look on her face, not expecting such a reaction. "E-Eh?!" She blinked once more. "She was fine with Mrs. Carter touching her."
"You don't touch that intimate with a person you just know a week ago." Anoki sighed. She held her chin with her right hand before an idea came into her mind. "Try stroking her hair; maybe it's her weak spot... Should we soften her a bit?"
Alisia's eyes turned towards Miyuki, her eyes staring daggers at her, penetrating deep into her soul, which made Miyuki shiver in fear. She then gulped. "Yeah, no. Bad idea..." Miyuki released Alisia from her embrace.
Then, the three instructors arrived, wearing warmer clothes like an overcoat in addition with their service dress to fight against the cold weather. The captain began to speak. "Alright, good day, everyone." Said the captain as he walked in front of the students. The students then got up and returned back in line, and the captain continued. "Alright, for today's special, we'll be doing a combat practice. Time to get all of those skills from the class to use. This would be our last training."
Just as the word was said, all of a sudden, most of the students cheered, before being interrupted by Lieutenant Blais with a high tone: "That doesn't mean we're leaving you fools; pay attention or else there will be another PT for you all."
The students went cold, their faces went pale, and the captain then started to speak again. "Well, as the Lieutenant just said before, we'll still be here guiding you all, something like a coach in a hockey match, now." The captain clapped his hands once, and Lieutenant Morrison came with a cart filled with ear protection. "Make sure you have your ear protection ready, unless you want to be deaf. Now come on, onto your armored horses!" He ordered.
The students then began walking towards their tanks. Alisia was seen still struggling with climbing onto the Stuart, but was then helped by Miyuki. Alisia thanked her before then hopping inside the tank, along with Anoki entering from the driver's hatch and Miyuki entering from the other hatch beside the commander's cupola.
The radio of each tank went on, and a static voice of the captain was heard: "Alright, welcome to your first combat training. I hope you all still remember class from our previous classes, because all of that will be used here. Rules are simple: everyone is an enemy; take out each other's tanks and survive; don't push each other to the cliffs if there's even one to begin with. Oh, and also, all the necessities, from first aid kits to important tools and equipment, are already inside your tank. Anyway, play fair and have fun."
The radio went off with a bleep sound, the Stuart traversed the terrain with a steady speed, and Alisia stood on the cupola while she looked around the surroundings while wearing her Broady helmet. Afraid of getting shot, and with her mind overwhelmed with the thoughts of it, she decided to hop back into the Stuart and close the hatch in a slow manner.
She then sat back on the seat. She thought to herself, "Why am I so nervous?" Alisia shivered, she held herself tightly, and she adjusted her scarf around her neck.
"Alisia, don't forget your ear protection!" Miyuki adviced.
Alisia looked at Miyuki; she then took the ear protection from her pocket and wore it on her ears. "Thanks..." Alisia sighed. Now that she had just looked ahead, some cold sweat dripped down her face. Her legs began shaking like crazy. "Should've drink a cup of tea before this match..."
Miyuki was seen loading the small shell from the ammo rack before loading it onto the gun chamber, then shutting the chamber. She then looked at the cranks and the other controls inside the turret, remembering all the lessons from last week. "Right, the trigger is here, and to move the turret, the crank or handle is here." She then looked through the gun's optics, inspecting it as the Stuart continued moving.
After 5 minutes, the tank came to a halt as Anoki stepped off the pedals. She then looked outside through the driver's view; her face was cold. This caused some worry for Alisia. "What's wrong, Anoki? Why are we stopping?" Alisia looked down at Anoki with a look of confusion on her face.
"Can't you feel it, Alisia? There's something outside." Anoki pressed the engine button to turn it off. The engine's growling sound began to lower, and later there was silence. Miyuki then closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
There was silence, and Alisia ordered Anoki. "There's nothing out there; get the engine back on and get this thing on the move again."
All of a sudden, a shell slammed the small tank, and everyone was pushed onto the tank's wall, which made them grumble in pain. Alisia went unconscious after hitting the wall, and some blood appeared on her head.
"O-Ow..." Anoki then switched the buttons back on, and the engine began to growl once again. Anoki then hit the gas, and the Stuart's engine roared back as the tank began moving once more.
Miyuki was still shocked by the hit. She then looked at Alisia, who was still unconscious, her hair covered slightly in blood. "Alisia is hurt!"
Miyuki looked around for the first aid equipment in the tank; she then found it in a small box nearby, just beside the other equipment's. She took it, pulled out some cloth, and applied pressure to Alisia's wound. "A-Ahh! Alisia-san, okiro!"
Miyuki tried multiple times to awaken Alisia by yelling through her ears, tapping, and shaking her shoulders, but to no avail. "Alisia's not waking up!" She then laid Alisia back on the seat, still keeping the pressure on. "N-No ice..."
The Stuart continued to move away from the scene; its engines roared as it went to full capacity. The attack left some marks and some scratches. Alisia, on the other hand, remained unconscious and bloodied her head.
Inside the Stuart, Jack was ranting, being angry. His friends distanced themselves away, and Turner then spoke up. "Calm down..."
Jack looked at Turner. "Why did you miss you idiot?!"
"Jeez, calm down... I thought we all joined for fun and not." Stewart distanced himself further from Jack.
"Strange, that shot should've knocked that thing out." Turner scratched his head.
"I should've been the commander... I literally led the school's hunting group and the scout club when I was in juniour high. Getting all that accomplishment, only not to get chosen because of some stupid pencil?!" Jack continued glaring at the scene where Stuart was once.
"Well, why don't you just ask then?" Bennett suggested, but was received with a glare by Jack; his veins were seen on his skin.
"The headmaster won't agree on such. He always sides with the girls. My older brother was a better candidate to become president, but that stupid headmaster..." Jack clenched his fist further.
There was a long silence inside the church until Foster spoke up. "You definitely need a doctor."
"Shut up." Jack replied with an aggressive stare towards Stewart, causing Stewart to not continue.
The tank was hidden among the trees, its engines turned off, and the two girls were staring at the unconscious Alisia. Miyuki still put the cloth on Alisia's wound, and she still shook Alisia, her face pale. "Ne... Alisia-san... Okiro..." Tears started watering down her cheeks, and she closed her eyes, still applying pressure to Alisia's wounded head with her hands.
"... I didn't know this sport could be this dangerous." Anoki sighed, still staring at the unconscious Alisia. "I should've kept the tank moving..." Anoki looked down, tears watering down from her eyes from guilt. "Is she dead...?" Anoki's face turned pale, and her hands started shaking, adding to her guilt.
"N-No... It can't be! She can't be dead!" Miyuki looked down at Alisia and shook her more. "Wake up!"
The Stuart was filled with bad tension, and the two snapped, unable to believe what just happened. But as hope seemed to flicker lower, Alisia slowly opened her eyes. "M-Nngh... It hurts..." She groaned a bit while she held her head.
Miyuki immediately hugged Alisia and broke out in tears, "Waa! Alisia! Anata wa shindeiru to omotte itta!"
Alisia was surprised by the sudden hug. She blinked for a few seconds, trying to process what just happened, and then she sighed. "Ok, enough crying; now get off me." Alisia tried moving her hands to stand up, but Miyuki immediately held Alisia tighter.
"No! You must rest; you almost died." Miyuki wiped her tears from her eyes, and her face turned puffy red from all the crying.
"I'm sorry for stopping..." Anoki began crying; she almost caused Alisia to die. This moment caused Alisia to get a headache and stress.
"Stop crying. Oh my, I'm not dead!" Alisia raised her arms in rage, but it hit the roof of the tank, causing her to flinch in pain, which she then slammed onto the wall, hitting it hard, causing her to growl further in pain. "Ow..."
There was silence; the two giggled, and Alisia's face turned red. It seemed that harmony had returned to the tank after the clumsy event that happened to Alisia. Then, the laughter began to subside, and there was then only silence.
"So now what?" Anoki asked.
While Miyuki pulled the cloth off, some blood stained it. She then looked at Alisia's hair, which was still stained with some dry blood. She then attempted to clean it off with a new cloth, but Alisia flinched from pain. "Oww- Hey!" Alisia looked up at her eyes, glared, and locked onto Miyuki's, her eye brows furrowed.
Miyuki turned red and looked down. "Sorry..."
There was only silence; before then, Alisia sighed and stood back up. "Alright... Let's keep going, shall we? Anoki, get back on the steer." Alisia then sat on the commander's seat, followed by the two getting back to their positions. The Stuart's engine roared back to life, and the tracks began to move the tank through the terrain in the cold afternoon.
The Stuart has so far met little to no enemies; it has only traversed around the terrain, with only the sound of the cold breeze and the growling sound of the Churchill's engine. The sound of cannon fire and machine guns was heard in the distance, which piqued Alisia's interest.
"Move up to that hill..." Alisia ordered Anoki.
"Right!" Anoki acknowledged, driving the tank up the hill, which was concealed by the bushes. Then, as the tank arrived on top, below was an active battleground, where tanks were seen engaging with each other in brutal close combat. In one instance, two Ram's were seen ramming onto each other before firing their 6-pound cannons at the same time, knocking each other out. White flags popped out from a small port.
"It's a cluster mess down there." Miyuki commented, watching the on-going battle down the hill using the optics.
As the battle continued, the Churchill appeared from the forest, taking out a Ram tank, before proceeding to move to the other tanks, who were still engaging with each other.
"That big-looking tank is being a menace down there." Anoki commented.
As the two were watching, little did they know, deafened by the sound of the intense battle below, a Stuart was creeping from behind the bushes. Its 37mm cannon was aimed towards the Stuart, but of course it was shaking due to the tank being still on the move. The Stuart stopped in its advance, adjusting its cannon. Before a loud bang was heard as a shell spewed out from the barrel.