The discovery of another 38(t) had shaken up the teams. Everyone had grown used to each of their groups having their own tank that was their responsibility and their pride. Each of them felt they had their place in their tank. The Tanuki however belonged to all of them and they all wanted to try out different roles, particularly the Automotive Club, but also the Rabbits who wanted to experience what it felt like to be in a less conspicuous machine and Hippo team who were curious about the difference between a tank destroyer and a tank. With the Hippos they were also interested because Erwin had used the little tank to take them down in its first match and they had a new found respect for the model of tank that the Student Council hadn't been able to give it.
Erika watched the two 38(t)s racing around together. Yuzu seemed to enjoy the company and she honestly liked seeing Oarai having matched vehicles, even if it seemed unlikely they would be able to take it into an actual match.
"Where's our morale officer today?" Nakajima asked.
"Special assignment." Erika had not seen Yukari all day and now she wasn't here either, it could only mean that she had gone to Anzio. She would be okay. It was Anzio after all. If they caught her, they would probably give her a good meal and then send her on her way. Not like Kuromorimine where they would make them formally ask for her safe return. Or whatever Pravda might do…
"More special than this?" They were on the firing range, taking it in turns to practice their gunnery. Nakajima enjoyed blasting the targets into splinters as much as anyone else but driving was obviously her talent. Erika found static gunnery tedious; it simply wasn't the same as firing on an actual tank that would move to throw off careful targeting. As their effective range against 50mm of armour was within a kilometre, practicing long range static gunnery was also unnecessary. But it was the itinerary for today's class. They couldn't have practice matches every session. It would simply be too expensive.
"She's gone to Anzio."
"Like she went to Saunders?" Nakajima asked.
Yukari hadn't said anything, nor had Miho or the other members of Ankou team and yet somehow it was common knowledge that Yukari had infiltrated Saunders to learn which tanks they would deploy to the match. Everybody knew she had dressed up as a Sunkus employee and then a Saunders student to do it. The only part of the story that wasn't true was that she had used a commandeered Saunders tank to escape when her cover had been blown, although Yukari had seemed excited when she had been asked about this. Hopefully, she hadn't decided to steal one of Anzio's tankettes to actually live this moment.
"She's doing what she can for the team." Erika confirmed.
"You're worried about her."
"I'm always worried about her. People like her are the reason why Health and Safety is now a career profession." Though thankfully one that had never made much headway against Sensha-do. Otherwise they might be firing little paintballs at each other.
"Sure. That's the reason why." Nakajima remarked slyly.
"Don't do that."
"What? Everyone knows you're besties." The gearhead said innocently but stressing 'besties' so that it could be interpreted in a multitude of ways.
"You know we're alone in here right? I could make it look like an accident."
"Sure. Threaten to kill me." Nakajima declared cheerfully. "That doesn't make you sound guilty and embarrassed at all."
"Hell is filled with people like you."
"Probably." Nakajima shrugged happily. "It doesn't feel right that she's not here though. Like cookies without milk." She grinned at Erika. "You're the milk. She's the cookies."
"Why?"
"Because you're pale and she's sweet."
"Just load the damn gun."
"Yes, sir."
In truth, she enjoyed Nakajima's mindless teasing banter. It was in such stark contrast to the training regime at Kuromorimine that she couldn't help but. At her old school, such talk would have been rank insubordination, but here; it was just a bit of fun.
For some strange reason, the two 38(t)s decided to streak across the firing range and Erika thought that such a thing would have appalled her not so long ago but now she merely rolled her eyes. And put a shot in front of them so they crashed through a dust cloud and were left wondering if the shot across their bows had been intended to connect.
[][][][][][]
Momo liked her whiteboard. Erika imagined that the size of it appealed to her. With its efficiently laid out information; it was a symbol of her bureaucratic power. It was a pity she couldn't transform that skill with the presentation of facts and figures into Sensha-do talent.
It was a sizeable gathering for an informal meeting. The entire Anglerfish team was present, as were the Turtles. If Yukari had been there, it would have been three complete teams. Tsuchiya was present as well, as Hoshino, Nakajima and Suzuki didn't see the point in excluding her if they were all here. The four Automotive girls sat together and if it was their way of saying they would inevitably be a team of their own, it was very effective. But they had already said the Tanuki was not for them. There might not be another tank discovered. What would they do then? Accept the Tanuki or continue to supplement the other teams? It was a question for another day.
Anzu annoyed Momo by saying they wouldn't watch the tape of the Anzio-Maginot match until Yukari was there and she could appreciate why Momo was annoyed even if she was grateful to Anzu. It would have been a great way to begin this meeting and to frame the entire discussion. Instead Anzu asked what terrain they would encounter when they faced Anzio and Momo answered that it would be a mountain and wilderness stage.
"Itsumi. Nishizumi." Anzu asked with her laidback imperiousness. "Does that benefit us or Anzio?"
"Um…" Miho looked to Erika.
"That depends." Erika said what Miho was hesitant to say.
"On what?" Anzu inquired, her hand inevitably straying into her packet of dried sweet potatoes.
"Our StuG and Panzer IV outrange their tank destroyers but wilderness means trees so plenty of cover to hide in to take away our advantage. But the trees also limit their field of view too and they don't manoeuvre well so our fast tanks can be all over them and they'll be helpless."
"You mean it's an even playing field." Momo rolled her eyes.
"I didn't say that." Erika said.
"Their Carro Veloces were made for fighting in mountains." Miho put in. "So they have the home advantage."
"Question." Saori actually raised her hand. "What kind of school are Anzio?"
"They were founded by an Italian." Anzu answered.
"It's an Italian themed school whose purpose is to share Italian culture to Japan." Momo gave a considerably more pompous and detailed answer. "That's why their Sensha-do is centred around Italian tanks."
"But they're not a Sensha-do based school?" Saori asked.
"No." Erika answered this. "Anzio is your kind of school. Their focus is culinary. They have a list of all their alumni who've become chefs at the top restaurants across the country." What she said made Saori beam but everyone else seemed surprised that she had said something nice. Except Miho. "They're famously poor though which is why they're always selling their food every opportunity they get. They don't have much in their budget for Sensha-do."
"Yes, the tanks they used in the first match are CV33 and M41 Semovente." Momo smacked the whiteboard with a pointer that looked suspiciously like a cane for whipping people. Not for the first time Erika wondered if Momo moonlighted as a dominatrix.
"I love the CV33!" Hana declared. "It's so small and cute!" She clasped her hands together almost ecstatically. "It's a perfect base for flower arrangement!"
Erika and the Automotive girls stared at her incredulously while Momo glowered at the interruption. Anzu and Yuzu seemed amused while Miho was delighted with this unorthodox use for a tankette. Mako meanwhile snorted and Erika noticed for the first time that the girl was asleep. She had gotten so used to Mako napping that she hadn't even seen her dozing on the arm of her chair between Hana and Saori.
"No matter how cute it is, won't it be too big?" Saori asked. "Can it even go with sunflowers?"
Momo swiftly interrupted before this actually became a topic of discussion. "We've heard they acquired a new tank but…"
"What kind?" Anzu asked.
"We still don't know." Miho's tone suggested she felt it was her fault for not knowing.
"It didn't appear in the first match, after all." Yuzu said meekly.
"Which we would all know if we had watched the film of the Anzio-Maginot match." Momo added coldly.
"Well, that's why it's a secret weapon." Anzu said and then flicked one of her tails back dramatically. "No matter! We'll find out soon enough." She looked straight at Erika and winked at her.
Hana, Miho and Saori sat up alertly like a bunch of meerkats. "How do you know?" Saori asked, her eyes flicking between the two of them.
Perhaps in another life she had been an actor. It was the only thing that could explain her perfect timing. The doors flew open, making everyone but Anzu, Erika and Mako flinch and in she stepped in her Sunkus uniform. "Akiyama Yukari has successfully returned!" She cried with all the aplomb of a Shakespearean thespian.
"Welcome back." Anzu waved lazily at her.
"We've been waiting for you." Momo said and she actually sounded friendly.
"Thank you for your hard work!" Yuzu added, beaming as radiantly as the sun.
"You knew she was going." Erika said quietly to Anzu.
"I know everything that happens in this school." Anzu replied just as quietly.
Meanwhile Saori was having a freak out. "That outfit!" She was half out of her chair; literally on edge.
"You did it again, didn't you, Yukari-san." Miho said with far more calm and a hint of amusement.
Yukari had the world's biggest grin and a matching nod. "Hai!" She presented a memory card with a flourish a stage magician would have been proud of.
Erika split her attention between Yukari's presentation and the audience watching it. For the Automotive girls, it was their first time and even Nakajima who had spent endless hours with Yukari was taken aback by her video editing and her amateur spy craft. She actually saw Hoshino pinch herself. Miho's incredulous expression she knew was because she couldn't imagine engaging random strangers in conversation with the purpose of drawing information out of them. Hana and Saori meanwhile still seemed not to have grasped just how… Unique… Yukari really was. Momo watched with an intent look that seemed even more fanatical than usual and Yuzu also watched attentively but with a polite veneer for some of the more unexpected aspects. Anzu nibbled on her sweet potato chips like she was at the movies with a bowl of popcorn.
Mako hugged her thighs and clearly wished she had been left to sleep. Erika rubbed her back sympathetically, and Oarai's pet cat promptly leaned on her and fell asleep.
When it was over, and Erika felt like she wasn't the only one who had lost track of time and reality, Hana was the first to speak. "They seem a bit strong."
"Not just a 'bit'!" Momo snapped. The passion of the Anzio girls and the chanting crowd had obviously gotten to her.
"It's my first time seeing a P40." Miho said quietly.
"They're not really used." Erika added.
"Is it a powerful tank?" Saori asked.
"Yukari."
Her gunner was startled by her prompting but appreciated it. "It's a good all-round tank. It can penetrate 60mm at a thousand metres and 70mm at five hundred! Its frontal armour is 50mm thick and sloped and its weakest armour is still 40mm, at the back. It's also small for a medium tank so it's not a conspicuous target."
"Sounds like our Panzer IV." Suzuki offered.
"The P40 has thicker armour." Yukari replied readily. "But the Panzer IV F2 has a much more powerful gun."
"So is this secret weapon a real threat or not?" Momo insisted on a clear answer.
"It's more than capable of defeating all of our tanks frontally at five hundred metres." Yukari answered. "The B1 bis has our thickest frontal armour at 60mm and the P40 can get through that."
"But our Panzer IV and StuG can get through its armour from further away?"
"And like we said, the terrain will nullify that advantage." Erika pointed out.
"So what will Anzio do?" Anzu inquired through a mouthful of sweet potato.
"I would take a defensive stance." Miho offered. "I would use the CVs to scout and lure my opponent under the guns of the P40 and Semoventes."
"Their Semovente models, they don't have great armour penetration at long range and they can't harm Kamo-san team unless it's point blank in the rear." Yukari supplied diligently, knowing Mallard team's tank better than its own operators.
"Point blank?" Erika asked, intrigued.
"They can manage 50mm at point blank." Yukari replied happily. "But only the rear of the B1 has just 50mm of armour. The sides are 55mm."
"Meaning if we sprung a Semovente ambush, we could use Sodoko as a shield."
"Sooooodoko." Mako purred unexpectedly. But she didn't wake up and Saori reached over to pat her head.
"But you said the P40 can penetrate the B1?" Momo leapt on that detail.
"It can't be everywhere and it'll probably be their flag tank." Miho had already thought of this. "So if we're using the B1 aggressively, if the P40 fires on it-"
"It gives away its position." Erika cut in. "And Hana or Saemonza can take it out."
"What about the cuties?" Anzu asked and Erika presumed she meant the CVs.
"They're only a threat if they can concentrate their fire on the rear of my turret." Erika knew this. "Or anywhere on Ahiru team or the sides and rear of our 38(t)s."
"That's half our tanks." Yuzu pointed out with a note of worry.
"It has to be concentrated fire." Yukari quickly informed her. "Their 6.5mm machineguns aren't powerful enough to score a kill unless they get a prolonged concentrated burst on one section of light armour."
"So if two or three of them crept up on me or you or Ahiru team, and then sprayed our weak point together; they could defeat us." Erika couldn't imagine anything more humiliating than being defeated by a machinegun armed tankette.
"But they couldn't creep on us. We would hear them coming and you can't concentrate fire on a moving target, especially if you're moving yourself." Yukari was in her element. "In fly-weight Sensha-do battles, tankettes have chased each other around the arena, pelting each other with bullets until they ran out of ammunition without being able to score a kill."
Momo asked the question through gritted teeth. "So are they a real threat or not?"
"It depends, Momo-chan." Erika said, just to hear her say the words.
"Don't call me 'Momo-chan'!" She snarled and then growled at Yuzu who was giggling.
"It depends on the circumstances of the match." Miho employed her tact. "We don't know what will happen until the day."
"Aren't we supposed to prepare for these things?" Momo hissed.
"We are prepared. We know they can be an actual threat and we'll warn everyone not to let themselves be humiliated." Erika couldn't be bothered with tact.
"Mmmm." Miho agreed with one of her noises and it looked like Momo's eyes might pop.
"So do we have a plan?" Anzu inquired nonchalantly but also obviously trying to head off an altercation.
"We'll make one. Later. But first we need to see how Anzio defeated Maginot."
"You haven't watched it yet?" Yukari squeaked.
"We were waiting for you." Momo almost whispered it out of frustration.
The official Sensha-do recording was quite mundane after Yukari's video and Erika wondered if the people editing the footage could possibly have imagined this audience. Probably not.
It didn't bode well for them that the two sides were grossly mismatched. Anzio had put out seven CV.33s and only three Semoventes. Maginot had fielded two B1 bis', two S35s, three R35s and three FT-17s which were the only vehicles comparable to Anzio's tankettes. The rest of the French tanks were drastically better armoured than their Italian enemies. Anzio had had only three effective guns; against ten.
And yet, it was Anzio that went on the offensive, launching their CVs against Maginot in a charge that would have made Chi-ha-tan proud. They should have been wiped out but instead they swept around into Maginot, pelting them with machinegun fire and fleeing in a cloud of dust as swiftly as they had arrived. It was a bold, impudent attack and Erika saw its purpose and was surprised that the Maginot captain, Éclair, took the bait. Maginot typically remained on the defensive and yet, the French tanks took off after the CVs fast.
Well, as fast as they could. Anzio's strategy became clear as a gap opened up between the two slow B1 bis' and the rest. The flag B1 hung back further as the Maginot team became strung out until it was far from the French cavalry tanks and even the other B1 bis would have struggled to support it.
This was when Anzio struck again. The three Semoventes had split in two and attacked from both flanks. It was not immediately fatal and the video was cut to show the Maginot tanks dramatically scrambling to save their flag tank as a lone Semovente blocked their path. The small tank destroyer with its stubby gun fired an alarming number of times and Erika's first thought was they had edited multiple angles of a couple of shots together; except then they showed those shots landing. Which meant her second thought was that the loader of this Semovente was a force to be reckoned with.
And then astonishingly, the match ended. It ended with two tanks knocked out. Both flag tanks. For thirty seconds, they were treated to every possible angle and speed of the B1 bis and Semovente firing on each other; two guns against one. And the one triumphed.
"I thought you said a Semovente couldn't beat a B1 frontally!" Momo snapped.
"Normally they can't. I guess they had the right ammunition." Yukari shrugged sheepishly.
Both flag tanks were knocked out but Anzio had struck first by just under a second and so they won. They had won by exploiting Maginot's desire to be bold and aggressive for a change. They had won with a simple but effective strategy. That the final moments had been clumsy and messy was not their fault. The crew of that B1 bis could take pride in having taken their attacker with them. Anzio had won against all the odds.
Just as they had against Saunders.
"I think we should meet again tomorrow." Anzu declared. "Everyone think about what you saw and we'll knock our heads together and see what spills out."
[][][][][][]
Mako was a lethargic creature. Until something sweet was put in her path and then she became a voracious predator. At least, that was what Erika thought as she watched the girl attack her ice cream like she thought it might try to escape if she didn't pummel it into submission.
"I should have brought some gelato back from Anzio." Yukari said reprovingly of herself.
"So spy on them and then steal their dessert?" Erika mused. "That's a bit cheeky."
"I would have paid for it!" Yukari squeaked and then blushed as Hana, Miho and Saori giggled at her. "I would have!"
"Did you enjoy being an Anzio girl for a few hours?"
"We should have our own Sensha-do themed food stall at school!" Yukari gushed happily. "We could have tank cakes and serve tea in shell casings."
"Nothing says refreshing beverage like a 37mm brass shell." Erika would have paid good money to see it however. "I can see it now. Fluffy comes up with the menu, Saori cooks it and Hana decorates the stall with Sensha-do themed flower arrangements." She giggled and then laughed outright and sensed them all staring incredulously at her as she wiped her eyes. "Miho. Can you imagine your mother's face if she saw Sensha-do treated that lightly?"
Miho's first instinct was to be appalled. The instinct drilled into her by her mother and time at Kuromorimine. But then she visualised what Erika had and turned bright pink before giggling helplessly at the whimsical take on Sensha-do.
"We'll tell the President that was what we thought of." Erika wasn't done. "When Momo asks us what strategy we came up with to beat Anzio, we'll tell her we thought of opening a Sensha-do themed food kiosk on campus, and we'd be honoured if the President would be one of our cooks. You know Anzu will accept. That'll make Momo's brain explode."
"You're in a good mood, Eririn." Saori was pleased but also suspicious.
"Of course I'm in a good mood." Erika replied. "I have ice cream, I have a plan to annoy Momo and today I learned my gunner looks cute in a beret." Yukari squeaked in embarrassment. "Why do you think I wear this cap? It's cute."
"You shouldn't say things like that." Saori remonstrated.
"I'm sorry. You'd look cute in a beret too."
Now it was Saori's turn to become pink although she was blatantly thinking about wearing one now. "You would." Hana agreed and Saori turned from pink to red.
"What hat would suit me?" Mako's ice cream was no more.
Erika thought about it for a moment. "One of Pravda's ushankas." The petite feline girl cocked her head quizzically at her. "Those thick furry Russian hats with the earflaps. You could use it as a pillow when you're not wearing it."
Mako considered this and then turned her gaze. "Saori. Buy me a ushanka."
"Why do I have to buy it for you?" Saori protested.
"You said I was hard to shop for. Now I know what you can get me." Mako let it hang for a moment. "Buy me a ushanka." She repeated.
"I could do with some new shoes." Hana put in.
"I have my eye on this Panzerwaffe jacket-" Yukari began before Saori indignantly cut her off.
"I am not your personal shopper!"
"Buy me a ushanka." Mako repeated.
"I'll buy you the ushanka if you shut up!"
"Great." Erika declared. "Now we know if we want free stuff, we just have to annoy Saori."
"Shouldn't you be thinking of Sensha-do strategy?" Saori pouted.
"It's called multitasking, Takebe-san. I'm strategizing, eating my dessert and teasing you. It's all part of the Germanic efficiency I learned at Kuromorimine."
"Ehhhhhh!" Saori hissed, raising her fists to her sides. Mako reached over the table and pawed at her fringe, making Hana and Miho descend into helpless giggles that were only made worse by the further enraged noises that Saori made.
[][][][][][]
Hi, Erika!
Thank you so much for the message. I wasn't expecting it at all.
You had a bad day? How so? And Miho?
The Captain is the Captain. You know how it is. I don't know what she thinks. I do know that she misses Miho. We all know she misses Miho. Remember how she would stare into the distance, formulating a strategy? We can see the moment when she's doing this when her thoughts drift to Miho, and then she forces herself back on topic. She doesn't let it distract her from Sensha-do though.
Chi-ha-tan was a textbook victory. We took the high ground. We had a clear advantage in armour and firepower. We annihilated them. It was a clean win. But it was easy, so as you say; no one's bragging about it. I didn't have much to do, but no one did. It must have been a very boring match to watch, especially compared to yours!
I never realised how much shouting we do at Kuromorimine until you mentioned it. Now I can't un-hear it! It's hard to take pre-training checks seriously now that I've realised it's a line of girls shouting 'Bestätigt!' to confirm full fuel tanks, stocked ammunition and clean vision ports.
I have bad days. On Friday, they were hosing down one of the Elefants and the sight of the water running off it, it really freaked me out. It took me long enough to be okay taking a bath. I have nightmares about water all the time. Water and darkness. It was overcast when we fought Chi-ha-tan and the landscape was bare and rocky and I thought that it was gong to rain and it would be eaxctly ilke the ifnals with the thunder and darkneess and evetyone would see me freeaking out and know waht a fraud I Am as Vice-Capptain.
I have bad days…
We're going to face Continuation High next. We're still waiting on the battlefield selection and obviously, no one wants to face them in the snow. You're going to face Anzio; do you know what terrain yet? I thought you would face Maginot so Anzio either got lucky (I know you hate luck) or their commander knows how to fight long odds. I guess after beating Saunders, you know all about that. Two schools who beat the odds facing each other. The quarter-finals should be interesting all round; Viking should give Pravda a challenge if they fight in the snow and St Gloriana will definitely beat Yogurt but they won't make it easy.
I hope you're having good days, Erika.
Koume
[][][][][][]
The previous day she had been relaxed. Calm. Playful. Today was another day though and the Sensha-do practice before school meant she was put into a panzer frame of mind for the day. Before the actual session at the end of the day. They spent most of that session practicing manoeuvres, particularly using a panzerkeil of their own with their big guns at the front and their lighter, faster tanks on the flanks. If they were to attack Anzio head on, it was the best formation; the heavier tanks drawing fire while the lighter vehicles conducted a double envelopment. If Anzio put their CVs on their flanks with the same intention; they would plough right through them.
"So have you come up with a plan?" Momo demanded in the post-class debriefing with the same participants as the day before.
Erika had not because she only knew the kind of terrain, not what it actually looked like. Not yet. They could think of tactics but not an overall strategy. She said as much to an impatient Momo.
"You have one job!"
"Miho." Erika sang.
"Erika-san is right." Miho said. "When we know the battlefield, we can plan our strategy. In the meantime, we need to make sure everyone keeps training and improving their skills."
"Like gunnery." Erika suggested innocently, earning herself a furious death glare through the monocle.
"How is the team shaping up?" Anzu asked, one hand twirling a pigtail and the other reaching for the inevitable sweet potato chip.
"They're coming together." Miho answered. "Everyone's really motivated by our win over Saunders. None of them expected us to actually win and they're all really proud of it."
"That's nice." Momo said, meaning she didn't care. "But can they beat Anzio?"
"Yes." Erika spoke bluntly. "We have some good tanks. More than Anzio anyway. We can field eight tanks if we leave some undermanned or seven properly crewed and against Anzio's tankettes; that'll work. But if we win this round, we'll be outnumbered two to one in the next… And we'll be against Pravda."
"And they have T-34s." Yukari put in.
"Meaning?" Momo asked sharply.
"Meaning their sloped armour will bounce anything our smaller tanks send their way at pretty much anything less than point-blank range. Our gun might fare a little better, but the 37mms of the 38(t)s, Ahiru team's 57mm, Usagi team's 37mm… Hopeless. And the B1 bis' guns won't be much more effective. Which leaves only the StuG and the Panzer IV able to take them down at range and that's the same range the T-34s can kill them."
"And they'll have an IS-2." Yukari added. "They always have an IS-2. And a KV-2."
Erika shuddered, thinking of that behemoth firing one of its high explosive shells their way. It didn't need to penetrate their armour; the explosion would be powerful enough to take them down. If it landed among her T-50, the 38(t) and the Type 89, it could knock them all out. And rattle the teeth from their skulls. "The tanks we have… They stand up well against the minor schools but the Big Four-"
"We already beat Saunders." Yuzu spoke up.
"Because they underestimated us and we turned their cheating against them. Pravda will definitely underestimate us but I don't think they'll give us an opening to exploit. They'll try to lure us in and then surround us and pound us into gravy."
"I think we're getting ahead of ourselves." Anzu cut in. "We're facing Anzio, not Pravda."
"You wanted a strategy." Erika reminded her. "I'm telling you that we need an overall strategy if you want to win this tournament."
"You want to look for more tanks." Anzu accused her with a sweet potato chip.
"Look for them. Buy them. Steal them if we have to!" Perhaps visit Keizoku while they were fighting Kuromorimine and let them know how it felt. "But Anzio's P40 is their secret weapon and a good tank… But Pravda field tanks better than a P40 by the dozen."
This simple, factual proclamation left them all in silence. For Miho and her crew, the Automotive Club and Yukari, it was a statement that if they beat Anzio; it would be their last victory. For the Student Council, it was a warning that the odds would become unsurmountable.
But Anzu was in one of her positive moods it seemed. "Anzio should have lost to Maginot, but they won. With just three good tanks against ten."
"Maginot made a mistake. You shouldn't plan your battle on the assumption the enemy will make a mistake."
"No. You force them to make a mistake."
Erika stared at her in astonishment and the little red haired girl winked at her. Someone had been doing their reading it seemed.
"We can't afford to buy any tanks." Anzu continued. "None as good as what we already have anyway. So you're going to have to find a way for the tanks we have to beat better tanks." She stressed 'better' ever so slightly and it was obviously a message for her about their real goal. Everyone else appeared oblivious.
"So we'll have to find more then."
"You still think there's more?" Hoshino spoke up. "You've found tanks in some really odd places."
"And we haven't looked everywhere yet. Not by a long shot." Erika replied. "We don't know what could be out there. We know Oarai used a mix of German and Japanese tanks and we've only found one Japanese tank. If we could find four German models-"
"Two Czechoslovakian. Two German." Yukari put in.
"If we could find them." Erika placed a hand on Yukari's head and began to slowly press her down. "I think there must be other Japanese tanks out there. Even if all we find is a Type 2, that's better than the 38(t)s and the Type 89." Yukari was melting in the sofa under her hand. "I'd like us to have at least ten tanks. We'll never have twenty, or even fifteen… But ten? We must be able to achieve that."
"So you want us to go looking? Again?" Momo was pulling a face like she had a slice of lemon in her mouth.
"Don't you?"
"Our searches have been thorough."
"Fluffy and I found that 38(t) out in the hills which is where we found the first 38(t) and the Type 89. That's not thorough. There's much more of the ship to explore. Isn't there a whole Wild West themed district on board?"
"Ah, yes." Anzu smiled fondly. "That's a fun place."
"So we need to keep looking. We need to look inside the ship too."
"Well, I'm sure no one will mind exploring a bit more." Anzu waved her hand in that imperious manner that meant she had decided. "Tomorrow's class." She thought about it quickly. "We'll take our 38(t) out and have a look around. Ahiru team too. The rest of you can explore on foot." She made this declaration breezily.
"Too kind." Erika toned, fighting the urge to roll her eyes and making a final effort to press Yukari flat. The girl had slid off the sofa like a snake so that she knelt on the floor and lay flat on the cushions. If anyone found this odd, they were too polite to say anything. That or they were just used to her. "Anyone else have any ideas?"
"Maybe we should ask around if anyone's seen any tanks." Hana offered. "There's only thirty of us after all."
Thirty, Erika thought. Six bunnies, four mechanics, four history girls, four volleyballers, four anglerfish, three school politicians, three hall monitors and two wolves. When they had started, it had been twenty-two but they had recruited the sleepy cat, the four cheery mechanics and the three surly clones. Thirty students could fully crew five Panzer IIIs, IVs, Panthers or Tigers. A single platoon. They had thirty students to crew eight tanks; including one that required seven crewmembers to be fully manned. They would be well-matched against Anzio but if it was Pravda or Kuromorimine they faced now; they would be outnumbered two to one.
"We asked before." Yuzu said. "No one responded. But maybe they didn't know what they had seen. Maybe now they will."
"So ask again." Miho clapped her hands. "And we'll look again tomorrow."
"Tomorrow."
[][][][][][]
Koume
Miho has bad dreams. So do I. I don't know if she has any bad reactions to water but I do. Sometimes I'm fine, like the other day I was sat beside a river and I was thinking it was pretty watching a leaf on the water. And then I have another day where splashing water on my face puts me on edge. But that wasn't my bad day. I've been keeping it all to myself though, everything that's happened and it caught up with me. It hit me hard. Very hard. I cried. I needed to cry. It's not the Kuromorimine way I know. Which is the point I guess.
If Maho had a problem with you as her Second, she would let you know. I can't imagine her distracted… Even by Miho. I guess it means she is human after all. Now we just need to know if her mother is too. I guess it must be unnerving for the team to see her distracted though. We all get used to people being a certain way; it's strange when they're different.
I haven't seen the Chi-ha-tan match yet. I think it'll be interesting to watch a textbook victory after what I went through against Saunders. Even though we won, there's still part of me that feels that it was messy and not a proper victory. It seems silly to worry about that. People say there's a right and a wrong way to win and others say that winning is all that matters. I think that I'm kind of like St Gloriana; I'd prefer to win elegantly. Which isn't going to happen here at Oarai.
And at Oarai, instead of shouting, we get a lot of silliness. You should have seen how they painted their tanks when we first started. But everyone enjoys themselves. I guess that means I'm having good days. I wish I had more of them. I've applied for a job which is very much not the Erika you know. But I should enjoy it.
We're going to fight Anzio in mountains and wilderness; rock and trees. We're still trying to figure out if that's a good or bad thing. We've seen how they beat Maginot and while there was some luck; there was definitely skill. They beat some long odds. I don't think the odds look good for either side. We're a bunch of amateurs and they mostly have tankettes. I don't think anyone would want to bet on this match. I'm looking forward to it, no matter what happens.
Stay strong, Koume.
Erika
[][][][][][]
"Is Continuation High really that strong?" Hana asked.
"Yes. We had a close fight in our last practice match." Miho answered.
"Keizoku specialises in 'Shoot and Scoot' and guerrilla tactics." Erika elaborated. "They fire and change position immediately, they never stay still and they're masters of camouflage. And driving."
"They make great use of light tanks!" Yukari gushed. "The T-26 isn't a great tank with its high profile, light armour and small gun but they use them so well you wouldn't know that."
"I heard they steal their tanks." Saori was embarrassed to ask.
"Sometimes." Yukari however wasn't embarrassed to answer. "It's a tradition for Keizoku to borrow."
"'Borrow'?" Saori asked indignantly, her eyebrows shooting high into her fringe.
"Maybe we should think about it." Erika mused and then came abruptly to a halt with the group leaving her behind.
In front of her was a tall girl with her hand raised and she was rigid as though petrified but more alarmingly, she wore glasses with lenses so thick they appeared as frosted glass, reminiscent of static on a TV screen and making it look like the girl had crashed.
"Hello?" She ventured and the girl didn't respond so she waved a hand in front of her face, just like they did in the movies. This didn't work. So she clapped her hands together sharply in front of her face and this made her flinch. "Are you okay?"
"Itsumi." It was barely a whisper.
"Yes?"
Yukari didn't whisper. "Itsumi-dono!" She sprung up beside the tall girl. "Where did you go?"
"I'm making first contact, I think."
Yukari did a double take, as if the tall girl with a cat ear headband had been invisible. Certainly, her tactic of freezing in place perfectly still made her easy to overlook. That was why animals did it after all. "Nekota." Yukari said cheerfully. "I'm sorry I haven't played the game since I started operating real tanks."
"What?" Erika was still trying to see the girl behind the glasses.
She found her tongue at least. "We played an online tank game together. Before Yukari joined the Sensha-do club, nyaa."
The odd noise she made as she finished speaking reminded Erika of some of Miho's shy noises. "I see." Erika was also thinking that if the girl didn't slouch, she would be even taller. There was also something reminiscent of Mako in her and it wasn't just the fact she wore cat ears. There was a similar feline air about her. And then the girl raised her other hand and pressed her fingers together, like a cat kneading.
"Um, is it too late to join, nyaa?"
"Join? You want to join the Sensha-do team?" If the Automotive girls did find their dream tank, they would need bodies to make up the numbers.
"Can I?" Nekota asked and then gave a very feline growl as Yukari grabbed her arm in excitement.
"Of course you can! Everyone should do Sensha-do!" Yukari wrapped her arm around Nekota's. "Let's take you to the Captain!"
"Uhhh!" Nekota's long blonde hair whipped into Erika's face as Yukari spun her around and then dragged her off in pursuit of Miho.
"Interesting." Erika thought aloud. Another misfit to add to their collection. She would fit right in. She smiled to herself and adjusted her cap, imagining Sodoko's glowering expression as she took in yet another student with non-regulation headwear. She probably wouldn't notice immediately. Not with Saori about to give Mako her present.
[][][][][][]
Miho's shyness manifested as lots of ums and ers as she tried to make herself small and unnoticeable. Nekota's was silence and that odd habit of freezing. She towered over Anzu but was utterly intimidated by the fast-talking and effusive little President who welcomed her to the club with a double handshake while Nekota kept stock still. Erika didn't know whether to think of it as freezing to become harder to see or actually playing dead. Whatever it was, it went completely unnoticed by Anzu who told the others to welcome their thirty-first member and then in the same sentence, announced they would be tank hunting once again. There were a few groans from those who didn't fancy another long walk about.
"Isobe." Momo addressed Noriko officiously. "Take your tank and have a scout around town. Don't worry, we've cleared it with the townspeople. No one's going to complain. Not unless you crush a car, so don't do that." From anyone else it would have sounded like a joke but from Momo, it was clearly an instruction.
"The rest of you, stay on foot. We want to check all the places we've haven't looked yet." Anzu said with a grin. "So don't just go into the woods and take a nap until the session's over." She slapped Mako on the back who slumped dejectedly. She was wearing her new ushanka and had obviously hoped to test its potential as a wearable pillow. Saori had bought her a pure white one which went perfectly with her dark hair, as Saori had excitedly told her when presenting it to her and Erika was pretty sure Mako's cheeks were still pink from Saori telling her she looked pretty in it.
It was a small movement but she noticed Nekota raise her hand as she had earlier. "What about that one?" She spoked quietly again, so that Erika read her lips more than she heard her.
"What one?" She asked.
They took the T-50 and the Tanuki with Yukari and Nakajima taking the driving seats and fairly racing along with Usagi team, Nekota, Hana, Miho and Saori clinging desperately on as Erika sat in her cupola and took in the bemused looks of the townsfolk. The elders seemed pleased to see them. To see tanks again. The younger people just seemed baffled by the sight of the two little tanks covered in schoolgirls shooting by.
Nekota took them to, of all places, a car park. After her and Yukari's odyssey into the wilds, it seemed very anti-climactic. Extremely so. She looked around and was relieved not to see any tanks just randomly parked into the spaces. At least until Yukari drove them alongside a shelter.
She climbed out of the turret and slipped down between Aya and Yuuki before they had a chance to disembark. She stepped forward and laid an incredulous hand down upon a fully intact and virtually spotless tank. The T-50 had been in two pieces. The StuG had been at the bottom of a pond. The Type 89 had been in a cave. This tank was under cover and had clearly been cleaned in the past six months.
"I didn't know there was a Type 3 Chi-Nu here." Miho's incredulity manifested as stating the obvious.
"This was here the whole time?" Erika turned to ask her. "This? We didn't know this was here."
"Does it still work then?" Karina asked.
"It seemed it was put here on purpose a long time ago, so we thought it was completely broken." Aya added.
Erika felt the blood drain from her face and she almost staggered as the import of what the two girls had said dawned on her. "You knew this was here?"
"Yes." Azusa spoke for her team.
"Since when?"
"The first day…"
Now the blood seemed to drain from her brain and she felt lightheaded. "We could have had this when we fought Saunders? And St Gloriana?"
"… Yes?" Azusa offered helplessly.
Erika heard Miho giggle which was surprising as steam seemed to be shooting from her ears. "Look away, Captain." She warned. "I don't want there to be any witnesses."
Azusa stepped back and her team clustered around her protectively. Except for one. Saki stepped forward and silently wrapped her arms around Erika who in the face of yet another unexpected hug could do nothing but slump in total defeat.
"I'll call my girls." Nakajima announced, giving Erika her biggest grin.
"Is she going to let go?" Erika weakly asked the other Rabbits.
"Eventually." Ayumi answered impudently. Too impudently. Erika picked Saki off the ground with her left arm and took a swipe at the team of First Years with the other. They stepped back to avoid it and Saki still did not let go. It occurred to Erika she had never heard the girl speak.
"Hey." Nakajima said into her phone. "We need a pick up. We found one, and Rage Against The Machine made a new friend."
When Hoshino, Suzuki and Tsuchiya arrived with their truck, Saki still had not let go and Rabbit team had started a pool for how long she would cling on until she let go of her own volition or Erika pried her free. Erika had tried but the small silent girl was as dogged as a limpet.
"Traitor." She declared as Yukari wagered on Saki letting go rather than Erika removing her. Yukari simply shrugged and then pulled some of her hair across her face and giggled into it.
"I think she'll let go when you're calm." Hana offered, trying and failing to keep her poise.
"I am calm!" Erika retorted. "Calm as anyone can be right now!"
"What kind of tank is this?" Tsuchiya asked, climbing up on it and reading the advertisement hanging off its cannon. "It looks Japanese."
"It is Japanese." Yukari launched into her encyclopaedia mode. "The Type 3 Chi-Nu has 50mm of armour at the front like the Panzer IV and 25mm on the flanks; just 5mm less. It also has a 75mm gun which isn't as powerful as the Panzer IV or StuG's but is better than the M3 Lee. It can penetrate 80mm of armour at a thousand metres so it could knock out a Tiger in the flanks at that range!" Naturally, the vaunted reputation of the Tiger made this revelation cause a stir. "That's why it's a very popular tank with Sensha-do teams that use Japanese tanks because it has a very powerful gun but it's cheaper than more powerful medium and heavy tanks from other nations. You just have to be careful not to be flanked, especially as the turret traverse is slow."
"This would have been very useful against St Gloriana's Matildas and Churchill." Erika thought aloud.
"Very!" Yukari chirped happily, not caring at all that the outcome of that match could have been completely different with this in their hands.
"Someone tell our Glorious Leader what we've found."
"Why don't you do it?" Karina asked innocently.
"Happy thoughts, Eririn." Miho reminded her.
"Stop enjoying this, Nishizumi!"
Miho merely giggled again. "Remember what I told you, Eririn."
Saki only let go when the Automotive Girls had finally hitched up the Type 3 to their truck. The small girl with the pale-brown hair smiled at her. "Ki." She said so quietly that for a moment Erika thought she had imagined her saying her own name. But then she realised the context and understood she meant 'Hope'. It gave her a terrible chill of foreboding.
"I think we should go look below decks now." Saori suggested. "There's plenty of places to look."
"Um…" Mako raised her hand.
"I know, Mako." Saori replied. "You can take the Tanuki back to the hangar. We'll go below." She meant herself and the bunnies.
"Do you know about any other tanks?" Erika asked Nekota.
"I don't think sooo." The cat girl purred and it seemed to strike a chord with Mako.
She took the lead in the T-50 with the 38(t) Tanuki forming the rear guard and the odd procession of vehicles passed through the town of the Oarai schoolship to more incredulous stares. Erika was pleased though. She had said they could find more Japanese tanks and she had been right. Not just any Japanese tank either. A late-war model capable of standing against the mainstays of Kuromorimine and Pravda. Not their equals but worthy of their respect nonetheless.
It was strange to return to the hanger and to see all their tanks save for the Type 89 and the other 38(t). They parked the Type 3 alongside the Tanuki which made the Czechoslovakian tank look particularly diminutive and also next to the Panzer IV so that their two long barrelled guns sat reassuringly beside one another.
However, the Automotive Club had little good news for them.
"The hull's sound and the wheels and tracks are good." Nakajima reported. "But the engine's a ruin and the transmission kind of makes me want to cry. It's going to take a lot of work."
"So it is completely broken." Erika mused. "I owe the bunnies an apology."
"I think you've been punished enough." Nakajima said gravely, patting Erika on the shoulder. And then laughed. Erika resisted the urge to tackle her but only because she didn't want to be dogpiled by Hoshino, Suzuki and Tsuchiya. "This is going to take some time."
"So you can't fix it before we meet Anzio?"
"Not a chance. We need to read up on this model so we know what we're doing. We need to take it apart. We need replacement parts. That's going to take a while."
"Pity." It would have been another serious counter to Anzio's P40 but they had used up their quota of miracles it seemed. "Miho. What do you think we should do? Should we form another team, or should Nekota join another tank?" She glanced at the tall, long-haired, cat-eared blonde and had to fight to keep a straight face at the thought of her keeping short, black-haired Sodoko and her clones company.
"It would be good to have another tank but I don't think we should weaken the other teams." Miho deliberated. "You need a loader, Eririn."
"If you need more people." Nekota said in her quiet voice. "I have some online friends who might be interested."
"Might be?" Miho echoed.
"Online?" This was the part that concerned Erika.
They were distracted by Mako's phone meowing which put them all on edge with what had happened in the past. It didn't seem to bother Mako however. She looked at it and then put it away nonchalantly. "It's Saori. They got lost."
"Lost?"
"They think they found a tank but they don't know where they are or how to get back out." Mako stated this in her normal weary tone. "She finished the message with three scared face emojis."
"At least they have a signal." Erika couldn't imagine Saori and the bunnies being calm if they were unable to call for help. "You'd think bunnies would be able to navigate a warren."
"Eririn!" Miho protested.
"Fine. Sorry. What do we do now?"
"We find them of course!" Yukari declared and ran across the hangar. She returned with a helmet and as always, Erika was fascinated as she fished into the bottomless depths of her schoolbag and this time pulled out a light she could attach to the helmet.
"We're not going spelunking."
"You never know when you might need your hands free!" Yukari replied brightly.
She couldn't argue with this, even though Yukari now looked like a cartoon miner. "Do we know where to start?"
"No." Mako answered, apparently completely unconcerned for her oldest friend. Or at least, anyone who didn't know her would think that.
"Nekota." Miho said. "You stay here with Nakajima and the others. You can learn some maintenance. You won't learn anything about Sensha-do wandering about in the dark with us."
The rescue party looked decidedly odd. She wore her grey cap, Mako had her new ushanka and Yukari was wearing her headlamp. With Nekota now joining their ranks and Erwin long established, it was as if they were slowly forming a funny hats club.
They went below where Saori and the bunnies had first descended and attempted to retrace their route. It was no easy task as Erika had been right to describe it as a warren. There were signs which identified which deck they were on and in which corridor but it quickly became impossible to figure out which direction they were going. At least, it would have been had they not possessed Yukari and her compass.
But even then, it was tough going. The deeper they descended into the ship, the less well-maintained it became. The signs were faded or even defaced, including one that had been covered with a skull and crossbones. No one it seemed had replaced the lightbulbs down here since the previous millennium and the lights from their phones and Yukari's helmet did little to penetrate the stygian darkness. Small noises were magnified by the corridors and Erika definitely heard the skittering of rats fleeing their light and noise. One of the rodents was clumsier than the others, dislodging something somewhere with a clang of ringing metal that prompted Miho and Yukari to scream and cling to one another.
"It's nothing." Hana declared, sweeping serenely by them.
Mako didn't seem to think so. "Are you okay?" Miho asked her.
Normally so dispassionate, Mako looked like she was full of butterflies. "I can't handle ghosts. I'd rather wake up early."
"No self-respecting ghost would be down here." Erika remarked. "CHUDs, Morlocks, orcs or pirates maybe…"
"That's not helpful, Eririn." Miho chided.
"I'm more afraid of us finding them and Saki wanting to give me another hug."
"We'll find them."
For no better reason than that it felt less foolish than calling out 'Hello!', Erika decided to sing to announce their presence. The acoustics in the steel corridors were pretty good as well.
"Ich bin Soldat, doch bin ich es nicht gerne, Als ich es ward, hat man mich nicht gefragt. Man riss mich fort, hinein in die Kaserne, Gefangen ward ich, wie ein Wild gejagt. Ja, von der Heimat, von des Liebchens Herzen Musst' ich hinweg, under von der Freunde Kreis. Denk ich daran, fühl ich der Wehmut Schmerzen, Fühl' in der Brust des Zornes Glut so heiß."
"Cheery song, Eririn." Miho deadpanned.
"What's it about?" Hana inquired politely, not having the knowledge of German the former Kuromorimine students did.
"Being conscripted into the army and made to fight against your will." Erika explained. "When all anyone really wants is peace and quiet and not to have to kill anyone for the ambitions of tyrants. It's very apt for us."
"Apt?"
"Miho and I didn't want to do Sensha-do until the Student Council forced us to. And our mothers pushed us into Sensha-do in the first place." Erika shook her head. "It's very apt."
"It all worked out though." Hana said brightly.
"So far."
"I'm enjoying Sensha-do now." Miho checked one of the signs. "We would never do anything like this at Kuromorimine."
"I never went below decks there." Erika thought that with her and Yukari's trek into the hills, their previous explorations and now this excursion meant that she was actually more familiar with this school than she ever had been with Kuromorimine. "I imagine it was perfectly ordered though."
"Where are we now?" Hana asked.
"Good and lost." Erika had a ready answer.
"Lost?" Mako's alarm was palpable.
"Of course we're lost. How else would we find other people who are lost if we weren't lost too?" Erika asked and remembered Anzu's comment about her not being recommended for Morale Officer.
"We're not lost." Miho remonstrated, using her Captain's voice. "It says here, 'Reserve Vault 17'."
"Whatever that means."
"Saori said they were somewhere near there." Mako regained her calm reading the sign.
Erika chose not to point out that the size of the ship meant that 'near there' was a very relative term.
"This way." Yukari declared.
"Why?"
"Trust me."
"Why does that frighten me?"
Yukari only giggled and confidently led them on with her headlamp. In the dark places below decks, it seemed they walked forever before sudden squeals made all of them recoil in fright. For a moment, Erika thought her speculation about orcs was correct and then realised it was Rabbit team, joyful at being found and piling onto Saori.
Another squeal pierced her soul and this one came from Yukari. She didn't make a similar noise but she did feel a leap of excitement at a familiar length of metal looming out of the darkness. She had seen too many 8.8cm guns not to recognise it immediately. They had definitely found a tank.
[][][][][][]
Erika had gotten used to meeting the Student Council by herself and so it was strange to be there with Miho too for a change. But they wanted to debrief on the day's events and talk tactics for the upcoming match rather than scheme.
"How good is this new tank?" Momo asked officiously.
"It's a Porsche Tiger." Erika pronounced the name with a heavy German accent. "It's a failed weapon."
"Failed?"
"Henschel and Porsche both tried out to produce a heavy tank. Henschel's tank became the Tiger we all know. The Porsche… It had even more reliability issues than my T-50."
"But…" Anzu gestured theatrically.
"But it has the devastatingly powerful 8.8cm Krupp gun and a 100mm of frontal armour."
"And it can reverse faster than any other heavy tank." Miho added.
"It's amazing that your floofy friend can talk even when she isn't here." Anzu mused with a grin.
"She'd probably still be down there if we hadn't literally dragged her away." Erika said.
"She's happy." Miho beamed.
"And our other find? The Type 3?"
"It's a good medium tank. It has its flaws but it's a good tank."
"Itsumi?"
"What she said. But it's broken."
Anzu smiled. "They were all broken when we found them."
"Nakajima says it needs a complete overhaul. I don't think it was in good condition when it was abandoned. That's probably why it wasn't sold. It's going to take time to restore."
"And we have to take apart the big one to get it on deck." Anzu sighed and then gnawed on yet another sweet potato. "So no chance of taking them against Anzio?"
"None." Miho confirmed.
"So we'll take the seven we used against Saunders. Unless you think we should crew the other 38(t) as well."
"Nekota-chan said she has some friends who might want to join. If they do, we'll have just enough time to teach them how to use the Tanuki."
"And it'll be eight against ten then." Yuzu concluded brightly.
"They'll be rank amateurs." Erika warned. "But if we tie them to you as our flag tank, we'll have two identical tanks together and from a distance, they might not be able to see the flag. Camouflage."
"Eight is better than seven." Anzu nodded, as if she had just provided some ground breaking wisdom. "Do you know these other girls?"
"No." Miho admitted. "Nekota said they were her online friends."
"Online friends?" Momo frowned. "Does that mean they don't socialise in person?"
Miho shrugged and when Momo's gaze fell upon her, Erika did likewise. The Public Relations Manager was not impressed with the public; as always.
"If we defeat Anzio." Anzu addressed the ceiling. "And Pravda will certainly beat Viking, will these new tanks make a difference?"
"We will have a lot more firepower. A Tiger (P) can beat an IS-2." Miho replied.
"Our light tanks would get overrun by T-34s. An 8.8cm gun in our ranks will make them more cautious, especially with that thick frontal armour." Erika added. "We're not equals, but we're worthy of respect." Although their Frankenstein's Monster of a line up would still raise eyebrows. She couldn't think of any school that had ever fielded as diverse a range of tanks as they now possessed. They weren't just tanks of different nationalities but different time periods. "But how are you going to keep us operating? We only have two tanks of the same model and two that use the same ammunition. Now we have two rare tanks to cater for as well, not just one."
"We'll manage." Anzu declared breezily.
"How? How are you able to afford the supplies we need? People are asking questions. There's rumours you're making up the difference by gambling on our performance."
"Ha! That would be funny, wouldn't it?"
Her tone alarmed Erika and she saw it in Miho too. It seemed almost like a confession, and Momo and Yuzu's expressions didn't help. However they were funding Oarai's Sensha-do program, it wasn't something they were proud of or wanted people to ask too many questions about.
"Look Itsumi. Nishizumi. You focus on winning the battles and we'll focus on the logistics." Anzu sat up and looked officious for once. "That's how this works. Don't ask questions when you don't want to know the answers. Sometimes ignorance is bliss."
Miho caught her eye and the message was clearly not to push it. It really was better for them not to know and besides, they did have enough to deal with managing the team and preparing for the battles to come. It was enough of a challenge wrangling their tanks and crews without concerning themselves with where the components, ammunition and fuel came from.
[][][][][][]
The review was simple and matter of fact.
The Panzer IV.F2 with its long-barrelled 7.5cm gun and green paint scheme.
The StuG F with the same 7.5cm gun and sideskirts for its tracks and standard grey hull.
An M3 Lee with 37 and 75mm guns, a full crew complement of seven and a standard American green paintjob.
One 38(t) with four crew and another with three, both with 37mm guns, thin armour and grey paint that matched the StuG.
A Type 89B with a 57mm gun that was best used for crippling the movement of other tanks and even thinner armour than the 38(t)s but it had a legally souped up engine that meant it had their agility. More perhaps.
The T-50. An effective 45mm gun. Good sloped armour. High speed and agility. An engine that was as reliable as a British train service and took considerable time and effort to repair.
A B1 bis with a 47mm gun that lacked effective penetration at range and a 75mm howitzer with comparable penetration, although the howitzer could lob High Explosive rounds to function as an artillery piece. With 60mm of frontal armour and 55mm on its flanks, it was their most resilient functioning tank. It had three out of a possible four crew members.
Eight tanks with wildly different capabilities. Eight diverse tanks that nonetheless they had managed to make work together, and well. They had to be careful to ensure each tank was matched to the situation it was best suited for, unlike schools which used multiple models of the same tank and didn't have to worry about such specifics. Whether that was a strength or weakness was a matter of perspective. At Kuromorimine or Pravda which didn't encourage independent thinking, it was a weakness. At a school like Keizoku and here at Oarai, it was strength. Each team knew their tank's strengths and how to use them. Their many free-for-all training sessions had fostered that independent mentality and an awareness of their weaknesses. Hippo team had learned the power of their gun and how their low profile meant the first awareness their opponents had of them was that gun firing and putting a shell in them. Duck team had learned they would not survive head-on conflicts, despite their bull-headed nature and knew to keep moving. Akebi practiced firing on the move constantly, knowing their tank's survivability depended on them being a moving target. While they lacked in firepower, they had learnt how to make use of it to the fullest.
Nekota had assembled her friends. Hearing they all had tank experience from playing an online tank game made Miho smile while Erika went to her happy place. She locked the gates and fortified the walls of that happy place learning that this was indeed the first time the three girls had ever met in reality, despite attending the same school.
Momose Taki was a First Year with a pink tinge to her short brown hair which was swept back like Sonic the Hedgehog, who wore a shirt that was too small for her and didn't seem intentional, had fur-lined, knee-high red boots on her legs and wore a pink, peach-shaped eyepatch over her right eye. She called herself Momoga and to Erika's eyes seemed like the anti-Momo. She even wore a pink choker.
Hiyoshi Aoi was a Third Year and in contrast to Momoga and Nekota's eccentric appearances, looked thoroughly unremarkable. Nothing for Sodoko to grouse about. She was a very well-endowed girl with the look of someone who would grow into her body in a few years but for the moment carried herself with a certain amount of awkwardness. She called herself Piyotan.
They were excited to meet Nekota or Nekonya as it turned out she called herself. They were even more excited to see tanks in real life for a change. They were especially happy to see the tank that would be theirs when it was fixed as the Type 3 looked large and impressive with its long gun looking especially fearsome to these newbies. Not that they weren't pleased with the Tanuki that they would command against Anzio.
Mako taught Momoga how to drive, having apparently mastered how to command a 38(t) simply from reading the manual. She thought this was a joke at first until she witnessed it first-hand, watching her peruse the guide for the Type 89 before taking it for a spin with Shinobu. Mako it seemed had decided to master the controls of all their tanks and it was astonishing how she was able to do so despite how different the controls of different nations' tanks were. All she needed to do was read the book of instructions.
Meanwhile Hana gave Piyotan some gunnery training. It was very much the basics and she would have to relearn what she knew when they commanded the Type 3 but for now, they had a basic understanding of how to operate the 38(t). Basic being the operative word; Yuzu was literally able to run circles around them.
It was a rough couple of training sessions and then finally they had a strategy meeting before the last session before the match.
Erwin came to this meeting instead of Caesar and her cap was in striking contrast to Nekota's cat ears. Anzu, Azusa, Erwin, Miho, Nekota, Noriko, Sodoko, herself and Momo, Yukari and Yuzu. It was a strange gathering and she wasn't the only one who thought so. At Kuromorimine, Sensha-do practitioners were their own faction but here at Oarai; Sensha-do had brought together various, decidedly mismatched cliques. These girls would have had no reason to interact during their three high school years if Sensha-do hadn't brought them together.
"We have the weather forecast for the match." Anzu declared. "Heavy rain. What does that mean for us?"
"That-" Erika began.
"If you say it 'depends'!" Momo snapped. "I will damage you!"
"It does depend." Miho came to her defence. "Mountains means rocks which are slippery when wet." The accidental innuendo didn't make her blush. Instead Miho became pale because she was remembering water and rock. "And wilderness means mud." She finished lamely.
"It's as much a disadvantage for them as it is for us." Erika continued. "If the whole battlefield turns into a swamp, we'll all be struggling to get through. If it's just wet, it's an advantage for us because their tankettes won't be able to fully use their speed which is their main advantage."
"That sounds like the rain favours us then." Yuzu said politely, before Momo could speak.
"If it's raining heavily, we'll lose visibility." Miho explained. "We lose the advantage of our 7.5cm guns outranging their Semoventes."
"We'll have to fight closer, where their cannons are as dangerous as ours." Erika remembered an exhibition match at Kuromorimine against Maple High. The heavy rain had robbed Kuromorimine of their firepower advantage and Maple's Grizzly and Valentine tanks had engaged them at close range where their short guns had been able to knock out the heavy German tanks. It had been a close contest. "It'll come down to who sees best in the downpour."
"So ideally." Anzu waved a sweet potato chip in the air. "We want it to rain for a while to make the ground soggy to slow them up but not to keep raining so we can't see them." She pointed her snack at her and Yukari. "You're Okami team. Make it rain."
Erika was confused. Yukari was not. "Kuraokami or Okami is the deity of rain, and snow!" She explained for everyone who didn't understand. Which appeared to be everyone who wasn't Anzu and Yukari.
"There was a time when I would have loved being referred to as a god." Erika thought aloud and then smiled. "It's not the weather we have to worry about. We'll decide how this match plays out."
"Eririn's right." Miho used the nickname without a thought. "The rain will make a difference but the match will still be decided by us. By what we do."
"Miho and I decided our strategy if they attempt to draw us away again with their CVs like they did with Maginot is to give them what they want."
"What they want?" Erwin folded her arms and her eyes appeared to glare from the shadow of her cap.
"They want to split us up. Divide us. We can do the same to them. If they bring five or six CVs and attack us with them all at once, we send two tanks in pursuit." Miho explained.
"Ahiru and Okami teams." Erika concluded.
"Our scouts?" Momo's monocle glinted.
"We'll know if they're leading us into a trap." Erika knew what she was thinking. "And if they are, we'll come back."
"We have eight tanks." Miho said. "Take away two and we still have six against three or four Semoventes and their P40. If they try to attack our flag tank, they'll have to keep the P40 back while we can defend with the Panzer IV, StuG, Lee and B1 bis."
"And the B1 is pretty much immune to the Semovente guns." Erika looked at Sodoko who struggled to hide her surprise that her tank, knocked out so many times in training and in the Saunders match, was superior in these circumstances. "So if they attack, you can take the vanguard while the others support you. If the Semoventes attempt to flee, they'll make themselves vulnerable."
"Divide and conquer." Miho concluded. "And if Erika-san and Noriko-san drive the CVs off, they could even flank Anzio's main force."
"What if Anzio doesn't try to split us up?" Noriko asked.
"Then we split them up. They won't tie the Carro Veloce's down in a frontal conflict where they can be easily knocked out. They'll keep them moving, and if they do that, we cut them off."
"We've been training for this, Noriko." Erika pointed out. "Shinobu's worn herself out practicing shooting on the move and CVs are tanks your Type 89 can eliminate in one shot."
"Just keep moving so they can't hit you in one sustained spot." Yukari added.
"And the P40?" Momo asked. "That's not our main concern?"
"The P40 is a danger if it can coordinate with Anzio's other assets." Miho raised her hands across her chest. "Our goal is to break that coordination. If we can't beat the CVs separately, we can still stay together and advance on them and use our superior armour and firepower."
"Just like the Nishizumi Style!" Yukari gushed.
Now Miho did blush and Erika imagined Maho's thoughts if she saw her little sister win a victory using the family style of overwhelming concentrated power. It would certainly please their mother.
[][][][][][]
Erika
I wish I could cry. There's so many days where I wish I could just weep but I can't. If I did, it would all be over for me here. I could never recover. You know. It's not like I could run into the woods either for some privacy. You just know that someone would find me.
You made me realise I didn't think of the Captain as a person. She's always just been the Captain. But her mother?! Never. We saw her two days ago, she came to visit to congratulate us for defeating Chi-ha-tan. She came to congratulate us but I think a lot of us feel like we let her down by not winning the match faster than we did. If this is how we feel, what's is like for Maho and Miho? I tried to imagine her hugging them and the most I can manage is a pat on the shoulder.
What is a proper victory? We've always fought to win here, even if it wasn't honourable. Because winning is all that matters, right? I think even if you don't take that to the extreme, there's a grain of truth there. Who cares if you win one way or another, so long as you feel you earned the win? If that makes sense… You really earned your win over Saunders, even if it wasn't elegant.
We saw pictures of Oarai's tanks during your exhibition match against St Gloriana. You can imagine what people were saying about them. I think though that you wiped the smiles off their faces when you left St Gloriana with just one tank remaining after Oarai's first match in decades.
You applied for a job? Good for you. What did you apply for?
We're going to face Continuation High in the dunes. First we drew against Chi-ha-tan, now we're going to fight Continuation High in the opposite of their favoured terrain. Fortune seems to be smiling on us and I think a lot of people are annoyed about it. We keep having too many factors in our favour so we can't deliver the overwhelming victory everyone wants of us without people saying the odds were already stacked in our favour.
You're not a bunch of amateurs. You proved that against St Gloriana and then Saunders. Maybe you don't have the recent accolades but you know how to make do with what you've got and to make every last gram of your tanks matter. It's not like here where you just feel like a cog in a bigger machine.
I'm trying to stay strong but we're training pretty much around the clock for facing Pravda again. They make us train when we're tired. When we're hungry. I know the Captain doesn't like it and it's not her choice but all the families are determined that we not just win this year's tournament but break Pravda's morale for years to come. Before their current Captain came along, they were happy to take second place. The alumni want us to defeat Pravda so badly they won't even aspire to the final four…
Do you know what would be amazing? If you beat Anzio, and then beat Pravda too. If instead of the rematch they want, the families have to watch Kuromorimine go into the finals against Oarai; a school that hasn't done Sensha-do in years. A school most people have never heard of.
That would be amazing.
Koume.
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The final training session was a brutal regime of high speed manoeuvres in the open, slogs through the woods and high intensity gunnery that left the loaders slumping on one side when they finally concluded late into the evening. It was for this reason the Student Council insisted everyone bathe afterward. Erika was reminded of their first training session and wondered if the Student Council had ever imagined they would get this far. Certainly, things had improved drastically since that day when she had slipped into the water reeking of smoke from her burning tank.
"Everyone. Thank you for working hard so late." She had to give Momo credit. Even though she was pompous, she was sincere. "We've done our best to make ourselves as strong as possible for tomorrow's match and the new tanks we've found will let us stand a chance in future matches." It seemed she had taken her and Miho's words about the Type 3 and Tiger (P) to heart. "Let's win the battle against Anzio!" She declared and then turned her head. "Nishizumi. Your turn."
Erika fought not to smirk at the panic-stricken look that appeared on Miho's face at being asked to say a few words, and her little squeak didn't help.
"Wrap it up."
Erika sank so her nose was just above the waterline as for reasons known only to herself, Miho decided to stand up. Considering how many secrets were being kept from these girls, at least they knew that Miho had absolutely nothing to hide from them. Absolutely nothing… She noted that Saemonza was regarding the Captain with both eyes.
"E-everyone…" Miho squeaked. "Let's do our best!"
Even though she squeaked, her earnestness got the right response and a dozen of the girls leapt up as they cheered so that their Captain wasn't standing naked alone. It was certainly not elegant but it was genuine. Miho dropped back into the water, drained by her micro speech and Erika wondered when it would be appropriate to tease her. Probably after the match.
She slipped completely below the surface and lay there. Submerged. In her messages with Koume, she had talked about facing their fears. Now here she was.
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Author's Notes:
16,500 views. 87 followers. That means a lot to me. Over the years, many people have expressed 'interest' in reading my writing. To be polite. If I sent them anything to read, they would claim they didn't have the time to read it. Which was a bare-faced lie. It takes no time at all to read 2000 words. I had one friend who would read my novels and while it was gratifying that he enjoyed them, he could offer me no useful feedback.
It's surreal to me that people look forward to new chapters of this.
I introduced the B1 bis early. I gave them another 38(t). Now the Type 3 has been found early. I never had any intention of it playing a role against Anzio but Nekonyaa, Momoga and Piyotan having a chance to participate properly before Der Film was something I've intended for a while. I always thought that three girls with an interest in tanks who get knocked out within five minutes of their match was a waste; historical in-joke or not.
The odds may seem stacked against Anzio with Oarai's beefed up line up but I don't intend to follow the match as it played out in canon. I did so with Saunders because I enjoy that battle's sequences a great deal. Besides the tank jousting and Duck team's Lupin the III's inspired chase, most of the Anzio battle is simple chaos. More to change. The weather will play a role.
Erika and Koume's emails I think make a nice change of pace. You find out what's happening at Kuromorimine and contrast it with Oarai. You learn about Maho through the eyes of someone besides Erika and Miho. Koume importantly gets to be more than a plot device to cheer up Miho before the finals start.
Erika's rather more light-hearted in this one. After 'Breakdown', I feel she's enjoying a little catharsis for a while. How long it lasts… We'll see. I'd been planning the sequence with the Rabbits and the reveal they knew about Type 3 for some time. I knew Erika would say she would want no witnesses but I hadn't planned on Saki defeating her with kindness until I wrote it. At this point, Erika's become a grouchy big sister to Rabbit team.
I hope it comes across that Miho's in charge and Erika is her capable right-hand woman. I worry that it seems Erika is the dominant one.
As for how the Student Council funds the Sensha-do program, I may revisit this or it might be left as a rock no one decides to overturn. I do like the idea of adorable little Anzu having underground connections though. It fits with the trope of the all-powerful Student Council.
