Erika had made numerous jokes about Momo moonlighting as a dominatrix, ever since she had seen her swimsuit at the beach, but if Momo had had a whip to crack she certainly would have used it on the Automotive Club and Hippo team as they worked frantically to remove the destroyed gun and replace it with the gift. The gift. The rest of the club were elated about it as if they couldn't even conceive of the implications that had filled her mind.
"Did you ever hear the expression 'Don't look a gift horse in the mouth.'?" Miho asked her, having been unable to ignore her glowering from beside her T-50 any longer.
"You ever hear 'Beware of Greeks bearing gifts.'?" Erika retorted
"We've looked inside. There's no surprises. Just the certifications of quality."
"It's a gift from Pravda!" Erika couldn't help but wring her hands at Miho. "Pravda! Would you accept stew from Hannibal Lecter?! A briefcase from von Stauffenberg?!" This prompted Yukari to giggle. "Quiet, you! I'm trying to make a point here!"
"Which is?" Miho asked.
"This is not a friendly gift!"
"I know that, Eririn. But we're fixing the StuG and it gives us a chance. I'd think you'd be happy."
"I am happy! Look at me, I'm a very happy person!" She reached out and put her hand on Yukari's face before she could say anything. "I just don't like the implications."
"Pravda was keeping an eye on us." Miho shrugged. "They saw we were in trouble and they decided to help out."
"Yes, but why? Sportsmanship? From Pravda?!" Erika felt Yukari begin to try and speak so she reached down took hold of her bottom lip between her finger and thumb. "This is intimidation! They sent us that thing as their way of saying they can crush us easily regardless of whether or not one of our best vehicles is operational."
"Probably."
"Probably?!" Erika glared at her incredulously as it dawned on her. "This is when you employ the Nishizumi nerves of steel?!"
"We can't do anything about it. So why worry?"
"If you start singing Hakuna Matata, I'll kill us both." Erika warned and Yukari made a humming noise. "You too!" She made a happy hum and Erika stared at the girl who was pleased to be included in a murder-suicide threat. She released Yukari's lip and turned back to Miho who was beaming at her like a sunrise and Erika was utterly defeated by the two happy girls. They both patted her on the back as she slumped on the tank.
There was no reason for the whole club to stay there and watch the restoration but they did. Anteater team whose debut into Sensha-do had been less than auspicious. Mallard team whose enthusiasm for the sport could easily be mistaken as mild irritation. Rabbit team who had gotten their first competitive kill in Sensha-do against Maginot and would have come out of that match in good spirits if they hadn't had front row seats to their school president being throttled.
It had been a game of theirs, her acting like the Big Bad Wolf and them being the frightened bunnies. Now she was avoiding them because they were actually afraid of her and she didn't know how to make it right. If she tried to act friendly to them, they would know she was overcompensating and it would only make things more uncomfortable. For all of them. Well, except for Saki who wasn't fazed by anything. Erika wondered if she even cared about all the revelations. Or if she did and she was much better at dealing with it than anyone else.
When they finally fixed the StuG, there was a lot of cheering and Erika tried to feel it but the restoration of their capability didn't change the source of the miracle. It had come from Pravda. She had guessed that Pravda would have been keeping an eye on them from the shadows because even with their attitude and arrogance of being a major Sensha-do school, they would want to prepare for a semi-final. Especially if their opponent had already beaten a major school to get to where they were now.
"Well we've got one day to ensure everything is in working order." Miho mused as they walked home. "I'm not worried about the StuG. It's worked fine ever since they fished it up out of that pond and now it has a brand new cannon! But the Type 3, they thought they had fixed its transmission before and then it spent most of the last match running in circles so I don't know if we should rely on it. We weren't before, even though its gun can pierce 80mm at a kilometre, but if it breaks down again and we made it an integral part of our plans; that would harm our chances."
Erika wasn't sure what to say first. To remark on her blithe confidence, that they had relied on the T-50 and its temperamental engine in the past so the Type 3's transmission was nothing new or that Miho was still ignoring all the implications of Pravda's altruism. "Do we have a plan then?"
"Pravda will try to draw us into a gauntlet. We have to be elusive." The brevity of it was appropriately Nishizumi although Miho didn't seem to appreciate that.
"Not sure how elusive a B1 bis or an M3 can be."
"As much as a KV-2 or an IS-2."
"There is that." Erika admitted. "The question is how long it'll take them to realise we're not going to let ourselves be baited."
"We'll know when it happens." Miho said and Erika knew what she meant. When Pravda switched tactics; they would announce it with heavy firepower.
She was about to voice her opinion that with only three tanks capable of killing Pravda's vehicles at long range they would need to make that time before Pravda realised they couldn't be baited count, when a girl stepped out in front of them. That was not an unusual sight on an all-girls school-ship except this girl was European. The gaikokujin stood half a foot taller than them and was aware of how intimidating that made her it seemed because she smiled. Although, that smile had a threatening edge to it in its friendliness.
"Dobryy vecher!" She said and the Russian greeting immediately put Erika on edge. "Would you please come with me?"
Miho looked at her and all Erika could do was shrug. It was not a request they could refuse because behind the politeness and that smile was more than a little steel. She also couldn't deny her curiosity. "Da."
It was a long walk. They left the town, following the girl into the hills behind the school and the cloak and dagger stuff began to amuse Erika more than concern her. It bothered Miho but Erika began to feel it wasn't for their benefit. They wanted people to know about the cannon for the StuG but clearly this meeting was something they wanted to keep to themselves. She realised they must have come the previous night to bring the gun and spent all day waiting for their opportunity for this. Whatever it was.
The funny thing was that there was never a time when the sight of a Mil Mi-17 helicopter covered in a camouflage net would have been surprising to her. She had spent so much time around military machines that it would have been stranger if it had been civilian.
"It really has been one of those days." Erika mused.
The netting on the helicopter was lifted for them by an even taller girl. One that they knew. Nonna was legendary amongst the Sensha-do schools because she was five foot nine and tanks favoured shorter people; especially cramped Soviet tanks. She was tall and yet she was reputed as an excellent gunner. Erika didn't like looking up to people and with her buxom build, Nonna was even more of a giantess. The smile she gave made it difficult to resent her though. It was naturally warm and friendly. She gestured them into the helicopter. It was stark and Soviet on the outside but welcoming and warm within.
The European girl and Nonna were tall. The girl they were safeguarding meanwhile was only four foot two. She was legendary as well but not in the same way as Nonna. This was the girl who had had it in her to rise up to the rank of Captain from nothing and despite her literal shortcomings. The girl who had broken Kuromorimine's nine year winning streak. The girl who had defeated them.
"Privet, Katyusha." Erika was rapidly reaching the limits of her Russian. Kuromorimine students were required to know a long list of Russian phrases and terms due to Pravda's use of them. Just as Pravda learned the German terminology Kuromorimine students used.
"Guten Abend." The small girl replied. "Please sit down."
Nonna served them tea. Miho caught Erika's eye and she found it every bit as weird as she did. They had mingled with Saunders and feasted with Anzio but never in the history of the Kuromorimine-Pravda rivalry had they ever sat down and had a cup of tea.
They could at least take comfort in the fact that Katyusha was every bit as awkward with them as they were with her. It was scant comfort because the awkwardness reached a painful level.
"Um… How have you been?" Miho asked.
Four pairs of blue eyes turned incredulously on the younger Nishizumi sister. Miho looked to Erika for support but as her blue eyes were one of the four pairs; she found none from her. "Maybe we should put you in a Panzer." She said. "You're better at talking to people when you're in a Panzer."
"I've never done this before!" Miho squeaked.
"No one has." Katyusha told her.
"There's a reason for that." Erika said. "I don't think anything like this has ever happened before." She let them all wonder if she meant this meeting or the circumstances that had brought them all here.
They enjoyed another long, awkward silence. Erika thought that for Miho it was less difficult because she was a quiet person. She and Katyusha were loud personalities. Although, Miho tended to feel more embarrassed by these difficult situations than she did.
"I suppose we should say thank you." Erika declared after it had gone on long enough. "It's only polite. You did give us back a fighting chance."
"You think so? You think you can overcome the might of Pravda with your little tanks?" Katyusha spoke the words but without conviction. It was not the aggressive mockery to be expected from a Kuromorimine or Pravda student asserting the superiority of their school.
"We only need to make one shot count." Miho said and she was correct. It also didn't sound right coming from her to try countering Katyusha's flimsy posturing.
Katyusha nodded a few times. The irony if that gun was responsible for her defeat had obviously occurred to her and if anything, she had been amused by the possibility.
"Do you know why I sent you the gun?"
"So you could boast that you could arm us to full strength and still crush us easily?" Erika asked grimly.
The diminutive girl's snaggletooth became very prominent as she grinned. "That too." She said and her two comrades smiled to themselves. "Everyone will know the Great Katyusha is both generous and chivalrous." She smirked a little longer and then it fell off her face like a landslide. "We all fought so hard last year. Pravda and Kuromorimine. We were all determined to win, we all had goals to achieve and we spent every waking minute working toward them. You wanted to make your ten year streak. I wanted Pravda to break it and prove we weren't second-best. We trained day and night. We brought in specialists! We were sweating blood!" Katyusha spat on them as she got worked up but they were too polite to say anything. "And the big day comes. Our time comes! And do we get the great battle we were all promised?" She smashed her fist into her hand. "All that stupid rain! We had all those plans and then we ended up brawling in the mud like savages! It wasn't our big moment! For any of us! Did you even know what was happening?"
Erika shook her head. So did Miho. Seeing the former Vice-Captain of Kuromorimine confirm she had been lost in the events brought upon by the weather did not do much for the Captain of Pravda's state of mind.
"We saw that Panzer III go into the water but we couldn't see anything else. All we saw was your flag tank exposed… Vulnerable…" The small girl shook. "I thought that was our moment of opportunity. So we took it…" She swallowed and then looked at their shoes. "We didn't know what happened to the three of you until…"
"Hours." Nonna spoke from behind them. "We didn't know for hours. We were in the middle of celebrating when we found out."
For a moment, Katyusha shook silently and then erupted. "IT'S NOT FAIR! We deserved a proper fight to prove ourselves and instead we won because everything that's supposed to safe-guard Sensha-do fell apart!" She probably would have started spitting again if Nonna hadn't laid a hand on her shoulder. She was annoyed at being stopped mid-rant but she also seemed to appreciate the calming influence of her friend. She took a few breaths and then tried again. "What happened?"
The question was too abrupt for Miho who was never going to be comfortable talking about it so Erika stepped in. "We were trying to do the same as you; flanking along that narrow track by the river. Koume's Panzer was leading the way, Miho was following in her Tiger and I was…" She hadn't thought about that part in a long time. The beginning of the match and the lead up to the event wasn't where her mind dwelled. "My commander had me driving slowly because she was afraid of us going off the track and… Ending up in the water… There was a big gap between us and the flag tank. When I tried to say we needed to move up, I was told to shut up. We couldn't see much… And then we heard gunfire."
"It wasn't your fault!" Miho blurted and the words weren't addressed to her but to Katyusha. "You were aiming for the Panzer, not the road, you didn't know the ground would give way and it would fall…"
"We saw it go." Katyusha said. "We thought that was great! 'Look! There goes the cover for the flag tank!'" She pointed off into space and then stared into it.
"You thought people were watching." Erika said. "You thought they would intervene if anything was going wrong. …So did I…" She looked at Miho who was silent again and then caught Katyusha's eye. "You and me, everyone else, we all forgot that Panzer III existed the moment it slid out of sight. All we cared about was the match. I was ordered to forget about our safety and get us up there and in front of the flag tank. Never mind we could have slid down the slope ourselves as I tried to bring us up and around. I saw Miho leap out just before I reached the Tiger. I thought she was crazy! We all did. They were screaming at me to get us into position and the radio was just…" The assault on her ears had been total. The noise outside the tank had almost been incidental compared to the din within.
"I saw the flag tank exposed." Katyusha murmured. "It was perfect!" Her blue eyes lit up. "It was our moment!" Shone. "I told Nonna to fire." Glistened.
"I won us the match." Nonna declared and her darker blue eyes were cold. "It was the proudest moment of my life. I won the match and I won the tournament for my Captain. My friend." Nonna took hold of Katyusha's hand.
There was a long silence which Erika had to break. "I wanted to kill you." She confessed. To Miho. "Everyone in my Panzer was just dumb with shock as they realised we had lost and I was the first to recover and I got out of my tank to find you and wring your neck! Like I did to…" She stopped and took a breath. "I went down to the water and you were struggling to get Koume ashore and I didn't try to help you because I was screaming at you for what you had done, and then you pushed Koume onto the bank and then you were gone." The lump that rose in her throat would not go down. "And that was when I realised; we were the only ones there. Koume and her crew, me, and you being swept away. There were no officials. No referees. We were all alone. I saw it for the first time. What you had done… What would have happened if you hadn't… And then I saw you go under and it was going to happen to you and I leapt in after you and it hurt; the water was so cold! But that was nothing compared to when I got you and pulled you up and then…"
Katyusha reached out suddenly and Erika's hand instinctively wrapped around her wrist as the small girl's fingers touched her scar. It wasn't the shock of the grip that startled Katyusha but the realisation of what she had done. People didn't know how to react to her scar, even when they didn't feel responsible for it.
She slackened her grip and ran her hand down the length of Katyusha's forearm. "This wasn't you." She said.
"It feels like me."
"Well it wasn't. This was the Sensha-do Federation cutting corners. And everything that's happened since, that's how insane our rivalry had become."
"You mean the two of you leaving Kuromorimine?"
"That was… Part of it." She glanced at Miho who was still reliving the river. "You say you didn't know what happened until hours later. A lot of Kuromorimine doesn't know the truth about how the safety lapsed, but among those who do, some think Miho did the wrong thing. She should have ignored the Panzer III and trusted the crew to get out safely… Of course if she had done that, Koume would be dead." Erika said it starkly because it was the truth and it needed to be said. "And some people seem to think it would have been worth it for Kuromorimine to achieve a ten year winning streak." She released Katyusha so that she could take a hold of Miho instead. She was shaking as she relived it. Not the river but the time at Kuromorimine where she had been considered the weak link who had cost them everything. When she had been considered a failure by everyone who was supposed to care about her.
"I didn't know that…" Katyusha spoke quietly. "But I can tell you that some Pravda students think that even if we had known what had happened; we should have fired anyway."
"There's plenty to go around then." Erika replied coldly but it wasn't directed at the Pravda girl in front of her. "And I'm one of them. I was so concerned about our chances in this tournament, I strangled our school's President so clearly I've still got too much of it in me." She narrowed her eyes at Katyusha. "But you already knew that."
Katyusha smiled suddenly. "I didn't know what happened at the Maginot match until a friend told me."
"A friend?"
"Someone who likes a spot of tea and a chat now and then." The wording was deliberate. Erika wondered how Darjeeling knew about the events of the exhibition match against Maginot; although it was possible that just because they hadn't seen her, that didn't mean she hadn't been watching. "But I was intrigued about that." There was a polite cough behind her. "I was!" Katyusha didn't look around but she did scowl. "We." She pointedly said. "Were intrigued about that. We weren't concerned about Oarai." She scoffed. "Why would we be? Another minor school? When you defeated Saunders, I did send Klara to investigate."
"She thought I was joking when I told her about your tanks." Klara declared.
"I did like that you use one of ours and it was important to winning that match against Saunders. We don't use T-50s as a rule, so everyone has watched the video of you tearing into those Shermans hundreds of times!"
"Thank… You?" Erika ventured.
"Thank you! We don't usually see our tanks being used well by other schools!" Katyusha's expression darkened. "Except by Continuation High and they're literally our tanks they're using because those thieving bi-"
"Katyusha." Nonna said reprovingly.
"Don't interrupt me when I'm telling the truth! They are thieves and they are-"
"Katyusha."
The small girl threw her arms up in the air in frustration and then folded them, with a pout you could have set a tea cup on. "What was I saying?"
"I think you were telling us about how you've been keeping an eye on and how you knew one of our best vehicles had been disarmed and when the two of us would be walking home for one of your henchwoman to say hello."
Katyusha smirked and her snaggletooth popped over her lip. "I thought Klara would be less intimidating than Nonna. But I still need to project strength."
"You more than did that when you left that cannon on our doorstep with a note in Russian. Everyone thinks you did it to intimidate us."
"I did say that was part of it." Katyusha said and then frowned. "I don't know why you want to win this tournament so badly. Maybe you want to ensure we don't win it, or that Kuromorimine doesn't win either… Nonna told me not to ask."
"Why?" Miho spoke up suddenly.
"Because our last tournament became too personal." Nonna answered. "For all of us. If we have personal reasons, we should keep them to ourselves and not know what we're each fighting for. Even if we have our suspicions about what they are. We can't go at each other like this again." The tall girl swallowed suddenly and her calm poise cracked. "Its cost us all too much already and it nearly cost that girl everything."
"Koume." Miho said. "Her name is Koume."
"Koume…" Katyusha and Nonna whispered it together.
"She's doing okay." Erika informed all of them. "I talk to her. She's the Vice-Captain at Kuromorimine now…" She couldn't reveal Koume's struggles with the role. Not to Pravda. "She's doing okay. She's done incredibly well so far. Chi-ha-tan obviously wasn't much of a challenge but Continuation…"
"We saw. We were hoping to face Continuation." Katyusha mused. "But that's the luck of the draw."
"I don't believe in luck." Erika declared.
"Really? You seem to have a lot of it."
"You think we got this far with luck?"
"You were lucky against Saunders weren't you? And when Anzio took out the wrong 38(t) in their ambush?"
"That was lucky." Miho said.
"Miho!" Erika couldn't help but snap.
"It was!"
"We make our own luck."
"Ahem." Katyusha actually said the word.
"Mostly." Erika permitted. "So what now? Are you going to have your minions keep us prisoner until minutes before the match so our team thinks both their leaders have either abandoned them… Or that you've done something to us. Maybe you could send them locks of our hair."
Katyusha lit up. "That would be amazing! We could send them the hair with another note! Maybe a picture of you both tied to a chair! We-" The Captain and President of Pravda caught sight of Nonna's eye and deflated. This was good because Miho was becoming extremely alarmed. "No. No abductions." Katyusha said with clear-cut disappointment.
"Well thank you." Erika said. "So what now?"
"Are we…" Miho looked for the right term. "Are we okay?"
"I'm supposed to ask you that!" Katyusha protested, and then seemed surprised by her own conscience. "I think so. Maybe… Are we?"
"I like knowing how you feel about everything." Miho admitted. "I only knew how Kuromorimine felt about losing… Not how you felt about winning."
"You haven't exactly been a gracious winner." Erika pointed out.
"That was necessary." Katyusha replied.
"Necessary? For what?"
The small girl blushed and obviously hated herself for what she had to say. "I look like a joke." She said. "I have to work very hard to be taken seriously and part of that is by being… Larger than life. I have to be… Katyusha. Strong. Powerful! Uncaring of my opponents once I'm done with them. Because if I don't, people talk about how they were beaten by a… dwarf. Midget. Elf. Whatever they feel like calling me." The girl shook once more. "But if I play the role of the great Vozhd of Pravda; people talk about me being smug and arrogant and… A dictator. They don't call me a midget." Erika felt guilt for all the times she had called her that. "Acting like I didn't care about the circumstances of how we won; that was necessary. If I acted upset, even for a second, I'd be the little girl crying that people got hurt and no one would ever let me live that down."
"Our school would." Miho said. "We're not like that."
"Sensha-do hasn't mattered to your school for decades." Katyusha pointed out.
"It matters now." Erika said. "But Miho's right. Oarai doesn't have all those years of…" She tried to think of way to describe the Big Four's attitude but couldn't think of a term fitting for it. No singular word could do their rivalries and attitudes justice. Even St Gloriana for all their veneer of friendliness and politeness were perfectly ruthless in their pursuit of victory and Kay of Saunders with her attitude that Sensha-do wasn't war was an aberration; the actions of her eavesdropping lieutenant and the superior attitudes of the rest of her team revealed in Yukari's espionage video were proof of that. "Maybe we could all do with starting fresh."
"Well… I hope you understand that when we meet in the snows, it's business as usual."
"Of course." Miho nodded, momentarily getting the hard Nishizumi stare. "But there doesn't have to be hard feelings. …Does there?"
"I can't promise I won't have some harsh feelings in the moment if we lose." Katyusha admitted and her friends smiled knowingly. "But I don't believe you'll have to worry about that."
"Because we can't win?" Erika asked.
The look Katyusha got was not feigned. "You're outnumbered two to one, almost. One of my 76s outclasses all but three of yours and I have Nonna." She looked around fondly at her friend. "Nonna never misses."
The girl known as 'The Blizzard' shrugged modestly.
"Saunders outnumbered and outclassed us as well." Erika pointed out. "And we dealt them their first round knock-out since… The eighties?"
"Eririn." Miho said, not wanting them the two of them to start challenging each other.
"We're just playing, Miho." Erika replied. "She knows what we can do. She already said so. Now we're just…"
"Preparing for what we have to do when we actually meet." Katyusha said. "You may not like it."
"Save the performance for our Student Council. I look forward to our Public Relations Manager's expression when you tell her she's beneath you."
"Ooo, I'm saying that." Katyusha drew herself up. "All of you are beneath Katyusha!" She declared imperiously.
"Definitely looking forward to it."
Katyusha smiled impishly. "Duce isn't the only one who can put on a show."
They helped to remove the camouflage netting from the helicopter and then stepped well away to watch it fly off. It was not the first time they had watched an aircraft leave although that helicopter had contained friends and their former commander; Miho's sister. Erika had no idea how to describe the Pravda girls who they would face the day after tomorrow in a match that would decide the fate of Oarai. Again. Those were the stakes in all their matches.
"We shouldn't have told them." Miho said, once again apparently reading her mind.
"You think so?"
"They wanted to make amends. To have a fair fight this time… As fair as it can be. Making them feel guilty about even trying to win when we need to so badly… It would be unkind."
Erika sighed. "We talk about Kuromorimine and Pravda going too far but with this, maybe this is worth it."
"No. It wouldn't be." Miho declared. "Just with big sis, we shouldn't put that on their shoulders. It's not fair to make this tournament all about us when they have their own reasons that are just as valid as ours."
"You sound like her." Erika said, meaning Maho.
Miho coloured and hunched. "Pravda will be hard. But we'll pull through."
[][][][][][]
Erika suspected and Yuzu confirmed that Anzu had tried to pull them all from their other classes that day to dedicate their time entirely to Sensha-do. She had been overruled by the principal who had decided to wield their adult power for once by pointing out it wasn't legal for students to fail to attend their other classes in favour of a sports class. No matter how much they wanted to win it. For Erika, it was an odd thing to worry about considering that if they lost the tournament; the principal wouldn't have a job anymore. Or maybe with the funds they had probably embezzled from the school they already had a retirement plan set up. Some place far, far away from teenagers.
But Sensha-do was their last class and with after-school, actually attending other classes became something of a distant memory as they drilled relentlessly. For Hippo team it was necessary to put a lot of rounds through their gun to break it in. For everyone else, to ensure that they had the rhythm of their tanks after splitting up their teams against Maginot to crew the Tanuki. They had decided not to bring the other 38(t) along in favour of fully crewing the other machines; another 38(t) wouldn't make a difference other than to give Pravda something else to shoot at.
It was quiet in the T-50. At first she thought it was because of the anticipation of the match tomorrow and the ominousness of Pravda's gift. They had not told the others about Katyusha's visit. No matter how they worded it, it would still come across as intimidating. She realised that Yukari was taut for the match; for the endurance of her Sensha-do team. Nakajima meanwhile was quiet. No jokes. No sarcasm. No teasing. Nothing.
Erika sat in the T-50 after they were finally done for the day. As the Soviet light tank had spent a couple of decades beheaded in a hedge, they had never been able to eliminate the smell of rust within it. The heat from the engine seemed to enhance that smell so that they always seemed to be tasting metal. It must have been the same for the Pravda girls in their T-34s. The smell wouldn't be as pervasive in their neglected machine but it would be there. Something to think about.
Her first thought was that it was Miho climbing up on the tank but then she looked up to the sight of camouflage knickers. The first time she had become aware of Yukari's penchant for martial themed underwear had been when they had first discovered this machine and Yukari had unwittingly flashed her and the entire Automotive Club. That seemed a very long time ago.
"It's hard to brood when you have company." She pointed out.
"You brood too much." Yukari replied brightly. "Besides, it's nice in here." She settled in her gunner's seat.
"Nice? This is a little steel box. It's like the people who designed it misunderstood that 'Steel Coffin' was meant as a pejorative!"
"It's cosy."
"Stop trying to put a positive spin on everything. I'm not in the mood."
"Okay." Yukari said and sat quietly in her seat for about twenty seconds before she began humming Sakura, Sakura and the lullaby was deliberately meant to aggravate her.
"I'm not going anywhere with you and certainly not to try and find cherry blossoms in the summer."
"It's starting to snow."
"Don't… Even get me started on that." This battle was going to be difficult enough without the mindscrew that it would be fought in the depths of winter but also the middle of summer.
"It looks like there'll be heavy snow all day. That'll lower visibility and take away Pravda's range advantage and if we move fast they won't be able to pin us down anywhere to make their numbers count."
"The snow will help… Except this is Pravda. The snow is their home."
"Oarai doesn't have a home yet. Maybe it'll be in the snow too!"
Her relentless cheeriness and optimism were not compatible with her desire to be miserable with herself. "Why are you here?"
"Because you're sulking that everyone's wary of you now and not talking to you unless they have to. Including Nakajima. Because even though you pretend she drives you crazy while she drives; you enjoy her quips. You like making comebacks and you like her comebacks to your comebacks! Now you miss it. And you know it won't be the same anymore."
"When the hell did you get all astute about human behaviour?"
Yukari shrugged happily. "I know your behaviour."
"Okay, don't do that!"
"Do what?" Yukari asked innocently.
"Be all sweet and understanding! I'm pissed right now!"
"That's nothing new."
"…No, I suppose not."
"I've always been scared of you." Yukari admitted happily. "Ever since the first day when I met you. You can't scare me any more than you already do, and I know why you do what you do. You care. …Maybe you need to stop lashing out when you care too much but I know it comes from a good place and if you didn't feel awful about it, you wouldn't have shut yourself away for days and refused to answer the door when I came visiting because you were too ashamed to talk to me."
Erika stared at her for quite some time, which did serve to unnerve her, before finally having one question to ask. "How long have you been my best friend?"
Yukari coloured, bowed her head and squirmed, but her hands made her way into her hair and she began fluffling with a fury. Some parents ruffled their kids hair, some owners petted their dog's head; Yukari did both to herself. It was tempting to put her own hand into the mix but that would inevitably lead to a Yukari glomp and that would be when someone appeared looking down the hatches at them and asking what they were 'up to'.
Erika let her floof herself out, by which point her hair was startlingly similar to when they had fought Anzio in the pouring rain. "It's good you're not making a big deal about this."
Yukari nodded fervently, and that brought on the hug. "Thank you for being my friend." She unknowingly echoed her father.
"When you see the terms and conditions that comes with my friendship, you might change your mind." Erika patted her awkwardly on the back and looked upward. There was no one there to spoil the moment. "C'mon, we've got work to do."
[][][][][][]
Surprisingly, she slept well. Perhaps it was putting some of her demons to bed the other day with Katyusha or maybe it was finishing the day working hard. Everyone else looked tense. She had stressed repeatedly Pravda's strength and now they knew that everything came down to overcoming that strength.
They were distracted somewhat by a tank that had been green the previous night was now white. Anglerfish team had repainted their tank to the original grey days before in anticipation for this match but Erika hadn't considered it until last night.
"Some of you may have noticed." Yukari began. "That we have painted our tank white." Behind her Erika gestured theatrically at the T-50. "Pravda's tanks will also be white for the snow and that may make it hard to recognise our tank next to theirs because they're both Soviet! Except!" Erika slapped her left hand against the blue Oarai symbol on the hull. "We have blue markings and Pravda has red! While you may camouflage your tank in a stationary position including covering up the identification markings, you can't cover them up when the tank is mobile. So if you see a white tank; look out for either blue or red markings! Because if you shoot at us and we are knocked out by friendly-fire; my commander will be displeased." Erika imitated their howling wolf. "Very displeased. Thank you!"
Winterising their vehicles was simple enough even if the fact this morning it was now winter threw them all off. With winter tracks installed, engines stocked with anti-freeze and Yukari handing out thermos' of soup from a seemingly inexhaustible supply they were as best prepared as they could be; short of the Student Council having provided a winter uniform with trousers instead of stockings. Not that Erika would have worn such a uniform. The schools that thrived in winter conditions prided themselves on their hardiness and that meant still wearing skirts in sub-zero temperatures. There were jokes that losing toes to frostbite was worth it so that everyone knew they were tough. Another toxic aspect of Sensha-do.
Whilst disembarking for the exhibition match against the St Gloriana, the shadow of their immense carrier had fallen upon them. There was no sun for that to happen today but that didn't make the leviathan vessel that Pravda called home any less intimidating. The sloping angle of the forward deck in particular emphasised how small their ship was by comparison. Another reminder of how old and decrepit Oarai was.
Although any low mood dissipated once they were in the snow. Rabbit team immediately engaged in a fierce but friendly snowball fight while Hippo team built something that had to be called an ice sculpture rather than a snowman. She guessed that Katyusha really was determined to make an entrance because the four history girls had enough time to refine it into a minor work of art. Just like their sand sculptures on the beach long ago.
When Katyusha made her appearance, it was in a BM-13 multiple rocket launcher; the eponymous Katyusha for which she was named. The Soviet ZIS-6 truck from the '30s looked like it had been designed a good ten years earlier and so for those who didn't know the history of the Katyusha, it was hardly an intimidating vehicle to show up in. And the others who had no knowledge of Katyusha were bemused by the sight of her.
But not bemused by Nonna. The giantess seemed to steal the breath from half of the Oarai girls and the combination of her pale skin, dark hair and blue eyes made her look quite haunting in the cold morning air. Erika knew they assumed she was the commander of the Pravda team. Except for the Student Council who went to meet her; Katyusha was the Pravda school president as well as Sensha-do Captain. Anzu seemed to enjoy it. There weren't many people in the world after all who she could look down on.
At least until Katyusha climbed onto Nonna's shoulders.
It should have been the most ridiculous and funniest sight of their lives yet somehow Nonna's completely impassive expression and towering build meant the tiny girl sitting on her with her arms folded while Nonna held her boots didn't look insane. Even when she declared "All of you are beneath Katyusha! Whether it's tanks, skills or even heights!"
Erika placed her fist over her mouth as she took in Anzu and Momo's expression. It seemed that the President had finally met her match because she stared upward with her mouth slightly agape while the starch had drained out of Momo. Although the Public Relations Manager did get out a zinger. "Get off your high horse." She spoke it quietly, almost as if she was thinking aloud.
Katyusha did not appreciate this and it was hard to tell if she or the character she was playing took it personally. "I heard that! How dare you insult Katyusha?!" She pointed with one hand while the other gripped some of Nonna's hair. "You will be purged!"
Erika pushed her fist into her mouth. If Katyusha was playing the part of a delusional tyrant, she was certainly playing it well with this deeply politically-incorrect comment. From anyone else it would have been a scandal but from the tiny girl perched on the shoulders of the giant girl, it was simply ludicrous. That was the point.
"Let's go, Nonna!" Katyusha commanded her faithful steed and then she caught Erika's eye. She grinned at her ferociously and at Miho too. "Erikarina. Mihosha." She waved a goodbye. "Bye-bye, pirozhki!"
"Do svidaniya!" Nonna added.
Erika watched the curious duo return to their truck for a moment and then Momo lunged at her and Miho. "Why was she so friendly to you?!" She demanded.
"We're very likeable people." Erika replied, making Miho giggle.
The monocle flashed dangerously but Momo didn't push it. She didn't know how. The encounter with Katyusha had pushed her well out of her depth.
As this match decided who would go the final, the other schools' Sensha-do teams had shown up in force. Saunders came with their army of support vehicles that did a roaring trade in hot coffee and snacks for the freezing crowd. Jatkosota went a step further by building themselves a log cabin complete with woodburner with a large window so they could see the viewscreen. St Gloriana however stuck with their exposed outdoor tea room, as the rug and the armchairs threatened to be buried under snowfall. Only a circle around the stove with the ever-present teakettle was dry and warm. The girls weren't even wearing coats to protect against the cold. It was a St Gloriana thing; some odd British cultural tradition of wearing the same clothes regardless of the time of year. Regardless of potential frostbite.
Bonple, BC Freedom, Chi-ha-tan, Koala Forest, Viking Fisheries; they had all come today. Anzio was absent and Erika guessed they were saving their money to go to the finals while the other schools had enough for both. Despite their early defeats in the tournament, they still enjoyed watching the other schools fight and there seemed to be a lot of anticipation to see how upstarts Oarai would fare against the reigning champions.
Kuromorimine was conspicuously absent. Erika had no doubt that Maho was here… Somewhere. She did not wish to be seen and Erika could not find her though she scoured the stands and the surrounding area with Yukari's binocular. Not for a second did she entertain the idea that Maho wasn't present; this match was too important. With Miho's future in the family at stake, whether or not Kuromorimine faced Pravda in the finals was contentious on multiple levels. If Miho lost to Pravda, it would shame the family. If she won without using the Nishizumi Style; she would shame the family. If the two sisters had to face each other in battle…
In that regard, Erika could appreciate Shiho's anger. She was being forced to choose between her daughters and she would look bad no matter her choice. Eliminating one of them was the only way she could maintain her fearsome reputation. The only question was how willing she was to do this. If it was easy for her then she was as heartless as people believed. If it was hard… She didn't know Maho and Miho's mother though. She only knew her own and how easy it was for her to maintain their feud. Erika knew she was waiting for her to come back and apologise for everything. She had done it before. If it was insanity to repeat the same action expecting a different outcome then her mother was indeed insane.
Yukari nudged her out of her reverie. "What are you thinking about?"
"You're lucky to have a mother who loves you for you."
The proclamation startled the loader who had no idea where this had come from or what to do with it. "Thank you?" She offered. "Are you okay?"
"I'm just worrying about our Captain."
"Is she okay?"
"That's relative." Erika replied, confusing her. "Losing this battle means the end of Oarai. Winning this battle means she has to fight her own sister and her mother's school."
Yukari took hold of her hair behind her ears and started pulling on it. "Oooo, I didn't think of that! That's got to be an absolute nightmare because no matter what she does she upsets a whole bunch of people and who wants to choose between upsetting their friends and upsetting their family, I couldn't and wouldn't and-"
By this point Yukari had fluffed out her hair so that it reached out well beyond her shoulders and Erika knew she would keep babbling until she turned blue and passed out. As she couldn't slap her, she instead stooped and grabbed a handful of snow which she then stuffed down the front of Yukari's shirt.
The sight of Yukari running and screaming in a circle around her tank several times as icy water found its way into her intimate areas went completely unnoticed. Duck team had joined the Rabbits in their snowball fight and were annihilating them with their volleyball skills while Sodoko was telling off Hippo team for building their ice sculpture instead of doing triple and quadruple checks on their StuG. Anteater team were trying to stay away from all the people and noise.
As always Miho was not comfortable having to talk to the entire team at once and the half circle they formed around added to the intimidation factor. It made little difference having Erika standing beside her. "Pravda has seven more tanks than us, and their tanks are better armed and armoured than ours." She was saying, reminding them what they had been told many times before. "Remember this, but don't get overwhelmed by it. Even if your tank can't eliminate one of theirs, you can damage their cannon, their wheels, their tracks! A disabled tank is vulnerable and if you cripple one of theirs, one of your bigger teammates will have the chance to knock them out completely! Duck team is our flag tank today because we trust Shinobu-san to keep out of harms' way and dodge all incoming fire! We'll slowly advance and wait for them to make the first move."
"Wouldn't it be better to strike first?" Caesar asked. "Before they know what's hit them and before they can overwhelm us? They're used to fighting in the snow."
"Exactly." Erika said, causing them all to stiffen. "We try to charge in through the snow and they'll out-manoeuvre us. We charge into the middle of them and we don't get a chance to strike the flag tank; we'll be out-armoured, out-gunned and outnumbered. We'll be crushed."
"Pravda likes to draw their opponents into traps." Miho continued. "They draw you in and then hit you hard in the flanks and when you try to pull out, you find they've cut off your escape route and they'll shoot you to pieces in a cauldron."
"So what we intend to do is advance until we meet their forward units that will be trying to lure us into one of those traps." Erika explained. "If we can, we might be able to eliminate one to three of their tanks without any losses ourselves. And then we bug out."
"Then they'll either try to lure us again, or they'll attack." Miho concluded.
"Won't them attacking us all at once be very bad?" Azusa asked with raised hand.
"It will be bad." Miho admitted. "But the Panzer IV and StuG can knock out T-34s at over fifteen hundred metres. And the Type 3 can do it at a kilometre. If they attack us, they'll be exposed to our three best guns and we can even the odds before they get too close."
"So they won't just charge in blindly." Erika added. "They'll be cunning. They'll try to split us up. They'll try to frighten us with high explosive shells from the KV-2. They'll use the IS-2 as a shield." That heavy tank could shrug off all but the most precise hits from their German 7.5cm guns at anything more than five hundred metres while its own gun could destroy anything it faced at two kilometres. "This is going to be a hard fight."
"Everyone just needs to stay calm." Miho advised. "Stay calm, don't get excited and remember your tank's strengths." She swallowed. "Their leader isn't going to underestimate us but her team will. They may make mistakes in their overconfidence. We can't afford to make mistakes."
They all knew how true this was and there was no need to mention the stakes. They all knew. There was little else to say. But it was a bad note to conclude on.
"Pravda is a strong school." Erika said. "But so was Saunders. And you beat Saunders when you had far less experience. And they were so confident they could beat us they were joking about using light tanks against us instead of Shermans."
The talk of fighting at range seemed optimistic though once the match began. The previously gentle snowfall became significantly heavier and seeing anything at more than a kilometre became a joke and it was likely to get worse. It was small comfort knowing that it was the same for their opponents although given their opponents advantages, it slightly favoured them to fight at closer ranges.
"It's pretty!" Yukari declared of the white expanse.
"Maybe." For Erika, it was a harsh featureless wasteland broken up only by outcrops of evergreens in which enemy tanks could be lurking. She didn't care about the aesthetics; only how this terrain could be for or against them. She stood up in the cupola and the icy air cut into her face everywhere but her scar. The scar actually responded happily to the chill air. She caught Miho's eye before the Captain scanned the horizon with her binoculars. She saw her squeeze her throat mic.
"Enemy tanks at eleven o'clock!" She declared and their larger tanks immediately covered the Type 89.
Yukari passed up her binoculars and Erika found them; three T-34/76s. As a scouting force or bait they were ideal as they were, in the circumstances, Pravda's weakest tanks. They had seven of them on the field today, and six of the more powerful 85 variant. As she watched, they opened fire. The three shells went wild, not aimed at the triangle of the B1 bis, M3 and Type 89, or the individual Panzer IV or StuG. It was as if they aimed at the Oarai formation as a whole. Likely they were firing to ensure they had Oarai's attention.
"Kaba-san team!" Miho commanded. "Halt, and open fire!"
The rest of them sped on while the two German vehicles became still and Erika watched the right flank before whipping her head forward as one of the 7.5cm guns fired. It was the StuG, and it scored a direct hit on the central T-34; knocking it out immediately. A moment later Hana fired and the Panzer IV landed an even more precise hit on the leftmost T-34. The thick black smoke that belched out of it obscured its flag but Erika knew it was eliminated too.
The third T-34 didn't hesitate, it fired a second shot and then fled, prompting the other Oarai tanks to fire after it. She thought she saw a shell strike its flank but it did no damage.
"All tanks regroup!" Miho commanded. "Erika."
"I'm on it." Erika replied and then ducked back down. "Follow that Mickey."
If Nakajima had questions about the reference, she didn't voice them. Yukari meanwhile had thoughts and feelings to voice. "I can't believe we took down T-34s!"
"With our German tanks." It would have been more significant if it hadn't been done with the vehicles that had been modified specifically to fight T-34s in the actual war.
The T-50 went up to its top speed and they closed the gap far too quickly which put Erika on high alert. The speeding T-34 left a distinct trail to follow but it wanted them to pursue and it was not running as fast as it could purposely so that they could chase it. It was certainly bait and if Pravda thought they were only luring a single tank, they could well attack. The dark battlefield then revealed a key weakness of their white painted tanks; in the open they were silhouetted against the dark sky. She saw five of them in the distance and her binoculars snapped them into view. Five T-34s, two of them 85s, and in the middle with a distinct red pennant was the Pradva flag tank.
"Turn us about! Back to the others!" She commanded. "Captain!" She reported. "Five T-34s sighted. Six in total with the one we pursued! One of them is the flag tank!"
Before Miho could respond, Momo yelled out, causing heavy feedback. "This is a golden opportunity! Everybody charge!"
"Shut your stupid face, Momo!" Erika didn't care if it was unprofessional and just plain rude. "That's what they want! Everybody stay put!"
"Erika is correct!" Miho swiftly leapt in before Momo could retort. "It's just as we said. They're trying to lure us in! First by offering us some easy victories, and then making their flag tank look vulnerable! It's just a trick! Everyone hold position!"
There was a long silence and even though she couldn't even see the 38(t), she could sense Momo seething away inside it.
There was a ripple of gunfire behind her as the line of T-34s fired on her retreating tank but they were too far away and too small for them to hit. She ordered Nakajima to place them behind a slope just enough for her to observe the Pravda machines but also so that none of their tank was visible.
"What are they doing?" Yukari tugged on her skirt below.
"Thinking." Erika guessed the volley had been provoked as they realised Oarai wasn't chasing their bait. They should have realised that the moment they saw only one tank pursuing them but perhaps they had thought it was just the fastest unit pursuing closely. The moment they had slewed around, they had understood they had lost two tanks for nothing. She would have been pissed too. "Captain, they're holding position. All six of them." Leaving seven Pravda tanks unaccounted for which were likely directly behind the line of T-34s, having been waiting to pounce. Were they now charging forward with the intent of making a simple direct assault?
She waited, and waited. And then the six Pravda tanks turned about and left.
"What are they doing?" Yukari asked again.
"Leaving. Regrouping." Massing their entire force. If they were responding the way she had predicted then soon they would be attacking. She reported it and Miho told her to hold her position for the moment with the implication she would be thinking about their next move.
For a change Yukari opened the other hatch rather than squeezing out beside her. She scanned the horizon as snow settled in her hair until she looked like an old woman. There was nothing to see besides the recovery teams removing the two eliminated T-34s which meant that the rest of the Pravda force was nowhere near Oarai. They only moved in when there was no risk of them being caught in the cross-fire.
Snow settled on their tank, giving it a weathered appearance like when they had discovered it. The fresh paint somehow still didn't look as white as the snow. She remembered her last fight in the snow and given she had been in a Panzer III, she had been a high priority for the enemy what with being one of the few Kuromorimine tanks they could eliminate outright. Not that it had mattered. The Big Cats had done their grim work and the match had been won without drama. She could barely remember it. It wasn't the same with all of Oarai's struggles which remained fresh and vivid in her mind. Maybe it was because she was a leader, or perhaps it was because Oarai's style didn't reduce everyone to cogs in a machine.
"I don't see them. All clear." Yukari reported dutifully.
"No." It didn't seem likely that that the half dozen Pravda tanks would withdraw if they intended to attack from this direction. "Keep a sharp eye though." Erika shivered. For all that she might seem like she would be at home in the cold with her pale skin, light hair and icy blue eyes; she would have preferred to fight on the scorching desert sands. Although besides the temperature difference, the two biomes weren't that difference. Both were stark bleak arenas that gave little cover and offered perfect tank terrain amidst perilous muddy quagmires or soft pits of sand. Pravda had the advantage in both with their wider tracks, although their tanks would break down in the heat far more easily. She could feel the heat from the engine on her legs now, keeping them toasty warm whilst everything from her breasts upward became numb.
[][][][][][]
The village had been built specifically to emulate a small Russian rural community for Sensha-do matches to make use of. The buildings were shells but the roofs were functional and the fireplaces and chimneys were real. The nine crews of the Pravda tanks that hadn't formed a watchful perimeter enjoyed the warmth of their fires and un-ironically ate Borscht prepared over them. While they were annoyed to have lost two tanks against an enemy that refused to be baited, their spirits remained high. They knew exactly what their eccentric Captain was up to. They trusted her. And while they would never admit it aloud to avoid feeding the ego of the beast; they loved her.
Nonna knew what Katyusha was doing but that didn't mean she wouldn't feign ignorance to needle her friend as best as she could. "You wanted the chance for a snack and a nap. I get it."
Unlike Oaral, Katyusha took the bait. "No! I'm drawing out the match because I know we are superior in the snow!" She glared at Nonna. "While they're waiting for us to attack, sitting in their cold tanks and tense with anticipation, our girls are getting a hot meal and staying warm and relaxed! When the time comes, they'll be in peak condition while Oarai… They'll have their engines off to save fuel so their tanks will be cold! Their hands will be numb, their legs stiff, their eyes weary! This is the best strategy we can use and only I, Katyusha, could think to use it! Now good night!"
Nonna smiled as her friend pointedly curled up in her makeshift bed. She had been awake only three hours but the excitement had worn her right out and so she fell asleep within seconds. Nonna stood and went to the doorway. Katyusha's strategy was not original and had been used by the various winter schools against their less resilient foes to great effect many times. The only question was whether Oarai would realise that before it had time to take effect. Itsumi and Nishizumi would likely understand it and they would be able to stand up to it but the chances that the rest of their amateur force would were minimal. And if they realised and decided to attack first, they would not catch them napping. Katyusha had set the perimeter to well for that. If Oarai tried to wait them out, they would freeze. If they hoped to surprise them, they would fail.
And yet, she felt it would still not be as straightforward as that. The two former Kuromorimine girls did not seem like they were merely helping Oarai re-establish its Sensha-do program. A school president didn't forgive another girl strangling them so easily, and a girl didn't strangle a school president over a match they were doomed to lose anyway; StuG or no StuG.
There was a very nasty fight ahead of them all.
(10,153)
Author's Notes: Finished this on September 30th but FF's view counters froze on the 16th and I do enjoy seeing the view count spike. I don't have many boosts to my confidence so that flurry of interest when I post a new chapter means a lot to me.
It's probably disappointing to some people that Katyusha isn't portrayed as a ruthless, heartless monster. GuP's tone is at odds with the backstory of the previous final and while Saga of Pravda presents some context, it's not canon. I've made much of it canon here but SoP ends with Katyusha satisfied with her victory. I didn't think that fitted with all her hard work ultimately being rendered void by an 'act of God' as it were as bad weather destroys the battlefield. I felt she would be bitter about it, hence her rant here. I was also interested in the 'hero of another story' aspect. Pravda winning and breaking Kuromorimine's streak is a big deal but it's not addressed in the series beyond Katyusha's arrogance and ego. Having Erika think about how Oarai, Pravda and Kuromorimine all have big stakes in this tournament is meant to reflect on how they inhabit a much bigger world. Something we tend to forget when we're teenagers.
In canon, Miho works out a patient strategy but gets overruled by the rest of the team. With Erika's backing and the team being aware of what's going on, this doesn't happen this time around. Which meant my 'Shut your stupid face, Miho!' meme on the subreddit got to make an appearance being used against Momo. Erika isn't going to let ill-discipline infect the team, not after everything.
What is the ship called? EriYuka? EriKari? AkiSumi? I'm aware how people want it pursued. I may even have done it if I hadn't gotten requests for graphic sexual scenes between the pair early on. As it is you'll have to settle for platonic love, Yukari's lack of personal space and Erika's habit of touching Yukari in an aggressive but rather intimate fashion. Infer what you will; just please don't message me asking when they're going to do it in their tank while making use of shells as sex toys (a suggestion/request from a since deleted Reddit account)
Been avoiding the subreddit for awhile. Tired of all the sexual deviants. The glorification of that evil hentai especially. Took me awhile to finish this because I wanted to distance myself from GuP. But I achieved a catharsis and I'm going to keep writing. Helps to remember that when I post chapter updates on the sub, no one cares. But a pic of Kay with giant tits trends. So I'm not writing for people who visit the sub for cartoon boobs.
