87mm Between Us and Them

[Sophie]

Yukari Akiyama was staring intently into her handheld mirror as her hand clutched a mascara brush. Her hand shook with fury as the brush approached her eyelashes. This wasn’t out of anxiety, fear, or any other emotion. Nor was this a case of cerebral palsy or other significant medical condition. Yukari’s arm was shaking because of the purring engine of “Mad Harlot,” one of Kumosenkan’s Land Light Cruisers.

“Fuck, my mascara is totally uneven!” Mad Harlot’s gunner punched the loading mechanism of the left gun before falling back into her seat. “Top, we still have like thirty minutes. Can’t we kill the engine?” The nineteen-year-old corporal rolled her head back and to the left to address her land-based-warship’s commander.

“Unless your ass is getting out there and restarting this fat cunt’s engine in ten minutes, then no.” Sergeant Anzu Kadotani barked from the top hatch of the vessel.

Specialist Saori Takebe, the warship’s driver, looked up and back from the hull into the turret at the gunner. “Yukari, you know Riku crews are exempt from divisional makeup inspections, right? Why are you even bothering with that stuff?”

This elicited an eye-roll and a “Here we go.” From the loader, Lance-Corporal Momo Kawashima.

“Shut it, Momo-sen!” Yukari shouted with an arm jab into the loader’s side.

“Don’t call me Momo-sen!” Momo shouted back with a hearty shove.

Kadotani pressed a thumb into her temple before climbing back into the Riku. “Lock it down, both of you!” Her voice was firm, louder than both fighting girls, and yet it didn’t sound like shouting. “Even my daughters don’t fight this much. I enlisted in the army, not a fucking orphanage. Am I clear?” She pointed at both the gunner and loader.

“Yes, Ma’am.” Both answered and waited for the commander’s head to pop back out of the top hatch.

“So, really, Yukari, what's with the makeup? I know riflewomen who don’t take it as seriously as you do.” The driver pressed.

“I didn’t get a platinum badge in my makeup technical during basic training just to let those skills go by the wayside!” Yukari almost complained.

“I can’t fucking listen to this again.” Momo popped open the right side hatch on the turret and climbed out of the Riku. “Top, I’m gonna go fetch another can of water.”

The commander yelled out for the loader. “You’ve got five minutes, Kawashima!” She waved her pocket watch after the rose-hair tarantula Kumo as she walked away.

“Listen, Saori,” Yukari continued. “A prim and proper soldier, whose makeup is perfect, is the ultimate fighting machine. When the enemy sees one of us, and not only are we fighting, but our makeup is pristine, it sends a message. ‘We are crushing you, and it's so easy we can do it beautifully.’” She pressed a hand to her heart. “It displays the face and heart of our people; all of us should take pride in our makeup.”

A speech that eye-rolling should’ve off-put anyone listening, but it actually inspired the young driver. “Well, now I wish I didn’t ditch my makeup kit when I got this assignment.”

Yukari smiled as her chest welled with pride. “A good soldier is always prepared.” She practically cooed and handed the driver her backup makeup kit. “Do you want my help?”

The gunner helped the driver do her makeup perfectly, despite the rattling of the Riku. Once the loader returned and climbed back in through the hatch, squeezing each of her legs through, she groaned. “Great, now I’m the only girl in here without any makeup.”

Yukari’s eyes practically became stars as she turned to face Kawashima. “So you’ll finally let me do you too?!” She asked, almost stabbing the lance-corporal with her brush.

“Fuck no!” Momo swatted the brush away, and it clanged against the steel floor. “Spirits above, where do you find these girls Top?”

The commander didn’t respond as she intentionally ignored her crew by listening to the command radio with her headphones. After a few minutes, she removed the headphones and collapsed into the Riku. “Listen up, ladies. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has sent their notice of hostilities. War will be officially underway in ten minutes. Get your gear checked because Mad Harlot is going to meet the enemy, and not just insurgents this time. Real hard targets.”

“Damn, Top.” Kawashima smiled. “I’ve never seen you so excited.”

“Our commander’s commander is a friend of hers,” Yukari explained to their driver. “She’s stuck her neck out on the Riku’s abilities, so Top’s excited to prove her right.”

“Enough chatter.” The Seargent barked. “Get set because we’re crossing the border in ten minutes.”

“What about our AD?” Momo questioned the empty seat next to their driver. “Ain’t we got a new girl comin'?”

CLANG CLANG! the driver’s hatch on top of the hull. Takebe threw open the hatch and poked her head out. “I guess this is her.” She ducked her head back into the Riku, allowing the assistant driver to crawl in after her.

She was tiny. Maybe only five foot eleven, she was some kind of tarantula Kumo, and her face was fresh. Young. “Um, h- hello. I am Private First Class, Maria Suzuki. I’ll be your new assistant driver.”

Yukari swung her head over to the commander. “Since when do they let privates in Rikus, Top?”

“Since our previous AD bailed on us, Yukari,” Anzu answered.

“She didn’t bail on us!” Yukari sniped. “She got cancer!”

Ignoring the point, Anzu addressed the new assistant driver. “Did you bring the ammo, kid?”

“Y- yes!” Maria answered and held out two large canisters of 7.7x58mm rounds. “Do we really need all of this?”

Yukari stacked the boxes on top of the two dozen other identical boxes. “You tell me, bow gunner.”

“B- bow gunner?” Maria asked in genuine confusion. “No, I’m the assistant driver.”

The driver looked up at the half-standing Kumo and scoffed. “Driving is a one-woman job.” She corrected. “You see that MG there?” She pointed at the pistol grip in front of the assistant driver’s seat. “That gun is all yours.”

“You only drive if she dies or is otherwise incapacitated,” Yukari informed the new girl while pointing at the driver in a very nonchalant tone.

“W- wait, I was trained to drive. I... I don’t even know how to shoot one of these!” Maria protested.

Before anyone could say anything else, the Seargent began shouting. “Saori, get Mad Harlot into gear! We’re going to war.”

[Sophie]

“Hey! If you want a ride, then you have to man one of the exterior guns!” Anzu shouted over the roar of the Riku’s engine at the infantrywomen climbing over her tank as they began driving forward.

“How the fuck are we supposed to use these sideways things?!” One of them screamed back.

Anzu waved a hand. “Those two aren’t for you! As long as two of you are on my top guns, then as many of you can ride as you want!”

Artillery shells began to scream overhead at speeds nearing two thousand kilometers per hour. Explosions could be heard, softening the lines mere miles ahead. The armored recon cars had taken off at their max speed down the road towards the hostile lines to provide vital intelligence to both the artillery crews and the advancing armies.

Two Kumo had now mounted the heavy machine guns mounted on top of the Riku, and three more were riding behind, using the massive turret as hard cover. Six more soldiers were following directly behind, using the chassis as their cover.

The Riku’s max speed was only nine miles per hour, so at this rate, it’d take two hours to reach the front lines. The travel time was tense. No one inside Mad Harlot spoke a word as everyone’s eyes were pressed to periscopes or viewfinders. The commander’s torso was fully outside of the tank as she used her octoculars to scan the horizon. Then, Anzu noticed the squad of Inselni engineers following fifteen meters directly behind her Riku.

After half an hour traveling at max speed, Mad Harlot reached the forest that separated the two defensive lines. “Hey, Top!” Saori shouted out. “It’s gonna take us a while to maneuver around these trees, and we might not get to the frontline when we’re supposed to.”

“Fuck that!” Anzu responded, climbing back in through the hatch. “Shift down into second and just go forward.” She ordered and climbed back up to bark orders at the infantry. “Dismount! We’re gonna push through these trees, and I don’t want you to get smacked by debris.”

The infantry nodded and hopped off the tank. One complained as her feet hit the dirt. “Was just starting to get comfortable too.”

Anzu again climbed inside the Riku and closed the hatch behind her. “Driver, take us forward.”

Saori put up a thumb and began shifting the levers to drive forward. The frontal armor immediately split the old tree, and it collapsed forward. They drove on through the forest, slowed but not stopped.

Now through the forest, the Riku came upon a ridge it had to climb. Inclines were not the Riku’s strong suit, and she chugged as the driver pushed her up and over. The moment they reached the top, they got their first sight of the enemy. The Franneri had miles of trench and forts as far as the eye could see. All in shambles. At their range, the humans seemed like ants running through the trenches, fleeing from star forts, and some already retreating.

Fires were already raging across the Franerri lines. “Artillery regiment is kicking their ass!” Yukari cheered. “Our job’s gonna be easy.”

Yukari felt a pedipalp jab into her back. “Check your mouth,” Anzu ordered immediately after reporting to her hq that her division had reached the enemy. By now, the infantry had remounted the HMGs on the Riku, and Yukari was sitting out and up, watching the lines closely through her octoculars. “Artillery’s gonna let up in ten minutes; the moment it does, advance. If I call out a target hard stop to give Yukari the chance to aim.”

The air began snapping with fury. Metallic pings clanked off the armor. “MG fire!” Anzu instinctually ducked to cover more of her body behind the Riku’s steel skin and then climbed fully inside, closing the hatch. The infantry atop the turret began returning fire at the flashes in the trenches ahead. “Gunner! Traverse left!”

Thanks to the unitary commander/gunner sight, Yukari easily spotted the machine gun nest Anzu had called out. Momo pulled a sixty-millimeter shell off the rack, slammed it into the left gun, and immediately began working on the right. “HE left ready!” She shouted over the metallic clanging of bullets bouncing off their thick armor. The turret whirred to life as Yukari commanded it to turn the double-gunned turret now pointed directly at the machine gun that was lighting up their position.

“On the way!” Yukari shouted before pulling the left trigger. The entire Riku shook and recoiled back as a massive explosion sent the shell flying. Smoke began to fill the innards as the breech opened to expel the used round. The shell streaked through the air at over two and a half thousand kilometers per hour. It impacted the dirt in front of their target, sending up a plume of dust and smoke.

MG fire continued to streak in from that position, and the top gunners continued to return that fire twofold. “Short! Twenty meters!” Anzu called out.

“HE right ready!” Momo called out after slamming a shell into the right gun. Her position below the gunner made loading awkward while the gunner was actively fighting. Her movements had to be very deliberate to both load and not disturb Yukari. Without a second of rest, she again started on the left gun.

“Fire!” Anzu commanded.

“On the way!” Yukari confirmed, and another explosion rocked the Riku. The shell flew and impacted well over the trench.

“Long! Ten meters!” Anzu informed, her eye pressed hard into the commander’s periscope.

“Hey, Private!” Saori shouted at her assistant driver. “Light up that fucking trench! You need to get a feel for that gun!”

“What?!” Maria protested a moment before looking at her gun handle. “R- right!” She grabbed the gun and began firing. It stung her hands immediately. She pressed her head against the viewfinder. Maria thought it was going to be impossible to aim a gun without a sight, but having one in every five rounds as a tracer made aiming the gun very doable. Rather than the technical skill that went into aiming a gun with a sight, this was an intuitive skill. She’d have to aim this gun through feel and adjust on the fly.

“HE left ready!” Momo shouted over the deafening ringing.

“Kill that son of a bitch!” Anzu commanded her gunner.

“On the way!” Yukari pulled the trigger and sent another shiver down the Riku. This time the shell streaked across the air and directly impacted the machine gunner in the Franerri trench. It didn’t explode right away; it pinned the conscript into the back of the trench and only then exploded. Of course, he died on impact.

“Target hit!” Anzu cheered and quickly checked her watch. “Driver, take us forward. Get us into that trench.”

“Aye, aye!” Saori confirmed, and again the Mad Harlot roared to life. Down the embankment was much easier than up it. The Infantry behind her had to jog to keep pace, and the top gunners continued returning fire at anything that came their way.

Small arms fire continued to come in at the Mad Harlot, and Yukari was always quick to put them down. The treads dipped into the trench as Saori continued to push her forward. Soon she was bridging the entire trench, and Saori stopped. The LCL-29 had two internally mounted machine guns on the left and right of the hull for exactly this reason. Momo and Anzu hopped on either side.

The Franerri had built their trench in a straight line, at least in this section, allowing the two women to fire freely on any remaining soldiers in this portion of the trench. Momo thought of her mother’s farm back home and how similar this was to using her scythe to harvest wheat. Dozens of Franerri fell to their free fire into the trenches.

Every few hundred feet was another Riku doing the exact same thing. The Franerri line had been obliterated by their armored spearhead. “New orders coming in!” Anzu shouted as she listened closely to their radio. “We’re advancing until we reach the town of Annecy, there the army engineers are gonna make sure supply trucks can make their way to us and refuel us so we can keep pushing hard. Saori, get us going.”

[Sophie]

The sun had now fallen just a few kilometers outside the town of Annecy. Anzu had spotted a small barn and driven their Riku inside. There the crew disembarked for the first time in nearly eighteen hours. “I don’t think my exoskeleton’s ever been sore before,” Saori complained.

“I didn’t know you could get used to that shaking.” Maria mused as she collapsed to the ground in the barn. “My whole body feels weird now that it has stopped.”
“I’ll never get used to the ringing in my ears.” Yukari continued the mounting complaints. All five of them were now collapsed beside the Riku.

“Spirits!” Anzu cried out, “Yukari, your eye! Are you okay?”

“Huh? My eye?” Yukari questioned while cautiously bringing a hand up to her eye. When she touched her eye, she recoiled. “Ahh! Ow ow ow ow...” She whimpered and covered her eye without touching it.

Anzu crept over to her gunner. “Private, go grab the lamp out of the hull.” Maria nodded and quickly grabbed a staol fire lamp out of the open hatch of the Riku. In the light, Yukari’s injuries were much more obvious. “You are really hurt, Yukari. How did you keep shooting with an eye like this? Private, grab the first aid kit in the back.”

“First aid kit?” Yukari questioned as Maria again dove back into the Riku. “It's just a bruise, Top. I’ll pour water on it, touch up my foundation, and be fine.”

“The sight cut into your face, Yukari,” Momo spoke up as she softly touched the wound. “Let Top take care of you. Our gunner needs her eye in top shape for tomorrow.”

Maria handed the aid kit to the Sergeant, and she immediately began disinfecting the wound. Yukari, of course, flinched back. “Come on, you can fire a sixty with this wound, but you can’t take some alcohol?” It lightened the heavy air of the barn a lot to hear the sergeant tell a joke. Everyone took a calming breath and trusted their sergeant to care for their fellow crew member. “Momo, can you get a fire going? We’re going to want a warm meal in our bellies for tomorrow.”

“Of course, Ma’am.” Thankfully the floor of the barn was dirt and not wood, so she could safely start a fire inside without engulfing all of them in flames.

“Saori, I need you to check our fuel stores, staol, and water. I also want a preliminary damage report.” Anzu continued her commands as she tended to the gunner. “I don’t want to drive into battle tomorrow just to find out there’s a bullet in my gearing.”

“Aye. I’ll get it done.” Saori confirmed. She looked at Maria, who seemed even smaller now outside of the Riku. Not only small, but she also looked lost as well. “Maria,” The girl perked up as one of the crew finally used her first name as they did with each other. “Come with me. I’ll teach you how.”

Saori led Maria around to the back of the Riku and opened a small hatch. She handed her a dust mask and a small metal stick. “What do we need this for?” The private asked as she put the mask on.

“Our engine uses a very fine grain of powderized staol. You'll get orange lung if any of that stuff gets your lungs.” Saori explained as she put her own mask on.

“Orange lung?” Maria questioned as she wiggled around the metal stick until it whacked against the armor and stuck to it.

“It's a pretty horrible disease. Makes it almost impossible to breathe normally. Something like one in five Koians has it.” Saori explained as she helped pull the stick off the Mad Harlot’s armor. “That’s magnetic be careful. Alright,” Saori twisted off a cap at the back. “Go ahead and dip that in there. The staol will stick to it up to the point of how much fuel we’ve got.”

“Okay...” Maria nodded and stuck the stick into the plastic tube. It went down far until it was stopped.

“Alright, now stir it around until you hit plastic,” Saori instructed. “Great, now pull it out.” She watched as the private did exactly as instructed. “Okay! Now see here, count the notches that the staol dust creeps up to.”

After a couple of seconds of counting, Maria had an answer. “Twenty-seven notches.”

“And since there are fifty notches, that means..?” Saori prompted Maria to do the math herself.

“We’ve got about half a tank?” Maria asked.

“Exactly.” Saori nodded. “Alright, wipe off the measuring stick with this cloth, and we’ll do the water next.”

“There.” Anzu smiled at Yukari. “All patched up. Keep that bandage on for the night, and we’ll take a peek at it in the morning.”

“Thanks, Top.” Yukari smiled. “I’ll get to cooking then.”

“I’ve got it, Yukari. Just relax for a moment, okay?” Momo pressed as the fire she was babying roared to life.

Yukari sat back down and crossed all eight of her legs beneath her. “Thanks... Momo-sen.”

Momo offered a smile and returned to the fire. The sergeant began climbing back onto the Riku. “Whatcha doin’, Top?”

“I gotta check something in the turret. I’ll be out in a moment.” Anzu answered dismissively as she clambered back into the hatch.

Once the metal slammed behind her, Saori smiled at Maria. “She’s going to masturbate.” She spoke in an upwind whisper.

“What?!” Maria shouted in true shock, dropping the cap to the water tank on the ground.

Immediately the entire crew burst into uproarious laughter until the commander’s hatch swung back open. “Shut it!” Anzu shouted in a half hush. “I can appreciate a good joke, but don’t forget where we are.”

“Come on, Top,” Yukari pushed back. “Nothing the Franerri have can hurt us as long as we’re behind Mad Harlot’s skirt.”

“Are you behind her skirt right now?” Anzu reminded them. “Right now, all it takes is one lucky dope and five rounds.”

“Twenty if ONI is to be believed about Franerri training.” Again the crew broke out in laughter, quieter this time but still joyous.

Anzu laughed, too but kept her stern tone. “Keep it low. If I wake up and am forced to answer to a man, especially a Franerri man, I will kill each of you with my bayonet.” She looked to Maria and Saori, “Once you're done with that, take that tarp over there and cover Mad Harlot up.”

The rest of the night passed without much incident. The crew shared a meal, a few stories, and a few more laughs before falling asleep in their bedrolls. The sun rose, and the current watch stander woke up the rest of the crew. They all quickly began cleaning up their makeshift camp while Anzu checked Yukari’s eye.

“It’s healing nicely. You should be fine to shoot today. Just don’t press your face so hard to the sights.” Anzu smiled and pasted the bandage back over her eye. “Keep this on until we need your eye.”

“Qui êtes-vous?” The crew looked around, confused, as no one recognized the voice. “Merde. Araignées. Émilie!!” The crew’s heads all snapped to the barn door.

“Franerri!” Momo shouted, drew her pistol from her holster, and began shooting wildly. The man ran like a bat out of hell from the barn. “Fuck!” Momo began to run for the door until Anzu grabbed her arm.

“It's a civilian!” She chided her loader. “Check your targets, you fucking idiot.”

“We gotta go,” Maria said in a panic as her heart sank into her stomach. “Even if he’s not a soldier, he’s going to report us to the military!”

“Mount up!” Anzu ordered as she yanked the tarp off and climbed on top of the turret. Yukari, Momo, and Maria began piling into the Riku.

Saori ran to the back of Mad Harlot, pulled out the hand crank, and began work on starting the engine. She quickly sputtered and then roared to life. She then ran to the front and climbed in the driver’s side hatch. “Everyone, find your teeth because we are rolling out!” Saori shouted before shifting the behemoth into first gear.

“No! Wait. Stop.” Anzu ordered.

“Stop?!” Maria said in an almost panic. “What if they call in an artillery strike on us?!”

“Even if that backwoods Franneri who barely washes his own ass saw Mad Harlot, there’s no way he has the vocabulary to describe it to the army. We have the opportunity to set up a perfect ambush.” Anzu spoke with a devilish grin spanning her lips. “They’ll likely send an experienced squad after a known Kumo position.”

“They’ll shoot into the barn thinking they’ve got us dead to rights.” Yukari followed up, and her smile began to mirror Anzu’s. “Open up the barn doors expecting a bunch of dead Kumo.”

“Then Saori and I perforate them like my mother’s pin cushion.” Maria finished the thought, joining in the crew wide grin.

“Yukari and I can join in with the side mounts,” Momo added as an etcetera.

“Saori, keep her engine low. I don’t want it above a purr.” Anzu ordered, and Saori quickly followed through by manipulating the gears and shifting the Riku into a technically non-existent zeroth forward gear. Mad Harlot purred no louder than a fat cat on a summer window-sill.

Yukari noted something on her gun sight as the crew began to wait. “Top, did you do this?” She asked, pointing to the torn canvas bag taped around the sight.

“No, the cushion fairy did.” Anzu joked. “Let me know if it interrupts your view. I need your eye in top form.”

“Thank you, Top.” Yukari smiled at her superior.

Despite the coming incursion, crew spirits were beyond high as they waited. The lambs would soon deliver themselves to their slaughterer. Just as expected, the crew soon heard talking on the outside of their steel hull. Just beyond the barn walls.

“Ici! J'ai vu les araignées ici ! Tuez-les tous s'il vous plaît.” The voice of an older Franerri spoke with heavy panic poisoning his tone.

“Êtes-vous sûr qu'ils sont toujours là-dedans?” A much younger voice returned in a query.

The older voice returned, almost angry now. “Oui je te l'ai dit! Ma femme surveille la porte de la grange depuis mon départ!”

“D'accord, l'ancien. Jeanne a installé la mitrailleuse ici. Donnons à ces araignées quelque chose à craindre.” The voice was commanding and clearly in charge.

“Are all the hatches sealed?” Maria whispered under the engine. Her answer came in the form of a nod. The frontal armor faced directly toward the barn door, and Mad Harlot’s guns were loaded.

“Donnez-moi ce livre de traduction.” The assumed Franneri commander spoke again before speaking in very broken shusugiris. “Soldiers! You are surrounded by repeating gun! Give you selves up! You will not be alive!”

“What do we do?” Maria whispered. To which all she received was a shushing motion, and then Yukari mimed holding her machine gun. Maria nodded.

“This last chance!” The soldier outside shouted. He waited for a beat before speaking to his soldiers again. “Tuez-les tous. Peignez la grange en rouge.”

Hellfire began to rain into the barn. Hole after hole after hole was torn in the thin wood of the barn by the Franneri MG. Some of the rounds were crushed against the armor of Mad Harlot, and others ricocheted off. The shooting was thorough. If the Kumo didn’t have eighty-seven millimeters of steel to hide behind, they would have died.

A few moments passed, and no other sounds aside from Mad Harlot’s engine were heard. It was then an idea popped into Maria’s head. She threw open her hatch and began to yell in passable Franerri. “Aahh fuck! Je me rends! Je me rends!”

Saori yanked shut Maria’s hatch and whisper shouted. “What are you doing?!”

With a half smile, she answered. “Surrendering.” She put the word in air quotes.

“Jetez vos fusils! Nous arrivons armés!” The voice shouted back.

“They’re coming in,” Maria spoke firmly, making sure a round was chambered in her machine gun. “Get ready.”

The barn doors swung open, revealing eight Franneri soldiers aiming their guns toward the Riku. “Merde.” It wasn’t spoken loud enough for the crew to hear, but it was the last word the soldier would ever utter.

The two forward internally mounted machine guns began to spit fire. Saori and Maria pressed their faces to their viewfinders as their hands moved their guns from one target to the next. In seconds all the Franneri slumped to the ground, full of more holes than the barn.

“Saori! Get us in first and get us out of this barn!” Mad Harlot roared to life as Saori took her out of the false gear and into first. They pulled forward at a crawling three miles per hour, crushing the bodies that now blocked the doors.

The elderly Franerri man watched in horror as the entire squad died before his eyes and now as a steel beast buried them prematurely. He was completely frozen, staring at the giant before him. “All combatants wiped out,” Anzu confirmed a second before a loud metallic clang pinged off the turret’s armor. Annoyed to be contradicted so immediately.

She checked her commander’s viewfinder to see a woman on the porch of the farmhouse just next to the barn. She was wielding a gun that looked almost a hundred years old. Neither Yukari nor Anzu could tell if it was a musket or just an ancient rifle. “Yukari, traverse right. Let's scare her into dropping it.”

“Traversing right,” Yukari confirmed, spinning the massive turret to face the woman trying to kill a Riku with a musket. Now the dual sixty-millimeter guns and the four mounted machine guns were facing the old woman. She continued to load the rifle anyway. Yukari watched her fill it with powder, confirming it was a musket.

With the rifle again loaded, the old woman raised it and shot directly at the turret. The bullet didn’t even scratch the paint as it crushed against it and fell into the dirt. The old man still hadn’t moved an inch and just stared at the mammoth. “Maria, can't you tell her to give it up?” Saori asked.

Maria cracked open her hatch and shouted at the again reloading woman. “Lâchez votre arme!” She pronounced every word very hard and in a terrible Fuyo accent.

“Va te faire foutre! Vous avez tué mon fils! Va te faire foutre!” The old woman screamed as she put another round into the armor.

“What’d she say?” Momo questioned.

“Well, it wasn’t ‘I fucking surrender’ now, was it?!” Saori shouted back, pointing out the obvious.

Yukari waited for the woman to shoot again before popping open the right side hatch on the turret and mounted the side-mounted external machine gun. She quickly racked a round into the gun, which finally broke the man from his stunned stupor. “Non!!” He screamed over the engine of the Mad Harlot before Yukari opened fire on the woman. Three quick rounds and her body collapsed onto her porch. Lifeless.

“Non! Morceaux de merde! Vous êtes tous des monstres!” The old man screamed incoherently and ran to the side of the Riku. “Monstres!” He continued and started to punch the broadside armor of the land-based warship.

Momo poked her torso out of the left side of the turret using the other side hatch. “Hey! Knock it off, you old fucking bat! She shot first!”

The old man looked up at twenty-year-old Momo. His wrinkled face really showed his age compared to her pristine skin. In a pure rage, he yelled at her. “Salauds! Je vais tous vous tuer!” As Momo was going to ask Maria to translate, the man grabbed a handful of Momo’s hair and began to tug.

“OW! Hey, fucking stop! STOP!” Momo screamed in pain and tried to yank her head back.

Maria popped out of the driver’s hatch and yelled at him. “Arrêtez ou vous mourrez!” Stop, or you will die. Either he didn’t hear her or didn’t care, and he continued to assail Momo’s hair.

“Fuck this!” Momo shouted and again drew her pistol on the man for the second time in the same day. Without an ounce of hesitation, she fired a twelve-point-seven millimeter round into the man’s head and out through the back of his neck. All electrical function ceased, and his corpse collapsed onto the ground.

Now completely pissed off, Momo slammed herself back into the turret, clanging the hatch against the hull. “Get us the fuck out of here already.” The crew quickly buttoned up the Riku and headed toward the town of Annecy.

[Sophie]

A few weeks after the barn incident outside of Annecy.

Mad Harlot was the last Riku in her platoon to show up at the current rally point. Saori drove them up next to the vehicle with “Lazy Mother” painted on her barrels. “About time you showed up.” A pirate spider Kumo atop the Lazy Mother, spoke to Anzu.

“Hey, not our fault you left all the rats to us to clean up!” Anzu fired back, slapping the side of her turret with the drawing of a stick figure human next to tally marks counting well over sixty.

The woman, identified by her lieutenant marking as Lieutenant Tamaki Tamada, retorted. “There is no way that number is accurate!” She sneered at Anzu, wishing she could cover up her now shameful twenty-four. “I’ll have your head for inflating like that!”

“Hah!” Anzu pointed at Lazy Mother’s hashes. “My bow gunner alone has more kills than that!”

“The new girl?!” Tamada shouted in bafflement. “Damnit! I gotta whip my crew into shape.”

“Maybe if they actually managed their makeup, they could manage their jobs!” Anzu returned, flaunting her freshly done face courtesy of Yukari. “When I first pulled up, I thought you were my husband!”

“Watch it!” Tamada scowled. “It's hardly fair when you have someone like Akiyama-kas in your Riku.” She sighed and shook her head. “Alright, pile out and get restocked. We’ve got orders coming down in an hour.”

Mad Harlot’s crew began to spill out of every hatch. Anzu looked across the other Rikus and supply trucks gathered in the small town. “Where’s the fuel truck? I don’t see it.”

“Right there.” Tamada pointed to one of the trucks indistinguishable from the others. “‘S not a proper fuel truck. Gotta do it by hand.”

“Fuck sake. What’s going on with command? Our supplies keep getting worse.” Anzu complained as her crew began marching for the trucks.

Tamada laughed. “We’re advancing a lot faster than they expected.” She pointed out. “Almost twice as fast as General Suzuki predicted.”

“So what? Shouldn’t they have had a plan for our advance in case it went this well?” Anzu continued to bitch as she grabbed her canteen and took a swig.

“‘S not just us,” Tamada explained. “Every single front is crushing the enemy. Our logistics and engineers are strained to the max.” She was almost laughing as she spoke. “At least we’re still getting fuel and food. Some of our recon elements are looting homes and bargaining with farmers for meals.”

“Alright, I’ll stow the complaining, but if I have to eat another stew made of crackers and water, I will lose it.” She shook her head, taking another swig. “Girls like us need meat.”

“The mess truck’s got hot meals and ten pounds of meat for each Riku. You’re gonna have to make it last, though, cuz she’s headed back to hq after this.” Tamada shared.

“Damn, Top.” Saori’s voice was now the one complaining as she carried four cans of powderized staol under her arms. Each weighed fifty pounds when full. “You’re really just gonna sit there while your crew hauls everything over?”

“Can it, Speshie.” Anzu snapped back at her driver. Mostly jesting but slightly annoyed that she spoke to her like that in front of her superior. “Catch you later, Lieutenant.” She gave the officer a quick wave and helped Saori detach the water tanks from the back of the hull.

Now that Mad Harlot was fully loaded by hand, Tamada gave orders to each Riku commander. The last to receive orders was Anzu. “You’re headed sixty kilometers northeast to the town of Choisy-le-Roi. The Elenrian fifteenth and the Kumosenkan forty-second are pushing into it and need your armored support.”

“Alright, we’ll meet up with them and crush the enemy for them.” Anzu smiled and barked down into the hull. “Choisy-le-Roi. Get us moving, Saori!”

“Aye! Headed out!” Saori confirmed and kicked the beast into gear. The LCL-29’s maximum speed was recorded as fourteen kilometers per hour. However, following the packed dirt roads, the experienced driver was able to push her up to twenty. In three hours, they were flagged down by an Inselni on the street, who guided them to where the two platoons had gathered.

Just under a hundred soldiers gathered in a small wooded area outside the town. Half were Kumo soldiers, and the other half was split between Inselni and humans. Some humans couldn’t help but feel discomfort at seeing the Riku’s “human” kill count.

Both platoon leaders climbed onto the Riku to confer with Anzu. “Our recon elements have confirmed several defensive positions within the town.” The Kumo lieutenant handed Anzu a hand-drawn map and a report filled out by her recon.

“They’re using this place as a bastion. They want to hold us back from the next city over.” The Elenrian further informed. “Apparently, that place is a massive supply hub they really don’t wanna be cut off from.”

“Then let's ruin their day.” Anzu offered. “Looks like they’re using this apartment building as their command. Lots of foot traffic in and out, and four MG nests inside.”

“Mhm.” The Kumo nodded. “We came to the same conclusion. Artillery support still hasn’t caught up to our advance, so we’re thankful you could join us here.”

“Did they clear out the civilians yet? It looks like every building has soldiers in it, according to this.” Anzu asked.

Both Lieutenants shared a confused look. “No?” The Elenrian answered. “You’ve been through several towns by now, right? Surely you’ve seen it.”

“Seen what?” Anzu asked, confused.

“The Franerri army is using their citizenry as shields.” The Kumo lieutenant informed the Riku commander.

“What?!” Anzu thought she had already seen everything the Franerri had to offer; this was unexpected.

Both lieutenants nodded their heads solemnly. “I guess General Suzuki refused to shell the city of Elenerre because of the many civilians present. Now the Franerri think we won’t attack as long as civilians are around.”

“Fucking scum.” Anzu spat. “What do we do then?”

“Current orders are to treat all shielding civilians as hostile combatants.” The Kumo informed her. “Obviously, if you can avoid killing them, do, but we must keep up the pressure. Command expects us to capture the town in the next four hours. They want the defenders wiped out.”

“Understood,” Anzu confirmed her willingness to follow her orders. “We’ll push the defenders from the town.”

“We’ve got machine gun nests set up on every road leaving the town to wipe out anyone retreating. Make sure you don’t target them by accident.” The Elenrian informed. “They’re from my platoon, so triple-check your targets.”

“Yes, Ma’am.” She nodded, responding correctly to an officer that outranked her, despite her race. “Anything else?”

“My girls will be taking the lead, making a covered push forward until we can safely engage the town's defenders to expose their positions. That’s when I want you to roll out of the forest.” The Kumo platoon leader began explaining. “A squad of Inselni will follow directly behind you to use your armor to advance. Any buildings they approach that had or have defenders in them; they will burn them to the ground.”

“Burn them to the ground?” Anzu questioned. “What are they gonna breathe fire on them?” She laughed a few times.

“Yes.” The Inselni answered.

“Wait, that’s a thing you people actually can do?!” Anzu asked in genuine shock. “I thought that was a myth.”

The Kumo commander rolled her eyes, took out her pen, and began drawing on the map Anzu was given. “I want you to take this route through the town, and as soon as your gunner has eyes on the apartment building, have her turn it into rubble. The damn thing is a bees nest of Franneri. Once you’re done with that, continue to engage any targets you can see until I give you the all-clear.”

“Consider it done, ma’am,” Anzu confirmed. “I’ll start briefing my crew. Once I hear gunshots, I’ll peel out of the forest.”

Just as the two women were about to hop off the armor, the Kumo commander hesitated. “We aren’t sure if these guys have artillery support; our recon elements are still trying to ensure they don’t. Try not to stay in one place if you can help it.”

With that, both lieutenants hopped off the Riku. Anzu crouched down into the hull and closed the hatch behind her. She quickly gave her crew a rundown of the plan and handed the map to Maria to act as navigator. During the waiting period, Saori taught Maria some finer details of operating the LCL-29. Momo was writing in her small journal, detailing the day's events. Yukari was touching up her makeup, and Anzu reviewed a mental checklist.

“Why can’t the army make a foundation that lasts more than a few hours?” Yukari complained as she worked on her face. “Like if we want our soldiers to look our best, why not make some really long-lasting stuff?”

“Yes, I’m sure that’s the highest priority of our army’s research department.” Momo rolled an eye.

“That’s not what I meant, Momo-sen!” Yukari pouted.

Momo’s eye twitched. “I told you not to call me Momo-sen!”

“I just mean, like, my makeup at home will last a whole two days if I sleep the right way, but this stuff washes off in like four hours.” Yukari continued explaining, ignoring Momo’s complaint.

“At least your eyeliner looks nice,” Anzu offered with a smile.

Maria turned back from Saori and brought a thought to the table. “It could be because you’re working so much harder when you’re here. So you sweat more, and that washes away your foundation.”

Gunshots began to echo in the distance, some clearly from the fire of a rapid-fire machine gun. “That’s our cue!” Anzu shouted before slapping her helmet on. “Time to dance.” She softly kicked Saori in the shoulder, prompting her to kick the Riku into first gear.

In a matter of minutes, she pulled out of the forest into the open field. Kumo had taken cover behind unoccupied buildings, embankments, and vegetation. They were firing openly into the town ahead. Mad Harlot rolled through the field and immediately began drawing a lot of fire. Anzu checked their rear and saw six Inselni following behind them, practically hugging the armor.

“They’re too close.” She complained with her eyes pressed to her commander’s scope.

Yukari looked back at her. “You gonna tell them that?”

Just before Anzu could respond, a bullet ricocheted off the top hatch. “They’ll be fine.”

The Riku passed another treeline and finally saw the town clearly. “Gunner! MG nest! Yellow building! Traverse left!” Saori took this as her cue to stop moving. The Inselni behind them stopped and pressed themselves to the rear armor.

“On it!” Yukari shouted back and yanked the stick, turning the turret to the left. Her eye landed on the one-story yellow home. She waited to see muzzle flashes. The third window on the left lit itself up with gunfire. Yukari watched the bullets arc through the air and impact against the armor. She took a moment to line up her sight with the target. “On the way!”

The sixty-millimeter shell flew out of the turret, pushing the Riku back in a jerking motion. All the Inselni who pressed themselves were shoved back, two of whom fell onto the floor. “Short! Adjust up twenty meters!” Anzu shouted as the smell of burning cordite filled the hull.

“On the way!” Yukari shouted, immediately firing the second gun into the building. The shell flew through the air and slammed through the open window. The shell detonated, sending half the Franneri out the window along with a mangled machine gun. The explosion blew out half the wall and sent splintering wood out everywhere. Smoke began to rise from the home as the wood caught flame.

“Target hit!” Anzu cheered. Saori immediately began driving forward again. Maria started opening fire on the Franneri she saw moving throughout the town ahead. She fired on any bipeds ahead of the line of Kumo soldiers.

The Riku progressed another thirty meters. “MG nest! Second-floor brown building! Traverse Right!”

“Moving!” Yukari called out, swinging the turret to the right. She fired on the building, and the shell landed on the first floor, just below the machine gun’s position. The explosion was large enough to shatter the building’s foundation in that area. From the gunner's point of view, the floor exploded underneath him, filling him with shards of wood, not killing him instantly but leading him to a slow, excruciating death.

Slowly, the Riku continued to advance, shattering targets that were pinning down other elements of the mishmashed company. The moment Mad Harlot got in range of the buildings, the Inselni began to light them aflame even if Yukari had pumped a shell into it. It didn’t take much to set the dry wood going. A quick blow and the building would soon be nothing but ashes.

“Thank the spirits they’re on our side,” Anzu whispered to herself as she imagined what it must be like to be trapped in that building. “Keep pushing forward!” She shouted out to her driver. “We need clear shots of that apartment building!”

Saori now drove down the town's roadways with infantry climbing all over her Riku providing direct support with their own guns and the mounted MGs. The Inselni continued to torch hostile structures as they passed. She passed the town hall and exposed herself to the apartment building. Within an instant, half a dozen machine guns fired upon the armored hull of Mad Harlot. One of the mounted infantry was killed within the first volley.

Yukari immediately began pumping shells into the pseudo-concrete bunker. This time Momo loaded armor-piercing shells. The apartment walls weren’t particularly thick, but they wanted the shots to detonate inside to cause as much havoc and destruction as possible. The outer walls were blown out from the inside. The internal load-bearing walls and pillars were being eroded by shell after shell.

Machine gun fire was rapidly traded between the building and the Riku. More rounds were exchanged than the Kumo army used to train in an entire day. Finally, one of the shells Yukari punted into the building struck the core pillar holding it together. The apartments had reached their point of criticality and began to collapse inward.

The structure was now nothing but rubble. The Franerri that had survived the collapse would wish they hadn’t. The firing had stopped. “Check the rubble!” The Kumo commander shouted. “If any of them are still breathing, make sure they stop.”

A flood of Kumo began to climb the sharding concrete mound quickly. Shots slowly began to ring out as they cleared the survivors. A young conscript who had been completely buried in the collapse pushed himself out of the rubble only to face a standing Kumo soldier. He threw his hands over his face, but before he could even begin to beg, she put a round into him and moved on.

The town had been captured. All hostile forces had been destroyed. However, it was a bit of a stretch to call it a town anymore. The smoldering remains of most buildings declared the town naught more than a small hamlet.

Bang, bang, bang! One of the side hatches was being hammered on. Anzu threw open the top hatch and looked over. “Yes, ma’am?” She asked the Elenrian commander.

The Elenrian seemed timid as if she were talking to a superior. Despite her literal rank putting her above the Riku commander, she did not feel she had the authority to give orders to one of the now-vaunted crews. “I... I need a favor.”

[Sophie]

“I can’t believe this mission.” Mad Harlot’s driver Saori Takebe complained over the roaring engine. “We really going out of our way for a squad of humans, top?”

“Orders are orders.” Anzu Kadotani answered back between puffs of her cigarette.

“They’re not even from our command, top,” Saori shouted. “Won’t our command wonder where we are? Surely they have other plans for us right now.”

“Our orders are to support the sixty-fifth company. One of the commanders of sixty-fifth gave us an order, and we will follow that order.” Anzu answered firmly.

“Sounded more like a request to me.” Momo retorted, just loud enough to be heard.

Anzu glared at her. “If I requested that you get out and march, would you do it?” Her voice was firm, annoyed that her crew was questioning their orders just because of the source. She didn’t like them either, but it was her job to follow orders from all officers.

Momo flinched; when she joined the army, she despised marching. For her, there was nothing more exhausting and emotionally debilitating than marching. Like everyone else in the Riku, she considered that statement a thinly veiled threat to fall in line or march outside. “Understood, Top.”

“What in the living stars?” Yukari’s voice trailed as she pressed her eye into the gunner’s sight. “Top you seeing this?!” She flung her head back to her superior, who was already opening up the top hatch.

Now out in the fresh air, Anzu tossed her cigarette out onto the dirt road and placed her octoculars on her face. There, miles down the road, a blob was moving away from the next city over. Several elements of the Kumosenkan army had already surrounded the city and had begun their attack; these were civilians fleeing the city in a massive group. They wanted to get behind the Kumo lines and, therefore, away from the fighting.

“Fuck.” Anzu swore under her breath. “It’s a damned horde of civilians.” She informed the rest of her crew. “Headed straight for us.”

“So what?” Maria asked. “If Franneri soldiers can’t do anything to harm us, then we might as well be gods to the civilians.”

“I still don’t like it.” Anzu shared her anxiety. “We’re going to have to roll right past them. I don’t like letting them get close to us.” She scanned the crowd carefully, but it was impossible to make out any fine details from this distance. She climbed back into the Riku. “I want all of you on your guns. If there are any soldiers amongst them, I want them too scared to do anything.”

“Aye, ma’am!” The crew echoed each other. Yukari and Momo poked out of either side hatch on the turret and mounted the machine guns there. Saori and Maria popped open their driver’s hatches, and Maria tightly gripped her gun while Saori drove Mad Harlot forward.

As the crowd drew closer, Anzu gave new orders. “Maria, can you tell them to keep clear?”

Maria affirmed and began shouting in Franerri as loud as she could. “Keep clear! Move out of our way! Keep your hands high, and you will be treated fairly!”

The entire crew’s eyes were darting between the humans. One after another. Men, women, the elderly, children, and even a mother cradling her baby. All eyes were on the Riku. Fear, loathing, awe, and terror. None of these people had seen a car, let alone a land-based warship.

Saori slowed down as the people began to part the road to make way. Anzu’s eyes were darting furiously. “Keep those trigger fingers ready. You spot any nonsense, light them up.” Man unarmed, woman, child, child, too old, man, woman, woman with baby, child, woman, man with baby, woman, child, woman, man. Wait, a man with a baby? Just as Anzu began to recheck, she saw the man’s eyes filled with fire as he launched his baby towards the Riku. “BUTTON UP!” She shrieked as she opened fire on the man.

Round after round filled the man’s torso. The “baby” landed on the frontal armor, and just as the rest of the crew had sealed themselves in, Anzu saw a flame-spewing from the “baby’s” head. “FUCK.” She screamed and attempted to dive into the hull. The device exploded, and Anzu slumped into the turret.

Screams formed a chorus as the group of civilians reacted to the explosion. Some slumped to the ground in fear; others began to run as fast as they could.

The crew’s eyes were all on the large piece of shrapnel lodged in Anzu’s skull. Hot boiling rage welled within every one of them. Momo and Yukari flung their hatches open; Saori put the Riku in park and gripped her bow gun as Maria did the same. Four machine guns began to liquidate the sea of people. Human after human, they were all monsters to them.

Culling the entire herd took no more than a baker's dozen seconds. “No survivors.” The order came from Yukari. She and the others climbed out of the hull with pistols drawn. They checked every body on the ground. Any hint of life, and they were executed. Shot after shot rang out from their hand cannons.

Yukari came upon the corpse of the man who tossed the explosive device. She searched his belongings and found a pistol and a notebook. Sifting through his notebook, she found his orders. “Out scouting parties spotted one of their armored beasts headed this way. Hide amongst the next group of fleeting civilians and use the demolition charges provided to destroy the cursed thing.”

Yukari sneered in pure ire. It boiled into her throat, and she spit it onto his corpse. “Cowards. All of you.”

Once the crew finished cleaning up the festering pile of dead, they regrouped at the Riku. Saori was inspecting the damage done to Mad Harlot. “How is she? Anything we can’t fix?”

“I don’t think so.” Saori shook her head. “I don’t know what they were using, but whatever it was, it only dented our armor. No damage to our weapons or drive systems. As far as I can tell anyway.”

“How is the armor? Compromised in any manner?” Yukari questioned, looking at the dent.

Anzu shrugged. “I don’t think she could take another hit like that, but considering what we’ve been up against thus far, we should be fine.”

“Good news then.” Yukari gave a half smile.

“So uh, what do we do about her, top?” The question came from Momo but went answered. “Yukari.” She called out after a pause.

“What?” Yukari flung her head around to answer Momo. “Oh.” Her voice dimmed as she realized. No one had ever died in a Riku before, and they were far from their lines to request a pickup for her. “Put her in back for now, with the shells. Carefully. Everyone back in. Let's get going. ”

“Saori, get us going,” Yukari ordered.

“Where to?” Saori asked.

“Same as before,” Yukari stated with finality. “Orders are orders.” She reminded them to cut off any protests at the heel. Without another word, Saori kicked Mad Harlot into gear.

Several hours of driving later, the crew arrived at the last known location of the Elenrian recon element they were here to rescue. “So, how do we find these girls exactly?” Maria asked.

“They’re being pinned down from a machine gun nest in a brown house. Keep your eyes peeled for one. Saori, keep us prowling. If they see us first, they’ll telegraph their location to us.” On her orders, the Riku began to drive around the area, searching for any sign of the enemy’s position or the Elenrian recon team.

It didn’t take long for the Riku to start taking a lot of fire. Yukari ensured they returned fire with prejudice. They took out over five machine gun nests before they finally came upon a brown house. MG fire began to harmlessly plink off the armor as Yukari punted a high explosive shell into the house, tearing it to shreds.

Yukari poked her head out after waiting for a few beats to ensure no follow-up fire. “Sixty-fifth recon?!” She shouted.

In the grass ahead, a human popped out of the grass. Immediately Yukari hopped on the top gun and prepared to fire. “Friendly!” The human shouted in shusugiris. “I’m Elenrian! Crown human! Sixty-fifth recon!”

“Where’s the rest of your unit?” Yukari shouted back at the human, who approached slowly with her hands up.

“D- dead!” She answered back. “I... I’m all that’s left.”

Yukari dropped her gun and sat back in the commander’s seat. With her hand pinching the bridge of her nose. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.” She swore under her breath.

“I... I’m sorry?” The Elenrian asked; her stomach began to feel uneasy as she noticed the mass of tally marks next to the crude stick figure drawing of a human.

“Get on. We’ll take you to the rally point.” Yukari waved the human aboard. “Whatever intel you’ve got better be damned worth it.” She again swore under her breath.

“Thank you.” The woman bowed and climbed aboard the back of the hull.

The rally point was half a day’s drive away, where Mad Harlot once again met up with Lazy Mother. “Good to see you, Mad Harlot!” Lieutenant Tamaki Tamada cheered as Saori parked her in line. However, her brow furrowed as she didn’t see Anzu Kadotani. “Where’s your commander Akiyama-kas?”

“Dead,” Yukari informed as Saori killed the engine. “Some bastard threw a det charge on our hull, and the fragmentation killed her. Please tell me we’ve got a hearse truck here.”

“Son of a bitch...” The officer swore. “I am so sorry. One of the supply trucks can take her. How are the rest of you?”

“We’re all okay. The armor took the rest of the blast.” Yukari confirmed. “We’re bruised, but we can still fight.”

“I’m glad to hear that because our orders are to keep up the push,” Tamada informed. “You’ve got an hour to get fueled and stocked. Mad Harlot’s got somewhere to be already.”

“So soon?” Yukari’s enervation showed in her response. “Who’s taking command of Mad Harlot then?”

Tamada raised an eyebrow. “You are, Sergeant.”