Anzu mentions that Oarai will have another scrimmage against St. Gloriana, thereby establishing the fic as taking place at some point after Episode 4, then asks Vincent for advice. Vincent says they stick with their strategy no matter what, which makes it hard for them to defeat Pravda. Miho's a bit surprisedt that Vincent knows so much about St. Gloriana, but he explains that he was there before.
Vincent then gets into his description of their strategy, which amounts to staying in formation and drinking tea. He mentions that their turrets don't turn well and their engine armor is "super week," so they're vulnerable to being attacked from behind. Vincent then promises that he won't let any of St. Gloriana's tanks fire, a promise he won't end up keeping.
On the way out, Miho asks Vincent how he knows so much about the other schools, which he says is a story for another time- most likely because the actual answer is that he's a Gary Stu of the highest order. Miho then witnesses Vincent walking hand-in-hand with Saori, and immediately gets very jealous. She goes home and cries, thinking it's unfair- according to Miho, since she's commander of her tank, Vincent should be going after her.
This scene is highly Out of Character for Miho for several reasons. She values her friends, and would never be that petty or jealous toward Saori. She's the sort who respects others' wishes, and would thus respect Vincent's decision to love Saori. She's also more emotionally resilient than most people give her credit for (especially considering that she knew Shiho wouldn't approve of her saving the downed tank, and did it anyway), and wouldn't be the kind to get so broken up by something like that.
Jon then comes in, and returns Miho's phone. Miho feels a little better, at least enough to focus her energy on winning Vincent over during the competition.
Josh and Mako share a cup of coffee. Josh says he's from America, until he got recruited at age 17, and says Brent once went to Saunders.
Vincent then gets back after a date with Saori. Ian demands to know whether Ian did anything untoward with Saori, but Vincent insists that they just walked around the boat. Vincent asks Nick whether "it" will be ready for the match, and Nick says yes.
The next morning, Vincent prepares breakfast with Jon, and hears about Jon delivering Miho her cell phone. Ian then admonishes Vincent for his alcohol "addiction" (it's a bit odd to hear alcoholism being referred to as such, even if the term technically fits), in a tone that's like a parent complaining about their child not picking up their toys. Luckily for Vincent, Ian backs him up, and Vincent serves up pancakes, making a lame "In Soviet Russia" joke.
Nick then arrives, complaining about a shortened cap problem with their current tank, a "mark II," and is told that the "mark III" will be there in a few weeks. While most GuP fics would include the authors' favorite WWII-era tanks, this one settles with a generic name and model number.
Josh comes in, and wakes up after drinking some coffee. Vincent then leaves to make preparations- once he's gone, Jon asks Ian about Vincent's past, but Ian says that Vincent hasn't told him, either.
Alpha-Omega then sets out toward the starting position, and backs up until the enemies are out of range, at least until a woman tells them to get back into position. They take umbrage at this, though, since "If we do that, one of them is dead as soon as we start."- I'm honestly having trouble making heads or tails of this.
Vincent then gets in contact with Darjeeling, warning her that one of her tanks will be immediately taken out for the sake of chivalry, before wryly noting that "Chivalry can go screw itself." As the girls advance, Vincent notes that they could probably take out the enemy from where they are now. He then orders Ian to get to higher ground, then orders Josh and Jon to fire, ending the chapter.
The battle's just gotten started, and I'm already confused by Vincent's repeatedly contradicting himself. Considering that GuP is a show that people mainly watch for the tank action, it's fairly surprising that the actual tank combat is done in such a perfunctory and sloppy manner- not that the rest of the fic is much better.
