新しいトーナメント - A New Tournament
It was the same routine for Miho…
Get up, fall out of bed, shut up the alarm, get dressed, have breakfast, grab your bag, lock the door, walk forward and then back to check you locked the door properly, find you where worrying over nothing as the door was stuck shut, walk past the bakery, look both ways and cross the roads, wave to everyone who greeted you, get to the school, walk up three flights of stairs, open the door to her personal office, sling the bag onto the nearby sofa and lay down in the desk chair and wait until the time for the first lesson of the day came and go down to the appropriate room.
But today, that routine would be broken.
It was rather strange when the first thing she found on the desk was a small pile of random documents, she found a note which had been handwritten placed on the top
"To Miho
There will be a new sensha-dō tournament format which will be coming up very soon, I've had Yuzu put some of the appropriate documents on your desk, have a look through them and see what you think of it all, if you need to talk, don't hesitate to contact the student council on the landline, the student council will also be pulling all the members of our team into our room at two o'clock, be sure to be present.
Momo Kawashima
P.S. I've had you excused from all lessons for today so you can process all of this documentation.
P.P.S. Anzu says hi."
"A new tournament format?" Miho asked herself confused and curious, she sat down in the leather chair and proceeded to spread all the documents out, they consisted of information on many different aspects, such as rules, locations, win and lose conditions, regulations, the lot, the first thing which stood out to her was the name of this entire thing.
'The 1st Eurasian Sensha-dō Grand Battle Tournament'
"Eurasian? You mean, both Asia and Europe are involved?" she asked herself, being rather confused by that name, she started to look at the paperwork in its entirety, scanning every single letter and sentence, formulating her thoughts.
After going through all the papers, she looked at the clock in her room, it was rather weird for a single girl like her to have a room like this office all to herself, probably a reward for supporting the entire school, well she did stop the school from being closed down… twice.
The minute hand had just hit eleven o'clock, meaning that maybe the student council was in a free period, she reached for the phone on her desk and punched 000 into the keypad, which set the phone to internal school connections, then punched in three more digits for the student council, she had the phone to her receiver as she waited for someone to pick up, at last there was the crackle on the other side.
"Hello?" the voice of Yuzu came on the other side, "oh hi Yuzu, its Miho, I had a few things to ask about this Grand battle tournament which you put on my desk" the commander asked, "oh yeah that, I'll pass you onto Momo, she's the one who's pushing this, hey Momo-chan!... its Miho she wants to ask you things about that new tournament!..." there was then the sound of the phone exchanging hands.
"Hi, its Momo, what did you want to ask me?" the student councils PR manager said, "yeah about this new tournament, I'm a bit confused about its name, why is it called the Eurasian tournament?" Miho questioned, "oh yeah that, the thing is, it's not going to just be Japanese teams which will be competing in this tournament" Momo explained, "what? Who else is competing?" Miho interrupted her, "European sensha-dō teams will also be competing in this whole thing, also the tournament will be abiding by European sensha-dō rules, don't worry their mostly the same to our rules, just a few differences here and there", Momo then explained that point, "never knew sensha-dō had been in Europe as well" Miho then muttered, "it's really taken off over there in the past year, they've already had two European tournaments like ours, but this tournament will be very different to the others we played in the past" Momo continued.
"In what way?" Miho responded, "just imagine you're in a constant battle, where it's not tank's you kill which win the battle, but having the most resources at the end of it" Momo added on, Miho gave a short whine in confusion.
Momo sighed and continued, "look, I'll explain it better in the session I set out at two o'clock, but what I can tell you right now, is this whole thing will be very taxing on the commander, so I advise you nominate a vice-commander", "I thought you were the vice-commander" Miho then asked remembering the position Momo was in in the past, "me? Hah, that was all because I didn't want the school to close down and I was a nervous breakdown throughout the entire thing, even so since you're the real commander, I'm giving you the choice for this tournament and I know that there are people in our team who can do a much better job than me, just say a name and I can call them up for you to do the honours" Momo shunned herself.
Miho hummed to herself as she thought about all the girls who were in their team, most of them were just average tank crews who just did what they were told and followed orders, but one of them stood out to Miho in particular.
"So? Made a decision?" Momo then took her out of thoughts, "oh yeah… Riko, she will make a good vice-commander, literally knows too much about military doctrine when it comes to tanks" Miho then decided, "ok I'll call her up, oh Miho" Momo then confirmed, "yeah Momo?" the commander responded, "are you sure you want Ooarai to participate?" the PR manager wanted the final say, "looking at it, and what we've all been through, I think we can do it" Miho gave her support, "ok thanks Miho, I'll meet you a two o'clock, see you there" Momo parted, "ok, see you" Miho returned and she put the phone down.
"Matsumoto Riko can you present yourself to the sensha-dō commanders room please, repeat, Matsumoto Riko can you present yourself to the sensha-dō commanders room" Miho heard Momo's voice over the schools PA system outside, she returned to looking at some team compositions, she did see that some of these teams where rather numerous in number, while others where smaller, but had more advanced tanks to compensate, "maybe we need a bit more support, I wonder what the stance is on volunteers" Miho asked herself.
She was then greeted to the sound of a knock on the door, "come in" Miho called out, she still had her eyes locked on the papers as she heard the door opening, then closing and some feet walking on the carpet, the feet stopped at the top of her peripheral vision, she then looked up at the person.
Riko Matsumoto, better known by her nickname Erwin was standing there right before her, wearing her usual attire of a German peaked cap which covered some of her blond hair, which was styled to have an ear like spike come out of each side, and a yellow 'Afrika Korp' styled jacket over her school uniform, she then gave her a military salute with her right arm, as she was the sort of person who liked to show deference to her tankery command, especially someone like Miho.
"You called me up here Miho?" she asked her commander, "oh yeah, you can pull a chair up Erwin" Miho eased her, Erwin pulled over a chair which was against one of the walls and sat on it, out of respect she took her cap off and held it against her stomach, "have you heard there's going to be a new tournament coming up very soon?" Miho questioned, Erwin scratched her hair in thought, "I did hear there was something different which would be happening" she replied, Miho then took one of the documents and handed it over, Erwin took the paper and her eyes scanned through the words printed on the sheet, "a grand battle tournament?" she then asked her commander, "yeah, the Japanese and European sensha-dō bodies are going to be hosting this grand battle tournament in a few days, looks like it's going to be big" Miho then said.
Erwin then placed the paper back down on the table and leaned back in the chair, "so what are you doing about it?" she asked Miho, "well I've been talking with the student council, and we decided we're gonna have a shot at it", the commander explained, Erwin smirked a bit, "probably so MEXT and that windbag Renta Tsuji has less of a reason to shut us down next time" she then mentioned, "yeah you know, if we possibly won this, then it would be undeniable that we can be victors not just in Japan, but on the world stage as well" Miho theorised.
"Well, what can I do for all of this" Erwin then brought them back on point, "oh yeah, you see, Momo is relegating herself more and more to keeping the entire team together, not in orders, just in administration of the entire team", Erwin leaned in a bit closer on her chair, Miho stopped for a second, "well just getting right to the point, I need a new vice-commander, and I thought you were the right candidate" she concluded, Erwin's eyes opened wide in surprise, "wait… you want to promote me?" she wanted clarification while in shock, Miho nodded, Erwin sank down in her seat "well I never saw myself as that much of a commander, sure keeping Saemonza and Oryou on point in the StuG with Caesar, but being your right hand man".
"I know you can do it Erwin, I mean, who is the one who corrects everyone on the aspects of tank history and usage and tells them to apologise to the Finnish?" Miho mentioned, Erwin slightly smirked at that comment, "and who is the one who can tell the life story of a world war general on the spot when asked?" Miho continued, "oh and also who is…"
"Okay, okay I get it Miho" Erwin interrupted her with a smile, "see, you know so much about military doctrine from the time which our tanks are from, and the fact your dressed for the part is a bonus, so, I just need your say on it, do you want to be my vice-commander?" Miho encouraged, Erwin then put her peaked cap back onto her head and looked at her commander, "ok, I'll do it" she confirmed.
2 o'clock came, and the student council room was filling up with all the members of the sensha-dō team, Anglerfish, Turtle, Duck, Hippo, Rabbit, Mallard, Anteater, Leopon, they were all here, Miho squeezed through the door to witness the packed room, with everyone talking among themselves, Miho noticed Yukari waving at her from a sofa, with a free space alongside Saori, Hana and Mako.
She walked over to and sat down between Yukari and Saori, "hey Miporin, how are you?" the latter greeted her, Miho just smiled, "I'm fine guys, just been reading into this new tournament" she expressed, "I wonder what this new tournament is" Hana chimed in, "ooh I'm so excited!" Yukari bubbled in excitement, "I don't know why everyone's making a big deal out of this anyways" Mako just murmured, still looking tired as always.
Soon the student council consisting of Momo, Anzu and Yuzu walked in stood at the forefront of the scene, everyone went quiet and looked at them, "hi there, thank you for making it up here in time, now I know you may be asking about what this is all about, but I'll let Miho bring up the opening points" Anzu announced, she then looked at Miho and this was her que to stand up on her feet, "okay thanks, firstly, this tournament which we will be fighting in a few days is going to be much different compared to the others we fought in the past" she started, she could see everyone was interested, "secondly, to help bonster the command for this tournament, I would like to congratulate Erwin on her promotion to vice-commander" she then beamed, everyone looked at Erwin and some of them clapped, with a smile, Erwin stood up and took a bow before sitting back down again, "so I'm guessing I don't have to do the lazy ones strategic homework anymore" Caesar grinned, "oh don't worry, I could slack off even more if you were bored for more work" Erwin then quipped, Oryou and Saemonza laughed while Caesar just rolled her eyes, "I'm joking, I'll be taking the strategy of our team from now on" Erwin took back, asserting her position as the full Hippo commander.
"Okay with those out of the way, Momo?" Anzu then coaxed, "so we will be taking part in the 1st Eurasian grand battle tournament" Momo started, "Eurasian? I didn't know Europe had a tankery scene" Noriko, the commander of Duck team then interrupted, "yes they do, the reason why you don't hear much of tankery outside of Japan is that it was not really that much of a mainstream sport" the PR manager then explained, "but from what I heard, it's taken off in the past year" Anzu then mention, while biting down on a dried potato, Miho swore she had some kind of unbreakable bond with that snack.
"Anyway, the Japan Sensha-Dō Federation (JSF) and the European Tankery Association (ETA) have set out the rules for this tournament, it's mostly the same but with a few differences, I will have it on the projector screen… once Yuzu has figured it out" Momo groaned while looking at her colleague, who was struggling with the white screen, Sodoko of the Mallard team huffed and walked over to Yuzu, pushing her aside and fixing the screen herself, "thanks" Yuzu said with a bit of embarrassment, "don't mention it" Sodoko just deadpanned, Nakajima of the Leopon team who was next to the light switches did the honours and switched them off, the room darkened as some words popped up on the screen.
"The rules as I said are almost the same, but can I draw attention to points 3-01 and 4-06, the differences are underlined" Momo showed everyone's eyes scanned down the words.
3-01 Participating vehicles' specifications
The only vehicles allowed to participate are the following:
Vehicles whose design was in development before December 31, 1960 (some exceptions to this rule may be made on a case-by-case basis).
Vehicles whose construction was planned using only materials available before the aforementioned date
If a participant is from a country which did not have a native tank design before the aforementioned date, then they can use tanks designed before December 31, 1996, a team is limited to 4 of these vehicles and will be subjected to balancing regulations (1960's steel composition, weakened stabilizers etc.).
Certain modern technologies (technologies made after August 15, 1945) such as sub-calibre rounds, and ATGM's must be stripped off / replaced on the chosen vehicles, other technological abilities may be subject to a case-by-case basis.
The limit of a vehicle's weight is set to 300 tonnes.
Vehicles which meet these requirements must be confirmed to be constructed using materials that were available at that time.
However, in the event that there is difficulty supplying the appropriate parts, the League may determine the allowable extent of reproductions and modifications.
Changes to the type or number of participating vehicles on a team directly prior to the match are open to objection by opposition members.
Open-topped vehicles, including gun carriages, self-propelled anti-tank guns and indirect fire artillery may be considered tanks, but require approval on a case-by-case basis, this rule can be resolved by the participants if they modify the open-topped vehicle with an enclosement kit.
3-01 Participating vehicles' specifications cont.
If a participating vehicle falls under the previously mentioned 1960-1996 rule, then the chosen vehicle must follow a set of manufacturer regulations:
The steel used in the production of the vehicle must be of a similar grade to 1960's grade steel (ceramic used in composite armour are not subjected to this rule).
The track horsepower of the vehicle must be reduced by 25% of its original engine power, Gas-turbine engines are banned and must be replaced with substitutes.
Explosive reactive armour is banned and must be removed or replaced with non-explosive substitutes.
The strength of gun stabilizers must be reduced by 50%
The strength of turret hydraulic systems must be reduced by 25%
Night-vision systems are banned and must be replaced with substitutes.
ATGM's are banned and must be removed from the vehicle.
4-06 On disabled vehicles
A tank may no longer participate in the battle after it has been declared "inoperable".
A tank is declared "inoperable" if the crew compartment is considered to be "destroyed" or if the crew without assistance from any body outside the team cannot recover / repair the vehicle to become operable again.
Shells have the ability to knock out crew members, rendering them unconscious and unable to perform tasks, they can be revived by the crew by using limited revival salts, if this isn't done they will stay unconscious for a few hours, usually waking back up after a battle has concluded.
If a tank has less than two operational crew members, it's considered "inoperable".
The participants will wait for the orders of the Judges, and comply with them as quickly as possible.
"Any questions?" Anzu then asked after some time, she saw a hand immediately pop up from Anglerfish team, "yes Yukari?" she queried, "looking at those tank regulation dates, that suggests we will be facing early cold war vehicles, maybe even some MBT's, and even blueprint vehicles which never had an official prototype, do you think we can take that on with what we have?" she asked, "we have been talking about that point, and the solution to that we will share later" Momo answered her query.
"Okay, so shall we go into the concept of a grand battle?" Anzu bubbled sitting down in her prized office chair, Momo switched the screen onto another slide, which was full of words again, which Momo started to read out.
"This is a tournament which demands the greatest stamina, tactical and management skills from a team, not just in the battle but out of it as well, each team will have a home base and there will be depots all over the huge play area, in these will be crates full of 'industrial resource'..."
"What's this industrial resource?" Karina of Rabbit team whispered to Azusa who was next to her, "beats me" she replied quietly.
"... we have to assault these depots and take the resource back to our base and into our storage, any tanks which were knocked out in the process will be delivered back for repair, but some resource will be taken away, the team who has the most resource in their storage by the end of the tournament period is declared the winner."
A hand immediately popped up, "yes Piyotan?" Momo asked, "how long is this tournament going to last?" she questioned, "we'll be in the field for two full weeks" Momo replied, there was an audible groan from some of the students, "well I better get the laptop ready" Nekota said to herself.
Another hand then popped up, "yes Moyoko?" Momo said, "will we be encountering anything else other than the other schools? And which schools will be participating?" she inquired.
"Oh yeah I forgot to mention, there will be a force of inter-war and early-war vehicles which will be all over the map, they may be moving around in packs or defending a depot, these which are known as 'Jinzōno' tanks, are controlled by AI and will attack any team which they see, oh and we aren't entirely sure on the list of schools which will be participating, but do expect the usual schools such as St. Gloriana and Kuromorimine to attend but they're will also be some European schools, I'll keep you all up to date on any changes which happen" Momo talked.
She then took her thoughts back to Yukari's question, "and going back to your question Yukari, since we are in a rather precarious situation with our tanks, I've been looking around and we will be having some volunteers from three European schools join us, but there is one slight issue."
"You all do know the concept of tankery in Japan being a feminine sport?", everyone looked closer at her, Momo took a breath "the thing is, in Europe the sport of tankery is more egalitarian, and the three teams we took in, are full male."
Everyone was a bit unnerved by this prospect, men didn't really have a place in tankery in their culture, so to have three male crews join them? that was quite the culture shock right there.
However, everyone was caught off guard by a loud scream from Saori, with a face full of glee, "OH MY GOOOOD! WERE GOING TO HAVE BOYS IN OUR GROUP! WHAT DO THEY LOOK LIKE? WHAT ARE THEIR INTERESTS? ARE THEY SINGLE? ARE THEY…"
"Whoa whoa calm down Saori, all I know is that one crew is British, the other is Swedish and the final one is Italian" Momo quickly tried to calm her down.
"ITALIAN, SWEDISH, AND BRITISH!?" Saori gasped, then her eyes rolled into her head and slumped back in her chair, she had fainted from the sensational overload, with a smile on her face, "and I thought I fainted too easily" Mako said in shock, Hana just smiled from her comment with Miho not being able to speak from what just happened.
Miho turned back to the council and forced a smile to get back on track, "well… well we'll be glad to take them on as our own right guys?" she asked the rest of the teams, they thought about it for a second, and most of them returned smiles, "sure, it may be awkward where going to have boys on the team, but what the hell, it may be exciting for all of us" Noriko encouraged, "it may flounder the school rules completely, but for this tournament, I'm willing to make an exception" Sodoko added on, "we can totally do it guys!" Azusa then exulted.
"So, I'm guessing from what I'm hearing, Ooarai will be taking part in the tournament?" Momo seeked clarification.
YEAH!
Momo was taken aback a bit from the response she received, Anzu hopped out of her chair, "then it's settled, the tournament starts in a few days, so that will give us time to make plans, train up and get the vehicles ready and to the tournament's specifications, you are dismissed for now" she laid out, she then looked at Saori and grimace a bit to her unconscious body, "but can someone please take miss Takebe to the nurse?" she vacillated.
"Have the preparations been made?" Darjeeling's sweet voice went over the telephone, sat there in her armchair with tea in hand, Orange Pekoe, Assam and Rosehip looking on, "perfect, we will be leaving in a few days, so make sure those tanks are in tip-top shape… ok thanks, goodbye", she put the phone down and looked at her classmates, "well?" Pekoe asked, "everything is in shape, all the students are informed and the tanks are being prepared as we speak, St. Gloriana will be participating in the grand battle tournament" Darjeeling recounted, "well this will be interesting, seeing all these new schools" Assam added on, "yeah, and I'll be the one showing my speed and hit-and-run skills to them all desu wa!" Rosehip boasted, both Pekoe and Assam giggled while Darjeeling pinched the bridge of her nose, "when will she ever learn" she grieved to herself.
"I'm telling you, we so have it in the bag!" Kay's loud cheery voice came over the table, Naomi and Alisa who were on the over side where listening to her words, Naomi with her arms crossed and Alisa had a few tournament documents in her hands which she was reading, "well which new schools will we be facing?" the former questioned, "eh, don't really know, but even so, they're probably just on the same level as us, but given that, we have the tank numbers to compensate for that" Kay answered, Naomi still wasn't convinced.
"Saunders has the tank numbers and we have the people to lead them, even if these European schools had sophisticated vehicles, we could always beat them with superior firepower doctrine, and just to spice it up, because of these relaxed rules, I've ordered a few more toys for us to play with" Kay then continued, this was enough encouragement for Naomi, "ehh what the hell, even if we didn't win, we still would make an impression wouldn't we" she chuckled.
Kay leaned forward in her seat, "also I want us to make a good impression to these new schools so no tricks, no sleaziness… and definitely no wiretapping!" those last words being directed at Alisa, who immediately panicked with wide open eyes, "look I told you I'm done with all that stuff!, you saw me rip that equipment out of my tank didn't you?" she blubbered, trying to defend herself, Kay just laughed, "haha I just love seeing you like that, but seriously, can you all please promise to me that you will be in line with the rules" she asked for, Naomi nodded and Alisa did a 'cross my heart and hope to die' on her chest, "good, I'll be calling an assembly later today, just be there and we'll get the rest of the school on board" she bubbled.
"Absolutely, Katyusha will be taking Pravda to this glorious tournament" the little girl of that name howled in her seat, with Nonna and Klara looking on with documents all over the table, "are you sure you want us to take part Katyusha?" Klara wanted confirmation, Katyusha just looked at her with a pout, "of course, we have the strongest tanks after all! with our prowess! Katyusha will show those Europeans that they are below me!" she boomed.
Klara just looked at Nonna, "vy deystvitel'no dumayete, chto my mozhem eto sdelat'?" she asked her colleague in her own language, Nonna just chuckled, "ya ne dumayu, chto u nas yest' bol'shoy vybor, teper' vy sobirayetes' podpisat' etot dokument ob uchastii?" she replied.
"STOP SPEAKING RUSSIAN!" Katyusha yelled at them both.
Marie groaned to the situation in front of her, here she was, on her side of the table where herself, Andou and Oshida, trying to convince the unifier of their school to take the commanding position again, that person was on the other side of the table, Asparagus.
"I told you, I've caused enough problems for this school, I've relegated myself to the Tankathlon scene, and that is where I choose to stay" Asparagus reaffirmed, Marie sighed, "but you where the person who unified us in the first place, we seriously need you back" she begged, Asparagus still had her arms crossed with a serious look under the visor of her hat, "why are you all of a sudden so desperate to have be back anyways?" she questioned, Marie looked at both her classmates and decided to say it out loud.
"I've signed BC Freedom up for the 1st Eurasian grand battle tournament" she admitted, Asparagus then seemed to loosen up a bit, "wait, that large scale tournament coming up soon?" she asked, Marie just nodded, "that's the reason why I want you to come back, I don't think I can do this all by my own, I need you to take the command for this tournament" she begged, "of course, because Oshida can't do it for you" Andou smirked, "hey, you can't lead anything if your life depended on it!" Oshida shot back, "oh really, then why am I the vice-commander?" Andou said back, "I'm a vice-commander too you idiot!" Oshida shouted, "stop it you two!" Marie snapped at them both, she wasn't in the mood to deal with their arguing at the moment.
Seeing that Marie wasn't being her usual ignorant, spoilt self, told Asparagus that they were being serious, sure she told herself not to do any more commanding, as her past actions had convinced her she had caused this entire mess between the BC and Freedom parts of the school, but she couldn't just stand by and watch the schools she united together get humiliated in a very prestigious tournament, she finally made her decision as she looked into Marie's eyes.
"If you really want me to return for the sake of BC-Freedom's honour, I will" she began to say, with Maire cracking a smile, but Asparagus then stuck her finger up, "BUT! under one condition" she then snapped, "and that being?" Andou asked, Asparagus had a slightly evil looking grin on her face, "any member or members of either the examination class or the escalator class who choose to start a fight between each other under my command will receive a MONTH'S worth of homework as punishment… oh and no cake may I add" she demanded, the other three girls gulped at this threat, their eyes wide in shock, "a month's worth of homework!?" Andou and Oshida thought to themselves, Marie looked at the plate of cake she had been eating, "and no cake!?" she panicked in her head, Oshida then turned to Andou and violently shook her hand, "err we have absolutely no problems between us don't we Andou?" she said in panic, "err yeah no problems whatsoever!" Andou responded also shaking back just as equally, Marie looked back at Asparagus, "well welcome back commander, I think that now makes me the co-commander" she depicted, Asparagus smiled, it looked like she still had that uniting prowess in her.
Anchovy had been hard at work this day, getting the new tanks she had ordered together from the earnings Anzio had made by hosting a few large parties, trying to get two week's worth of pasta and pizza rations together for the upcoming tournament, and calling an entire school together for an assembly, there she was, standing on the stage in front of the projector screen, which was being operated by her two close companions, Carpaccio and Pepperoni.
"Students of Anzio" her voice came over the entire crowd, "as you may know a great tournament between Japanese and European schools is due to commence soon, and we shall be participating in it as well."
"Now I know what you all are thinking, 'Duce? Will we get destroyed just like in the standard sensha-dō tournaments?', well, let me answer that question right here and now, thanks to all of your party hosting skills, and putting up with having the pasta rations cut time and time again, we have been able to gain the necessary funds, and with these funds we are able to bring some new tanks to the tournament."
Carpaccio hit a button and the picture of an exotic looking tank appeared on the screen, "our super-secret weapon, the M16/43, otherwise known as the Sahariano, imagine having the gun of an M13, but the speed of a Carro Veloce, we will outmanoeuvre our enemies with this vehicle and hit them hard where it hurts, with both of them as I was able to order two of them", everyone awed at this new vehicle, with some of the tank nuts in the crowd drooling at the mouth.
"BUT! There is more" Anchovy suddenly snapped, "we found that the armor and firepower of the Carro P26 to be rather insufficient, as our fight with Ooarai had proven, but your great Duce has thought of this fact and I have just the vehicle", and on que Carpaccio hit the button again, changing the image again to another tank.
"Our super-super-secret weapon! The Carro P43 bis!", everyone in the crowd gasped at this even more exotic tank, it even caught Pepperoni off guard as her eyes almost came out of her head, "with 100mm's of frontal armor and a 90mm gun in its turret, we will no longer be considered an underdog when it comes to armor and firepower, and I can tell you now, that this tournament will be different, we at Anzio have been struggling under all these restrictions, but now, with these more relaxed European rules, it will be our time to shine, and Anzio will be on top!"
Those words where met with an ecstatic response from the crowd, many of them standing up and cheering and howling in excitement, Anchovy stood there with a smug look on her face as her name was cheered, turning to and smiling at both Carpaccio and Pepperoni who in turn smiled back and cheered with the crowd.
DUCE! DUCE! DUCE!
"So, I can say we have come to an agreement on this tournament?" Kinuyo said to her subordinates around the table, all kneeling on pillows with a mixture of food such as sukiyaki and onigiri in front of them.
"Yeah, we spent quite a bit on getting those new Type 4 Chi-To's and that Type 5 Chi-Ri tank for the tournament anyways, with those European regulations, we have much more freedom when it comes to tanks" Hosomi mentioned, "so if Kinuyo-chan is getting the Chi-Ri, who is getting her tank, or the new tanks for that matter" the little Fukuda mentioned, "I'm getting the Chi-To!, and Hosomi could get the secret tank destroyer!, and…" Tamada then began to rapid-fire her ambitions, getting way ahead of herself.
"Woah, stop Tamada, firstly you're not setting the crews, I am, and second, I'm the overall commander her" Kinuyo put her foot down, stopping her vice-commander in her tracks, "so what are you going to do about the crews?" Hosomi said, "firstly, Tamada will stick with her Shinhoto Chi-Ha…"
"What!?" huffed Tamada as she felt cheated, "the reason being Tamada-chan is that I don't need you mindlessly charging into the enemy in an expensive tank, the Chi-To may have better armor but as the Europeans we will be facing say, you will still be turned into swiss cheese" Kinuyo explained, Tamada then tried to open her mouth to start an argument, "and if you try to argue with that position, I'll downgrade you to a Ha-Go" Kinuyo then cut her off, Tamada looked a bit torn but just took a deep breath, "fine" she calmly conceded, Kinuyo then turned to the others, "Hosomi you will get one of the Chi-To's and Fukuda will get my Chi-Ha" she laid out, "awesome!" Fukuda cheered to being promoted in the form of her tank, "oh, and can we not mention the tank destroyer please? I don't want any leaks" Kinuyo demanded, the others nodded their heads in response, "but what about that super-heav…" Fukuda then tried to say, but Kinuyo then reached over and covered her mouth, muffling her words, "and we shall not talk about that vehicle as well" Kinuyo silenced.
The sound of the kantele filled the air around the BT-42, the three main members of Jatkosota where laid on the tanks engine deck, Aki and Mikko where looking at the clouds while Mika was just lightly plucking the strings of her instrument.
"So, this tournament which is coming up, you think we have a shot in it?" Aki brought up, of course their small school had signed up for the grand battle tournament, "of course we do, if we could take down a whole bunch of Pershing's, what could stop us from doing well in this tournament" Mikko just bragged, Aki turned to Mika for advice who smiled back, "I do see your concern Aki, but sometimes we have to fight an uphill battle in order to succeed in our lives", she then started to play another verse on her kantele, "sometimes God will put a Goliath in your life, for you to find the David within you" she then quoted, Aki struggled to process that quote, but knowing Mika, she probably knew what she was talking about.
"So, mother, how did the sponsorship deal with the Boko museum go?" Alice asked over the phone to her mother Chiyo, her room wasn't completely vacant, as behind her sat in their seats where Azumi, Megumi and Rumi, the infamous 'Bermuda Trio'.
"It's going good my little Alice, the museum will be staying open thanks to our efforts, how is the preparations for the grand tournament going?" Chiyo chatted with her daughter, Alice looked over to Rumi who gave an OK symbol with her hand, "it's all proceeding as planned, soon All-Stars University will be ready to participate in the grand battle" she responded on the phone, Chiyo gave a slight sigh, "you do know that you will be up against some skilled European schools, and due to your skill level you will almost probably be limited in the number of tanks you can bring" she said, "yes mother, I am fully aware of the odd stacked against us" Alice replied, "but don't worry my little Alice, you and your companions, especially the Bermuda Trio are gifted with some of the greatest skill in sensha-dō, you will push for victory and destroy any of those Europeans who dare stand against you."
"You will show them the true way, the way of the Shimada style."
"Maho I have the files on…" Erika began to say as she came into the room, but she was cut off by Maho sticking an index finger at her, she saw that she had a phone stuck up against her ear.
"I'm guessing that's Erika dropping in on our conversation" Shiho said on the other side of the line, "yes mother she was gathering documentation on the upcoming tournament" Maho explained, Shiho gave a sound of approval, "how is she anyways?" she then asked, "I'm fine miss Nishizumi" Erika called out loud enough for her to hear, "good, anyways Maho how is the preparations going?" Shiho acknowledged and continued, "most of the vehicles are ready to be moved out, and we had an assembly just today explaining everything to the crews" she notified, "that's excellent" Shiho praised, but there was a bit of silence from Maho, "something on your mind Maho?" her mother noticed and asked, "it's just that I know Ooarai will be participating in this tournament, I still can't take my thoughts off Miho" she confessed, there was a heavy sigh from Shiho, "you do realize she has tarnished and dragged our style through the mud Maho, and that she defeated you in the 63rd tournament" she mentioned, "yes mother" Maho replied with a sombre tone, "but take this as an opportunity, the reason why I supported the match against All-Stars is because I wanted you to get the chance to defeat her" Shiho continued, "yes mother" Maho again replied, "and can you make one promise to me?" her mother asked for, "what is it?" Maho said slightly intrigued to what she meant, "there will be multiple European schools who will be participating, bringing their barbaric tactics and pointless commands to the battlefield, Miho will join their barbaric ways, but you Maho…"
"You will show them the true way, the way of the Nishizumi style."
Translations
Vy deystvitel'no dumayete, chto my mozhem eto sdelat'? = Do you really think we can do it? (Russian)
Ya ne dumayu, chto u nas yest' bol'shoy vybor, teper' vy sobirayetes' podpisat' etot dokument ob uchastii? = I don't think we have much of a choice, now are you going to sign that participation document? (Russian)
So this is the result of me looking at Girls Und Panzer in curiosity and, as a history and tank freak, got sucked into this fandom, now i know what you are all thinking…
Uurgh another GuP story with boys in it, god thats soooo origional, so boring…
And that is why I'm going to try to put my own spin on things, thats the main reason why I 'bent' the Sensha-do rules a bit is so you will get to see some more exotic tanks (a few have been mentioned in this part) and dreamed up an entire different type of tournament for even more immesion, but what I can tell you right now is it won't be your usual GuP story with boys.
Anyways I hope you enjoy this part enough to R&R (I'll take in any form of review, criticism is the fuel for change and progression, also it gives me motivation) and I hope to see you in the next part.
Oh and I almost forgot, all of these characters have the voices in the English dub of this anime, all of them speak English, mainly just to avoid a few unnecessary language barriers.