Prologue
Unknown
Whrrr…
The familiar old sound plays in my ears. It's a good sound, means that I will still be powerful.
'Participants, prepare for battle!' The announcer says through the loudspeakers installed several kilometers away, yet clearly audible.
Well it's now or never. If I loose this, all that I've worked for will be in vain.
I pull the map out of my jacket and examine the combat area. A 29 km by 30 km area designated as combat grounds for the match. A mix of country side and urban terrain. It really doesn't matter where I go, Eagle will not let me down.
'Let the match begin!' The announcer yells.
I see the flare announcing both sides to begin combat fly over me.
"It's time to move."I say."Don't let me down now Eagle."
The engine soft purr turns into a loud roar as over six hundred horsepower power made this rare
multi-ton behemoth roar into life.
"Course plotted. Engaging cruise control."I say as I prepare to move position."Locking steering mechanism."
A loud clank fills the compartment as the only way to control Eagle locks the direction of my destination.
I move towards the hatch and make a brief pause at a little nook in the space. A picture of a man and a boy, sitting on top of a monstrous track, rests there.
"This match will make all of our effort worth while, I promise."I say, grazing my fingers against the old picture.
I release the hatch lock and a gush of wind enters as I force myself out of it. Beyond it, a large forest clearing sprawls around me, hilly terrain making it difficult to easily survey my surroundings. Eagle has the ultimate advantage here.
A few minutes pass by as I scout my surroundings as we advance towards an opening in the forest. It's way too easy. Jintama International isn't known for the direct approach.
'CRA CRA CRA CRA CRA'Birds not far from my position fly out of the tree tops, visibly scared by something.
I quickly drop inside and stop us. A few seconds later I'm back up and check in the direction of the scared birds.
"Their behavior is obviously based on feline hunters."I say" Panzer Tiger I crews aren't known for their subtle approach…"
Before I can even finish my sentence, I spot a flash of white smoke before I'm thrown off balance.
"So there you are!"I grin as I spot the panzer that shot that rickashawed shot from."Well two can play at that game!"
With a wide smile on my face, I close the hatch as another shell bounces off Eagle and slide into the gunner seat.
"Hmm….can't really tell the exact distance as is...Alright I'll use the rangefinder then."I tell myself before pressing a blue button on the side of the sight. A red dot appears on top of the Panzer Tiger and a few seconds later, a number appears above it:400 meters."Found ya."
A loud whirr fills the compartment as the hydraulic engines kick in, spinning Eagle's most lethal weapon into position, its 105 mm armored cannon. Another shell bounces off of the turret.
"Just give it up already, there is no way you are going through 340 milimeters of gun breach."I say as I begin to take aim."….just about…."
One final shell hits the breach, making the projectlie disintegrate on impact.
"Goodbye."I whisper before a monstrous boom fills the area around me.
Less than a second later, a cloud of dust covers the Tiger I . As soon as it disipates, the best view I can ever see appears. A white flag, waving above the commander's hatch.
"And One of the four Heavy panzers for Jintama is down!"The announcer yells excitedly.
I sigh in relief as I begin to reload the cannon. About 10 seconds later, the secure clack of the breach locking the warhead and primer, confirming that Eagle was ready for another one.
"I better scout out my surroundings before advancing."I plan ahead."I'm sure they think it'll take me a long time to reload on my own, if I can I need to take advantage of this."
As I say this, I notice more birds being disturbed through the scope.
Jintama Internation composes of four Heavy Panzer Tiger I's , a single Light Panzer I C and a Medium Panzer Panther II, the heavy tanks are no issue as long as I keep my hull down but the medium and light tank may pose a problem if they try to flank behind me, so they are top priority.
" DING, DING, PLOCK!" Eagle vibrates as two shells ricochet off the turret and another one lobs itself into the breach, making a slight dent.
"Time to face the music..."I break an old smile before focusing in the match.
Miho
"Miho, c'mon, it's already started!"Yukari's head pops through the crack on the door."Your going to miss it!"
I turn around to her.
"I'm almost done with the tea, I'll be right there!"I tell her.
"He just took out the Panzer Pather II in a single shot!"Saori exclaims" That thing seems immortal!"
"Gaah, I'm missing it!"Yukari panics before diving back into the living room.
"Hehehe"I can't help but laugh at her reaction.
A few minutes later, as I walk in , yet another Panzer has gone down, the Panzer Tiger I appears flipped to its side, it's track completely gone and a white flag waving from its side.
"I can't believe I'm witnessing such a rare tank in action!"Yukari says, barely containing her excitement." With the same gun as a Panzer T28/T95 , it's performance seems almost abnormal at first but it's surprisingly powerful when defending itself from onslaught and a capable contender with it's fast turret traverse rate and above avarage perfomance, being able to go over 35 kmph on a road!"
"What are the crew's names?"I ask as I sit down and hand the tea around to everyone."I heard that the first male pilot is part of the crew."
"That's the strange part." Hana says after sipping at her tea." It's been pretty common that the press says that it's a mostly female crew and one man, but infact, it's just him."
My eyes widen when I hear this, when I look around me, it seems I'm not the only one.
"Wait are you serious?!"Saori asks what we are all thinking."It's just him in that thing?!"
"Yes"Hana nods"I asked Shinzaburou to do some research on him. Here."
She pulls out five packets of paper out of her backpack and hands us each one.
"His name is Takashi Seras."She begins to explain."From what he was able to find, his father's was one of the most famous panzer mechanics in the U.S. and his mother was part of the U.S.T. as a commander for their now decomissioned Panzer Tortoise heavy assault tank destroyer. So it seems that he grew up with panzers."
"And that panzer that he's crewing, how is he manning a tank that's normally crewed by 6 people?!""Yukari asks with eagerness.
"It appears that the tank he's manning has an extra modification that just barely passed the Shensado Federation's inspection..."I say as I read through the packet."It seems that the tank itself was disputed for approval for it's 105 mm cannon and unusually armored cannon breach, under the pretext of 'unauthorized specification modifications', but it was shot down quickly when the documented paper proved it's authenticity. A Panzer T-29…. it's the first time i've ever heared about it, let alone see one in action."
"It's a real rare panzer, most of them are in museums, "Yukari explains"I remember hearing some time ago that there was still one operational for the American Shensado League, but when I tried looking for it online on the lineups, not a single team had it."
"Well that's because it's under private ownership, not any schools or academies."Hana explains before taking one final sip of her tea."Rather curious, it appears that Takashi's father was an active supporter of opening shensado to boys aswell, but it really never picked up with most academies."
"Most? Does that mean there's one that did?"Saori asks.
"It was Ace School, for three consecutive years, he was the only male in the all girls academy and their lead commander for their Shensado team."She explains" Even back then he still crewed that panzer by himself."
Silence spreads around us as the match turns more intense.
"Two panzers are down!"The announcer says, barely believing his own eyes."He just took out the Panzer I C and one of Jintama's last surviving Panzer Tiger I's with a single shell!"
"How did he just do that..."Hana whispers, barely believing her eyes."...I look away for a second and the two panzers..."
Just then, the match transmission, as if hearing our doubt, does an instant replay.
"As you can see, The Panzer T-29 fired it's cannon right at this instant that the Tiger I and the Pz I C engaged it, trying to overwhelm it with firepower, but, by some miracle or deep calculation, the shell hit the Pz I C, knocking it out , rickashawed and went right into the middle of the Tiger I's hull, who was over 200 meters away!"The announcer recaps the slow motion replay, which still struggles to keep up with the shell.
"Hey Yukari..."I say
"Yeah Miho?"Yukari seems as dumbfounded as I am.
"How fast does the shell for that panzer go?"I ask.
"Well it varies by the shell it used, which it can use a total of 4 different shells, including a very powerful High Explosive round."She explains"But judging by what round it was… it was travelling at over 800 meters per second… and that's it's slowest shell..."
A few seconds later and the buzzard indicating the end of the match blares.
"The match has ended!"The announcer says in disbelief" The winner is...the Panzer T-29… on it's own..."
That day marked the first day in history that a man had won single-handedly against one of the top tank teams in Japan.
