Yeah, Procrastination, need to stop doing it, but hey, got this part for you all, and now the reviews...
1: Yes the info on each of the competitions' bust size was much needed. Heh, seriously though, not shitting on the story in any sense, keep going. I can already tell with the entrance of Katyusha on steroids, this is gonna be interesting. Good luck with the writing. It can be difficult, I tried it once, got three chapters done and a few drafts prepared and the spark was just gone, hope that doesn't happen with this one!
Heh, I can see what you mean when it comes to the bust size, but I personally use it as one good point of describing what a woman looks like in a story, it also give a hard definition and reduces variability (for example, some more 'perverted' readers may think all these new female characters have DD sized busts :-/) but defining them in writing kinda stops that from happening, but thanks for the question, and thanks for the motivating paragraph, I admit myself I've had some previous stories in other fanfic's which I've never finished, I'm hoping to god I can finish this one, but thanks for the motivation!
2: Oh boy that was something.
I wonder in future chapters that Maho and Shiho misunderstands Tom being Miho's boyfriend and go nuts about it even going though the lengths spying where ever they go and kidnapping Tom and interrogating about there relationship between him and her and all while he is completely terrified at what's happening and Miho coming in to save him and explain what's happening.
Hmm, wasn't originally planning for something like that, but I think you just gave me an idea ;-)
3: And if they where on brazil little miss katrina would be in death row facing charges of attempt murder...
4: Well looks like Katrina is a brat that needs to learn. With a sledge hammer to the gut
Katarina: You mad seljaci's!?
Yeah but seriously, I designed her in such a way that she isn't just an annoyance to the characters in the story, but to the reader as well, a good technique to create a very good antagonist.
Also, I found that liking things to a Facebook page is a good way to get around the link-ban that FanFiction enforces, on my profile homepage is a link to a Facebook post, this in-turn links to a Google Document which contains more information on the schools, images to tanks, that sort of thing, I will be updating it as new things come apparent in the story (I even designed the Logo's for the European schools in Inkscape BTW, link is on that document).
And finally, this chapter is the end of the long Introduction (finally), after this is actual action in the tournament.
Enough talk, the chapter, here it is.
ビュッフェと情報- Buffet and Information
"If you keep rubbing your cheek it will only get worse" Maho calmly scolded Erika, who could not stop rubbing the area of her face which Katarina had slapped earlier.
Now all of them where sat down at a long and large wooden table, with a row of chairs on each side, all but three of the chairs were filled as everyone had helped themselves to all the various cuisine which was laid out, Saunders had already gone for the chips, hamburgers and other fast food, St. Gloriana had a few crumpets and cupcakes, Anzio had the pasta and lasagne, Chi-Ha-Tan had a large gathering of onigiri and all the other schools had their assortment of food.
Miho was currently biting into a piece of chicken katsu, she was still however aware of the empty seat between her and Erwin, there were also two more empty seats in the opposite row, but it was obvious that everyone was glad they were empty after the antics which had happened a few moments ago.
"So, do anyone of you think that Katarina will have any form of punishment for what she did?" Kinuyo wondered to everyone, "I hope she does that tall brat" Erika groaned while still rubbing her cheek, to the point where Maho literally forced her hand down by herself.
"It's sad to say but I highly doubt it" Theodor consoled, the visor of his cap covering his eyes as he had his arms crossed, "why's that?" Aki then questioned him, "for any form of punishment to be bestowed on any individual, or individuals or even an entire school, it requires an agreement to be reached between a small council of ETA members, and being honest, they're a bunch of cowards" he proceeded to explain.
"So? What's just stopping them from slapping down a punishment?" Rosehip snorted, "you don't know Katarina" Annie then jumped in and proceeded to explain, "she may have just ruined her reputation with you all here, but back in her home country of Croatia, she's immensely popular with her fans, no matter what she does, how controversial it is, her fans will still support her, if the ETA or now the JSF tries to do anything against her, they will all go berserk and threaten the authorities, make complaints and trash the reviews of any ETA programs, and all that scaremongering has worked for her every time, now the ETA is sacrificing our defences against her antics, just to make sure their media affiliates continue to get all of the viewership from the Balkans without any backlash".
"Urgh, it's always the cool ones who get to do everything they want" Kay scolded, at that point Alisa and Naomi looked at her suggestively, "what!?" Kay snapped at them both, not realising the hypocrisy in her statement.
"But, if you want a piece of laughable trivia, you may had noticed when she had her loud mouth open the pair of yellowed teeth she had" Marika then told, "and why is that?" Alice asked, "that's because she a smoker" Zlata finished Marika's statement.
"What!? A smoker at her age?" Oshida exclaimed surprised, "that's disgusting" Assam said to herself negatively, "but yet again, nobody dares call her out on it, because, you know why" Tom finished.
At that point while everyone was still recovering from that piece of knowledge, Ami came back into the room and stood by a larger chair at the end of the table.
"Hello everyone, now may I start by saying that I've reported the actions of Miss Branković to the ETA authorities, however I can't guarantee if they will take action" she mentioned.
"Told you so" Theodor said to the others.
"Anyways moving on from that, I am happy to say that we have a special guest who I like to introduce you all to a prominent member of the ETA council". And at that point a man walked into view and stood next to Ami.
He looked rather old, with a wrinkled face as he stood at the same height as Ami, he wore a dark blue Swedish officer's uniform, with blazer complete with military decorations, trousers and black shoes, he wore a peaked cap on his head of the same colour which covered his short grey hair, he also had a grey bushy moustache under his nose and a pair of wrinkled blue eyes.
"Meet Retired Generallöjtnant Thorvald Sigmund Emil, High school and University league instructor for the ETA" Ami described.
"Hallå my Japanese and European guests, it's a pleasure to see you all here today" Emil greeted himself, his deep, old Swedish accent being present in the room.
"Do you know what he does exactly?" Miho asked Tom who was sat next to her, "who Emil? Guys that is the man who trained Elk team at Gotland Military Tankery School, who is one of the most prominent members of the ETA, and the man who reformed tankery in Europe which allow us boys into it" he explained.
At that point there was the sound of a door opening and closing, Miho along with everyone turned to see who it was, and it was Yukari who had a bit of a panicked look on her face seeing everyone looking at her, "oh sorry did I miss everything?" she apologised, "nah, we were just getting started Oddball" Kay smiled at her, Yukari rushed over to the empty seat, muttering sorry as she sat down in between Miho and Erwin.
At that point Ami and Emil sat down in their seats at the end of the table, looking down the length at everyone to either side, "okay now, 'most' of us are here, let us begin with the last talks before the start of this tournament" Ami began, trying to ignore the absence of DST and NTC, which personally she was glad for.
"Where have you been?" Miho leaned over to and whispered to Yukari, "oh, just did a bit of recon" the fluffy returned, showing the micro camera out of her pocket, "got a few pictures of some film showing some of the European tanks, should be good to scour through" she finished.
"May I start that this tournament has been the result of a lot of work and co-operation between both the JSF and the ETA in order to make this entire event possible, the director of the JSF Shichiro Kodama and the current chairman of the ETA Stanisław Warszawski have been grateful for all of you taking part in this historic moment". Emil announced.
At this point Miho just zoned out in thought, she was still thinking about too many other things on her mind.
What specific tactics would these new European schools use on the battlefield?
What specific tanks will they use?
What they will do in times of victory or defeat?
She was so deep in her mind though, she had completely forgotten they were in a meeting...
"...any questions?", Miho suddenly came back to reality as Ami and Emil had finished all the talking they had to do, everyone else was still silent which showed the lack of questions.
"Okay, now since this whole tournament is still technically just a long battle, we need to go through procedure, so, Japanese students rise" Ami then ordered, on que, all the Japanese students rose from their seats, all of them looking at the one positioned on the other side of the table.
"Good luck to you" Ami then said, bowing down.
"Good luck to you!" all the Japanese students complimented each other and bowed in the process… well, nearly all.
Miho noticed that Marie wasn't bowing, still stood there with a smile on her face, Asparagus had noticed as well, still in her bowing position, she put her hand on Marie's back and amusingly forced her into a bow, with her gasping as a result.
After a short time, the Japanese students then stood straight again and sat back down.
"European students rise" Emil then called out, him and all the European students, including Tom stood up out of their seats, amusingly, just to get a bit of extra height, Annie had decided to stand up on her seat, making her more level with everyone else.
"Good luck on the battlefield" Emil then said, saluting with his right hand.
"Good luck on the battlefield!" all the European students complimented each other and saluted with their hands.
After a short time, they stood at ease and sat back down.
"Now that everything has been accounted for, any last thing?" Ami then asked them all, "yes, you don't mind a little toast from me?" Darjeeling answered her, "go right ahead" Ami replied to her.
Darjeeling stood back up, still with tea in hand, "I will finish this night by saying to all of you, that this tournament, and I think I'm right in thinking you all will agree with me on this point, is a tournament we all have never seen or comprehended before, it may be all new to us, but I can see all of us pulling through these next two weeks, so my Japanese, and new European friends…" she then took a pause to take a sip of her tea.
"...good luck, and may the best team win".
Now everyone was walking out of the plaza at their own pace, the Ooarai group all being together we're walking out of the building, but what they didn't realise that above them on one of the upper floors, leaning on the railings was a figure looking down on them.
Shiho in her black suit was rather curious by the new boy who was now moving around closely with her younger daughter, sure she may have almost disowned her, but it's the job of a mother to always keep an eye on her siblings, and in her eyes, they looked like they were getting close.
Almost too close...
Outside the Anzio gang where walking back to their truck which Pepperoni had driven them here in, "we'll all of that was interesting wasn't it" Carpaccio said to the others, "yeah, rather eventful, but that Croat though, jeez she was something" Pepperoni fretted, "well let's get back to base, I'm tired as it is" Anchovy decided, as they neared the truck, Carpaccio noticed a piece of paper tucked in between the wiper and the windscreen, "hey, look at this piece of paper on the windshield" she called out, taking it out of its place, "oh god don't tell me it's another parking ticket, I've already got five of them under the seat" Pepperoni whined, "yeah, remember when you tried paying that traffic warden with a half-used tube of tomato-purée?" Anchovy mocked, "hey! It was very well sought after discounted purée okay" Pepperoni defended herself, Carpaccio opened the paper up, "well Duce it's not a parking ticket" she started, "oh thank god" Pepperoni gasped, "but it's a note" Carpaccio then continued, "well what does it say?" Anchovy asked, Carpaccio proceeded to read it out.
"Dear Anzio
My visit with all of your fellow schools has ended up leaving a disgusting taste
in my mouth, their imperialistic, insulting and provocative ways forced us to leave before the conversations even started, but out of all of those idiots, your small school does seem to have the hope of a friendship in it, that is why your Duce and her subordinates are welcome to visit our home base at any time under a white flag, I'll be looking forwards to meeting and having a civilised conversation with you without those other moronic schools getting in the way.
Yours sincerely, Katarina Branković, Commander of DST."
"What? That crazy Croat giant likes us!?" Pepperoni exclaimed in shock, "looks like she does, what do you say Duce?" Carpaccio then asked her superior, Anchovy just stood there for a while in thought, but then just shook her head, "I don't know, I'll have a think about it, but does it feel wrong to try and make friends with someone who treats others like dirt?" she then replied with, opening the door on the truck and getting in, "hmm, well at least she won't hate us, which if you ask me is worth it" Carpaccio answered that question as she got into her seat, Pepperoni got into the drivers position, "well lets deal with this another time" she then offered, starting the truck up, "yeah, we have other things to deal with right now, like cooking a big supper of pasta for the team when we get back" Anchovy beamed.
The drive back for Ooarai in the limousine was just as uneventful as the drive earlier, although they could tell Yukari had some built-in excitement inside her as she couldn't stop fidgeting.
They came back into the courtyard of their home base, being lit up by a few floodlights dotted around the area on poles or on the side of the structures, when they stopped the chauffeur did his thing and opened the door for them, when they thanked him he parted with them, got back in the limo and drove out of the complex.
The five members turned to see Moyoko and Saemonza at the front door of the main building, probably taking a break outside in the night air, "hey you guys are back, how was it?" Saemonza asked them, "well, very interesting, that's all I can say" Erwin responded to her, "hey Moyoko, did anyone go to bed or anything?" Miho then asked the morals committee member, "ehh all the boys and most of the girls went to bed, but I think the student council is still up and doing things, Sodoko did set a hard time for lights out which I think is coming up soon" she replied, "well where going to be an exception to that tonight, also can you tell Anzu and Yuzu to show up at the strategy room, Akiyama wants to give us a debriefing on some tanks" Momo then ordered, "I do that right now" Moyoko responded and walked back into the building, "and I think it's wise you go and get some sleep Monza" Erwin then proposed to her fellow Hippo team member, "sure thing, I was getting tired anyways" Saemonza answered.
After ten minutes of waiting in the strategy room, Momo, Anzu, Yuzu, Erwin, Tom and Miho where sat in the chairs around the main table, watching Yukari as she set a projector pointing at a white screen she pulled down in front of one of the chalkboards, she stuck the SD card containing all the images into a slot on the projector and grabbed a remote, with the machine turned on, she sat back in one of the seats.
"Okay, I found this room in the building which was playing a slideshow of images of the European tanks, I managed to snap a picture of all of them without being noticed by the JSF and ETA members watching it, but may I disclaim that these images were taken during a past European tournament, so the teams may have got some new tanks in between now and then" Yukari introduced, "interesting you managed to find it, well you're the tank nut so I'll let you go" Tom praised, "great! Well let's start with Žatec-Pilsen" Yukari bubbled.
She hit the button on the remote and the first tank popped it, it looked rather small and unremarkable, "that's an LT vz. 34, a small seven and a half tonne tank, armed with a small 37 mm cannon and only having around 15 mm of armour, but their cheap and plentiful".
The next tank was a tank which the whole of Turtle team recognized, "hey, that's a Panzer 38t, the same one we once had" Anzu called out, "more correctly an LT vz. 38, that's the Czech designation for it before the Germans took them over, basically the same tank we had before it was upgraded into the Hetzer, so we know what to expect from this one, fast and agile".
The next tank however was new to them, "an ST vz. 39, has a different suspension system and is heavier than the previous tanks, it has up to 32 mm of armour and a 47 mm gun to go with that".
The next one was however very interesting, a tank with sloped armour and a flowing turret design, "this one is interesting, it's a Škoda T-25, important things to note is that its packing a 75 mm L/55 A18 gun with a three-shot magazine, it's also rather quick due to a powerful engine despite its size so keep that in mind".
The next tank looked just like a T-34, "now I know what you're thinking, that looks like a T-34-85 Akiyama, but that isn't just a normal T-34, it's a Konštrukta T-34/100" Yukari told, trying hard not to butcher the Czech pronunciation, "it has a 100 mm gun in that turret in place of the 85 mm which unlike the latter hits like a ton of bricks, so don't underestimate it if you meet it".
"And the final tank in Žatec-Pilsen's arsenal, well which I could find" she flipped onto the next image, a large tank with a long barrel and flat surfaces, "a TVP VTU Koncept, equipped with the VTU turret and the large 105 mm vz. 39N in it, it hits hard and moves fast, however its armour is lacklustre so we should have no problems damaging it, that being if you shoot first, also looking at the fact it's acting as a flag tank in this image tells me it's going to be the tank that Zlata uses".
"Good, up next is DST-NTC compound team" Momo then mentioned.
"Okay, brace yourselves because as I feared, they're using MBT's" Yukari warned.
The first vehicle looked like a T-55, but it had extra armour plates on its hull and turret and a few extra bits, "that to me looks like a T-55, but more specifically a T-55AI, better known as the Igman, it's a Yugoslav built version of the T-55, has extra spaced armour plates and utilizes parts from the M-84, seeing NTC badging on it tells me it's the Serbians who are going to be using them in the compound team".
"May I ask something, is reactive armour banned fully by the rules? Because I know some MBT's have that type of armour" Yuzu said confused, "it is, but teams like DST and NTC get around it by taking the explosive out of the armour plates, which doesn't make them reactive armour anymore, just bog-standard spaced armour, not as effective but still a headache if your shooting HEAT or HEAT-FS rounds" Tom then explained.
"Yeah I was thinking about that when I saw the images, anyways next tank" Yukari got back on track, the next vehicle definitely represented a Soviet-era MBT, "now thats an M-84, has a front made of thick composite armour, a thick turret with a large 125 mm smoothbore gun spitting out HEAT-FS rounds at a high velocity, fast due to a very powerful diesel engine, it's definitely a real challenge to take down, I found two versions of it, the standard M-84 with DST badging and a more special M-84AS with NTC badging".
She showed an image of the M-84AS, and it had Vlatko standing just next to it, "seeing that Vlatko is next to it in this image tells me it's his command tank, the main differences to note about it is extra armour plates on the hull and turret, better fire control systems and extra optics".
"So how do you take one of those things out?" Anzu then asked, "side shots, the M-84 was based on the T-72 which was notorious for blowing up from a side shot into the magazine, well I doubt an M-84 will blow up in this tournament due to all the crew-safety regulations, but even so, it's a good way of getting around the thick composite armour in the hull front and turret to destroy the crew compartment, also I'll mention its diesel engine is also really loud, you can hear them from some distance away so it's best to take advantage of that fact" Yukari explained.
"Now, SCARLAT is next" she said as turned her attention back to the screen.
The first tank in their arsenal looked rather insignificant, it was small and only had an armament of two machine guns, "that's a R-1 tankette, it may look pathetic with its machine guns but its small and fast, and seeing the extra communication aerials on it, it may be acting as some kind of recon vehicle for them".
The next tank looked like another Panzer 38t, "a Romanian Panzer 38t, they designate it as the T-38, pretty much the same, nothing special here".
The next image contained two tank destroyers, "now these two were originally open-topped tank destroyers, but it looks like SCARLAT had enclosed them in order to make them comply with the rules, the one on the left is a TACAM T-60, with the superstructure being slightly taller and longer in order to fit the backplate and roof with hatches, and the one on the right is a TACAM R-2, with the rear of the superstructure closed up and hatches added to the roof, I expect to find these hiding in a bush or behind a ridgeline in the field".
"A bit of trivia for you, because of the cramp conditions in the TACAM T-60 due to the enclosement, Theodor has first-year students manning them" Tom then mentioned.
The final image contained what looked like two Panzer tanks, "again another case of Romania borrowing tanks from Germany, the tank to the left is a T-3, basically a Panzer III N, and the one of the right is a T-4, a Panzer IV H lacking the Schürzen skirts on the hull and only having it around the turret, seeing the flag on the T-4 tells me it could be their command tank".
Miho could see Yuzu scribbling down all the notes on a notepad, Anzu as usual just kicked her feet up on the table and pulled out another packet of dried sweet potatoes.
The final school on the list was MTF.
The first image of a tank for them was a light tank, it looked small and had a small gun to go with it, "that's a 38M Toldi, specifically a IIa model with a 40 mm gun, based off the Swedish Landsverk L-60B, very fast and nimble" she switched to another picture which had a Toldi with Margaréta sitting on its cupola, with her posing for the camera, her Toldi had the tank's signature circular antenna on the turret, "and looking at this Toldi, I think Margaréta is the one who commands all the Toldi's by the antenna which is attached to command tanks" Yukari theorised.
The next picture contained two tanks, both being similar medium tanks, but each had a different main armament, "these two tanks are similar to each other, the one on the left is a 40M Turán I, the one on the right is a 41M Turán II, they're pretty much the same tank mobility and armour wise, but the difference is in armament, the Turán I is armed with a long barrelled 40 mm gun while the Turán II is armed with a short barrelled 75 mm gun".
The final picture was of a self-propelled gun, being based on a Turán hull with a large howitzer poking out the front, "and that is a 43M Zrínyi, specifically a Zrínyi II, armed with a large 105 mm MÁVAG howitzer, its shells hit hard and its low profile makes it hard to see if it's in cover, also its acting as a flag tank in this image so I'm guessing this is the tank Annuska will use" Yukari finished.
"Her nickname is Annie" Momo then corrected her, "oh right" Yukari quickly corrected herself,
"But that's all the tanks I could find in the images, but I doubt that's all of them, I've also heard rumours that some of our schools like St. Gloriana, Saunders, Pravda, Anzio, BC Freedom and maybe more have gotten a few new tanks for their arsenal, I've even heard things like Chi-Ha-Tan having something called a 'HT No. 6' whatever that may be I don't know yet, so it's best to still be prepared for anything we may meet" Yukari warned.
"Well thanks to this, we now know most of the vehicles the Europeans will be fielding in this tournament, thanks to you" Miho congratulated, "oh thanks commander!" Yukari bubbled, fidgeting with her hair and blushing to the praise.
At this point however Anzu let out a loud yawn, "well ladies and gentlemen I think it's time we went to sleep, it's too late" she suggested, "so when does the tournament start again?" Erwin asked while rubbing an eye, Tom then checked his watch, "five o'clock in the morning" he respond, "okay, we'll all go the bed and we'll plan our first operation in the morning, sound good?" Miho suggested, everyone nodded in return, "okay, well 'Panzer Vor' to the beds" she then joked, with the others cracking a smile.
The early morning air was still in the small town, it looked like a normal modern Japanese styled town square, the concrete pavement in the centre surrounding the water fountain and the market stands surrounding the area looked lively and inviting, the buildings enclosing the square where also nicely decorated.
The only thing which was missing was people, however, there was no-one to be seen.
As this town wasn't built for people, it was built as a playground for tanks.
And the crates of industrial resources in trailers among the market stands where a clear indicator of this, as this town square acted as one of the supply depots on the map.
A clock which overlooked the square hit five o'clock, the short chime it let out into the air was met with the sound of starting engines.
Coming out from being one of the builds where multiple inter-war vehicles, coloured in light grey and black striped camouflage and the ominous kanji characters '人造の' on the side of their turrets.
The first tank was a T-26, which started to drive towards the edges of the town to take a defensive position, it was followed by a Panzer II and a Strv m/31, also in the same camouflage.
To another direction, a T-60, Type 95 and a Hotchkiss H-35 came out from behind another set of buildings, they turned towards another direction to take defensive positions in other parts of the town.
But in the centre, two large tanks came out and proceeded to take covering positions in the square, to the left, a Soviet T-35 and to the right, a German Neubaufahrzeug.
The Jinzōno had awakened, and the tournament was now on.