Chapter 12: The Third Battle
As the battle against the Subjugator's forces began, the Oarai tanks advanced, keeping an eye out for the enemy.
Two T-34 tanks approached, lumbering along the path without any apparent intention of attacking. Miho inferred that this was likely a scouting patrol, since it would likely only be able to take out one or two of their tanks before being taken down.
"Take them out!" Miho said over the radio.
Anglerfish Team and Hippo Team quickly fired, disabling them before they could react to the presence of the Oarai forces.
"That's two down," Miho said.
"Seriously, two against eight?" Saori said. "Even with their heavy armor, they don't stand a chance against these numbers, especially not the the way they're fighting."
"It was either a scouting party or bait for a trap," Miho said. "They probably know that with nearly twice as many tanks as ours, they can throw some away."
"You know what it reminds me of?" Nekota asked the others in her tank. "It's like in an RTS, if you send a unit into enemy territory, and forget about it, it basically can't do anything effective to protect itself without your orders."
"But don't units in some of those games react automatically to danger?" Momogawa said. "In other words, it should be common sense to fight back, and common sense for the commander to not waste units- no one except the AI on the easiest difficulty and complete noobs make such mistakes."
"Not everyone has common sense, you know," Iruka said. "You noticed how Kimura-san was acting a bit like a zombie back there? If the people in these tanks are like her, I think something's wrong with all of them."
In the Subjugator's tank, he received the first casualty reports of the match.
"Xi team, down!"
"Omnicron team, also down!"
The Subjugator knew that they were two of the weakest tank crews in his group. The crews were classified by Greek letters in accordance with approximate strength; his team, Alpha Team, was the strongest, Omnicron was the weakest of the deployed teams, and Omega was the weakest of all teams, kept around solely as a last resort. But even if he viewed his troops as expendable, the Subjugator saw some tactical value in them, and hoped that at least, the Oarai team would pay for inflicting casualties on him.
"No enemy casualties?" the Subjugator said. "Hmmph, well, at least we have the enemy location. All tanks, head out, and surround the Oarai troops."
The Subjugator called out groups, and the tanks split from their formation into neatly formed pairs. The Subjugator had drilled his men for hours in driving in formation, and they were able to move well as a group, provided nothing happened to disrupt their coordinated movement.
The STU Council watched from the stands. This match was better-attended than the one against Shirosame, including not just the STU Council and the families, friends and fans of the Oarai group, but even some of their former opponents. Word had gotten out about the males participating in the match, so some came out of curiosity, and as some of the other teams had heard about the STU from Oarai, they wanted to come to see the outcome of the match.
"How did the Subjugator form his team?" the Centurion asked the other council members. "Mine was students in Shirosame's tankery program, while the Progenitor's was composed of his school's students. Both of ours were the best we could find in the high school age division, and even so, they lost to Oarai."
"As far as I know, the Subjugator reached out to various men who were desperate, got them to sign a contract with them, and recruited them onto his team," the Storyteller said.
"But did he tell us what his training program was?" the Progenitor said. "You can't simply stick untrained individuals in a tank."
"As far as I heard," the Storyteller said, "he had them drill for ten to fourteen hours a day for a few months, driving, loading, shooting, operating the radio, even mock battles against one another."
The Progenitor's expression was uneasy. The Subjugator's team was well trained, that was true, but was sheer effort enough to make men capable at their jobs? And were practice matches against those who were untrained amateurs enough to prepare them to face the champions of the last tournament?
Darjeeling sat elsewhere in the stands, wearing a green dress, while her friend, kouhai and former subordinate Orange Pekoe wore the St. Gloriana uniform.
"Do you remember how Oarai was when we first met them?" Darjeeling said.
"Yes," Orange Pekoe said. "They had five less than stellar tanks, most of which were painted in garish colors, and relatively inexperienced crews. They did not even have tankery uniforms."
"That is correct," Darjeeling said, recalling how only the etiquette she had been taught forced her to stifle her laughter and not say anything disparaging about the tanks and their camouflage-inappropriate colors. "And yet, their commander succeeded in defeating three out of five of us herself, with the StUG defeating one more."
"We underestimated Miho-san back then, and she and her team only grew stronger still over time," Orange Pekoe said. "I still wonder how she managed to do so well with the tanks and crew members she had. Nevertheless, I have little doubt that she'll be able to win, even against this opponent's superior numbers and possibly superior training."
"Superior training?" Darjeeling said skeptically, before shaking her head. "I suspect that this time, Oarai may be the more experienced, skilled and coordinated team."
Kappa and Lambda Team rolled along a path in the forest. The Subjugator had given them their orders to head on the course he had plotted for them, to pin down the Oarai forces, without engaging them unless necessary. Unfortunately, his men largely lacked the initiative to be able to decide what was "necessary" unless the Subjugator himself told them.
Suddenly, the Oarai Hetzer fired from the side, disabling Kappa Team with a close range shot at a weaker spot in their JS's armor.
"This is Lambda Team, Kappa is down," Lambda's radio operator- a man who had never taken tankery in high school, as he had not even gone to high school at all- said. "What are your orders?"
The rest of his crew was paralyzed and unable to react to the threat on their position. If they fought the Hetzer and lost, they reasoned that they would be unable to do their job. Moreover, could they succeed when Kappa Team had been beaten so easily? However, if they proceeded as usual, they would possibly be eliminated anyway. For them, their orders- none of which specifically applied to their current situation- took priority above all else, even their own safety and lives.
Their fear that they would be unable to carry out their task was proven correct when the Hetzer, having reloaded in the interim, fired again, disabling their tank as it pulled ahead of its disabled companion.
"Good loading, Haruka!" Yukino said, thanking her loader. "Nishizumi-san, we have an opening over here," she said into the radio.
"Thanks, Yukino," Haruka said. "I feel like we're getting better at this."
"Our opponent this time is easier," Shizune said. "That seems to be why we've survived this long, and we must improve if we want to stand against opponents of the same caliber as Oarai has faced last year."
"Both of you are correct," Yukino said. "The enemy is careless this time. But we have also improved, and if we continue to do so, we will be able to fight at around the same level of skill as the others."
"We've put a lot of effort into training and getting better," Haruka said. "But what about them? Can these people take initiative without the Subjugator telling them to do anything, whether in a battle or in training? I think not, and that's why they're going to lose."
The rest of Miho's forces in the area quickly headed into that opening, leaving the rest of the Subjugator's forces to proceed, believing that they had the Oarai troops trapped.
"This is going too easily…" Miho said. "Everyone, please keep an eye out for anything suspicious. I can't help but feel as though we're being lured into a trap."
"He's lost a lot of tanks so far," Saori said.
"Sacrifices are necessary sometimes, and those with more tanks can afford to do so, but what could he hope to get that justifies the price he has paid?" Hana said.
"He seems like the kind of person who would throw away others easily, even in a life or death battle," Miho said. "I think he would not be troubled by the loss of several tanks in this exercise where lives are not on the line. If the casualties are within his estimates, that most likely means he's still fairly calm, though, and he is likely planning something. Be on your guard, everyone."
The Subjugator's tanks closed in on the spot where Oarai's tanks were supposed to be. Oarai's tanks then emerged from their actual location, launching a barrage that defeated four tanks- Iota, Theta, Epsilon and Zeta, as they were clumped together and unable to escape or take evasive maneuvers.
Unfortunately, at that point, three more tanks emerged- Gamma, which had been delayed by a sudden loss of a wheel, and Mu and Nu,which had difficulty reaching their destinations. All three had neglected to report it, unsure of the Subjugator's timetable. As the Oarai forces were caught off guard by the sudden arrival of their new attackers, deviating from the plan the Subjugator's forces had set, the new arrivals, with mechanical precision, aimed and fired on the Oarai tanks. Two shells struck home, immobilizing and disabling the Chi-Nu and Type 89.
"Anteater team, down!"
"Duck team, down!"
"New attackers from the east!" Miho said, as the rest of Oarai turned to face the new comers. "Anteater team, Duck Team, are you all right?"
"All present and accounted for, Nishizumi-san!" Nekota said.
"The four of us are OK!" Noriko said.
"That tank lost a wheel earlier," Yukino said, noticing the somewhat hasty retracking job on Gamma Team's tank. "Let's make some more work for them!"
The Hetzer fired, and de-tracked Gamma Team again. The Char B1Bis struck Nu team in the tread, causing it to go off course and ram into Mu team, throwing off its aim and causing a shot intended for Mallard Team to strike Gamma Team instead, as the impact had caused the barrel to swing to the side before the cannon could fire. Mu team desperately backed up and tried to reload, but the StUG took it down with a well-placed shot to the rear of the tank.
Inside his command tank, the Subjugator seethed as he heard the latest reports.
"Nu Team, de-tracked!"
"Gamma team down, friendly fire!"
"Mu team down!"
"Damn you!" the Subjugator snarled as he heard that his third best tank was out of the match. "This is unacceptable! I chose you for your skills and relentlessly trained you day and night! Remember, if you fail here, your punishment will be twice as severe as it has been in the past!"
The punishments were largely for the sake of the Subjugator taking out his frustration on the men. In reality, they would always carry out his commands, with the only question being whether they were able to do so as well as he desired, so any attempts to discipline or motivate them were superfluous. And yet, in punishing his men, the Subjugator told himself that the problem was not with his commands or guidance, but with their execution, enabling him to avoid taking responsibility in any degree.
The Subjugator bit his lip, calming himself for a moment. At the moment, he still had more tanks than the Oarai girls did, and they had only taken the lower ones out. It was a predicament more dire than he would have liked, but he believed that he still had a chance to win.
"Retreat!" he said, angry that he would even have to give the order. "Take the fight into the forest to the south!"
The remainder of the Subjugator's forces, desperate to take the battle to a more optimal place, began to retreat, exchanging fire with the pursuing Oarai forces as they did.
Erika sat next to Maho in the stands, watching the match. Maho had a more personal interest in how her sister fared, against yet another member of the enemy they both had faced. Erika had realized that this could no longer be considered someone else's problem, and as she saw the STU as her enemy, wished to see the match through to its conclusion.
"Do any schools that we know of require their students to do tankery?" Erika said.
"No, even if some, like at our high school, require students to take extracurricular activities," Maho said. "Quite the contrary, in fact; some of the larger schools essentially consign the lower performers to the bench if they don't turn them away altogether. A few less motivated students sign up for tankery as an extracurricular, knowing that they won't get picked, and will only have to do the bare minimum of practice."
"This right here is the reason why this commander's plan doesn't work, and why I'm not a fan of that rule," Erika said. "A lot of people have no business operating tanks, and it's only worse for them and for the teams they serve on if you force them to do so. I wonder why the Subjugator settled for these kinds of people instead of people like professional tankers or people from the military if he has the power to make anyone do his bidding."
"Perhaps there are limitations to his power and some people he cannot compel, like Miho and her subordinates," Maho said. "If there were not, I don't think he even would have needed to challenge us to bend us to his will."
"Well, he certainly didn't get his position by his merits," Erika said. She recalled that Miho's appointment as vice captain of Black Forest had been controversial, with some third years thinking they were entitled to the position; Erika, while not believing she had any claim to the position, also criticized putting a first year in the position. Most of Miho's critics had been silenced when they saw her in action, but they returned in full force after the finals ended in an unprecedented loss, and most found her to blame. Erika succeeded Miho, swearing to be everything Miho was not and succeed where she failed, only to see her team lose to her in the next finals.
"But really, if anything's true here, anyone who goes into battle with your sister without knowing what she's capable of is in for a painful lesson," Erika said.
Maho smiled slightly, glad to see that Miho had won a measure of respect from someone as difficult to please as Erika.
Elsewhere in the stands, Shiho and Kikuyo watched. Having heard of what was at stake, Shiho had decided to come to make sure that Miho would be able to live up to her family's standards and defeat the enemy. Her husband had declined to come, saying that he was busy and saying "I think I know how this match will turn out." Shiho had not disagreed with the latter assessment then, and what she had seen only reinforced it.
"The enemy's incompetent," Shiho said to Kikuyo. "It will only be a matter of time now. I'm glad my husband isn't wasting his time watching this match."
"Are you not glad, mistress?" Kikuyo said with a nervous smile. "Miho-sama appears close to victory. The STU, your enemy, will be pushed one step closer to total defeat."
"It would be humiliating if she lost to someone like that- you know that victory is a matter of course for Nishizumi school students," Shiho said. "But Miho is not that careless, and I believe that this time, she understands what is at stake. Miho was always good enough; she merely needed the proper motivation and discipline."
Kikuyo had many different things she wanted to say to that. But considering her position, she believed anything more than "Yes, mistress" would be too risky, and so that was all she said.
Kikuyo stared at the screen, as Miho's comrades began to mop up the last of the Subjugator's slave-crewed tanks. She thought back to the time she joined the Nishizumi school, hoping to become a better woman through tankery. Some of her classmates got married, some of them sought work outside of the home, and a few, like Ami, even joined the military. But Kikuyo, who initially did not know what path she wished to take, and sought tankery as a way to help improve herself as a person, chose to become a maid in the Nishizumi household, to repay her debt of gratitude to her teacher.
Shiho, while offering decent working conditions and hours, made it clear that she saw Kikuyo as a servant- nothing more and nothing less. And Kikuyo often disagreed with how she judged Miho and Maho solely by their ability to carry on the Nishizumi style. But whenever Kikuyo doubted herself, she remembered what she owed to Shiho, and resolved to be there for the family.
To her, that was what it meant to be loyal to someone. True loyalty did not require merely turning a blind eye to the subject of one's loyalty's faults and mistakes, but trying to help them rather than abandon them. Since the relationship between Kikuyo and Shiho was very much an unequal one between servant and mistress, Kikuyo was highly limited in what she could do, but resolved to help guide the family toward the best possible outcome however she was able.
"You have great skill, Miho-sama," Kikuyo thought. "The day will come when the mistress will acknowledge that and be proud of you."
As the Subjugator's troops continued their retreat, with the Oarai tanks pursuing and firing on the enemy, the KV-2's turret turned and fired, scoring a hit and knocking out the StUG. Now that they were face-to-face with the enemy, it was far simpler for them to fight, so the normally passive teams began to more easily react to their orders, especially considering that the weaker tanks on the Subjugator's team had been culled.
"Hippo team, down!"
But when Oarai's tanks returned fire, two more of his tanks were knocked out- Delta and Beta Teams; the former was disabled by a well-placed shot from Turtle Team, while the latter was detracked and turned over by Rabbit Team. As the Subjugator and his troops pulled ahead of the now disabled tanks, he realized he was open from his rear, and that Anglerfish Team was in position, lining up a shot.
"Aim at the tank behind us!" the Subjugator said frantically, after a missed shot on the Hetzer. "Quickly, damn it!"
Anglerfish Team, however, was quicker. Garai quickly loaded the shell into the gun, and Hana prepared to aim. As she did so, the Subjugator's KV 2's turret desperately rotated, hoping to respond in time to the incoming Anglerfish Team.
But before turret was in position, it was too late. Hana had pulled the trigger, and a shell burst forward, striking the KV 2 in the back and knocking it out, just as the turret had turned to face Anglerfish Team.
"Oarai Girls' School is victorious!" the announcer said.
"Just a little bit longer…" the Subjugator murmured, unwilling to accept what had just happened. "Just a little bit longer and we would have had it… and it's all his fault we lost..."
Omake
"I have a question, Kikuyo-san," a six year old Miho asked Kikuyo.
"What would you like to know, Miho-sama?" Kikuyo said.
"Why do you call me '-sama' anyway? I'm younger than you."
"Well, Miho-sama, I am employed by the Nishizumi family as a servant, and must display the utmost respect and courtesy to you. To put it another way, if the mistress, you mother, is the Empress, Maho-sama is like the crown princess and you too are a princess."
"That may be so," Miho said. "But I don't think people should have to prostrate themselves before others and give up all their separate desires and goals for their sake."
"Not even if they choose to?" Kikuyo said, catching Miho off guard for a moment. "I owe the mistress a great debt for her teachings, and choose to repay it by serving her family. But I am also glad to have met you and Maho-sama in the course of this, and as such, find my service to you fulfilling."
"Then the way I treat people is my choice as well, Kikuyo-san," Miho said. "Even if some people see themselves as below me- or even if they are- I choose not to treat them any differently."
Kiikuyo remembered what Miho had said about a decade later, when Miho led her team of tankery students, with disparate personalities, interests and skill sets, to victory in the tournament, and when she led a similar team to victory against the Subjugator and his army of slaves. She thus hoped that those troops would be able to make their own choices one day, and show the Subjugator how few would willingly choose to follow him.
Author's Notes
Not all opponents necessarily follow a consistent pattern of increasing in difficulty. The Subjugator has several factors limiting him- his arrogance, his misogyny, his inferior skill as a commander, and the lack of experience among his troops combined with his failure to properly train them. In a tournament arc in particular, an unlucky placement can take a strong opponent out early on; in Naruto, for example, during the Chunin Exam preliminaries, Rock Lee, despite being one of the strongest Leaf Genin, ends up going up against Gaara, the main antagonist and strongest of Team 7's rivals.
The Subjugator's subordinates were essentially intended to represent a failed attempt at getting a ragtag bunch of individuals to a strong fighting force in a short period of time, as well as an opposite of Miho's approach to earning loyalty. The Subjugator forces his men to obey him with his ability, while Miho is well-liked among the Oarai forces (even if they don't always follow her, as shown in how they go on the offensive against Pravda) because of her kindness and skill. As such, someone like Erika or Shiho would consider most of the team unworthy of entering tankery.
Kikuyo is an interesting character to write. She implies in Little Army that she's not always content with what her mistress, Shiho, is doing, as shown when she begs Miho and her friends not to hold Maho's attitude against her, but says nothing about Shiho. However, she has to be mindful of what she says; when Miho asks Kikuyo her opinion about Shiho's description of the Nishizumi style, Kikuyo sadly and politely declines to comment, saying that because she is "indebted" to the Nishizumi school, she cannot comment on Shiho's statements. In spite of her doubts, however, Kikuyo also says she owes Shiho a debt of gratitude as a former student of the Nishizumi school, which can be why she stays loyal to her.
I've noticed a curious trend in some manga and anime in which a younger character says to an older one that they don't have to be formal with them because of the age difference. Miho said it once to one of her mother's students in Little Army, and I could see her doing that with Kikuyo at one point, albeit having given up long ago.
Ending Theme Team: Alpha Team
