Chapter 14 - M.I.A.
After what seemed to be a long, dark and stressful night, morning finally arrived. Large smoldering clouds of smoke were still coming from the compound, which now looked like a massive junkyard. Most of the outer brick wall had collapsed during the night, one of the two buildings in the compound was completely converted into a big pile of rubble and ash, with the third of the four full of holes from tank shells. On top of that, a large percentage of the tents were now burning or reduced to scorched cloth. The sweet fragrance of oil and burning wood was in the air, with the exception of a light breeze blowing through the cold morning air. Drake and his friends, along with Cody, Thomas and his crew members were standing in the distance, looking sadly at the destroyed compound as firefighters and policemen search through the burnt remains.
"I can't believe that a simple testing error and a small accident towards a girl would lead to all this." Johnathan sighed as he sat himself down on top of the black E-100.
"At least most of the tanks and their crew members made out of here alright." Ian softly smiled.
"So, now what do we do?" Davian asked.
"Well, I guess we should search for anyone who's still out there." said Drake, "If they are, then they're blind as bats."
"Where do you think they went, Captain?" Kyle asked.
"Hopefully, not to the urban zone. All that they will find there is trouble."
"I suppose that there's got to be some hope in the city." Johnathan wondered.
"There is no hope!" called a voice from behind the pack.
Drake looked behind his back and saw Thomas and his IS crew pull up to the others. Drake stepped off his tank and slowly walked towards his Vice Captain.
"What do you mean that there's no hope?"
"Look around you!" Thomas thundered, "Do you think that we can recover from something like this!?"
Drake inhaled deeply, "Thomas, please, calm down-"
"Well, do you?!"
"How am I supposed to know?" Drake answered back.
"See, if you don't know, who does?!" Thomas asked in rage.
"Perhaps we could all come forth to-"
"Everyone is gone! Everyone has gone off to somewhere else, they may possible be joining the ranks of our enemies right now as we speak!"
Drake frowned, "What do you assume we should do then? Should we storm their ships and cause the same kind of crime that they did to us!?"
"Maybe we should, so we can all give those 'Wretched Witches' up there a piece of our minds!" Thomas screamed.
Once more, Drake remained calm and collected, trying to not let his rage get the best of himself.
"Thomas, you know violence would only make the problem even worse than it already is." said Drake.
"Fine, then what kind of plan do you propose?" Thomas asked while calming down.
"What I was going to say before you rudely interrupted me-"
Thomas interrupted Drake again with another burst of anger, "Who are you calling-"
"Both of you guys are acting ridiculous!" Cody shouted, "Can't you two just come together and work something out?"
"That's what I'm trying to do, Cody." said Drake, "However, English over here thinks that violence is better than words."
"What did you just call me you smart mouth?!" Thomas growled.
Drake's eyes widened when he realized what was about to happen next, "Hey! Listen please, I didn't mean to call you that-"
The next thing he knew, Thomas shoved him forcefully to the ground, causing Drake to let out a cry of pain and fury. Thomas' teammates ran forward to restrain him while Drake's teammates helped their Commander up to his feet again.
"All you do is tell us over and over, again and again that all we should do is peacefully solve our problems! Well, you know what Captain, I say that thats never going to work all the time!"
"If thats the way that you think we should solve all of our problems, then I ask you to please leave me and the rest of the team alone." Drake ordered.
The senior began to charge again, but his crew held him back. He broke loose and demanded that his crew will follow him back to the IS. After loading up, the team sped off into the desert, leaving behind them a large cloud of dust and sand.
"Let them go." whispered Drake, "If he wants to cause trouble, then let him. He isn't with us anymore."
"Yes, Sir." said the others.
They turned over to see what Cody and his crew were doing, but they were already inside their Hellcat and preparing to leave for another part of the ship. Soon after Cody and his crew had departed, Drake and his team did the same. With one last look, Ian watched as the deserted compound, the one place that served as a safe haven for Death Valley Highs Tankery Team, slowly fade away on the horizon. Far off in the distance, a group of Pravda girls and their T-34 watched as the whole incident unfolded before them. Without hesitation, they reported back to Pravda High and told Katyusha about everything that they saw.
"We are certain that the main threat has been extinguished and we have reigned victorious over the other school."
"Excellent, we should all celebrate over this accomplishment." Katyusha said with joy.
"Comrade, we didn't cause that to happen, though." replied one of the girls, "Why should we be celebrating something that we didn't take part in?"
"We can if I say so!" squeaked the short Commander, "Besides, even if we didn't participate in this battle, we will display the news to everyone. That way, all of the students of the boys school will learn how to not mess with the might Pravda High Sensha-Do Team." boasted Katyusha.
"If you say so, then." answered one of the girls.
The next day was a Friday, with Saturday and the Weekend just around the corner. The Pravda Paper was released to the public later that morning, causing many people on all the school vessels to read the latest news on the Black Forest Peak strike. Many thought that the threat was gone for good and thought to themselves that everyone would finally calm down and stop wondering about Death Valleys Tankery Team. On the other hand, many still haven't forgotten about the boys and started to ask to themselves where they were located at now. In her office, Shiho Nishizumi thought deeply to herself while she read the paper.
"Is this true?" she asked to herself, "Have they finally surrendered and returned to school again?"
Just then, the tall woman heard a knock on her door. When Shiho asked for the person to enter, she was surprised when she saw that the girl was wearing a Pravda High school uniform and was carrying a large manila envelope in her hands.
"What are you doing here?" Shiho asked curiously, "Aren't you supposed to be back at your school?"
"A student has given the Headmistress of our school these photographs, regarding the team that we have problems with." replied the messenger.
She walked forward and handed the manila envelope to Shiho at her desk.
"Many thanks." she said.
The girl bowed and left the room. As the day progressed, Shiho's patience finally came to its limit. She grabbed the folder and opened the packet. A flood of black and white photographs spilled all over the desk, following by a letter. Unfolding the paper, she read it aloud to herself.
Dear Panzerkraft Instructor Nishizumi,
I have been recently informed by my students of the ongoing production of Death Valley Boys High School and their tankery team. As you would have noticed, these photographs were taken by our schools Wilderness Survival Club and our Yearbook Club, regarding the possibility of another colonization of minorities in the uncivilized portion of their school ship. This has increased the level of restlessness among my Panzerkraft Club about the situation at hand and what the consequences might bring if this situation gets unstable once more.
I write with curiosity about the future. If you have advised your own students about this similar case and wondered if another strike upon these male minorities is necessary or not, please inform me as soon as possible. It's best to deal with this problem now before it gets worse later. Also, is it possible if we can call up a meeting with the head instructors of Death Valley Boys High School? If we can, it could possibly help us in sorting this problem out. If you have any alternatives beside this, please advise me about it ASAP.
Sincerely,
Panzerkraft Instructor Kawasaki
"Clearly this situation is over my head." Shiho grumbled while sinking into her chair, "There must be a different way that we could handle this situation. The only other option would be to bring in the JGSDF."
At that moment, she realized just the person to ask, the only other person with advanced skills, armor and leadership to take on the job. She went into her E-mail account and composed a letter to a certain person, one that Shiho knew would be able take on the assignment. Later on that same day, Erika invited Maho and Katyusha to talk about the Pravda Paper. When they got there, Erika greeted Maho, Katyusha and Nonna to a room with a projector screen and chairs for them to sit in. When everyone was seated, Erika began the slideshow.
"What exactly are you showing us, Erika-San?" Maho asked.
"To talk to you all about the battle from last night." she answered.
"Wait, there was a battle last night?"
"Apparently there was." Nonna quietly answered.
Erika dimmed the lights and with the click of a button on a remote control, started the slideshow.
"As you can see here." Itsumi said while she presented the first slide,"Our enemies and their home base has been made of short work, thanks to our team."
"Incredible, it must of been a tough battle to win." Katyusha said in amazement.
Erika switched to the next slide, "However, the threat has not yet ceased and from recent reports, it appears that it is still active."
Katyusha was stunned by the response, "Hold on, wait? I thought we finished them for good?"
"Apparently not." Maho returned.
"According to your helpful elective classes, we managed to collect these photos of their teams fleeing from view." Erika said while passing out the similar pictures that Shiho received to the other three.
"Do we know where they are now?" asked Nonna.
"No, but we did notice this." Erika replied and switched to the next slide,"This distant picture showed us the main tankery captains and their teams as they drive away from the ruins. One of these teams wield that blasted E-100."
"I do admit, our Panzer VIII Maus has been having trouble lately trying to eliminate it and it seems like it isn't getting any better." said Maho, causing Erika to turn to her Commander with embarrassment.
"Kommandant, isn't that a sign of weakness? You do realize, that beside the technique that Ooarai used on us a few months back, we could have cut down those boys and their heavy tank."
"You don't understand. That was a skill that my sister used with her team, but this time, it's another heavy tank fighting another heavy tank." said Maho, "It depends entirely on skill."
"Anyways, our best photo gives us the face of that tanks commander." Erika replied as she switched to another slide.
Maho's pupils shrunk when she noticed the face of the 16 year old boy taken in the shot.
"I believe that this boy determines the victory of our tankery teams." Erika said pointing to the face on the screen, "I say that we must capture him and turn him in! What do you girls think?"
"That idea sounds great!" exclaimed Katyusha, "When should we send out the tanks?"
Maho loudly cleared her throat, "Please excuse me for a second." said Maho as she got up and left the room.
Nonna watched for a second before following in pursuit. Katyusha noticed Erika beckoning her to come forth. Seeing that no one else was around, the two began to plot once more. Nonna continued to run through the corridors, until she ran into Maho a couple hallways down. Maho lifted her head to the approaching girl.
"Hello there." she greeted.
"You seem troubled, my friend. Why is this so?" Nonna asked.
"This certain boy that was mentioned keeps on coming back to my mind." Maho explained.
"Why? Do you have feelings for that boy?"
"No, it's just…" she quickly looked both ways to see if anyone was following her before she turned her head back to Nonna, "Can you keep a secret?"
Nonna shook her head and came closer.
"When Death Valley High arrived here, they were mysteriously teleported by some unknown force. While me and my team were at our practice range, a Luchs tank containing him and his crew, appeared in front of us and shot me off of my tank. In the hospital, I realized that what he had made was a mistake and somehow there was a better way of ending the feud between us, but with me being hospitalized and with my Vice Captain in charge with yours, I had no control over the problem until I was released. It was already too late, since my mother had issued out information about them, I was left to follow her orders."
Maho heaved a heavy sigh and continued, "If only I could go back in time, I could have handled the problem. They must hate me now and think that I'm a disgrace to them for causing all this to happen."
"Don't think that it's your fault, because it isn't. If anything, they should be blaming my Captain and your Vice Captain for this." Nonna boldly replied.
"Are you sure?" Maho wondered.
"I most certainly am, and though Katyusha has made some stupid mistakes in the past, I don't hold anger towards her at all. I say stupidity kills and misunderstandings deceives."
"I can't thank you enough for helping me with this problem, my friend. I may have never gotten out of it by myself." Maho smiled.
"Think nothing of it." Nonna smiled in return.
"I guess this kidnap plan could help us formulate a plan of our own." suggested Maho.
"It will and I know an easy way to make it work." said Nonna as she began to walk down the hall.
Suddenly, the fire alarm in the hallways went off, causing all the girls in their classrooms to look outside. After the sound of a nearby explosion, the intercom sounded over the ringing.
"Attention all students. We are experiencing an emergency lockdown! Please remain calm and listen to your teachers."
Both Maho and Nonna dashed back to the projector room and locked the door behind them. Shiho ran outside to find a blockade set up in the streets and Police cars surrounding an impaired black IS tank. Thomas and his crew were fished out of their vehicle and forced to their knees in the streets as Shiho and a few others walked forward.
"I swear that when I get my hands on you, I will tear you apart!" shouted Thomas.
"Take him away." ordered one of the police officers.
Shiho closed her eyes and walked away, feeling regret for coming out to the front of the school. Once the security level had died down, the students were let free again to roam around the city. When they returned to Pravda, Nonna drifted away from Katyusha.
"Where are you going?" Katyusha asked.
"Going to the cafeteria!" Nonna called from afar.
In reality, Nonna wasn't even going in that direction. Instead, she opened a door and went into a bright room and closed the door behind her. On the door, labeled in green letters spelled out the words,
"ROOM 1403 - MAIN CHEMISTRY LAB AND LIQUID SUBSTANCE CENTER."
That night, Shiho went to the airport of Kuromorimine and waited for a special plane to appear in the night sky. Minutes after Shiho's arrival, a large white plane landed upon the strip with a large red label written in Japanese on its sides. The back drop of the plane fell open and a camouflaged Type 10 MBT came rolling out towards Shiho. The top hatch of the tank opened and a woman, wearing a female military uniform and a soldier's helmet with goggles appeared.
"Hello Instructor, it's been awhile." said the woman.
"Indeed Ami, it has." Shiho greeted, "Come along, there's work to be done."
The two woman walked off the strip and towards an escort van. On the ride, Shiho and Ami began to talk.
"I received your message and I am very concerned about the situation at hand." said Ami Chouno as she took her helmet off her head.
"If the problem doesn't get solved soon, I fear that something very bad will happen to all of us." Shiho replied.
"I agree, and if it does get worse, I'm afraid that the army must get involved." said Ami, "I'm surprised myself that they aren't here already."
"Lets just try and focus on whats happening now." interrupted Shiho, "I'll get you settled in first."
All of Saturday, Drake and his crew have been wondering through the desert, searching for their lost army. They searched all around the ship, from mesa to mesa, butte to butte, and hilltop to hilltop, but found nothing. Near the evening though, Drake was looking around the darkening landscape and noticed a shimmering light in the far distance, located in a basin. He ordered his team to drive closer to see what is was. Upon arrival, they saw that it was a large camp that was made of Death Valley Highs Tankery Teams vehicles.
"Unbelievable, they actually came together and built a new home for themselves." Davian said in amazement.
"Come on boys, let's check it out." Drake said excitedly.
As they drove down the hill, a couple of boys shouted for the crew to park in a gap reserved just for them. When they all hopped out, an entire group of teams came forward and greeted them. When they were all settled in for the night, Drake and his friends went over to Cody and his group.
"Do you know where Thomas and his guys are at?" asked Drake.
"I'm afraid not. They never came here like how you guys did." Cody answered back.
"I don't think he's okay." Ian said.
"Really, why?" Cody asked nervously.
"Hello up there!? Don't you remember? He said that he was going to take on those 'Wretched Witches'?" Kyle blurted out.
"Wow, what was that nut thinking?" commented Cody's Driver.
"Seriously, you're not helping." Cody snapped.
"It must have been when you two were arguing." said Johnathan.
"Oh God, what are we going to do!?" Drake exclaimed.
"Don't worry; we will think of something I'm sure of it."
A blast of hot wind and dirt got in Cody's Loaders face. It blew him over and made him fall on his back. The others laughed as they checked on the Loader.
"Aww, darn it." he said spitting out the dirt in his mouth, "That wind is kicking up bad."
"There might be a windstorm coming, let's all be ready for when it does." said Ian while offering the Hellcat Loader a water bottle.
Later that night, Nonna was stuffing items into a small backpack when she heard a knock on the door. Answering it, she opened the door to see Maho's face.
"So, are you ready?" Maho asked anxiously.
"I most certainly am." Nonna answered putting the pack on her back, "Thanks for letting me borrow your room for awhile."
"No problem. I like helping those who need something from me."
Nonna stepped out into the hall with Maho, "I talked to Katyusha about the kidnapping plan, so she knows about the procedure. I didn't tell her about our version of it, though."
"Good, very good. Now, I don't know how your going to get aboard their ship with those barriers up?" said Maho, "They place up those barriers every night before sundown."
Her acquaintance thought for a moment before speaking. Then, Maho remembered something, "There's another Tankery Instructor that came here yesterday and she's taking a tour of Kuromorimine. Perhaps she might give you access to your location?"
"Wait a second, how do you know about this?" asked Nonna.
"My mother informs me about everything that's important to her work. This is one of them."
"Do you know where this Instructor is now?"
"Not exactly, but her tank is temporarily parked in our schools tank storage. So, let's search there first." suggested Maho.
"Good idea, let's get moving." Nonna confirmed.
She quickly went into her room and grabbed her backpack of items and locked the door on her way back out. The two girls wondered down the corridor together. Meanwhile, Erika was brewing up a plan of her own. She was inside the projector room with the commanders of the schools Jagdpanther, Maus, Panzer III and one of the eight Panthers. On the silver screen, an image of Drake being pushed by Thomas was illuminating back at them.
"...And so, you all now know the weakness of the enemy captain. With their schools team in disorder, its time for us to celebrate our success."
"You've got that right." said the one Panther Commander, "Just how are we going to celebrate this victory exactly?"
The girls thought to themselves for a second before the Maus Commander joined in.
"You know, I have been thinking, just how would a drinking party with us girls work out?" asked the Maus Commander.
"Where the hell are we going to find alcohol, though?" asked the Panzer III Commander while fitting her glasses on her face.
"If I remember correctly, I still think that my 21 year old friend is still here on Kuromorimine and she really likes to party." suggested the Panther Commander.
"Is it possible for her to get us a pack or two while she's out?" Erika asked.
"Of course, she's always out with her friends and they like to go to bars and stuff."
"Then there we have it." said Jagdpanther-Chan, "Ring her up and tell her to hit the liquor store real quick."
"Yeah and then, we could pay her on the way back. I know a secret shortcut back into campus from the street." said the Maus Commander.
"You sneaky bitch, I always liked your style." Erika laughed.
"What are we waiting for? It's Saturday Night and its time to party!" shouted the Panther Commander with glee.
Once Maho and Nonna had reached the garage area, they both saw Ami Chouno, Shiho Nishizumi and Katherina Kawasaki having a conversation together near the Type 10 Japanese MBT.
"Maho, it's getting late. You should be going back to your dorm now." Shiho called from across the hanger.
"Right, I'm coming!" she called in return, "Well, all I could say is good luck for now, my friend." Maho saluted.
"Thank you. I'll call you sometime later regarding the details on the capture." Nonna replied.
She stood and watched as Maho and her mother exited from the Tank Hangar and back outside. Nonna turned her head and saw the two other women coming over to her.
"Here is one of Pravda Highs senior tankery students, she has helped us achieved victory many times during the games." Katherina said to Ami.
"That's very interesting." Ami said happily, "Do you like doing Sensha-Do miss…um?"
"My friends call me Nonna, and yes, I do enjoy it." she replied.
"That's nice to hear, my friend. Keep up the good work."
"Well, I guess I'll let you go." said Miss Katherina as she departed.
Ami said her farewells to Nonna and returned to her Type 10. As she started up the engine, Nonna dashed for her IS-2 that she drove over earlier that day and jumped into the driver's cockpit as fast as she could. She started the engine up and quickly slid into reverse. Following Amy carefully, she somehow managed to get aboard Death Valley with ease, watching Ami drive off into the streets of Death Valley High.
"Thank you, my dear friend." Nonna said to herself.
The dust storm was picking up on the far desert end of the ship and everyone had to take shelter in their tanks to prevent from being blown away. The E-100 team had decided to use the storm to their advantage in order to get closer to the city in hopes of finding Thomas and his rouge IS Crew. They paused the vehicle on a slope over viewing a portion of the cities suburbs and began to gather as much info as they could.
"Would you think that Thomas would have the guts to come this far into the city?" asked Kyle.
"Maybe. He was pretty angry a few days ago."
"Well, if he's anywhere on this ship, it might possible be here." Drake said, "Turn the turret in the direction of the skyscrapers."
While Davian was rotating the massive metal turret, the team heard a loud grinding sound. The turret had stopped rotating all together.
"Is that turret jammed again?" groaned Johnathan, "I knew that something bad was going to happen."
"Alright, who's going to fix this thing?"
The crew suddenly raised their hands as fast as they could; Drake was the last to do so.
"Not me again." he muttered, "Fine, I'll be back."
Kyle handed him the toolbox as Davian helped Drake opened the hatch.
"Wonder why he's bringing his backpack with him?" Ian wondered to himself.
The dusty warm wind began to pound on Drake's body as he climbed out of the E-100. As he tried to work in the blinding winds, he accidentally knocked the toolbox off the side of the tank. Grumbling, he careful slid off the edge of the super heavy, while taking care not to hurt his feet on the way down. When he reached the bottom, he began looking for the toolbox in the dirt. Confused and lost in the blinding winds, he called for his team but didn't get a response. Drake didn't realize how far he had gotten on his own when found himself near another hill. Out of nowhere, he felt metal brush against his body.
"Is this my tank?"
Not knowing any different, he climbed onto the vehicle. He felt a pair of arms grab him from below and lower him into the tank. The sound of a door slammed down from above his head and soon there was total darkness.
"Very funny guys, you had me worried there for a second." Drake chuckled.
"Kon'nichiwa." said a random girls voice.
"Who's here?" Drake asked as he tried to escape from the females grasp.
"Don't be afraid, I'm here to help you." a girl's voice answered.
A small lantern flashed on and the face of Nonna appearing in the light. Drake trembled at he felt her hands slide off of his chest.
"Who are you?" he asked again.
"My name is Nonna and I am second in-command of the Pravda Girls High School Panzerkraft Club." she replied.
"Why would a girl like you want to do with me?"
"I just want to talk. I'm very well aware of the problems that we are going through and I feel that we should try and stop it." said Nonna.
Drake felt a small sense of trust return to him, "Well, why are you invading us? I suppose that there's a logical exclamation for all this."
"Hmm, you are a curious one, aren't you." she said with a small smile.
"Okay, I am, so what. Why did you take me captive and where are we now?"
"Calm down. I'm not here to bring you harm." Nonna said calmly.
There was silence before they continued their conversation. Neither one of them really knew what to say to each other, so Nonna broke the ice.
"How did your school get between our vessels anyways, it amazes me how your school ship was able to get stuck so perfectly between us."
"Thats confidential information." Drake sternly answered, "It's top secret, lets just leave it at that."
"I apologize." Nonna blushed, "I didn't know that was such a touchy subject to bring up."
Drake nodded, "Its alright, I guess."
"You sound like your worried. Why is this so?" Nonna asked while bringing her face closer to his.
"Um…Well…You see its..."
Drake became silent as his face fell. Nonna felt that she had finally got to him.
"My platoon is all messed up." he answered, "I got in a really big argument a few days ago and I'm still trying to get over it."
"Tell me about it." she asked looking into his face, "Its best if we could try and sort this out together."
"Well, you see. Our compound was attacked by you girls and it unfortunately collapsed in the middle of the night."
"Oh my." Nonna gasped, "Did you all make it out alright?"
"We all made it out in one piece, but now we have no place to go."
"Don't you all have your school to go back to?"
"We can't go back! If we do, we will get arrested." Drake shouted, "I don't want to get in more trouble than I'm already in. We've all been away from home for so damn long and I can't stand this fighting anymore!"
Nonna was blown away by his response. She said nothing but watched as tears began to pour from his eyes.
"Where is he?" Kyle asked tapping his feet impatiently.
"Don't rush him; he's probably trying hard to focus on his work." said Johnathan.
"I'm getting worried, should we go looking for him?" Ian wondered.
"I think he's just fine. Give him a couple more minutes and you'll see."
Outside, the storm drowned out the sound of the incident inside Nonna's IS-2. Through the wind, the faint sound of crying could be heard.
"Please, enough with these tears." Nonna whispered while grabbing hold of Drake.
She leaned back into the driver's seat and rested his head upon her chest. Choked up in misery, Drake began to speak.
"I don't think I'll ever…see my home or my parents again...and now that...my Vice Captain is gone...I have no idea…what I'm going to do." he sobbed, "I just wish that this is a bad dream and that I will wake up from it soon."
He mumbled something under his breath and began to flinch. At that moment, Nonna looked at his sad face and saw dark rings under his eyes, a sight of days without sleep. Feeling sorry for him, she unzipped the backpack and slowly pulled out a bottle of liquid. Looking at the boy again, she noticed him pulling out something from his backpack. Hunched over, he began to rub his security blanket over his face.
"What's that?" Nonna asked, "Is that your blanket or something?"
Drake nodded and slowly sat up again. He held it tightly in his arms, afraid that Nonna might snatch it from him.
"No no, its okay. I won't take it from you." she cooed.
After handing part of it to her, he looked away while she quickly dabbed that part of the blanket with chloroform. Nonna felt Drake inching closer to her as he bunched up. She pressed the wet end of the blanket against his face and nose and lowered her lips to his ear whispering, "Shhh shh shh shh shh shh, close your little eyes and sleep."
The male commander moaned as he started to knead the flannel material with his hands. Nonna sighed and began to softly hum a Cossack Lullaby. It was also the same song that she sang to Katyusha during the Ooarai vs. Pravda Cease Fire. Just as she was ending the first few verses, she saw Drake rest his head on her and close his eyes. She grinned and gently kissed him goodnight on both of his closed eyelids.
"This is bad! I don't see him anymore!" shouted Davian.
"We have to find him now!" Johnathan shouted, "Ian, get on the radio and contact the others!"
"Sure thing!"
Kyle started the tank and drove away into the desert, while missing the IS-2 within the shadows of the night. Nonna got on the radio and contacted Maho.
"Objective is secured and unharmed." she said into the speaker.
"Good, I'll try to think of a way of getting him in here. Try and keep in touch with me."
Down the hallway of the dormitory building, the sound of laughter and coughing filled Erika's room. Lying on the floor were packs of Sapporo cans, cold and icy from the nearby liquor store. Jagdpanther-Chan, the Panther Commander, the Maus Commander, the Panzer III Commander and Erika were wide awake and ready to start sipping on a newly opened can that they fetched from the box.
"Who's going to call the toast?" asked the Panther Commander.
"It might as well be me. Since, I was the one that started their evacuation." Erika boasted, "I propose a toast to Kuromorimine!"
"To Kuromorimine!" shouted the others, "For defeating the enemy!"
They all began to gulp down their cans. With the exception of one of the girls freaking out from the taste. The party continued until early morning, though they had calmed down as the night went on. The commander of the Maus, the one Panther and the Panzer III had left a long time ago, Erika and Jagdpanther-Chan were still awake. Lying to her close comrade, Erika pretended to be drunk, in order to trick the other commander to fall for her plan.
"Do you think that you might need one more?" Erika asked.
The other commander hiccuped before taking another can out of the cardboard pack, "Maybe just...one more...then I will be...satisfied..."
"Don't rush, my friend. Take smaller sips because you need to save your energy for the fun activity that I'm going to give you."
Jagdpanther-Chan made a happy and confused gasp, "Really? What kind...of activity?"
Erika looked at her clock. The hands pointed to 5:30 A.M.
"You will see when I get back. I have to go on a little trip and I won't be long." said Erika grabbing her pack, "Please, don't leave the room until I come back and go hide in the closet."
"Sure thing...boss...I know...better than to do...that..."
The pale haired girl snickered to herself as she ran for the schools helicopter, where Maho had told Erika to meet her that morning. After granting access to the keys and the vehicle itself, the two picked up Katyusha and flew to Nonna's position. The girls all had to work together to get Drake into the helicopter.
"I will take the tank back to the ship and meet up with you later." said Katyusha.
The helicopter took flight towards the Black Forest Peak School Ship as the burning sun began to slowly rise up in the scarlet sky. While Maho and Erika were in awe at the sight, Nonna felt Drake slightly nudge her in his sleeping state in the seat next to her. She unstrapped him and held him in her embrace. Under her breath, Nonna softly whispered, "Don't worry, your mom's right here."
Upon arrival, the three grabbed Drake's unconscious body and carried him to Erika's dorm. Once the other two had left, Erika tied the boys body down and called for Jagdpanther-Chan to come out. The girl fell face first onto ground and looked up at Drake on the bed.
"Surprise." Erika said dangling a strange rubber packet over the intoxicated girls face.
"All for me!?" Jagdpanther-Chan asked with a huge grin on her face.
"I will leave you two alone for awhile." Erika said grabbing her dorm room key and locking the door behind her.
With one long stare at the words on the packet she had received, the girl walked over and ripped the packet open over the trash can.
"Oh ho ho." giggled Jagdpanther-Chan, "I hope that...this doesn't get...too messy."
A few hours later, Drake opened his eyes to a blinding white room with girl's voices all around. When his vision returned again, he found his dark brown eyes staring into a pair of deep ocean blue eyes.
"Sit up dear, we have company."
Looking over her shoulder, he saw Erika looking back at him grimly.
"Oh no, this can't be! I have been kidnapped by my worst enemy!"