Chapter 33: The Sensha-do Team is Really Taking Off!
"One last thing Captain," Anzu said. Miho turned around to face her before she left the office. "Let's keep this closure business to ourselves. No need to stress the team out any more than we have to right?" she advised
"Right… I guess that's a good idea," Miho replied.
Miho, Saori, and Hana walked down the hall with the rest of the student body on their way to lunch. "So last night we found another tank on deck 13. Apparently, it's a tank that could potentially fly," Miho revealed.
"Really? There's a tank that can fly?" Saori asked with surprise.
"Well, Yukari seems to think so. It's got a propellor and wings so I guess it could hypothetically. I don't think I'll allow it to be flown through. There's no way that's safe," Miho answered.
"Melitta and Manfred have pilot's licenses right? They could probably fly it without an issue," Hana suggested.
"Maybe but I really don't see how it's safe. It'd probably be more useful on the ground anyway," Miho said.
Hana and Saori nodded in agreement. "I suppose that's true," Hana replied, "so what's for lunch? I hope it's Salmon Teriyaki…"
"I better eat light today, I think I gained a third of a pound over the weekend," Saori said.
Miho giggled as they got in line. "That's probably just muscle from Sensha-do," she pointed out.
"I suppose that could be true, but it doesn't hurt to be mindful right?" Saori asked.
Hana nodded. "I suppose that's true, but I've never really needed to watch my weight," she said.
"That's because you have the metabolism of a hummingbird!" Saori joked, "I'm sort of jealous. Only a little bit."
The three friends giggled together and got their trays. As they sat down, Yukari and Mako joined them at their table. "How's it going, guys?" Miho asked.
"Today's been great Captain- Miho," Yukari answered.
"Still tired…" Mako added as she slumped into her seat.
"Mako if you sleep through lunch you'll be hungry through practice!" Saori advised.
"Meh… you got snacks right?" Mako responded.
Saori frowned. "But if you only eat snacks, you'll gain weight and you won't get enough energy. Don't you want to be healthy so your grandma doesn't worry about you?" she pointed out.
Mako sighed and picked up her chopsticks. "Fiiiiine," she whined like a small child.
"So I have something to confess, Miho… I told Melitta and Manfred about the flying tank, and they want to fly it," Yukari confessed a little sheepishly.
Miho sighed. "Maybe, we'll talk about it in practice," she replied.
"Still, it's cool that we found such a cool tank like it," Yukari commented.
"Oh! I saw some dandelions growing in the park today. I read in a magazine that you can make a tea with them that's supposedly really healthy!" Saori said.
"You can!" Hana added, "I know a lot about the medicinal and nutritional potential of a lot of plants. Even perceived weeds can have surprising uses. Did you know you can even fry the dandelion heads?"
"Sounds gross," Mako commented.
"You've never even tried it!" Saori pointed out.
"I think tanks are the same way, even if a tank looks like it wouldn't be useful, it still might! You should never judge a tank by its frontal armor!" Yukari joked. Everyone laughed together.
After school, everyone on the team gathered at the garages. The Christie M1932 Flying Tank had been pulled from its warehouse. Despite being forgotten for several years, it was in fairly good shape. It was a little rusty and needed some maintenance, but it could be restored with a small team in a day. Melitta and Manfred were climbing around on the wings and body, examining every little detail of the tank. "What do you think Manfred? Think she'll fly?" Melitta called out.
"There doesn't seem to be any structural weakness and the mechanical components only need some cleaning and oiling. The real question is whether or not it'll reach take-off speed," he answered while ducking under the propellor to climb onto the wing she was standing on. "The engine has about 1,000 horsepower and it's four tons. That's comparable to the An-2 biplane… with about two fewer tons. With the right set-up, it should be able to take off. Let's take a look in the crew compartment."
The pair climbed down from the wings and onto the body. Melitta opened the top hatch and looked in. It was a bit dusty, but fairly clean all things considered. However, the pilot/driver/commander's post was unique. "That's a strange-looking seat…." Melitta pointed out. The seat was black and would almost wrap around anyone sitting in it. Connected to the headrest had extra pads that reached down over the shoulders and straps.
Nakajima climbed up to join them and peered into the hatch. "Woah! This thing's kitted out like a racecar! That's a racing seat with a HANS device attached," she explained, "makes sense though, with this setup, you could survive a pretty hard hit like a crash."
"A HANS device?" Manfred asked.
"A head and neck support device. It straps to your helmet so you don't lurch forward and snap your neck or fracture your skull with a head-on impact. That type of injury has killed many racecar drivers," Nakajima answered.
"I see," Melitta replied and climbed down into the tank. She slid down to the gunner's position and found a similar seat with the breech of the 75mm gun next to it that had padding on it to soften any impact. Beside the seat was an ammunition rack to the left and right, ensuring that the gunner wouldn't run out of ammunition and wouldn't need to take off the safety gear on the seat. "There's one for the gunner too!" she called out. Manfred climbed down and looked around the crew compartment.
"Looks like you've got practically the same amount of safety gear as a racecar, and those things are tough," Nakajima commented. She climbed down from the tank and approached Miho. "It's in pretty good shape and has some pretty neat safety equipment," she said, "it's practically built like a racecar made out of armored plating and those are pretty safe, even at 200 miles per hour they can take a head-on collision and the driver will be fine."
200 miles per hour… that's pretty fast. "How fast can the tank fly?" Miho asked. Never thought I'd ever say that she thought with amusement.
Melitta jumped down from the tank and joined them. "Well top speed on tracks is 60 miles per hour, top speed on wheels is 120 miles per hour. The take-off speed should be roughly the equivalent of an An-2, give or take a little so about 60 miles per hour. So it should just barely be able to take off with its treads and easily on the wheels," she answered.
Miho nodded slowly. The shock value of a flying tank would be valuable, most tank guns won't have the elevation to fire on you, and it's armored enough to stop machine guns… "Alright, here's the deal, I want you to run speed tests to make sure the tank can reach take-off speed on the ground. If you can make it work, then I'll allow you to fly it. Of course, don't crash or fly into a building, but given you're already pilots that should be easy," she decided.
"Alright!" Melitta cheered, "let's get to work Nakajima!"
"Aircraft aren't my thing, but I can get the tank to run. You and Manfred will just have to get the prop to work," Nakajima replied.
Melitta smiled. "That's the genius of the design Nakajima, the engine is connected to the propeller. If you can get the engine to work, the propeller will work!" she replied.
"Oh yeah? Clever, well then let's get to work!" Nakajima said.
While they started moving the flying tank into Garage 5 with the RD8 tractor hitched to the back, Miho turned to everyone else on the team. "Alright everyone, let's get to practice. We've got some new teams to teach so we've got a lot of work to do!" Miho declared. Everyone agreed and dispersed to their own tanks, except for Victoria.
"Hey Miho," she said.
Miho turned to her. "Yeah? Oh yeah, you don't have a crew anymore," she realized.
"Yeah, that's a bit of a problem…" Victoria replied, "I'd like to think I could, but if I drove, spotted, loaded, and fired the gun carrier, I'd be out of any match before the halfway point."
"I guess you'll have to sit this practice out, or you can work on the gun carrier and practice your gun-laying alone," Miho said, "I'm sorry,"
Victoria smiled. "No worries, that's just how it's going to have to be until I can find some crew members," she replied.
"Okay, I promise once we're done with practice today we can meet up with Hana and try to find some recruits who can join you," Miho promised.
"Cool, I'll be in Garage 2 then," Victoria said before turning around and walking away.
Miho frowned a little as Victoria walked away. I wish we didn't have to leave her out today… oh well, let's get to practice, she thought.
Victoria looked over the Gun Carrier Mk. 1 as she entered Garage 2. "Even though I've been your commander for a while, I can't help but be surprised at your size every time I see you…" she muttered to herself as she looked at the immense machine. She sighed and grabbed a notebook, pencil, and a map to practice gun-laying before sitting down in the commander's seat that she never used because she acted as the gunner for the 8-inch howitzer. She left the hatch open for some light and as she started scribbling numbers onto the paper, each tank fired up around her and started driving off. At first, the sounds were loud and overpowering, but as each tank left to begin practice the noise lessened until it was just her and the occasional sound from Garage 5 that was loud enough to make its way to her garage.
Man, this stuff is more boring than usual… she thought, but it's a necessary evil if I want to use the gun carrier right?
As the minutes ticked by and the occasional sound of gunfire and the hiss of rockets were her only companion, along with the sound of tools hitting the ground and the rare loud curse. "God this sucks!" she shouted with frustration. She tossed her notebook aside and laid back in her chair. "I hate math…" she mumbled.
"Are you okay?" a male voice asked from behind.
Victoria jumped up in surprise and looked out her hatch. Outside was a boy in an orange jumpsuit with a dirty face and hands. He had black messy hair and brown eyes. "Oh, yeah… who are you?"
"Oh, I'm Isao Yoshinaga. I'm part of the Automotive Club and occasionally help them out. Nakajima called me and the boys over to help with the flying tank," he answered, "I heard someone shout so I thought I'd check it out."
"Oh, I see," Victoria replied, "are you part of the Sensha-do team? Sorry, there are so many names so it's hard to keep track of everyone."
Isao chuckled. "Nah, but I guess it would be kinda cool, driving tanks around and shooting stuff. Your crew out today or what?" he asked.
"Manfred and Melitta were my crew, but it looks like they got a new plane-tank thing to crew, so I'm out of a crew," Victoria asked, "say, how about you and your boys join my crew? Know anything about big guns?"
Isao smiled and shrugged. "I don't know anything about big guns, but why not? I'll go grab the boys and ask," he replied.
Victoria barely held back her urge to fist pump until Isao ran out of the garage to grab his friends. "Yes! We're back in business baby!" she celebrated.
After a couple of minutes, Isao returned, this time with three other boys. "They agreed, so we'll help you crew um… that," he said while pointing to the gun carrier.
"Well then," Victoria said as she climbed out of the tank, "this is the Gun Carrier Mark 1. You guys got a bit of a less stressful job, staying back and firing artillery shells, but it requires some intellect and lots of strength! Are you guys up for it? I need a driver, two loaders, and a gunner."
"I'd like to be the driver," a boy with dark brown messy hair answered. "My name's Seiji Okimoto," he introduced.
"I'm Kyo Nishida. I can do the loading," a boy with light brown hair said.
Victoria turned to the last two boys. "I'm going to need one more loader and a gunner. Who's taking what?" she asked.
The shorter boy with a buzzcut of black hair spoke up, "I'll be the second loader. I'm Masuda Minoru."
"Minoru huh? Sounds familiar…" Victoria muttered. "Anyway, that leaves the gunner to you, Isao," she said.
Isao gave her a thumbs up. "I'm not too bad at math so I can do it," he answered.
"Alright boys, training starts now! Let's get you acquainted with the gun carrier!" Victoria declared.
After some work, the Christie Flying Tank was ready to begin testing. Nakajima and Hoshino helped Manfred and Melitta get strapped into their seats as it was difficult to do on their own and without previous experience. Once they were strapped in, they drove the tank to the edge of the runway. Melitta took a deep breath and looked over her controls again. All she needed to do was flip a switch once they and her steering levers would turn into flight sticks for the wings and the engine power would be redirected to the propeller. "Alright, we're ready for takeoff, is everyone clear of the runway Miho?" Melitta asked.
Miho stood in front of everyone who had delayed their post-practice maintenance to watch the tests. They were all gathered at their garage doors watching the Christie Flying Tank. "You're all clear. Be careful, alright?" Miho replied.
"Understood captain," Melitta replied. "We're taking off!" She pressed down on the steering levers and the engine of the tank roared to life. A blast of dust and soot was ejected from the exhaust pipes, leaving behind a cloud of black smoke as the tank sped forward. Already after a few seconds, the tank was going faster than any other tank in Oarai's arsenal would ever go. Melitta kept her eyes on the runway ahead with only an occasional glance at the speedometer. However, the tank's acceleration slowed down before it could reach take-off speed. With the edge of the runway closing in, Melitta pulled her levers back. The treads skidded along the gravel before the tank came to a halt. She took a few breaths to calm herself down. "We need to adjust the gearing Nakajima, more acceleration, less top speed," she said into her radio.
"Alright, bring her back to the garages and we'll adjust them for you," Nakajima replied.
They turned the tank around and drove back to the garage where Nakajima was waiting with a toolbox. Melitta parked the tank and shut down the engine so Nakajima could work on it. After a few minutes, she had finished her work and Melitta returned the tank to the runway. "Alright, is the runway clear?" Melitta asked.
"You're clear," Miho replied. Melitta shoved the steering levers forward and the tank lurched into action again. It sped up much faster than the previous run; however, this time it reached its top speed too quickly and was still falling short of take-off speed. As it neared the edge of the runway, Melitta slammed on the brakes and they skid to a halt.
"Just a little more top speed," Melitta requested as they returned to the garage. Nakajima made the adjustments and they were ready for the next test. "Runway clear?"
"You're clear," Miho replied, "good luck."
Melitta stared down the runway before pushing the steering levers down again. Once the tank started picking up speed, she could feel it. It was accelerating at the right rate to reach its highest possible top speed. She stared down the edge of the runway confidently. "This is it!" she shouted right before flipping the control lever right as the tank hit 60 miles per hour. She quickly yanked the levers back and the tank jumped from the ground. The propeller came to life as the tank lifted from the ground. The turbulence shook the chain-link fence and trees at the edge of the runway as the flying tank flew over them into the sky.
Everyone at the garages cheered as the tank took flight, but Melitta and Manfred couldn't hear them. All they heard was the incredible rush of wind and the roar of the propeller. "This is incredible," Melitta said with awe as they soared over the rear of the carrier. Beyond it, the ocean glimmered in the sun, illuminating thousands of little ripples.
"I never thought I'd get to fly on something like this before!" Manfred called out over the interior radio.
"Yeah! This is awesome!" Melitta replied, "I'm going to turn us around and do a flyby of the ship."
"Alright be careful," Manfred reminded.
Melitta nodded and focused on her controls. Just a little pullback of the left lever tilted the tank to the left slightly. She gave it a little more force and it fully entered the turn. Slowly, but surely the aircraft turned around to face the carrier. She gently released the lever and returned the aircraft into a straight position. "Easy as flying a kite!" Melitta celebrated.
On the ground, Miho and the rest of the team were entirely fixed on watching the flying tank as it neared the carrier. When it passed over them, they could hear the buzzing of the propeller before it faded as the tank flew over the town. "This is really amazing, isn't it?" Yukari asked.
"Yeah…" Miho replied without her gaze leaving the tank. Please, be very careful… she thought with concern.
William glanced at her and noticed her anxiety. "Don't worry about them. They're both excellent pilots so they'll be fine," he assured.
Miho nodded. "I let them fly, so I should trust them," she replied, "I just can't help but worry for everyone's safety."
William smiled. "That's a good thing. It shows that you care and a good commander cares for their teammates. That trust and care are what make us a good team. I would know…" he trailed off.
"I guess you would. You've been a team captain before, after all," Miho replied.
William nodded sadly. "Yeah, and I've seen what happens to a team when they lose that trust and care," he said.
"Oh… I see…"
"Yep, everyone's actions are important to the wider team. We're social creatures, and that is both our greatest strength and our greatest weakness as a species," he lamented.
"Oh really?" Miho wondered.
"Sorry, I'm waxing philosophically again," William chuckled sheepishly, "so any plans for the flying tank in the next match?"
Miho shocked her head. "The conditions won't be safe for flying. We'll be fighting on a frozen island and it'll likely be in a snowstorm. At least that's what the forecast says," she answered.
"Looks like we should pack some winter gear then," William commented, "who are we facing?"
Miho's hands shook. "Pravda High School," she muttered.
On the schoolship, Kiev, Darjeeling sat at a small table with a short girl with blonde hair. A tall girl with dark brown hair set a tray with tea and jam down on the table. "Thank you, Nonna," Darjeeling thanked with a smile.
"Not at all," Nonna replied.
Darjeeling took a cup of tea while Nonna gave a cup to the short girl. "So it would seem like Oarai made it past the third round with Anzio," she commented.
Katyusha just scoffed. "They won't stand a chance against us. They're just some no-name school with delusions of grandeur," she dismissed.
"I apologize for interrupting, but I do think it's important to say that Oarai has very experienced and well-armed transfer students from Oregon like me. We've faced each other several times and they are very capable," Katrina interrupted.
Katyusha gave her a look of annoyance before Darjeeling spoke up as well, "and they do have a member of the Nishizumi family as their commander as well."
That caught Katyusha's attention. "Why didn't you tell me about that Nonna!" she asked irately.
"I've told you several times," Nonna replied calmly.
"First I've heard about it!"
Darjeeling suppressed a giggle. "It is the younger daughter though," she added.
"The auburn one?" Katyusha asked, calming down again, "well then, it should be another easy victory and after we crush her, we'll crush the older sister again too! Then the name of the Nishizumi will be forever tarnished!"
"I don't think it will be that easy," Darjeeling pointed out, "they've made it this far and even defeated a team with a two-to-one advantage, although it was Anzio…"
"An Anzio with aid from Kuromormine," Katrina added, "they really are a threat and we should get to practice as soon as possible."
Katyusha gave her another look before huffing. "Fine, but only after our friend leaves and I've had my nap."
"Thank you, I'll take my leave now," Katrina replied with a bow before walking off. I'm going to defeat Schwarzadler, no matter the cost. I'm tired of losing to them… she seethed to herself.
The Christie M1932 dipped towards the runway as it decelerated on its final approach. The treads kicked up dust as they touched the ground. As it passed the garages, everyone was hit with a gust of wind and dust. As the tank stopped, the dust cloud settled down and everyone ran over to the flying tank. "How was the flight?" Miho asked as Melitta opened the commander's hatch.
"That was incredible!" Melitta answered excitedly, "it's great to be back in the air!"
"That's good to hear," Miho replied with a smile, "just be careful and we'll integrate your flying into our match strategies."
"I'm not sure what applications flight could have though," Manfred spoke up as he climbed out of the tank and sat on the edge of the hatch opening, "firing accurately isn't really possible, but I cause it could be good for surprising an opponent."
"What about aerial reconnaissance?" Miho suggested.
"I suppose that'd be possible," Manfred replied.
"I hate to interrupt," Nakajima spoke up, "but I noticed when I was tuning the engine that the black box needed to be set up, so I'll need you to drive the tank to the garage so we can get that finished, otherwise you won't be legal."
"Right," Melitaa replied with a nod. While she climbed onto the hull, Manfred ducked back into the tank and gave Melitta room to climb in herself. Everyone, but Miho dispersed as the engine refired to do maintenance. Melitta drove the tank back into Garage 5 so Nakajima could work on it. Manfred and Melitta hopped out as Miho entered the garage and Nakajima opened up the engine deck. "So what will your team name be, since you're crewing a new tank?" Miho asked.
"It's gotta be Eagle Team, for obvious reasons," Melitta easily decided.
"Alright, well that's all I needed," Miho replied.
"Hey, Miho!" Nakajima called out from the engine deck. She had a laptop connected to the black box which had one of its panels removed and the laptop connected to a port in the circuitry. "Come up here for a moment," she requested.
Miho climbed up onto the hull. "What is it?" she asked.
"Take a look at the power port of the black box," Nakajima suggested. Sensha-do black boxes and the sensor arrays that determined knock-out status are connected to the tank's engine and battery for its power supply, but the port that connected this black box to the tank was different. "Look at that, it's a circular port, not a rectangular port like everyone else's."
"That's weird… I've never seen anything like that. Can we just order a circular cable?" Miho asked.
"I've never seen a circular cable in the part catalog," Nakajima answered.
"I'll go grab Joseph, Yukari, and a catalog," Miho said before jumping down from the hull. "That should help us sort it out."
Miho ran off and came back with a thick book, Joseph, and Yukari, who
were curious about the abnormality. "I've never seen a circular power port before," Joseph said as he looked over the black box.
Yukari thought for a moment while Miho looked through the parts catalog. "Could it be a change in the regulations at some point? Maybe this tank was put away before the change, or they never got to it before the team shut down?" she suggested.
"That could be the case… a circular cable isn't listed in the parts catalog," Miho added.
"Well it looks like without a circular cable, then the black box can't be powered," Nakajima stated.
"And without a black box, the tank isn't legal," Joseph said, "I could probably put together an improvised cable, but the JSF and even the ATL would penalize something like that. Modifications to the official's equipment is a massive rule violation and the penalties can be harsh."
"Yeah, so we'll have to get a cable and see if it's legal to use it or buy a whole new black box to replace it," Miho said.
Joseph winced. "And those things are expensive. Thankfully they're sturdy, or we'd need to spend a lot of money for all our other restored tanks," he said.
"Maybe Teruo would have a power cable for sale?" Yukari suggested, "he deals with a lot of Sensha-do equipment."
"Can't hurt to check," Nakajima said.
Nakajima, Miho, Joseph, and Yukari went to Teruo's shop after informing everyone and walked up to his counter. Teruo looked up from his register and smiled. "Good to see you guys again. Need something for the Sensha-do team?" he asked.
Nakajima set the black box on the counter. "Yeah, we found this black box in a recovered tank, but it's got a strange circular power port. Could you help us find one that would fix it?" she asked.
Teruo looked into the box and examined the port. "Yep, that's a pre-1990 regulation port… those are quite rare…" he muttered, "they swapped the ports out for the 1990 season. The JSF used to swap the ports out for you, but it looks like this one slipped through the cracks."
"So, do you have a compatible cable for sale?" Miho asked.
"I'm afraid not," Teruo answered, "however, I have a friend who might be able to help you." He grabbed a pen and a piece of paper and started scribbling some contact information. "Ask Hada about it, he should be able to help you."
Miho took the paper and looked it over. Her eyes widened when she read the full name. "Hada Minoru?" she asked.
Teruo nodded. "Yeah, he was the vice-captain before the 'Scandal of '89' when Oarai shut down its Sensha-do program," he answered.
"We know, we found his writings in a garage under the team headquarters," Joseph said.
"Oh good. Well, is there anything else you need?" Teruo asked.
Everyone looked at each other before they all shook their heads. "Thank you Teruo for your help," Miho said with a bow.
"Always glad to help," Teruo replied.
In the residential sector, Miho, Joseph, Nakajima, and Yukari stood in front of an unassuming family home. It was painted in plain white and had a small balcony on the second story. "I suppose this is it," Miho said while looking up from her paper that had the address on it. She went up to the front door and rang the doorbell.
"Coming!" a female voice called out from inside. Miho stepped back as a middle-aged woman opened the door. "Good afternoon is there something you guys need?" she asked.
"Yes," Miho nervously replied, "is this where Hada Minoru lives?"
"Yes, he lives here. Is there something you need from him?" the woman asked.
"We're on the Sensha-do team," Joseph explained, "we need help finding an old power cord for a tank's black box."
The woman's face lit up. "You're on the Sensha-do team!? You should have said that sooner, come in come in!" she excitedly offered.
The woman led them inside. It was a somewhat spacious, if average Japanese family home. Past a staircase at the door was a living room with a kitchen and dining room attached and a bathroom next to the stairs. "I've been watching your matches and I have to say, you're doing incredible for a start-up team," she praised.
"Oh, thank you," Miho replied with a bow.
"Where are my manners?" the woman admonished herself, "my name is Hibiki Minoru. I'm Hada's wife."
"I'm Miho Nishizumi and these are my friends and teammates, Joseph, Yukari, and Nakajima," Miho introduced.
"It's a pleasure to meet you all," Hibiki said, "please have a seat at the table. Hada will be back from work in a bit. I think Masuda should be back soon too. I think he's mentioned a Nakajima in the Automotive club before."
Nakajima nodded. "Yeah, we're in the club together. He joined the Sensha-do team today too," she added.
"That's great!" Hibiki exclaimed while setting down a tray of teacups filled with tea. "Help yourself," she kindly offered. Everyone took a cup and she sat down with one as well. "So you said you need a power cord for a tank's black box?"
"Yes, we found a Christie M1932 on the 13th deck and its black box is using the previous circle port from before 1990," Miho answered.
Hibiki's eyes widened in surprise. "You found the flying tank? That used to be Hada's tank!" she exclaimed, "we used to run circles around the enemy teams with it. Its speed is just incomparable to anything else."
"You were on the team as well?" Joseph asked.
Hibiki nodded. "I was the captain," she answered.
Everyone stared at her in surprise. "Really? You were the Oarai's last captain?" Miho asked.
Hibiki giggled. "Surprising, isn't it? I mostly just do housework now, which I enjoy, but back in the day, I was a tank commander and the team captain. That's how I met Hada. We didn't get together until after the team broke up though. We reconnected a couple of years after while working with a Sensha-do equipment supplier and got married," she explained.
"That's so sweet," Miho said.
"Right? My only regret is how we left the team," Hibiki admitted. She sighed sadly. "It was partially my fault. I let a few boys get away with things that should have gotten them kicked off the team, all because we were desperate for crews. After a while, that tension boiled over and…"
She was interrupted by the front door open. "We're home!" a man called out. An average-looking middle-aged man and Masuda stepped into the house. He looked surprised to see guests at the table. "Oh, we have guests?" he asked.
"They're on the new Sensha-do team. They came looking for you," Hibiki answered.
"Oh, hey Nakajima!" Masuda greeted with a small wave. Nakajima waved back with a smile.
"So, what does the Sensha-do team need from me?" Hada asked "I'm afraid I can't be an instructor, I haven't been in a tank in over twenty years!" he joked.
"Oh no, no we're not looking for an instructor," Miho replied.
Hada smiled. "Alright, so what do you need?" he asked.
"We're looking for a power cord for a black box, specifically the circular port from the pre-1990 regulations," Joseph answered.
Hada nodded slowly. "I see… there's only one tank that hadn't been updated yet… the Christie," he said, "are you sure you want to put it back into service? It's got a… bad history."
"What do you mean?" Joseph asked.
"We'll have to go back to the beginning."
000
Another chapter is done! I hope you guys enjoyed it. Thank you for your reviews, follows, favorites, and just simply reading my story! I hope you'll continue to enjoy it!
Next time on Girls und Panzer: Tank Aces
Chapter 34: 1989