*Authors' Note: My apologies on the long delay. Gotta love it when your comp decides that…for the next three weeks…it wasn't going to play anymore. Sheesh. Oh well, I've managed to get it up and running for now, and I'll be getting a new system next month.
My apologies once again. To make up for it, this'll be nice and long for you. J
Enjoy!
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RBL_M1A2Tanker
A Soldier in Tokyo.
Chapter 3:
Recovery.
The two eased into the furo, sliding the door behind them. Ranma slipped out from under Tanks' arm, letting him ease his aching body to the toilet seat to sit down wearily. Ranma leaned against the counter opposite him with his arms crossed and a question on his face.
"So…'Tank'…just who are you? What do you want? Why are you here? And how do you know me?"
Tank grimaced slightly, whether from pain or from remembering his deal Ranma wasn't certain.
"I…I'm not sure how to explain…" Ranma interrupted.
"You made the deal. Now you have to honor it, if you know what's good for ya."
Tank snorted, "Please kid, I know damn well I made the deal. If you had waited a sec I would have tried my best to explain." He took in a few breaths, then reached over to the tub to fill it with hot water, speaking slowly.
"You may find some of what I tell you a little hard to believe, but I assure you, it's true, and I find it as hard to believe as you." Tank pulled out a washcloth, dampening it in the filling tub to dab his face, then removed the rest of his clothing before slipping into the tub. Ranma waited a few minutes as he did this, getting irritated by the moment.
"You going to tell me?"
Sighing, Tank finally gazed at the young martial artist with tired eyes. "To be honest, I really don't know how to explain."
"Try from the beginning maybe?" Ranma tossed out sarcastically.
Tank chuckled slightly at that. "You sound like Nabiki almost." Tank held up a hand to halt the litany before it began. "I'm a 22 year old tank crewman in the United States Army. Maybe oooh…a month ago now, I was in the field in Texas conducting maneuvers with my crew when I went to investigate a disturbance late at night." Which was true enough…although some of the details would, naturally, have to be forgotten.
"Before I knew it, I was knocked unconscious, and left in the woods. When I awoke, I found myself in a wooded area in Tokyo. I've been living in Tokyo ever since." He felt his bruised muscles relax as the hot water did its work.
He continued, "A few days ago, I ran into the Sailor Scouts while they battled some critter. I managed to get myself thoroughly involved, pissed off the creatures boss, and so I'm now looking for ways to prepare myself incase I'm ever attacked by those guys. I also pissed off the Scouts, so they might be gunning for me too."
Silence filled the room while the water finished filling the tub. Tank reached over and shut off the water, then leaded back, steam slowly rising. He continued.
"Since I've pissed off some rather dangerous folks, I figured I need some training. Without a tank, crew and ammo, there really isn't too much I can do. So I sought out you." He thought for a second as Ranma soaked that in. "By the way…what year is it?"
Ranma blinked a few times at the sudden change in subject before warily answering, "Ahh…94. Why?"
"94? You're shitting me?" Tank looked directly at the pig-tailed lad in some surprise. A head shake was the reply. He leaned back against the tub, sighing heavily.
Curious, Ranma asked again, "Why? Why is that important?"
Tank laughed, but there was no humor in it. "Well, it's important because now I'm in the wrong year. Not to mention…" He stopped.
"Mention what?" Ranma was starting to get irritated.
Tank seemed to think about answering for a bit, obvious that he didn't really want to, but finally did. "Not to mention…I'm in the wrong world."
Ranma snorted. "Common…you expect me to believe all that?" "Maybe I hit him in the head too hard or something."
The man whose sanity was in question shrugged. "I don't know, you tell me. Need proof?"
Ranma nodded emphatically. "You bet I do!"
Tank pointed to his pants on the floor. "In the front pocket is my wallet. Open it and you'll see my military ID card. On the back of the card is the date of issue, which is the date I got that card. It should say 2001 August 02."
Ranma did as he instructed, pulling out the wallet and then the green card, smiling in the belief that he'll soon prove this guy insane.
His smile slowly faded though, as, sure enough, the back of the card had a date of issue of 2001AUG02. He looked it over some more, hoping to find some proof the guy was wrong. Date of birth was 1979DEC27…maybe he was lying after all.
"Look here," He pointed to it, "this shows that you were born in 79. That doesn't add up to 22 years."
Tank rolled his eyes, slapping Ranma in the back of the head. "Are you always so dense? Good lord man. I told you I'm not in the right time. I entered the Army in 1998, and got that card new in 2001, and when I ended up here it was 2002. Think about it dude. It adds up then.
He looked up at the martial artist earnestly. "According to you, this is 1994. I should be in High School still. Actually I was in Junior High…but that's not important."
He leaned back. "So…satisfied? No? Keep looking. Should be a Driver's License, a Firearm Owners ID card. Each of them with an expiration date in the early 2000's."
Sure enough, the cards where there. Ranma dropped the wallet on the floor, mumbling, "Ok. I believe ya. What do you mean by wrong world though?"
A slight twitch seemed to pass on the corner of the soldier's lip. Only someone trained to pick up slight muscle movements could have detected it, so quick it was.
"Ahh…" Tank seemed to be think a second. "I can't tell you."
"What? Why not?"
"You don't have the clearance for it." Tank mentally patted himself for that brilliant idea. "Good work…that should keep the whole anime thing to myself."
Ranma didn't feel the same way though. "Look, you made a deal with me."
"Yea I know." Tank looked up at the angered kid. "Look man…do you teach Akane everything you know?"
Ranma seemed taken aback at the question. "Of course not!"
"Why?"
He thought that over a moment. "Because she can't handle that stuff yet. Hey…are you trying to tell me that I can't handle it?"
Tank sighed again. "No you fucking dolt. I'm telling you that it's not time yet. I didn't tell the Sailor Scouts as much as I've told you today. Suffice it to say, I know a lot about you and those you hang with because of it."
"Yea? Like what?" Ranma crossed his arms in front of his chest.
"Like this…" Tank took a handful of the now cool water and splashed Ranma with it, activating his curse. His eyes popped for a moment as he adjusted to seeing a curse actually take place as Ranma changed from being a lean and muscular young man to a very busty and curvy red-head. "Shit…his female form looks damn good. Pity there isn't any way to separate the two. Oh well."
Ranma glared his…now her…blue eyes at him. "What else do you know?" Her voice was almost a growl.
Tank drained the water, feeling twice a much better than he did when he came in, and began to dry himself off, while tossing out what he knew. It sounded strangely like a briefing if you think about it. "Ranma Saotome, a 16 year old martial artist in the kempo style. Highly skilled for his age due to numerous training trips with your father Genma Saotome. Both of you went to Jusenkyo from your father's mistaken belief that it was a martial arts training ground, both of you landed in a cursed pool, taking on the effects of whatever drowned there last. Your father becomes a panda, you become…well, you know." He pointed to the obvious.
He continued, "You are the fiancé to Akane Tendo, although neither one of you really wish for it as it was a deal made by your fathers. Akane is also 16, a martial artist in the martial sense of the term only, has battles with a bunch of guys at Furikan High School every day as part of one Takewaki Kunos' pronouncement that if they beat her in combat they shall date her. Shall I continue?"
Ranma just stood there blinking, jaw dropped, for several minutes as Tank just tossed out the information as if it was an everyday fact before he could respond. "Ahh…n-no. Ahh…you're right. I'm not ready for all that yet. When it's time…let me know."
"Sure thing." Tank said cheerfully, taking some hot water from the sink and splashing her with it, returning him to his uncursed state.
"Well, I'm feeling greatly better, but tomorrow I'll be one hell of a sore mess." He could already feel the muscles tightening up again. "Ranma, I might have to stay a little while while I recover. That should be enough time for us to set up a training schedule. That isn't a problem is it?"
"Eh, probably not." Ranma was noncommittal. He was ready for this strange day to end already.
"Well, shall we go out there? They're probably wondering how I'm doing." Tank gestured to the door, now dressed again, following the younger man. Before he got out the door though, something tickled the back of his mind, giving him an incredible urge to do something.
And so he did. He smacked the wall with the palm of his hand hard. From further down the hall he heard someone cry out, and he smiled slightly to himself.
"Gotcha girl."
In a room elsewhere a startled and slightly in pain Nabiki removed her earphones. "Shit! That hurt!" She cried out quietly. "How'd he know about that? Hmmm bet he doesn't know about my showerhead camera." Her eyes glittered at the thought, but was still disturbed. She would have contemplated it further but Kasumi's voice called from below. "Dinner!"
She grunted slightly, determined to figure it out later.
At the Tokyo Zoo…
"Sailor Moon! Watch out!" Sailor Mars yelled as the creature they were fighting tossed an energy attack at their leader. Said leader screamed hysterically, then tried to outrun it, but failed quite miserably. Mars groaned loudly, saying, "How are we going to get out of this?"
Their day hadn't been going well. A class trip to the Zoo had been planned for a long time now, as part of their Science class to have a more personal look at animal biology.
What hadn't been planned was the Negaverse being a part of the trip. Not long after their arrival there Zocite had arrived and begun to drain people left and right. Naturally the Scouts mobilized for battle, but the dark General hadn't come alone.
Naturally.
"Jupiter Supreme Thunder!" Sailor Jupiter sent a lighting blast at their foe, stunning it slightly, but not enough as it fired another of its seemingly endless blasts at her, sending Jupiter diving for cover.
"This thing's tough!" She spat out through gritted teeth. The youma started blasting away at the animals as they screamed, cackled, cawed, or roared at the commotion going on, destroying many of the restraining bars and cages, releasing them.
"We have to stop this thing!" Mercury cried out through the din. "If too many of these animals get loose, there'll be chaos all across the city!"
"Lets get it then!" Jupiter jumped up, preparing her strongest attack, when a quick shot from the youma sent her flying backwards.
She managed to rise to her elbows when a shadow blocked out the sun.
She looked up at the youma as it grinned demonically at her. "You time is up Sailor brat!" It prepared yet another blast when a red rose suddenly struck it from behind. It cried out in pain, turning to look for what caused it, giving Jupiter time to seek some distance.
From atop a lightpole stood Tuxedo Mask. "They say that the creatures in these cages are beasts, but for you to attack innocents for evil purposes, makes you the real beast here!"
"Die!" The youma cried, shooting the blast at him. He deftly avoided the attack, yelling, "Now Sailor Moon!"
"Right! Moooooon Spiral Heart Aaaattack!"
With a scream of outrage being the last proof that it had been on the planet, the youma was blasted away.
The Scouts and Tuxedo Mask gathered together, happy to have ended yet another crisis. "That was a hard fight." Venus proclaimed, whipping her forehead.
"Yes, but we won! Thanks to Tuxedo Mask." Mercury said happily.
"Yea well, if you ask me Serena could have been just a little quicker." Jupiter quipped.
Sailor Moon fumed at that. "I did my best!"
Tuxedo Mask cut them off before they could get going on another argument. "We still have these animals to get back in their cages." He pointed out.
They all looked at him blankly, until a spider monkey climbed up Sailor Moon's leg, causing her to shriek in terror.
Well, they ended one crisis at least…
Back at the Tendo Dojo….
"Oh, a foreign exchange student. That's nice." Kasumi commented cheerfully as they ate. "What made you decide to come to Japan?"
"Eh, it was the chance of a lifetime really. I get to get out of the States, see another culture. It seemed to happen…overnight." Tank dove into his noodles to hide the slight smirk at his tongue-in-cheek comment. "Mmm…good stuff. Kasumi's a hell of a cook." And he told her as much.
The older girl blushed slightly, "Thank you." She said.
"You're welcome."
Nabiki gazed at him over her bowl, the wheels visibly turning. Tank looked up at her, asking cheerfully, "Is there something on your mind Nabiki? Maybe you heard something about the program?" Her eyes widened slightly, managing to cover it by looking down at her bowl saying nonchalantly, "Why would you think that?"
"Oh, I don't know. It just seemed you had something on your mind is all." Tank finished off his bowl, and patted his stomach. "Kasumi, that's the best meal I've had in a good while. Thank you."
Kasumi again blushed, not used to compliments. "Thank you, and you're welcome." She rose to clear the table and to everybody's surprise their guest did the same.
"Oh you don't have to do that." Kasumi said, but he waved his hand at the comment.
"Sure I do!" He said happily. "I owe you for the meal. Besides, it's only common curtousy." The others just gazed at the man as if he had grown three heads.
"What? It isn't here?" He looked back quizzically.
No one responded. He shrugged, going back to what he was doing. Both he and Kasumi went into the kitchen, cleaning the dishes and making idle chit-chat while the others did their own thing. From the living room the TV could be heard, chattering about the news. Akane and Nabiki was watching it when a breaking news story came across.
"Hey guys…" Akane called out. "…there was a breakout of animals at the Zoo."
Ranma shrugged, not interested. Tank came out for a moment to watch, while Soun and Tendo continued to play Shogi.
Newscaster: "So far, Zoo authorities have managed to retrieve most of the escaped animals. The following animals are still on the loose however, and if you see them, contact the police immediately. There is a reward for their location, so call it in as soon as you see them."
He read off a list of animals, most of them small such as monkeys or birds. The largest animal still at large was an oddity though. One that should have been picked up almost immediately.
A Panda.
Tank couldn't help but grin a bit, and he beckoned Ranma over. "Hey man…if you ever wanted to get rid of your father…this is the time."
Ranma blinked in confusion. Exasperated, Tank pointed subtly to Genma. "Make him a Panda and then call it in you tool! The situation is practically custom made for this." Tank chuckled slightly. Ranma seemed taken back though, obviously not that shrewd.
Finally he responded. "No way! He's still my Pops!"
Sighing, Tank said simply, "Alright, fine. Can't blame a guy for trying." Tank chuckled as he went back to helping Kasumi.
Tank sat on the porch, thinking things over from how the day went.
"Well, things aren't too bad. Got a deal for more training from Ranma, managed not to tell him too much that might throw things off for this timeline…overall it's been a good day." He rubbed his sore arms, having gone through some more exercises with Ranma not long after he finished helping Kasumi.
"Heh, I'll give him credit, he knows his stuff." He muttered aloud, now rubbing the back of his head, almost irritably. Just then he heard some light footsteps behind him. He glanced back.
Seeing it was Nabiki, he automatically tensed up a bit. She looked coy and shy, but her eyes said something else.
"Excuse me. Is this spot taken?" She asked shyly. He shrugged, scooting over to the side. She promptly sat down, glancing at him from time to time. He decided to turn the tables on her.
He leaned in slightly, almost conspiratorily, saying, "Might as well drop the act now sister. I'm already on to you." Her eyes widened for a moment, but she held her own.
"And I'm on to you…soldier." She smiled coyly. She leaned against a railing, with a cat-ate-the-canary look on her face.
"Oh but not nearly as on to me as you think you are. How would Ranma or Akane like it if I told them about your little photo habits?" He shot back.
How he was sitting one second and up close and personal to her face the next, he had no idea, but he had a good clue that he had hit a home run on that one. "How do you know about that!" Her voice was low, but it seemed to scream between them. She held his shirt in her hands, which was the reason why he was up close and personal.
"You might want to let me go before someone sees you Nabiki." He said gently, yet he couldn't stop himself from adding, "Besides, we just met. No need to fall for me so quickly." He winked.
"You…bastard!" She let go, but didn't bother to hold her shy act anymore. It was obvious she was enraged.
He straightened himself up a bit, continuing, "At least you said it out loud. Akane just yells it through her eyes. And as I told her, you can just drop that shit."
Her jaw dropped from his tone. No one ever spoke to her like that!
He looked at her, a slight smirk on his face.
"How much do you think it'll cost you to keep me from telling Akane, Ranma, and anyone else I want to about your habits? All of them?"
Now she was livid. "He's trying to con me!" She could see in his eyes though that he would go through with the implied threat. She had to think fast to get out of the situation.
That was something she was good at though. "When strength doesn't work, try planting self-doubt."
Her game face back on, she smiled at him, almost inviting. "Well, that's an interesting statement. But why would anyone believe you? A foreigner?" The game was over in her mind.
But not in his apparently. "I already have one believer kid. And he's the most important one." She winced slightly, realizing he had a point. "When self-doubt doesn't work, try threatening back."
"If you do, I'll just tell everyone here the truth about you." She cocked her head slightly to see his reaction.
It wasn't quite what she expected. He laughed. "And I'll just deny it. Face it Nabiki, I got you. You have no proof, and if you did, you'd have to show it, then some very interesting questions about how you came by that proof will come up, quite possibly shutting down your little operation."
"You have no proof either." She shot back, a little defensively. She never loses at this game! Never!
He wagged a finger at her. "Oh contrare my dear. Not only do have proof, I know where it can be procured. And you do too." He shook his head upwards slightly, still smiling, now superiorly. He did have her.
"Shit shit shit! Damn this guy's good!" She had to admit, highly impressed. It was very rare for anyone to play the game on her level. In fact, no one she knew could. Yet this man from another country…another time if he wasn't lying…not only matched her, he beat her at her own game! It was highly frustrating for her, leaving her angry, shocked, impressed, and damn near in a rage. She had never been so aroused in a long time.
The red head looked away from her face while all these emotions shot through her. "Now I'm not looking for much, just some cash every so often when I come to train."
She looked up at him, wary. "How much?"
"How much do you charge Kuno per?"
"1,000 yen." She threw out.
"Bullshit. Try higher." He waved his thumb up at the sky.
She growled slightly, "Ok, 10 to 14,000 yen."
He nodded, satisfied. "I think it would be fair to say that this information is worth…25,000 every other week."
She blanched. "No way! That's extortion!"
"That's the point hot stuff. You do it all the time." He winked at her, causing her face to flush, partially from anger, but some from desire. "Do you agree on the price?"
"There's no way I can pay that much. 9,000 yen."
"What do you take me for, a fool? You make plenty. I'm flexible though, 20,000 doesn't sound too bad." She shook her head, throwing back a slightly higher amount from her previous statement.
The negotiations didn't last long, but they did finally come to an agreement of 15,000 yen every other week. She finally felt that she had taken back some control on the situation, bringing her raging emotions in check. "Just in time too…I've never wanted someone that bad before." She managed to get up without trouble, although she felt slightly weak, as if she had just run a marathon. "At least I'll have the photos of him from this." She smiled wickedly as she left.
Tank watched her shapely rear walk away from the corner of his eye, then turned back to the pond with a bigger smile on his face. "Things have just gotten a hell of a lot better." Then a thought crossed his mind.
"I wonder how Barsoums' day had gone?"
Barsoum sat in his tent in some pain, dabbing a few cuts with a wet cloth, swearing greatly at his incredible misfortune.
"Mother fuckin….sombitch…god damn that piece of shit…"
His day hadn't been a good one. It started out great at first, with some meditation on the new power he seemed to have acquired after Tank left to meet this Ranma person.
Unfortunatly….
* * * * *
Earlier that day….
From above Barsoum he could hear a chattering, and the sound of claws on bark. He tuned that out as he sat in front of their fire in meditation. It wasn't often he meditated, not having much cause for it. But the nature of his new power demanded some serious consideration and thinking. Not to mention the fact that he was now in another land and time, leaving him highly off center…at least more off center than he usually was anyways. He needed to find balance again, and meditation was the way to do it.
He could hear the clatter of those claws on a tree limb above him, but he didn't let that ruin his concentration as he channeled his ki within. He concentrated deeply, feeling his inner spirit flow through him, gaining in strength slowly. He was in tune with everything within him, and everything around him, hearing everything yet nothing, feeling the wind and heat from the fire, yet not.
He found his balance. His inner spirit was in harmony with nature around him, and his body. He could feel the ki of the earth, the fire, the wind...everything interacting with his. He thought on his new power, and could feel it and everything about it as clearly as if it were on paper before him. He could sense it's potential within him, it only needed the proper time and training to achieve it.
Sadly, this moment of clarity and calm was about to be shattered quite rudely.
Deep in his trance, he could hear something zipping through the air, and before he could contemplate anything about it, a rather large chestnut nailed him directly on the forehead.
"Son of a fucking bitch!" He cried out in pain, holding his poor forehead as he rolled on the leaf covered ground. "Mother fucker!" The now enraged and highly unbalanced Egyptian jumped up, certain as to what it was that caused this great pain and agony.
Sure enough, far above him sat the squirrel, chattering away at him. It seemed to laugh at him, feeling quite safe.
"Why don't you come down here and fight like a man you piece of shit!" He had a hand on the hilt of his katana, showing quite clearly that, while the squirrel should fight like a man, he was going to put end to it quickly.
The squirrel seemed to shake it's head back and forth negeatively, then ran off elsewhere.
"That little fucker…it's time I did something about'em." He thought for a moment as to how to go about doing this.
"I got it!"
Barsoum giggled almost manically as he set his trap. A pile of sunflower seeds sat in the middle of a small noose, about big enough for a man's foot, which was tied to a sapling. The sapling was bent over to nearly half it's height, held down in place by a peg, which had a string tied to it to pull it out of the ground.
"This'll fix'em!" He muttered almost in glee as he covered the noose and string with leaves, then slunk away to a bush where he could watch, gently holding the string.
Oddly, nothing happened for nearly an hour. Barsoum fidgeted, wondering what was taking the squirrel so long, when he felt something poke him from behind.
"Eh?" He turned to look first in curiosity, then in shock as there sat his target! "You!" He cried, lunging for the creature. It darted between his legs through the bush, with Barsoum in hot pursuit.
"I'll get you this time you fucker! You're going to be a slipper when I'm done with you!" He put a hand on the hilt of his sword, well within lethal range as his target danced back and forth in a zig-zag patter in an attempt to throw him.
Just as he was about to pull the sword, the squirrel did one more zig to the left, landing on a small piece of wood, then leaping hard to the right.
"Got you!" Barsoum cried, pulling the sword out fully and bringing it down hard when a two-hundred an fifty pound Chiefs quarterback tackled a leg, sending him flat on his face, to be replaced by a twenty foot tall giant which pulled him back and up into the air.
"Mother fuckin…." Barsoum cursed loudly, going into Arabic for this occasion as he hung from the very trap he himself had set. This was a very embarresing moment for him, so the cursing lasted a good thirty minutes before he calmed enough to phase through the rope and land on the ground.
Defeated, Barsoum headed back towards the encampment when he heard a noise to the right. Without hesitation he leapt over a bush, surprising his nemesis fully. It didn't even have time to evade as Barsoum latched on with his free hand, lifting it to his face.
"I got you now you son of a bitch!" Barsoum laughed, almost evilly for a few minutes as he held the sword tip to the squirrels chin. It seemed to be in too much shock as it just looked up at him with those slightly screwy eyes.
"Any last words before you become I make you into lunch meat?" Barsoum grinned widely, immensely proud at his accomplishment. Won't Tank be so impressed at what he did!
Apparently, the victim-to-be did have some last words. Just one really. It made one very long, high pitched screech before quieting again.
"Alright, time for you to go bitch!" Barsoum prepared to impale the squirrel and save the world from its genes when he felt something very big and burly ram him from the side, sending the sword and squirrel flying.
Barsoum rubbed his side in surprise, but that was as far as he got as that big and burly thing tackled him on the ground, growling and biting and nearly crushing him before he phased enough for his body to no longer take any damage.
He lay there as the thing backed away, apparently satisfied with its work. He stared in disbelief at what had hit him.
"A fuckin Panda?" Sure enough, a panda had attacked him, and as it ambled off he could see the squirrel sitting on the pandas' back, laughing once again.
* * * * * * * *
It was now evening, and Barsoum was still in foul spirits. He looked up at the darked trees, and shook his fist in rage, crying out in an oath first in Arabic, then it's English equivalent.
"This isn't over you son-of-a-bitch! I'll get you if it's the last thing I do, and your panda too!"
* * * * * * * *
Across town…
Sailor Mercury stood on her balcony, feeling the night breeze waft across her face. It had been days since their encounter with the strange soldier from America, and while they had searched hard, they hadn't been able to locate any trace of him.
She sighed. "I wonder where he is? What role does he play in our fight with our Enemy?" She ran a hand through her hair, not getting an answer from the wind.
Their battle today had been hard, but not as hard as others had been. It wasn't fast though, and it had left a mess that was still being cleared by Zoo people.
"So many questions. I wish I knew the answers." She said, discouraged. Things had changed too rapidly of late. Becoming a Scout and fighting monsters that seemed to get stronger over time was bad enough, but now there was this unknown quantity. Serena, in one of her few clear-headed moments when the leader in her shown, had said he was to be trusted.
Yet…was he? Ami wasn't sure. Nor was Lita, that much was certain.
She sighed again, then went back inside to turn in for the night. "Maybe the answers will come to us soon. I hope."
To Be Continued…..
Sorry, had to break up this chapter. Had 33 pages when I was finished, but that's ok, just means there's more chapters for you to read hehehe.
Hope you enjoy them all!
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RBL_M1A2Tanker