Chapter 19: Marching Along
As the festivities wound down, Kass stepped away from the Saunders prep lot. After a short walk, she arrived at the silent Oarai prep lot, where all the tanks had been returned. Most of the tanks sat in their spots, although they would need to be cleaned up and restored, they could still drive. At the back of the lot; however, was one tank resting on a trailer. Its charred silhouette rested in the setting sun. Kass slowly approached the fallen vehicle.
She climbed onto the trailer and placed a hand on the casemate's wall. The charred paint crunched beneath her hand and fell to the ground. Behind the paint was the 60mm thick side armor. Kass trembled and sniffed, but moved on and walked around the back. She climbed through the rear hatch and entered the crew compartment, which just a few hours ago was alive with the activity of battle. Now it sat in charred silence. Under her boots was a layer of ash. She approached her loader's seat and sat down on what was left next to a rack of exploded shells. She looked at the gun, scorched and charred, but still could theoretically fire. Is the Elefant completely lost? Could it be restored? She thought. She didn't have an answer, but idly kicking the ash on the floor took her mind away from the question.
She heard footsteps outside, slowly got up, and looked out of the rear hatch. Joseph slowly approached and waved. "I thought I would find you here," he said.
"I-I just wanted to be alone with the Elefant for a little while," she admitted while climbing out of the tank.
"I understand. We've fought in it for two years. I'm hurting too," Joseph said while climbing up on the trailer and sitting against the tracks.
"Can it be fixed?" Kass asked.
Joseph grimaced. "I-I don't think so. The fire would've consumed everything but the steel. We'd effectively be rebuilding the entire tank from nothing but the chassis," he answered.
Kass sadly nodded. "I-I don't know if I can bear scrapping it…" she said.
"We won't. I don't want to see it disappear either," Joseph said, "I was thinking we could clean it up, give it a new paint job, and put it on display or something."
"Isn't the best place for a tank on the battlefield though?" Kass asked.
Joseph sighed. "Yes, but we just don't have the equipment or material to restore it," he answered.
Kass's eyes filled with tears. "I don't want to see it turned into a display! I want to load its gun in battle! I want to ride it with my friends!" she cried.
Joseph stood up and hugged her. "I want to as well, but some things… some things can't be fixed, no matter how hard you try," he said.
Kass cried softly into his shoulder. "I don't wanna say goodbye though," she whispered.
"We won't… we'll just have to say goodbye to operating it."
The two separated. "I don't know if I can…" she admitted.
"I don't know either, but we have to, so we'll push onwards. Just like we always do."
The two were interrupted by another sound of footsteps crunching on gravel. "Excuse me… if this isn't a bad time," Kay said softly as she approached.
"Kay? What are you doing here?" Joseph asked, stepping down from the trailer.
"I heard about the Elefant," she said, "I'm sorry to see that it was destroyed."
"Oh, yeah, thanks," Joseph replied.
"So I'm guessing your crew is out of a tank, right?" Kay asked.
The two nodded sadly, causing Kay to frown. "I figured as much, and the reward tank is already fully crewed…" she said, "If you'd like… we could lend you another tank."
Joseph looked up with surprise. "Really? Do you have a tank with six crew positions?" he asked.
Kay smiled. "I thought you'd like that idea," she said, "it's already on its way, courtesy of the Saunders Airlift Division."
"What tank is it?" Kass asked. I don't wanna crew any other tank except our Elefant, but if I have to… I will.
"Give them about five more minutes," Kay answered. She pulled out a little red flare gun and fired it into the air. In the distance, the whirling of jet engines could be heard.
Joseph pulled out his phone and called the rest of his crew. "You guys are gonna want to meet me at our prep lot. Kay has something for us," he said quickly before shutting his phone.
Above them, a Lockheed C-5 Super Galaxy, one of the largest planes in the world, approached and lowered its rear cargo door. It shifted slightly to the right to avoid dropping its cargo onto the Oarai lot. As the other four members of Hyena Team ran onto the lot, the plane dropped a cargo crate strapped to a steel platform with chains. A pair of parachutes shot up from the platform as it fell to the ground. The C-5 sharply pulled up and flew into the air with a roar. The platform, despite the parachute assistance, crashed into the ground harshly and dug into the dirt as it came to a stop. "Happy birthday guys!" Kay cheered jokingly.
The group walked into the field, stepping over wildflowers and tall grass. The cargo container was mostly fine from the impact but was covered in parachutes and dirt. The group went to work pulling it free from the parachutes before Kay opened the container.
"What tank is it? It's getting too dark for me to see it," Morgan asked.
"Here I'll drive it out for you," Kay said and climbed into the driver's position. The Wright R-1820 radial engine and the electric transmission whined as the tank drove out of the cargo container and turned on its headlight.
Hyena Team stood and gaped at the 57-ton heavy tank that emerged. "Oh my God… that's awesome," Joseph said.
Few tanks commanded the sheer size and firepower of the Heavy Tank, T1E1. The monstrous machine had six machine guns and two main guns. But this T1E1 didn't have the usually mounted 3-inch M7 gun. No, it mounted an even more powerful gun, the 90mm T7. A 37mm M6 gun was mounted next to it in a unique coaxial mount. "Isn't she a beauty?" Kay asked.
"It's incredible. Are you sure you want to give us this? Wouldn't you want to have it on your team?" Joseph asked.
Kay laughed. "Well sure, I'd love to field it. Problem is, we're out of the tournament, so we don't exactly need it. You can keep it as long as you'd like. On one condition, of course," she said.
"What is it?" Joseph asked.
"You better kick some major ass, that's what," Kay joked. "Now, how about you guys give her a little test run and show it off to your pals!" she suggested.
Kay climbed out of the driver's position and sat on the turret while Hyena Team got into place. In the hull, Tanner and Elliot took the driver and radio operator positions, although Elliot whistled as he grabbed the grips of the dual .50 machine guns mounted to the front. "Now this is some serious firepower," he said.
Tanner grabbed the driving levers to find buttons on the top of them. "What do these do?" he asked before pushing them. At the front, both hull-mounted M1919s fired. "Wow, it's like a fighter plane."
The question of who would crew the turret was more complicated. "So it looks like we'll only have three 90mm shells up here, the rest are stored in the hull. Someone will need to act as an ammo passer," Joseph noted.
Morgan and Kass looked at each other. "I'll be the ammo passer," Kass said, "it'll be easier for me to move around the tank since I'm the second shortest crewmember."
"You and August are the same height," Joseph pointed out.
"No, we aren't, he/she is shorter!" Kass and August exclaimed before glaring at each other. August shook his head and climbed into the gunner's seat.
"I guess that leaves me to load the 90mm and the 37mm," Morgan said.
Everyone took their positions and Joseph stood out of the commander's hatch. He took his AA .50 caliber machine and examined it for a moment before equipping the intercom system headset. "You won't tap into this one, will you?" Joseph playfully jabbed.
Kay sighed. "I know it's hard to believe, but Alisa acted on her own. I've told her a thousand times to stop using that radio tapper," Kay replied, "I guess I'll have to start checking her tank for it."
"Alright, I believe you," Joseph said,
"Now I'm getting thirsty, let's
head back to everyone else!"
Tanner gently pushed the control sticks forward. The tank rolled forward for a moment while he adjusted to the controls. "It's a little lighter than the Elefant, but it's not too different," he said, "hold on!" He turned the tank and pushed it forward through the tall grass and back onto Oarai's prep lot. The heavy tank had no problem crushing the pitiful plants beneath it and began driving down the gravel road that would lead them to Saunders' prep lot.
000
Ross sat with Natalie in his arms at a table with the rest of Leopard Team and Anglerfish Team. People were still eating and talking around them, but the night was starting to drag on and a few of the less busy service trucks started to close up. Natalie was certainly tired as she was resting her head on Ross's chest and slept. Ross gently swayed back and forth. To keep her asleep, he didn't talk with the others and just listened.
At least until a cold voice caused him to freeze, "I thought I warned you about staying in line."
Ross slowly turned around and stood up while everyone at the table froze and stared. He looked up to meet the ice-cold, but furious eyes of Maho Nishizumi. Beside her, her ever-present vice-captain, Erika Itsumi, stood beside her. "Start talking, your reckless ramming of the Sherman in your match was dishonorable and unacceptable in Sensha-do," she demanded.
"Listen, it was an accident, the JSF already waived any penalty," Ross reasoned, pushing aside his emotions.
Before Maho had the chance to respond, the roar of an American 9-cylinder gasoline aircraft engine cut off everyone's conversation. The T1E1 stole everyone's attention as it drove onto the lot and stopped right behind Maho and Erika. Joseph and Kay climbed down from the tank. "So, I finally get to meet some girls from Kuromormine! Exciting!" Joseph said, "considering what Ross has told me about you, I have a small feeling you aren't here for small talk."
"You better not be trying to intimidate my guests, Maho," Kay warned.
"Don't threaten us Yankee," Erika spat.
"Well, how would you like me to threaten you? I take requests," Joseph replied, barely holding in laughter.
Maho and Erika gaped at Joseph, who threatened to burst out laughing at any moment. "Anyways how about you dollar store Wilhelm wannabes get out of here before I turn you into wienerschnitzel," he threatened with a bright, amused smile.
"Wienerschnitzel? What?" Erika asked, "that doesn't make sense."
"Let me put in terms you might understand," Joseph said, "Ich packe genug Feuerkraft, um die Maginot-Linie einzuebnen, und ich werde euch in den Arsch frittieren, wenn ihr verdammt noch mal nicht hier rauskommt. Sorry if that's choppy, I'm still working on my German."
Maho and Erika gaped at him for a moment, before Maho collected herself. "Very well, we'll take our leave," she said before walking off. Erika failed to stutter out a response and followed her.
Mako raised her hand to grab Joseph's attention. "What did you say in German?" she asked, "I'd like to use it on them too sometime."
"Huh, why do you want to insult Kuromormine?" Joseph asked.
"Uptight brats like them and Sodoko are why I can't sleep in," Mako answered.
Joseph slowly nodded. "Anyway, I said 'I'm packing enough firepower to level the Maginot Line and I'm going to deep-fry your asses if you don't get the fuck out of here,'" he explained.
Everyone's jaws dropped, but Mako slowly clapped. "Nice," she complimented before tearing into a new cake.
"So, other than that, how's everyone doing?" Joseph asked casually.
"Um… good, where'd you get that tank?" Ross asked.
Kay smiled. "Oh, I had it airdropped in. I thought Hyena Team might want to fight in the second round so I gave them one of the tanks we probably wouldn't use since we're done for the summer games," she explained.
"What?!" several members gathered around, including Miho, shouted.
"Shh!" Ross hissed, but it was too late. Natalie slowly blinked open her eyes and looked up wearily at Ross. Ross grimaced, expecting her to start crying. Instead, to his surprise, Natalie reached up and grabbed his cheek with an innocent giggle. "Ow, hey Natalie, stop!" he cried out. But the small child had him in her grasp and she would not be so easily shaken off. When Ross grabbed her hand to pull her off, she used her other hand. Ross, with only one free hand, was fighting a losing battle.
Jody sighed. "I've taught her so well…" she said.
"You haven't taught her anything. She's just being a little brat!" Ross exclaimed while trying fruitlessly to fight off the little cheek-grabbing menace.
"So anyways…" Kay interrupted, "yeah, we're giving you this tank for now. You can have it as long as you want. I'm guessing you won't be fixing up that Elefant any time soon… or at."
"No!" Kass said determinedly. "Kay, don't get me wrong, I appreciate all you've done for us, but I've decided… I won't let the Elefant just rot away. I'm going to fix it, I don't care what it takes!"
"Kass, I don't think…" Joseph started. Kass shot him a determined, but fiery stare that shut him up.
"That's the spirit!" Kay encouraged, "And once you've got that Elefant back up and running, I want a rematch! I want to face that long 88 head-on!"
"You've got a deal!" Kass shouted.
"Kay…" Miho started with a bow, "I can't thank you enough for your generosity, but thank you."
"You're welcome, Miho. We may have been opponents on the battlefield but off the battlefield? We're friends and friends help each other out. That's the spirit of Sensha-do!" Kay said.
Miho rose from her bow and smiled. Kay smiled back and slung an arm around Miho's shoulder, causing her to stiffen. "C'mon now, I told you there's no need to be all uppity!" Kay exclaimed cheerfully.
000
Later that night, Anglerfish Team arranged themselves in the hotel room they'd be staying at for the night. Each team was given their own room with two large beds, large enough for three people each. Miho sat at the office desk provided with a couple of sheets of paper laid out in front of her. "So, whoever wins the Chi-Ha-Tan vs. Bonple match will be our next opponent and that's scheduled for tomorrow…" she muttered to herself. I don't want to underestimate or put either of them down, but with our tanks either match would be easy. There's just nothing either team has fielded that can compare to our current line-up. Miho thought.
"What're looking at, Miporin?" Saori asked, sitting down on the second bed brushing her hair.
"Just the tournament bracket. Looks like Chi-Ha-Tan Academy will be facing Bonple High School and whoever wins will be our second-round opponent," Miho answered.
"Oh cool, are they strong? Do they have a theme?"
"Well, Chi-Ha-Tan uses Japanese tanks and Bonple uses Polish tanks. That basically leaves them with light tanks. They're fast and agile, but not particularly hard-hitting or well-armored."
"So it should be an easy battle then, right? Just point and shoot," Saori suggested.
Miho shook her head. "Not exactly. You never know what an opponent could do," she warned.
"I guess, but if their tanks aren't very strong, then it shouldn't be difficult to destroy them. I haven't done much reading on Polish or Japanese tanks yet, but all I've seen are fairly light and weak tanks," Saori said.
Miho sighed. "Yes, but take Duck Team for example. The Type 89B is slow, weakly armed, and barely armored, and yet without them, we wouldn't have won our battle against Schwarzadler," Miho countered.
Saori silently nodded, remembering the two shots Duck Team fired to eliminate the Elefant's drive sprocket and machine gun to prevent it from taking out the Panzer IV. "What's the tank limit? Still 10?" Saori asked.
"No, it's being increased to 12, meaning the T22E1 can join us right away in the tournament," Miho answered, "Victoria texted me a little bit ago. She said her tank is arriving tomorrow, but she wants to wait until it gets here to reveal it."
"Any idea on what she's bringing?" Saori asked.
"No clue, she's been tight-lipped about it since she's joined, even to me," Miho answered.
"Oh," Saori said. The room fell awkwardly silent. Yukari and surprisingly, Mako were fast asleep, having the most physical jobs completely exhausted them. Not even Mako's horrid sleep schedule could fight against a whole day's worth of tank driving and getting shot at.
Miho blushed as she remembered a question she wanted to ask Saori. "Saori, how can you tell if you love someone?" she asked.
Saori stopped brushing her hair and stared at Miho in surprise. "Um… I never expected that you'd ask me something like that Miho," she admitted, "but I am a certified love expert, so I can answer your question. See, most people in a relationship don't really have love at the start, they just like the other one. It's an experiment to see if love blooms."
"An experiment? So they're going into a relationship without knowing if the person will be their soulmate?" Miho asked.
"Typically yes, there are some rare cases. But love comes naturally, but you do have to work towards it!" Saori explained, "some people even start relationships without looking for a life partner."
"Why would they do that? Isn't the end goal of all relationships marriage?" Miho asked innocently.
"No, not all the time, especially these days," Saori answered, "people do it for a lot of different reasons. Some people just want company for a while but don't intend to take it further. Heck, some people form relationships just for social status, especially in middle and high school." Saori's eyebrows furrowed and she looked angrily at the floor. "I was a victim of that last year. A boy finally noticed me, but it was all a front. He just wanted a relationship to flaunt me around to his friends and say he had a girlfriend. I set that brat straight when I found out he didn't actually care about me."
"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that," Miho said, "that sounds horrible."
"Yeah, but then I told him straight…" Saori said trailing off, "and then he got the attention of the blackshirts. I haven't seen him or his friends since, but I heard from the grapevine that they jumped him. I should have handled it more privately."
"They're everywhere, aren't they?" Miho asked.
"It's a real problem, but unless the government wants to up our funding then we can't get rid of them," Saori said. She fell backward onto the bed and sighed.
"So… how do people in a relationship find out if they love each other?" Miho asked.
"Well, I haven't gotten there yet myself, but it probably comes in its own special way for everyone," Saori said, "you just have to let your feelings develop on their own."
"Your own special way…" Miho repeated quietly, "like after a really special date, or maybe while you're dancing in the rain, or maybe even after an epic adventure!" she exclaimed. You could practically see the hearts in her eyes.
Saori laughed. "Someone's been reading some romance novels," she teased, "I guess I can't give you any grief though, I'm definitely more guilty. That's like all I ever read, besides some magazines. Have you seen the latest issue of the Sensha-do Monthly Battle Report?" Saori asked.
"I haven't had the chance, why?" Miho replied.
"Oh, I saw an article with your sister in it. I thought you'd want to know," Saori answered.
"My sister huh…" Miho whispered. I just don't understand what her problem with our boys is… they've been nothing but kind and helpful, she thought.
"So anyway, what's got you asking this Miho? Got your eye on someone?" she asked teasingly.
Miho blushed. "Oh no… I'm just curious," she stuttered, "y-you know, Kuromorimine is a girls-only school so I've never had the chance to enter the relationship scene."
"Makes sense I guess," Saori said before stretching and yawning. "I'm gonna head to bed. You should get some sleep too."
Miho nodded and started packing up her things. "I'll go to sleep after I pack up my stuff."
000
"Finally! The future of warfare is here!" Victoria shouted with glee as a semi-truck stopped in front of the garages with a flatbed that held her tank, which was covered in a tarp. Every commander and Turtle Team gathered at Garage 2, where the crew of the T22E1, now called "Eagle Team" had joined Turtle Team and Miho. The T22E1 had a cartoon bald eagle painted onto the side of its turret with its wings stretched out and its talons extended below it, ready to grab its prey. The semi-truck hauling Victoria's tank stopped in front of the garage.
"The future of warfare huh? Must be a pretty powerful tank!" Azusa exclaimed.
"She said it was from England right? Maybe it's a Centurion Mk. I or a Churchill!" Erwin suggested.
"Settle down, settle down everyone!" Victoria dramatically called out. She climbed onto the extra-wide flatbed and unbuckled the tarp. "Now I shall reveal to you the powerful weapon that shall take us all the way to the top!" She grabbed the corner of the tarp and leaped from the flatbed. The tarp flew away from the tank as she hit the ground, letting the sun shine upon it.
The machine was 43 feet long with a massive gun fixed to the front. The vehicle's main structure sat on top of the tracks, which had slots to allow them to pass through. An antiquated pair of wheels extended the tank's length while the riveted armored box stopped to allow the track and the rest of the suspension to emerge from under it. The vehicle itself was just over 9 feet tall. "Introducing… Wildcat Team, with the Gun Carrier Mark I! Made with a custom fully enclosed casemate to protect us, of course. Our 8-inch howitzer shall make the enemies of Oarai tremble!" she declared.
"You have got to be kidding…" William said with exasperation, "The Gun Carrier, Mark 1 never had an enclosed casemate, and it never was fitted with the 8-inch howitzer! Not to mention, it's completely outdated!"
"Oh I'll have you know, enclosing modifications are allowed by the Vehicle Safety Approval Committee as long as they are 'reasonably structured' and 'historically accurate' and the 8-inch howitzer was initially planned to be an option for the gun carrier so it is legal! We'll see how outdated you feel when you see its stopping power!" Victoria shouted. She climbed onto a ladder that led to a hatch into the driver's tower. "I'll show you outdated…" she whispered and fired up the tank. The tank crawled down from the trailer slowly, before slowly accelerating to a brisk three miles per hour. She turned the tank so that it was pointing down the gravel field.
Victoria jumped from the driver's tower into the fighting compartment where the breach of the 8-inch howitzer was ready to be loaded with two massive piles of shells next to it. Victoria grunted as she lifted the 200-pound shell and dropped it onto the loading tray. She grabbed a gunpowder charge and set it behind the shell before grabbing the loading tray and, with mechanical assistance, leveled it with the breech. She pulled open the gun breach and rammed the shell into the gun with a steel rammer. Finally, she closed the breach and moved to the gun controls. Just to be sure she wouldn't hit anything important, she aimed the gun so that it would fly extremely high into the air before slamming into the ground not far ahead in the middle of the gravel field, much like a mortar shot. She opened the hatch on the commander's right side and stuck her head out with the firing cord in her hand. "See if this is outdated you piece of sh-" Before she finished she accidentally pulled the cord and set off the massive cannon.
With the sound and force unmatched by any other gun in Oarai's armory, the 8-inch howitzer fired and shot a blast of fire out of its barrel, followed by an enormous shell. The shell flew upwards and pierced the lower cloud layers. Everyone on the upper deck of the carrier froze as the shockwave shook the air on the carrier and created minor gusts throughout its streets.
Victoria hopped out of the tank and ran over to the group. "We've got about ten to fifteen seconds until that comes back down," she informed. Everyone waited anxiously as the shell began descending. Then the shell crashed into the ground and exploded with another roar and threw up dirt, smoke, and fire for at least 100 feet. Everyone clapped their hands over their ears as the shell detonated. As the dust settled, Victoria turned to them with a cheeky smirk. "So… still outdated?" she asked.
"Um… in millimeters, how big is that shell?" Miho squeaked.
"203mm," Victoria answered.
"Oh my God, that's almost double a Jagdtiger…" Miho whispered.
"Bigger than even a KV-2," Erwin added.
"It's pretty much a battleship cannon," Ross commented.
"Ah, ah, ah," Victoria interjected, "Siege howitzer."
"Our rockets are only 180mm," Canaveral said, "how much explosive mass do your shells have?"
Victoria smiled wider. "So, your rockets have 37 pounds of high explosives… pretty powerful, but my gun?" she chuckled deviously, "those shells have two hundred pounds of explosives in them."
If everyone's jaw could drop further, they would've. "That's over five times as much power!" Laika shouted.
"Don't worry, I'm on your side! And it's all null explosive so it won't hurt ya, the shell will just burn up so there's no shrapnel and your hearing will return in a few seconds after it goes off. Observe!" Victoria explained. She turned and hopped back into the gun carrier and emerged with a shell and a hammer. She set the shell onto the ground and everyone's eyes widened when they realized what she was doing. But it was too late as Victoria struck it with the hammer. The hammer sparked off the tips of the shell and set it off right next to everyone.
Everyone's vision went white and they fell to the ground as white noise filled their ears. When their hearing started to return and their eyes could see again, they heard the sound of Victoria laughing wildly. They all slowly got up, covered in a harmless chemical agent that dyed everything to look like it was scorched. Victoria, being right next to the shell, was dyed completely black from the explosion. "See, harmless!" she exclaimed.
"You idiot!" William shouted, "do you ever think before you do something?"
"No, why?" Victoria answered.
William growled and lunged at her, something she was prepared for as she drove the top of her hammer into his stomach. William grunted and fell back before swinging at her again. The two quickly latched onto each other and fell to the ground.
"Well… if that's everything, I guess we can all head home and clean ourselves up. Meeting dismissed," Miho stated. Everyone started walking off, leaving the two siblings in their scuffle.
000
A wide-open plain was the only thing separating the remaining tanks of Chi-Ha-Tan and Bonple's Sensha-do teams. Four tanks stared down each other from either side. On Bonple's side was Captain Jajka, standing tall in the hatch of her Polish 7TPjw, their flag tank, and was flanked by a duel turret 7TPdw and two 10TP cruiser tanks. On Chi-Ha-Tan's side, Captain Nishi stood out of the commander's hatch of her Type 97 Chi-Ha, their flag tank, flanked by her vice-captain, Tamaki Tamada in her Type 97 Shinhoto Chi-Ha. At the edges of the formation was Shizuko Hosomi in her own Type 97 Chi-Ha and Haru Fukuda in her Type 95 Ha-Go.
"You have been a worthy opponent," Jajka complimented, although Chi-Ha-Tan could not possibly hear them over the sound of the various tank engines rumbling, "but I'm afraid this match ends now. The Winged Hussars have arrived, charge, charge!" she shouted.
"It's time for the classic Chi-Ha-Tan charge! Tennōheika Banzai!" Nishi ordered.
"Tennōheika Banzai!" Hosomi and Tamada shouted.
"T-tennōheika Banzai," Fukuda weakly ordered.
All eight tanks charged at each other, firing rapidly and clumsily. Shells flew in every direction as they closed in on each other. Just over twenty feet from each other, Nishi's Chi-Ha scored a lucky hit on the Bonple flag tank, destroying the tank, and knocking it out.
Over the chaos and fire, Ami Chono's voice was heard by everyone, "Bonple High School's flag tank has been eliminated! Chi-Ha-Tan Academy is the winner!"
The remaining tanks came to a stop. As the smoke cleared, only one tank survived the charge, Nishi's Type 97 Chi-Ha. "We won…" she whispered before breaking out into a cheer, "We won! We're moving past the first round!"
"That's the power of the Chi-Ha-Tan charge!" Tamada cheered from her tank.
"Banzai!" the crews cheered, "Banzai! Banzai Banzai!"
000
After Miho had cleaned off the scorching dye and changed clothes, she left her bathroom in a fresh white dress with a yellow jacket and noticed her phone buzzing away on her table. She picked it up and read the caller I.D before opening it. "Hey, Saori what-" she began.
"Miho it's an emergency! Mako's grandmother fell and she's been taken to the hospital at Oarai. Mako's not handling it well, could you please come help us support her?" Saori interrupted.
"I-I'm on the way!" Miho replied hastily. She quickly slipped into her shoes and grabbed her keycard before running out of her apartment.
000
And that wraps up Chapter 19. Hope you all enjoyed this little cooldown chapter. I enjoyed writing it, and some reveals of new stuff happened, so it's shooting the story forward a bit. I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, favorited, followed, and viewed my story, it means a lot! I love reading your reviews and hearing everyone's thoughts so if you have something to share, feel free to leave it in the review section. I'll see you next chapter!
New Time on Girls und Panzer: Tank Aces!
Chapter 20: Picking Ourselves Back Up!