Blazepanzer here, chapter 4 is ready for launch! Anyways, enjoy! Note: Blazepanzer does not own Girls und Panzer!
Four weeks had passed for Taeko. She had been in several practices matches my now, not to mention four different tanks. And the PE was still very torturous to say the least, not because of the exercises or the games, but the coach's lust for teen girls. In that time she found out the hard way what being brought into that backroom meant, and let just say Taeko hated every part of it. How the hell guys came up with that stuff anyways was beyond her.
But he didn't make her massage his back anymore, so she actually got to play volleyball twice during those weeks, which was a plus.
But today was different, today they were going on a little practice match of an unusual nature. The first unusual nature of it was that it was two against four, Sanders and Pravda vs Blue Division, Bonple, Koala, and Maple.
The second unusual nature was that it was actually two practice matches. The bad company squadrons would be facing the junior teams in the first match, with the regular forces facing against the senor teams.
The third was that Alisa was free to use the radio intercept balloon to her hearts content against the Bad company squadrons. Apparently the ministry of education had come down hard on Kay for striking Arisa as a cheater for something that was clearly not cheating. Sure, Arisa had supposedly gone behind Kay's back on the manner, and sure you could have considered using the balloon it distasteful when you outnumbered your opponent two to one and outgunned all but one of their tanks, but Arisa clearly had not cheated.
The same could not be said for Ooarai, as cell phone use during matches was only to be used to call the match officials if an emergency situation came up. No other uses. Not even to check the time. That's why Ooarai's radio operators were all sent in as rank twos instead of rank ones.
Long story short, Pravda and Sanders wanted revenge against the former Ooarians, and a nice friendly warm up match with the regulars.
At any rate, Taeko was seated in the transport van, which would take them to their matches. Her wrist were cuffed behind her back as a precaution, though the same held true for the other spares.
"Hey, at least you get a better tank," Ayumi whispered beside her.
Taeko let out a small shrug. "Doesn't help when we're teamed up with her," she hissed, glaring at Miho at the end. It had taken a little while for Miho to be transferred, as somehow the populace of the city she was held in got it in their pathetic skulls that Miho was some spurned saint and had begun to riot.
Worse still, Taeko had found out that they really...really hated her and the other former Ducks. Supposedly a panic ensued when an officer discovered the rather highly detailed severed heads of the Duck team members on a pole, only for it to be determined to be in effigy an hour later.
"Still, I'm kinda glad to be operating the former Rabbit," Asuza smiled, trying to cheer her up.
This had the opposite effect on Taeko's already fowl mood. She just didn't answer, though, as she didn't want to risk spending three decades behind bars instead of just three years for lashing out. Anything to avoid that!
The drive was long, but at least this time their transport van had some AC, or rather fans blowing on them, which when combined with their short skirts and open short sleeved shirts kept them rather cool compared to their other prison van trips.
However, it did not keep them comfortable, as the transport van was stuffed with twenty four students, all cuffed behind their back and their legs chained to the floor, and no windows outside of the wired windows in the back of the van. Only light shone through the wire mesh, you couldn't see anything out of it, yet even so it caused Taeko to feel really exposed.
"Stupid ass father, making me drunk all of the time," A girl with dark brown hair spat, her amber eyes flicking in anger at the floor."
"Stupid ass judge telling my sister she should die," Maho added on the other side. "Fuck him."
"She should die," The other brown haired girl muttered.
Taeko flinched at the glare Maho shot the younger teen, but the brunet just glared back. For five minutes give or take, the two girls were in a glaring contest, before Maho looked away muttering that she wasn't worth it.
"Whatever you say Scamo Fruadstersumi," the girl muttered as she went back to glaring at the floor.
Taeko was surprised to see that Erika had a particular look of amusement on her face. "That's the first time I've ever seen someone stare Maho down like that and win," she chuckled. "You see something interesting every day, even in jail."
In jail... Taeko whispered inwardly, as she moved her wrist a bit to help prevent them from falling asleep. Back when I was a little girl, the sight of handcuffs would send shivers down my spine. Now I'm not only handcuffed every day, but also behind bars. If you had asked me a month and a half ago if I'd ever end up in prison, I'd have said something to the tune of hell no! But not now... she trailed off, unable to finish her thoughts.
The truck stooped, and the girls were let out, their cuffs undone as they gazed upon their tanks. Blue Division had their Verdja II, Type 89, M3 lee, T-50, A CV-33, the Panzer II 5cm mod, the T-26, and a BT-7. The same number of tanks as Ooarai had, just much much weaker if you could believe it.
Takio noticed the other tanks lined up a little ways away, in three separate lines. According to the information on the bad company divisions, which was shared freely, Bonple's bad division company had two TP7 tanks, one single and one duo turreted versions, Two TP 9's, Two TP Ten's, two Renaunts FT's, a Renaunt 35, and a TKS. Their main division now consisted of a mishmash of mid war German, Soviet, and American tanks.
To the right of the line sat Koala's tanks, which consisted of three Grants, Two Stuarts, A Char B-1 Bis, and a Porsche Tiger. Taeko instantly knew where those later two two had come from. Koala's main line tanks had been upgraded with a mix of Shermans and British infantry tanks.
The last team was Maple academy, and they had a mix of about seven A5 mark IV light tanks and two early model Valentine tanks, as well as a Mark V world war one tank of all things. From what she heard, Maple had upgraded with a mix of rood-modded M-10's and Chaffee light tanks along with a couple of rams.
"Right, now that you all arrived, it's time for your tracking anklet's to go on and then you can mount up and take off as soon as your TWCSO's give you the okay," one of the guards noted.
Taeko shuddered as the anklet was wrapped and secured around her leg, but there was nothing she could do about it. She was a criminal, after all, and they had every right to fear that she'd try and go on the run. Not that she had the desire too, sure she'd love to be out of prison but the obvious punishment for running kept her in check.
Gazing around at the other girls, she recognized Erwin and Hana over at Koala, and a few others that she recognized here and there, but nobody who could match the girl she was looking for. I guess Hanoashi's still on the run. I hope she's alright, even if she was with us for only a day, she is still one of us. In my eyes at least.
She knew that her fellow Ooaraiain's were split on the Irish girl, half of them believed that she had assaulted the instructor. The other half believed she was guilty of nothing more than insulting the instructor...and fleeing arrest. Taeko fell into the latter half.
"We need to mount up," Rikona whispered.
Taeko was surprised that she was taking temporary command of the Lee for the match, but Aacob was only supposed to be a temporary commander until the new kids come in. To her it seemed like there was always two or three groups coming in every week and most outside of Ooarai's group deserved it to some extent or other.
"Alright, everyone is mounted up, you may begin to travel to the designated area," The TWCSO announced.
All Taeko could do was watch wait as they traveled to the area, and to be frank she was a little shook up at the height of her turret. Made her feel like she was on top of the Maus again for some reason. Didn't help that Miho had just been transferred into her tank last week.
"All crews, move out," Rikona shouted.
After a bit, she decided to be blunt. "Rikona...do you know about Hanoashi?"
Rikona nodded sadly. "Yeah...she's my precious cousin...I...I try not to think about her nowadays, especially during a match."
Her heart twisted at the pained look on her commander's face. "Do...you know what happened to her?" she asked, slowly.
"No...I try to keep faith that she's out there...but..." Rikona trialed off, wiping a tear from her eye. "She's been gone so long that..." she paused again and sighed. "I...part of me think she's dead."
"I...I'm sorry. The last time I saw her was when Ami Chono kicked her off of the team, after she tried to warn us that we were being too reckless. I...I wished we'd listen," Taeko whispered.
Rikona nodded. "Looking out for her teammates until the end," she smiled gently, though Taeko could see that it was pained.
She must really believe that she's lost her cousin, Taeko mused sorrowfully. Deciding it was best not to bother her commander anymore on the matter, she turned and sat in silence, hoping it was not true. Assuming there was an afterlife, there were worse things than death that could have happened to the young teen though.
"Right, so what's the plan?" Miho asked , turning around.
Taeko was about to retort in anger, but Rikona shook her head. "Miho, you'd best keep silent and just drive, you're not a commander anymore, so the plan is of no concern to you."
Miho shuddered, but promptly turned around.
Taeko flashed a look of satisfaction toward Rikona, only for her commander to give her a glare of disapproval. Now it was her turn to shrink and turn around, focusing on her duty. Rikona could be right scary when angered.
Up in the stands, El, Wallaby, Jajka, and Trout observed the teams getting into formations. The Junior teams of Pravda consisted of T-50's and T-34's of early models, while Sander's Junior team consisted of M4A1's and Chaffee light tanks, the latter being a relatively new addition to their team. The four commanders knew why, the co-ed and male academies were coming this fall, and so everyone was in a scramble to upgrade their tanks.
Well, everyone but St: Gloriana and Kuromorimine, which were both going through forced downgrades. In fact Kuromorimine was actually forbidden from participating in Sensado for a time and then had to be restricted to pre-1942 tanks, and only ten at that for another period of time. St: Gloriana was forced to sell their heavy and infantry tanks as a result of using laptops for reconnaissance during matches, which was against the rules so to speak.
Back when the news first broke that the leagues were combining, almost everyone had laughed at the notion, as they had always circulated the rumor that the male and co-ed academies were weak and couldn't even field twenty tanks during a match. That was until they actually started watching their matches and realized that they were not the push over's they expected to be. Not only were they very skilled with widely varied and well armed teams, but they had the resources to really expand and were doing so, fast. Most already had acquired at least twenty two tanks, the only one being the recently christened Nishmari Co-ed academy, which still had only nineteen tanks. Impressive that one only needed twelve tanks to enter the mainline co-ed tournaments and they've already exceeded that count by seven.
But that was ultimately irrelevant at the moment, now they were focused on this grudge match so to speak. Kay and Katusha joined them as the firework signaling the match flew. "Now we'll crush those cheaters!" Katsuha growled.
Kay had a hard look on her face as she watched the screen, but she didn't say anything.
"Commander, we're at the location, what are our orders?"
"Any sign of the enemy Hana?" Rikona asked.
"None so far."
"Good, just remember that in this match we're forbidden from using any form of alternate communication with each other, legal or otherwise." Rikona then gazed down. "Taeko, did you use your cellphone during the match against Sanders? Be honest with me," she asked gently.
Taeko froze, before nodding. "Yes commander." she whispered.
Rikona nodded. "I needed to know because the TWCSO's want those of you who did to apologize to commander Kay about it. Miho will also have to apologize to Kay personally, and she also along with Yukari will have to apologize to Katsuha separately."
Taeko felt herself mentally fall, but she nodded, her throat tightening at the thought of having to apologize publicly. "Are we going to be apologizing together, or..." Taeko trailed off.
"Well, as far as you and the other RO's are concerned, yes. Miho's apology will be on behalf of the team and her position as commander of the team." Rikona must have seen her tense up, because she added. "You can't escape the fact that Miho was your leader, no matter how much that truth may hurt."
Taeko forced herself to relax. Rikona was right, Miho had been her commander, and nothing would ever change that fact. She really wished she had a time machine so she could go back and walk off with Hanoashi that day, perhaps she could have saved the Irish girl a lot of trouble.
Perhaps she could have prevented this awful situation all together. Or at least spared them some of the grief of being involved in the situation beyond that first day. No one really knew that the future would have truly held for them in that case.
"Enemy coming en mass!" Hana shouted over the radio.
"Hold the line, we can do this!" Rikona shouted.
At first she was confused. "Um, shouldn't we retreat?" Taeko asked.
"Shell loaded, fire when ready!" Her loader shouted.
Gasping at how quickly the enemy had came in, Taeko quickly gazed down her sights and shot off a shell, nicking one of the T-50's.
"I've studied the Co-ed team matches, you cannot outrun a T-50," Rikona sighed.
"Shell loaded!"
"Firing," Taeko shouted, barely missing the T-50, but to her surprise the T-50's engine began to smoke.
"She's a temperamental beauty, that one is," Rikona smirked. "Treat her well and she'll treat you like a top fighter jet. Treat her poorly and she'll just smoke up and die, or the saying goes..."
"Really?" Taeko mused. "Why use them then?"
"Co-ed, it's the pride of the Co-ed academy, or so I'm told," Rikona shrugged. "Male academies too."
"It's...just a light tank," Taeko mused.
"That's rich considering you failed to take it out," Rikona smirked.
"I just started gunnery you know!" Taeko protested hotly.
To her surprise Rikona simply patted her on the head. "I know, don't worry, you're doing very well," she then let out a sigh. "Honestly though it's just stupid they locked all of you up like that."
Taeko let out a quiet smile. "Thanks...but I was still involved in that tank, even if I didn't fire the gun or order it to be fired. Far as I'm concerned, I deserves some jail time."
"That's an interesting way to look at things, Taeko," Rikona smiled reassuringly. "Still, I'm betting you can't wait to get out huh?"
"Honestly...part of me isn't too sure. My parents disowned me and...maybe I'd best be put in some form of prison for the rest of my life, better than living on the streets."
"Surely you can't be serious," Rikona gaped.
Taeko shrugged. "To be clear I don't want to be a prisoner for the rest of my life. But if it comes to belong locked in a cell for the rest of my life with a warm bed and food, or living on the streets out in the cold never knowing where my next meal is coming from...I'm not too sure."
"Hanoashi," Rikona whispered. "Why didn't you just turn yourself in, we could have fought for you..."
"I'm sorry," Taeko apologized. You know better than to bring that stuff up around her, Taeko! She chided herself.
"No no...it's fine," Rikona reassured her quickly. "New wave coming in, prepare to fight!"
Taeko began to focus on her task at hand, but as she stole a glance at her commander she realized with a pang of guilt that Rikona's lime green eyes were glittery with worry and regret.
"All of Pravda and Sander's tanks are disabled. Consequently, the Bad Company Coalition wins this match!"
Taeko laid back, knowing that most of her comrades were doing the same. Rikona looked dead on her feet. "Nice work ladies," Rikona whispered.
"That was something," Taeko sighed.
"Yes, you all did well, I'm proud of you all," Rikona whispered. "But now it's time for the former Ooarai RO's to go and make their grand apology to Sanders.
Unfortunately, the former RO's were practically dragged in front of Kay, bound in handcuffs, though at least their hands were cuffed in the front. A male officer had a grasp on their arms, and the girls were sweaty, half their breast were hanging out, it was quite the sight.
The one good thing was that they were in a room, not out in the match area, so no peeping toms. But it still would have certainly been a sight to behold.
"We...no...I'm so sorry," Taeko gasped as she hung her head low. She wasn't told to lead the apology, but the guilt of her using the cell phones on top of her being involved in the death of nine of her fellow competitors was still weighing her down. Sure, she might not have driven the tank, sure, she might have not fired the shot into the Maus, but she was still there. In the tank. With the same team that did. And sure, she might have not properly been taught the rules by Ami and Miho, but that was still no excuse on her part, she should have educated herself instead of just relying on her commander and instructor to do it for her.
"We're sorry!" the other girls chorused, shame covering their faces. With the guards holding them, they couldn't bow properly, but this was the best they could do given the circumstances.
Kay just nodded and stood still for a bit, and Taeko wasn't too sure what else the blond haired Sander's commander wanted.
"It's not just me you should apologize too," Kay spoke at last, and Arisa walked into the room.
"We...We're sorry!" Yukki cried out, managing to bow. Thankfully, the officer in charge of her realized that she was just trying to apologize and not escape.
"Well...to be fair me using the..." Arisa began, but Kay broke her off with a glare.
"Don't be soft on them!" she growled sternly.
"Al...Alright...but I don't think I could ever be mad at Yukki," Arisa whispered.
Yukki looked even more ashamed, and Taeko gazed back and forth between the two. Is...there something happening here that I'm not aware of? she wondered, confusing filling her head.
"Alright...well, you've apologized, and I'll accept your apology, I just hope you girls have learned something from this," Kay noted. "Arisa, I believe you've asked Yukki to accompany us to the rant?"
Arisa nodded, and Yukki was escorted to another room. The rest of them...well...they had an extra long wait at the van.
Sighing in relief, Taeko let out a quite hum of pleasure as the warm water rinsed over her, soothing her aching muscles and washing off the stench of battle. Everything about today has been grueling, she sighed in disappointment. But this brief moment of bliss sorta makes it all worth it.
"You doing alright?"
Taeko turned to gaze at Saori who was showering in the cell block next to her. "I'm managing, prison life isn't easy though. What about you?"
"Never thought I'd be in a jail cell for even a minute, much less four years," Saori gritted her teeth.
"Four years?" Taeko gasped. "Why?"
"I...I inadvertently gave Miho the idea to have the 89 drive on the Maus by stating the Maus was like a tank being put on top of another tank. Courts thought that was some sort of code, and told me four years in bad company, life in prison if I failed."
"That's horrible!" Taeko gasped.
"Honestly, I don't think nine lifetimes of prison would be enough for me to fully forgive myself of my role in the accident," Saori muttered.
Takeo let out a small sigh, not willing to meet her eyes at the moment. "I'm going through the same feelings myself. Granted, I mostly just stood there...but I actually tried to question if what we were doing was smart, but Noriko just ignored me." Taeko let out a rather loud sigh. "If only I had tried harder to speak up."
"How long did you get?" Saori asked.
Taeko gazed at her, slightly taken aback, but shrugged off her uneasiness over the question when she say the gentle concern in Saori's amber eyes. Huh...I though they were more of a light honey brown...did they get darker?
"You...don't have to answer if it makes you unconformable...I under..." Saori began, but Taeko shook her head.
"No no, it's alright," Taeko reassured her. "Anyways, I got two and a half years of bad company, and 32 years in prison if I fail, with possibility of parole being set at a minimum of 16 years."
"That must be pretty hard," Saori whispered. "But...it's better than my life in prison at least."
"I guess it is...but most of my life would still be in prison if I don't get parole." Taeko let out a small sigh. "Sometimes I wonder if maybe I should have just gotten life. That's how bad my guilt over this situation is."
"I think they view us as an in between stage between kids and adults," Saori mused.
"We're teens, duh," Taeko snorted.
"I know that," Saori snapped, before sighing. " Sorry, what I meant is that's the reason why we've been given this chance for redemption, a couple of years of Sensado and imprisonment in exchange for an early release and a clean record."
"Because they view us as being at a tender age still," Taeko nodded.
"That, and what exactly were they supposed to do? The nation hates us, you know...I've heard rumors that many of us were disowned."
"That happened to me," Taeko whispered.
"I'm...I'm sorry," Saori whispered.
Taeko nodded. "I...try not to think about it, it still hurts like hell. Still, even though I'm bitterly disappointed by it, if I fail and get 32 years in prison...I'd be like...48? Half of their daughter's life gone, child rearing days are over, gonna have to work in whatever dung-store will even take me on, and scrimp and save like crazy to make it. And imagine what 32 years of prision letters would look like?"
"I can imagine," Saori grimaced.
"Oh hey mom, how are you doing, the foods mediocre, read warriors through for the ninth time, gym was fined, got f'ed in the locker room by the coach..." Taeko paused, covering her mouth as she said that.
"Did he actually...?" Saori asked, but trialed off in horror.
Taeko shook her head, blushing as she remembered the things he did do to her. "No...but the things he does do to us is...is awful!"
Saori nodded in understanding. "I get that we're viewed as the scum of the earth, but we don't deserve for them to do that kind of stuff to us."
But what if we do? Taeko shook the thought out of her head immediately. You're going to far with that now! She chastised herself. "Maybe if we're lucky he'll grow tired of it."
"He might move onto worse things in that case," Saori shuddered.
Taeko just sighed as the water turned lukewarm, and she rinsed any soap she had left off of her. Best case scenario is that he gets fired. But...what if he comes after us after we've been released?