Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament!
Chapter 20: From Ōarai with Love
Russia, roughly 35 miles East of Tver, 100 miles North-West of Moscow
Yukari walked through the wilderness, the crackling dirt and grass crunched under her dark brown boots. The sun was setting on the horizon as the sky became blazed in orange. The diminished light released a dark shade that made Yukari's outfit blend well into the environment. She still moved cautiously in her approach to the GPS coordinate Isabelle had provided her.
"Yukari, are you there?" The earpiece spoke up through the comms. Despite the distance from the staging area, the reception was quite clear.
"Yeah, I'm here…" Yukari said, "...nowhere." Her breath was heavy after traversed the rough landscape. It was all one very extensive hike so far, moreso than an infiltration. "Are you sure this is the way?"
"Yeah. They're out there somewhere. Nonna confirmed it with me just now based on the information from the League."
Yukari took a knee into the cold, moist ground in the covering of trees. Though there were sparse bunch of trees out in the plains to provide much needed cover, the large empty fields still brought lots of concerns on being spotted.
The short grass waved viciously as the wind forcibly blew the landscape, the clouds moving above only emphasize this phenomenon. Yukari checked her watch, 7 PM local time, plus the compass attached to see she didn't divert off course. "I can't believe they'll put their field out here in the middle of nowhere…"
"Matter of geographics. The Tver Suvorov school buildings are in a middle of the city by the Volga, no place for practicing Tankery there." Isabelle stated.
"I always thought Suvorov was in Moscow…" Yukari said. The plane landed in the Russian capital, but a the trip was rapid as they went from the airport for more than a hour drive to the Tver Oblast district.
"Suvorov is a complex of schools across the nation," Nonna stoically explained. "Eight left as of today, scattered all around from one edge to another. The Tver school is the one specialized for Tankery and the main administrative center for the 5th Guards Tank Army."
5th Guards Tank Army?! "Wait a minute. The 5th Guards Tank Army?"
"Yeah, the 5th Guards Tank Army," Isabelle clarified. "The same one that broke the Germans at Prokhorovka and trapped them at Minsk during Bagration. Same unit tags and all. They were deactivated in 2001 as an Army Corps, but its lineage lived on in the Suvorov system."
"Wow… like the 3rd Royal Tank Regiment…" Yukari recalled, wondering just how many schools and teams out there were based off military units of the past. "Still, for a lineage, you'd figure they be based in a more populous area…"
"Russia is vast, they've got the wilderness past the cities to play around with. That's why their tank training facility is in the middle of nowhere."
Much to my expense… Yukari sighed, her breath showing as it condensed in the air. Yet, despite the climate, her body was quite warm except for her exposed face. The new suit, S.B.S. Mk. III, was much more sophisticated than the Mk. I she wore at Britain. Unlike the Mk. I's scuba suit-like construction, the suit was built much more finely, its construction gave great insulation and cushioning. Another accessory with the suit was a vest that provided even more insulation. The suit was a shade of black and blue, and the vest had a pattern of darker color to break up the flat color of the entire suit. The coloring stood out when she put it on during sunlight hours, but as darkness came in, Yukari could see and feel the suit slowly blending with the environment of dark lighting.
She reached into a back pouch and pulled out a small PDA, complimentary from the Americans along with the watch. She flicked the screen on and checked her bearings. Slightly further… Yukari begrudgingly thought. She never thought she'd have to walk the rest of the way. After tucking the machine away, she continued on. She cleared another field to trees carefully, the effort taxing on her stamina. Her heart pumped and limbs felt heavy, yet brimming from anticipation.
Cresting a hill, Yukari's eyes caught a peculiar scene and she got down, hugging the ground. She crept up for a viewing angle, and could see buildings, just protruding out a scattering of trees into the open. Yukari pulled out a binocular on her body's left rear side. A small, yet strangely engineered binocular, it gave her a good sight on the structure. She looked through the dual scopes, then flicked a switch on the top left part of the binocular. "Hey, Isabelle, I think I found something. Sending you a feed on the binoculars."
The reply was brisk. "Roger that, stand by," Isabelle said as the earpiece became silent. Yukari kept the binoculars down towards the area of interest, nothing was moving downrange, but the buildings were present, with green tinted windows on parts of the wall of various shapes. Long lines of fences lined the border, with green tarps on the wire mesh to avoid any sight seekers. The structure was long, very long with two main parts. A large hallway-like structure connecting the two to make it up as one single building.
"Yukari, you there? That's the target; the Suvorov tank facility of Trev."
Oh good… Yukari thought in relief and in excitement as she put the binocular down. Suddenly the ache in her feet felt softer and rewarding.
"Check your PDA, we just sent a file of the map we've got of the place."
Yukari took out the PDA again. She flicked the machine on, with the bright light shined into her face. She touched a few icons and watched the machine load and bring up the map program, a loading bar on top as a file was being received. Despite the detailed terrain, the map does not show the structures that Yukari could see, a downside of using a public search engine's map system. A small notification popped up for the finished download, Yukari tapped that and it opened onto the screen. What showed was a simple white page with black drawings and schematics in it, showing something akin of a blueprint of a building.
"Sorry for the Russian language in it," Isabelle said as Yukari noted words in the middle of each room that were in the language. "It's what we can rip from the internet. Nonna could help you translate it if you want. We'll be able to track your location in relative with this map with that GPS marker on you"
"Got it," Yukari acknowledged. She checked the small device strapped onto her load-bearing gear on her body upon hearing about the GPS tracker.
"From what I could see… the large field behind the building is their practice zone… God it's huge"
Yukari saw the location on the map and looked out the horizon, only met by the large opaque fences. "I can't see anything from here. The fences are blocking everything from here… not to mention the entirety of the facility"
"Well, guess that means you have to enter the facility and see from the inside."
"Of course…" Yukari muttered, hoping to take an easy way.
"From the schematics. It seems that there are two accessible entrances into the facility… the front door and the rear garage, all surrounded by a fencings" Isabelle said as Yukari analyzed the diagram. The front entrance was a path in the woods, an inviting funnel from the main road, and the rear entrance that was facing the Suvorov tank training field. "However, I wouldn't go through those. They'd be the most heavily guarded."
"There's probably another way in, right?" Yukari mumbled to herself.
"Yeah, try looking around, maybe there's an opportunity," Isabelle said, hearing Yukari's thoughts. "Now, you got your gear ready?"
Yukari moved her arms as she felt around for her equipment. Her PDA on her back, the binoculars pouch slightly to the left of her PDA pouch. The trusty D.S. 1027 pistol was in a right pistol holster, Yukari took it out and inspected the load, having practiced using it the last few days. Finally, she felt the sling on her shoulder on the lumbering weight of metal that dangled on her left side. The sling attached to the M3A1 submachine gun she got acquainted to about three days ago. "So far so good…"
"You remember how to use the directional microphone on the binoculars?"
Yukari took up the binocular. Though it looked like most other standard, rugged binoculars; her variant had a particular amount of electronics protruding on one side. Two tiny, inconspicuous ports could be seen if one looked closely. One was a camera into the lenses, able to send a video feed to a receiver of what was seen through the left lens. The other port was a sensitive microphone, a directional one that focuses on sound waves at where the binoculars were pointed at. Both of these functions had their own buttons at the rear of the binoculars near the eye pieces, simple black buttons with a click on and off, both in an over and under fashion on the left side.
"Yeah, I got it," Yukari said."
"You left the video feed on."
"Oh!" Yukari pressed the top button on the left.
"Good, don't waste the batteries. They're not motion-powered or something," Isabelle said. "From here on out, you're in command of the field. We got a good overlook on the area, so keep us updated on your position and we can provide intel on the area you are in."
Yukari inhaled, the air chilled her mouth like a minty breath. "Alright, I'll let you know if I make it in."
"Good luck"
Yukari took up her binocular again and looked at the building from the distance. She alternated between that and the diagram on her PDA for any other possible entry.
Well, I guess I should get closer… Yukari thought. Improvise.
Just as she was stowing away her equipment in preparation. She heard something, battering the air. It was a sound with a very familiar fluttering sound. It got gradually louder, along with the rustling of the leaves in the woods.
Yukari looked back as the whirring got louder and louder as the air blew on top of her, the force rustling her hair wildly. As she shielded her eye from the force, the surrounding became a bright as day momentarily before passing over. She looked up to a see a menacing flying beast in the air, a light ray emitting from its tip like a fire blown onto the ground. The machine throttled in the air, above the facility.
"What?" Yukari looked at it stunned. "A Hind D?"
"Yukari, what's going on?"
"Why do they have a helicopter?" Yukari looked at the machine with awe and apprehension.
"Let us have a look."
Yukari reached down back into her binocular pouch and took it out. She turned on the feed and aimed it towards the helicopter. The machine hovered over the area, lowering down onto the ground.
"That's no Hind," Isabelle voiced through. "That's a Halo. Mi-26."
Yukari looked closer as the vision refocused with a zoom. Two red symbols could be seen on the fuselage. A star, and a cross.
"By the looks of the marking," Isabelle continued as the image feed went through. "It's the medical variant, the Mi-26MS. That thing could hold sixty stretchers and act as an on-field hospital."
"Why would that be here?" Yukari asked.
"Well… the Russians are quite hardcore. You heard about the Russian Spetsnaz?"
"I heard about them online," Yukari commented, "and in, well, video games."
"Yeah, the Russian's special force training are legendary, rumored to be extremely brutal to a man's mind and physique. Wouldn't be too surprised if the increased standards in trainings have transferred over to even the cadet schools." Isabelle said, her voice had a tint of admiration and respect. "Admitted boys in Suvorov as young as 14 are trained to use weapons. Now imagine that ferocity and put them into tanks with cumbersome ergonomics, you'll need a medical team on standby at all times. With the tank facility being out in the wilderness away from the city, you'll need a helicopter to quickly transport serious conditions to the emergency center. A good part of this is that it could transport equipment back and forth from the isolated training center to the main school and military district."
"That's quite a system they've got there…" Yukari said as the helicopter continued back down.
"I'd also imagine that helicopter is done to train the airborne cadets as well…"
"Airborne cadets?"
"The air equivalent of tankery. You've heard of them, haven't you? Doesn't Japanese have one?"
"Oh right! We call it Sentouki-dou. Now that I think about it, Saunders practice that quite often."
"Yeah, airborne cadets practice aerial combat instead of tanks for the competition. Though they're not as big as Tankery is in the world, they've been getting prominence lately with the first-world countries that could afford them."
"So that helicopter is like practice as well for the cadets?" Yukari looked at the medical chopper carefully.
"Maybe not a medical one. Still, that helicopter will be a problem with eyes in the sky. Don't let them spot you there, even medical personnel will point out intruders if required."
"Got it." Yukari said as she reached for her ear piece.
"Feel free to keep the comms on for ease of access. If you need to interrogate someone, grab them close so we could hear their response. I'll have Nonna translate what they're saying and what you should say."
"Alright. I'll be on my way now!" Yukari said at last, releasing her hand from her ear, the switch of the comms still at "on".
"Good luck."
Yukari put away the binocular, again, and moved up to the facility, still cloaked under the trees. She walked carefully, making sure there weren't any security posted outside. As she came close to the facility through the woods, she could see the front entrance. It was stationed with two watch towers, the fence at this front area lacks the tarps, but had barb-wire decorated on top as an additional deterrence.
The D.S.109 felt tingly on her side as though enticing her to force her way in. But that was impossible, such an entrance would surely be noticed and compromise the situation. Yukari sighed as she moved along the fences.
The watch towers have become prevalent as she moved along. Some stood right by the fence, with a guard and a searchlight examining his area of focus. Ironically, the tarped fence has aided Yukari's inspection by ensuring no one else on the other side at her level could see her, while creating a blindspot for the watch towers. She hugged close to the fence as possible to avoid detection, but a chill runs up her spine every time the light rays swayed towards her as she walked under it, the increasing darkness only made it more intimidating.
She inched around, looking for a good location to get in, if any. The wind blew about and the tarps swayed and moved as each swift wave came and went. In an area, one of the flap corner's flowed freely with the wind, exposing the wire mesh underneath. Yukari leaned in, looking through it into the area. Behind the fence was what appeared to be storage boxes, stacks of them scattered around. A great hiding place to start from. The opportunity here was golden, and it was clear that the fence was not electrified.
This thing again, huh? Yukari thought. She came prepared. On her load-bearing equipment, a small pocket was strapped on that held a multi-tool with a wire cutter. Yeah… always wanted to damage government property…She got down on the ground and, taking the wire cutter out into her gloved hand. "Hey, Isabelle," Yukari whispered. "I'm about to cut through the wire fence at… at the school's south side."
Isabelle took a moment, "Alright, got your position."
The metal snapped as the tool cut through the barrier, producing a small semicircle big enough for her to squeeze through, keeping the tarp flap away as she crossed into Suvorov school grounds.
The storage boxes past the fence were stacked high enough to provide cover even when standing up. Yukari leaned close to the edges and examined the area. A rather open space appeared between the fences and the facility. Avoiding any of the lights shining from the scattered bulbs, Yukari peeked out and looked again at the front entrance, past the front barrier and watch towers. Men were intensely patrolling around the area, marching and moving with such dedication as if the role had been drilled into their heads. Yukari huffed as she moved along, the entrance still crossed off as a potential entryway.
The facility was huge from the distance, but was even moreso up close. Along the sides, the building seemed to run on almost a good hundreds of meters. It would make a considerable aerobic exercise to run around the whole place. For a desolate place, it was built imposing like a fortress. However, the sides of the facility was interrupted by large stone walls breaking apart the front part of the outdoor facility to the back, as if a security implemented in the architecture.
Still, the building had a vibe of modernism and age. The clean wall were interrupted by large racks laid vertically on the wall, seemingly encouraging growth of foliage in a decorative feature with the vines entwined to the top. It was thick enough it looked like it could be its own wall. Admiring this strange feature, Yukari found jackpot.
An open window up top.
Yukari beamed with hope with this, maybe the mission can progress after all. Yukari made sure the coast was clear before she moved up the vines. Okay...how do they do this? She thought to herself, remembering some of the climbing techniques learned at Ōarai around the cliff areas.
She got a grip with her feet on the rough foliage and pushed up like a step, her hands gripping hard to prevent slipping. The leafy and branched vegetation provided great grip for both her hands and feet. She scale the wall, though with the associated rustling and the such.
The window's light emitting out like a treasure cove came closer as Yukari made it to eye-level, she peeked inside. Left and right, it appeared to be a quarters, or maybe an office. Either way, it was for one individual with one bed and desk, and the room was not very big either way. But it was empty, and with that knowledge Yukari lifted herself up over the window sill and-
"Чьи это следы?" A voice sounded from below.
Something pumped inside Yukari as the steady climb suddenly became a drastic fumble through. Nothing prevented her fall through the window onto the carpet floor, thin and tough. Her suit worked wonderfully though, the THUD upon the impact was soft for the force Yukari felt as she landed side first. She didn't bother with the pain before huddling aside the wall.
"Что это?" Two voices spoke outside, one voice was deeper than the other.
Yukari stayed still, conscious about her breathing as the two men discussed outside.
"Возможный злоумышленник?"
"Да, Звук предупреждение?"
"еще нет"
Yukari heard the bleep of a radio. She held her breath. Did they see her? Were they calling in assistance? Did she mess up real good?
"Yukari?" A rushed and hushed tone zipped out of the comms. "You're inside the complex, what's going on?"
Yukari cupped her in a shouting whisper to direct the sound only to the comms. "I'm inside…second floor, but I think they might have noticed me…"
Silence fell for a moment, Yukari took her attention back to the men outside. She could hear three voices now it seems.
Isabelle got back, "Well, the alarms aren't blaring from the sound of it, so you're good for now. Are they still out there?"
"Yeah… they seem to be," Yukari listened in, "talking."
"If you can get the binocular's microphone directed at them, I can have Nonna hear what they're saying," Isabelle suggested.
"R-right," Yukari said as she brought out her vision device. She carefully got up onto the sides of the window and peeked the front of the binos outside towards the ground, roughly the direction the voice is coming from.
"I told him it could be a wolf. These tracks on the ground are very small."
"A-Alexei! C'mon! They were big a moment ago, like that of an intruder's. The dirt is just filling in! Please sir, we must move quick!"
"Calm down cadet. The next evening training rotation is about to commence and we don't want that cancel any training session now that we've gotten the material here from the depot. It's only about two days from the match day, we will not waste any time.
"B-but sir!"
"Cadet Maleyev, I will not have the base put on lockdown because of a suspicion. I'm sure the Commander Katukov will agree. You don't want to get on his… bad side."
"...Yes sir."
"Stay vigilant. If there is an intruder, we'll sniff him out soon enough. Continue your patrol and report back once your shift ends. Dismissed!"
"Yes sir!"
Yukari retracted the binoculars as the officer left the patrol alone.
"Insightful, huh?" Isabelle asked.
"Yeah… Thanks Nonna," Yukari thanked for the interpretation, she heard back what sounded like a smile in audio format.
"Alright, now move on and-"
Yukari heard a clack in the room and in a flash moment, the door of the room opened.
The man, a young adult possibly before his 20s, had a green utility uniform on where he stood, the coloring revealed splotches of dark green, light green, specks of brown, and dull grey filler that seemed to fill in the holes. The pattern followed all over his blouse and pants, with noticeable interruptions on it revealing the seams and pockets, prominent on the two blouse pockets on his breast area. His boots were dark black, with stains of dirt, moisture of the snow, and the wear and tear with scratches and wrinkles all over it. On his head was a brown ushanka; unlike that seen on Nina, the hat seemed like a perfect fit on him with the ear flaps down and nudged on his head perfectly.
On one hand he had a tray of food; on it was a bowl, perhaps a soup, along with a piece of bread. His other hand was still firmly gripping the door handle that he swung open to a surprise guest.
Yukari managed to absorb all these details from the moment the door opened and revealed an opponent to her mad dash towards the man. By the time she got within arms reach, the man had only finished gasping at the special gift from Ōarai.
In a flash, a result of beat-in training from the last few days at Ōarai with Isabelle and Emma, Yukari made her move. She heard a small crash with a spill of liquid, the swift closure of the door, and then she registered the squirming of a Russian in her grasps, knocked to his knee and somewhat struggling to breathe.
"Umm… you, uh…" Yukari stammered. Step one, incapacitate the intruder, was complete. Unfortunately, she hadn't formulated a step two. "Talk!"
"Отпусти меня!" The man shouted as he waved about what limbs he could still move. Yukari tried to keep him restrained until she figured out what to do.
"Yukari! What's going on?!"
"Hold on!" Yukari struggled to keep the man in place. "Dealing with a...urgh! Man here!"
"Помогите!"
"Nonna, tell Yukari how to ask what time the practice is?!"
"Uh.. Vremya praktiki"
Yukari kept her grip as she said rashly "V-Vermya...Pratiki? Verymya Pratiki!"
"О чем ты говоришь?!"
"He doesn't understand you," Nonna's nonchalant voice came through, much to Yukari's dismay.
"To hell with it. Yukari, knock him out."
Surprised. "Wha-? I can't just-"
"Do it!"
Yukari hesitated and the man broke free of one of her arms. Drastic measures were taken and Yukari held her grip on his neck. She took out her D.S. 109 and held it against his back. The recoil jumped as she pulled the trigger and the syringe flew into the man's back. He continued to flail a bit before his reactions slowed, and then stilled. Yukari checked to make sure he was still breathing before laying him down on the ground.
"You slept him?" Isabelle said, having heard the commotion.
"Yeah… I'm still not too certain about choking anyone out…"
"That's fine, more reliable anyways. Is the coast clear?"
"The room seems to be for one person, and if this man's the occupant, I'll be fine here for a bit."
"Take this moment to analyze the interior before you continue. This place is big."
"Right," Yukari said while holstering her pistol. She pulled out the PDA and opened up the map area. Zooming out, she could see the huge facility and its features.
Indeed, the place was gigantic. The whole facility was one large connecting building, one end seemed to be the administrative building, but it also had rooms for classes, a cafeteria, storage rooms, and quarters for the cadets on the second story, which Yukari is in at the moment. The large hallways she saw connecting the front and back buildings part were in two, one each on the north and south sides. Both seemed like the access ways to the large building on the other side that dwarfed the main one. "What's this building here?" Yukari asked through her comms.
A small background muttering between Isabelle and Nonna followed before Isabelle got back. "The tank hangar".
"So that's where I have to go…" Yukari looked at it. Only two ways in, through those very hallways.
"You'll be exposed going down those hallways," Isabelle said, studying the map as well. "And they might be secured too. Won't be surprised if they restrict access to the hangar to specific people."
"Alright, I'll take a look around, see what I can get," Yukari said. "There's a staircase down the hall to my right and to the left, I'll make it down there first and check it out."
"Don't be afraid to interrogate a few on the way. Nonna's on standby to give you the proper words."
"Okay…" Yukari said, still uneasy about using forceful tactics.
"Always keep a exfiltration plan when you go indoors. Lots of ways to get trapped, don't get boxed in. Keep this man's room in check just in case as an exit point. Speaking of which,see if you can get anything out of it that might help your infiltration. And when you're done, make sure no one who enters the room finds anything remotely suspicious"
"Right," Yukari stated before looking at the man asleep on the floor. She eyed the room, and then picked him up and dragged him onto the bed in the room. She also searched his pockets, turning up a card key. A simply white cardkey with a black magnetic strip running across. Hopefully this works. "Alright, I'm heading out," Yukari said, steadying herself. She breathed in a few as she approached the door that would let her out into the second floor's main hallway. She exhaled as she lightly open the door, complementing with an eerie Creeeeaaackk.
The hallway opening was clear. Yukari peeked out a bit and looked left and right. No one in sight. She moved out of the room and noted the electronic lock on the door. Yukari checked and swiped the white cardkey on the door, it blipped green. Confidently, she closed the door and it locked.
The click sounded loud in the silence of her proximity, but after her attention waned, she heard conversation happening down the hall to her right. The staircase closer to the hangar hallways seem to be busy. Suddenly, a loud cheering could be heard down there. Sounds like they're having fun, Yukari thought, and decided to avoid that area. She headed left to the closest stairs down.
The halls were clean and does not look out of place of a school dormitory, with simple wall papers and carpet floor. Each room, leading to a room for the cadets, had their own electric lock system in place for security. Simple, but exactly what a student could expect.
After a few steps, the stair access was in front of her, one flight to go up or down through. It was the turning type that stopped midway for direction to rotate to finish the trip downstair. She moved in and-
"Вы слышали о Т-14?"
Yukari scrambled into hiding, unholstering her D.S. 109.
"Да, слышал, что они собираются выдать его курсантам."
"О, мальчик, его время у нас есть те."
The two men walked up the stairs and passed into the hallways, not noticing Yukari who had hid on behind one of the few wall protrusions in the hall. She held her breath, her pistol at hand, as they walked a distance away before continuing. After their voices became diminutive, she moved on with ease.
The hall downstair was not much different than the second floor. However, they were very wide to accommodate the traffic in the building with all the cadets.
A non-existent traffic at the moment, however. There was a surprising absence of students in this building, compared to the number of rooms available on the second. So vacant, it's eerie, like an abandoned haunted house.
This is freaky… Yukari thought as she silently moved ahead. She peaked into the rooms that appeared as classrooms, all were blacked out and with no one present. Artwork and photographs scattered the hall as decoratives, artworks of rather heroic posturing of the tank crewmen and photos of rare tanks, one was the specific photograph of the T-44-122 next to a German Panther. Yukari almost wanted to squee, but the assignment came first and so she let her eyes take all the glory today.
Cautiously, she moved down the hallway end with little difficulty, though ready to duck and cover should an individual show himself. Her D.S. 109 was still in her hands, just in case. The corner was present and she could see the two hallway entrances down there. Both were a lot more sophisticated, metal doors demonstrating a good degree of security being taken. Yukari closed in at the south hall entrance, edging on the wall. She could see a key card reader present. Curiously, she took out the white key card she got from that man upstair. Inspecting it closely, she then swiped the card through the reader. A small delay and the light blipped green. The metallic door, a sliding door, had a small click as it unlocked. It did not automatically open and Yukari only found out when the lock clicked shut again.
What? Yukari thought as she swiped the card again. The greenlight blipped and Yukari looked for a way through on the door. Some switch? Handle? She swept her hand around where the handle would be on a normal door and felt a button. She pressed it firmly and the door slid open to the right like some space door. Yukari went in and the door swept itself shut, a hiss sounded from the mechanism involved and the door clicked shut.
The hall was much, much more detailed than what the schematic map demonstrated. It was a blend between a cathedral architecture and that of a military facility So different from the previous building it looked like a completely different facility. The walls were black and metallic, but there were large pillars lined up on both sides in the hallway in rows that had a center path straight to the other side. However, there were spaces between the pillars to the walls for one to gawk at the stained glass decoration on both sides of the hall. A very strange design feature indeed. To top it off, on both ends of the hall, there were second floor covered balconies that were accessible in the very same hallway, stairs on the side of the pillars allows one to get up and view the whole spectacle from an elevated position through the two openings present.
"You're in the hallway now, how is it?" Isabelle said, probably seeing Yukari's blip on the map move into the sector.
"It's a lot more fancier than the map suggests…" Yukari said, still in awe of what was delivered for what was seen.
"Really? Wish I could get a view. The hangar should be in the very end of the hall. Make sure you can get through the second door."
"Alright, I'm on the way," Yukari said as she moved forward, still admiring the scenery. The door towards the end of the hangar was the exact same model as the one she entered through. She swiped the card key through and the door unlocked. She clicked the button on the door and it slid unhesitantly opened.
The door opened to a large interior plaza. At least, that's what the tank hangar looks like because there were no tanks. No tanks in the hangar! What?! Yukari said in disbelief. The whole place was desolate and empty for the size it presented. The large hangar door on the other end was opened wide into the dark wilderness, wind blowing in harshly with the difference in air pressure.
Only wheeled vehicles like jeeps and other utility vehicles were present and the only activity seen were troop trucks that were ferrying the men who had marched through the hall out. The trucks moved out into the open, at speed gone and done for Yukari to set out.
Oh man… Yukari thought as she saw this unfold.
"Yukari, you're in the hangar, aren't you? What do you see?" Isabelle chimed in like a scratching record.
"There's no tanks here! They're gone!"
"What?"
"The garage is open though…" Yukari said as the wind blew into her face.
"Crap, that means the tanks are out there in the field," Isabelle surmised.
"I don't think I can keep up with them out there." Yukari was concerned about the vast field size out there. Would it be a long hike out to the open? Her tired legs felt like they were moaning and complaining of the stress they might have to go through.
"Hang on one second," Isabelle halted Yukari's train of thought. "There's a nearby tower connected to the hangar through their office. Do you see the office? It should be on an elevated position."
Yukari looked around and saw the boxed room hanging on the wall, accessible with a simple metal staircase on the side. "Yeah, I think I see it."
"That's the control room, but there should be an access to the control tower up top for air and ground coordination. If you're up there, you should have a good vantage point over the training field for scouting."
Yukari looked up that control room and imagined what laid ahead. She's climbed the Ōarai bridge before, so height is not a major issue, but… "O-okay, I'll try my best!"
"Be careful out there," Isabelle said, and Yukari was off.
Though the hangar was empty, Yukari tried to weave around the utility vehicles for the most cover. She made it to the yellow-painted metal stair and climbed, her steps squashed by her outfit and she climbed at a relative silence. She reached the door and unholstered her pistol. Her hand on the handle, she breathed in and out a few times before opening it smoothly yet swiftly.
There were two men inside, one managing the monitors on the tabletops and another at the storage lockers. Yukari moved in, swiftly as she remembered. The door veered open and freely hit blockade, the noise notified the two men of the threat inside with them. As they turned, Yukari had her sights on one, the pistol aimed at the one further from her at the lockers and fired one shot. Time seemed to slow as she felt the dart leave her pistol and fly towards the man, hitting through his uniform and injecting the content within him.
As Yukari cycled her manual loader, the other man was now about to react as he reached for something on the computer board. Yukari didn't know what it was, but it was something she'd rather not find out and moved in. Her knee kicked up his hand and he flinched, then Yukari upped a fist into the air and smacked it down onto the man's chest. On his desk chair, the man stumbled backwards with the chair onto the ground. Yukari finished up by planting a dart onto his chest. The downed men lazily tried to get up as Yukari cycled the tranquilizer. In almost quick succession, the two men fell down dead asleep.
It felt like minutes for her as she watched the two incapacitated men down on the ground. She looked around, making sure it was all in the clear. No commotion, all was good. The two men now made quite a sight on the floor and that had to be dealt with.
After a few minutes of grunting, pulling, and stuffing, Yukari used her back and forcibly closed one of the locker door shut. Out of breath from her efforts of hiding the downed men, she pressed on. No time to wait… everyone is waiting for my results!
She looked at the lone door on the side of the room, the only other door except the one she used to enter the control room. She stood back up and reached towards it. The door had a dull ugly yellow paint on it that gave a look of odor from its shading. It creaked as Yukari pushed it open. The rough wind came in intrusively and took Yukari off guard as she made her way into the open.
Outside, she found herself on a metal platform with stairs going up leading her to the command hub of the tower. Yukari edged herself up. Looking around, exposed to anyone with a keen eye on the ground in this weather. The stairs vibrated metallically as she took each step. Down below by the tank hangar, she could see the Mi-26MS that she saw earlier on a landing pad by the tank hangar. Its back door was open and men were still unloading supplies from the large helicopter.
Still she climbed up the structure and was a considerable distance from the ground when she made it to the brain of the place. Inside the top of the tower, she could see a mix of aged men. Boys and hard-looking men were present, the men were watching the boys on the monitor inside the glassed off tower, like advisors teaching the next generation of cadets how to command and communicate.
"Yukari, I see you're at the tower. How is it up there?" Isabelle said.
"The main area is occupied, so I guess I have to hang around outside here," Yukari said, getting somewhat chilly from the weather after such a comfortable time inside.
"Can you get a view of the tank field from up there?"
Yukari looked out to the open field behind the hangar. It was vast, Ōarai's training grounds was pretty big as is, but the natural feeling of the place in the middle of Russia made it look endless. A perfect place to practice maneuver warfare.
"I'm about to take a look," Yukari said, taking out her binoculars. She planted herself on the stair railings and viewed through the sights. She couldn't see anything clearly on the horizon, but she followed the snow tracks of the tanks and trucks that passed from the garage towards their area. In the distance, she could see a small gathering of trucks with their headlights on and blaring. Men were down there moving stuff from the truck bed out into the open "I think I found something."
"Send us a live feed, let us take a look," Isabelle said. Yukari complied by turning it on. She laid the binoculars on the area for a few seconds as the image processed in Isabelle's screen. "Got it, looks like Russian cadets, that's for sure. Unloading supplies."
"For the tankers to resupply with?" Yukari thought about the logistics of running the practice range in all this, then she thought back at Ōarai where when tanks ran out of supplies, they had to return to the hangars to load up more ammo or fuel. Having trucks run the system doesn't sound that bad now.
"They seeme to just be hanging ou- wait one."
"Hmm?" Yukari wondered as she took a closer look. The gathering of men were interrupted by large clumsy vehicles moving in. Tanks, their shapes were unmistakable. The tanks came in from the horizon, driving towards the trucks, as they closed in, they revealed themselves as T-34s. From the T-34 sizes, Yukari determined the distance between her and the tanks. Recalling from the usage of the range-finding mils on the Panzer IV's gun sights, and comparing them to the binocular's zoom level onto the distant Russian tanks, the T-34-85 tanks, she determined the distance to be at least 300 meters.
"Of course they have those…" Isabelle said unsurprised at the identified Russian tanks. The T-34-85 tanks lumbered in with a green paint job on, though on one side as a tank turned, Yukari could make out the bold red star on the side of the turret. A few moment and these tanks parked neatly by the trucks.
Very organized, Yukari thought as she watched it unfold. She was fascinated by the way the Russians seemed to operate their vehicles. Her only experience was with the Pravda crew, but these Russians felt more authentic, like a throwback to the original users of these tanks.
More T-34 tanks came in, some of them were the antiquated 76 mm versions, both the "mickey-mouse" hatch variants with the hexagonal turret and the other was the case and more low profile turret with the unreasonably large hatch for both the commander and the loader. Yukari viewed them with awe, despite their archaic design, they were still such beautiful machines to marvel at and the fact that Tankery versions of such designs exist means there is still a market for those tanks.
Then something lumbered in. It was large, slow, and sluggish above all, and the thing filled Yukari with amazement. They were the "Zveroboy", "beast killers" of the tank world, and what the online forum would call the "derp guns". ISU self-propelled guns came in bearing their heavy armaments. 122 mm and 152 mm versions. Howitzers of the highest calibers that can fight the heavy cats the Germans had at the time.
Wow… would we be able to face those? Yukari thought. No doubt that Ōarai had tanks that could fight the beasts, but they would be facing down the barrels of such things. Crazy.
"What an impressive arrangement of armaments they've got…" Isabelle commented, looking through the video feed, also impressed.
"Those must be Ms. Katyusha's orders that she never received…" Nonna said in the background. "Filthy that it must go to their hands, we'll show them who are the proper owners of these beasts."
"Yeah…" Yukari said, resting the binoculars on the rails on the relative direction of the gathering while lifting her eyes to remove the tunnel vision. "Those armor will be tough to counter… the T-34-85 could already defeat a lot of our tanks with the 85 mm."
"You'll just have to play smart and- …What the hell is that?"
"What?" Yukari said before taking the binoculars into her eye again.
Something new has appeared in the field of vision. Something unlike that of the ISU or T-34-85. It was something huge, intimidating, and most of all a force of Russian power. Yukari couldn't believe it was there, it was the last tank she'd expect to see now. Its distinctive semi-hemispherical turret shape, and the front construction was a pointy pike-shape that gave it an impression of an arrow, an arrow ready to penetrate through any hard anti-tank defenses it could find. A force so intimidating that in real life when it first revealed itself, it scared the crap out of everyone else who saw it.
"Oh my gosh, an IS-3…" Yukari could barely get those words out under her internal screaming of glee and stuttering lips. On one side of her mind, OhmygoditsanIS3itssoamazingAAAHHH. On the other side, OhmygoditsanIS3howarewegoingtokillit.
"It's up to your team to make a strategy on how to kill that thing," Isabelle said. "If it doesn't break down in the middle of a match, that is." Still, Yukari absorbed all she could of the IS-3 tank from here.
The large hatch on top opened up. The bulky, single hatch for the entire turret crew swung forwards. Though far away to hear the sound, Yukari could feel the heavy metal part clang as it fell forwards to its open position. The crew climbed out, the loader right side of the tank rolling out of the smooth, circular turret while a man at the commander's position sat on the edge of the hatch. He had a black padded Russian tank helmet, a very common look among the other tankers, but he stood out compared to the other disembarking tank crews in that he removed the helmet. Underneath the dark, soot-covered helmet, his hair was a clean bright white-blonde that stuck out in the dark, especially so as he ruffled his helmet hair away with his free hand.
Yukari zoomed in her binoculars, the man finished tending to his hair and looked at the troops below, his eyes were a cold blue like the icebergs. He then placed his helmet down inside the IS-3 and brought out a hat. A visor cap with black edge and base, a rough yellow-green cotton color made up the top part, with a red band surrounding the cap top. The hat itself showed this man as more than just a squad leader. He was the commander of the Suvorov's Tankery team.
"Hey, Isabelle, I think I found someone interesting here…" Yukari said over.
"Feed's down. Turn it back on, can't see anything here."
"Oh," Yukari pressed the button, turning on the function on her binocular and she stared down to the man, who just slid off the IS-3 onto the ground. The driver's hatch on the IS-3 just opened as well, right under the gun mantlet.
"Yep, that's him. Commander Erik Dimitrevich Katukov. Leader of the 5th Guards Tank Army's cadet team."
"So he's the captain," Yukari summed it up.
"Yeah, don't take him lightly. Rumors are that the Katukov family in Russia is pretty much the equivalence of the Nishizumi and Shimada family of Japan. They're a really dedicated family of Tankery here, often participating in their own tank biathlon and many other international tankery events. As you can imagine, they have the most beef with Carius Academy in terms of international dominance."
"Wow… so the Nishizumi aren't a very special case in the international perspective, huh?" Yukari asked, privately wondering if there is a Russian version of herself down there gawking at Katukov.
"Doesn't help they have quite a lineage. The Katukovs are rumored to be descended from Mikhail Katukov, the Marshal of Armored Troops of the Soviet Union and, coincidentally, commander of the 5th Guards Mechanized Army, an evolved unit of the 5th Guards Tank Army."
Really like the Nishizumi… Yukari thought, recalling the extensive background Miho's family has with the tides of history.
"Hey, Yukari. Turn on the directional mic, let's see if we can get anything interesting."
"Oh yeah!" Yukari said as she clicked the other button on the binoculars, then aimed down the area.
"Nonna, heads up. Transmission's coming in."
The ground crunched under the boots, audible enough to the mic as it remains pointed to him.
"Commander!" Five tankers saluted as he arrived.
"Comrades," Katukov said as he saluted back. As he put his hand down, so did they. His stare stabbed sharply at one of the commanders. "Zekhov, what happened with that maneuver out there?"
One of the tankers faulted in posture, "Commander, it wasn't my fault! Oleg was-"
Katukov seemed to throw something straight at Zekhov. "You bastard. It is the commander's responsibility to get the troops ready for this event. I hold you on this responsibility for the last month already! What is this?! You can't get a platoon in line?!"
"Commander… sorry! Sir!"
"Be lucky the match is already coming up, else I'd consider replacing you with someone more competent in management."
"U-Understood!" The man saluted.
Katukov then looked to the rest of the troops in front of him. "Now, to more important matters… What is the status of the troops?"
One of the them spoke up, "Commander. They are optimistic, the new tanks have been a great morale booster. Especially the 44s. Some of the boys say it felt like the T-55 tanks in reserves."
"Good," Katukov responded quickly before turning over to another man. What about the artillery crews? Have they become familiar with their vehicles?"
"Yes commander, the Zveroboy drives just like the Stalin-2 tanks, so we dispersed the heavy tank drivers to crew these guns. Managing the gun for indirect fire still requires some extra work, however."
"That requires time we do not have, Anton. We'll have to make do with the accuracy."
"That is true, commander. However, we must strive for 100% efficiency an-"
"I don't want 100% efficiency, I want 100% effectiveness," Katukov was prodding into the man with his words. "If you teach an artillery men on how to best shoot his gun, but not where to land his shots, is he effective at all? Make sure the crew learns to shoot by coordinates by the artillery officers coming in tomorrow morning. That is important."
"Yes, commander," Anton said flatly like in a recoil.
Katukov turned to another tanker, "What about the special troops? Are they up for the task, Igor?"
"Commander, we had to weed out another third of them. They panicked under the gun fire"
"Another third? How many are we left with?"
"Commander, we only have eleven volunteers left."
"Eleven…" Katukov let that number roll around. "Do they understand their role, however?"
"Yes Commander. They scored perfect shots against the spare tanks like the Panzer IV and Panthers. All managed to white flag those through the side plates. They will be fine. The problems was during the concealment trials. Our spotters looking through the interior T-34 vision ports could see the inept ones too easily. They were immediately disqualified and rotated into regular tank duties."
"I see. However, they must be prepared against the Legend's team in the few days. When the report comes back from Airborne, make sure the teams all understand the enemy's weak points and blindspots of their tanks, understood?"
"Yes commander!"
"Alright," Katukov said then turned his direction to the next man. "Kirill, how are the fire detach-"
"Commander!" A young man came up to Katukov. He looked like he was 14, but he ran up towards the commander and felt out of breath. Despite the interruption, Katukov turned all his attention to this boy.
"What is it, cadet Kolya?" Katukov said to the boy.
"Commander…" the boy breathed in, "it's Naydenov, commander. He's-"
"Wandered off again?"
"Yes, commander," Kolya confirmed to Katukov.
Katukov paused for a moment before looking to the gathering of tankers. "I will be right back, dismissed." And he walked off.
Yukari curiously kept track of him. He moved around the parked T-34-85 tanks. Who was this Naydenov? Yukari wondered, Katukov dropped everything upon hearing that name. As he weaved through the parked tanks, crews hanging around saluted as he passed, but he paid no attention in return. His path was predetermined and focused as he rather brutishly made his way to a man staring absently towards one specific T-34-85.
"Ivan, Ivan, Ivan," Katukov said as he closed in on the man. "I thought I told you to stay put in the driver's position."
The man did not respond as he continued to stare at the T-34 tank. His helmet was off, exposing his blonde hair, not as white as Katukov's, but a plain flowing yellow with a tinge of brown to it. His eyes were weary and off, in a trance fixed at his head's direction. His physique was skinny, almost like a twig for his height and his uniform looked too big for him, especially compared to Katukov next to him.
"Naydenov," Katukov said plainly.
Ivan Naydenov turned slightly towards Katukov. He then stood at attention sluggishly and saluted. "Commander Katukov."
"At ease my friend," Katukov said, saluting to Naydenov as he lowered his own. "What brought you out here to this tank?"
Naydenov looked at Katukov like the question was foreign, but then pointed to the tank he's been taking a high interest to. "This tank… it's choking."
"Choking?" Katukov looked at the tank. However, his voice was not of absurd curiosity, but actual concern like he's been told an actual emergency.
"Yes… its…. it's unclean. It can't get enough air when it runs, it hasn't been taken care of…"
"The crew's been skimping out filter inspection on the engine, huh?" Katukov said. "I'll have the mechanics take a look. Is there anything else?"
Naydenov stared blankly around. He wandered closer towards one. "This tank…" he stammered to Katukov, who followed along with him. "And all the others here…" Naydenov pointed his finger all around. "They are all ready to kill…"
"Nonna, are you sure you're interpreting this correctly?" Isabelle cut into the ridiculousness of the conversation so far.
"It is exactly as they're saying," Nonna stood by her translation. Yukari, meanwhile, was wondering if this person was even more into tanks than she was, or just flat out crazy.
"C'mon, for real? Man's talking like these tanks are living things or something,"
Yukari wanted to chime in about spirit though, "Well, I can kinda see it from his point of vi-"
"Что за?!" Someone cried to Yukari's left, down the circular stair around the tower.
Yukari looked down to see a grown man express surprise at a girl in a black outfit looking out in the open with her binoculars.
"Hey!" The man said in a universal language, very loudly. Yukari closed in quick. She aimed for his legs first with a kick. He stumbled and flinched, his shout interrupted by the pain. She then used her other leg to sweep him over, sending him onto the metal stairs. As he tried to get up, Yukari unsheathed her pistol and shot a dart into his leg. He also flinched and Yukari made her distance upstair. The man tried to follow only to fall in a sprawling mess as the drug slowly took effect.
Yukari sighed for a moment. Then she heard the door upstairs open. The only door up was the control tower itself. Uh oh, Yukari thought as she propelled herself downstair. She was a good floor down before she heard a yell.
"Что ебать?!" Or some other angry Russian pronunciation. It didn't matter though, her presence was compromised. It was time to go anyways, she's got the necessary information in her head and to Isabelle as she flew down back to the hangar control room.
She forced the door open and ran into the control room quickly. She found it still empty and the lockers undisturbed. Okay, just gotta get out the way I got in… Yukari thought as she made her way out of the control room back into the main hangar. All the utility vehicles were still there on the hangar floor, undisturbed from when she first arrived. The south hallway back to the main building was still there and Yukari almost made a dash for it before she heard the BEEP of an authorized access coming in.
Oh sh-, Yukari yelped as she made a mad sprint to cover. The door hiss with the open sliding movement right as Yukari dived between the two cars parked next to each other. She made certain of her concealment by rolling under one of the car.
A squad of men, teenagers, came in with the standard camouflage uniform. However, they had a battle gear on, pockets to hold various equipments, and a solid steel helmet. In their hands was a weapon, the PPSh-41 with its curved stick magazines.
Oh boy… Yukari wondered how deep off the wrong end she's fell through. The cadets ran up the control room area and were inspecting the area, some went outside onto the tower. Yeah, they know I'm here.
"Yukari, what's up?" Isabelle called in.
"I think I'm in trouble," Yukari said back, "They know I'm here."
"Do they know where you are at the moment?" Isabelle asked.
"No, I'm hiding under a car. They just sent a team to where I knocked out a man."
"Okay, just stay calm. They can't fight an enemy they can't see." Isabelle tried to rationalize the situation. "They'll be looking for you, but if you stay hidden, they can't reinforce the situation, and they can't guard every single area with just the QRF."
"O-okay…" Yukari said, trembling with anticipation. Somehow she felt excited by all this. Something was pumping through her blood like a drug, a dangerous one if she can't keep it in control of her actions. She peeked out, some of the armed guards were looking around, with one standing post outside the control room's entrance. His vision looked directly towards the south hallway. Yukari eyed towards the other way out, the north hallway. She examined it like another squad of troops would spill out of it. Meanwhile from the open door of the control room, she could hear someone messing around with the lockers...
"Gah!" A scream cried inside the control room, "Помогите!"
The man right outside the control room looked back instinctively back into the room. As he did, Yukari made a run for it to the North hall. She nearly slammed right onto the metal door before she swiped the card through. Please work! Yukari pleaded to whoever commands the door. The lock beeps open and Yukari made her way through.
The North hallway did not look too different compared to the south hall. Different window decorations, but that was basically the extend. The same two elevated balconies came up on both ends of the room with the same arrangement of pillars. Yukari took the moment to catch her breath by the door, under one of those balconies. A few deep breathes and she moved forward in a walking pace. Should be all good now… Yukari said rather uneasily.
The whole base was on alert, and she still had a building and a half to get through on the second floor back through the man's room that she first entered. Oh boy, I hope that guy's still asleep… Yukari thought to herself. How long has it be-"
KEEOON-*krack!*
Yashin looked through the PU scope of his suppressed Mosin-Nagant M91/30, a symbolic prize that showed his status as the Suvorov team's sniper.
His shot struck the pillar, intentionally, to the right of the target, the round ricocheted around. The target scrambled to hiding behind the pillar on the other side.
Yashin smirked. His target's got a survival instinct at least. The alert earlier on a situation at the tank hangar had rustled the quick reaction force. While the majority of the force headed through the south hall, he was stationed in the north to lock down the area. He cycled the bent bolt handle for the next round, the brass casing of the dummy round clattered on the ground.
He was surprised though. A girl? Here? In an all-men school, she'd stand out for sure if ever sighted, especially with the suit pronouncing certain curvatures on the body. Despite that, for her to get this far without anyone finding out, she's surely an interesting individual.
He smiled as he brought up his rifle again on his shoulder and rested his cheek onto the stock. "Grant me an interesting fight...little girl," Yashin licked his dry lips, breathed in deeply, and blinked away his eye strain; then he steadied his eyes onto his target.
"Sniper?! Where?" Isabelle cried as Yukari reeled in from the shock. She peeked out one side of the pillar. The hallway suddenly looked very, very long and distant from one end to the other. She looked for something, anything. A small movement and she ducked back to cover. A flash, and then a crash sounded on the pillar she was hiding behind. A high-velocity shot ricocheted around the wall, ripping through the air. Yukari regained her composure and peeked out the other side of the pillar.
She could see a glint, part of the light from the hallway ceilings. The glint blared out from the balcony top, on one of the two openings up there. As soon as she saw that, she ducked back, right in time as the next bullet struck closer to home. The target was downrange, but it was all distance between there and here. She checked her weaponry… the M3 SMG? It was unsuppressed, and at this distance there wasn't much reasonable accuracy. Her D.S. 109? How does she plan on hitting the target from here?
"I think I found him, I'm gonna try to take him out," Yukari said.
"Don't try to keep all your attention on him, Yukari," Isabelle said. "Remember, you have to get out of there alive!"
Yukari inhaled and steadied her posture, "I plan to."
She peeked from her position at the next pillar. If I just move quickly and unpredictably closer…" Yukari saw her opportunity… she hope it was one. Only one way to find out…
Yukari peeked out the left side of the pillar she was hiding behind, she stayed for half a second before darting across the hallway. It felt like ages as she ran between the halls, feeling a target being painted onto her. A tingly feeling of a crosshair felt up onto her.
She finally made it across, just in time for a round to crack through the air again. Yukari thought on the sound. No muzzle blast? Yukari recalled her time firing unsuppressed firearms. Its absence was noticeable, only the crack of a supersonic round could be heard. That's surely going to hurt if it hits me!
So Yukari darted again once more.
The girl's movement was fast, rapid. She crossed the hallway with such speed it's no doubt she has a tactical fortitude. Her speed made it hard to lead her with the scope, but the confined nature of the hall makes it all exhilarating as she closed in. He could never afford this kind of feeling in an official match or the commander would have his head.
But he was very interested in this girl's actions. It was so unlike the cadets here, they bumbled along like mindless zombies in comparison to this girl's agility. He picked off his own cadets in paintball practice with ease, yet this girl outran his tracking.
By the time she crossed to two thirds of the hallway, he was getting rather pumped up.
"Alright…" Yashin decided, "Fun time's over."
Yukari closed in another row of pillars, towards the balcony. She steadied herself for each run, breaking out in full springs. Her heart raced harshly as she came into this dangerous foe. Something else swelled on her, I can probably do this!
A round came very close, hitting her load-bearing gear and the impact sent her spiraling to the ground.
Oh no! Yukari frantically crawled behind the pillar, just in time before a shot came in and blasted the ground. Yukari felt her heart stop in that one moment, chiding herself for that mistake. Don't get cocky… don't get cocky…
However, she was only about four pillars away from the balcony entrance. Is it entirely possible to just run to the staircase? Yukari looked down, the distance did not look much greater than the space between the hallway's pillar columns. She could do it!
Yukari peeked out a bit, then ran. She ran as fast as her legs could carry her onto the staircase and-
BRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRTRT
A loud rip shredded the airspace, a high rate of fire as it saw through the space like a buzzsaw. Dust flew where the bullets landed, but the crash were not as loud as those from the sniper rifle.
A submachine gun?! Yukari's mind raced in all this. She recalled the weapons the other cadets were wielding. A PPSH-41… dang!
Her legs still moved unconsciously and she barely had time to stop herself from running right into the stair's footholds. But now surely, the sniper knew she was close, and he had a submachine gun for close-encounters. Yukari unslung her M3A1 submachine gun and opened its bolt cover. But… will I be alright with this…?
Yukari went up the stairs, approaching the corner of the entry way into the balcony room. How she enter safely to neutralize the enemy? Yukari held the M3 submachine gun up and used what Emma called "cutting the pie". She scooched slowly around the corner, little by little gaining a look inside the hall. She got through most of the way in to see that the enemy was not on the other corner end on the far side. Meaning he was at the corner against the wall, right on the other side of Yukari.
Oh man, um… Yukari thought about it. With his position, he's got the full vertical view on the entryway, any exposed bits through the door, he could fire at with full impunity. His focus on the door had to go...
Yashin focused hard on that doorway on the same side that girl climbed up and through. He aimed down the sights, semi-circular with the post and pointed downrange. Not that it really mattered, the high rate of fire on the Pa-Pa-Sha made it possible to just walk the fire onto the target.
He held his arm steady, his Mosin-Nagant slung over his shoulders in preference for a louder one. A deadeye with a submachine gun focused right on the wall. His finger was almost twitching, each throbbing second nagged on him for blood.
A flash of light flickered in the air in front of him, going right across the room. The target registered and he let loose his submachine gun, the rattling cracked through the air as he followed this target. It hit the ground.
Clack, clack.
A metallic sound. Yashin glanced at it beyond the muzzle flashes and saw a magazine, its tip still with ammo, landing with force onto the ground after it was thrown across the room. He only realized his mistake as he rapidly focused back towards the doorway, only to see a girl charging towards him. He brought up his submachine gun to this girl, but her hand caught the barrel, forcing it away from her body. In her left hand, she held a strange contraption. Suddenly, this machine jumped and Yashin felt something push into his body like a jab. Yashin struggled to bring his PPSH towards this girl. A girl with a youthful face and hair that looked of a cotton candy texture. He continued pushing his weapon. Why was it so hard? Suddenly, he felt his arms feel like jello, a whooshing sensation overcame him.
Damn… Yashin thought back at the jab that hit him earlier and looked down. A small dart protruded out from his abdomen, penetrating through his blouse just above his ammunition belt. As he did, the girl ripped his submachine gun out of his weak hand and he fell back. With little strength left on his right arm, he picked at the dart, pulling it out and looking at the piece of engineering. "Son of a bi…."
Yukari threw the submachine gun across the room as the sniper fell still. She never understood how the human body reacted to the tranquilizer, but it seemed he was trying to say something to her before he passed out. A curse, a vow of vengeance? It didn't matter, the threat was dealt with. She breathed out in relief at this feat. However, Yukari moved on, she wasn't safe yet.
After collecting her thrown magazine and putting it back into her M3A1, she got out of the balcony, downstair back into the hallway. It was quiet now, just like how it was in the south when she passed through the first time. She walked steadily to the west door back into the main building. The key card lock never looked so enticing. She swept the card through and the door clicked open with routine.
Suddenly, the same, softer beep was heard again, all the way across the hall. Yukari quickly reached for the door button, but the door across the hall opened first.
"Cука!" Angry Russian voices shouted all the way through, echoing off the wall. Yukari reacted first as the door opened, firing her M3A1 downrange. No point in silence now. The .45 calibers rattled off with a Da-Da-Da-Da as she fired from her hip.
The steady fire rate made it easy to keep on target as her bullet flew down. The Russians took cover, but two fell down onto the floor, hit. As soon as the door opened, Yukari ran.
Yukari frantically exited back to the main building. Their attacked Russians retaliated swiftly and brutally, bullets suddenly rained down the hall, right as Yukari escape the line of fire into the main building, the bullets smashing right into the walls and the sound echoed all throughout the building.
Russian voices sprung up all over the place. Shouting could be heard all around in chaotic fashion. Yukari ran, she had to leave, now!
Then the facility alarm went off. Bwwwaaaooo….Bwwwaaaooo. The siren blasted throughout the entire base, only eclipsed by men rousing to action. Loud rapid steps sounded upstairs from the quarters, stomping as they raced to the target. Yukari ran down the hall, trying to remember the map for which room she had to go. This room?! No, this one?! She needed a way out of the hallway, soon the whole place was going to be here. She crossed and turned on a hall intersection before realizing there were three Russians in front. Quickly, she brought up her M3A1 and fired away as she ran back, the men sought for cover amidst the incoming rounds. Suddenly her M3A1 stopped blasting bullets, Yukari took a quick glance down and saw bullets still in the magazine, so why did it stop?
But the angry Russians now advancing changed her priorities and off she went. In front of her was the stairways to the second floor, and the stomping was getting louder as squads of cadets were coming down.
Damn it! Yukari knew she had no choice. With the incoming enemies in front and behind her in the hall, she threw herself to the closest door, forcing it open and she fell in, but got up and shut the door promptly.
She looked around the room. It was full of shelves and boxes. Food and supplies. Nothing of interest all over the area. It was all mundane equipment for everyday school activity.
"Yukari! What are you doing in that room?!" Isabelle shouted loudly through the comms.
"I'm trying to get away from the Russians!" Yukari said, in a confused state. What to do, what to do-
"That's a storage room! There's only one way in and out!"
Yukari felt her heart halt and her blood freeze in place.
"You're trapped!"
Yukari panickedly ransacked the place. C'mon, c'mon, c'mon, c'mon… now what?!
She heard loud shouting outside the door. Then a body slammed against the door.
"Graaah!" The sergeant crashed through the door with his bot. Three senior cadets ran in, their grey trench coat and ushanka went in, aiming their PPSH sub machine guns. The armed quick-reaction force filed in, eight men were inside the storage room.
"Where is he?!" Malikov shouted as he examined the corners. They filled in the room, but there was no one inside.
"He couldn't just disappear from here! Find him!" the sergeant commanded and everyone looked around with more scrutiny. They were looking around nonsensical places for hiding places, like behind empty shelves and the such. Cardboard boxes filled with the school's food also stacked across the wall, with a rather enticing arrangement of spirits on a nearby shelf.
"Igor, knock it off, keep looking!" Igor's close friend, Komanov, said.
They nearly threw the place upside down if it wasn't for one of the new kid who piped up. "H-hey! There's an open window up here!"
Everyone gathered around where the cadet was, where he showed them a small arrangement of horizontal window near the roof. "Bullshit, no one could fit through there!"
"(It's the only way out of here!)" The cadet meekly spoke, though with certainty after breaking down the options.
The sergeant only took a moment to decide. "Move out and secure the exterior. Keep all eyes on the North end of the facility and get the Dragon into the air! The intruder could already be on his way out of our jurisdiction!" He shouted and everyone rushed out of the storage room. Everyone was eager to catch this raider, a breath in counter-espionage.
The door clacked shut as the last man left the room to its lonesome. All that was left was the wind blowing into the open window that everyone was interested in.
"They're gone…" Isabelle whispered into the comms.
Yukari took a long inhale in her position, her only vision being the carry handle hole on this thing. She waited a few moments for certainty, then flipped the cardboard box off her while standing up.
She stood on top of the watermelon boxes below her as the cardboard box, with its watermelon markings, tumbled on the ground.
"Can't believe that actually worked though," Isabelle muttered through the comms.
"I guess anything's possible on the battlefield," Yukari sighed. She took this moment to inspect her M3A1. She looked at the open ejection port and checked the problem. There were no bullets in the chambering, yet there were plenty in the magazine. She used her finger and cycled the bolt, but it did not pick up a round. A broken magazine follower? Yukari wondered. Still, she simply changed the magazine to a different one that was not beat up and prayed that was enough. "Alright, let's get out of here…"
"They think you left towards the North side. The south side is probably going to be a bit quieter now provided you don't incite any more attention," Nonna said, apparently hearing all that commotion earlier.
"Got it. I'm on my way!" Yukari said as she made her way out of the storage room. A helicopter whirred above with the crowd.
Isabelle kept her M1911 pistol at the steady, a M3A1 submachine gun at another side of the tractor as she waited steadily for the arrival. Nonna stayed on the computer, watching the blip get closer to their coordinates.
The tractor was parked on an edge of the large forest that made up part of the landscape. A tracked vehicle rented by the local farms for the day. It made good for bringing up all the materials and Yukari to the location. Still, there was a big risk of being spotted by the Russians, and that wouldn't end well for any of them.
"She is coming," Nonna said nonchalantly, not breaking away from the computer screen. Isabelle edged her head a bit higher for a view, flicking the safety on her pistol off. Amidst the rustling of the conifer trees, the wind whistling between the trees, and the little critters of the forest screaming their heads off, the ambience kept Isabelle on the edge for unusual sounds.
Soon she heard the plowing of the snow under boots.
"Flash!" Isabelle shouted in a hushed tone, taking her M1911 up and ready.
The noise stopped for a moment, she pointed her barrel towards the source of the sound.
"Thunder!" The familiar voice shouted, and Isabelle eased her breath.
She holstered her pistol, "Come in!"
The rapid footsteps approached. In the darkness, the dark suit made its worth and Yukari couldn't be made out until her glistening, relieved eyes flashed in front of her. "Hi! I'm back!"
"Get in here!" Isabelle said and Yukari complied, opening the door into the tractor.
"Tight fit here as always…"
"You had fun out there?" Isabelle said, reaching into the driver's controls and readying to start the tractor.
"Oh yeah…" Yukari wearily said.
"You weren't tailed now were you?"
"Nope, out of the Russian's hands!" Yukari said in an upbeat tone. "That helicopter was a real mess though! It kept sweeping back and forth the whole area, even the south! I had to crawl through the bushes to make sure it didn't find me!"
"Well at least you're back safe," Isabelle started the tractor, the gasoline rumbled along as usual and the tractor moved forwards under its power. "We'll set up camp deeper in the wilderness away from here. It's safer than in the cities with the Russians now aware of us. I'll call up the team back home on our status for the helicopter ride back when we land tomorrow."
"That sounds great Isabelle…" Yukari's voice started to slur off.
"We'll need you to write a report on what you saw as well so we can get an idea on what Ōarai is facing in this coming match," Isabelle said. No response came, "Yukari?"
Isabelle glanced towards exhausted girl and found she had steered off away into slumber. Isabelle sighed in relief, girl has it rough, and she deserved an early rest.
Nonna simply stayed on the computer in the middle, though she glanced between the two girls. Privately, she wondered how Ms. Katyusha was doing at this moment.
"Hmm?" Yukari woke up in a sleeping bag, eye somewhat clogged as she rubbed them. She got a grasp on her surroundings and found herself in a dark orange-fabric tent. The night has fallen upon them, everywhere was dark with the exception of the small campfire erupting outside the tent. Nonna was sleeping as well, though her body posture was still one of alertness than relaxation. Yukari got up, feeling she was quite rested. Though she couldn't see it, she could feel she was still wearing the SBS . Perhaps it was the only adequate warm clothes that was available to her in this weather.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Isabelle's voice was heard outside the tent.
Yukari opened the flaps of the tent and saw the diminishing fire on the ground, slowly becoming nothing but a pile of ashes. Isabelle was on the other end on a fallen tree, her hands were busy with a cell phone, laptop and a radio near her..
"Hello? Hawkins? Lee? Anyone?" She spoke into the mouthpiece of the radio and then held it up her ear. No response came through aside from the static. She then picked up the cell phone and dialed a number. She held it up on her ear for a few seconds. "Oh Christ…" She said dejectedly, putting the phone down while staring into the blank screen.
"Something wrong Isabelle?" Yukari surprised the girl as she almost swung around with her pistol in hand.
"Oh, Yukari, you're awake," Isabelle commented.
"Yeah…" Yukari felt a small yawn brewing, "what time is it?"
"4 o'clock in the morning, local time."
"Gosh, it's late… What's going on?"
Isabelle held up her radio. "Been trying for the last hour to try and contact Ōarai. Calls, radio transmissions, and even e-mail," she gestured towards the laptop. "Nothing. Can't get in touch with anyone?"
"What?" Yukari brought up her cell phone, ready to try it out herself.
"Try it."
Yukari dialed in a number, the first one that could come into her mind. She dialed in Miho's cell phone number and calle. The ring tones came in:
[Brrriiinnnnggg]
[…]
[Brrriiinnnnggg]
[…]
[Brrriiinnnnggg]
[*Click*]
[H-hello! This is Miho Nishizumi. I'm currently unavailable right now. Please leave a message!]
Yukari looked at her phone, before thinking. "Wait, it's pretty late over there, right? Maybe everyone's just asleep!"
"Everyone? Even the cadets? They're expecting my signal tonight for a mission's success to bring the chopper for a ride back to the carrier from the airport. They have to have someone on the ready."
"Yeah… but," Yukari tried to find a reason, but it fell flat on that note. "Then, what do you think happened?"
"I don't know, Yukari..." Isabelle said, "but I'd imagine it's something extremely urgent."
Disclaimer: All poorly written Russians were done with the assistance of Google Translate. Also, the interpretation of Suvorov military school in this chapter are based on speculation after reading articles and watching videos of the facility.
And there we have it, the beginning of the Suvorov arc in my story!
Quite exciting yes? I know I am. I've been planning to produce this chapter for quite a while, but got caught up on a Statistics midterm so I had to delay my usual Friday releases (not that they are immaculately planned to begin with) to today. Of course, now I have to worry about producing the next chapter, which will hopefully be as exciting as this one because reasons.
Anyways, hope this chapter came off as enjoyable and, at the very least, made sense. It was a real change of pace even compared to the excursion against the British back in Chapter 13. However, I still find this scouting style very entertaining and great to drop lots of foreshadowing for future events. We'll get back to the real fighting and drama very soon though, so keep in touch.
Thanks for reading and keeping up with my story Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament! If you like the story, don't be afraid to Follow and Favorite to keep up to date with the story. Now, I have to go study for my Organic Chemistry midterm this week, so see you all next time!
Fun fact: There are three Russian names in this chapter that came from movies, following closely as possible to the roles they had in their respective movies. One of the movie is German and the other two are Russian. Have fun!