Girls Und Panzer: World Tournament!
Chapter 31: Assurance of Courtesy
(Destroyed) Town, France
"Careful there!" Miho shouted as she waved her arms in an attempt to direct the tow towards the right direction. The DNG/DCL, an armored recovery vehicle built off the French Leclerc tank chassis, struggled to remove Katyusha's T-34-85 from its collapsed posture back onto its tracks. The narrow roadway and rubble complicated the job.
Her arm gestures meant little however, as the specialist staff from the French army were in control of the recovery operation. As dust flew around the personnels, their yellow high-visibility vest shined through the interference, while their Camouflage Europe Centrale design of their uniforms barely changed no matter the grime accumulated from their work.
The DCL's diesel engine whirred with a silent presence as it rather effortlessly, yet aggressively, hauled the T-34-85 out of the street into the wider main road outside. The crew members then worked to unbuckle the crane from the immobile hunk of metal, then the recovery vehicle reversed back to retrieve the other tanks in the street where the climax of the battle took place.
Miho remained on the wide street. She sighed as she eyed Pravda's T-34-85 while sitting down on a nearby pile of rubble. The gun barrel was bent all the wrong ways, the tracks were toast, the electrical parts inside were surely busted; and most critically, the cleaning duty was going to be a right pain.
"Damn… look at all that dust." Katyusha said as she sat right by Miho. Her diminutive size pronounced right next to Miho with her posture as she slouched, no doubt evaluating the T-34-85 the same way Miho was. "Well, at least it's not your tank, right Miho-sha?"
"Don't say that Katyusha, it's our tank right there."
"Well, I suppose Miho-sha could then help out with the-"
"WHOOOOOOAOOAOAA!?" A loud cry echoed down the street as a shocked Miho and Katyusha jumped up. They looked towards the source and saw a speeding Yukari sprinting towards them. "Miho! Miho! Did you check your email?!"
"Huh? Uh, no, I-"
"Check it now! There's something very important in there!"
As the DCL began pulling the other T-34-85 out of the position amidst the echo of a building's collapse, Miho took up her phone and tapped towards the email section. "Uhh… which one?"
"Titled 'League Offer!'"
"Ah, as I was going to deliver the good news as well," Darjeeling said as she approached as a trio with Orange Pekoe and Assam, carrying the usual arrangements of tea.
Surprised at Darjeeling's presence, Miho's curiosity on this e-mail soared as this particular news was spreading among her peers. "Uh… ah! Here it is!" She said as she found the title of the e-mail.
"Open it!" Yukari gleefully squeed as Miho was already on it, the content expanded into a series of fine text.
"Yukari! Please *huff* don't run off like that! *huff*" Saori choked as she ran up from behind Yukari's direction.
Hana was right behind in a briskly pace, "I've never seen this many people excited since we won the Sensha-dou Tournament!"
"Mrghmmm," Mako unenthusiastically grumbled from behind in her own gloomy aura.
A car engine roared up towards the group "So Miho, are we going?!" Kay shouted as she ejected herself out the open door of the CCKW truck, with an open rear bed where the other girls poured out from towards Miho's direction.
"HRNGMHBG?!" Pepperoni screamed with a full mouth of delicious goodness that is on the plate she is holding.
"Ms. Nishizumi! Please consider the offer!" Nishi politely yelled as she approached.
"What the heck is going on?!" Katyusha asked of this development as she awaited for Miho to see the email.
"Well, give me a moment here…" Miho finally opened the email in question and its content spilled out.
The top bar loaded first on the screen, and the logo displayed itself in its elegance of royal purple and gold.
Elles Estienne Enterprise
The polished font danced to fill the page with its color and presence, backgrounded with a crimson red texture that evokes a warm, fuzzy aura. The pronunciation of the capitalization emphasized the acronym that the brand had built itself up on, the E.E.E.
"Oh," Miho said in shock and awe as she realized the identity of the sender.
"No way?" Katyusha gasped with disbelief at what she's seeing.
"I know right?!" Yukari shouted, giddy as she hopped around an excited atmosphere. "What do you think, Miho?!"
Miho couldn't coherently think of a response as she busily read through content of the e-mail. Only her thumb moved as she scrolled down the message and eye retinas shifting up and down for the Japanese text available, then left to right on the English text to make sure the message correlates. "Oh wow… it's an invitation for a stay at their hotel!"
"No duh!" All the girls surrounding Miho said. "Why else are we excited?!
"What do you think, Miho?"
"Should we go, Miho?"
"I wonder what food they have!"
"How much can I eat?"
"Please consider!"
They peppered Miho with the questions like tennis balls, threatening to tip the balance scale of the weight between Miho's internal thoughts and those intruding from the crowd. The scene of excitement bordered chaotic as the aura became palpable enough to literally crush Miho.
"Alright, alright. What's the commotion here?" The scene breaks as Daniel Marshall's voice spoke from outside the crowd. His voice spoke loud enough to be heard, yet soft enough to avoid the strict demand of attention. Yet, his voice of authority contrasted with his appearance as he hobbled in on his crutch, with Isabelle Bradley following close behind him as though he was ready to lose balance again. "We're having a post-battle cheering session now?"
"Mr. Marshall!" Miho exclaimed, released from her peer's attention. "We-"
"WE GOT AN INVITATION TO THE E.E.E.!" Yukari squeeed.
"AN INVITATION TO THE E.E.E.?!" Daniel shouted as he threw down his crutch, Isabelle flinched with her arms out as though to catch Daniel in a fall. "AWESOME!" Daniel stood tall and cheered as Isabelle recovered from the false alarm.
"I KNOW, RIGHT?!" Kay shouted back.
"Hotel so great~" Daniel started singing a melody.
"It'll make you go 'EEEEEEE!'" The team captains in the crowd went wild, including Yukari.
"Wow… i-is that real?" Saori asked incredulously at this musical tune. "That's the… hotel's thing?" The only response she got was Isabelle hanging her head and groaning. "Wait, what's the hotel anyways? Why are you all riled up?!"
"It must be an amazing hotel, but it's the first I've heard of it," Hana mentioned.
"You two never heard of the E.E.E.?!" Yukari asked with shock. "They're the biggest name of hotel accomodations in the subject of Tankery and Sensha-dou!"
"Wha? That's it Yukarin?" Saori dismissively responded.
"Oh Saori, you won't understand! Words alone can't explain it! I mean… it's like that Sensha-dou cafe that we were at a long time ago, yeah? Now expand that into the business of a hotel!"
"Even then," Marshall said. "I think that's an understatement on the scope of the business."
As the tankery and Sensha-dou culture attempt to explain it to the less invested individuals, Miho and Katyusha continued to process the info. "Miho-sha, where's the hotel located? Here?"
"Huh? Uh… no, it's in Germany… huh."
"D-doesn't that sound kinda fishy?"
The two were interrupted as Yukari butted in again. "So are we going to go, Miho?"
"Yukari, don't be intrusive like that," Hana said politely.
"I'm sorry, but I really want to go!"
"It'll be a great place to relax after all this!" Kay put in her support.
"Plus it's free!" Anchovy as well.
"Hold on girls, isn't this a bit suspicious?" Katyusha appealed. "This hotel they're inviting us to is in Germany."
"What's wrong with that?" Marshall asked.
"Well, it just so happens to be the very same country that Carius Academy is in," Katyusha explained matter-of-factly.
"The finals of each tournament always take place in Germany."
"Wait, what?"
"Yeah, they got their set of arenas for that, keep all the final competitions in one place so it doesn't bounce around to different countries every now and then, as well as streamline the international and national laws and regulations."
"Okay, but then there's-"
"The hotel chain's generosity seems too good to be true, isn't it?" Isabelle add. "They do this with every tournament finalists for the accommodations prior to the final match, so I can vouch for the authenticity of that mass invitation to your team."
"Well yeah, but-"
"What's the big deal, Katyusha?" Kay asked.
Katyusha sighed. "Are we forgetting this is the same school that Katukov's is saying have Miho-sha's sister?"
"The Ruskies? Ugh, they're always so suspicious if you ask me," Marshall said. "Hard to tell when they're telling the truth or stepping around it."
"What's this about, Katyusha?" Isabelle asked, being news to her ears.
"Right here," Miho took out the envelope Erik Katukov gave her that holds onto the one photograph. She took it out and showed Isabelle. "It's a printed picture from Katukov he gave when he told me that… my sister's ship may be involved with Carius Academy."
She studied the picture's detail of the ship's hull and background. "It's an interesting piece of document," Isabelle said. "But is there anything else?"
"No."
Isabelle sighed, "Well, outside of proving Kuromorimine was near Carius Academy at this time the picture was taken - assuming it is not altered - it doesn't say much."
"The perception of a dimute, minute significance induced to an art does not invalidate the presence of the feature," Mika said sitting on a large piece of rubble nearby while clutching the mute kantele.
"I think it's unfounded. There's no correlation between the hotel's offering and Carius Academy with… this news here about Kuromorimine," Isabelle said as she returned the photo and envelope to Miho.
"Well, Katyusha doesn't like it," Katyusha said. "Seems suspicious."
Silence returned… until another building collapsed.
"Hey, hey you all," Marshall said as he picked up his crutch. "Constant in, constant out. The stress you girls have must be on the brink. Why don't you take the offer to relax? In the end of the day, the E.E.E. hotel is still a hotel, and whether on sea, air, or land; it's not like the chance to find out more about Kuromorimine will be lost with this."
"A conformation of the norm breeds the pattern of habits," Mika perplexingly said.
"I mean, at this stage, it'll look more suspicious if your team doesn't go. This is an opportunity for both parties, not a fork in the path. The discussion of Kuromorimine and staying at the E.E.E. are not mutually exclusive."
"I agree!" Kay shouted enthusiastically, "Besides, the rest of the team could use the rest, don'tcha all think?"
"Let's just go so I can sleep on their beds," Mako groaned beneath the volume in the aura.
"I still don't like it," Katyusha stood firm, though biting upon her upper lip as her mind still doubted the transpiring events.
"Look Kat, Miho," Kay approached as she put her arm both of them, though she struggled with Katyushas height. "I know it's definitely a bit weird with Carius Academy in Germany as well. But look at this way; if we're in the E.E.E., it's a perfect base inland to start snooping around about Carius Academy, don't you think?"
Miho thought on it a bit as some new considerations entered her mind.
"Well, no matter what you girls take, I can vouch for the E.E.E.'s integrity in their offer; Carius Academy should have nothing to do with them at all," Marshal stated. "Why, I've been an honorary guest at the E.E.E. as an envoy for the United States in observing international tankery matches!"
"Honorary?" Miho asked.
"The taxpayer's money paid for it basically," Isabelle condescendingly explained.
"Isabelle… stop stealing my thunder. Or would you rather explain it to them?"
"Well considering I'm sticking along as an advisor, I think I should while you go back to the hospital and-"
"DID SOMEONE SAY ADVISOR?!" A loud English voice shrieked across the air.
"Oh boy…" the steps grew louder until Emma hopped and dug her boots into the ground that grinded her to a halt.
"Hi!"
"Hello," Isabelle mutely responded.
"I apologize in advance if she's disrupting anything," John Montgomery spoke as he walked up to the group, beret off and in his hand.
"Well we haven't really, y'know," Daniel nonsensically said.
"Yes, yes. Positive you haven't. What with your hideous, peppy, tongue-dancing of a chant of that enterprises' slogan."
"Wanna hear it again? 'Hotel's so great~ it'll m-'"
"Cease."
"Oh my gosh, just shut up...sir," Isabelle held her ears tight.
"Anyways, to you lot," Monty referred towards the Ōarai girls as he praised, "I must say you girls did great out there earlier today."
"Thanks!" Miho replied, some of the girls there sported big smiles.
"It was an interesting match for sure, I'm sure Mr. Kraus would be in for a surprise once he learned of your victory."
"Does he not?" Darjeeling asked.
"Haha! No he doesn't, yet! He left during your cease-fire with the Ruskies! Can you believe that guy? What an absolute cu-GAH!"
Emma was quickly quieted with straight noogie from John. "Yes! Yes, ah, he's got quite a character… yes." A small snickering happened as Monty controlled little Emma in his grasp, before putting her down as she rubs the pain out of her skull. "So, do you plan to accept Elles Estienne Enterprise's offer?"
"I'm not sure…" Miho pondered on it. "There's so much other stuff to consider. Like practice, our tanks, and… all the preparedness for the finals."
"Miho, if you know anything about Elles Estienne Enterprise, you know trivial matters such as those are basically solved on the enterprises' establishments."
"But...hmmm," Miho conceded defeat on that regards.
Monty chuckled, "They're amazing, aren't they? Use their facilities, they're guaranteed improvements over anything on the carrier, it'll be a benefit against Carius Academy."
"I hope that doesn't cost extra money!" Anchovy shouted with concern.
"Besides, if things get a wee sticky, you'll have Emma there."
"What?" Miho and the others went.
"Pardon?" Emma asked with silent surprise.
"What!?" Isabelle said incredulously.
"Well,if the Yank advisors got you girls this far, a fellow Brit might help hurry things along, don't you think? She's been with you since you first started tankery, she'll fit in just fine for one more week."
"But, sir, I-"
"Well, unlike the last time when you slipped off the radar, I'm ordering you this time, Sergeant Major."
"Guh…" Emma was defeated.
Isabelle spoke "Sir, permission to-"
"Permission to object denied," Daniel interrupted, sapping Isabelle's energy out. "Besides, if anyone can control Emma, it'll be you and the Ōarai girls. Think of it as a… part of the international coalition course."
"There's no such thing."
"It's a thing now," Daniel said that made his tiny stature seem to empower Isabelle.
"Did you discuss with Monty before this, or are you making this up as you go along?"
"Does it matter? Anything else?"
"I hate you sir."
"Yeah, I know," He said with a cheeky smile of amusement.
Isabelle and Emma groaned at their predicament, then sparks flew as their eyes locked on each other in a begrudging acceptance of their presence. This action is interrupted as a horn honked and an energetic, jacked-up Jackal wheeled vehicle bounced up towards the group.
"Now, unfortunately I must part ways with you all as I have other base duties I must attend to back in Britain," Monty said as he put his beret back on. "So I won't be there to spectate. However, I'll send my regards for the match day." He then quite gracefully leapt into the passenger position.
"Monty don't leave me!" Emma screamed dramatically.
"Toodaloo!" Monty said as the car sped off on the paved road off with.
"You don't have an exit plan like that too, do you?" Isabelle asked Daniel.
"Well, I'd love to. But crutches."
Just then, a BEEP BEEP horn sounded off as a simple Willys MB jeep drove up.
"What?" Cpl. Ellis asked as the group stared at him and the simple drive.
"Nothing," Daniel said, before shouting "Y'all stealing my thunder today!"
"Go back to the hospital already shorty."
"Yeah yeah, Isabelle. You better behave there with them all, Cadet Sergeant!" He said as he climbed to the back seat of the Willys MB. "Oh yeah!" He remembered before closing the door. "The shipment should be at Ōarai carrier by now, so make sure you pick that up before anything else!" He slammed the door shut as the Willys MB drove off with its two occupants.
"Alright then…" Isabelle said. "C'mon Emma, you're with us now."
"I mean, home's only a channel away and-"
A grip tightened around Emma's shoulder, "YOU'RE WITH US NOW."
"Okay."
"So, what now?" Anchovy asked as the English and the American adjusted their situation.
Miho looked back to her phone, whose screen had turned off due to neglect. She turned it on and reviewed the email content. "I do have my concerns over this, but it'll be such a shame to miss out for everyone if our speculations are unfounded."
"Plus, you do have the endorsements of two of the big cheese of the Atlantic!" Kay put in her bet.
Katyusha huffed, "Well if Katyusha is right, don't hold me back in saying 'I told you all so!'"
"Do you know this saying? A little nonsense now and then is cherished by the wisest men," Darjeeling recited.
"Dahl, is it?" Pekoe asked as Darjeeling took a sip of tea.
"So Nishizumi-dono! What are we going to do?"
Miho felt once more the weight of the whole team now on her for this forkway. She pondered on the invitation once more. She then looked up to the team and sighed, "Well, I can't imagine anything too bad about going if we stay vigilant, and-"
"YAHOO!" Yukari jubilantly jumped for joy. "We're in the zone!" The gathering of team captains discussed gleefully about this development, many laughing and cheering at this big break.
"I'm going to accept their invitation now!" Miho said as she dialed through the phone's feature. The e-mail redirected her towards the hotel's website with the simple options: Yes or No. It didn't take Miho long to affirm the team's stance for the invitation.
Soon, the phone went into a constant rumble as it received a stream of notifications. The other girls also noticed as everyone took their phones out. Miho scrolled through to see this commotion.
"Wow," Kay said. "Rail tickets already?"
"Hotel vouchers for the shops," Darjeeling viewed with surprise.
"DISCOUNT COUPONS TO RESTAURANTS?!" Anchovy exclaimed.
"Seems they have a full package already for us all!" Yukari exclaimed.
"They've got everything down to the letter!" Kay shouted as she read through. "Rail cars for fifty tanks, cars for all the contestants… what?! All this already?"
"I see they're giving Saunders a run for the money in the logistics department!" Saori joked.
"There's a conspiracy, I'm telling you!" Kay cried as the girls laughed with her disbelief.
"Wow, all these things covered just like that," Katyusha said. "Really, this doesn't scream more of a trap to you girls?"
"You're still on about that?" Nishi asked.
"How can I not?! You were all there when Erik told us about Carius Academy."
"Yeah, but he also said, it was all a speculation…" Anchovy recalled.
"Ah, so he admits that what Katukov said may not be true?" Isabelle said, re-entering the conversation.
"You don't trust him at all, do you Isabelle?" Miho asked.
"It's not that I don't trust him, but his info alone is meaningless."
"Could be pulling your legs for all we know," Emma added.
"Well, we Americans do have a saying on how to handle these particular situations; trust, but verify."
Pekoe glowed "From Ronald Reagan, was it?"
Emma scoffed, "Isabelle, I think the 80s are calling for their fossil back" She said as Isabelle responded with a swift elbow into her guts, staggering the Brit.
"However, if what you're saying is true," Isabelle said as she recovered to a stand without breaking her stride, "Then Katukov himself even admitted what he said is not something that can stand as its own to be trusted. Heck, even if what he said is true, it's not much on its own at face value."
"I understand that Isabelle," Miho said as she fiddled the photo's envelope in hand. "But it's… I wanted to hear something, anything, about my sister and Kuromorimine. This is the first concrete evidence of the school in so long. Yet, it's so…" Miho trailed off. "It's the first thing I can anchor myself at to understand what's going on. Erik was the first to give me it, and I've got nothing else. The E.E.E. may not have any correlation, but I can't just sit around relaxing in there either. I need to know more…"
"Now look, I'd like to trust Erik," Isabelle restated. "Think the whole world could use some more trusting between one another. Erik may have given you all talk and a set of visuals, but there's still no verification on our part of whether anything he said was the real deal. Documents, intelligence, witnesses, we need more of that stuff and we haven't got one yet."
"No," Miho spoke with revelation. "We do have one witness…"
General Hospital, Ōarai Carrier
*BEEP* *BEEP* *BEEP* The heart rate monitor kept pace with Erika's comatose body on the bed.
"She's not waking, huh?" Yukari asked as she approached Miho, outside the evening had gave way to dusk as the last of the sunlight disappeared from the skies.
"No…" Miho meekly replied.
Erika's condition has improved greatly in her two day stay at the hospital. Her bruised spots have mostly healed, leaving only a dull coloration in her skin color. She was looking more like her old self, which only begs to question what condition she was living under to cause her health to deteriorate as much as it did.
"I need to go finish packing now, Miho," Yukari said as her body leaned towards the doorway. "I'll see you tomorrow."
"Yeah. See you then."
"Don't stay too late," and with that, Yukari was gone "Oh! Excuse me," She said as she stumbled her way out.
As the vitals meter continued to beep, Miho did not hear the boot steps approach her, unknowing of the presence until she spoke.
"She's gotten a lot better," Isabelle noticed.
Miho recognized the voice without averting her eyes off Erika, failing to notice a large, metallic, olive-drab briefcase in Isabelle's left hand. "Erika's a strong girl, she'll certainly wake soon."
"Soon isn't now though." Isabelle said, shifting her boots as Miho continued to sit by Erika's bedside. "She'll be fine here Miho. She won't go anywhere 'til she wakes."
"I know Isabelle, but… I'm still trying to process everything."
"A puzzle's impossible to complete without all the pieces Miho, if the information isn't here yet, you won't get the full picture."
Miho held Erika's hand, her warmth at the fingertips transferred to Miho's chilled fingertips from the weather.
"I hope she wakes soon…"
"You think she'll tell you what really happened? I know you two aren't exactly the best of friends."
"If whatever is happening is a threat to my sister, she surely will."
It's short, but its progress.
As much as I want to work on this, real life always get in the way. I end up feeling pretty guilty when I see the new people reading this fic as I know I haven't got much to offer within the last few months, yet people still come.
I really grateful for that though, even though this fic's probably been buried by the newer GuP fics, people still find it and read it. You guys help me keep this fic in my mind with all my other daily priorities, and that always motivates me to write with any free time I can spare.
If you haven't already, please Favorite and Follow the story for the fastest notification on whether I release a new chapter or not, I guarantee the next one isn't too far away. Please Review the story as well if you have the time, I'm always eager to hear what you think about the story.
I look forward to seeing you all on my next upload!