Maken pow:

"Well, here we go." I said as I carved a hole in the ceeling of the magazine somewhere in a middle of Bonple's school ship. And given the apparent lack of CCTV cameras or other security measures at night the task was rather easy. More than enough time for me to do things slowly and precisely.

"Now, the girl I have to take back is a small one, but I have to take the chair as a morality payment." I thought, as the circle I was cutting was shaping in a somewhat smooth way. "Good thing the determination Gaster gave me accounts for creation of these red knives. Otherwise I would have problems." I continued as the hole eventually got to be nearly complete.

"Phew." I sighed out of curiosity if anyone was watching me and would react to that. But given the lack of response or moving shadows I decided to move on. "Now for the hardest part." I thought as I jabbed the knife in a middle of the cutaway piece and pulled it upwards, ending with a round piece of concrete in hand.

"Hmmm?" A muffled voice came to me from the inside, giving me a clear signal that the hostage was gagged on the mouth.

"Yup, rescue team's here." I responded rather calmly as I looked down inside and dropped down a small anker which managed to fit in the chair's frames quite nicely. "Now, up she goes." I thought as I pulled the thick rope up, weirdly enough with no sound of breaking rope or chair hitting anything on it's way.

"Hmmmh hm!" Girl muffled again, as I finally pulled her outside of the magazine and placed behind me.

"Just working in a system of favors, no need to thank me... Yukari?" I responded as I cut her restrains with the knife from earlier. "Yup, you are Yukair." I reassured myself upon releasing her insanely floofy hair from a potato sack put on her head. "But as a favor for saving you, I need you to keep the following events as top secret." I added, casually creating a gaster blaster in front of us, much to her suprise. "Now, where do I drop you off?"

Narrator pow:

"Oh, he actually did it." Andou commented, seeing the note fron Bonple's official social media page on the recent break-in with a picture of the large hole in anonymous rooftop.

"I'm back Rena!" Maken called out, storming into her room with a smile. "How's it going?"

"Glad to see you come back." She smiled, turning her phone off and walking up to him while he closed the doors behind himself and also walked forward.

"Me too." He smiled, reaching forward with both arms and resting them on her shoulders. "Also, I got some intel from Yukari."

"Oh, I remember her a little." Andou said, thinking back to her days at BC Freedom. "That fluffy Spy girl from Oarai?"

"Yup, quite a memorable figure." Maken smiled. "Anyways, she told me that Bonple can't use their Ratte, but found a Maus and two Heuschreckers 10 as a replacement."

"Damn it, this will complicate things." She almost hissed, looking down on the floor with a mix of anxiety and anger on her face.

"Now, now, she also told me a little trick as we spoke back then." He calmed her down, pointing behind her at the cellphone she left on the desk. "When Saunders eavesdropped on their radio back in 63th National, they used phones to get around radio, which they used to feed them with false information. Quite ingenious really."

"So communication is a way for us to beat their team?" She asked him back, rather dubious about the idea.

"Better." Maken smiled, showing his own phone. "You know that spectators have these giant screens in front of them with live streamed footage and tactical map?"

"You aren't serious." She looked at his face, her own showing a truly indescribable mix of feelings.

"I am, sadly."

"Then why are we even thinking about doing it?"

"Because we are not Gods. We need to use human advantages regardless of their morality." Maken responded with a slight smile as his grip on her shoulders loosened. "I mean, it's not like Federation prohibits the usage of them."

"But after the match they definitely will." Andou responded.

"That's why we will do it just this once. One single excursion into uncharted teritory to make the rules clear."

"Looking for positives I see?"

"Passive pessimism won't help us. Besides, it's best for their leadership to mature a little."

"To have them go the path you did?"

"You read my mind."

"I know some of your thought patterns like my own room. You repeat yourself." Andou smiled, booping his nose with a finger.

"I know." Maken smiled, closing his eyes for a moment. "Repeatability helps me calm down. That is why I don't like changes..."

"... Even if they are necessary." She ended his phrase before taking a deep breath. "Still not sure about giving me and the others even a bit of your rule?"

"Always." He responded nearly instantly. "Even I can't lie about that."

"Now that I think about it, it's funny that we get into politics, war, generally adult problem before even turning eighteen."

"In a way it is, Sensha-do is truly a sport of radical extremes. Even in places that aren't supposed to be included by it." Maken smiled confidently. "And that is why you will win next matxh regardless of my help."

"Really?" Andou asked him, almost gulping in suprise.

"I mean, what kind of person you were when coming here?" He asked, tilting his head to the left.

"Now that I think about it..." She responded slowly, trying to find the right words. "Medicore? Mid?"

"As a transfer student, you mean?"

"Yes. You know the typical line, 'Old school was bad and I want to come somewhere decent to get myself together and pay back the old school on the way.'. I'm sure you had this type of people beside me."

"Beating the other school comes at the end of the journey, not somewhere during it. Otherwise it' sall familiar." Maken pointed out, trying to sound wise but ending up with neutral tone.

"Well, I wasn't that original. Rosehip just wanted to have fun in life, Eclair seeked care and maybe new friends..."

"And I seeked a place to regenerate and then strike back roughly like you."

"... Now that I think about it... Yes, you really did."

"But thanks to eachother both of us grew up as people and went past it. A good timing given that in about year and a half both of us get to end our mandatory education."

"More of a reason to thank you." Andou smiled, pulling herself up with her hands grabbing his shoulders like a rod. "Now, how about we discuss the tactics..."

"From this close?" Maken asked her, jnsure about her idea.

"For the extra challenge. You won't back will you?"

"Fine." He responded. "Why did I even agree on this of all things?"

"*Yawn* Let's go over the plan." Andou yawned, as her designated team plus Maken gathered in a large comference room for a pre-match briefing. "As we know, Bonple will field a Maus, two Heuschrecke 10's, one 45TP, one 25TP, one 14TP, one 10TP, two 9TP, five 7TP's one Hetzer, one Archer and four R35's. Mixed team with generally higher quality than our vehicles."

"But here is the kicker." Maken began his part. "Their new mentality is classic measuring of strenght based on goals, rather than goals based in strenght. As soon as we clear their lighter tanks, we can began hunting."

"But how are you so sure we will get their tanks first?" Eclair asked. "I don't think they will leave their heavier tanks without protection."

"Because they will do exacly that." Jajka responded, taking a cup of tea from Rosehip and rising it to the level of her chin. "They won't be attacking on formation like back in my days, that's for sure."

"Ah yes, I haven't told you. Hate is blinding force and they don't recognize that." Maken smiled, giving Andou a quick wink before looking back at Eclair. "That's why we have an upper hand."

"If you put it that way, then it makes sense." Eclair nodded, seeing his reasoning. "But we can't just assume they will do everything wrong because of it."

"We know." Rosehip pouted, slightly annoyed with her digression.

"This is why we will wait for their nerves to snap with annoying defense." Andou added, smiling widely. "Knowing the confidence they have in new, heavier tanks, they will go for a forward assault. And that's when we strike them."

"Your plan is to use FCM 1A main gun to pierce Maus's back armor?" Eclair asked.

"In a way, yes." Andou admitted.

"Evetually firing from elevated position into the engine." Gotierrez added, finally speaking up. "It has the gun capable of doing that."

"But others don't." Rosehip added.

"That's why you have a big role in this match." Maken said, looking directly at her. "Our light tanks need to harass and destroy Bonple's light tanks."

"While other ones stay on tight defense and protect Andou to eliminate the Maus." Jajka added.

"More or less, yes." Maken nodded. "Given our traditional high individual skill, eventual tactical mishaps will be recompensated."

"I guess that settels it for today." Andou concluded. "Back down whenever needed, don't engage without clear advantage, keep your nerves down and we will eventually get what we need."

"Now let's get some rest." Gotierrez added, clapping his hands as students began to leave the place. "Siesta time everybody!"

"Do you think this can work?" Andou asked Maken, as the two were eventually the only people left in the room.

"No idea." Maken sighed weakly. "But we kind of have to try. Beating this round is all I actually feel like we can achieve given what's coming next..."