ARC II chapter 22

Miho knew that something was very wrong the moment Chi-Ha-Tan first attacked, but now it was crystal clear that they were trying to lead her team into a trap. "Be on high alert!" she called out, when the forest gave way to a clearing with the river cutting it in two halves like a knife cutting through air.

And as if it wasn't enough, a Type 2 Ka-Mi suddenly charged at them from the left, taking out the M3 Lee before joining the rest of its allies near the river. Hmph, clever. They are regrouping, her inner self said and Miho hesitated for a split second after hearing that. But, it was that single moment of hesitation, what allowed the surviving Chi-Ha-Tan tanks to… retreat?!

"What the...?! They are using hit and run tactics!" Trafalgar's voice announced a few seconds later, followed by the familiar noise of the KwK 36 L/56 firing at an enemy, unlucky enough to end in its sights. Only to be followed by a MG42 opening fire almost immediately after that, masking the Tiger I's engine from making a sound.

But then came something she hoped wouldn't happen after knowing the boy crew, all of which she saw as the brothers she never had, for several months. But lady Luck seemed to have another idea today.

"Our left track is disabled! We're sitting ducks!" George's voice announced, but that was only the start of the bad news. Because not even 30 seconds later, came another report by George, but with far graver news.

"We're out! Nishi's Type 97 shot at our rear!"

And then the world suddenly turned black for her.

To say that Katyusha was shocked, would be like saying that the sky is blue. After all, seeing how the 4 CHT tanks had easily beaten Trafalgar Jameson had simply that effect. And it could be the same, if not faster in the International tournament, she thought and at the same time watched as CHT dispatched the T-34, followed by the Type 3 soon after.

Definitely gonna beat that idiot's ass! she decided and turned to Nonna and Klara, who themselves had concerned looks on their faces. Even Nina and Alina were quieter than was normal for the both of them. And that was something that happened very rarely.

Katyusha dared herself to peek at the screen and paled, when she saw that Oarai was down to 2 tanks, Panzer IV H and Hetzer, while CHT still had 3, one of the Type 95s being taken out by the Type 89. But that wasn't enough to prepare her for what came next - something that would be in her nightmares for at least 30 years from that point on.

"Aim at the tree 200 meters away northwest. Load HEAT shell. Prepare to do stepping advance," Mihosha said in a tone so monotone and cold that Katyusha couldn't help, but compare her with her mother - the ever infamous Shiho Nishizumi - and several German generals from WW2… and yet, she knew that Mihosha had the potential to turn even worse than them.

And then, the Panzer IV fired the shell, which sliced through the remaining Type 95 and the Type 97, leaving the Type 2 Ka-Mi to be dealt with by the Hetzer. "Nonna… remind me not to anger Mihosha. Never," she whispered to her much taller second-in-command and forced herself to look at the other platforms instead, noticing a male Mahosha look-alike, but with blue hair, instead of brown, who was smirking for whatever reason.

2 meters away from viewing platform for VIP #3

All is going well. Now, I know her weakness to exploit, much like Father did with Mojave Rose in America. One threat down, one last left, Wilhelm thought and smirked as the brat finally fell into the Nishizumi style, allowing the last parts of the Master plan to click into place far earlier than expected.

Now, I must get to her before she snaps out of it, he decided and stood up, going to Oarai's temporary garages, unaware of the five people following him there and the possibility of the obstacle being there, already working on fixing the tanks. Which soon enough proved to be one of his biggest mistakes on this mission.

"Hey! Who are you and what are you doing here?!" the obstacle's voice suddenly asked as he entered the garage and Wilhelm turned… only to find out that his escape route was cut off by the green fish that the brat's sister seemed to love so much, the gremlin and her two moms and the one person he hoped he would get the chance to see his spirit broken.

"Damn it!" Wilhelm shouted and ran towards the gremlin, knocking her over, but still managing to escape.

Boris saw red, when he arrived at the garages and saw that blue-haired Nishizumi look-alike barrel his way through the spot where his sister was, knocking her over as he escaped, and took off towards the bastard, revenge the only thing in his mind, letting out a rather impressive string of curses in Russian, which he knew would make even Klara green with envy as he gave chase.

But, the chase was cut short as a Sd Kfz 234/4 suddenly showed up from behind a corner and its crew picked up the bastard, allowing him to escape.

And Boris let an even longer string of curses in response, before being dragged back to the garages by Grigori and Takashi.

Tsuneo tried to follow Boris, when the unknown boy ran away, but something unexpected made him stop dead in his tracks. Mixed in with the anger was a sense of… familiarity about the boy that he couldn't decide what it meant for a few seconds, but then he was left with only a couple of options. Both having the highest possibility to be correct.

One: the boy was an agent of that masked bastard and probably tried to kidnap Miho… and two: he was a distant relative, who wanted to encroach himself into his family.

"We should tighten the security," he stated firmly to Traf and the rest of the boys, who nodded in response and then turned his attention to Miho's pretty beat-up, but still functioning, Panzer IV H and paled, when he saw her unconscious form suddenly collapse on the turret's roof.

Luckily, she wasn't radiating the coldness that unnerved him so much and would've shocked even Shiho, if she came to look at the match, and he smiled at her looking so innocent and peaceful, a sight that was denied to him for almost six years by now.

"And we should train more, so she won't snap like she did today," Traf added the obvious, getting groans from the others sans Tsuneo, who gave him a nod, and Miho. After all, they still didn't know if their enemy would be Saunders or Jatkosota. And if they get to the Finals… who knows if they'll face St. Gloriana, Pravda, KMM or maybe even Gregor with their new tanks, he thought and looked at the early evening sky.

"The next round is about three weeks away, instead of the usual two," he muttered and smiled, knowing that Renta made it like that, so the possible representation of Japan would have enough rest and time for training until the International tournament.

A/n:

Hey guys! Sorry for this extra late update, but school has kept me busy.

Also, I made a little cameo of AAHW's story Dust Devils: A Girls und Panzer story in this chapter and certain characters might show up a bit later. If you like underdog Oarai-esque stories, this fic is for you.

See ya later!