Blazepanzer here, and I'd like to start out by thanking everyone who took the time to read, follow, and or give favorited my story! And also...I really wanted to correct the previous chapters of this fic before uploading chapter nine, but I've been quite busy and haven't gotten around to finishing that yet, and so I've decided to go on ahead and public this chapter first since I've had it waiting in the wings all this time.
With that said, enjoy! Note that Blazepanzer does not own Girls und Panzer
Gazing at her bound wrist, Taeko let out a small quiet sigh as she flexed her fingers, waiting for the unlatching of her wrist. I hate this...she muttered to herself. And I have five years of this? She asked herself quietly.
Glancing up as the lights brightened to their second stage, she let out a small sigh as she lifted up her wrist right as they were unbound. She quickly used the restroom and grabbed a drink before sitting down on her bunk, staring out of the barred doors as she waited for the guard.
It was a routine she was pretty much forced into. She'd rise, use the restroom and nab a drink if she wasn't first in line, and have her hair brushed before being brought into her and Miho's cell. They didn't talk much, which was somewhat fine with them. She was nowhere near ready to befriend Miho let alone forgive her and apparently the former Kuromorimine Vice Heiress knew and respected it.
Of course today was not a normal day. As soon as the guard finished brushing her hair, she was handcuffed and escorted to the locker room where she changed into the Blue Division Spare Uniform.
As soon as she had, she was placed in transport chains and escorted out of the third strike section to the Spare Squadron general section of the prison. Snuffling in line, she was placed next to Saori.
"Are...you handling things alright?" Taeko whispered quietly to Saori.
Saori let out a nod. "I hate this, but honestly prison is simultaneously not as bad and worse than I thought it would be if that makes any sense," she whispered. "What about you?" she added.
"I'm...managing," Taeko sighed. "Day-celling with Miho is...complicated."
"I can imagine. I find it hard to reconcile the Miho I knew as a friend to the Miho who's actions lead to us being here,"Saori sympathized.
Asuga fell in beside her, with Ayumi falling in shortly thereafter, Hanoashi beside her. The Irish girl shared a quiet word with the one strike, who let out a small sigh followed by a quiet smile. She was her original commander, Taeko reminded herself. Of course seeing each other in prison like this is going to be complicated for them.
"Alright girls, I'm sure that you are aware, but today and tomorrow we will be having a practice match against Pravda and Sanders," El commanded from the podium, shrouded by two of the guards. "The Spare Squadrons along with the rest of the bad companies are to fight against the joint junior teams, and at the end the Ooarai students outside of Hanoashi and those on the Anteater and Leopon teams will remain behind briefly to give an apology for their illegal cell phone usage during the Nationals. The next day the main teams from the six schools will have a friendly match. Not fair for you lot to get all the fun, right?"
Taeko sat in silence as she quietly studied El. She hadn't seen much of the commander, only getting a glance at the girl briefly twice. I wonder how things would have been had I gone to Blue Division from the beginning. Would I have been a good fit for the school...how would I have reacted to the spare squadrons? I mean sure, I am a member of said squadron now, but there is a difference between working with prisoners and being one of those prisoners...
"Alright girls, that's all for now, let's get going!" El commanded, before leaving the room.
Stifling a sigh, Taeko waited for her turn to be escorted by the guards, Struggling not to flinch as the guard grasped her arm and escorted her to the transport van. Daring to enter, she was pleasantly surprised to be nestled between Kelly and Alice. Of course she felt guilty about Kelly having to serve time, but from what she understood the blond would have been in a worse condition had she been discovered before her uncle began his investigation.
"Been a while huh Taeko," Kelly smirked.
"Um...yeah," Taeko smiled politely.
"Thanks for finding us, had we remained on the run much longer...who knows where we'd end up," Kelly added quietly.
"No problem...I still feel a bit guilty about causing Hanoashi such pain though...given how she freaked out when the handcuffs were shackled to her wrist," Taeko sighed.
"Yeah, she's always been adverse to the whole bondage thing. Unlike me and Rikona, albeit I only discovered that I liked it once I had been arrested," Kelly shrugged.
"How can one like bondage anyways? I really don't get it," Taeko half gagged, half whispered.
"Meh, it's feeling of restriction if you will. The surge you get when you realize that you can't move your arms and or legs like normal. Of course it's always a good idea if you can get out on your own, but well this is prison and that's not going to happen."
"I guess I can understand that in a way...I'm not feeling it myself though," Taeko conceded.
"To each their own I guess," Kelly shrugged.
Hanoashi let out a sigh as she was strapped in, frowning as her legs were bound in a strap. "Gotta make sure you don't run Missy," the guard smirked, rubbing her leg briefly before exiting the vehicle.
"Fair's fair, but you didn't have to do that last part..." Hanoashi muttered, sneaking in a glare as he left. Moving her legs briefly, she felt an odd sensation go through her. Do not tell me...she groaned in horror as she realized that she was getting turned on by her legs being bound. Hm...Maus damn you Rikona, she muttered to herself.
Sadly her cousin and sister in law were on the first bus while she was on the second bus. Glancing around, she knew a few of the girls by name at least, but not many and none within talking distance.
"Why are your legs bound up like that?" the brunet in front of her asked.
"When I was first arrested, the officer just tackled me to the ground. Didn't announce himself as an officer or that I was under arrest, so I defended myself and broke away from him. Part of the reason why I'm here is because of that, and since they fear that I'm going to go on the run..."
"They bound up your legs..." the girl next to her guessed.
"Ri...right." Hanoashi gazed downward. "Officially I'm on assault on an officer, evading arrest, and fugitivey, but I asked for the full sentence of five years."
"Wh...why would you do that!" The girl in front of her asked.
"Because...all them girls from Ooarai, they wouldn't be here had I managed to convince them that they were being too reckless. Their instructor, Ami...she..." Delving into the conversation, she ended with a sigh. "So that's why I was being arrested in the first place and why I asked for the entirety of the punishment."
"That's rough, but a similar thing happened to several other girls, over there," The brunet beside her nodded toward the front. "Oh...my name's Lumi, and before you say it, yes I look like the protagonist from Pokemon Leaf Green and Fire Red."
Name's Haruna," the brunet in front of her sighed. "Lumi and I were...well we're in a bit of a complicated situation if you will. And yes, people say that I look like a lot like a sharper version of Reimu Hakrui from project Touhou with brown hair and eyes, so me and Lumi share that problem as well."
Technically we're one strikes and held in the cell, but we're not under arrest per-say. More of a citizenship deal," Lumi explained.
"No records and no way of identifying ourselves, so two years as a one strike in exchange for citizenship," Haruna added. "Albeit we've been in a juvenile system for about a year already, so it's more like one year now."
"I've still got five years," Hanoashi sighed. "Still, you seem to be in good spirits," she added.
"Lumi's been a good friend to me, and the first strike pens aren't all that bad. I'm guessing the third strikes are worse?" Haruna gazed at her shoulder patch.
"They are," Hanoashi shuddered. "During the day when we're not in practice or exercising, our wrist are cuffed to the table, just giving us enough room to edge toward the toilet behind us or operate our table, which is...well it's kind of an electronic E-reader, but the screen quality is terrible, and the book selection is limited. At least we have a cell mate we can talk to, but even then it can get boring. And at night...our wrist and ankles are strapped into the bed, which is basically an overqualified mat with a built in pillow."
"That does sound terrible," Lumi shuddered. "I'd hate to be strapped into the bed like that."
"Oddly enough I'd like to try it," Haruna whispered.
"You...are crazy," Lumi muttered.
"That's nothing compared to the attire. We have to wear a see-through rain coat during the day and night. We get a one piece bathing suit in the Blue division uniform coloration for the exercise, and we only get the spare squadron uniform when were in a match or got visitors."
"So you're naked?" Lumi gasped.
"It does cover the private areas, but nothing else, so it's almost as bad as going out in your undies," Hanoashi let out a gusty sigh. "Doesn't feel all that good on the skin as well," she added. "Doesn't cause chafe damage, but it certainly feels like it should."
"I'd hate to be a third strike then," Haruna sighed. "I like showing skin and feeling the breeze and sun on my arms."
"Yeah, and that does sound uncomfortable," Lumi paused, gazing at her gently. "Do...you have a mandate?" she asked.
Hanoashi shook her head. "No, I just have the first two months as a third strike and then the rest at a two strike, no mandate."
"So you might get to the one strike level like us before it's over," Lumi smiled.
"It'd be nice," Hanoashi nodded. If only Rikona could get her mandate dropped as well...she groaned silently.
Stepping out of the transport van, Hanoashi gazed around, observing the united bad company squadrons as they were lumped together. In addition to the thirty Ooarai Sensado team members, including herself and excluding the student council team, there had to be at least a hundred girls here. I'm guessing that this is just a small number of the girls in the juvenile system...and here I assumed that Japanese girls were supposed to be so much well mannered than this, not that I have room to speak.
"Hanoashi!"
"Riko-san!" Hanoashi smiled, walking up to the girl. "So they sent you to...what happened to your hands!" she gasped, noticing how the girl's hands were blistered.
"Digging holes," the former Stug Commander sighed. "We have to dig a hole five foot deep and wide, like the book Diggers...or Holes."
"That must be pretty hard," Hanoashi sympathized. "I mean I've helped dig up a water line a time or two, but that was just a one day affair, not everyday."
"You mentioned that you used to be a hard worker," Riko smiled. "But you're a three strike? I've heard that was pretty hard."
"In some ways you have it harder," Hanoashi gazed at Riko's hands. "As for us three strikes...well...we go to our day-cell, sit with our wrist cuffed..." she went on explaining about the whole affair.
"We sleep and live in a three acre cage or the greens do. Us oranges sleep in regular prison cells," Riko shrugged. "Not too sure if I'd switch places though."
"Yeah, both have it hard. At least I only have two months as a third strike before I rank down and no mandate," Hanoashi smiled.
"Mandate?" Riko asked.
Hanoashi nodded. "Having a mandate means that you cannot rank down from that point." She gazed down. "My cousins all have a mandate on their third strike status," she added with a whisper.
"Cousins?" Riko asked. "You mean Rikona..." she added with a whisper.
"Yeah," Hanoashi whispered.
"Dang...I'm sorry," Riko whispered.
"It could have been worse from what I've seen and heard," Hanoashi noted softly.
"Hanoashi?"
The Irish-dutch girl froze as she recognized Hana's voice.
"I...just wanted to apologize for what I said at the juvenile center," the girl bowed, or tried to which was hard to do in transport chains.
"No no, it's alright Hana, I understand," Hanoashi urged.
"It took me a bit to...I don't know how to put it...come around to seeing what you were trying to do. With Miho being my friend, and the fact that the student council tried to force her into Sensado at the expense of being expelled..." Hana paused, clearly flustered. "That and the way I was brought up I kinda found it hard that someone like Ami would actually try to frame someone like that..."
"Miho was forced into it?" Hanaoshi asked, bewildered for a brief second before shaking her head. "That doesn't excuse her recklessness. If I recall correctly you were knocked out during that match, right?"
"Yes, I was. I think we all wish we'd listen to your warning back then," Hana sighed.
"Are you managing things alright Hana?" Hanoashi dared to ask, noticing that her hands were blistered much like Riko's.
"Mmm, being elected head of the camp green, or the girls in the cage if you will, is tough,"Hana admitted thoughtfully. "But I'd adjusting. The worst is all the gawkers though."
"Gawkers?" Hanoashi asked.
"People who watch those who are living in the cage," Riko sighed. "It's almost like they are a public spectacle or something," she added bitterly.
"We pretty much are," Hana sighed.
A third girl walked up. "You're Hanoashi, right?" the girl asked quietly.
"Yes. I'm guessing Yukari?"
"Yeah, my brother often mentioned you in his letters, but it's the first time I've met you...I'm sorry,"Yukari suddenly bowed. "You tried to warn us and..."
"It's alright," Hanoashi reassured her. "Miho and the Ducks aside from Taeko might have been reckless, but you didn't mean for that to happen. If anything I'm more upset at myself for not trying harder to warn you, and perhaps I should not have spoken up in that way."
"No, we needed to hear it then and there," Hana gazed down. "And not all of us are in prison just because of the Maus incident."
"Yeah, I've got two years as a camp orange for reckless firing on a tank in distress and operating a tank too close to hull break," Riko noted.
"I got two counts of trespassing," Yukari added.
"Trespassing?" Hanoashi gazed at her in confusion.
"Yeah...I...kinda spied on Sanders and Anzio without telling their heads that I was going to do so. I should have read up on the rules, so I deserve it," Yukari sighed.
"You did spy on them, not kinda spy on them," Hana deadpanned. "I on the other hand was going to just get two years in the 444 th for forgery, but I requested to go to the Koala forest program in exchanged for more time." She glanced down in guilt. "Kinda regretting that now."
"I noticed that you and Riko wear different uniforms...and forgery?" Hanoashi tipped her head. "Wait...don't tell me that you forged your mother's signature to join Sensado!?" she gasped after a brief pause.
"Yeah...mother was furious when she found out about me joining Sensado, but was coming around to it. Now...she's disowned me and went as far to charge me for the crime herself."
"I'm the only girl so far that the Ministry of Education has charged," Yukari admitted. "At least from Ooarai that is..."
"I see..." Hanoashi mused, but before she could respond the call to the tanks was called.
Taeko was searching for her former teammates, managing to find Noriko. "Hey..." she whispered.
"Tae..." Noriko whispered. "I'm...sorry," she added.
"No...I should be sorry," Taeko whispered. "Had I been able to recognize the exact danger just a bit sooner..."
"No...I should have seen it from the start," Noriko sighed. "Hanoashi was right, we needed to go through the safety rules before we even set foot inside the tanks again. To be honest I'm surprised no one was killed sooner looking back at things."
"We all wished that we had listened to her," Taeko noted.
"Hey, at least you didn't get life like me and the others," Noriko smiled.
"It's...not fair though," Taeko sighed.
"Just try to live for me and the others, alright?" Noriko asked.
"I'll do my best. Hopefully they'll let you and the others out at some point," Taeko mused hopefully.
To her utter shock Noriko shook her head. "No...I don't want out Taeko."
"Wh...why not?" Taeko gasped, gazing at her like she lost her mind.
"Taeko, I killed nine people. Sure, it was Miho's orders, but it was my responsibility to interject if they were too dangerous or immoral to carry out. Plus my gunner fired into the Maus. I...I couldn't sleep with myself if I was given that mercy."
Noriko gazed down, growing sad. "Plus...my name has been plastered all over the news. You'd have a chance all things considered...but me and the other ducks...we'd probably be killed once we're let out. Prison might suck, but we're safe, or at least safer than the outside world."
"But..." Taeko paused, unsure of what to say.
"I'll be fine," Noriko smiled at her. "I just want you to live your life to the fullest. Find something you enjoy doing for a living, or find that someone special to settle down with, just live life to the fullest, alright?"
"I'm...already married," Taeko confessed.
"That's good," Noriko smiled. "May I ask whom to?"
"N...Nova Katoni...Hanoashi's brother. He and I dated back when I lived in California for a year and a half and he moved back to Japan shortly before our arrest. Would have waited until I got out, but then my parent's disowned me and..."
"He sounds like a good guy," Noriko smiled. "I'm happy for you Taeko, I can rest easy now knowing that you'll be alright."
"Thanks," Taeko whispered.
"Alright girls, it's time to mount up!" one of the officers shouted.
"I guess that I'll see you another time?"Taeko asked.
"Yeah, hopefully soon," Noriko turned to leave.
"You growing your hair out?" Taeko asked in surprise, noticing that Taeko's hair was already starting to grow longer than she usually allowed it.
"There's no point in keeping it short anymore," Noriko shrugged.
Watching the girl walk off, Taeko let out a quiet sigh as she walked over to her tank, shuddering at the Soviet behemoth, or at least according to her perception.
Hanoashi sighed as her wrist and legs where unchained, and she did a walk around of the tank, thoroughly inspecting it. "Everything seems great," she gave the officer a polite nod, before climbing into the tank.
"Who's leading?" Rikona asked from her gunnery station.
"Hana is the united team commander, with Koyomi in the vice commander role. Moyoko is deputy commander, and I am junior commander, funnily enough," Hanoashi noted.
"Junior commander?" Kelly asked.
"It's usually only used during compound matches such as this, or practice matches in larger teams," Hanoashi shrugged. "Dead end position if you will, but a prestigious one in name only. No real authority unless tapped for it."
"Tapped?" Maria glanced upward.
"In other words if this was our fixed team setup, I'd just be a regular tank commander unless and until told the position was in affect, in which I'd have some limited command authority depending on how the big three wished to use me," Hanoashi explained further. "If it's a practice match between ourselves for example, I might be tapped as the vice commander for one of the sides during the match only, or if we're having a larger than normal match, I'd be counted as a higher rank as they were taken out. Say the deputy commander was taken out, I'd move up for that during the match and so forth."
She paused briefly. "In rare cases I'm authorized to help out with paper work if one of the big three are sick or injured, but beyond that case I'd still be without authority. Not eligible for becoming the Deputy commander since most Junior commanders are third years and you want a second year as your deputy commander."
"But that doesn't apply to us spares," Rikona sighed.
"No, they'd never let us become one since we're tied to the Blue Division Squadron, who'd elect one of their own if they felt like they needed one."
"This is your TWSCO, everyone is in their tank, and we are ready to begin the unlocking procedure. Please be aware that any exiting of the vehicle outside of an emergency will result in you going into a full prison and with a record."
Of course...this certainly feels like a real prison, but at least we get a clean record at the end of it all, Hanoashi noted.
"Alright, your engines are unlocked. Please head to your respective starting positions. Your gun breaches will be unlocked at the start of the match."
"Wakayama Proving grounds..." Hanoashi mused as she handed her map to Kelly. They had to make a few changes, as Rikona proved a bit too tall to load the 75mm gun despite trying and Mina had been too easily overwhelmed to man the radio during a lot of chatter. It had been finalized on the fly a few days back.
"Seems mountainous," Kelly glanced up at her.
"We're only allowed to have matches on the big six from now on," Hanoashi shrugged. "All the medium and smaller fields not attached directly as a land school's practice grounds were barred off for national championships and the schools are now restricted to a max of sixteen tank matches outside of these areas. Really putting a damper on singles tournament as well."
"I'm sorry, that was because of us wasn't it?" Maria sighed.
"Not all of you were responsible for that incident," Hanoashi soothed.
"Kinda feels like it though," Maria grunted. "I mean I know that us in the Automotive club followed the Hetzer mod kit instructions to the letter with no alterations and yet..."
"It doesn't matter one iota if you followed the instructions or not, the Hetzer could not withstand that much weight. And Maria..." Hanoashi paused, her voice softening up a bit. "I know you didn't have anything to do with the decisions or actions of Miho or the ducks. It's...not fair that you are here."
"Same with you Hanoashi," Maria croaked out, growing sad. "You should have fought your illegal arrest charge."
"Perhaps there's a small part of me that agrees, but my responsibility as the second most experienced team member was to warn the team if they were doing something dangerous. I did, but I failed to convince the other girls, and as a result I want to serve the five years."
"But we don't want you to," Rikona gazed at her intently. "I mean I'm grateful to have your company in the day cell, but seeing you in prison like this...it hurts..." she added, her light green eyes tearing up a bit.
"I...understand...I'm sorry that my insistence on serving five years hurts you and the other girls who feel that way. But...I'm not changing my mind," Hanoashi insisted quietly. "Besides, even if I could, it wouldn't be fair to the other girls since they can't," she added.
Arriving at the starting positions, Hanoashi let out a small sigh as the guns were unlocked and the match start flare was lit.
"All units, Panzer Vor!" Hana called, only for a chorus of radio chatter to erupt from the other Ooarai girls.
"Please don't use that phrase!" Saori gasped.
"Yeah, it reminds us too much of Miho." another girl called.
"Really..." Hanoashi muttered, sighing. "That was Miho's catch phrase?"
"So what should we use?" Taeko asked over the radio.
"Let's a go?" Hanoashi suggested, trying to be funny.
"That's even worse sis," Taeko deadpanned. "Not your fault since you didn't know, but that was Momo's catchphrase."
"Momo...oh...oh my gosh I'm so sorry!" Hanoashi shut her eyes in shame. "I...I didn't know..."
"It's alright," Ayumi soothed. "There's no way you could have known."
"Maybe Go Ahead?" Kelly suggested.
"Do not let Kay hear you, she'll have your head!" Ayumi shuddered.
"Kay?" Hanoashi tipped her head.
"Sander's team commander. Was our friend until she discovered that we used cell phones during our match with them," Saori explained.
"Ah...right. I understand her anger then, but still..." Hanoashi let out a small sigh.
"Yeah..." Saori sighed. "Kinda regret coming here," she added.
"Why did you?" Hanoashi asked.
"Honestly...it was two years of community service or this. Which sounds like a no brainier except that...well...everyone hates us," Saori sighed.
"Well no duh...no offense but we did get nine girls killed," Taeko spat. "We deserve to be hated.
"Taeko?" Hanoashi called out.
"Sorry, just upset is all," Taeko called out. "We should have listened to you," she added.
Hanoashi turned her mike on standby and ducked in. "Rikona?" she asked gently.
"Yeah?" Rikona leaned up.
"I really wish they'd stop that. I know they wished they had listened to me, and them consistently repeating it, well it's getting really annoying," she deadpanned quietly. "And it's not really me that they need to apologize to, it's the girls they killed and their friends, family and teammates."
"I'd bet that gets annoying...I can get Antony to tell the others to calm it down a bit if you'd like, Not that it's going to stop the other schools, but..." Rikona whispered back.
"N..not necessary...but if he could let me speak to the other 444 Ooarai girls privately..."Hanoashi stammered, before nodding. "I'll let you handle that," she added, before rising up to the commander's position and turning her radio to active. "Just asking the others a few questions," she noted. "So, orders Hana?" she asked.
"Take Taeko, Saori, and Yukari, scout around area 5-B-12," Hana ordered. "Those three are under your direct command until further orders."
"Understood," Hanoashi noted, calling the girls to her over the radio. "Alright, we'll be heading to Area 5-B-12. 800 meter spread."
"Rodger that!" Taeko chirped, relaying the order to her driver. "Going to be a bit hard gauging the exact distance though..." she muttered under her breath.
She thought that she was doing good until Hanoashi came back on the radio. "Taeko, you're at 1600 meters and I can barely see you, please reduce your distance by half," she added.
"Understood," Taeko began, but before she could move she heard a shot and ducked into the tank. "Enemy tanks at 4 oclock!" she commanded.
"Not surprising considering they're allowed to make full use of their Radio Intercept Balloon," Hanoashi deadpanned. "I really don't get what happened, but try and take out their tanks, and regourp," she added.
"Wait wasn't that cheating?" Taeko gasped.
"Why would using one be cheating?" Hanoashi deadpanned. "The male and co-ed leagues used them in their AWACs wars all the time, and there's nothing in the girl's rulebook forbidding it. Not to mention that it'd be obvious to discover and counter if you know what to look for...wait..."
Taeko held her breath as her sister in law put the peaces together. "Yeah...that was why we used cell phones during the Sander's match," she admitted quietly.
"Stupid decision, but it was far from Ooarai's worst," Hanoashi muttered angrily.
And we've disappointed her again! Taeko wailed, but then mentally slapped herself. Focus on the match! She scolded herself sharply. "Fusae, fire when ready!"
"Right commander!"
"BT-7 is out!" Saori announced. "Not sure if I or Taeko took that one out though," she added.
"Doesn't matter when we still have enemy tanks," Hanoashi grunted, observing the field as the T-26 pressed forward while the BT tanks circled around and fled. "Either they've underestimated us or they've found a more appealing target," she noted. "Kelly, get me on the line with Hana," she added.
"Yes commander," Kelly smiled, getting the temporarily team commander on the line.
"We've got T-26 tanks bearing down on us and BT tanks retreating from our position. So far we've taken out two T-26 tanks and a BT-7 tank," she reported.
"Understood," Hana noted.
"We haven't located any of Sander's junior team, just a heads up," Hanoashi added.
"Neither have we. It's possible that they are waiting in the background and letting Pravda take the fall."
"Doesn't sound something like Kaytusha would do," Hanoashi noted.
"You know her?" Hana asked surprised.
"Something like that," Hanoashi sighed. "If you get a chance tell her that I said Hi, alright?"
"Alright...don't know she'll appreciate it though," Hana noted doubtfully...
"Right, I'm going to focus on these T-26 tanks now..."
"You need reinforcements?" Hana asked.
"Won't do any good if they get intercepted on the way here," Hanaosi grunted.
"Right, good hunting," Hana hung up.
Sighing, Hanoashi sighed as Saori's tank was taken out, but they had managed to take out another two T-26 tanks. "All tanks, fighting retreat!" she ordered.
"Fighting retreat?" Taeko asked. "You sure?"
"Yeah, it'll help us avoid taking hits," Hanoashi noted as her 75 gun fired a smoke shell. "Now!" she shouted, her tanks rearing backwards at Maria's excellent driving.
They kept it up, eventually driving the T-26 tanks back. "Casualtys?" Hanoashi barked.
"We're good over here," Taeko noted. "Saori is out though." she added.
"Yukari here, we're all good, lost quite a few pieces of the Schurzen though," her sister in law reported.
"Right, nothing we can do about that now," Hanoashi noted.
"Hana to Hanoashi, you and Yukari are to return to our position, Taeko will continue scouting alone."
She had to fight down the urge to protest. "Understood..." She gazed over to the T-26 tank. "I'm sorry Taeko," she whispered.
"I understand, we are deigned to be cannon fodder after all," Taeko croaked over the radio, and Hanoashi's heart shank as she could imagine her sister in law's amber eyes shutting in pain. "It's not your fault. Orders are orders," Taeko added.
"It's never an easy order, to give or receive," Hanoashi sighed. "Yukari, let's go," she added, shutting her eyes as her tank whipped around. She didn't dare open them for a full minute.
Taeko sighed as she gazed at her crew. "As long as we don't get too close, we should be able to somewhat blend in until we make radio contact," she deduced.
"Then why not avoid radio contact?" Fusae suggested.
"What's the point of being a scout if we don't relay information?" Asuga shot back at her cousin.
"Asuga is right," Taeko sighed. "Move forward, into the trees," she added.
"I can't believe that she is being so cold...and she's supposed to be our cousin," Fusae muttered.
"First of all, it was Hana's order, not Hanoashi's, she's not the one being cold here. And secondly, we're in a prison outfit in case you've forgotten. This is our lot in life, at least for our sentence." Taeko chided. "But...it does hurt a little that she didn't try to counter the order," she admitted quietly, gazing down. "Still, if I was the commander of the Lee and she was our tank's commander, I'm sure she'd expect me to do the same, even if I hate the idea of leaving her behind like this."
"That's what makes being a commander so tough. I had to see my old commander make many hard calls like this," Asuga sighed.
Arriving in the trees, Taeko cautiously raised her head over, gasping as she saw four BT-tanks surrounding her. Thankfully they didn't fire until she had ducked her head into the tank, but the sting of being caught so carelessly stung in her eyes.
Hanoashi sighed as she heard Taeko's report right as they joined up with Hana. "Not sure if we were followed, but they are defiantly good on the coms," she noted.
"Yeah, and their firepower outnumbers ours. Sander's brought their Shermans," Hana sighed.
"Didn't stop you at Ooarai," Hanoashi dared to prod.
"Miho was much more of a factor than I'd like looking back on it. Helping her win was too advantageous for the other schools at the time, not to mention that having a Nishisumi would be a good physiological factor." Hana muttered.
"Helping...her win?" Hanoashi asked.
"Sanders only going five on five with us because Kay thought that Arisa's Radio intercept Balloon was at least unfair if not outright cheating, Anzio putting out eleven of their tank billboards when you can only have ten in a match, and Pravda not only giving us a two hour wait but also only guarding their flag tank with only a KV-2..." Hana broke off, sighing. "The more I keep thinking about it the more I start to believe that this whole finals business was just one big publicity stunt for the Sensado Federation."
"You could be on to something, but Kaytusha wouldn't knowing involve herself in such a thing. Perhaps she got a bit cocky, sure, but she wouldn't deliberately join in such antics. Sanders...not too sure but if a commander could just conveniently miss the large blimb that the Radio Intercept Ballon uses, then maybe." Hanoashi let out a tired sigh. "Anzio...Maus only knows how far they'd go for money."
"Their school was underfunded, right?" Hana recalled.
Hanoashi let out a mocking laugh. "Hana their school was supposed to be well funded comparatively speaking."
"Was...did something happen?" Hana gasped.
"You bet it did. You see...Anzio was founded right around the time that the Co-ed leagues were reforming. The girl's schools and their supporters tended to be outright against the idea or at least very quiet about the idea. Anzio wasn't, actively supporting the Co-ed leagues dispute being a girl's school."
"And they isolated a lot of their support?" Hana guessed.
"Twice. Once they started receiving backlash, they reverted their position, saying that boys had no place in Sensado. However, now the more quieter schools and girl's league supporters started calling them out as cowards for backpedaling so easily, and both the boys and co-ed schools and supporters started calling them traitors. They lost nearly four-fifths of their funding because of it."
"Ouch...not that I blame the others but that's a lot of support they lost," Hana sighed. "No wonder they have to work so much."
"People still condemn them to this day over it. I'll give them one thing, the students are motivated for sure, or at least according to what I've heard, but even that can only take them so far," Hanoashi paused and sighed.
"Enemy coming!"
"Rikona, prepare for area defense! Mina, fire when you can!" Hanoashi shouted as a wave of T-50's, Early T-34's, Shermans, and Chaffies. As they began to exchange fire, her green eyes widened in shock at all of the shots being exchanged.
I've only been in at most twelve on twelve battles and that was rare, with most of my battles being ten vs ten. But this is...She broke off her thoughts as imagines of what she assumed the Maus incident would have looked like entered her mind.
"Hanoashi...Cousin!" Rikona began shaking her.
"Huh?" Hanoashi gasped, realizing that she had frozen up, shaking. "Thanks cousin...I...I've never been in a battle like this before," she stammered, before looking out of her vision slots. "Mina, there's a T-50 being cocky, fire on it. Rikona, that M4 is retreating, see if you can get it."
"S...sure," Rikona smiled, quickly grabbing the trigger and aiming a shot at the M4, taking it out.
Mina was also successful in her mission, a quiet smile forming on her face. "I did it," she smiled.
"Great work, but they are still incoming!" Hanoashi urged.
"Fire on the Chaffie?" Rikona asked.
"Granted, no need to ask for permission if you see one in an opportune position!" Hanoashi noted.
Taking a small break from picking targets, she glanced around, seeing their numbers dwindling. This is chaotic, and we're surrounded. Don't know if the other scout teams made it, but...
Taeko let out a small sigh as she watched the match from the bad company squadron area, a small build which was heavily guarded. She herself was chained to a chair...or rather just her legs were. As a small consolation, she had been given a cal-cake and a small lemonade, which she ate gratefully dispute the bland taste of the cal-cake.
I hope that sis isn't feeling too guilty about having to leave me behind like that, Taeko hoped as she watched the main team getting whipped out. That's their intention, isn't it? She realized. Show us cheaters who's really top dog?
It didn't take too long for Pravda-Sanders compound team to finish off the spare squadrons, then again there wasn't much you could do when a fair amount of your machines were just machine guns and auto-cannons. She glanced over as an officer undid her legs from the chairs and placed her in transport chains, before guiding her to the other girls.
"Hey Tae," the girl behind her whispered.
"Shinobu?" Taeko whispered quietly.
"Yeah, I got sent to the Bonple academy," she admitted. "Bloody sims," she cursed.
"Who's Sim?" Taeko asked.
"Not who, it. Simulations, that's Bonple's bad company Schick if you will," Shinobu shrugged. "Basically every month we spend our school day in a different simulation. This month is dungeon" she added.
"That sounds like torture!"Taeko gasped.
"You don't fell much really, given how imperfect it is," Shinobu shrugged. "But it does take a small nuclear reactor to power, twos actually. One to power the server and another to power the helmets. We've taken to calling it SAO class simulations given it's similarity to the Sword art online anime, but no risk of death."
"So do you know what's next after the dungeon simulation?" Taeko asked quietly.
"School life, but with a twist," Shinhobu shrugged. "Supposed to be a break, but the catch is weird."
"Like what?" Taeko asked.
"Well the first students had to deal with a vibrator attached to their vag and breast. Very annoying and embarrassing the first few days, but you learn to deal with it, or so they say."
"That sounds a bit too sexual for a prison outfit, especially for juveniles," Taeko almost crossed her arms in concern, but her chained wrist prevented that."
"Oh that's rich coming from miss my xxxx sized brest are half hanging out of my shirt," Shinobu fired back playfully.
"Come on," Taeko whined. It's nice that dispute our situation we can still joke like normal high schoolers from time to time, she reflected.
She then noticed that Hanoashi was walking past, her green eyes darker than usual. Well...they were a dark green, but still. The girl held her head down, barely casting her a sad glance.
"Did something happen?" Shinobu asked quietly.
"She was forced to leave me behind via orders and feels guilty about it. I'll have to cheer her up when we get back," Taeko shrugged.
"She a friend of yours?" Shinobu asked quietly.
"Sister in law," Taeko smiled gently.
"I'm glad," Shinobu smiled in return. "Wish I could get out though..."
"Oh...I'm so sorry,"Taeko gasped, trying to cover her mouth but yet again the chain prevented her.
"Don't be Tae, I'm just glad that you'll get to live in the real world. How long..."
"Five years, then I'll get a release. And no mandate, so I can rank down," Taeko admitted quietly.
"That's a long time. You'll be what...almost 22 when you get out?"
"21,"Taeko noted.
"Alright girls, let's get a move on," The officer noted as the girls walked single file, armed guards shrouding them in case any of them had any ideas.
They where almost there when Hoshino tried to run, but thought better of it. One of the guards went over, thudded her on the shoulder, and growled, "You'd better not even think of it Missy."
At least I don't run! Taeko smirked, completely forgotten that she almost had an officer fire on her when she was first arrested for running.
"Wipe that smirk off your face!"
"Y...yes sir, I'm sorry," Taeko suddenly bowed her head in shame.
"You'd better be murderer."
Taeko wasn't sure which of the girls said it, but she had to fight off a sob. As much as it hurts, that's pretty much what I am, she noted to herself quietly, still unable to get the picture of Yuzu's mangled body out of her mind.
Before long the girls where lined up, and the commanders of the Pravda and Sander teams presented themselves. They have like what...over sixty teams each!? Taeko gasped.
"Girls, bow and apologize."
"We're sorry for cheating!" the girls chorused, Taeko joining among them.
"Radio operators, step forward!"
Taeko, Saori, Yukki, and Erwin stepped forward.
"Apologize to Sanders!" the guard shouted.
"We're sorry for using our cell phones to bypass the Radio Intersect Balloon," Taeko began the chorus, the other girls following.
"I'll admit even to this day that the use of the RIB was unfair given our power disparity, but how do we know you just used your cell phones for bypassing our equipment?" Kay counter, before glaring at her. "It's suspicious how easily you found Arisa," she added suspiciously.
Taeko let out a nod. "I understand how you might think that. And they're nothing we can say to prove that we didn't do what you're insinuating other than give our word."
"May I know your name?" Kay asked.
"Taeko Katoni, Ma'am," Taeko glanced down. I'd rather not tarnish the Katoni name like this, but taking responsibility is the key characteristic of the Katoni family and I will live by it!
"Katoni...you don't look Irish-dutch," Kaytusha challenged.
"I...married Hanoashi's brother, Nova," Taeko explained.
"Where is Hanoashi anyways, I've been calling her for ages, but she won't pick up the phone..." Kaytusha gazed at her hopefully.
"She's...with us," Erwin croaked.
"You mean..." Kaytusha gasped.
"It's not her fault, Ami Chonno framed her for assault, and the officer tried to do an improper arrest, sending her on the run for a while," Taeko quickly defend her.
"That's not good," Kay shook her head. "Going on the run like that..."
"Well, when the officers kept yanking about the awful things they'd want to do with her when they caught her, can you blame her?" Taeko fired back softly.
"Hanoashi..." Kaytusha whispered.
"How exactly do you know her?" Erwin dared to ask.
"Oh no, I do not want that being aired out to you murderers and cheaters!" Katsusha shouted, before nodding to Kay. "May we speak with Taeko out of earshot for a moment? You can have a guard escort her..."
"Of course," the guard nodded, and Taeko soon found herself being escorted a ways from the others.
"Was Hanoashi the friend you were mentioning," Kay asked.
Kaytusha nodded, turning to Taeko. "Only because you are her sister-in law. This isn't a story I tell often," she warned.
"Of course, you're secret stays with me," Taeko promised.
"You can tell Blaze that I told you," Kaytusha noted. Anyways, when me and my siblings were born, our mother died in childbirth along with our fifth sibling. Being an only mother, we were placed up for adoption pretty quickly. I was adopted to the Inheiritership of Pravda, which wasn't all that concerned about blood and such. My two younger siblings have been lost to the records as best we can tell, but there was a forth, who insisted on calling herself Kaysusha IV."
The normally abrasive girl let out a small quiet smile. "She had an incredible memory, almost photogenic if you will. She could recall virtually every memory. Problem is she wanted to go down the motherly route, and her adopters...wanting her to be the next Einstein...didn't take too kindly to that. They threatened her, she didn't back down...and so they cut off her limbs and left her in the snow."
"They did what?! How did she survive?" Taeko gasped.
"They were real good with wound wound cauterization," Kaytusha sighed. "Anyways her adoptive parents were executed on the spot and she went with a new family, which was located in Nishmari."
"Where Hanoashi lives," Taeko guessed.
"Yes. Most kids either ignored IV or teased her, but not Blaze. First day they were assigned class was grade two, and they took to each other like it was nothing. A few months in I found out about my sister and visited them both. Ah...that was a good sleepover," Kaytusha smiled. "But what surprised me the most was Hanoashi's character. She treated us both as human beings and was very respectful of us, never judging my sister for her handicaps. She also never judged me for being short later on when I'd visit, neither babying me nor looking down on me either."
"So that's how you know each other," Taeko noted. "But why..."
"Because Blaze doesn't like to talk about that...night..." Kaystusha gazed downward. "See...We'd often sleep in the same bed considering we were young and that night the cauterization failed. There was so much blood...freaked us the both out. And the screaming..." Kaytusha shook her head to get rid of the memory.
"I understand...I can't get Yuzu's dead...mangled body out of my head...and I was in that type 89. I know it's different than what happened, but..."
"We all saw it Taeko," Kay noted.
"You...did?"
"Yeah, it took them a good three minutes to get the broadcast shut down. Certainly damaged the Sensado Federation beyond repair," Kaytusha sighed.
"We're being ruled by the co-ed academies now,"Kay added. "Their rules and judges so to speak."
"That's terrible," Taeko gasped.
"Mmm...not really," Kay shrugged. "It does make qualifications more exciting, given that the schools who don't make it to the second round have to re-qualify no matter what."
"Well...when you see Blaze again tell her that I said hi," Kaytusha smiled.
"Will do,"Taeko smiled, and the guard began to guide her away when Kay popped in.
"Taeko," she noted gently.
"Yes?" Taeko turned to gaze at her.
"You might have been involved with the cheating, but I don't think you're a bad person because of it, or that you intended any harm by it. At any rate I wish you luck with the marriage," she smiled.
"Th...thank you,"Taeko whispered as she was taken away.
Hanoashi slid into the sowers a bit disheartened that she was next to Taeko. She was still feeling guilt about the whole abandonment thing.
"You need to stop that sis,"Taeko chided gently.
"Sorry, I just..."Hanoashi paused as Taeko nodded and affirmed that she knew.
The Irish girl was lathering up when Taeko spoke up again.
"I spoke to Kaytusha," she noted softly.
"Did the apology go well?" Hanoashi asked.
"As well as it could," Taeko sighed. "But she did pull me aside and told me about your history with her," she added.
At once Hanoashi stopped in her tracks, a small tear forming in her eye. "Kaytusha IV?" she asked in a whisper, before shaking her head and continued washing.
"You miss her, don't you?" Taeko dared to whisper.
"I'd rather not talk about her...too painful," Hanoashi sighed.
"I know, Kaytusha told me it would be," Taeko sympathized.
"Yeah...she's probably right about it," Hanoashi sighed.
"How do you do it?" Taeko suddenly asked.
"Do what?" Hanoashi gazed at her inquisitively.
"Forget...or rather deal with the imagery," Taeko glanced down, and Hanoashi could tell right away that she was remembering Yuzu's body.
"You don't really ever forget it," she sighed in response. "You just try not to think about it and keep yourself distracted," she added as the water stopped and the girls all went over and placed their clear-coat's on, not speaking anymore as that night's events kept flashing before her eyes.