Chapter 72 - Loose Ends
[Japan - Second Round of Semi Finals]
(The 76mm shell buried itself deep inside the frontal armor of Tiger 237. Soon after a white flag popped up on top signaling that it has been taken out)
"Shogun Boys HIgh School's Commander Tank has been destroyed! Red Wings Academy is moving on to the Finals!" Ami Chouno announced
(Loud cheers were heard all over the stadium as the second round of the semi finals drew to a close ending in Red Wings' victory. Shiori was just standing on her tank's copla and the effects of Overwhelm were fading away. She could feel her mind and whole body ache after using the skill)
"I never thought..I'd use Overwhelm right now..I feel like my whole body is burning up..damn it.." Shiori said in her thoughts
"Commander.." a voice called out
"With the way I am right now..will I be able to defeat the White Tiger..?" again Shiori was thinking
"Commander Shiori!" the voice shouted
(Shiori snapped out of her train of thought and she saw Takayuki was in front of him)
"Takayuki-kun..what is it?"
"Is everything alright ma'am?"
"I'm fine..just got a little too worked up.."
"Otsukaresama..you have now taken us to the finals..we'll finally be able to fight Kuromorimine and have our revenge match!" Takayuki said
"That's right..all tanks return to base..good job everyone!" Shiori radioed
(As everyone else where returning to their tank garages Shiori saw Akane staring at his destroyed Tiger tank and decided to call out to him)
"Good fight.." Shiori said
"Yeah..it was a great match.."
"We really didn't expect those Panzerwerfers..that would've been bad for us if we were inside the forest.."
"Those Calliopes did the same to us! I guess both of us were thinking the same thing of choosing the open field at the start huh?"
"Yeah..I hate to admit but it was the toss coin that gave us the win.." Shiori said
"I don't think so..in the end I still lost to you fair and square..the toss coin didn't matter.."
"You're pretty calm even after a loss..such a weird person.."
"I had fun..and I know you had fun as well so it's a win-win for me.." Akane smiled
"Say whatever you want but I still won't change how I view Senshado.."
"I know and I understand..congratulations on the win! Good luck on the finals! The real White Tiger is a lot more capable than this!" Akane smiled
"Duly noted..take care White Tiger fan boy.."
[Kuromorimine Viewing Platform]
"Looks like we're facing Red Wings.." Koume said
"I guess the strongest male Senshado commander wasn't enough to topple Red Wings.." Sango said
"But he sure wrecked them up! Did you see those Panzerwerfers?! So cool!" Mauko cheered
"The Yamato Style..Jumbos and Calliopes..what a nasty lineup.." Sakuraba said
"Did you see that Shogun Tiger? The way it moved was a little similar to Gero-Taichou!" Tojo said
"I noticed that too..but what really caught my attention was FURY.." Toshi said
"Those fast reflexes and reaction times are ridiculous! It's like she could see when and where the next shot will occur and dodge it perfectly.." Rin said
"So that's the natural skill of the Yamatos..it is indeed troublesome.." Erika said
"This is the first time I've seen it in action..I didn't expect it to be this dangerous.." Alice said
"What would you do against that Alice-chan?" Erika asked
"Once it's activated I know that even I would be defeated..the only way is to destroy her tank before it activates.."
"Bakatora said the same thing.." Erika smiled
"Nii-chan did? That's weird.."
"What is?"
"Oh nothing serious..I mean I expected Nii-chan to say he would want to fight Yamato Shiori even if their natural skill activated and that he'd defeat her while it was activated..because that would've been a lot more fun and satisfying! Right?" Alice explained
"You have a point..maybe Bakatora's plan has changed since we discussed it..we'll have to ask him again when he returns.."
"Yes!" Alice smiled
"Alright! We have two weeks before the finals! Now we know who we're up against, let's all head back to the carrier and prepare! "
"Jawohl Kommandant!"
[Viewing Platform #1 for VIPs]
"Congratulations Mai-chan!" Chiyo smiled
"Thank you Chiyo-chan..looks like we'll be facing each other in the finals Shiho-chan!"
"Yeah..by the way is your daughter alright? She seemed pretty exhausted after using Overwhelm.." Shiho asked
"Well I wouldn't blame her..this is only the second time she's been able to use it.."
"You have to be joking right?!" Chiyo said
"No I'm serious..Kaede was the only one that ever trained getting used to Overwhelm.." Mai said
"May I ask why?" Shiho said
"Shiori grew up under the shadow of her older sister..she never discovered the word 'fun' in Senshado.."
(When Shiho heard the story she immediately realized that it was the same situation as MIho when she was still in Kuromorimine)
"All her life she was compared to Kaede and whenever she lost she was criticized and all the blame landed on her..eventually she gave up looking for fun in Senshado and decided that winning was all that was necessary.."
"What does that have to do with her not training her natural skill?" Chiyo asked
"When Kaede trained she fought me of course so that Overwhelm would activate..but Shiori never practiced with me or Kaede..not even once.." Mai explained
"That would explain why she looks so burnt out.." Chiyo said
"You said this was the second time..then when was the first?" Shiho asked
"When she fought your daughter Miho-chan during the Second Round of the tournament.."
"You mean all of the matches she has won up until her match against Miho-chan Overwhelm was not used?" Chiyo said
"Yes that's correct.."
"Wow..that just shows how strong your daughter is!" Chiyo smiled
"But that too is also her weakness..you should have a talk with your daughter..don't make the same mistake I did Mai.."
"I will..thank you Shiho-chan.."
[Seven Seats of Senshado Viewing Platform]
"Calliopes and Panzerwerfers..who knew that they'd come face to face right now.." Katyusha smiled
"Right? That was intense!" Kay said
"You've got to give the commander of Shogun praise! Those moves were amazing!" Asparagus said
"He's a hardcore fan boy of the White Tiger..he's been trying to imitate his moves for a long time and this is as far as he can go.." Oowada said
"I guess your brother is very popular huh Maho-san!" Anchovy said
"..."
"Maho-san?" Darjeeling called out
"Excuse me, I'll be going home first..Otsukare.." Maho said as she stood up
(Just as Maho was about to leave through the door Kaede decided to taunt her)
"What's this? Did the great Nishizumi Maho feel despair as she saw the strength of the Yamato Style?" Kaede said
"That's enough Kaede-san..now is not the time.."
"Darjeeling's right..just let her be.." Kay said
"Ha? Despair..?" Maho said
(Everyone looked towards Maho and they could see her aura just oozing out of her body. It was fierce and intense just like Gero's. Maho then looked back at Kaede and her eyes were filled with confidence and exactly just like her older brother)
"The only time I'll ever feel despair is when I won't be able to do Senshado anymore.." Maho said
(Those words struck fear into Kaede and sent chills down her spine. She couldn't answer back and she just watched Maho leave the room quietly)
[Kuromorimine Tank Garage - After Practice]
(It was not evening in Japan and Kuromorimine had just finished their afternoon practice)
"Alright great work today everyone! Rest up! Tomorrow there will be no school activities because it will be an important day for all of us..but there will be practice in the afternoon so I'll be expecting you all.." Erika announced
"Tomorrow will be Chief Matsumoto's burial right?" Sakuraba asked
"Yes that's right..so if you have the time then join us tomorrow morning..I'm sure Chief would love the company.."
(Everyone nodded in response to Erika's request)
"Thank you..after tomorrow it will be our usual training routine! We'll do some large scale movements so study up a little bit if you're still not familiar with our current formations! DISMISSED!" Erika shouted
"Otsukaresama Deshita!" everyone bowed
"Erika-san! Do you have a minute?" Koume asked
"Sure Koume..what's wrong?"
"The Iron Fangs wanted to ask something with regards to our practices for the finals.."
"What did you have in mind?" Erika asked
"To be honest Kommandant..I'd want to have as many practice games as we can with other schools.." Toshi suggested
"Me too Kommandant..experience is the best way for everyone to improve within these two weeks.." Tojo said
"What about you Alice-chan?"
"I agree with them..our normal practice routines won't be enough against those Jumbos and Calliopes..and we can't always rely on Nii-chan.." Alice said
"I understand how you feel..I too want to have a practice match..but with Chief Matsumoto gone..we have limited maintenance crewmen that can do our tank maintenance.."
"There are lots of maintenance people we can hire for that Kommandant!" Toshi said
"Have you forgotten that Chief Matsumoto personally does maintenance on your tanks?! He's the only person that can fine tune the tanks of the Iron Fangs! Not just any tank maintenance person can do what he does!" Erika shouted
"S-Sorry Kommandant..you're right.."
"If we're not careful we might end up not being able to be at our best performance in the finals..you wouldn't want that right?!"
(Everyone had grim expressions once again as they remembered Chief Matsumoto)
"I miss chief..usually at this time of hour he'd assure us that all tanks would be in tip top shape!" Alice said
"Or he would be scolding Gero-senpai and his crew for being reckless again.." Toshi said
"It's become lonely here since they're not with us right now..it somehow became quieter.." Koume said
"They'll be back alright? All we can do is wait!" Sheska said
"That's right! So let's all cheer up! They wouldn't want to see us with gloomy faces right?" Leila said
"How about this..for now we'll stick with our regular training routine..then I'll come up with something great to satisfy your desires to have practice matches..is that fine with you all?" Erika asked
"Jawohl Kommandant!"
(After all of the tankers left to take a rest, Erika found herself taking a stroll by the tank garage and gazed upon the White Tiger that was yet to be maintained. It still had destroyed tracks and the gun barrel was gone)
"Just wait a little bit more..your crew will come back for you soon.." Erika told the tank
(Erika then looked at her watch and thought of Gero and wondered where he was and how he was. Little did she know that Gero was now entering one the correctional facilities in Germany)
[Stammheim Prison - Stuttgart, Germany]
(While it was night time in Japan it was only lunch time in Germany. After Gero and his team ate lunch they headed straight for the prison to confront the prisoner with the tattoo)
"Welcome to Stammheim Prison!" the Prison Guard said
"Is this really a prison? It looks more like an apartment complex!" Takashi said
"Yes it does look like that! This facility was designed to be a rehabilitative-centered type of facility! This place focuses on helping the inmates better themselves!" Alonso said
"It's way different than how they do things in America huh..?" Naomi said
"Guten Tag! My name is Victor and I'm in charge of this facility..I heard from Col. Alonso that you want to have a talk with one of our inmates.."
"Yes..thank you for your cooperation.."
"This way, bitte.."
(Gero and the rest now entered the facility and they walked along the cells of the inmates serving time and their rooms were clean and proper. They look more like apartment rooms than prison cells)
"Wow this place is great..you can see that the inmates are well taken care of.." Alisa said
"Their rooms are even better than mine.." Takashi was sad
"Well then would you like to try one of the rooms?" Victor joked
"Ahaha I think I'll pass but thanks for the offer though!" Takashi said
"Why not? I'm sure you'd feel at home inside one of those rooms.." Kal teased
"Shut up!" Takashi reacted
"I noticed that the inmates are wearing civilian clothes. Is that the norm here?" Assam asked
"Yes it is! They are allowed to wear their own clothing if they have them or if their families provide for them..we check everything before they are delivered to the inmates so rest assured.." Victor answered
"I didn't know such facilities existed..this is very interesting..how many inmates are currently here?" Ono asked
"There are approximately 1000 inmates in total stayin in Stammheim.."
"If you don't mind me asking how's the security here?" Klara asked
"Security is up to date and if ever an alarm goes off all the guards will know where inside the facility it was triggered..there are cameras, motion detectors, and sound detectors everywhere.."
"What about outside the facility?" Lt. Sanada asked
"The outer wall perimeter is too steep to scale, and the inner perimeter fence has a great amount of razor wire..so it's safe to say nobody in their right mind will be able to go in or out of this place.." Victor smiled
"What about visitors?" Naomi asked
"The inmates have two 60-minute visits per month..that also applies to you all I'm afraid so after this you only have one more chance to visit your friend.."
"He's nowhere near being a friend or even being an acquaintance.."
"Then what is this inmate to you?" Victor asked
"He's responsible for killing two of my men 12 years ago.."
"I do have to remind you that we do not tolerate violence inside these walls.."
"Don't worry Victor..we're just going to have a little chat.." Alonso smiled
"I do hope so Colonel.."
[Stammheim Prison Interrogation Room]
(Gero and his team now arrived at the interrogation room. The ones that entered the room were Gero, PFC Shun, Cpl. Kaito, and Lt. Sanada. While the rest watched from the one way mirror inside the next room with Alonso and Victor)
"So this is how a one way mirror looks like..it's pretty cool!" Takashi said
"It's not so cool when you're on the other side though.." Kal said
"Yeah..that's for sure.." Assam agreed
"Here comes our veteran.." Alonso said
(The door opened and a guy with short black hair went inside with cuffs on his hands and was escorted by a guard. He had a big smile on his face as he sat down while Gero had a very serious expression as he watched him the whole time. Since he was an American, Gero conversed with him in English)
"Guten tag sir! How are you?" Jonathan asked
"Swell..and you?"
"Great! So what can I do for you today?"
"Have you eaten lunch already?"
"I was about to but they said this was an urgent thing so I skipped.."
"Oh that's not good.."
(Gero then waved his hand by the door and suddenly a chef entered the room with a freshly cooked steak together with side vegetables and a beer as a set meal. The chef then set the plates down in front of Jonathan and left)
"Please eat up.."
"Woah! Are you sure?! It would be very rude if I'd be the one to be just eating here!"
"Oh don't mind us we already ate..go ahead.."
"Danke!"
(Jonathan then grabbed his plastic spork and knife and dug in on the steak and as soon as he took his first bite he felt joy)
"Mmmm~ it's been so long since I ate steak!"
"Yeah I figured..do you mind if we talk as you eat? We have only a limited amount of time.."
"Of course of course!"
"Excellent! So first of all your name is Jonathan Wright..correct?"
"Yes sir..what's this about?"
"Oh nothing..I was just wondering why life made it so that you a former US Army Ranger is now eating his favorite steak while two of my men are buried under the soil.."
(Suddenly Jonathan's face went pale as he heard Gero's words. He quickly shivered in fear as he looked at Gero's eyes filled with anger)
"What's wrong? Was that too much?"
"W-Who are you..?" Jonathan asked
"Oh come on that's not nice..how can you not remember the person you gave this scar to..?"
(Gero then lifted a part of his hair and showed Jonathan his scar)
"You must have the wrong person..I haven't done any kind of things like that..all these years I've been here serving time!"
"Oh this scar is way back in the past..the time where you and I were at the same location at the same time..to be exact it was twelve years ago..at a specific park in Japan..a young boy gunned down without mercy..remember now?"
(Soon Jonathan's memories cleared as Gero said those clues to him)
"I-Impossible..it can't be.."
"You look like you've seen a ghost..hello Jonathan..it's been a long time.."
"Y-You're that kid that we.."
"Killed? If you killed me then who am I right now?"
"What do you want?! How did you find me?!"
"The truth..perhaps? That tattoo on your hand gave you away..wasn't easy to find but we still managed.."
"I have nothing to tell you! I know nothing!"
"Oh but you do..you're the only survivor of the mercenary group that tried to kill me.."
"I have nothing to do with those people!"
"STOP LYING!" Cpl. Kaito suddenly shouted
(Cpl. Kaito suddenly grabbed Jonathan by his collar and threatened to kill him. Gero then waved at Kaito to stand down and to let go of Jonathan which he did)
"Look here..it's no use denying anything from me..we already know that you were there at the scene based on the tattoo on your hand..I'm not here to kill you..if I wanted to kill you I would've poisoned that steak you were eating a while ago..and you'd be dead already by now.."
"..." Jonathan was silent
"Let's start from the beginning shall we? You were a US Army Ranger but was discharged for disobeying a direct order from your CO..then you joined a mercenary group to make a living by kidnapping, smuggling, assassinations..correct?"
"..."
"Then suddenly after you finished taking the lives of my men..your friends were suddenly found dead already..except for you who managed to get to Germany and live here for two whole years and became a citizen.."
"That's right..I was able to get away with all of it.." Jonathan said
"Then why risk getting caught for something small as smuggling drugs? Was it worth it? Because of that I was able to find you and now we're here..there are still pieces of the puzzle missing Jonathan..something doesn't add up..if you had just lived a quiet life I wouldn't be here right now..you were off the grid, why come back?"
"I've got nothing more to say..I want to go back to my cell please.."
"You're protecting someone..aren't you?"
(Gero then noticed the expression on Jonathan's face when he asked that question)
"A friend? An acquaintance?"
"N-No.."
"Or..a wife? Maybe even a child?"
(Suddenly Jonathan stood up but immediately he was held down by Kaito and Shun and slammed his face on the desk holding him down)
"P-Please..not my family..I don't know anything I swear..please sir..I beg you.." Jonathan pleaded
"After killing two very important people in my family you have the nerve to beg for the lives of your family?!"
"I really didn't kill them! I swear to my family! I didn't kill them! It wasn't me!" Jonathan shouted
(Gero was about to snap and lose control when suddenly Assam went through the door)
"Assam-san?!"
"What's wrong?" Lt. Sanada asked
"Please show me both his hands.." Assam said
(Kaito and Shun then stretched out Jonathan's arms and Assam took a good look at his hands with the tattoo)
"He's not lying.." Assam said
"What are you saying?!" Shun asked
"It's the same tattoo that you saw so how can't it be him!" Kaito said
"Look again senpai..the tattoo that was on our information was on the left hand..his tattoo is on the right..even if he erased the other tattoo on his hand it would've left traces but his left hand is clean.." Assam explained
(After taking a closer look at Jonathan's hands and adding what Assam said. Gero calmed down and agreed that Assam was right and that Jonathan isn't the suspect that held the MP5K twelve years ago that killed Junpei and Touma)
"Let him go.."
"Yes..young master.."
(Both Jonathan and Gero sat back down. Now that it seemed like it was a dead end Gero decided to convince again Jonathan to help him)
"If you're not the one responsible for this scar on my head then who the hell are you..?"
"..."
"Please Jonathan..you're the only one that can help both me and your family..there must be something you can tell me.."
"I really don't know who they are..I have no information about them.."
"Then you're telling me we came all the way here for nothing.."
"No..you coming here must've been fate.."
"Why is that?"
"The people you're looking for..have a base here in Germany..but I don't know where exactly.."
"Is this true?!"
"Yeah..I guarantee it.."
"How do we know you're not lying?" Lt. Sanada asked
"When I arrived here in this country I worked some time at a cab company..got to see a lot of faces everyday..then one day I saw that person's face.."
"Who's face?!" Lt. Sanada shouted
"The person that hired us to kill you.."
(Finally Gero and his team were able to see progress in this interrogation)
"What does he look like?! Anything we could use to identify him!" Cpl. Kaito said
"He has gray long hair and wears a hat with a symbol on it..the symbol was kind of like a box of some sort.." Jonathan explained
"Why are you just telling us this now?! This could've gotten a lot smoother!" Assam said
"I didn't trust you at first..but when you entered the room and defended me..I knew that you weren't the people that hired us..if you noticed they tend to tie up loose ends...a young girl like you wouldn't be one of them.."
"Maybe we should let Assam-chan handle the interrogations from now on huh?" PFC Shun joked
"Ahaha I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet.." Assam smiled
"I'm sorry if this is all I could give you..it's all I have.."
"Knowing that who ever is the head of all of this could possibly be here in Germany is enough..the only thing left to do is to find wherever they are hiding.."
"My suggestion is..follow the crimes.."
"Crimes? What do you mean?" Cpl. Kaito asked
"No matter where they go..crimes always follow after them.."
"Thank you Jonathan.."
"I don't have the right to be thanked by you..I've done horrible things in the past.."
"That's true..you may have done horrible things in the past..but what you did now may have just erased all of that.."
"Maybe..but I know nothing could ever erase what I've done.."
"Well I still have one more visit to use for you so..I'll come by again to let you know what happened.."
"Alright..good luck.."
"And when I come back..I'll have you tell me all about what happened to you twelve years ago.."
"Deal..also can you do something for me..I'm not asking for you to promise me anything.."
"What is it?"
"Please don't let them take my daughter.." Jonathan begged
(Gero didn't quite understand well what he meant so he just nodded in agreement to Jonathan. Then he and his team now left the interrogation room and was headed out of the prison)
"What do you intend to do next sir Gero?" Alonso asked
"Can you get me all police records of crimes committed in Germany for the last 10 years?"
"I'll see to it right away.."
"Danke..me and my team will scout the city and every city closest to here for now..then we'll narrow down the possible locations once we study the crimes.."
"Roger!" everyone responded
(When Gero's team were boarding their vehicles Victor couldn't resist asking Alonso about him)
"Just who is that young man Colonel? He looks too young to be a soldier and so do the other ones.." Victor said
"I agree..that young man right there is only 19 years old while his team is about 16 to 17 years old..they're just high schoolers.."
"And why did high schoolers interrogate one of my inmates?"
"You are a fan of tankery right?" Alonso asked
"My favorite sport to watch! Always rooting for your team!"
"Thanks..do you remember years ago at one of the world tournaments..a Japanese Female tanker was known as the Demon of Senshado who took on every country, pushed them so hard they shat inside their tanks and brought victory to Japan?"
"Yes I do..what about it?"
"That 19 year old boy over there is her son.."
"For real?!"
"Very real..you know the last time I saw that boy was when he was just 5 years old..now he's a man on a journey.." Alonso said
"What kind of journey?"
"The journey to find himself and to know what's his true purpose in this world..seeking to know the reason why people had to die for him while he lived.."
(Gero's team now had a plan and a goal which is to find the base of operations of whoever is responsible for Chief Matsumoto's death. He had the manpower, the supplies, the support but there was one thing that he was running out of and that was time)
Coming Up Next : Chapter 73 - Loyalty
Author's Note:
Hello once again! That was some intense scene between Gero and Jonathan! Finally they found clues regarding whoever is behind Gero's assassination and the death of Chief Matsumoto!
Shout out to : "Erskye" and "Admiraljk" thank you for the favorite and follow!
Thank you for the wonderful support you all are amazing! As for the replies to your comments check the reviews section as always!
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