Chapter 14 - Caged Beast
[Tournament Stadium]
"What an amazing and daring move by Team King's commander Erika Itsumi! They have successfully conducted a surprise attack against the opposing team and manage to cripple their tanks without a single casualty on their side!"
"With this attempt they managed to buy enough time for the rest of the tanks of Team King to position themselves properly inside the castle and store their important supplies!" shouted the announcer
(The crowd cheered for the remarkable display of leadership done by Erika)
[Team King - Castle Area - 23 Hours Left]
(The group of Erika has finally returned to the Castle)
"Okaeri Erika, Miho!" Maho said
"Tadaima onee-chan!" Miho replied
"Tadaima Maho-san" Erika replied
"Thanks to your efforts we were able to safely store our supplies inside the Castle. We were also able to get to know the place inside and out." Maho said
"How are the positioning of the defense doing?" Miho asked
"As you can see we have placed the heavy hitters by the edge of the castle wall to maximize their ranged fire power" Maho said
"What about the heavy tanks?" Erika asked
"We placed the Maus and the Lion by the courtyard in the middle and had them position in an upward angle to act as makeshift artillery."
"Good thinking, but how were you able to position such heavy tanks?"
"We had help from Ooarai's Maintenance Team and created a ramp made from tree wood that the boys cut down and carried for us"
"I see..where is that Bakatora now?"
"Concerned about him?" Maho said with a grin
"Ha?! Why would I be?! I'm just making sure he is not being useless!" Erika defended
(Miho and Maho laughed then decided to tell Erika something)
"Onee-chan, should we tell Itsumi-san?"
"Tell me what?"
"Yeah I think we should or it wouldn't be right" Maho said
"Like I said, tell me what?"
"Erika that plan that you guys did was thought up by Gero-kun" Maho said
(Erika stopped and couldn't believe what Maho had just said)
"Haa?! You must be joking right?"
"Nope, we are telling the truth Itsumi-san"
"But...it was the both of you that told me about this before the event started!"
"Yes...but before that Gero-kun called out to us and told us that fast route you took."
"I don't understand how could he come up with that?"
"Itsumi-san remember the path we took went over a river that was low enough for our tanks to cross?"
"Yes I remember that..but what does that have anything to do-"
(Erika suddenly remembered the events 10 minutes before the start)
"Gero-kun was drenched with water when arrived and was late right?" Maho said
"..."
"He scouted the area beforehand all by himself and on foot to get that information"
"Impossible…" Erika said
"I think he also did that during your fight with Saunders Miho"
"Yeah I realized it also onee-chan"
"But..why did he have to go all through that?! Doesn't make any sense!" Erika said
"Isn't that obvious already? He did that for you Erika.." Maho said
"He wanted to help you out Itsumi-san.."
"Why does he concern himself with me always?!" Erika shouted
(Maho and Miho place their hands on Erika's shoulder and back)
"You're his goal Erika..he wants you to see him, look at him, to be acknowledged by you." Maho said
"Why are you telling me this?" Erika asked
"Gero-kun told us to not tell you that he suggested it, because he knows that you'll not listen to him. And we won't take credit from his accomplishments" Maho said
"..."
"Don't be so hard on him Itsumi-san, he is very honest and have good intentions."
"..."
"And don't be hard on yourself as well..be more honest about your feelings Erika"
"..." Erika was speechless and was just looking down
(The sounds of a tank was heard coming from the gate)
"Ohh perfect timing..there he is Erika" Maho pointed
(Erika looked towards the White Tiger and saw Gero on top. Before she would just be looking at a simple boy but know she started to see him differently)
"Okaeri Miho! Itsumi-san!"
"Tadaima Gero!"
"Maho-san we got more wood that we could use. Gero thought to get extra so we can light up barrels at night to keep warm and the girls might want to take a bath with hot water" Ono said
"Thank you Ono-kun! That's a great idea..we appreciate it!" Maho smiled
(Gero dropped down from the tank and approached Erika)
"I heard from Maho-san that your plan was a success"
"Y-Yeah.." Erika said
"You did great Taichou!" Gero said with a smile
(Erika saw the smile on Gero's face and she got embarrassed)
"You...also..did a good...job" Erika said so quiet Gero didn't hear
"I'm sorry Itsumi-san I couldn't hear that.."
"I said..you also did a good job!" Erika said with the cutest face
(Gero saw and blushed as well and got flustered because that was the first time she praised him for anything)
"O-Oh..uhm..thank you Itsumi-san"
"Taichou sorry to interrupt but they radioed in from the courtyard and asked for the wood" Hajime said
"I see! Thanks Hajime! Well then I better go..see you later Itsumi-san"
"See you later.." Erika said still blushing
"Ohh before I forget! Here you go Itsumi-san!"
(Gero handed a paper bag to Erika)
"We came across this while getting wood so please enjoy..see you later!"
"See you Gero!"
(Erika looked in the paper bag and saw freshly picked Oranges)
"Ohh looks delicious!" Maho said
"Wow oranges!"
(Erika took one of the oranges and smelled it)
"Sweet...very sweet.." Erika said with a smile
"Which one? Gero or the oranges?" Maho said with a grin
(Erika didn't respond right away and blushed then suddenly said)
"Both.."
(Miho and Maho looked at each other surprised at what Erika said then smiled)
"I guess that's a step forward for the both of them, huh onee-chan?" Miho whispered
"Yeah. One big step." Maho said with a smile
[Team Queen Tank Formation - 21 Hours left]
"We are almost at the castle Darjeeling-sama" Assam said
"Katyusha, it's time for your new toys to play" Darjeeling said
"Alright then, time to show them the might of Pravda!" Katyusha shouted
"UUURRRAAAAAAH!" the girls of Pravda shouted in response
(The Panzer III scout saw the enemy tank formation and radioed the castle)
"Kommandant! Wolf 2 confirmed enemy tank formation heading here and will reach us in 10 minutes!" Koume radioed
"Alright you heard her! Get to you tanks! Man your posts! We will defend this castle at all costs! DO YOU GET ME!?" Erika shouted to all tankers
"YES KOMMANDANT!" the whole castle echoed
(As they mounted their tanks and waited for the enemies to arrive Erika heard faint sounds of explosions echoing from a distance)
"Explosions…? No those are-!"
*BOOOM *BLAAAM
"INCOMING! BRACE FOR ARTILLERY BARRAGE!" Erika shouted
(Artillery shells landed inside the castle walls and wreaked havoc for the defenders. The barrage had ended after 2 minutes)
[Team Queen Tank Formation - 1000 Meters from the Castle]
"Looks like Katyusha's toys did some damage" Kay said
"Tank Platoon 1 forward towards the castle" Darjeeling ordered
"Darjeeling the front of the castle is open field! They cut down the trees that was supposed to be our cover!" Kay said
"No matter..Tank Platoon 2..fire smoke shells to cover their advance"
(A volley of shots from behind the formation rained down towards the open field covering it with smoke)
"Hurry up the advance we don't have much time before they recover from the barrage"
"I hear ya, all tanks forward...GO AHEAD!" Kay shouted
[Team King - Castle Area]
"Is it over Miporin?" Saori asked
"Yeah I think so…"
(As Miho exited via her tank's cupola to check the others she was shocked to what she has seen)
"Is everyone alright?! Damage report!" Erika shouted
"Kommandant! Three tanks have been immobilized and five got white flagged!" said Koume
"Which tanks Koume?" Erika asked
"Stug III and Renault from Ooarai then on our side one Panzer III and the Maus!"
"The Maus?! How the heck did that happen?!"
"Apparently it took a direct hit on top of its armor and got white flagged instantly"
"That's only four tanks what's the other one?"
"About that...it's…"
"Spit it out Koume!" Erika shouted
"M-Miho-san got white flagged kommandant" Koume replied
(This shocked Erika more than anything, having one of her sub-commanders taken out so early)
"Erika!" Maho shouted
(Erika snapped back to reality and looked at Maho)
"Miho's fine we can handle that later focus now! Enemy tank formations are approaching fast!"
"Alright...all tanks ready for their attack! We have the advantage of long range engagements!" Erika shouted
"Kommandant! They used smoke as cover we can't see anything!" said the Elefant commander
"Damn! Don't waste your ammo we only have a limited amount!"
"What are your orders Erika?" Maho radioed
"Kommandant! 500 meters and closing fast" Koume said
(At this point Erika is having trouble deciding because of the shock from the barrage and how fast things were happening. Then suddenly..)
"Please calm down Itsumi-san..you can do this.." a voice from the radio said
"Baka...tora?" Erika said
(Then a shot was fired by the white tiger from the walls and the shell hit the area covered in smoke)
"Why the hell are you shooting?! It's no use with that smokescreen!" Erika shouted
"Please look again Itsumi-san.."
(Erika looked through her binoculars and saw that the smoke was cleared with the H.E shell that Gero shot)
"I see now! H.E shells Erika!" Maho shouted
"All units fire H.E shells through the smoke now!" Erika ordered
"Feur!"
(A volley of H.E shells were fired at the smokescreen and it worked. The smoke was fading because of the explosive rounds and the tanks were now visible to them)
"Targets are now in sight Kommandant!"
"All units load A.P! Feuer frei! (Fire at will)" Erika shouted
*BOOOM *BLAAAM
(An M4 Sherman was suddenly white flagged with the barrage)
"Damn it the smoke is gone! What do we do now Kay-san!" Takashi shouted
"If we go through that barrage without cover, not even one tank will reach the gate!" Alisa said
"Retreat now! This is suicide at this point!" Kay ordered
"This is not going too well Darjeeling-sama" Assam said
"Indeed it is..they reacted far quicker than I expected to counter that smokescreen..order them to pull back..we will have more opportunities"
"We have a problem Darjeeling-sama!" Orange Pekoe said
"What is it?"
"The boy from Pravda is not retreating.."
"That fool.." Darjeeling said with an angry tone
(Kay and the others were retreating when suddenly the tanks of Pravda drove past them at full speed towards the castle ignoring the order to retreat)
"What the hell are you doing redhead?! Orders are to retreat now!"
"Retreat is for cowards..we at Pravda are not cowards!" Kal shouted
*BOOOM
(A shell fired from the Elefant hit a T-34 directly and a white flag popped up followed by two other explosions taking out one more T-34)
"Pull back you fool!" Katyusha shouted at the radio
"Katyusha-neesama!" Kal replied
"What good will it bring us if you all get massacred now?!"
"But nee-sama…"
"Get out of there now! That's an order!"
(Two more T-34s got white flagged this time by the Maho's Tiger and the barrage still continues)
"Chert voz'mi! Vse tanki otstupayut! All tanks Retreat!" Kal ordered
(Kal's IS-2 turned around and started to pull back along with remaining T-34s)
"That redhead is a crazy one.." Takashi said
"This is gonna be problematic for us later on…I hope Darjeeling can handle it" Kay said
[Team King - Castle Area]
"Kommandant! They are retreating! 2200 meters out already" Koume shouted
"Good job everyone! We did it!" Erika shouted
"Look at them run Matsu-kun!"
"How rude of us to not give our guests a farewell gift..right boys?"
(The boys nodded in response)
"Round up!"
"Hmm roughly 2000 meters..but...distance doesn't matter…"
"FIRE!"
[Team Queen Tank Formation - 2200 meters from the castle]
(A loud explosion from the back was heard and everyone was shocked to see the T-34 with a white flag)
"HOW?! FROM WHERE?!" Kal was so surprised
"Did they pursue us?!" Alisa said
"Nope..it's him.." Naomi said with a smile
"Now Tiger-kun is just showing off now!" Takashi said laughing
"Damn that's so far! What a nice shot by my darling!" Kay said
(Darjeeling got out of her cupola and looked with binoculars then she saw something that sent chills down her body. The White Tiger was staring at them from the castle without breaking line of sight then Darjeeling had a devilish smile once again)
"...he looks like a caged beast hungry for a fight…what a naughty boy..I can feel his intense pressure from here.." Darjeeling said with a smile
"Damn that white tiger! I'll have him regret this humiliation! Kal said with an angry tone
(The 88mm shell flew towards the enemy for 4 seconds before hitting a retreating T34 and white flagging it instantly. This shocked the whole army of Darjeeling for it was an amazing shot at 2200 meters where the effective range of a Tiger I is 1000 meters)
"Target hit Matsu-kun! Wow that's so far away! How did you hit that?!"
"Amazing shot Gero!"
"That's for Miho.." Gero said with a smile
(The whole castle was surprised and speechless to what had happened before they began cheering and celebrating for the White Tiger)
[Viewing Platform #1 for VIPs]
"Amazing..I knew he was a good shot but that was just impossible...even for me!" Chouno said
"Depth Perception" Shiho said
"It's the ability to perceive the relative distance of objects in one's visual field right?"
"Correct and a very important skill needed for a gunner to land perfectly placed and calculated shots.." Shiho said with a smile
"I know I claim that my accuracy is 120%..but your son is way beyond that.."
"I'd say 200%..give or take.." Shiho said
"Knowing Gero-kun I'm sure he thinks he just hit a lucky shot.." Chouno said with a laugh
[Team King - Castle Area]
"Nice shot White Tiger!" said the Elefant commander
"Nahh just lucky.."
"Again with the luck excuse?" Maho said
"Come on Maho-san you know how lucky I am"
"That I won't deny..but I also won't deny your skills..be a lot more proud!"
"Thank you Maho-san!"
(Maho was thinking that he looked very similar to how their mother played Senshado)
"Itsumi-san! Nice work!"
"Miho-san? Are you alright?" Erika asked
"Yes I'm fine. Sorry to make you worry"
"It's not your fault. We didn't anticipate that barrage anyways"
"Yeah what was that all about?"
"I don't know yet but probably self-propelled artillery. Could be from Saunders or Pravda" Erika said
"Excuse me Kommandant! I heard the shellings before the impact and I think it's a russian SU-100 tank destroyer!" Yukari said with stars in her eyes
"I'm surprised you found that out just from that faint sound.." Erika said
"That's our tank enthusiast at her finest!" Saori said
"Well if it is an SU-100 then we have a big problem..that would explain how the Maus got white flagged"
"That 100mm cannon is a nasty piece of equipment" Yukari said
"Agreed..we have to do something about that the next time they attack or we will run out of tanks before they even enter the castle" Erika said
(Erika sees Gero walking with Maho and talking with some Kuromorimine Girls)
"That Bakatora...always...always flirting with girls!" Erika angrily walked towards them
"Bakatora?" Yukari got confused
"Hey Gero-kun what gave you the idea about using H.E against their smoke screen?" Maho asked
"Me and the boys were practicing Ono's reload speed before we went to Ooarai so we would be prepared...we were using smoke shells so that it would be safe.."
"Then Ono in a rush to reload mistakenly put in an H.E shell after the first shot instead of another smoke shell..we got so scared when it exploded good thing that we were at an open field.."
"Our driver, Ken then noticed that the smoke had been pushed away by the HE shell's impact and shock. So that's the reason I was able to relay that to Itsumi-san."
"Well making mistakes is part of learning Gero-san so don't mind!" Koume said
"You boys never fail to impress me on how random things happen to you.." Maho said
(Maho and Gero laughed with the rest of the Kuromorimine girls when Erika suddenly called out to them and surprised everyone)
"What an amazing story you have there..Ba-ka-to-ra.. please tell it to me also" Erika said with a scary voice
"I-Itsumi-san...I didn't notice you were there.."
"That's because you are flirting with all these girls that's why you didn't notice me!"
"I wasn't flirting! I was just answering Maho-san's question..right Maho-san?...Maho-san?"
"..." nobody responded
(Gero looked behind him and the girls were gone even Maho and Koume was gone)
"Uhh..th-that's s-strange..they were here..j-just a second ago.."
"Ba-ka-to-ra…" Erika had a scary smile
"P-please I-Itsumi-san..I really wasn't.." Gero was trembling
"SEIZA!" Erika shouted
"Yes ma'am!" Gero sat in seiza immediately
"I really can't leave you alone without flirting.." Erika said
"I'm not flirting..it just looks like I'm flirting.."
"I don't want to hear excuses!"
"Sorry.."
"But still…" Erika changed her tone
"Thank you for suggesting the HE a while ago..it really helped me and the team.." Erika blushing
(Gero blushed when he saw how cute Erika was)
"But that doesn't mean you can flirt each time you see a girl BAKATORA!" Erika got angry again
"I'M SOOOOORRYYY! IT'S NOT MY FAAAUUUULT!"
(While Gero was being scolded while sitting in seiza by Erika both Maho and Koume were watching from afar, letting out a big sigh of relief)
"Sorry Gero-kun" Maho said
"Forgive me Gero-san" Koume said
[Team Queen Command Post - 20 Hours Left]
"Well that went all according to plan, huh Darjeeling-san?" said Kal
"I don't want to hear that coming from a fool that doesn't follow orders" Darjeeling said
"Pravda does not retreat! We advance no matter the cost! Our bravery shall make our enemies fear us!" Kal said
"That bravery got five of your tanks destroyed without even firing a single shot back at the enemy" Kay said
"We would've made it if you didn't give that stupid order!" Kal shouted
(Darjeeling wasn't in a very good mood and was about to say something but Katyusha spoke first)
"Hoy Kal.."
(Kal looked towards his sister and instantly fear struck him so hard he trembled after seeing his sister very pissed off with killer eyes)
"A soldier that doesn't obey orders is worse than a coward..so you don't have any right to say anything after the stunt you pulled..so shut your mouth and don't embarrass me ever again.."
"..." Kal was so scared he couldn't speak right away
"ANSWER ME!" Katyusha shouted
"Y-Yes Katyusha-neesama" Kal replied while shaking
(The room was silent for a bit and the girls were surprised to see Katyusha like that)
"Forgive my brother's foolish act and childish behaviour Darjeeling."
"It's fine Katyusha..now moving on with the plan.."
"Have anything in mind?" Kay asked
"Yeah..we are going to need your new toys again Katyusha." Darjeeling said
"No problem, they are always ready"
"Darjeeling-sama!" Orange Pekoe entered the tent
"Yes, what is it?"
"The other team has activated their perk and revived five of their tanks that got white flagged due to the artillery barrage"
"I see, I expected their perk to be like that, what are the pros and cons?" Darjeeling asked
(Orange Pekoe explained the commanders the pros and cons of Team King's perk)
"Thank you for the update Pekoe, you're dismissed."
"So they still have ten extra lives, this is hard" Kay said
"Not to worry..those ten lives will disappear with in a flash" Darjeeling said
"How?" Kay asked
"Just wait and see..it needs certain requirements before it could happen.."
"Alright then..I just hope that the requirements are met before the match ends.."
[Team King - Castle Area - 19 Hours Left ]
"Listen up now..our scouts have spotted the enemy to be mobilizing for another attack" Erika said
"We're ready Kommandant!" Anchovy said
"Now I have already revived the tanks we lost but it will take one hour before they can return."
"Sorry everyone I won't be able to help for one hour."
"Don't worry about it Miho..it takes 1 hour for them to get here so you'll be back in time.." Maho said
"Also since I have used our perk the enemy team now knows we have 10 revives remaining."
"Not to mention we still have no idea what the perk 'Steal' means" Maho said
"It can be a lot of things, steal our ammo, fuel, spare parts, food and supplies all of those can deal a heavy blow to us." Nishi said
"It's no use pondering over it now, we'll cross that bridge when we get there, first let's focus on repelling that second attack." Erika said
"Yes Kommandant!"
Coming up Next: Chapter 15 - Totsugeki!
Author's Note:Here is Chapter 14 guys! How was it?Shout out to : "IdleDimensions" thank you for the follow!
Shout out to : "Jaypee Desuyo" thank you for the follow and favorite! Thank you also for the review glad you liked the story!
It has now been 1 month since my first chapter of this fanfic. I know that compared to other fics mine might not be as great as them but this is an amazing amount of support for me and I thank you all that have read my fanfic! Thank you so much for the support I really appreciate it! I will do my best to live up to your expectations as the story continues! Stay tuned cause there will be more to come!
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