Chapter 19

Traf sighed as he finished the repairs on the StuG III of the Hippo team. It was an easy job, considering it was just welding together a hole on the left side of the hull. He heard footsteps and turned, only to see Darjeeling and Kay, alongside with Tsuneo. "How did you find out about the minefield?" asked both girls at the same time and... glared at each other?!

I can't say 'godly intervention' or something like that… he thought. "Well… the road seemed a bit off. When you dig a mine into the ground, it always leaves a slight alleviation of the ground near it." Only some types are like that, but listing them all would take too long… and he sighed again, when he got just another set of curious stares.

This will be a long day… he realized and started answering all questions about landmines with the engineer listening for a while, before he left.

George looked at the Anzio girls as they started preparing the feast. There were some really heavy things, so he decided to go and help them. They were thankful for the action as he was setting benches and tables, while Takashi, who arrived a bit later, was putting the cauldrons and traces on the tables.

They both were enjoying the work, when the absence of their friend and commander became apparent. "What happened to him?" George asked himself. "I don't know. Maybe he got some fangirls and they are annoying him now…" Takashi muttered a response. It was so ridiculous in their opinion that it made both of them snicker.

"What's so funny?" a voice asked from behind. The surprised duo turned to face the speaker and saw that it was Maho Nishizumi. "Uhh… nothing, I suppose?" George said, trying to mask the truth. Maho gave them a cold glare and turned. "The head judge wants you to meet her ASAP, so no feasts for you, until you speak to her."

George and Takashi sighed. "Fine. If we get to her sooner, the better it would be for us…" the driver muttered and they followed Maho to who-knows-where.

Tsuneo stood next to Hibiki and Shiho as they waited for the Tiger I crew to appear. He was there to also keep an eye on those three unconscious girls until they woke up. He didn't know why, but they seemed familiar… like he saw them earlier. When and where it was? he thought as he glanced at them again.

To reveal this mystery, I must get their names. And with that in mind, he failed to register that the boys just arrived here, but a punch from Shiho brought him back to reality. "I got a message from MEXT about you three." The trio looked at Hibiki with nervous faces. "You are now officially recognised as a part of Oarai's team, thanks to your efforts in the Tournament."

If you said that Tsuneo was surprised, it would be the understatement of the century. His dream finally came true! After all those years, boys were allowed to participate in Sensha-Do! But, he knew that it's better to hide his emotions now behind a small nod in the direction of the boys.

Suddenly, one of the three girls stirred and started to sit up. Tsuneo did the same as the rest: stood on place and did nothing more. The girl was in her early 20ies and had brown hair with eyes. But those eyes were strange in a way. They were… emotionless and expressionless through and through. Like a Nishizumi would be, if the Nishizumi style consumes him/her… he realized, but he also knew that this girl was not a Nishizumi. Neither was she a Shimada.

"Who are you?" he asked her. She just glanced at him. "Not your concern, lowlife!" she responded in a way, he never expected to hear. Holy shit… she was brainwashed! he thought and gritted his teeth. "This gets more anime-ish by each passing second… even mind control/mind break/brainwash happens here…" he heard Trafalgar mutter and he had to agree. Tsuneo spent most of his teenage years watching anime and reading manga, so he knew what the boy was talking about.

The girl tried to escape, but George and Takashi tackled her to the ground and pulled her hands behind her back. "Unhand me at once! You filth aren't allowed to touch the major of Raven forces!" she shouted in a commanding tone. "Major, huh? Are you playing military or what?!" Shiho countered from her spot as the air became harder to breathe with those enormous amounts of Murderous intent and Fear.

"You tried to frame me for murder and kill mein Kommandant! Not to mention the rest of the Oarai team and Anzio's too. They all were in danger of death!" Trafalgar added his own anger to the uneasiness they were feeling. He cares about both teammates and enemies, when battling… A rare trait that a few people had. "I don't care about them. Nishizumi must succumb to the Nishizumi style and be captured at once!" the girl shouted back and hit her head on the ground.

"She revealed something that she wasn't allowed to…" George stated as he and Takashi yanked her upwards to avoid her cracking her skull open. "Master will kill me…" the girl muttered and she started crying. Damn… I feel sorry for her even more right now… Tsuneo thought and patted her head. "If you have nowhere to go, I'll give you a job." The engineer felt stares on him from all directions, but he ignored them.

"That way, I could save her from death or a fate worse than that at least for a time to try to repair her mind somehow. The same goes with the other two." This time, the glares he was able to see, turned into nods of approval. And for the first time in five years, Tsuneo felt satisfied with himself.

Miho was enjoying herself at the post-battle party with Anzio, when she saw the three missing boys with her father towards the garages. And they weren't alone. She walked closer to them, careful to act like was looking at the setting sun and noticed that the other people were the three unknown girls and her mother.

Just what are they doing? she thought as she watched them continue walking. Maybe they want to get information from them. Miho silently agreed with her inner self. She was growing more useful as the time progressed. And yet, little did both of them know how close they were to a disaster that could have ended Sensha-Do.

Miho sighed and walked back to the table she left. Their next enemy was Pravda and she needed to be prepared for anything. Pravda will definitely field both IS-2 and KV-2. They leave the ISU-152 only for the finals. She thanked the voice in her head for that info. While she forgot about the biggest guns in Katyusha's arsenal, some part in her mind that acted as the voice, held all forgotten things about Sensha-Do.

You can repay me by winning this Tournament. If you do, I will also forgive you for the last year. That made Miho remember the Panzer III falling into the river and her abandoning the flag tank, just to save her teammates, thus leaving it blind and easy to take down. And those two weeks of continued bullying from Erika as she still tried to take over the vice-captain position with greater ferocity than before. And finally, her resignation from her post and transfer to Oarai.

I will win this Tournament. That's the spirit! From now on, consider me your ally and friend. I won't try to take over your mind and in return, you can summon me by concentrating on the image of you with your mother's cold stare. And Miho suddenly felt tired for no reason. It was like all the sleepless nights finally caught up with her and threatened to force her to sleep and she had a hard time suppressing it.

He screamed in anger. Not only his minefield got swept by only two HE shells, but also his best M24 Chaffee and its crew got found out by the boy crew that even got permission to participate in Sensha-Do! "Master, I got a message about our Target Alpha. She…" started one of the girls. "She conquered the Nishizumi style!" finished another one the sentence with the most dreaded information he hoped that wouldn't happen.

"Then we must kill her family and force her to fall!" he growled in anger. "B-but Master…" the leftmost girl protested. "WHAT?!" he snapped at her. "As long as the boy crew and her own are alive, she would continue to resist us." Goddamnit! he thought and started thinking about another way to finish his main objective in time. If I can't finish all preparations in time, Yakuza would stop sponsoring me and expose me to all Anti-terrorist organizations that exist...

Meanwhile, Selection University Sensha-Do captain's quarters...

Alice Shimada rewatched the matches that happened so far in the Tournament. She needed to do that, if she had to fight against one of those High schools. All powerhouses used the usual tactics, while smaller schools like Anzio heavily improvised to achieve victory. But, there was one school that caught her interest. This Oarai is hard to get a hold on their strategies… They are too ragtag to even guess their next move! she thought and sighed.

The only thing she knew for sure was that the younger of the Nishizumi sisters was doing Sensha-Do again after she left KMM. She would be a great asset in my team! she thought and smiled. But she forgot one thing. And that was the mystery of the Tiger I no.101's crew, whose commander was nicknamed Knispel after the best of the best German tank aces on the Eastern front of WW2.

If they decide to put us in an Annihilation-type match against her, I'll win easily. But, when it would be switched to Flag tank battle, she could hide the flag tank and use that Tiger and StuG III F to lure most of my forces out and wipe them… she thought as she looked at the skillfully operated Tiger I baiting the Saunders' M4s from entering the forest.

And after finishing analyzing the match for any means of counters, she turned off her PC unsatisfied about finding nothing.

Later that evening

Tsuneo looked with a smile on his face at the three new mechanics. They were doing a good job with restoring the Char B1 Bis that was found by the automotive club earlier today, while the rest were either watching or fighting in the match. "Is the Maybach HL 210 TRM in place?" he asked Suzuki as he turned.

The girl nodded in response with a big smile. She and the rest of the automotive club were waiting to finally take their "baby" for a ride. "Trafalgar was right that appointing you to it would bear fruit. You've outdone yourself with it." Suzuki thanked him for the compliment and walked back to the now white VK 45.01 Tiger (P).

Tsuneo watched as the engine started and his smile grew wider as no marks of failing showed up. "Try doing a few laps in front of the garages with it, and don't forget to test the gun again." "Yes sir!" responded Satoko and the tank drove out from the garages, where it had been kept for several days with a happy sounding (if tanks had emotions, this one would easily be the king of them) revving of the engine.

"This tank is really a treasure…" he muttered as he slowly resumed watching the three new mechanics.

Katyusha was sitting in front of Darjeeling, which came just a few minutes ago. She said that it was just to 'taste my delicious tea,' but there's something else behind it… she thought as she looked at the larger blonde, which slowly angled a spoonful of jam towards her cup of tea.

"You're doing it wrong. Put the jam in your mouth, then drink the tea!" she scolded the girl as she showed her how to do it correctly. "You've got it all over your mouth…" Nonna said with a bit of worry in her voice. "I DON'T CARE!" Katyusha responded angrily at that as she used her hand to wipe off the jam that was on her face.

"Here, have some potato cakes and cookies." Darjeeling smiled at Katyushas second-in-command with a smile. "Thank you, Nonna." Don't speak Russian! Katyusha thought and glared at the biggest girl in the room. Nonna ignored the glare. "Пожалуйста." I'll get you for this later. After all, I'm generous like Siberia! Katyusha thought as she continued to glare at the vice-captain.

"Aren't you underestimating your opponent with the lack of training?" Darjeeling asked after a while. "It'll be a waste of fuel and ammo…" Katyusha countered, but she suddenly realized that the other girl was right. "From what I know, Nishizumi has only six tanks. Not a big deal for me." Darjeeling responded with a strange smile.

"You greatly underestimate the Tiger I and its crew. The furthest tank, its predecessor with the same number shot down, was a T-34 about 3000 meters away." Katyusha had a hard time suppressing the urge to shiver. "Ha! You won't scare me with that! Our IS-2 and KV-2 would get rid of it easily!" the loli responded in a very cocky manner that was enough to hide her fear from both Nonna and Darjeeling.

Their conversation ended a few minutes later with Darjeeling leaving for HMS Ark Royal and Katyusha giving orders to start immediately with training for the next match. I'll win again this time against you, Nishizumi. And with that in mind, she slid into her own T-34/85.