Interlude 2: The founding of the Shark team

Traf looked around the bar. It was moderately big, with eight stools next to the barman's post on his right side, several tables on his left side and in front of him… was the 'grill' that Takashi spoke about. "Heh… It really is Mark IV. George, inform Tsuneo, that we found it," he said and the six boys walked over to the Mark IV.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" Takashi muttered and Traf had to agree. The bar was awfully empty, while it should at least partially bust with activity of patrons. Bzt, he shrugged it off and entered the disabled tank. The insides seemed to be in a fairly good state, but the sight of the Hotchkiss QF 6 cannons being tossed further inside the tank angered him a bit.

Both of the cannons were replaced by small fridges and the engine had an improvised grill around it. "Guys?" Traf asked, feeling that someone was watching him. Well… he had the feeling the whole time after they entered, but it got only stronger right now.

Soon after that, Boris and Takshi went inside and he caught their cringes from the corner of his eye. "The repairs won't take too long then," Takashi stated and Traf nodded. "Let's at least place one of the cannons on its rightful place," Boris added and the trio moved towards the left fridge.

Traf used the opportunity to peek through the hole that the fridge and saw that George, Grigori and Ivan were missing. "Uhh… guys?" he said with a very unsettled voice. "Yeah?" Boris asked back. "George, Ivan and Grigori aren't on their spots," he answered, causing the two other boys to almost drop the cannon.

And before the cannon was placed in its place and welded by Takashi, who had a welding torch with himself most of the time, he caught something white moving quickly behind the bar.

George slowly regained consciousness, only to see that he, Ivan and Grigori were locked in the backroom. Suddenly, he heard the sound of the welding torch that Takashi carried always with him and he looked out, only to see four sailors and a barman hiding behind the bar, one of them armed with a baseball bat.

"Do ya know, what ar 'ey doin' with our grill?" the one with the baseball bat asked. "Welding the cannon back in its place?" he supplied, causing the girls to turn around and stare daggers at him. "That is a tank after all. A Mark IV Male," he continued and regretted this decision, when the sailor with the bat slowly rose up and walked over to the door.

"Shut up, or ya'll walk the plank!" she shouted at him. "That's enough!" Traf's voice boomed and George saw him with one of the three Lewis machine guns in his hands. Takashi and Boris held the other two. The machine guns looked to be in OK shape, but if he got one, he won't risk firing with it.

"What do ya want?!" the bat wielder shouted/asked him. "We just heard that there was a tank that can be used in Sensha-Do. So, we simply wanted to check it," Takashi answered instead. "And I think that you should be the crew of it," Traf said after a while.

"And what do we get in return?" the barman asked, surprising everyone. "What was it again, that the SC told, that would be the reward?" Traf spaced out and listed the pros of joining, that he knew Anzu would pull out just to gain attention to Sensha-Do. And he also knew that those pros were the reason why Mako joined. Well… her grandma was the reason for choosing to do it.

"Like we really need it!" the girl with the bat shouted and George couldn't help but snort at that. "What is so funny?" one of the unarmed sailors asked him. "Just that she reminds me too much of Momo…" George answered and noticed the shocked looks coming at him from the five sailors.

And so, he, Takashi and Traf explained their situation to them, even mentioning Momo's antics, bad aim and commanding capabilities, earning a laugh from the quintet of girls, also politely declining the offered alcohol after they released him, Ivan and Grigori from the backroom.

"Achoo!" Momo smńeezed suddenly. "Are you cold?" Yuzu asked her with worry in her voice. "No. I just have a feeling that someone is talking about me behind my back," Momo answered and massaged her temples to clear her thoughts. After all, she needed to concentrate on studying for the upcoming entrance exams.

A few hours later, tank garage area

Tsuneo was surprised to find both boy crews missing, but what shocked him was the arrival of a Mark IV Male with pirate flags and the missing boys sitting on it. And as soon, as the tank stopped, the boys jumped down and saluted.

"We found the last tank that wasn't sold to another school and a crew for it!" they said in unison and gave a report on the functionality of the tank. "This looks like we should buy a Rolls-Royce Meteor for it to increase its mobility…" he muttered to himself and scribbled it into his notebook. And just to be sure, he added three BESA machine guns, just to be safe. After all, those old Lewis models wouldn't be operational after those years of no maintenance.

"Are the two Panther crews complete?" Trafalgar asked out of the blue. Tsuneo looked at him and recalled that only commanders weren't still chosen. "Only commander posts are still empty," he answered and saw that the boy simply nodded at that. "If they want the training done, they should speed up the selection process," the boy grumbled after a few seconds.

"Anyway, meet the Shark team!" Takashi suddenly announced and five girls left the tank. Their clothes signified that they were from the Sailor department of the school and also matched the description of those delinquents that Momo once saved (Anzu told him), which surprised him. Who wouldn't be, if they meet the quintet that always captures Sodoko, when she is on a routine check in the lower levels of the school ship.

Tsuneo simply smiled at them. "My name is Tsuneo Nishizumi and I am in charge of repairs for the school team," he introduced himself. "I am Rum, driver of the team," the red haired one said and chugged from a bottle that came from seemingly nowhere.

"I am Ogin, commander of the tank and those six ain't the usual folk," the most flamboyant looking of the five sailors continued as she pointed at the boys, admitting that they had beaten them in something.

And after that, Tsuneo heard introductions from only a silver-haired girl, called Flint and a blonde barmaid called Cutlass. Only the second raven haired girl didn't introduce herself and rather was playing with a stereotypical weapon of delinquents: a baseball bat.

"And that one is Murakami. She hit like a freight train with her bat," George said and rubbed the back of his head, like it was still sore. "I did say that I'm sorry, idiot!" the now identified Murakami shouted at the radioman with a very annoyed tone.

But, what he wasn't expecting was the wave of laughter coming from the rest of the gathered soon-to-be teammates. And after that, he saw George text someone on his phone.

Meanwhile, Miho's apartment

Miho was finishing the results for the applicants for the post of commander, when her phone beeped. She picked it up and saw that she received a message from George. Miho blinked at that, but the curiosity got the better of her and she opened the group chat that Sayori created before the Tournament.

Sorry for a late update, but we recruited a crew and found and repaired a Mark IV, Male version. Momo knows the crew, because she helped them not so long ago. And they seem to be the only ones, who'll follow her blindly.

To say that Miho was unsure what to feel about the message, would be the understatement of the decade. She should be happy that the boys found a new tank and crew, but also angry at them for not telling anyone about their destination and also anxious about the newest crew. And also, the last part unnerved her. A crew that would listen only to Moni would be a problem.

And so, she decided to settle it up at the (thanks to Trafalgar's and Boris's absence) delayed meeting.