Chapter 117 - Victory and Defeat
[Outside the Mountain - South Western Sector of the Forest]
(Moments before the mountain collapsed, Mika and Alice were still in pursuit of the second Chaffee flag tank.)
"Kaede-chan, looks like it'll be hard to take out the other flag tank on our own now, it's currently being protected by 8 other Chaffees." Mika radioed
"Understood, are they headed back to their main force?" Kaede asked
"Yes, what are your orders?"
"Keep chasing them and coordinate with Jouko-san. Do whatever it takes to get their flag tank in her sights!"
"Roger!"
"Alice-san! I need you to break away from this chase and head towards our position ASAP and hit the enemy team from behind! Cause as much chaos and confusion you can because the situation isn't good right now!"
"Will do! Heading over there now!" Alice replied
"Good luck Alice!"
"You too nee-chan!"
[Outside the Mountain - South Eastern Sector of the Forest]
(Just as Kaede said, the situation was dire for them. They lost half their tank destroyers and medium tanks from fighting with the American Team. They only had 15 tanks left excluding Mika and Alice's tanks and their tiger tanks up the mountain while the American team still had most of their T29 heavies and Shermans. The person responsible for this situation was Commander Arnold who proved his capabilities in this battle.)
"Jouko-san! Head towards the south! Mika-san will be needing you!" Kaede ordered
"Roger! The remaining tank destroyers will join Commander Kaede!" Jouko replied
"What now? If we continue this then we'll run out of tanks before we get to their flag tank!" Kay shouted
"I already have a plan! I'm gonna take a page from Eiji-kun's book of craziness though!" Kaede said
"Let's go with it! It's better than nothing!" Darjeeling said
"Shiori will take charge here and all remaining tanks will charge straight at them! I'll flank to the left and grab their flag tank's attention!"
"DID SOMEBODY SAY TOTSUGEKI?!" Nishi reacted with starts in her eyes
"Think he'll take the bait?" Katyusha asked
"We'll force him to!"
"Alright then! Go sister! All tanks fire smoke rounds at the enemy line! FIRE!" Shiori ordered
(The remaining tanks of the JNST fired a salvo of smoke shells and engulfed the American team in thick smoke and blinding their vision)
"Full speed ahead! Charge right at them and don't stop firing! Go go go!"
"TOTSUGEKI!" Nishi shouted as she led the charge with the other Chi-Ha-Tan girls behind her
"LET'S GOOO!" Fukuda shouted
(As the JNST make their charge under fire to the enemy tanks, Kaede went to the left through the forest but she made sure that Arnold would be able to see her leave)
"I'm disappointed Miss Kaede, did you really think that I'd fall for that?" Arnold said in an irritated voice
"Commander! Watch out!"
(One of the Sherman tanks behind Arnold was suddenly struck and got white flagged all of a sudden. Arnold then saw a single light tank coming from behind them which was Alice)
"It's only one tank! Take care of it!"
(That one moment of distraction gave the JNST tanks who were charging to burst through the wall of smoke and started engaging the American tanks in close quarters. It was now chaos from that moment where tanks are falling left and right along with Arnold losing control over his subordinates)
"Damn it! It's too dangerous here I have to-"
"Where do you think you're going?"
(Arnold then suddenly felt a chill behind him and saw Alice's light tank going straight for him. She then taunted him to fight her and this made him irritated and started to fight her alone. He knows that all he needed was one shot to knock her tank out but Alice also knows this so she spent all her energy telling her driver to dodge and evade his shots while forcing him to stray away from the battle. The small caliber gun on Alice's tank does not have the capability to penetrate the T29's armor from a distance so she has to get closer but Arnold was able to keep his tank's distance very well)
"FIRE!" Arnold ordered
"On the way!"
(The 105mm shell was fired from his tank and it hit Alice's tank at the tracks and forced it to roll and crash. The damage was too much for her small tank and a white flag soon popped on top of it. He smiled for a moment after defeating a strong opponent on his own but soon it turned into a frown when he realized he was so far away from his team)
"Shit! Leading me away from the rest was your goal all along!" Arnold shouted
"That's right..I was just passing the baton to our commander.." Alice smiled
"Good work Alice-san!"
(Arnolds T29 suddenly got hit on the side by a shell but lucky for him it bounced off. He then saw Kaede's flag tank charging and firing towards him. His own flag tank immediately did evasive maneuvers in order to not get white flagged. At this moment it was now a battle between the flag tank of the two teams. Meanwhile Mika was still chasing the other Chaffee flag tank and they were now at the southern part of the map)
[Outside the Mountain - Southern of the Forest]
"Jouko! Where are you?"
"In position Mika-san! All that's missing is my target!" Jouko answered
"I'm about to give you your target standby.." Mika smiled
(Mika was in pursuit of the Chaffee flag tank that was surrounded by the other Chaffees to protect it. She knows that she can slowly thin them out but that would take too much time. The small gun on their tank might not be able to penetrate the Chaffee's armor so she has to risk big.)
"Tulta!"
"Firing!"
(They shot the right tracks of one of the Chaffees and sent it crashing to the side of the road. They fired another round but it was dodged perfectly by the other tanks. The Chaffees fired a salvo of shells at their tank and two of the shells hit both their tracks. Normally that would've been the worst possible outcome but not for them. Their Ke-Ni tank then sped up even more because of its Christie suspension.)
"Squeeze in between them now!"
"Aye aye!"
(Mikko then drove to the left side of the flag tank Chaffee and started to ram the other tank out of the way. They were bunched up together so closely that the Chaffee's couldn't aim their guns properly without risk of hitting their own flag tank.)
"Mikko, on my signal I need you to push that Chaffee on our left as hard as you can!"
"I hear you!"
"NOW!" Mika ordered
(Their tank now rammed that Chaffee to the left and both tanks went off the road. The flag tank Chaffee in the middle then aimed at Mika's tank and fired its 75mm shell which white flagged them immediately.)
"We got her! We finally got her!" the Chaffee commander cheered
"Commander Arnold! We're in the clear!"
(The Chaffee tank crew celebrated a little too early and let their guard down. They didn't even realize that their entire left flank was completely open. A thousand meters from above the mountain was a predator that finally saw its prey)
"Bang!" Mika smiled
(Jouko's Ho-Ri II fired its 105mm shell and it traveled from the mountain down to the road at immense speed. The shell went through and broke a couple of trees before finally impacting the side of the Chaffee flag tank. The shot sent the Chaffee flying across to the other side of the road and rolled downhill. The crew was fine and a white flag soon popped on top of it)
"Target down." Jouko smiled
"American Tankery Team Flag Tank #3 has been immobilized! The American Tankery Team has one Flag Tank remaining!" the announcer said
"GODDAMN IT!" Arnold shouted
"All that's left is you and-"
(Kaede's words halted as they felt the ground shake and noticed that the mountain was crumbling down. She was so scared for Gero and the others knowing that they were on that very mountain. Kaede radioed but all she heard back was static)
"EIJI-KUN!"
[Top of the Mountain]
"Senpai! This is bad! We have to get off this mountain now!" Sheska shouted
"I know! Go and round up the other tankers of the American Team! We'll give them a ride down on our tank!" Erika ordered
"Roger!"
(Erika was giving orders while she was holding on to the neck of the American Team's Tank Ace who was beaten to a pulp by her. His face was swollen from all the punches he got from Erika but all of his wounds were not life threatening and were within the rules of the tournament. Since he lost consciousness this meant that he and his crew were already out of the match. Erika then gave the unconscious ace to his crewmates and helped them get down the mountain.)
"You better be fine down there, Miho, Maho, Bakatora.." Erika thought to herself
[Inside the Mountain]
(Gero and Miho's Tiger tanks took the lead and rotated their turrets to the rear so that their gun barrels wouldn't snap at the impact of the crash. Megan's Chaffee was in the middle and Maho's Tiger was at the rear)
"Megan-san! Prepare one more HE shell! Fire on my signal!"
"Got it!"
(They accelerated to their maximum speeds and when they were about 20 meters away from the entrance Gero gave the signal to fire)
"NOW!"
"FIRE" Megan shouted
(The 75mm high explosive shell was fired and blew up the rocks one last time. Then their tanks rammed through the rocks and they were able to exit the mountain in a very explosive manner)
"We made it out!"
"Onii-chan! Front! Front!" Miho shouted
(Gero noticed late that the road in front of the cave entrance had already collapsed and all of their tanks were about to fall off the side of the mountain)
"HANG ON EVERYONE! WE'RE GOING DOWN!"
"Oh shit!" Megan reacted
(Miho and Gero's tiger tanks were the first to fall followed by Megan and Maho's tanks. All of their tanks were now sliding down the side of the mountain and their drivers were trying their best to avoid rocks on the way down. During this intense moment Megan saw this as an opportunity and aimed her gun towards the White Tiger's rear armor)
"FIRE!" Megan shouted
(Her Chaffee fired its 75mm shell and just as it was about to hit the White Tiger the shell was suddenly blocked by Maho's Tiger and white flagged her instead.)
"Tsk, how did you know?" Megan got irritated
"You'd do anything to win right? Even things like this!" Maho said
(She decided to take the hit for her brother since her tank's gun barrel was already destroyed. This alerted both Gero and Miho of Megan's intentions and quickly started defending themselves)
"Maho!"
"We're going to be fine! Focus on taking her out!" Maho shouted
(They were now fighting each other while sliding down the side of the mountain. The White Tiger was going down in reverse to protect their rear armor from Megan. They were also at a disadvantage since the White Tiger can't rotate its turret because it got jammed by a shell earlier.)
"The turret won't rotate! I feel so useless!" Kin shouted
"Ken! Keep our tank faced up the mountain! We're done for if our rear armor faces Megan's tank behind us!"
"I know I know!"
(Ken was doing his utmost best in preventing them from flipping over while dodging the shots from Megan's tank. Miho and her crew were also in the same situation with Mako doing everything she could.)
"We have to think of something quick or else the White Tiger will eventually get white flagged!" Saori said
"Our tracks won't hold out for much longer as well." Mako said
"I'm thinking!"
"Looks like you're planning something! But it won't matter!" Megan smiled
(Megan started to accelerate her tank and increased the pressure on Gero's tank by firing non-stop at them. Miho then dueled with Megan in an attempt to thwart her away from Gero. Unfortunately the left tracks of the White Tiger snapped and broke because of the rough terrain. This spun the tank to the left and their rear armor was now facing Megan's tank. She saw this as the final window for victory and sped up and closed the gap between her and Gero)
"Game over!" Megan smiled
(Miho's vision was like in slow motion during the final moments of their fight. She was looking at the gun barrel of the Chaffee slowly rotating towards the rear armor of her brother's tank. Her own tank's turret was also rotating towards Megan's tank but she knew that it would be too late. At this moment Miho suddenly came up with a last resort plan and decided to risk it all.)
"Aim for the right tracks of the white tiger..just below their engine.." Miho ordered
"What?! But.."
(Hana tried to question Miho's order but she soon stopped her words after she saw Miho's eyes which were glowing golden as her Sacred Possession had activated. Hana looked back at the gunsight and aimed right where she was ordered to then pulled on the trigger. The 88mm shell was fired from their tank's gun barrel and impacted the lower right tracks of the White Tiger. Hana's shot was so pinpoint that only an inch was between the shell and the engine. This shot forced the White Tiger to rotate to the right at the same time Megan ordered her gunner to shoot)
"FIRE!" Megan shouted
(The Chaffee fired its 75mm shell but because the White Tiger suddenly rotated to the right the shell hit the side armor of the tiger's turret and bounced clean off. The next thing that Megan saw was the turret of the White Tiger slowly turning towards her tank. The turret was jammed but because of Miho's shot their turret was able to turn along with the whole body of the tank. Behind the trigger of the White Tiger was Kin who did not take his eyes off of the gun sights the whole time. He could clearly see the Chaffee come into full view and without hesitation he pulled the trigger. He didn't even wait for Gero to give him the order and already knew what he had to do in order to win. The 88mm shell exited the gun barrel of the White Tiger and was now headed straight for Megan's tank. All she could do was smile and accept how she was outplayed at the very end. The shell impacted the Chaffee's frontal armor and a white flag soon popped out of it.)
[Outside the Mountain - South Eastern Sector of the Forest]
(Back at Kaede and Arnold's duel, both their tanks are pushed to their limits and both of them are already exhausted. Kaede was worried about Gero and the others while Arnold was stressed out that his plans have all gone to shit ever since the match started)
"Ready to give up?" Kaede asked
"Shut the hell up and let's finish this.."
(Both their tanks now charged straight at each other while firing. Both their shells landed a direct hit on each other. Arnold completely blew off the tank barrel of Kaede's tank while Kaede's shot destroyed the right tracks of Arnold's tank. Kaede then ordered her tank driver to speed up and go around the rear of the enemy tank. The Chi-Ri still has its 37mm gun and aimed it at the rear armor of the T29)
"FIRE!"
(The small shell was fired and landed a direct hit but the caliber of the shell was too small and couldn't penetrate the armor of the T29 all the way through. Arnold noticed that they were still in the game and smiled. The turret of his T29 rotated towards Kaede's tank and dealt the finishing shot to white flag Kaede's tank)
"J.N.S.T Flag Tank #1 has been immobilized! The J.N.S.T has two Flag Tanks remaining!" the announcer said
"Did you actually think that that small gun was capable of taking me down?"
"No? But what about an even smaller gun?" Kaede asked
"Huh?"
(When the smoke cleared Arnold felt a presence behind him. He then saw Shiori standing on top of the rear armor of his tank holding Gero's anti-tank rifle. She then aimed the anti-tank rifle at the T29's engine. She gave Arnold a satisfying smile and pulled the trigger to fire the rifle. The anti-tank round penetrated deep into the T29's engine and destroyed it. Smoke began emitting from the tank and a white flag popped up)
"American Tankery Team Flag Tank #1 has been immobilized! The American Tankery Team has zero Flag Tanks remaining! J.N.S.T WINS THE MATCH! THEY WILL NOW PROCEED TO THE FINALS!" the announcer said
(Every Japanese fan watching erupted into cheers and shouts as the Japan Team won the semi-finals. The fans of the American Team were devastated with the loss of their team but they too were cheering for all of them for the amazing match they had just witnessed. Meanwhile, the White Tiger and Megan's Chaffee safely reached the bottom of the mountain. Miho and Maho were also able to safely go down the mountain with their tanks)
"Congratulations on winning!" Megan smiled
"Thanks.."
"Can I ask one thing?"
"Go for it.."
"You used an anti-tank rifle during the elimination rounds and the quarter-finals. Why didn't you use it this time?"
"Oh..someone wanted to borrow it so I lent it to them.."
"Who borrows an anti-tank rifle? And why did you just easily lend it to them?" Megan had a sweat drop on her head
"They said they needed it for their plan to win the match..I guess it worked!"
"Is that so? I thought you were underestimating me when I saw that you didn't have one.."
"I would never do that to anyone when it comes to Senshado. Everyone here has worked hard and has gone through their own kinds of hardships to reach where they are now. I wouldn't disrespect you or anyone by not fighting with everything I've got."
"That's a nice speech, I think it's going to make me cry."
"Besides, I don't think an anti-tank rifle would've made a difference in our fight since you would've already thought of a plan against it."
"True, but let me just say one last thing."
"What now?"
"The team that you'll be facing in the finals will be the British Team."
"Are you implying that Germany will-"
"Lose to the Conquering Princess."
"The twins are strong so it's too early to say that."
"You're right about the twins being strong but the princess is on a whole different level."
"That strong huh?"
"You've fought her before right? A match that ended with a tie? You know better than anyone else in this tournament that she wasn't going all out in that match." Megan said
"I know."
"Then you know that she isn't someone you could defeat by not going all out. Just like today."
"What? I told you we fought you with everything we got!"
"Your eyes."
"..."
"If you really fought me with everything you got then why have your eyes not glowed golden the entire fight?"
(Gero was indeed surprised that Megan knew about his eyes. At first he thought that she knows about Sacred Possession but he knew that Megan was clean and had no connections to Pandora in any way)
"What do you mean?"
"I've seen videos of your matches when you were in high school. Normally people would only focus on the tanks but I tend to keep a close eye on smaller details. That one match against the school called Crow's Nest. You held that Russian anti-tank rifle as you fought while your eyes were glowing golden. And the final match against Red Wings when you stood on top of the Easy Eight's engine block and took the shot that won the National Tournament. People only see your White Tiger tank but fail to see your eyes."
"You've certainly done your homework."
"So tell me, why won't you use it? Whatever that is?" Megan asked
"I'm sorry to say that information is strictly private! But if you really want to know I won't stop you from trying to figure it out on your own. But I do have to warn you."
"Warn me about what?"
(Gero then approached Megan and looked her in the eyes. Megan felt intense bloodlust coming from Gero and she was frozen in fear. Gero's eyes glowed golden for a second and he had a very scary expression on his face. Megan started to shake and couldn't speak)
"It just might cost you your life."
"..."
"Think very hard after today's match. If what you plan on doing and what you want to find out is worth more than your life."
(Gero's aura rescinded and he was back to his smiling jolly self. Megan was no longer shaking and she felt very relieved.)
"Anyways, thanks for the amazing fight! Let's do it again someday!"
"S-Sure..maybe we'll come to Japan next time." Megan smiled nervously
"We'll be waiting then!"
[Semi-Finals Match Between Germany and Britain - Frankfurt, Germany]
(At the same time in a different country the match between Germany and Britain had ended as well. The battlefield was filled with destroyed tanks from both sides but the majority of them were the Black Panthers. There was a big hill in the middle of the battlefield and at the bottom of that hill there were two tanks. It was the Vice Commander of Britain, Victoria's Firefly and the Vice Commander of Germany, Beatrisa's Jagdpanther. Victoria was the clear winner in their fight with Beatrisa's tank white flagged and battered)
"I guess that's that.." Beatrisa said with a defeated voice
"Be proud, you certainly have gotten a lot stronger since our last fight." Victoria said in a monotone voice
"Should I take that as a compliment or as sarcasm?"
"Take it however you want to. Do you mind if I ask you a question?"
"You already asked but sure. What is it you want to know?"
"Who's fighting style did you copy and use in our fight?" Victoria asked
"Does it matter when it didn't work against you?"
"Maybe not but I still want to know."
"I copied the Iron Rose."
"Iron Rose, Miss Erika huh?" Victoria smiled
"Look at you grinning all the way to your ears. Did that make you think you can win against Erika-sama now?" Beatrisa asked
"I won against you right? Doesn't that mean I'd win against her as well?"
"Girl, you have no idea."
"The German Tankery Team has zero Flag Tanks remaining! BRITAIN WINS THE MATCH! THEY WILL NOW PROCEED TO THE FINALS!" the announcer said
(When Beatrisa heard the announcement she felt very defeated and she knew that the Terrific Twins lost to the Conquering Princess. Up the hill was the twins' King Tigers which had white flags on them. Beside the tanks was the princess' Conqueror Tank that was barely damaged at all)
"Thank you for the match! I had a lot of fun!" Charlotte greeted
"Don't say things that you don't mean. It makes me sick." Ilse said
"I meant what I said. I didn't mean any disrespect."
"Forgive my sister for her words. Both of us have been looking forward to fighting Erika-sama and her team in the finals. I guess that made us lose focus in this match." Ingrid said
"I didn't lose focus and neither did you!" Ilse complained
"It doesn't matter now that we lost."
"Damn it! I wanted to brag to Erika-sama that we won! I wanted her to praise me! I wanted to fight her!" Ilse started to cry as she complained
(Charlotte witnessed for the first time one of the twins to be greatly affected by defeat. The twins always had poker faces whether they won or lost in the past but now they have started to show emotion. She realized that it wasn't only the twins that had changed but herself as well. The reason for all the changes to them was because of Gero and Erika who they recently met and got to know)
"Conquering Princess! You better prepare yourself! You may have bested us but you shall know the taste of defeat soon!" Ilse shouted
"Taste of defeat huh?"
"That's right! In the finals, where the whole world will be watching! The Conquering Princess will be devoured by the White Tiger!" the Twins shouted
"I'll be looking forward to it then." Charlotte smiled
Coming Up Next : Chapter 118 - Royal Family
Author's Note :
The match ended with JNST winning the match in an action packed match against the American Team! Kaede lost to Arnold but Shiori took the spotlight with the winning shot after copying what Gero did to her in the finals match during their high school tournament. With victory there is also defeat! The Germany Team lost to the Conquering Princess and the twins warned the princess about the White Tiger and declared her defeat in the finals.
Hi everyone! Merry Christmas to all of you! I hope that everyone will have a jolly and memorable day with your loved ones! Another year is coming to an end and I would like to thank you all again for taking the time to read my story and it gives me great joy that you are all enjoying it! See you all in the next chapter! Cheers to all!