Chapter 8

Edward arrived expecting to see either a camp or a battlefield. He kind of got the later but he was skeptical and wondered what transpired to bring Uncle Sam and Pravda to be packing up together on something. The rest of the Uncle Sam High School unit arrived, and Edward immediately went to find Hans and get up to date on the situation at hand. It appeared something with enough cause to stop the whole fighting happened.

Edward exited his Hellcat and looked around. Morning was only a few hours away, but he was sure everyone stayed up all night doing whatever it was they were doing. Ed saw Hans talking with some of his own guys and some girls from Pravda. He walked over and got the some of what was said.

"Here, and here. See if you find any trace of them and if so, report to me or Katusha immediately." Hans said.

"That's a lot of ground. It won't be quick and might take us till well after sunup." One of Hans guys said.

"Well then we have a long day ahead of us, lets move." Hans said.

August spoke in Japanese to the girls and they all dispersed. Edward chose now to confront Hans.

"Hans, what's going on here?" Edward asked.

"Ed? I didn't know you were here." Hans said.

"You look exhausted. Whats going on?" Edward asked again.

Hans motioned for Edward to follow him, to which he did, and led him through the area.

"We had set up our camp area when Pravda launched an attack on us. We would have been caught completely unaware if Austin didn't go take a piss in the woods and saw one of Pravda's girls on foot. We managed to get ready just in time." Hans said.

"Yet that doesn't explain why you and Pravda are working together on something. What happened?" Edward asked a third time.

"Austin and Nonna, the girl he saw, were on foot the whole battle. They were weaving through the area trying to get somewhere safe during the fight-." Hans said as Edward interrupted.

"They weren't hit with a shell, were they?" Edward asked frantically.

"No, no nothing like that." Hans started as they reached the hills slope. Hans pointed down towards the bottom of the hill. "A tank shell hit nearby here and both Austin and Nonna fell down the hill. We have no idea where they are and we're going down there to try and find them." Hans said.

"What about Pravda? What are they doing?" Edward asked.

"Their going with us. We agreed to a temporary cease fire in order to find them. No ones going to the CP and everyone is partaking in the search." Hans said.

"So, where do you think they fell?" Edward asked.

"Down this way but its hard to be sure. The snow fall was avalanche like but not to that level. Plus, there's tons of rocks, trees, and bushes they had to dodge to avoid injury. But we know they are on the south side." Hans said. Edward nodded before a voice got both the attention of him and Hans.

"Sir. Katusha wants a word." Nikoli said walking towards the two with Katusha and another girl in tow.

"I didn't know you spoke Japanese Nikoli." Edward said.

"I don't Ed. But Klara here speaks Russian like I do as well as Japanese. We will interpret between you and Katusha." Nikoli said while the blonde-haired girl next to him nodded.

Ed nodded his thanks and faced Pravda's Commander.

"Glad to see you again Katusha, I apologize for the recent events." Edward said.

"Nice to see you to, forgive my brassiness but right now my only concern is finding our teammates." Katusha said.

"Perfectly understandable. I don't want to this game of ours ruined by accidents like this. Let's hope we find some lead soon, the island pamphlet said bears and wolves were most prominent here on the mountain." Edward said

"Right, that's what worries me the most. With morning closing in the animals will begin to wake up and that will cause trouble." Katusha said.

"Is there any area you want to check out first Katusha?" Edward asked.

"Only the area your guy here said they might have fallen. I do want to split our forces up to cover both sides of the southern mountain base and move inward. We might find them sooner." Katusha said.

"Agreed, it seems the most beneficial way." Edward said.

"I'll take part of your team and you take part of mine. Each side will recognize their own uniform and safety measures. I'll take your interpreter August; he's already talking to my girls. You take Klara and her unit. She can recognize Nonna's work easily." Katusha said.

"Very well. I send Hans and his unit with you, Austin is apart of his tank crew, let's hope we find the fast." Edward said.

Katusha nodded and spoke to Klara about something before turning to Hans and motioning him to follow her.

"I'll radio you if we find anything." Hans said.

"Nikoli, tell Klara to get her unit ready and find Peter. Were going to cover the east side." Edward said.

"Right" Nikoli said then turned to Klara. "(get your girls ready, then meet us over by the slope. We're going to cover the east side and move our way inward.)"

"(Very well. I'll only be a few minutes)" Klara said and left.

Miho woke up close to sun rise. The past few days had been quiet. Rivers had not launched another attack and with the reinforcements from St. Gloriana arriving soon Hoja City would be well withing control reach. Though it had only been two weeks Miho felt it has been months. The idea of a year long Sensha Do match would have been a dream when she first started but now it seemed unnecessary. Taking a glance around the room Miho saw she was alone. The rest of the girls are probably already up.

Miho took a shower and donned her uniform and left to find her team. Once she exited the building, she saw Maple had already arrived. The St. Gloriana girls were setting up shop and Saunders was already packing up. Though most of the girls were taking glances in one direction. Miho took a look and saw Kay talking to Commander Davis of Virginia Academy of Arts. They seemed serious about the topic of discussion.

It seemed Davis had finished what he had come to say as he shook Kay's hand and hopped into his tank, an M6 heavy, and began heading back to their controlled side of the city. Miho saw Kay sigh and began walking towards her. Once she joined her Miho asked. "What was that all about? Has something happened?"

"Yeah. A situation up at the fork near the Mountain CP path. There was a skirmish and Nonna and one of Uncle Sam's guys got caught outside of their tanks. They fell down the mountain side and now the entire southern front south of the mountain is on a temporary ceasefire." Kay explained.

"Oh no, have they found any lead yet?" Miho asked.

Kay shook her head. "Nothing. Plus, the sun is rising, which means the Animals are going to wake up soon." Kay said.

"That means Wolves and Bears." Miho stated.

Kay nodded again. Miho placed her hands on her head. This was a terrifying thought.

"When are you leaving?" Miho asked.

"In an hour. We're going to survey this side of the ravine while heading back. Maybe we can find something and report to Katusha. My only concern is them finding Nonna and her plus one and getting them to safety." Kay said.

"Agreed." Miho said. Kay walked away with her hands in her pocket brooding. Miho sighed and walked back to where the Panzer IV was docked. She knew why Kay was so down. Saunders loved Sensha Do for the thrill and competition. They sought to be friends with everyone they went up against. If anything were to cause a massive problem that could ruin the match Kay and her whole school would be downtrodden.

This whole match, since the beginning, has been full of problems. And Miho could only wish things stayed small.