Aboard the Zuikaku School carrier, another beautiful day was passing over it and its community. There was an air of excitement for its residents as their small academy of Oarai had revived their long-lost Sensha-do team, which once was a prominent team 20 years ago. For many elderly aboard this school carrier, the memories of past glory for the Oarai Girls Academy were still in their minds, and seeing their proud academy in their first year returning back in spectacular fashion, only made those memories burn brighter.
This resurgence in their Sensha-do Club had also brought with them two upset victories as well. The first was over West Kureouji Grona Academy, with their more heavily armor tank force that didn't faze the vastly outmatch Oarai girls, who made use of their new perks to wear them down to nothing. The next upset had come in the victory over Koala Forest High School, who as well were surprised Oarai's unorthodox tactics that won them the day once again.
Oarai's port town in Ibaraki Prefecture, was in a buzz as well about their team's recent successes, even throwing a huge party for them when they made port after their win against Koala, which was said to have gone long into the night. Yet this team's goals were to push to the top, and win the national tournament, and bring the Victory Flag home for their port town and their school carieer.
Yet the dark truth for this need for the top, was kept secret from the tankery members still.
Walking down the hall to the student council room, at Ooarai's academy school ground, was Yukari Akiyama, who had a kick in her step, as she made her way to a meeting with her student council president over some exciting news. Yet Yukari was already excited for something else, was it because of their team's recent success, she was so ecstatic at the moment? That would be a part of it, but it was who she was going to face now that had her in a very good mood.
"Miss Akiyama, you seem very happy today," Kisa Naegi a first-year student, as well as Yukari's loader aboard the Panzer 4, who had large brown eyes, with long blonde hair that was tied with a large white ribbon that sway while she walk, wearing the Oarai's sailoir school uniform like Yukari.
"Oh, please were friends alright, just call me by Yukari," the Oarai commander said to her junior happily.
Kisa stop in her tracks wide eye at her commander and first-ever friend."Oh man, Miss Akiyama wants me to call her by her first name, what an honor!"
Yukari just smile at her first year, then began to recall meeting her and her friends and began the journey for Yukari that had changed her life for the better.
She still remembers the first day of her thrill after learning of the restarting of the Sensha-do program at Oarai, Yukari was beyond excited to finally have her chance to do tankery. Even though she absolutely love the sport, she had never competed in any matches, all her life she just watch from afar as the ladies of Sensha-do left her breathless watching their fierce matches that were always breathtaking.
Now, this was her chance to finally compete in said sport, though she had no skills whatsoever to speak of. She remember going to the tank garage with the other initial random members of the student body, only to find out that they have only one Panzer 4 in the entire force. A shock for sure, but Anzu Kadotani, their student body president sent them out on a hunt to find more tanks she thought were around the school. Yukari still to this day, didn't know how the tanks were just left randomly all over the place.
It was during this hunt, Yukari met her first friends ever in Hana Isuzu, Saori Takebe, and Mako Reizei who had been strung along by Saori saying this course would help her credits since she was late to school all the time, much to the dismay of the sleepy girl. The last member of the group was Kisa Naegi who was all by herself as the other members left to search for tanks, but Yukari instantly brought her into her group and was surprised by the first year's equal love for tanks that match Yukari's. The pair became close in only a few seconds of talking about the pros and cons of the Panzer 4.
For the first time in her life Yukari had made friends, when before it was just her sitting in a room of tank figures by herself, as she found no girls to make friends with in her first year at Oarai Girls academy, and really for most of her life. It was mostly due to her never finding girls who love tanks like she did, while she was still too shy to be around boys who like them. Yet on the first day of her second year at the academy, she had made more friends than she could keep up with.
After finding the initial tanks in the StuG 3, Type 89, M3 Lee, and the most surprising being in the Jagdpanzer 38(t) Hetzer. They clean them out and restore them to fighting condition, but again without any experience they didn't know what to do next, and Yukari's vast tank knowledge could only do so much.
Luckily that inexperience was remedied by JSDF Captain Ami Chono, who came to instruct the girls in tank operation. For the next several weeks, Ami stay with the team to prep them up to fighting status, before the Qualifiers were she would have to step away since she was to be a referee. She help the girls tremendously learn the ins and outs of their tanks with careful instruction and tutoring, to which these rookies grasp quickly, which earn much praise from Ami for their quick learning, which was beyond anything she had ever seen, even at youth academy levels.
Yukari was promoted to commander after a mock free for all battle after Ami deem it was safe and that the girls were ready to fire rounds at each other without them hurting themselves. Though a bit awkward at first for Yukari to be a tank commander, she soon got the hang of it, couple with Hana's finding her inner marksmen, Mako's excellent driving, and Kisa's awesome loading, their Panzer 4 wreak havoc on their team, which made Anzu pick her to be the commander going forward.
After their wrecking at the hands of St. Gloriana, and the embarrassing Anglerfish dance afterward, Yukari had found an excellent strategist to help her in Riko Matsumoto, or better known by her spirit name of Erwin, the great German Panzer commander of Word War Two. With Erwin's help, Yukari form strategies that would become the staple of the team that became their sort of motto, fluidity with power. Erwin even gave Yukari the spirit name Guderian because of the strategies she had come up with.
The fluidity paid off against West Kureouji Grona Academy who was constantly outmaneuvered by their forces, and worn down to nothing in the end, the power had come against Koala Forest who they counter-attacked at just the right time and separated their flag tank from their team. Then chase it to a point, then use their artillery to trap it to take it down and win the match.
Now they had another foe to prove this fluidity and power strategy, and that foe was the unbeaten Tigress Corps, under the command of brilliant strategist and commander, Miho Nishizumi. Yukari had to keep pinching herself thinking she had to be dreaming that now she had the opportunity to take on her idol, who inspire her to want to be in tankery.
Yet it still irk her that fate had decided to take the chance away for them to be on the same team, as she learn from Anzu that Miho had been transferring to Oarai, then for some reason transferred to Chi-Ha-Tan. It still made Yukari wonder why she chose to go there instead of Oarai, yet there was no point wondering now since what was done was done. Plus, she had the chance to meet Miho in this match, and even maybe meet her before the.....
"Miss Yukari, do you think you and Miss Erwin, have a strategy to take the Tigress Corps down?" Kisa asked, dragging Yukari from her thoughts.
"Oh," Yukari said, coming back to reality. "We're still working things out for now, especially since we need to bring in some new members to the team for the next match."
"I heard Miss Koyama and Miss Kawashima went off to the underworld of the school carrier to gather some new members, is that true?" Kisa asked.
"Yea, she called it 'the Johannesburg of Oarai', a place for the delinquents of our school, though I don't quite believe that, but we register eleven tanks now because we found that other one, so we need a crew for our newest tank," Yukari explain.
Kisa shudder in fear of the name. "It sounds like something out of a horror film."
Suddenly a hand from behind the girls reach out and grabbed Kisa on the shoulder, which made the first year turn back to an older woman making a scary face, that instantly sent the first year into a fearful state, making her cower behind Yukari for protection, while the Oarai commander turn with a grin at the offending women.
"Mama Jun, could you please not scare the girl," Yukari said with a smile at Oarai's captain of their air force.
The woman in question was 39, yet for her age was very fit, still having a very supple frame that fit nicely into her casual clothes. Her long hair was jet black that was bundled up in a braid, which went well along with her deep reddish eyes. Her face show no signs of real aging, a testament to her strict diet and active living, which gave her some rich tan skin.
Her name was Jun Nasik, a Major in the 54th Wing Division and its highest-ranking female officer and one of its best pilots, though she was affectionately known by Ooarai and most of the women of 54th Wing Division by Mama Jun, since she was the oldest of the ladies and practically fuss over all her younger pilots like a mom.
Though this nickname was also a call to her having six children at home, she even told Yukari that only two weeks after giving birth to her youngest child, she got back in a plane to celebrate her newborn. After taking off she used her plane's smoke pods to write the name of her child in kanji in the air. She was said to have done this for all her children
How professional air control men let a woman fresh out of the hospital after giving birth the ok to fly a plane was beyond Yukari.
Yet maybe it was because of Mama Jun's unbridled need to fly that gave Oarai a chance in the qualifier. Yukari still recall meeting her before the match in the qualifier against West Kureouji Grona Academy, where the enthusiastic pilot came to meet not just Yukari, but the whole Oarai team who were beyond nervous for their first official match, then Mama Jun said some simple words that wipe the nervousness from their minds.
So, ladies, I had the choice to join a big four school, but something tells me you're going to shock the world, so how about I help you with that, eh?
It seem such a plain sentence for motivation, but for the girls of Oarai, it was exactly what they needed to hear, while also seeing this confident ace pilot look at their small team with the expectation to win, no matter what people in the audience thought of them, which was mostly that Oarai was going to get hammered and their journey cut short. They were the underdogs in every sense of the word.
Yet Jun, who as the highest-ranking female officer, was given a choice of whose school air force to command. It would have been easy to pick a top 4 school knowing they had a good chance at the final, but her eyes could never leave the newly form Oarai team, who had only registered 5 tanks for the qualifier, to which Jun was instantly to take them as her team to join.
The reason for this ace pilot to take such a small team that should have no chance in this tournament, was because Jun saw herself in them. Growing up she always had dreams to be a pilot, but everyone always told her she was too dumb to join, it was the truth, she suffered from a learning deficiency, but her family was always in her corner no matter what, which push Jun to shut up all the naysayers and pass her JSDF Air Force entrance exam and work her way up to becoming an officer.
Now she would shut up any naysayer that said anything negative of Oarai as she rule the skies over them, and when they reach the top of the mountain of Sensha-do, and they got a look at everyone who try to bring them down, Jun will be proudly standing next to her little tankery daughters, knowing she did all she could to help them there.
"Hahaha! I'm sorry little Kisa, forgive me, you remind me of my youngest daughter too much, always love scaring her," Mama Jun said with a wide grin.
"But why I am the only one who you scare? I don't see you going after Miss Sawa and the other first years," Kisa whine, still hiding behind Yukari.
"True, but your reactions are too priceless, gives me a feeling of home seeing you jump like that every time," Jun said.
"Mama Jun, please give her a break," Yukari said with a lopsided grin. "Or you might scare her to death."
"Eh!" Kisa said fearfully.
"I think you're making it worse by wording it like that," Jun shot back.
Yukari yelp in recognition of what she said, then turn to frantically apologize to her first-year friend.
This made Jun chuckle, again making her glad she came to this school, then spoke to the girls. "Well let's get a move on, I'm sure that smug-looking Student Council President is waiting for you."
As the trio walk down the hall, Jun spoke up again. "So we're taking on Chi-Ha-Tan Academy, think you got the strategy to beat them, little Guderian?"
"I still need to hammer some things out, Miss Nishizumi is a cunning strategist that will need to be on our toes for," Yukari said with determination and admiration.
"It's not just her you need to worry about," Jun said in a grave tone.
"Huh? What else should we be worried for?" Kisa asked earnestly.
Jun turn to look at the girls as they continue down the hall. "Chi-Ha-Tan's air force is led by Aozora Suzume, and let me tell you, I train that girl up in the academy myself. She is one in the sky, like it needs her and she needs it. You won't find a better pilot in the whole 54th Wing Division and that goes for her squad too."
"So? We have the best ace pilot in our team, Mama Jun," Kisa said encouragingly.
"Oh, flattery won't make me stop scaring you little Kisa," Jun said with a smug look.
"Eh!"
Yukari laugh, then spoke once she calm down. "Flattery or not, our team believes in you and your squad. Yet I hope we get some more members to come to our team, especially with the two new tanks we have."
"Two? I thought we only get one tank per capture reward," Jun question.
The all-knowing face of pure love for tanks came over Yukari. "We found another, and this one for sure will turn heads."
A look of pure joy came across Jun's face as she spoke. "Oh, knowing your knowledge for tanks, I know for sure you found a real beauty."
"It is, and we already found some girls to crew it," Yukari said.
"Were going to be practically unstoppable!" Kisa said with equal excitement next to Yukari.
"Reckon the finals are as good as ours!" Jun said, matching her girl's excitement.
"Yea!" The two tank-loving girls said together.
Soon the trio were at the front door to the student council room, Kisa move quickly to open the door for the other two, which got her a ruffle of her hair from Jun for her show of respect. As they enter the office, they were greeted by some nice cool air that was a product of the great air conditioning the student council was afforded, which was a pleasant feeling as the warm spring air was in full effect for the day.
As always Student Council President of Oarai, Anzu Kadotani was sitting in her chair, eyes closed and obviously enjoying her nice cool room, with her nice comfortable office chair she was leaning back in, yet upon hearing the approaching trio she open her eyes to them, with her usual sly smirk.
"Well, you sure took your time, commander," Anzu tease at first.
"Sorry, I was with the Leopon crew members going over the AC1 Sentinel we got from Koala and that other tank we scrounge up as well," Yukari said with an apology.
"Oh? You think they can get it functioning?" Anzu ask.
"Yes Miss Kadotani, I believe they will have all the parts working, they said it was mostly in working order, but the wiring and some gears were missing, yet won't be a problem to replace," Kisa said confidently.
"How did you come by that tank anyway?" Jun asked.
Anzu smile, while still leaning back in her chair. "Talk to some locals around town, and found a nice sweet old lady who was a big fan of Oarai back in its Sensha-do days. Gave us a vague idea where to find it, so I sent Crab Team to investigate, and lo and behold they found it in the lower decks of the ship, in a closed-off hangar."
"Crab Team?" Jun asked, then turn to Yukari. "Is that the new team you were talking about?"
Yukari nodded. "Yep, they are the last members of the soccer club that recently got shut down."
"But why Crab team as their name?" Jun press on.
Kisa spoke up to answer. "That would be courtesy of Miss Kadotani. When we got the AC1 Sentinel the other day, she mention it look like a crab and it kind of stuck with the team."
"Ah, now that you mention it, the tank does look like a crab," Jun said with a chuckle, then turn to Anzu. "Miss Kadotani, I have to ask, but why are so many clubs around the school closing down?"
Anzu gave out a sad sigh. "Our budget this year got accolated mostly to us, since buying shells and repairs is not done with magic, it's done with money. It was a hard decision to have to tell them that we had to shut down their clubs, though hopefully next year we can get more funding to allocate to them to reopen."
Something in Jun's mind was calling BS on the explanation. She had been with the school for a while now, and it was plain to her that their school had little to no other electives besides Sensha-do now. The school itself seem to be falling apart, with little to no maintenance being done to keep things in running order, like the workers just are accepting they were broken. It felt like a school on the edge of closing, but the Oarai girls carry on as if nothing was amiss, but Jun kept her thoughts mostly to herself about it.
Something is definitely wrong here, but I need to focus on the matches coming up right now
Jun let the thought run through her mind, then spoke to Anzu again, as she approach the president's desk. "Well I will get out of your hair, was just dropping off those scouting reports on the enemy team air force you requested."
Anzu gratefully took the papers. "Thank you for getting them on short notice, as I'm sure our commander will want every piece of information on our enemy."
"Oh yes! Thank you so much, Mama Jun!" Yukari said excitedly.
"Ah, don't sweat it, just doing my part to help the team, now if you excuse me, ladies, I will let you get on to your meeting," Jun said, then began to leave, but not without scaring poor Kisa once more, but gave her a pat of affection afterwords.
After Jun left the room, Yukari then notice no one else besides Anzu was in the room. "Are Miss Kawashima and Miss Koyama not back yet?"
"Ah, they're on their way here now with a new member for the team. Though they text me that their leader wanted to meet you before she decided to join," Anzu reply.
"Meet me? But why?" Yukari ask.
"Can't say, oh by the way I got some exciting news," Anzu said.
"What is it?" Yukari ask.
Anzu's grin was practically stuck on her face. "The Sensha-do Federation has sent me over some information about reinforcing us with some more tanks."
"Reinforcing us?" Kisa ask with a bewildered look.
"Yep," Anzu said with a nod. "There giving us four new members so we can fill out a full fifteen for the next match, as part of some reinforcement perk for us."
Both girls were silent for a moment, then broke out in frantic voices.
"New crews!"
"New tanks!"
"We won't be understrength for once!"
"I hope they have some rare tanks we've never seen!"
"Maybe an M26 Pershing! Or yet better year a Type-."
"Alright, calm down you two. The federation hasn't given me any details on tanks or anything. They said they will be arriving in a couple of days or so. Will know what tanks they have upon arrival," Anzu said.
"So cool! We're definitely going to give the Tigress Corps a run for their money," Kisa said excitedly.
Anzu nodded at that. "Oh Kisa, could you make some tea. Our guest will be arriving soon, let's not be a bad host shall we?"
Kisa bow in response. "Certainly Miss Kadotani."
As soon as the first-year left, Anzu turn to Yukari once more. "So how's it feel to face your idol?"
"Heh," Yukari started, with a blush coming over her face. "Honestly it doesn't feel quite real. And I'm not just talking about her."
"Oh?"
Yukari press on. "I mean my whole life I never had friends, mostly because I was such a fanatic about tanks, but could never make friends who like them as much as me, so I close myself off a bit."
The Oarai Student President just smile at her junior. She had seen Yukari around the school when the girl was a first-year, but was always by herself, and always with that huge backpack with her for some odd reason. Several times Anzu thought about reaching out, but never found the courage to do so, much to her shame. Yet all that change this year with the revitalization of the Sensha-do club, which saw this lonely girl, gather more friends than she ever thought possible, and Anzu wanted Yukari to never lose those friendships.
We need to win this tournament if we're going to keep this school open, and keep Yukari and all the girls together.
With the resolve thought passing through Anzu's head, she spoke to her treasure junior. "Well no need to worry about friends now, you got too many to count now."
Yukari fiddle with her arms with a blush still on her face. "It's all thanks to you and your student council starting the Sensha-do program up again."
"Well, we wanted to give the school a good send-off in our final year before we graduated," again Anzu lied to Yukari of the real reason they had started up the Sensha-do program, but she would keep the truth for the sake of the team's morale because if they knew of the impending shutdown, they might lose hope and she couldn't let that happen.
"Thank you, know I want to get to the finals too," Yukari said, as she had gained deep competitiveness in Sensha-do, which could be akin to winning which became contagious with the other members of the team, since they were rookies making long time Sensha-do teams sweat trying to deal with them.
It's good they've gained a competitive side or I might have had to keep saying we can't lose, which Miss Akiyama was getting a bit suspicious of
Anzu smiled as the thought passed her mind, then spoke. "Good, we made it this far because of you and Miss Chono. If not for you, I don't think we would have even got out of the qualifiers."
The sudden confession of her importance made Yukari blush even harder. "Ah...ah...ah...oh....thanks Miss Kadotani."
"No problem, do you believe we can beat Miss Tigress?" Anzu ask, needing to hear the resolve of her team's commander to win against her idol since she knew of Yukari's strange obsession with the youngest Nishizumi sister.
"Yes, though it will be tough for sure. She has already shown that it's not just her Tiger 1 we need to fear," Yukari said rubbing her chin in thought.
"Oh?"
"The fact that she has found a way to make use of her team's Japanese tanks to their fullest is something that concerns me, since they can match our mobility, not to mention their heavier tanks in the Type 4 Chi-To and the Type 1 Chi-He's. However, at least will be able to match them in tanks with the reinforcements you mention earlier. Though isn't it strange that the Federation waited till now to do this reinforcement perk, I mean Viggen could have used something like this in the first round."
"I thought the same, yet when I press for answers, they kindly said it was none of my business. Don't look a gift horse in the mouth, ok?" Anzu said.
Yukari nodded at that, not wanting to be ungrateful for this gift to their team. "Well any way, Chi-Ha-Tan will still give us a tough time."
Anzu nodded at her explanation. "Still hard to believe they beat Saunders, I was kind of banking on Miss Kay beating them to be honest, especially with those Jumbo tanks they added to their team."
"Certainly, but Miss Nishizumi has shown how capable she is and the resolve of her team's spirit. I can tell they fight with an absolute belief in her," Yukari said with affection.
Because of the match between Koala and Oarai ran late, as well as the little barbeque they had with Koala afterward, Yukari hadn't been able to watch the match with Saunders and Chi-Ha-Tan. However she was able to catch the match going on the next day, sitting in her bedroom with Kisa who had stayed the night with her, both girls watch in awe of Chi-Ha-Tan's surprising counter-attack against Saunders, who they knew from the highlights of the first day of battle, the American base school had been winning so far.
Again for Yukari, it was like watching the reincarnation of Michael Wittmann, the famous tank ace of the German army of World War Two when it came to Miho, who fought with an aggressiveness that borders on insanity. Yukari watch Miho fight standing tall in her commanders cupola with no fear to any dangers as she put down an M4A1 Sherman with the help of her Type 1 Chi-He teammate and then make some crazy shot through the barn and took out the Sherman Firefly that was using it for cover, that sent her and Kisa into an uncontrollable fury of excitement, which made Yukari's mother come and scold them for being so loud in the morning.
The inspiration that Yukari had gained from watching her not just now, but also watching her in last year's 62nd National tournament, made Yukari want to be in Sensha-do. Yet if she were honest, she had tried to copy her tankery fighting style, yet Yukari had found her own style, using Mako's awesome driving, making the enemy chase her while picking her moments to land the perfect shot while on the move, thanks to her elite crew, who were, more importantly, her best friends.
"We got our work cut out for us, but will give more than she can handle. Just remember to stay focused, I can't have my commander fangirl over the enemy commander," Anzu tease.
"I won't fangirl, I promise!" Yukari said in embarrassment, but still knowing that Miho had a chance to come to Oarai, yet for some reason opted out for Chi-Ha-Tan, which was still a mystery to her and aggravating as well.
"Also, I don't want you going on an infiltration mission this time," Anzu order.
"What?! Why!?" Yukari whine.
"Because I know you won't stay focused and will go and try to meet your idol. Which will lead to you getting caught," Anzu said, with a hard voice that brokered no argument.
"But we need to get an idea of their strength and their strategy!" Yukari said, trying to make her see reason.
"No, we don't," Anzu said again with more authority.
Yukari was flabbergasted at her student president's refusal. "Is this because I almost got caught by Koala?"
There was a slight hesitation from Anzu, then she spoke. "Yes."
That was enough for Yukari to know she was lying, so she closed the distance and place her hands on Anzu's desk while staring at her intensity. "Look, Chi-Ha-Tan has won two matches so far, we know they got a Mk 4 Valentine, while Saunders gave them a Jumbo with a 76mm gun upgrade which is deadly to our team. They also upgraded their force with a Type 4 Chi-To and 3 Type 1 Chi-He's. They might also be still upgrading to better tanks, which means we need to know what's up."
"I understand you-," Anzu tried to say, but was cut off.
"As I said, they still might be upgrading and if we're in the dark about these new tanks it could be disasters for us," Yukari said, hoping to convince her upperclassmen.
The Oarai student council president seem to weigh her underclassmen's words but didn't relent. "I have my reasons Miss Akiyama, please respect that. Now let's put this behind us for now, I need you here for training alright."
For Anzu, there was no good reason to keep Yukari away from spying on Chi-Ha-Tan, and she had a valid point that their team might have upgraded their force once more. While also knowing their strategy for the next match would definitely help them out, but Anzu had another reason for her wanting to keep Yukari away from doing her spy work.
For some reason, Anzu had a sneaking suspicion that Miho hadn't transferred to Oarai because she somehow knew their school was closing down next year, how she might have come by such information was beyond Anzu. Yet she was part of the great Nishizumi family, so they might just have a way to come by that information.
Which meant it was a dangerous prospect for Yukari to have any contact with the Miho, or she might tell her about Ooarai shutting down, which would hurt the team morale severely for the next match, and that couldn't happen as they needed to win this tournament to keep their beloved school open.
"Wel-," Yukari began, but a sudden knock to the door stop her.
Coming through the door to the Student Council office, was a trio of girls, Yukari instantly recognize the other two girls of the Oarai Student Council in Yuzu Koyama and Momo Kawashima. However the third girl was unknown to her and she also wasn't wearing the Oarai sailor school uniform as well, while some toy pipe was in her mouth that look comical to Yukari.
Instead, this girl wore a long black coat over her white sailor uniform, with a white shirt that was showing off her midsection, a short white matching skirt, a white sailor hat with a red feather, and long black boots. Her long jet black hair was tied loosely with a red ribbon, with greyish eyes, and lastly with light tan skin.
"Weeeeere baaaaccccck," Yuzu said happily, though her uniform was dirty, and she was walking a bit wobbly.
"Uh, what's up with Miss Koyama?" Yukari ask with concern.
"Ah, that lass went a few rounds of shots with me, and drank me under the table," the greyish hair girl reply, walking wobbly as well.
"Uh, shots?" Anzu said with a raise eyebrow.
"It was a non-alcoholic habanero drink I assure you president," Momo said confidently.
"Uh, can I make port over there on your couch?" the greyish eye girl spoke again.
"Uh...yea sure," Yukari said, then turn to Momo. "Who is she?"
The monocle student council member turn to her commander. "Oh, sorry, this is Ogin. A friend of mine I once saved from getting kicked out of the school carrier. She has four other members that are willing to join our team as well."
"I didn't agree to nothing, till I meet this commander your so fond of. I want to get a cut of her jib," Ogin said, while starting to make her way over to the couch area. Yet before she got any further, she turn back to scoop Yuzu up into a bridal carry and made her way over to the couch as well. She settle the brown hair girl in her lap as she herself took a seat on the couch.
Yukari stare in astonishment at the closeness of the two, then turn to Momo once again. "Uh, are they close or something?"
"I think Ogin took a liking to her because no one has ever outdueled her when it came to spice shots," Momo said with a small smile.
Yukari took a look back at Anzu for any help, but found to her annoyance, the Student Council President had already checked out, as she lean back in her office chair with eyes closed. Which meant it was up to Yukari to deal with this odd and possible new member of the team.
Just like our potato eating president to leave this up to me, well I am the commander so I have a job to do
Yukari took a seat on the couch across from Ogin, who still held onto Yuzu who had fallen asleep in her lap, Momo stay back away knowing Ogin wanted to talk one on one with her commander. Kisa came by to serve some tea to both girls, but Ogin just look at it with disgust as she wasn't a tea person at all.
"Don't you have anything stronger," Ogin growl at the first year.
"Uh, sorry we don't," Kisa said fearfully, then back away to stand behind the couch Yukari occupied.
For a moment nothing was said, as Ogin eye Yukari up and down. It was easy to tell she was assessing Yukari, wanting to see what this Ooarai commander was made of. However judging by her look, she didn't seem the least bit impressed with the fluffy hair commander at all.
"Well you look like a real scally-wag," was all Ogin said.
"Huh?" Yukari said in confused tone.
Momo translated for her commander. She is saying you look inexperienced."
"Hey! Don't insult my commander!" Kisa shot in, already not liking the possible new member of the team.
"Ah shut your trap, or you'll wake sleeping beauty here," Ogin said hotly while gesturing to Yuzu who was out like a lamp.
Kisa made to argue further, but Momo cut in, trying to cool the situation. "Miss Ogin, whatever reservations you have about her, I will tell you she is a real swashbuckler."
That made Ogin raise an eyebrow at the statement. "Really now, you put a lot of faith in her by saying that Momo. You got anything to say for yourself Miss...."
"Akiyama," Yukari said back.
"Miss Akiyama, you got anything to say for yourself? Think carefully for the wrong answer might just make me walk out of this room," Ogin said never breaking eye contact with Yukari.
Yukari was dumbstruck trying to find a way to convince this odd character of a girl to join her team. Mostly because everyone else they had recruited so far had joined with ease. The Tortoise team commanding the A43 Black Prince, who were a group of friends who had been inspired by the upset victory Oarai had pulled off against West Kureouji Grona Academy and wanted to join the tankery team, which were led by energetic first 2nd-year student Asira Motome.
Mallard team, led by Midoriko Sono, and commanding the Char B1, had been recruited by Anzu with no trouble, playing on the strict Midoriko being the team's disciplinary, which the third-year student and her accompanying Public Committee members did with great enthusiasm. Midoriko seem to be on Yukari's friend Mako's case the most for some reason, but that might be because the sleeping girl had the highest tardy record in the entire school.
Anteater Team, led by Nekota, or better yet by her nickname Nekonya, commanding the Type 3 Chi-Nu, had been recruited by Yukari, since she had once played an online tank game with her when they were both first years, but never met in person. It was only after Yukari ask if she wanted to join their Sensha-do team after the qualifier that Nekota and her two other online friends join up with enthusiasm, glad to be part of real tank warfare.
The newly recruited team, Crab team, led by Shina Miki, who with her crew, was once part of the Oarai Girls soccer team, but had closed down this year for a lack of members. Noriko leader of the Duck team had recommended them to Yukari since she knew the feeling of having their sports club shut down. Shina accepted the offer with gratefulness to be competing once more, even if it wasn't in a sport that she train her whole life for, but would fight just as hard aboard the capture AC1 Sentinel.
Yet now for the first time, Yukari was going to need to convince someone to join, a new challenge for her.
"Miss Akiyama, remember what a pirate wants most in this world," Anzu said from her office chair, still with eyes closed, and letting her junior do all the work.
Yukari stare at her upperclassmen for a moment, thinking over what she had said, then it hit her. Now she knew how to approach this Ogin girl and make her join her club.
"Miss Ogin, what if I could offer you the chance to spread your fearsome name across the world," Yukari said.
The jet black hair girl was silent for a moment, letting the words sink in, then spoke with a grin. "Go on."
"Were fighting in a sport that you can deliver a devastating broadside to an enemy, watch their tanks go up in smoking defeat, while your enemies cower in the wake of your destruction," Yukari said, the excitement in her voice growing.
"Mm, that does sound enticing. But what is a tank?" Ogin ask.
"Oh, it's like a car with thick armor, and maybe a long cannon," Yukari said, going off a rough explanation, not wanting to get too complicated.
"Well, I think we have one of those tanks, here's a picture," Ogin said, while taking out her phone, putting the picture on the screen, and then slid it over to Yukari.
Yukari stare at the phone for a moment, then jump up in the excitement that made Momo rub her head in frustration, knowing that her commander was about to go into one of her crazy tank talk moods. It still surprise her how excited Yukari got for tanks like they were the be-all and end all of the things in her life, but Momo had to admit that without her extensive knowledge they be up a creek as a team.
"Kisa come here and look!" Yukari said, gesturing wildly to Ogin's phone.
The first year obey her friend's command, and came over to look at the picture, then started getting giddy as well looking at the picture. "I can't believe it! It's an honest to god British Mark 4!"
"It was the most widely used Allied tank in World War One!" Yukari yell in delight.
"It also saw the first tank on tank engagement at the Second Battle of Villers-Bretonneux!" Kisa added into the tank information party.
"It als-," Yukari wanted to add, but was cut off.
"Okay! Enough with the history lesson you two!" Momo yell annoyed.
"Eh! Sorry!" Yukari and Kisa said together.
Momo rub her head, hoping that might take away the headache that was coming on. "Alright, do you think the tank will help our team?"
Both Yukari and Kisa stare at one another, as if they were having a silent conversation, then Yukari spoke up. "As much as I love this tank, but its speed won't be able to keep up with us and maneuverability is next to nonexistent. Even the Porsche Tiger can outpace it badly, and its guns aren't able to maneuver well, so teams only have to get at its blind spots to take it down."
"Hey! You don't get to bad-mouth our land ship! Besides I won't join this team unless we can use that land ship," Ogin said hotly.
"Well that's a real bummer," Momo said dejectedly.
"But, you have to see that that tank won't do well in a real Sensha-do match," Kisa argue.
"It's that or I'm out of here," Ogin said without batting an eyelash.
Kisa turn to Yukari. "What do we do now? We already register eleven tanks, and as much as I hate to admit it, we don't have time to find another crew, and train them as well."
Yukari rub her chin in thought, again trying to figure out a way to convince this girl, then it hit her. "What if I can give you a land ship that's powerful and rare?"
That got Ogin's attention. "Alright go on."
"It can deliver a broadside like no other, and better yet, no one in the world has seen it use on the battlefield," Yukari said, her excitement making Ogin secretly match it as she vaguely describe this powerful land ship.
"And what proof do you have of this rare land ship?" Ogin said, now leaning forward in her seat, being careful with Yuzu in her lap.
Momo seeming to understand her commander's words, now raise an eyebrow at Yukari. "You seriously want to give them that tank?"
"Miss Yukari! That tank is super rare, we should recruit a team that actually wants to join us," Kisa protested.
Yukari shook her head at the first year's protest. "This is exactly the type of crew made for it."
"You keep being vague, so you better start spilling the beans," Ogin said annoy.
Yukari stare at Ogin with a contagious grin. "Here I think a picture would do better for you," then Yukari slid her phone across the table to Ogin, with the picture of said tank Ooarai had found.
Ogin, again being careful with Yuzu in her lap, lean forward to stare at the picture for a moment, then match the contagious grin that Yukari had as well. "Now that is a man of war if I have ever seen one, and you saying this will be our tank?"
"If you join the team yes, it will be your tank, and your fearsome reputation will be spread across the world using it," Yukari said confidently.
"Well count me and my crew in, though what is the name of this land ship?" Ogin said back.
Yukari got a big smile on her face. "It's the Type 5 Chi-Ri, the only running one in the world."
Momo let a breath out. "Well, now we have 11 tanks now that will definitely even the odds against Chi-Ha-Tan's 15."
"Oh, forgot to mention," Anzu said to Momo, then she explain the reinforcements they were getting from the Sensha-do Federation.
"Are you serious, now we have a full fifteen for the next match and for the rest of the tournament," Momo said, in a deep sigh of relief that their team had been given a break for once.
"Yep, Miss Ogin, we have practice tomorrow, come by to check out your Type 5 Chi-Ri," Yukari said.
"Aye Aye, commander, have to say I like the cut of your sails," Ogin said with a smirk.
"Oh, thank you," Yukari said with a blush.
"Well, I like the cut of her sails first," Kisa shot in, still not on board with giving such a rare tank to Ogin.
"My, my, aren't you loyal," Ogin tease.
"Why you!" Kisa said hotly.
Yukari grabbed her first-year friend by the arm and drag her off to leave. "Well I look forward to working with you, I got a thing to do, so I'll talk to you girls later."
Without waiting for a reply, Yukari drag Kisa out of the room, who complain all the way. As they left the room Anzu stare intently at Yukari, as if she already knew she was up to something. Yet Anzu knew the girl had a quiet stubborn streak, so she would have to double her efforts to make sure she didn't sneak off to Chi-Ha-Tan, which might lead to complete disaster for her team if the truth got out.
In the hallway, Yukari continue to drag Kisa till they were out of ear range of the Student Council Office, then Yukari spoke up. "Kisa, I need your help."
"With what?" Kisa ask in wonderment.
Yukari took a deep breath, then reply, "I'm going to sneak into Chi-Ha-Tan academy."
"What! But Miss Kadotani said you weren't allowed to leave the ship," Kisa said in a hotly whisper.
"Look I know, but we need to know Chi-Ha-Tan's plans, and if they got any new tanks to their arsenal," Yukari said.
Kisa gave a knowing smile to her best friend. "And to meet Miss Nishizumi."
"Uh...yea, if I can meet her. Yet I will focus on my mission first and foremost," Yukari said with an embarrassed smile.
"Fine, because of the great deal of respect I have for you I will cover for you, but one thing," Kisa said.
"What?"
"How are you going to sneak in without getting caught? Since you're the commander of our team, your face has been seen by everyone thanks to the Sensha-do battle network," Kisa had to ask.
"You're right, damn what should I do about that?" Yukari spoke in frustration.
Kisa had an idea. "Well you could have Miss Hana and Miss Saori do something about your hair. It's your most known feature, that if you straighten it out you be a completely different person in my opinion."
"That's an awesome idea Kisa!" Yukari said happily.
"Anything for my best friend, just be careful with your infiltration mission please," Kisa said with affection.
Yukari smile and brought her best friend into a hug. "You got it, and I'll be back quicker than Operation Bagration crush the German defenses."
Kisa laugh as she hug her friend back, as it was just the response she expected from her World War Two enthusiastic commander, who made her glad to take the chance to be in Sensha-do along with Yukari and finally for the first time in her life feel like she belong to something.
To a team of oddballs, looking to do the impossible.
XxxxxX
The Tiger 1 of Chi-Ha-Tan came roaring into the open woods, as Moteki try to keep the tank steady, with her limited vision inside the tank. She was feeling a little pressure since their tank commander was putting their crew through some intense drilling. Moteki had thought the weeks leading up to the match against Maple had been tough, yet since the punishment had been handed down to Chi-Ha-Tan and most of their veteran tank commanders suspended from the match, made Miho have to double the drilling efforts of not just the first year crews and tank commanders, but also of her Tiger 1 crew.
She must be feeling the stress to make sure we're ready for anything Oarai is going to throw at us, we can't let her down, not now, not ever. I'll make sure to give my Tigress all I've got.
The thought burn through Moteki's mind, it was the way everyone in the crew felt. Miho had twice brought the team back from destruction, first with the retraining for Maple, and then the counterattack against Saunders that won the day for them. Yet this match would test all of Miho's mental endurance to beat Ooarai who was more than a match for them.
Yet she wouldn't be asked to do everything herself, that wouldn't happen with this Chi-Ha-Tan team. They owe her everything for reforming the club from past traditions and molding them to be respected once more. Tamada and Nishi were hard at work with drilling the first-year crews trying to understand the company drills and team maneuvers they were going to need to win, no one was complaining, no one was giving up, and all of their hearts were one for victory.
Yet the Tiger 1 crew was drilling right now in a way they weren't quite used to drilling, and that was learning to fire on the move, which had hampered them somewhat in the Saunders match, to which Miho wanted to rectify.
Standing tall in her commanders cupola, leaning on her elbows against the metal brim for support, Miho's eyes were darting left to right, looking for a target that she would have to quickly make a call out to her gunner.
Miho had seen how effective firing on the move was for Saunders Jumbo's and regular Shermans, though their tanks were built with a Gyro-Stabilizer to help with that. There was no way to modify the Tiger 1 with something like that, since the rules for tank maintenance were quite strict on that part, leaving no room for any modifications. So they have to find a way to do it with what they had.
Her best example to learn from was Michael Wittmann and his crew, one of Germany's great tank aces during the war. His aggressive tactics of firing on the move, especially during the Kursk operation, where he fought against the onslaught of Russian tanks around the small town of Prokhorovka. The large numbers of Russian tanks overwhelmed his small company of Tiger 1's, so he and his crew had to fight while moving, something that Miho was now trying to emulate, though it hadn't been easy so far, her crew weren't leaving the practice field till they master it.
Miho's eyes finally found a plywood target and relay orders to her crew. "Nene load AP! Nomi, traverse right, 2 o'clock! 50 meters, fire when ready!"
"Loaded!" Nene confirm back.
"On the way!" Nomi call her shot.
The Tiger 1's 88mm gun roar its shell at the plywood target, yet it didn't get the right angle, just glancing at the edge of the target, putting a semicircle hole in it at the corner. A glance shot in Miho's eyes if they had been facing a real tank.
"Dammit!" Nomi yell in frustration.
"It's alright Nomi, that was the first miss so far, stay focused," Miho said over the internal crew net.
"Roger! I won't let you down next time!" Nomi said back over the net.
Nene smile, knowing the best remedy was to tease her twin to bring her back up. "Are you going to keep wasting our awesome tank commanders call outs?"
"You shut it and load!" Nomi shot back.
"Oh, are you going to make me do all this work with no reward," Nene kept pestering.
Nomi turn her matching brownish-yellow eyes to her twin. "You get a reward of me not taking from your secret snack stash back in our dorm room."
"You thief, you were the one that stole from me!?" Nene growl at her twin.
"I'm surprised you need to ask that question," Moteki said with a chuckle as she kept her hands steady on the wheel.
"You shouldn't talk so casually Moteki, you took from her stash as well," Nomi tease.
"Your both dead when practice is over," Nene growl.
"Girls, please focus!" Miho said in a scolding tone over the net to stop the bickering, that was just something she was used to with her crew.
"Roger!" They said back.
"Do...do...don't....upset Mi...Miho," Watabe stutter out hotly, her hands holding the MG 34 bow gun.
"Sorry!" The other three reply, feeling bad they upset their friend and tank commander.
The Tiger 1 roll over the flat ground of the forest, still keeping a steady speed. Miho again began to scan left and right for a plywood target to hit. Soon she focus on another target, but this time there were three plywood targets awaiting them. This was the final stage that Miho had asked Chief Mechanic Himi to step up for her crew, to take on multiple targets at once.
Miho steady her breathing, then lay a flurry of orders on her crew. "Moteki reduce to marching speed, hard left."
"Roger!" Moteki reply, then turn the wheel hard left, pivoting the tank to now cross the face of the plywood targets, while reducing their speed.
"Nomi, traverse right, fire when the targets are in your reticle. Nene I'm going to need speed loading from you," Miho call down to the twins.
"Roger!" The twins reply excitedly.
Now the tank was running sideways across from the plywood targets, keeping a steady speed thanks to Moteki's great driving skill, even with limited vision. Now Nomi work the gun with the discipline efficiency she had gained over her time being the gunner for the Tiger 1, while wanting to make up for the missed shot earlier.
Three targets cross her reticle, and three targets had an AP shell put through it with ease, thanks to Nomi's better understanding of firing on the move, while Nene's exceptional quick time loading gave her twin the increase in fire volume for the Tiger 1. Miho watch all this from her commanders cupola with great pride for her crew that was getting better with the day.
If anything, they had been more motivated than before. The match against Saunders and their Jumbos was a humbling experience for them, to see that their tank wasn't all-powerful and that they were going to face opponents with thicker armor that would render their 88mm gun useless if they didn't understand the small details of tank-killing, like trap shots, and now firing on the move that was going to be used to unsettle their foes.
With her gun facing to the side, Miho's Tiger 1 was still moving through the woods, and then she spotted the other plywood target that she was anticipating, but this time she relied on her bow gunner instead since the target was in front of her tank with the main gun facing away from it.
"Watabe, enemy 12 o'clock front, fire some tracer rounds to blind them!" Miho order.
"O..on..it!" Watabe reply, while now gripping the trigger of her MG 34, then started to send angry green tracer rounds into the plywood target, cutting up the wood with deadly accuracy.
Watching with approval for her bow gunner, Miho now laid orders down again. "Moteki keep our speed, Nene load AP, Nomi traverse left, bring the gun 12 o'clock, enemy center, fire when ready!"
"Loaded!" Nene reply back.
Nomi use the power traverse to get the gun more quickly on target, then when was close to 12 o'clock switch to handwheel traverse to get the final line up on the target, a new technique Miho had wanted her to use. The 88mm gun soon was back to the front of the tank, with Nomi just lightly squeezing the trigger, using Watabe's tracer rounds as an indicator of where the target was, then once she was settled she call her shot.
"On the way!"
The plywood target that was already punctured with holes due to Watabe's accurate machinegun fire, was now completely torn apart by the velocity of the shell, shattering it into nothing. Miho's crew cheer in excitement for their excellent showing on the course which had seen them perform as well as Miho expected them too.
"Alright crew, let's take a break. Moteki let's drive out the to edge of these woods," Miho order over the crew net.
"Roger," Moteki reply, then shifted gears to pick up speed again.
When they were at the edge of the woods, Miho order a stop and then call for a dismount. She wanted to let the Tiger 1's engine cool after such long hours of putting it through a strenuous drill, knowing that it had a habit to break down sometimes, yet Chief Mechanic Himi always gave it a great touch to keep it running at top shape.
Miho was the last of the crew to climb down her tank, and was met by Watabe holding a canteen filled with water. "Mi...Mi...Miho...wo...wo...would you li...li...like some...wa...water?"
"I like that very much Watabe, thank you," Miho said with a warm smile, then took a drink from the canteen.
"Ahhh!" Nene said gratefully, stretching her limbs out. "I do love our Tiger 1, but nothing beats stretching your legs after such tough training."
"You sound like an old woman," Nomi tease her twin.
Nene stop stretching, then turn to her twin with a devilish grin. "Oh, you got jokes. Want me to show what big sis Tamada taught me in the boxing gym."
"Ha! Don't try to threaten me with violence, you wouldn't dare lay a finger on your darling sister," Nomi said back confidently.
"She taught me other things than boxing, here let me show you," Nene said, coming towards her sister like a wolf stalking its prey.
"Ah...wait...hold on, let's talk about this," Nomi said, just turning to run.
Yet the loader twin wasn't about to let her pray getaway, as she wrapped an arm around her to put a light chokehold on her twin. Nomi began to tap her sister's arm to get out of the hold, but Nene was having none of it, especially since she knew she was the stronger twin, a result of loading heavy shells day in and day out.
However, their commander wasn't about to let this roughhousing go on too long. "Girls enough."
The sharp motherly order made both twins stop, then look dejected after the reprimand, while speaking at the same time. "Sorry, mom."
"Eh! Don't call me mom, I'm only a year older than you," Miho frantically said, losing all authority now.
Her crew began to chuckle, always glad to get Miho fluster.
"I mean Miss Tamada did say it was alright for us to call you that," Nene said nonchalantly.
"Tamada," Miho said with a weary voice, as it seem even when she wasn't around, she was causing her teasing.
Moteki spoke now, leaning on the Tiger 1 with an apologetic smile on her face. "Well is it wrong for us to see you like that?"
Now the crew all focus in on Miho, wondering how she was going to respond to that.
Miho for her part didn't know how to respond. Then she remember Tamada telling her once that Chi-Ha-Tan Academies culture brought out maternal instincts in the girls that attended here. She had first thought that was maybe a myth or something, but over time she had noticed, the older girls always look after the younger students, whether with schooling, club activities, even sometimes seeing them hanging out in groups of all different class years. It was something she had never seen in all her life in school, there was always a divide with class years, but here everyone hung out with everyone.
"Is it because you all are orphans? That you see me that way?" Miho ask.
The crew said nothing back, all silent for a moment, making Miho think she had overstepped on a touchy subject.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to be weird or upset yo-," Miho said in panic.
"No, your right Miho," Moteki said in a calm tone.
"We are all orphans here, Watabe is the only one that came from a family, but....well you know," Nomi said sadly.
Miho knew Watabe had come from an abusive home and found no reprieve at school due to bullying, which was the cause of her stuttering. Yet it struck Miho now that she never really got to learn about the rest of her crew, in the months of hard training, the matches, and her just enjoying her time with them, it had just flown over her head.
"I'm sorry Nene, Nomi, and Moteki. I've never really asked about what your lives were like in all this time we have been together," Miho said sadly, aghast at her own discourtesy.
Nene step up to her with a bright smile. "Ah, don't sweat that commander, it's not like the same story you've heard before."
"Well still, I rather know about all of you. You are my precious crew members," Miho said, taking one of Nene's hands.
"If you say it like that, we are going to look at you as our mother," Nene tease.
"Eh!"
Chuckles again follow the reaction from Miho, once they die down Nomi came up to Miho and spoke. "Well, I and Nene were abandoned at birth to foster care. As you can imagine, people weren't really ready to take on two kids at once, let alone one."
"Even one time, a couple only wanted to take one of us," Nene said sadly.
"It was Nene they wanted to take, but I threw the biggest fuss over it. I wasn't going to let them take my baby sister from me," Nomi said proudly.
"Hey, I'm the older one here remember," Nene growl at her twin.
"No, I'm the older!"
"No me!"
"No me!"
"No me!"
"No me!"
"Ok," Miho gently said, while putting a hand on each of their shoulders to stop the bickering again. "I have to say, you two remind me of how me and my sister were like when we were kids."
"Commander we're fifteen! Not little kids," Nene whine at her.
"I think she is just talking about you, I'm the mature one here you know," Nomi boasted with her hands on her hip.
"Why you!" Nene said, then pounce on her sister before Miho could stop them.
The two began their usual play fighting that couldn't be stopped, so Miho just shook her head with a smile and then turn to Moteki. She was standing by the tank with Watabe, so Miho went over to her to talk about her past to get all their stories.
"Moteki, what about you?" Miho ask.
"Well...I...I...," Moteki struggle to speak, Miho had thought Moteki would be more forthcoming. Yet the girl seem to hesitate for a moment, which made Miho curious.
"Moteki, if you don't want to talk about your past, it's ok," Miho said in a gentle tone.
"It's not that, I just realize I haven't told anybody about it, before I just said I was an orphan and that was it. Yet now I want to tell all of you about it," Moteki said, looking defeated.
The twins who had been play fighting earlier, now stop hearing Moteki's words, they both rose to their feet to come over to Moteki, with Watabe now looking at her tankery sister with deep concern.
"Now that you mention it, when we first started here and became friends. You never talk about your past with us," Nomi ask.
"Yea, it kind of slipped over our heads since you were always so friendly with us when we first met," Nene said.
Moteki smile at them, then took a deep breath and began to speak. "I actually came from a family home before, but didn't get put in foster care because of abuse or anything."
"Re...re...really?" Watabe ask.
"Yea," Moteki said, "my dad was a sidecar racer."
"That sport that has tandem riding at high speeds?" Miho question.
"Yea, my mom died when I was young, so it was just me and my dad. He was an average racer, but he dream to get to the top, because he wanted to provide for me, so I could live a happy life without worries and pay for me to go to college. Then one day during a race, he didn't anticipate a turn correctly and crash into the guard rail. It should have saved his life, but instead, it snap his neck."
Everyone gasped at the brutal story.
Moteki continue. "As you can imagine I was pretty traumatized. The worse part was my father didn't have great relations with his family, because he was supposed to have taken over some family corporate position, but wanted to follow his own path in life, by being a sidecar racer. That meant this proud family wanted nothing to do with his daughter who was now without a parent, so I was sent to foster care till Chi-Ha-Tan Academy pick me up."
"What about your mother's side?" Nomi ask.
Moteki sadly chuckle. "They wanted nothing to do with me either, since my mom had an arrange marriage to some other man, yet she love my dad so much that she ran away from home. Which meant they didn't want anything to do with the daughter of the bastard man who took their daughter away from them in their eyes."
"I'm so sorry," Miho said.
"You know, I never really thought about it all this time. I buried it down because I've been having so much fun being with all of you, just glad to finally be able to smile like I did when I was a kid," Moteki said in a quivering tone, letting her tears begin to fall.
Miho move in quickly to hug Moteki, then on some strange instinct, place a small kiss on Moteki's forehead. This wasn't done with some romantic attachment to it, but in a parental need to comfort their child, as weird as it was, because there wasn't a large age gap between them, yet that was how Miho was perceiving her own actions.
The other crew members added themselves to the group hug, which made Moteki began to cry softly. Thinking of her dad, who had raised her with love all on his own for years. Racing himself tirelessly for her sake of a better life and it had cost him his. Part of her blame herself for years for it, and even now some small part of her did.
As if she knew what Moteki was internally feeling, Miho pull back from the hug and then grab both sides of Moteki's face gently with her hands and spoke in a soft tone. "Your dad love you very much, to have gone so far to give you a better life, take pride in that Moteki, because you now can carry on his memory in your heart knowing he still dreams for you to find that better life and you have it here with us."
Moteki nodded with tears. "Thank you Miho, thank you so much. You really are the motherly figure I've needed all this time. I will live my life to honor my dad for all he has done and to honor you Miho."
"If that's how you and the rest of you feel about me. I'm ok with that, it's again why I love this Academy so much and the love I have for my crew," Miho said happily.
The crew now broke apart from the hug, yet stood close to one another.
Wanting to bring the mood up some more, Nene true to nature added some teasing in. "Who do you love more?"
"Ah, please don't ask me that," Miho said embarrassed.
"It's me right? I am Japan's best Sensha-do gunner," Nomi said with a grin.
"No, it's me, right? You have Japans' best Sensha-do loader," Nene match her twin in words and grin with a flex of her arm.
"No, it's me, right? Thiers no better driver in Sensha-do than me," Moteki said, the last of her tears gone, replace with a joyous smile.
Watabe stay silent for a moment, then began to speak, no longer in a stutter, but in a clear voice that shock her crew. "No it's me right? Thiers no better radio operator and bow gunner in Sensha-do."
Miho just smile, feeling her heart warm at the sight of this crew that had grown so strong since they started. With that growth, had been Miho's love for tankery to which she owe these girls a tremendous debt for helping her find once again. They were the crew she always wanted, that had a tight-knit bond that could only be achieved by adversity, tenacity, and love.
"No, I love all of you equally. Tamada guided me back to my love of tankery and you girls solidify my love for it. I don't ever want to walk away from it again, as long as I have this tankery family at my back," Miho said happily to them.
"We love you too Miho," Watabe again said, with no stutter.
Suddenly there was a high volume of cannonade heard in the distance. It was the sound of Tamada and Nishi's company's hard at work for the upcoming match. Speaking to their determination to unite the broken tankery family that Miho wanted desperately to bring together once more, and when she did, she would also tell them how much they all meant to her.
Her wanting to win was something that was a must in her heart. Even if she knew Oarai was closing down, she had to think of the team that had given her so much, and now she had to give them more than ever.
"Alright girls, break time is over," Miho said in a joyful voice.
Her crew line up in front of her, then snap off salutes of absolute respect for their commander. "Ma'am!"
"Mount up, we're going to go over angling our Tiger 1 against an enemy to make the most use of our armor, Moteki I'm going to need your best with driving," Miho said.
Moteki grin. "Like you need to remind me, commander, you have it and more."
"Watabe, radio to Nishi that I want her to join us, we need someone to shoot at us, so I can show you girls the need for angling," Miho order.
"Roger commander, I'm on it," Watabe said confidently, then climb up the tank to get to work.
Soon Miho's whole crew were mounting up their beloved Tiger 1. Miho touch her tank's side armor before climbing up, and for some odd reason, she felt like she could feel the aura of the tank. It was happy like it wanted to do as much as it could for this crew that fought so hard with it.
Miho spoke in a whisper to her Tiger 1. "Know I love you too, and I promise I won't let you down ever."
The aura of the tank seem to say, I love you too, now let's go get 'em Miss Tigress.