"Haha! We did it!" The boys screamed out.
"How do they like that! Huh!"
Katyusha was on the ground, bawling and crying her lungs out.
"Sorry kid, better luck next year" Carm said to her
————————
"You owe me ten bucks!" One of the visitors inside of the drone control bunker said as he looked at the image the drone showed.
"That's enough laying around! Go to your stations!" Colonel Beckmann snapped
The "Visitors" returned to their stations
"Nice job kid...." He thought to himself
"Looks like the Army's investment was worth it..." Master Sergeant Uteger said
" so it was"
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Yukari watched from a distance as the boys celebrated
"We did it, we won!" A girl yelled over the radio
"I can't BELEVE that actually worked!"
"How did they do it??.."
"Are boys a good luck charm?"
The student council was bewildered, but still happy that they ended up winning.
But to say the least, it didn't feel like a team effort.
——————————
"They only won because Pravda was off guard." Shiho said
Maho looked on in confusion
The sheer skill one must have in the art of Sensha-Do to do that to Pravda was completely mind-boggling.
The sheer guts one must have to use their own team as bait, including their flag tank
Maybe Pravda was taken horribly off-guard by how un tank like their vehicle was
According to them.....
Maho continued to contemplate....
Her mother noticed the slightly uncomfortable look on her face as recovery vehicles were dispatched to clear up the destroyed ruins of Pravda's vehicles.
"That is not real Sensha-dō." Shiho said
"In the finals, you will show them how a true warrior fights." Shiho said
Maho's breathing quickened for two short breaths.
Before calming down
"You will show them how one truly plays this sport...."
"Yes, Mother, for the honor of the Nishizumi name I will crush them, and wipe the stain off the sport!" She used her own speech to drown out her lack of confidence
Her Mother noticed this,
Her lack of confidence will have to be corrected.
———————————
Upon pulling up to the team gathering area in the front of the screen...
He found himself in the middle of the teams celebration.
He was free to reveal his face now.
He walked through the concessions area, similar to that of when he beat Saunders.
Instead of everyone laughing at him, however
He had the presence of an angry God.
People steered clear of his path, they were actually terrified.
Terrified that he would make fools of them.
"So this is what it feels like to hold all the cards..." Carm thought.
A few representatives from almost all schools were there.
They were blown away,
Literally any student of Pravda escaped from his predicted walking path.
His classmates and colleagues in the Sensha-dō team looked on with sense of feeling similar to that of fear.
He almost emitted an aura of terror.
They very same people who laughed at him and called him names backed off.
Since he was drawing a ton of attention, everyone who could, attempted to tell their friends that he was their best friend.
Of course this was a heap of crud and they stopped upon seeing his scowling face.
His expression was colder than the icy wind.
———————
His tank was waiting in the repair area, and as he marched over to it.
A van pulled up next to his tank.
Hmn? What could this be?
Upon a closer look, it turns out it was a news van.
The news crew piled out, and they were surprised to see that he wasn't near his tank.
The boys were working on it.
When a news reporter asked where Carm was, he said he didn't know.
Unbeknownst to them, he was right next to the tank.
Carm thought of the perfect things to say before walking into view.
He walked out, and he was spotted.
"There he is!" One of the news crew members said.
They immediately set up the news camera and started recording.
They didn't even ask for his consent....
Okay....
"I am reporter Renko Isuwa live on site with the commander of Ōarai's boy tank team." She said
"How did you beat Pravda like that?" She questioned
Uh....
"Skill" he said bluntly
The reporter was taken aback by the sheer simplicity of the response
"What are your plans for the impending championship mat—"
Without thinking, Carm swiped the microphone from her hand
He uttered these words.
"KUROMORIMINE IS NEXT"
———————
Shiho and Maho went to navigate out of the stands.
The massive railway car screen that they watched the match on was broadcasting the news.
The leader of the boy team was being interviewed....
How disgusting....
"What are your thought of the impending championship mat—" the reporter said before being cut off
The boy's response was quick and to the point
"KUROMORIMINE IS NEXT"
Maho froze
before looking back at the screen
How disrespectful...
—————————
Carm walked away from the reporter before climbing into his tank.
The boys were already inside...
"Forward!" Carm bellowed in English
The large vehicle moved forward.
The sheer volume of the noises that the heavy tank made while driving off drowned out any more questions the Reporter might've asked.
The news crew stared at the giant, robotic, machine move before their very eyes.
It was beyond intimidating.....
The sleeping giant has officially woke up.....
—Timeskip—
The boys met the girls at a bus stop.
Since tanks weren't street lega—
At this point Carm was too afraid to think with normal logic
This place was too wacky.
Because if tanks WERE street legal.
Before he left this place.
HE WAS going to drive a T29 on the street.
He laughed at the possibility.
The bus arrived and they went back to the ship.
————————
Carm returned to the garages, where all of Ōarai's vehicles were lined up neatly.
The boys were tasked with backing the enormous T29 into a cramped garage.
It was taking a while for their tank to get here however, as it's large weight required special methods of transportation.
A US Army M25 Dragon wagon, Tank transporter.
And yes, of course it had a .50 Caliber machine gun on it.
And yes, the trailer was modified with modern components to hold the T29.
Carm speculated the boys were too busy having fun with that....
————————
Carm looked online using a computer while he waited for the boys to arrive with the tank,
The Army had sent him a form, to see if the tank had the desired performance, and if there were any issues.
"Just look at the highlights of the battle..." Carm thought to himself
Carm tried to think what it might be lacking.
Hmmm, there was a variant with a built in rangefinder....
———————
The T29E3 Tank, not shell, was a variant of the T29 with a T31E1 rangefinder built into the turret.
It looked kinda like ears.
It bet the girls would think that's "cute".
But they serve a deadlier purpose.
The main weapon, a T5E1 gun lacked the muzzle brake.
The T5E1 is the base variant of the T5E2, the T5E2 itself is a modified version of a T5E1 built to go on a different gun mount.
The one Carm's T29 was already equipped with.
It is the same in all regards of performance. except the T5E1 has all three of its huge recoil pistons mounted on the top of the gun cradle, and the T5E2 had two on the top and one on the bottom.
The upgrade would increase the weight to around 71 tons
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————————
The T29E3's rangefinder will help scout targets at a distance and give effective first strike capability at 1000+ yards. Meaning he could pull the exact same stunt he did with Pravda, just from even further away.
So he did a formal requisition of a new turret with the T31E1 rangefinder and hoped it went through....
Someone tapped on his shoulder....
"GAH!" Carm yelled
"Ah!" The person behind him squealed
Carm flipped his head around and Yukari was just standing there.
He blinked around twice wondering why she was standing there.
She had something in her hand,
.
.
.
.
.
.
They were coupons for ice cream.
"Uh, H-Hey, w-would y-y-you l-like t-to g-go g-get s-some I-Ice c-cream...
I, -U-Uh k-know a-a g-good p-place...."
Carm stared like she was crazy,
Why was she stuttering so much?
"I-I uh, thought t-that u-uh, since we uh, won, we could g-go get a-a treat,
But, uh, if you don't w-w-want any that's totally fine." She stammered like she was being shaken like a leaf blowing in the wind.
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"Sure! what a good idea, I could go for some ice cream!" He said like a normal person
"Really?! You would?!" Yukari said excitedly
"Uh, yeah? It's ice cream, why wouldn't I?" Carm said.
————————
After arriving at the ice cream parlor.
The building was purple and looked really nice.
Carm already knew what he was going to get.
The boys were probably still doing their antics with the dragon wagon so they had plenty of time.
.
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.
The line was relatively long,
Yukari needed to use the restroom.
While she was doing that, Carm made his way to the front of the line.
The buckets full of ice cream looked delicious.
"What would you like sir?" The man at the counter said
"How much chocolate do you have?" Carm said simply
"So, you want chocolate ice cream, dipped in chocolate, with chocolate syrup?" The man said
"In a waffle cone" Carm said
"Make the top of the waffle cone chocolate as well." Carm said
The man looked at him weirdly as he put in the order
"That'll be two thousand yen"
Ah, so around fifteen bucks
Carm had traded in tons of USD for Yen recently.
He put the money on the counter.
"And for your date...." The man at the counter said.
Uh oh,
What was Yukari's favorite ice cream again?
She still hadn't returned from the bathroom yet
Wait did he just call Yukari his dat—
"I'll have whatever he's having!" Yukari said, just in the nick of time
She was wearing a completely different outfit.
"Oh in that case do you want chocolate ice cream, dipped in chocolate, with chocolate syrup and a chocolate waffle cone?"
Yukari stared at Carm is disbelief as she heard every single piece of chocolate Carm was ordering on his ice cream
"How can you eat that much chocolate?!" She said loudly.
Before blushing in embarrassment
and just ordering some vanilla ice cream, with sprinkles.
Carm went to sit at the table attached near the window.
He climbed on one of the stools.
.
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.
When the cashier thought that Yukari was his date, he finally realized why she was so worried about asking him.
To her, this must be a date....
Carm did not like that idea....
So he tried to cram it down his throat and not make mention to it like a date, and hopefully no one will think so.
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Yukari sat on the stool next to his.
Carm slouched his head to keep her out of sight...
This is not a date.....
This is not a date.....
You and a friend are here to get ice cream and go......
And then Yukari will be happy, and you will not have the horrible thought of being on a date, like someone from a stinkin romance story or something.
He was here to drive tanks, not get attracted to girls
Carm needed to distract himself.
Ah!
He yanked out his phone and started watching war thunder videos.
Because it's a thousand times better to watch someone else play it rather than yourself....
Yukari tried to watch it too...
It was extremely awkward to say the least.
"Your ice creams you two" there was a server with their ice cream in a tray.
Ah, finally the chocolate masterpiece!
Or whatever ice cream you'd rather have ordered
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Carm ate down the wonderful ice cream.
Tasted chocolaty!
Ah.....
Carm sat back, Yukari hadn't even made it to the cone yet,
Guess she's just enjoying it.
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Yukari finally finished up some five minutes later.
"W-Was it good?" She attempted to make conversation
"Sure was!" Carm said happily
"I-I'm glad..."
"Thanks a whole lot!" Carm forgot it was supposed to be a date
They walked outside the door
"Now, I hope that the guys got the tank back. I should go check." Carm said
"Yeah, uh, okay, we'll I'll see you there I guess." Yukari said in a downcast voice
"Is there something wrong?" Carm questioned, confused upon hearing her saddened voice
She sniffled a little
"Are you gonna stay away from me now?"
"Stay away? Why would I?"
"All you did was do something completely nice!" Carm said
"That was a terrible date! We didn't make any conversation! Or any of that stuff couples do!" Yukari fussed
"Who gave you that crazy idea?" Carm said
"Well, I wanted to do something special for you since you helped us win,
And Saori insisted I went on a Date!
And she told me the best way to do one,
and that if I didn't take you on a date then you would think I wasn't acting like you're friend!" She sobbed
Even though shewas slightly incoherent, he could understand her point.
Her friend tried to tell her the best way to date a guy, and she followed them,
And when the "Date" didn't go according to plan, she thought he'd throw her aside.
"Hey, its fine, you're still my friend" Carm said reassuringly
Yukari stopped and looked up
"The fact that you thought about me enough to do that is awfully nice——
Oompf!"
Yukari planted a hug straight into his chest.
"Why did she always have to dive into me like a high velocity shell?" Carm thought
"Don't let anyone ever tell you how to be friends with someone, okay?" Carm said
"O-okay, *sniffles. Thank you..."
Carm looked at the time with Yukari still hugging him like a vise grip
"11:30 PM?!" Carm yelled
"I have to go!
Uh, could you please let go?
She lets go, slowly
See you tomorrow!" Carm said
"I'll see you tomorrow too!" Yukari said cheerfully
They both walked away.
—————————
Yukari was halfway home when she realized that she didn't even use her ice cream coupons
Oh well, good for the next date then,
—————————
Carm thought that that was enough relationship stuff for one day, he didn't want to act all overly emotional like the protagonist in a Romance story.
He had to command a tank after all
Yukari was an excellent person and an awesome friend though....
He hoped to enjoy some more time with her later on.
But now, he wanted to clear his mind with some heavy metal.
*Blasts Sabaton in earbuds
Ahhhhhh.........
Relief
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