Chapter 12
Nonna stood from her seated position at the desk she had been doing paperwork on. The final assault on the Association team would be sooner than expected. The arrival of the Association members was a hassle. From her knowledge George Washington Boys Academy, South Texas High School, Wellington High School, Saint Peters Boys High School, Los Angeles High School of Tankery History, and Lincoln Memorial High School all decided to head home. Nonna could only guess the thought of them losing was enough to waver their moral. However, the last few schools showed great determination. Virginia Academy was still holding their ground in Hoja City all by themselves. Even with Federation reinforcements they were holding strong. Edison high school was holding the last American CP in the south. That CP was vital to launching an attack on the town of Glendale. The Americans headquarters. Taking that town would win the Federation the game. And the Americans would lose one of their favorite sports.
Thinking that Nonna thought back to Austin and his reasons for joining American Tankery. His elder brother died in the military and he planned to join as a tank driver after he graduated. It was a noble goal and one Nonna didn't want to take away. In fact, over the two months of the game most of the schools had changed their minds on wanting to get rid of American Tankery. It was a nice change of pace playing against the Americans. And its possible it would be even better if the Americans weren't in such a predicament. If they lost, then their sport was done for. It would break every one of their hearts. Nonna wanted nothing to do with that. Now while the Federation women were launching their offensives and counter attacks all over the island Nonna felt some despair. She was very against the Americans doing their Tankery before the start of the game. Now she wanted to aid them in keeping their sport. She had even thought of telling Katyusha she wanted to 'defect' and help the Americans. It was an improbable situation.
"Nonna, are you ok?" Klara asked.
Nonna glanced at Klara at the desk opposite of her own.
"I'm just thinking is all." Nonna said.
"About Austin?" Klara asked with a sly grin.
"Yes actually. Mind if I pick you brain?" Nonna asked.
"Currently." Klara said.
"Would you want to talk to Nikoli again?" Nonna asked.
"Of course, he was a nice enough guy and he held conversation well. He was very friendly." Klara said.
Nonna sat back down and leaned on her arms. "What would you do if you had the choice? Stay loyal to your side and complete your task, or flee to your enemy to be with a more noble and just cause?" Nonna asked.
"So that's whats bothering you! Well, I would follow my heart. If it says that I believe my cause is correct then I would stay, but if I long for the right to happen then yes, I will defect and help Nikoli out. You thought of leaving to join Austin, haven't you?" Klara asked.
Nonna nodded.
"Have you told Katyusha?"
Nonna shook her head this time.
"It might help her understand your feelings on the matter." Klara said.
"I don't want to trouble her with this. She has enough on her plate as is." Nonna said.
"Katyusha is many things. Childish, temperamental, sporadic, but she is never overwhelmed. She got enough of that when she was a first year." Klara said.
Nonna nodded at the sentence. Katyusha was bullied by her upper classmen her first year at Pravda. It was due to her height. She was small yes and it got to her. With schoolwork, club work, and the bullying on top of that Katyusha had felt very overwhelmed during that time. However, once she joined Sensha Do she figured out how to thrust her problems into a machine of problem solving. She had learned to be very open about the work she did and had never been overwhelmed again.
"Katyusha is smart in that regard." Nonna said.
"Added to the fact you are her best friend she will perfectly understand your reasoning. She doesn't show it, but Katyusha is having second thoughts about the Americans to. Her talks with them on the mountain were enlightening for her." Klara said.
"I guess you've convinced me Klara. I'll go take to Katyusha." Nonna said.
She was about to leave when Katyusha herself ran into the room.
"Nonna! Klara! Maho and Kay are back. They have the teams of Uncle Sam and Montana captive." She yelled.
Nonna and Klara dropped everything and followed Katyusha outside. Sure, enough the tanks were rolling in and several buses were following as well. Several buses stopped in front of the main building. The doors opened and several of the American males exited the buses. However, the men were handcuffed. They looked uncomfortable and quite irritated by the cuffs.
As more of the Americans got off the buses Nonna's heart clenched. She didn't want to see Austin walk off one of those buses. She heard Klara gasp and followed her gaze. It was Nikoli. He was lined up with his tank crew. However, what shocked them was he had a black eye. Klara covered her mouth, surprisingly a small tear escaped her eye.
"Get off the bus now!" A Federation woman yelled. Nonna's attention turned to that direction and she held her breath at what she saw. Austin was being dragged out by one of the Federation women and thrown to the ground. His hat had fallen off to which the woman took it and tossed away. Once he stood up and went in line, he finally noticed her.
He looked like he was in some pain, but he smiled sweetly at her. This prompted one of the Federation women to hit him in the back of the head.
"Get these brats into the stockade and get the rest working. They totaled a number of our tanks so get them fixing them." A federation woman known as Akari said. She was the head of the Federation women that reinforced the high schools. She, however, was told to follow the command structure, so she would listen to the five commanders.
The Federation woman started moving the Americans along and shoved half towards a big building the girls had been using as a holding cell. The other half were being guided towards the tank sheds. Nonna saw Austin was in the group heading towards the sheds himself. However, he looked completely exhausted and even looked hungry. Whatever was to come, Nonna knew it would not be good.