Chapter 5 Part 2

The young scion of the Nishizumi Family had to admit to herself that this wasn't she was expecting at all on what's inside the building. She had to blink several times if she was seeing it right, pinching herself slightly even, before accepting this is the interior.

There were numerous rows of chairs neatly lined up to a maximum of 10, and dividing them into separate columns by the walkways themselves. In the very front was a huge white screen with two peculiar symbols on top of it. One was a circle that has two arrows pointing in an arching trajectory, the arrows and the circle's boundary are colored grey while the inside was colored red. The other one was a peculiar heptagon that has a letter 'T' accompanied by what looks like a bent stick on either side. The 'T', sticks and the shape's boundary is colored grey while the inside was colored black. If Miho didn't know any better she walking to a movie theater.

The sound of footsteps snaps her out of her stupor to find her escort walking towards a pedestal that has a worn-out book on it. She watches as Klaus opens the book, grabs a pen, and starts writing. Seconds later, he was done.

"Follow me." He said. Miho automatically followed him, must be something important. They walked towards a door, the combined sound of their footsteps echoing in the so far empty building. They stop in front of the mentioned door and Miho could see a shirt icon. She immediately know it means.

"A dressing room?" She asked, turning her head to Klaus. The German crew member turned his head to Miho in return.

"We need to change your clothing. Don't want to make a scene where a young girl is in a patient's clothing in a viewing room." She nodded agreeing with his logic. Her expression adopted an incredulous look, seeing one minute detail underneath all of that.

"Why didn't they think of that earlier?" Klaus just shrugged in response, not knowing the answer. Miho just sighed. The sound of a door being open got her attention and she turned her head to the now open room, courtesy of her companion. Wordlessly, they went inside and she was dumbstruck by the seemingly innumerable amount of tank crew uniforms of each nation. She turned her head to Klaus' direction. He turned his head to her direction in reply, stretching out an arm and tilting his head to the clothing, telling her 'go on'.

Miho hesitantly took the tentative step forward, inspecting the different clothing with just a touch of a hand. Memories of a happier time spring up. A small smile graces her lips as she moves inward. She then stops in front of a series of officer uniforms with a flag stitched to them. The flag was colored blue that has a golden cross, the vertical part being put more to the left.

She gets the uniform from the rack, inspecting the intricate details put into it. Satisfied, she turns to Klaus presenting the uniform. Her companion raises an eyebrow in her choice. She raises the uniform a little higher, pointing a finger at it, insisting on her choice. Either in acceptance or skepticism, Klaus nods and beckons her to exit the room. Miho complies, leaving the room with her chosen uniform.

"Change there." He said while pointing ahead. The young Nishizumi followed where he was pointing at, and her vision was greeted with a room adjacent to the room she exited seconds ago. She could see a symbol on the door, two clothing with a back and forth in between.

With a 'thank you', she enters the room and closes the door. Once she was in the room, she put a palm on her face. How did she not notice this room before?! It was literally right next to the uniform's room! She lot a groan of frustration as she composes herself for a few seconds. As she withdraws her hand from her face, she proceeds to change from the hospital gown to the crew uniform.

As she did so, she eyes random spots on her skins that has a lighter shade the normal. Her lips turns upside down as she continues what she was doing. She then notices something: she had no undergarments. Instead of being flustered or groaning at her plight, she resorts to wearing the uniform over the hospital gown. After a few minutes of dressing up, she was finished. Miho inspects herself, and after she was satisfied, she went out of the room only to find Klaus nowhere to be found.

The young Nishizumi was confused as to why he would left her so early before reminding herself that he was part of tournament, Tankery at that, and tournaments have one of the most tight schedules ever known to humanity. She couldn't blame him for what he had done. Closing the door behind her, she chose her seat and sat there.

As she sat there, her mind wanders. A set of memories come forth in her mind….

Her legs burn. She knows she is exhausted. Her heart pumps harder to pump blood in the most crucial areas of her body. Yet she did not stop to rest. Why you ask?

"Catch her! Don't let her escape!" That is the reason. Why was she running away from them? Other than the reason that she was tortured for over a year and a half now, she had heard that the school has been investing on a revolutionary new way of transporting their tank teams from one area to the other instantaneously since the nature of tankery has been changing rapidly.

True or not, she would take the leap of faith and use this revolutionary thing to get out of this hell. She waited her time, and when the time was right, she jumped on that time and goes all out. The only problem with her plan was that she did not know where this thing is. She could only pray to Lady Luck that her guesswork that it was at the lower levels of the vessel was right.

"Gotcha!" Her head snapped in front as a fairly tall woman blocks the hallway. In a split second, Miho slide underneath the woman as the tall individual tried to catch her. She continued her run, not looking behind her to see the stunned expression plastered on the woman's face.

For hours she ran from her pursuers while trying to seek for that miracle. Exhaustion was taking a toll on her body, yet still she did not rest. She would not let this ample opportunity to skip away.

Finally, a breakthrough. A door has the 'Authorized Personnel Only' sign, and the door was partially open. Thanking Lady Luck and praying to her again that her hunch was right, she speeds her running. Seconds later, she breaks in. She closes the door, locks it, and proceeds to put random things to reinforce the lock.

She took the moment to rest before resuming her search. She could hear the muffled noises of her pursuers but the door should buy her some time. Her eyes then notices a number of panels with lots of buttons and switches. That was below an observation glass. She approach with caution. She took a peak and gasps on what she found.

Below was two, metallic semi-circles set apart by a few meters. Pipes were connected to the constructs like some kind of energy feed. Miho rubbed her eyes to see if she were hallucinating. When she could still see it, she looked down, putting her hands on the panel below her to stabilize herself. An honest to god teleportation device! Somehow her 'mother' and the R&D team of the school manage to create something from science fiction to reality.

A ghost of a smile appeared in her face as she chuckles. No time to rest now, she reminded herself. She stretch her arms as she goes to work. The buttons and levers were kindly labeled for her to use. She-

A ruckus pulled Miho out of Memory Express. She looked behind her see numerous people, all jotting down at that book, going to dressing room and seating down at random seats. Her attention then diverted towards the screen in front. It was technically playing some kind of music with the weird symbol she spotted earlier accompanying it.

As the people settle down to their respective seats, Miho takes a critical look on the people. The majority of the people were around 20-30ish in terms of age, however she spots those of her age group as well. Wasn't surprising, since Sensha-do has that kind of audience as well.

The tell-tale ticking sound of a countdown puts her attention back to the screen. It first views the list of the participants in the match. Two teams, 15 each. 30 in all. That's big, she thought. Though she wonders to herself why there are Roman numerals (VII-IX) inside the vehicle icons. She smiles though as she spots the names of caretakers.

Then, it switches from the list to a patch of open ground. The camera then pans out to take a more general view of the landscape. She hungrily takes in every single detail. A huge mountain range separates the hilly west from the lake in the center. A central road is carved at the eastern base of the landmass. To the very east of the landscape lies a fairly sizeable town that has many avenues of approach.

"Roll out!" A voice said, and the tanks went out to battle. Miho grips the arm rests of her seat in anticipation.

'Good luck to you three'.

-Earlier-

Alexander was tapping his foot patiently. He raises his arm to take a look at his watch before putting down his arm. Michael had already signed them up for a match and said they would be deployed to their designated place in 30 minutes. 15 minutes has passed, and they were still waiting for Klaus, the one who volunteered to escort their guest. He is a patient man, but even he wasn't immune to Time's seemingly endless ability to cause paranoia.

He look at the ones that will be his teammates very soon. There was his best friends, Michael and Vasily who were conversing with their crew. There were faces that he didn't recognize, others he could only see in posters and other forms of media. One face he recognized from propaganda was the famous KV-3 commander Demitry Larinn and his crew. He did not know much about him, only that he has one impressive track record.

The hard crunches broke Alexander from his 'surveillance' and look at the offender who was Klaus, slowing down before stopping trying to catch his breath. Another set of hard crunches grabs his attention, and he was greeted with the sight of Michael moving towards his crew member.

"Mission accomplished?" Alexander noted that the others had their attention at this little event. Some of them even adopted a curious expression on their faces. He could only imagine what imaginative objective the mission entailed. Only he and his friends know the true objective of the mission that was given to Klaus. The aforementioned individual corrects his posture before taking in a few gulps of air and looking at his commanding officer straight at the eye.

"Mission accomplished." He said. Michael was satisfied with the answer and turns around to his tank with Klaus trailing behind him. A whistle blow signaled that it was time for deployment. Everyone went inside their tanks and…sit tight. This is where, in Alexander's mind, the most peculiar yet the most fascinating part of the tournament happens. All of them felt…something that rattles the tank slightly. A few seconds later, Alexander peeks out of the commander's hatch to find they were in Lakeville.

All those who participated in the tournament doesn't know how the head honchos manage to that trick, but the instantaneous movement from their gathering point to the base (either north or side) of any part of the world is such a blessing. Makes credit earning much more bearable since additional costs would make the tournament unenjoyable and not fun to play in general.

His mind then races as he processes the information that his eyes is relaying to him at the moment. The biggest piece of information is that the team he and his friends were in the northern base. He reaches out to his pocket to pull out a piece of paper. It was the list of players on both teams, and the important information he could gleam on were the tanks each player would be deploying on the playing field.

He grimaces as he look at the tanks of the enemy team. Tanks like the ISU-152, T95 and the Type 4 Heavy to name a few are going to be a pain in the ass to deal with. Thankfully, they have their own heavy hitters as well with thanks like the Waffentrager auf Panzer IV, Rheinmetall Borsig Waffentrager , their own T95 and in addition a T30 and a Jagdtiger. An added bonus was that there were no Artillery in the match. Though it works both ways. While being hit out of nowhere can be frustrating, the added support from those Hands is invaluable especially if time of the essence is needed.

Alexander shook off at that train of thoughts as the finals seconds ticking in. He looks at his friends who was looking back at him. Without any words muttered all three nodded to each other as a good luck gesture and goes back in their tank.

"Roll out!" The announcer shouted. Soon the tanks went on to battle, trying to be the first ones to take a key advantageous before their enemies does. Alexander takes a look at the map that somehow tracks the movement of all allied tanks, and spotted enemy tanks, as well as a general view of the given terrain. He grimaces as he looks at the western side.

"Alright boys here's the plan." He said over the radio.

"The western side is not looking good in terms of numbers. So we're going there, reinforce the scout there and the lone tank destroyer and hold out. Push if needed." He added.

"Affirmative."

"Copy that." With that out of the way, he and his friends went to said area. As they cross the terrain, their speed went down a tad bit, though it was normal for them since the terrain in this part was different. They reached their destination, seeing the T71 CMD hiding behind a rock on the far top right of the ridgeline.

Alexander positioned his T29 as the lead tank as he orders his driver to slowly peek the hill crest. Behind him were his friends, positioned so that they can surprise someone who is dumb enough to rush a hull-down American Heavy Tank. The lone tank destroyer at the back-which is now identified as a T25 AT-is primed and ready to give supporting fire if the line is pushed back hard.

At the same time, the T71 CMD reversed to provide much needed vision on the other side. The scout did its job as it identified a few of the enemies. The scout hurried back into cover, and honestly if Alexander was that guy he would've done the same. Seeing the enemies dreaded ISU-152, a Jagdpanther, and the Waffentrager auf. Pz IV pointing their guns at your general direction, especially when you're squishy target, is not a pleasant sight to see.

Still, the T71 CMD's scouting didn't go in vain as Alexander's T29 managed to be in a hull-down position. As soon as the American tank is in that favorable spot, the enemy tank destroyers started firing. However, Alexander didn't have anything to fear as the shots bounced off as the glorious turret armor of the American heavy tank.

The heavy tank's gun replied in kind, scoring a direct hit on the ISU-152 which caused damage. Of course, Alexander didn't stay in that one spot all the time as he orders to fall back a little to reload and move forward to fire back. His friends didn't stay idle either. Whenever all three TD's fired their guns, they move up and fire at them to get sweet damage(two shots for Michael's tank even) before retreating so that Alexander can take the damage.

Eventually, the enemy tank destroyers were so sick of shooting the turret front of the T29 that they decided to high tail it and leave. Alexander take a brief look at the mini map. His lips turned into a thin line at the situation. While the town to the east was secure, the central road was not making any progress.

"So what do we do now?" He asked over the radio. The reason why he was asking this was that the situation in the central area could go either way at this point.

"I'll say press the advantage." Vasily recommended. The channel then crackles a third time.

"I'm in agreement with Vasily on this one. Let's just pray that our allies at the center can hold that bit long enough." Michael said.

"I hope you're right about this…." Alexander warily said on the radio. He prays to whoever is up there that Michael's little prayer comes true. With that said, the trio went over the hill and towards the enemy base. The T71 CMD accompanies them, rushing towards a new scouting position.

Michael and Vasily went to where the T71 CMD went, but both of them received a hit from one of the enemy tank destroyers which shaved a third/more than a third of their health. At least it didn't hit something critical in their tanks. Alexander, meanwhile, placed his tank on a convenient little ridge and starts working them over. Soon, his friends and the T71 CMD joined the fray. Minutes later the tanks from the town were here, cleaning up. Their allies from the center also managed to join. Between them, they killed the remaining enemies.

A chime rang with the sky turning green. The signal that the battle was won.

-Back to Miho-

Miho sunk back to her seat, astonished at what she had seen. Her ears barely registering the claps and loud cheering of the crowd around her. After a full minute of shock, she let a small smile grace her lips and she congratulates her caretakers for their victory. Her sights went back to the big screen, blank for the moment.

She reviewed what she had seen in that match, and though the action was many and the variety of tanks present were staggering, she felt that the information with her right now is lackluster at best. Sure the health bars, the damage counters and the like (Seriously, those are supposed to be in a video game!) caught her by surprise, she still needs to learn about the basic inner workings of the tankery.

So she let herself be comfortable at her chair to watch loads of tank matches before reaching her conclusion.

'Or just join the tournament like any normal person.' She muses to herself. It was a logical step, but that will be for the future.

-stretches her arms out and begins the procedure, pushing buttons and levers in the correct order. The hum of the device was music to her ears, but there was no time to celebrate. If she needs her daring escape plan to even have the slightest chance of working, she needs to make sure that her pursuers did not follow her to whatever location she might end up.

However, there was a major problem. How can she destroy the device while keeping it stable? Worse of all, what material she can use to do considerable damage to it in the first place? Her body tense when she could faintly hear voices from the other side. That shorten her time table. Making up her mind, she quickly open the door leading towards the device.

The space was massive! But there was no time to waste. Immediately she went looking for something, anything that could cripple the device soon after she entered it. She searched high and low, back tracking to a few places even just to make sure. The situation was getting desperate, and her ears could pick the sound of her pursuers trying to open the door when she hit the jackpot.

Hidden away at a random spot were crates of ammunition for the collection of tanks Black Peak has managed to acquire. Thanking the gods for a while, she immediately went to work. The task of moving the boxes near the device, opening it, and placing the shells to optimal positions went for a full hour, maybe even more, all the while straining her ears to hear if her pursuers is still trying to open the door.

The silence only she could hear in this room should have been welcoming, relieving to her mind. Instead, it only brought dread. It registers to her that they are going to fetch something strong enough to bust the defense she hastily set up. She hastens in her task when she registers another problem: how is she to set the charges in the shells?

She cursed in her head that it almost screwed over her concentration on setting the makeshift charges. Thankfully, she didn't drop them or else her escape plan would've ended right her, right now. Still, the problem of setting these shells off nags at the back of her mind. She entertains quite a few ideas, but she debunks them as soon as she evaluates their merits.

She begins to feel frustrated as time passes by with no real solution in sight. She massages her temple as a migraine slowly starts to form. The migraine faded when her mind suddenly slowly comes up with the craziest idea yet. Her eyes drifted towards the pipes that she somehow managed to forget and gloss over when doing her plan. A manic grin formed on her face as she gets to work.

A/N:

Hey guys.

It's been a really long time since I updated this fic. Now you're all wondering, why is that? To be frank, I have almost all spirit in writing since life is getting harder. Also, my enjoyment in World of Tanks have exponentially because of mistakes and that World of Warships exists. I almost dropped out of being a writer when I got the SU-76G FT in WoT, reinvigorating my spirit in writing and in WoT.

I will try my best to update as fast as possible for your enjoyment. As always, please share your reviews, opinions and suggestions so that I can make this fic better for you guys to read.

Oh, before I forget, I would like to thank those who submitted OCs for this fic. I will put them in the story in one way or another.

Good luck, and roll out!

-cellum95