34Where did all my reviewers go? Anyways, I decided to change the Wepse. I feel like Erika needs a heavy tank to command, so I went with one of the suggestions. And you find out who faces who in the first match. I don't own Girls und Panzer.
It was the same day as the match between Oarai and Sydney Outback. Lizzie and her friends had offered to take a few of the Oarai girls, and Oni, to show them their ships garage. "And here we are." Lizzie said to the group, which consisted of Oni, Miho, Yukari, Anzu, Aya, Kay, all of Leopon team and Erwin. "We have all of our tanks inside the large one, but all our spare and/or unnecessary tank parts are kept in the smaller one."
"Mind if I look, we're missing a lot of parts our tanks need to have replaced or fixed." Oni said.
"Go ahead; I'll even get Alexander to help you." Lizzie said.
"Al? It's been forever since I've seen him." Oni said.
"Who's Al?" Aya asked.
"My roommate when I came here. If I remember correctly, he was the junior officer supposed to look out for me." Oni said. "How is he?" he asked Lizzie.
"Ask him yourself. He's on his way over here now." Lizzie said. Oni then turned around and saw his old friend.
Al stopped and looked at the group, before noticing Oni. "Good to see you, mate!" He said to Oni, shaking his hand. "How's it been?"
"I've been good. Traveled the world, became wanted, built myself a new arm. How about you?"
Al chuckled. "Well since you left, I've become head mechanic. Still not as good as you ever were though. I saw the match; did you work on those tanks?" After this point, the rest of the group went into the garage, leaving the two friends alone.
"Nearly all of them, though we don't have much to work with." Oni answered. His phone rang. "Hello?" He asked, picking it up, it was Erika. "Uh huh… Really?... It's that bad…. Fine, I'll see about getting some parts… A new tank? How are we supposed to get one?... Right, of course it's my problem. Heaven forbid you go looking again… See you later." He said hanging up.
"I can help you get a new tank." Al said.
"Really?"
"Yeah, we knew how much you liked working on the tanks, so toward the end of your time here, we sort of… bought you one. As a thank you, of course." Al said, motioning for the smaller garage.
After searching for an hour, the two had taken out at least a dozen boxes of parts unnecessary to the Australian school. "Are you sure it's in here?" Oni asked.
"Hasn't moved in nearly three years." Al then moved around another large crate, looking behind it. "Ah. There it is."
Oni walked over and stopped, staring at what he considered the greatest present he never received. "An E-100? You got me an E-100?"
"More like a shell. We got it for you to work on, since we're never going to use it. We don't use German tanks here. But everything should be intact, except for the engine, which doesn't exist." Al said. "I'll go get my truck, and then we'll load everything up."
(Later at Oarai's garages)
While Al and Oni were unloading everything from Al's truck, all of Oarai's tankery team was working on the recently damaged tanks, except for the group Liz brought back and Erika. "I completely forgot about that tank." Liz said to them, seeing the tank as she pulled up.
"Why are you giving this to us?" Miho asked.
"It belongs to Oni. A gift from us to him, he just left before we could give it to him. That was over two years ago." Liz explained, continuing to watch the two mechanics struggled to hook up the E-100, so they could pull it off the trailer.
"I'm just glad I'll be commanding a new tank. The Wespe is too weak for it to be of any use." Erika said, heading over to the group.
Oni and Al finished getting everything off the truck and walked over. "I don't think I'll be able to get it done by our first match, but it shouldn't take two weeks for me to build an engine. That's only if I work on it alone." Oni said.
"What about Al? Couldn't he help you?" Lizzie asked.
"That's another thing, while I would be happy to help a mate, we looked for a while and couldn't find enough of the necessary parts to build an engine, and fix any other problems." Al answered.
"Could we use parts of the Wespe?" Oni asked.
"It would be possible with what's missing. And we have three days until the tournament officially starts, so we'll be staying at port for a while." Al said.
"Right, the opening ceremony is being held in Oarai. And surely the first round won't start for at least a week. Could you have it fixed by then?" Miho spoke.
"With the two of us together, we might just be able to." Oni said.
"But, why take apart the Wespe?" Anzu asked. "Surely it'll be useful with the gun it has."
"While a howitzer is a powerful gun, I'm sure the E-100's armor will be of more use. Add in the turret, and you'll see that the E-100 is the much better option." Erwin said.
"There is also the fact that the Wespe completely broke down when that shot pierce its rear, indication of serious problems. We would have to take apart and rebuild nearly the whole tank, which will take more time than just fixing things on, and building an engine for, the E-100. It's a glorified scrap heap now, since fixing it isn't a favorable option." Oni explained.
"We'll just need time to work. Something we won't have if Oni needs to work on all the other tanks." Al added.
"We'll focus on fixing the tanks we have already. You focus on the E-100." Nakajima stated. Oni and Al both nodded, after Oni translated for Al. AID then ran out and jumped on Oni's shoulder.
"Who's that?" Lizzie asked.
"This is my companion AID, he's been with me nearly the entire time I was traveling the world. He's been really helpful. Isn't that right buddy?" AID gave a whir. "Looks like I need to fix you as well. I'll do that right now." He turned to Al. "Does tomorrow work for you? We'll need to start working as soon as possible if we're ever going to get things done."
"Tomorrow sounds great. See you then. I would like to hear about that robot, Oni." Al said as he and Lizzie began heading to their vehicles.
"See you tomorrow then. And AID is more than just a robot." Oni said to Al and Lizzie, before they drove off, heading back to their own school.
(Three days later)
Al and Oni had been working for hours without stop the past three days, reducing the Wespe to nothing but parts and had already finished fixing everything for the E-100 except for the engine, which they had yet to start on. Today they weren't going to get anything done on the engine, since the opening ceremony was going on. Today was when all the schools found out who they were facing in the first round. Lizzie, Miho, Al, Oni, Katyusha, Maho, Assam, and Naomi were all backstage. Team commanders were to pick the numbers determining who they will face. All the other countries team commanders were waiting to pick their schools number, some themselves were officers while others had companions with them who were officers, unknown to their commander. The rest were either staff, or a translator for those who didn't speak English. "I don't like the glares we're getting." Al said.
"When you're the only two guys backstage, people will stare." Oni said.
"That's right, but at least you aren't on stage." Lizzie said.
"You're just saying that because you like being on stage. Wouldn't want to allow someone else to be the focus, do you?" Oni grinned, earning himself a playful punch in the shoulder, courtesy of Lizzie. It was then everyone noticed Commander Nishizumi walking onstage.
"I hope everyone had a pleasant trip here, and that you enjoyed the match a few days ago." Everyone cheered. "Now it is time for the first international tournament to begin. But before that, several of you may have noticed a certain… competitor for the Japanese team." Several angry yells. "He has been allowed to participate and we expect cooperation from all teams." Several more angry yells. "With that out of the way, would each team's commander come onto stage and pick their teams number." The commanders did so. The matches, determined by country, were as follows.
#1 India vs. #9 Australia
#5 Italy vs. #13 Finland
#3 France vs. #11 Brazil
#7 England vs. #15 Greece
#2 Belgium vs. #10 Russia
#6 South Africa vs. #14 Canada
#4 Japan vs. #12 Germany
#8 America vs. #16 China
"First round matches will allow up to 25 tanks, second round matches, 30 tanks, semi-finals will be allowed up to 35 tanks, and the finals will allow up to 40 tanks. All matches will start in one week's time; you have until then to prepare yourself. Locations have already been sent to your instructors. Now go, good luck to all teams , and Panzer Vor!" Commander Nishizumi said. A multitude a cheers erupted from the audience.
"Guess I won't be able to help with the E-100. Sorry mate." Al said once they had left the building.
"Don't be silly, we have plenty of great mechanics, if Oni needs your help, we can afford to let you help him for the time being." Lizzie said.
"Yeah, and when the E-100 is ready to go, I can fly you back to your school. I'm sure the Association will give me the ships location." Oni said.
"Then it looks like I'll be staying at Oarai for a bit." Al stated.
"Looks like it." Oni agreed. "Do you have anything you want to say commander?" he directed the question to Miho.
Miho nodded and turned to Lizzie. "We'll be routing for you." Miho said.
"Same here." Lizzie agreed. They said their goodbyes, except Al, and they headed for their schools, Al heading to Oarai. Every School was to leave in the morning.
Al and Oni continued to work on the E-100, and during the days he spent there, Al realized just how hard it was to live at a school only meant for girls. Oni laughed every time his old friend was uncomfortable with Japanese customs, especially this one time Al walked into the community bath-house. That was too awkward for even Oni, considering his sister was in there, but the dumbstruck face Al had was priceless. Towards the end of the week, the E-100 had been completed. Al turned to Oni. "We did some good work, even with the wild week I had." He stated." Oni agreed, laughing at his friends discomfort that week. "How did you manage to stay here for a month without going crazy?"
"It helps to have friends." Oni stated. "Family is even better."
"Right, Aya. You must have been going crazy without her around." Al stated, realizing what Oni was getting at.
"You have no idea how hard it was. Seeing her again really made me happy, even though for the first couple of days she didn't recognize me, I still knew she was ok." Oni stated. Al and him then got into Oni's helicopter, and began heading for Sydney Outback High.
Again, tell me what you think. If you're confused about why I put the matches in such a strange way. Every two matches is a quarter of round 1, and the numbers alternate. This method puts the first 8 in separate matches and the second 8 fill in the remaining spots.