The Tigers of Chi-Ha-Tan ReRise Volume 3: The Tigresses Trial

For We Follow The Nishizumi Style

We advance with strength, our cannons are our bows that are always strong, our shells are our arrows that fly true to our foe, our tanks are our steady steeds that never waver to any enemy, our minds are one, and our will like iron

"Leader?" A voice call softly over the net.

For we follow the Nishizumi style, for our goals our undeniable, for our team that is unwavering, for victory that is never far from our reach

"Leader?" The voice call once more with a little more vigor.

So go forth ladies of iron and fury, go forth and show the world your might and never take one step back

"Leader?!" The voice said once more, a little annoyed now.

Snapping herself from reciting the Nishizumi Pre-match words said before every match for over 50 years by every Kuromorimine team, Koume came back to the present aboard her Panther Ausf.G tank, a boon from commander Maho for all her hard work.

"Sorry, Kiragaya didn't mean to space out on you. What you got?" Koume ask while sitting inside her Panther tank commander seat. It was a major upgrade from her Panzer 3 she use to command last year, though she wasn't made a part of the starting lineup till the final, since there is an increase of tank usage in the final round to 20 tanks which require her to be call up to the battlefront.

"Nothing, you were mumbling openly over the net, just wanted to check on you," Kiragaya her platoon member said back.

"Oh, sorry again, was just getting my mind in order," Koume said.

"Ah, don't worry about that leader, even if we were just put together last night, we all believe in you," Kiragaya said happily.

"Thank you," Koume said back, feeling relief that she and her hastily put together platoon trusted her to lead.

It still didn't seem real to Koume that she was now a platoon leader with the confidence of not just her platoon, but also Commander Maho behind her as well.

Koume began to recall her time last year when she wasn't a prominent member of Kuromorimine, and at the time were Miho had been with the team as well.

In last year's 62nd National Tournament, she had been on the bench watching her friend Miho along with the rest of the team fight in the tournament. She never could get over watching Miho fight with the Tiger 1, though not in the way her family would want. The youngest Nishizumi fought with ambushes with her platoon, picking her moments to snipe, and if she knew she was outmatched she would fall back, again not something Kuromorimine, a team that always advance, didn't approve of. Because of this trait, by the final of the 62nd tournament, Maho put Miho as the flag tank and assign both Erika and Koume to guard her.

It was the first time the three fought together as a platoon, though they were in the rear of the match at the time. However as the match wore on, Miho had a gut feeling that Pravda was up to something, as their team continue to drive Pravda back since the start of the match with little opposition. Without orders, Miho move to a vantage point, with Erika complaining all the way, but turn out her gut feeling was right, as the trio spotted a Pravda flanking force working its way along a river to get at the rear of their team's formation without being spotted, so Miho order her platoon, not caring if she was the flag tank, to attack and drive off this flanking force.

The heavy downpour of that day allow them to cut off the flanking force that was struggling in the mud just as they were turning off from the road along the river onto the open ground, but were met by the three first-year girls who beat them back to the river, working in complete sync with one another.