The portal closed almost as soon as it opened, depositing its two "passengers" onto the dusty ground.

The two figures laid there awhile. Either unconscious, or simply stunned, it didn't matter. They both had what were obviously military uniforms on, but they weren't ordinary looking soldiers. They both had long coats; the smaller, younger soldier's had a deep blue, almost black, coloring. A large, cylindrical pack was slung over one shoulder. The larger soldier had only a tan coat. And he was definitely larger. Even lying on the ground, you could tell. He seemed to take up an enormous amount of space.

The two soldiers sat up, coughing dust, and trying to get their surroundings.

"Hey, Goliath, what the hell just happened?! One second we're on a transport out to an assignment, next thing, we're tossed ass over ears into some forsaken goddamn valley"

"Goliath" sighed. "Would you stop calling me that? And I'm in the same boat as you. I have no idea where we are, but the first thing we should probably do is-"

The soldiers both stopped what they were doing as their heads snapped towards an incoming rumble.

They stood up, seeming to forget their earlier conversation.

"Tanks," the larger one said, putting his hand on a blue steel lantern at his hip.

"Yeah."

"How many?"

The younger one opened his pack, and took out a very large sniper rifle. After aiming towards the noise, he checked the scope and said, "Five. But they look way more advanced than anything I've ever seen before. Don't get me wrong, they're still tanks; they have a turret, exhaust, and tracks, but I would treat them with more caution than normal. Do you think that they were the ones to bring us here?"

"No way of knowing. For now, we'll treat them like an opposing force. Disable them, only. I don't want any casualties."

Glancing over at the larger man, the sniper muttered, "Yet."

The other just gave him a look that said they'd had this conversation several times.

"That main tank is a hell of a lot more armored than the rest. I'm not sure what I can do to it."

The sniper rummaged in his pack for a second, before drawing out a box marked "EXP."

"I'm going explosive. I'll take out the treads of the four support tanks; keep them off your back. Think you can take the main one?"

The larger soldier reached into his coat, drawing out an enormous handgun. He checked a brace on his arm that held spare ammo, recounting them.

"Yes. Remember, NO casualties. Minimum necessary force to disable them."

The sniper waved him off, "I got it. I got it. You don't need to repeat yourself."

"Good. Here they come."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Nishizumi didn't know what to think of what she was seeing. Two soldiers just came out of some sort of portal that just APPEARED in the middle of the valley. If she hadn't seen it, she probably wouldn't have believed it.

"Hey, Hana, are you seeing this?"

Her dark haired friend turned to her and said, "Yes, I am. But I'm afraid that I'm just as confused as you are."

"We should contact the judges."

"Wait," shouted her orange haired friend. "Look! They're about to run into the St. Gloriana team… and it looks like they're going to fight!"

"Fight a tank?!" Nishizumi looked again. The two of them had drawn their weapons. The big one had a large handgun, while the other had some sort of large rifle.

She looked on in disbelief. "Are they crazy?"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are they crazy? We're in a tank," the main gunner said.

The driver turned her head slightly to respond, "I don't know. Who are they?"

The captain cut in, "I don't care who they are, but if they open fire, we will respond with force. If they think they can come here and attack us, they will be sorely mistaken."

"Captain," the driver called out, "the large one lit some sort of blue light."

"That might be their signal to attack. Watch ou-"

The captain looked up as she heard the report from the rifle. It was louder than she expected.

A second later, over the radio, the driver of the third tank said "I'm hit! They took out my treads!"

"What!?" the captain shouted. She looked out of her viewport to see that tank three had stopped and that one of its treads had been destroyed.

Another gunshot rang out.

This time, it was tank four who reported a broken tread.

"Enough. All remaining units, target the area around the sniper. Try to disrupt his field of view."

The booming of their turrets began echoing across the canyon.

"But Ma'am," the gunner said, "he took out two of our tanks, shouldn't we attack him directly?"

"He only disabled them; there have been neither deaths nor injuries. While that lasts, we will respond with the same."

"Yes Ma'am."

The captain looked out across the battlefield. The sniper had been moving since his first shot, not even stopping to fire. He definitely knew what he was doing. Still, it was the other that unsettled her. The large one had just been advancing on the line of tanks this entire time.

What was his plan, she thought. Did he not fear them? A normal man would have run AWAY from the tanks. A sense of dread and hesitance made its way into her heart.

"Tanks two and five, I want you to pull off and continue to suppress the sniper. Take evasive maneuvers, he's got excellent aim. We're going after the other. Send a warning shot. Aim just to the side of him. I want to make the statement clear."

The gunner lined up her shot, taking care to make sure to minimize the actual threat of the shot, before firing.

The round was right on target, kicking up chunks of rock, and making a large cloud of dust and smoke.

She took some time to admire the accuracy of her shot, a small smirk coming to her face.

The smile dropped completely when the soldier walked past the area of effect as if nothing had happened.

"M-Ma'am..."

"I-I saw. My god, he didn't even flinch. Fire again. This time, aim in front of him. Hurt him as little as possible, but I want you to stop him."

"Yes Ma'am."

"Ma'am, this is tank five, we've been disabled."

"Dammit! Who are they?!"

The gunner aimed and fired.

The large soldier cared as much for that shot, as he had the last. Bloodied, and covered in dirt and debris, he continued his march.

"Forget 'who,' WHAT are they?!"

"Ma'am," the driver said, "we'll be coming upon him shortly."

"Alright. Face him head on. He will move or be moved."

"Ma'am, tank two has been disabled!"

"Damn," the captain swore as she looked off towards the other group of tanks.

She was startled by the scream of the driver, and a large thump.

"I-I hit him. He didn't move. He j-just kept walking f-forward..."

"You were just following orders. It's not your fault," the captain said.

"W-why wouldn't he get out of the way," the driver asked.

"I honestly don't know. However, that sniper is still out there. I want you to turn and-"

The captain suddenly stopped talking, as measured thuds, reminding the captain of a parade march, could be heard coming from the top of the tank, making their way towards the hatch.

The captain paled.

"I-impossible. T-that's impossible..."

With each thud, the captain's heart beat faster and faster.

The footsteps reached the hatch.

It opened to show a scarred, bloody face with intense, staring eyes devoid of anything that could be called human, all framed by a ghostly blue glow; and a gun barrel that seemed to wide enough to swallow the captain.

"Please... Have mercy..."

There was a clink, the light disappeared, and life seemed to flood back into the face.

The soldier seemed stunned, and with confusion clear in his voice, said, "Children... They're just girls."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The opposing tank team looked on in shock. They could hardly comprehend what they had seen, let alone believe it.

The gunner just stood there, shook her head, and asked, "h-how did that... What just happened?"

The radio officer, normally boisterous, was stunned into silence.

The loader just kept muttering, "impossible... There's no way."

The previously sleepy looking driver was wide eyed and slack jawed.

Eventually, the captain said: "I want someone to get in contact with the judges immediately. I want to know what just happened."

"But more importantly," she thought, "I want to know who those soldiers are."