-7-

The Enemy of My Enemy...

Erika gawked at the horrific display before her. The Firefly sat in flames on the dirt road with the M4A1 (76)W a couple hundred yards closer. Tiger 131 was behind her as was the M4A3E8 which was still alive somehow. Usually at this point in time, Erika would be throwing a fit for being taken out of the match, but the thought of her current situation did not even cross her mind as she stared at the wreck of the turretless Sherman. Its crew was nearby, huddled around one of their crewmembers who laid unmoving in the mud.

The vice-captain took a hazy step towards the Saunders girls.

"Erika!" Chikari screeched.

Erika whipped around

"Aahhh!" Kay shrieked like a possessed banshee as she brought a shovel down directly at Erika's head.

Erika jumped to the side and landed on her belly. Looking back briefly, she scrambled out of the way as Kay attempted to strike her again. Erika managed to get back on her feet.

"Hey!" Erika shouted. "What are you trying to do?!"

Kay did not answer. Glaring at Erika, she straightened her back and walked towards the vice-commander, dragging the shovel through the mud.

Erika took a step back. As she did, Kay increased her pace and sprang towards her. Erika ducked and dodged as the spade came close to her neck.

"Stop!" Erika squeaked.

Kay did not listen. Blind with rage, she swung at Erika who then dodged another attack. They chased each other in a small circle with each girl doing their best to either kill or survive.

One attack left Erika facing the Tiger instead of Kay and when she looked behind her, the broadside of the spade slammed into the side of the Kuromorimine vice-captain's head. Erika was forcefully spun around and landed facedown. Weakly, she tried to get up. Grabbing onto the Tiger's tracks and any other leverage on the side of the tank she could, she hauled herself up.

Kay stood still for a couple heart beats. She raised the shovel and aimed the blade for Erika's skull. Wordlessly, she lunched forward, ready to deal the coup de grâce.

Or that is what she intended.

Before death could call upon another person, Kay dropped the shovel and fell onto the ground as if she got hit by a battering ram. Looking back at who shoved her, she saw Nora standing where she was.

"What the hell do you think you are doing?!" Nora demanded. "Why do you want to kill an innocent high school girl?!"

Kay got back to her feet.

"She is not innocent," Kay said darkly.

"What is that supposed to mean?"

Kay did not respond and only began to step forward. Nora followed Kay's gaze. Once she realized what her captain intended, she stepped in her path.

"Get out of my way," Kay said.

"Only if you don't pick up that shovel."

"Get. Out. Of. My. Way," Kay intonated dangerously.

"Then stop looking at the shovel," Nora said.

Kay snapped her demonic eyes onto her assistant driver. Feral instincts kicked in as Kay's lips started to curl, showing her canines, a growl forming in her throat.

"Last chance."

"I'm not going to stand here and watch you commit-"

Nora was interrupted when her nose was introduced to Kay's fist.

"Ah! What…" Nora panted.

She ran a finger under her nose only to find it red with her own blood. When she looked back up, Kay was walking past her.

"Oh no, you don't!" Nora grabbed Kay's arm.

Kay turned around and threw another punch. Nora recoiled and made a brief scream of pain. She continued to grip Kay's sleeve tightly. Kay twisted Nora's wrist and knocked her to the ground.

"Don't you fucking do it!" Nora shouted as she got up and gave Kay a sharp shove away, causing Kay to stumble pass the shovel.

"Stay out of my way," Kay said, returning the shove.

"Like hell I will!"

Nora pushed her again, but received another fist to her cheek. She retaliated, barely hitting Kay's jaw.

She swung again.

Kay put up her left arm to block the attack and shot her fist into Nora's sternum. Nora stumbled backwards, coughing. She fell onto her butt and grabbed her chest.

"Hmph," Kay scoffed scornfully.

The Saunders captain turned her back on Nora and once again made her way to the shovel. Nora wheezed as she looked towards Kay.

"We are not doing this dance anymore!" Nora shouted as she tackled Kay to the ground.

Kay landed face first into the mud and Nora straddled her back. She pinned one of her captain's arms behind her back and tried to restrain the other. Kay was flailing her free arm, trying to find a rock. But there was nothing to be found. Instead, she took a fistful of mud. Through brute force, Kay rolled over and slammed the glop of mud into Nora's temple. Nora released Kay's other arm as she tried to wipe the mud away from her eyes. She was knocked to the side and Kay stood up. Still partially blinded, Nora got to her feet as well and threw a right hook. Kay ducked beneath her strike and then punched Nora right beneath her ribs.

"Goh!" Nora exclaimed in pain.

She attempted to attack with a left jab, but Kay did not have to evade much as Nora's aim was off. Kay grabbed her arm and then spun her around, launching her into the side of the Tiger. Nora felt the heat from the fire against her back as she tried to stand up straight. Before she could get to her full height, Kay punched her twice in the stomach and once across the cheek.

"Kay! Stop this right now!" Alisa shouted.

Alisa put her hand on Kay's shoulder, but the Saunders captain was on a warpath. Kay took her attention off Nora and punched her number one radio operator squarely in the nose causing the second bloodied nose from Kay's fist that day.

Although weakened, Nora charged in attempt to spear Kay. Kay only budged a little. Looking at Nora, Kay twisted her body and hammered her elbow into Nora's back. After a few strikes, Kay wrapped her arm around Nora's neck and applied pressure. Nora panicked and did everything that she could to break free. She clawed at Kay's arms, but Kay was older and with a heavier build and stronger frame making any attempt to dislodge them from her neck a practice in futility. Nora tried elbowing and even kicking but with no effect as her lungs screamed for air.

Suddenly, the thunderous report of an M2 Browning tore the air apart.

Kay let go of Nora and covered her ears. An odd action from someone who spends many hours near firing tank guns.

"Stop this at once!" Naomi demanded from atop the Easy Eight.

Kay looked at Naomi. The sniper of Saunders could see that the murderous intent still burned in her friend's eyes. Naomi immediately racked the M2's charging handle to clear a jam and fired into the rear of Tiger 131 which was just inches away from Kay. Shrapnel flew as the bullets fragmented and Kay fell to the ground, covering her face. The gunfire stopped and Kay looked at Naomi who had lowered the barrel onto her.

"You will stop this at once!" Naomi repeated. "No one else needs to die!"

Kay's blue eyes became clear and bright once again. Apparently clueless, Kay looked around her. Nora lay in the mud like a corpse with only the faint moving of her torso indicating that she was still breathing. Alisa was not far off, pinching her nose with one hand and catching the falling blood with the other. The crew of the Tiger gathered around Erika and started wiping the blood off of her face. In the distance, Tess and her crew were huddled together.

"Naomi…" Maria said through her sobs.

Kay looked in the direction of her tank and saw Naomi help Maria carry the bloody and seemingly lifeless body of Bailey out of the turret.

Overwhelmed, Kay sat up against the Tiger. She began to sniffle. Then her body began to shudder. A soft wail came from her mouth as she began to cry.


The paramedics arrived on scene some time later. They were absolutely muted with shock at the carnage that had been stirred up within a couple of minutes. Emma and Bailey were immediately taken to a helicopter. Maria followed as she did not want to be separated from her partner.

Sam was also treated as she still felt immense pain in her ankle. Upon closer inspection, her ankle was inflamed and she could not put her weight on it. With a seemingly fractured and possibly broken ankle, she was soon evacuated to the hospital as well.

Erika sat in a helicopter with a blanket over her shoulders. Besides the small winces of pain, she did not protest as her cuts were bandaged. Kay and Nora sat with their backs facing each other in another helicopter. Nora also had a blanket around her and moved an ice pack underneath her clothing for the massive bruises. Kay held up her right hand as it was being bandaged. She briefly looked at Nora with regret and sorrow written all over her face.

Alisa's nosebleed had stopped and she wiped the blood off of her skin. Her clothes still wore the dark red stains.

Naomi was talking to an official on what she saw happen. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary until Tess's M4A2 blew its turret sky high. The Tiger I and Easy Eight continued to fight until the Tiger was disabled, but its flag was not raised. Closer inspection revealed a hole in the Tiger's rear armor and a deformation in the Easy Eight's side armor where the 88mm HEAT round was weakened by the logs, but not stopped. The official thanked Naomi for the report, unaware that she left out Kay's rampage.

The medic had just finished bandaging Kay's hand when Naomi approached her.

"What happened to you?" Naomi asked.

Kay just looked down, her back hunched.

Naomi tilted her head.

"Cameron's dead," Kay replied tiredly.

Naomi said nothing as she put a hand on her face and let out a loud sigh.

"I got the call today," Kay continued. "While we were riding down the road. Causes of death were major damage to vital organs and third degree burns."

"Who's Cameron?" Nora asked.

Naomi wiped tears from her eyes before answering.

"She's the commander of the Sherman we found in the orchard." Naomi shook her head briefly. "How could this happen?!"

"Maybe she knows something," Kay said as she looked towards Erika.

The Kuromorimine vice-captain was just about patched up. She had a bandages covering her left temple and upper cheek. The rest of the cheek was heavily bruised. Erika winced when the medic bandaged the wounds on the left side of her neck. She looked towards the sound of approaching footsteps.

Erika's heart started racing when she saw Kay, but the Saunders captain was behind Naomi, who was tense in case Kay tried to do anything. Nora still wore the blanket and was a little farther behind.

"Do you know why I attacked you?" Kay asked.

Erika slowly shook her head without taking her eyes off Kay.

"Is that not a clue?" Kay pointed towards the tanks which haven't moved from their spots.

Erika shook her head again.

"You saw the helicopter-" Kay began.

"She didn't actually," Maya interrupted as she approached. "Because you knocked her out with that shovel."

Kay turned her attention back to Erika.

"First Cameron. Now Emma and Bailey. Does Nishizumi want to eliminate her competition so badly that she is willing to kill them?"

"What? Kill?!" Maya exclaimed.

"Kill? What are you on about?" Erika demanded in a raspy voice.

Kay frowned.

"Today, Thursday at 12:03 PM. Cameron, the commander of the 'Fighting Girl' was declared dead. Yesterday, we found her tank burnt and riddled with holes in the apple orchard at C-35, but she was taken to the hospital on Monday. Today, right after breakfast, there was an artillery strike on the town at D-26 where we had camped out for the night. Two vehicles were destroyed and many were buried in the rubble."

Erika stared wide-eyed in horror as Kay continued.

"Today, when we fought you, Tess's tank got hit which put Emma in critical condition. Then you shot at us which made me lose my gunner and loader. So what do you have to say for this despicable act? Why do you want to turn tankery into warfare?"

There were several eternal moments of silence before anyone said anything.

"I-I-I... I don't know anything," Erika finally admitted.

"What?!" Kay bellowed as she raised her fist.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Maya cried out as she jumped in front of her commander.

"Whoa, whoa! Hey!" Naomi grabbed Kay's jacket. "Stop it!"

"It's true we don't know anything!" Maya said. "We were out since yesterday and our radio broke when we got attacked by your Hellcats! If you don't believe me, try the damn radio for yourself!"

"Also, if you're angry at Maho, why don't you go take it up with her?" Naomi added forcefully.

"Then I will," Kay said before addressing Erika. "When you get back to base, tell your captain to meet me at the crossroads at grid AM-44. And that I will make her regret it if she tries anymore shit."

Kay did an about-face and started walking towards her tank before anyone could raise objections. Naomi looked at Kay, then to Erika, and back to Kay before scrambling after her. Nora put her medical blanket on the helicopter before following the sniper.

"Tess! Alisa!" Kay called.

The two commanders looked in Kay's direction.

"Get over here."

Kay leaned against the Easy Eight as she waited for the others.

"So what exactly is your plan?" Naomi asked as she approached. "Going into Black Forest territory, alone, and talk to Maho?"

"Yep," Kay answered simply.

"And that's if...if she doesn't decide to ambush us and probably kill us," Naomi said.

"That's why I want you to come along. So you could snipe that pretty little head out of the cupola."

"Snipe who's head out of a cupola?" Alisa asked as she got within earshot.

"Kay wants me to kill Maho!" Naomi exclaimed.

"What?!"

"That's only if..." Kay clarified. "If she tries any funny business. And you won't have to if Black Forest is as clueless as Itsumi says."

"What's up?" Tess asked as she walked up.

"I'm going to meet with Maho," Kay said, and continued before she could get interrupted. "I plan on meeting her at the crossroads at AM-44 so I can find out why our girls are getting shot up. If everything goes thumbs-up, we might be able to end this match without any further casualties. If not...then may God help us. Naomi, Alisa, Nora: you are coming with me."

"What about me?" Tess asked.

"You are in charge until I get back to base," Kay said as she climbed onto the tank. "When you get back to base, get everyone to RTB no matter where they are or what they're doing. Don't leave until you get a call from me."

"We'll lose ground if we abandon the field," Tess pointed out.

"I don't care if we lose. I'm putting our girls' lives first. Keep your phone on."

Kay hopped down into the commander's hatch. She looked down at where Tess stood and found that Alisa, Naomi, and Nora have not moved.

"Girls?" Kay said.

"It's too dangerous, Kay," Naomi said. "We already do not know what is going on with whatever is happening here. And you want to go into the heart of Black Forest territory, straight into the teeth of the Nishizumi heir? And you want me to take a pot shot at her?"

Naomi shook her head.

"No. Uh-uh. Sorry, but you're on your own with that idea."

"Then I'll go alone," Kay said as she began to climb out of the turret and to the driver's hatch.

"Shit," Naomi muttered and started to climb onto the tank.

"Wait, Naomi! You just said you weren't going!" Alisa exclaimed.

"I know, I know! I'm just making sure Kay doesn't do anything stupid. Like kill Maho," Naomi said with venom as she looked at her team leader who was climbing back into the turret.

Alisa sighed approached the tank and prepared herself for the short climb.

"Looks like I'm going," Nora said. "They need a driver after all. Tess?"

"Yeah?"

"If you don't hear from us in the morning, raise the white flag, shoot a flare, do whatever you have to do to declare that Saunders have forfeit. Save as many lives as you can. Promise?"

"A grim promise, but yeah. I promise," Tess answered.

The two tankers briefly shared a hug.

"My phone will be on," Nora said as she climbed into the driver's hatch.

Tess answered with a nod.

Nora hopped into the driver's hatch and started the engine. As the unnamed Easy Eight drove away, Tess silently hoped that this was not the last time that she would see them alive.


None of the girls talked to each other as they traveled down the road. Tensions were high as they nervously turned their viewports and flicked their eyes back and forth praying that they would not run into any enemy tanks.

Grey clouds rolled in slowly from a horizon as the sun approached the opposite horizon indicating that it was late in the afternoon. Kay was nodding off when a loud explosion jolted her awake.

"Contact!" she exclaimed. "Do you see them?"

"Nope," answered Alisa.

"Negative," said Naomi.

"Nothing down the road," replied Nora.

Kay cracked open her hatch just enough so she can see out of it. Beyond the grove of trees to the left of the tank, she saw multiple muzzle flashes. Alisa handed Kay the binoculars after she asked for them. Looking back into the trees, she saw gun barrels aiming for the sky, but she could not see the vehicle they were attached to.

"Nora. Hard left 90-degrees," Kay ordered.

Nora complied and pulled on the left stick. The Sherman slowly ran off the road and into the trees. Nora weaved in between the trees and crushed the heavy undergrowth. The unidentified guns continued firing and after clearing a few more yards, the Saunders girls stopped and gaped in surprise and puzzlement.

In a field in front of them were five guns firing pointed upwards and firing their rounds into the sky. Self-propelled artillery was not illegal for use in tankery and several schools possessed such vehicles. But they were rarely ever fielded.

However, what was in front of the girls were not vehicles at all; they were traditional artillery guns.

"What?" was all Kay said before another volley shook the air.

Nora took out her phone and started filming. The artillery were unmanned, but upon closer inspection, they were modified with some sort of auto-loading mechanism.

"They look German," Naomi observed.

"What caliber?" Alisa asked.

"150mm by the sound of it."

"Could that be what hit us in the town?" Nora asked.

"Possibly," answered Naomi.

"There's no way the Federation would allow that to happen," Alisa said. "They must be blanks."

They flinched as the large caliber guns let off another volley.

"Okay, those are definitely not blanks!" Kay said. "Naomi, take them out. Nora, get us to that other tree line."

The two girls confirmed their orders and went to work. Nora began slowly crossing the field as to not disrupt Naomi's aim. The sniper aimed for the auto-loading mechanism and fired. One by one, the guns fell silent.

Nora followed the tree line which boxed the field. On the way back to the road, Kay noticed something in the neighboring field.

"What d'you see?" Alisa asked.

"A plane," Kay answered.

"An FW-200," Naomi said.

"Reckon there'd be something in there?" Alisa queried.

"Maybe. I'll go check," Kay said.

She lifted herself out of the turret and urgently walked towards the wreck. When she reached the door and looked inside, the sight of the interior stole her breath. And not in a good way.

The interior was in ruin from the crash, but on top of that, there was blood and bullet holes seemingly everywhere. Also...

...guns.

Several rifles, pistols, and ammunition lay scattered towards the front of the aircraft.

Ignoring the weapons, Kay scoured every inch of the passenger compartment. She looked under the seats, tables, and in the overhead bins but came up empty.

She looked towards the cockpit door which was closed. Carefully, she reached for the handle and opened it. What Kay saw made her empty her stomach. Sitting in the pilot seat was a corpse leaning over the yoke with a hole in the back of its head. After Kay had finished retching, she looked back at body.

There was a pistol inside the leg holster. Kay reached for it slowly. When her fingers wrapped around the grip, she yanked it out and quickly took a couple steps back.

The body had not moved.

With a small sigh of relief, she looked at the handgun that was in her hand and before she knew it, she grabbed an empty leather bag she had found and started stuffing it with all the guns and ammunition she could find.

~o~

The inside of the tank was silent, nearly suffocating, when Kay got back. She knocked on the hatch and Naomi opened it up.

"Nora, get back to the road and continue to the crossroads," Kay ordered.

The driver confirmed and began to navigate through the trees. Kay stayed on the back of the Sherman.

"Can I talk to you, Naomi?" Kay asked.

"Sure," Naomi answered as she stood up through the commander's hatch. The tank rocked as it got back onto the dirt road.

"Did you find a clue?" the sniper asked.

"Not really," Kay asked. "What do you make of all this?"

"Shells punching through tanks, prop artillery guns using live rounds instead of blanks, how we were attacked in the town, and the real casualties," Naomi listed. "If I did not know better, I say someone's trying to kill us."

"I feel that way too."

The tank was approaching the crossroad.

"Something fishy is going on here," Kay continued. "And that plane, it had a dead body in the pilot's seat."

"Your joking," Naomi said in disbelief.

"I'm not. And these were in it too."

Kay opened the bag and showed its contents to Naomi.

"What-"

Naomi was interrupted when an explosion shook the tank. Kay fell down onto the engine deck and Naomi ducked back inside the turret. The tank halted as the right track broke apart.

"Contact!" Alisa shouted.

"No! No! Not another Tiger!" Nora wailed.

"That wasn't an 88," Naomi said.

Kay got up and used the turret as cover. She spotted their contact.

"Panther! Rotate right 10-degrees. On the ridgeline on the other side of the field," Kay communicated.

Naomi anxiously spun the dial to get the gun pointed at the target.

"Clear!" Alisa informed.

Without time to lose, Naomi stepped on the trigger and sent a 76mm shell towards the target. The round ricocheted off the Panther's front armor and into the barrel. The Kuromorimine tank fired. The midsection of the barrel swelled and blew itself open as the shell hit the obstruction caused by the Saunders shell. Combat ineffective, the Panther pulled back and vanished before Naomi could take another shot at it.

The crew breathed a sigh of relief.

Kay jumped down and inspected their track.

"Well, we ain't going anywhere," Kay said.

"How bad is it?" Naomi asked as she hopped down.

"A couple sections are destroyed. Busted bogie too." Kay looked up at Naomi. "Can you fix it?"

"Yeah, but I'll need some help."

"Okay. Alisa-"

"What the hell is this?!" Alisa exclaimed, interrupting her captain.

She held up the leather bag.

"Guns it would seem," Nora said, her eyes brightening.

Kay wiped her face.

"I'll explain later," she said. "But right now, Alisa, you help Naomi with the track while me and Nora check that house. Nora, grab a gun before you go."

Alisa made an annoyed sound and hopped off the tank. Kay climbed up and started rummaging through the bag.

"Can I get the Type 89?" Nora asked, her eyes gleaming.

"Uh, sure," Kay answered.

The driver picked up a rifle that had a folding stock and Japanese Kanji on the side. After checking to make sure it was loaded, she hopped off the tank and headed towards the house with a visible skip in her step. Kay raised an eyebrow and followed with a pistol in hand.

"Now that's concerning," Naomi said to no one in particular.

The house was fifty or so meters off the road to the left of where the Sherman got tracked. In front of the house was a Saunders Locus that was taken out.

"Wouldn't the Locus girls have found a case already if there is one in the house?" Nora asked.

"Maybe," Kay said. "But we won't be going anywhere until the track is fixed. May as well do something."

The two entered the house and searched the rooms as thoroughly as possible without ransacking the place. Nora was clearing the rooms like an operator while Kay just walked casually through the house. They soon searched upstairs and ended up in a bedroom.

"Kay, why did you require me to get a gun before searching the house?" Nora asked.

Kay sighed and sat down on the bed.

"Why do you ask?"

"You just don't seem yourself...from what I heard about you anyway," Nora concerned. "Are you diagnosed with bipolar depression?"

Kay snapped her head to her driver. She got up and grabbed Nora's collar.

"How dare you assume I have a mental sickness?!" Kay roared.

Nora gulped.

"Sorry," Kay said quietly as she sat back down. "Nora, I'm sorry. It's just with all that's been going on. The artillery, Cameron's death, these goddamn guns in that plane...it just doesn't feel like tankery. When I talked to Naomi, she thinks someone is trying to kill us."

Kay sniffed.

"It's just...I'm scared, you know. I'm scared about what will happen next."

"Hopefully we can get some answers when we talk to Maho. And maybe we can negotiate a cease fire and end this match early," Nora comforted.

"I sure hope so."

There was a sudden thump that came from the closet. The two girls looked at the closet then at each other.

"There shouldn't be anyone here but us, right?" Nora asked.

"Right."

Nora raised her rifle and flicked the safety off. Kay crept towards the closet and put on hand on the handle while the other held the pistol. Kay mouthed a count to three and then swung open the door.

The girls tensed when the door opened to reveal what was inside.

"Don't kill me! Don't kill me!" a woman said frantically before gasping in pain from a broken leg.

Nora stayed tense as there was a handgun in the closet as well, but Kay lowered her weapon and stared wide-eyed in surprise.

"You're...!"


A/N: And the unrelenting cliffhangers continue!

I would have updated earlier, but I've just been very busy lately.

Feel free to leave a comment or review and tell me what you think. Other than that guys and gals, take care and I'll catch you in the next chapter.