Chapter 26: A Showdown Between Sisters
Leopon Team, inside the disabled Porsche Tiger, watched as the Maus pursued their remaining teammates. As they could only watch at this point, they could not help but observe the tank that dwarfed any vehicle that they had driven or worked on in the past.
"It must take a lot of effort to maintain something of that size," Hoshino said.
"Along with all the other tanks?" Suzuki said. "I'm fairly certain Black Forest has a dedicated tank repair crew, not some Auto Club members who are branching out."
"I'd imagine," Tsuchiya said. "And I assume that those people have never actually gotten to fight alongside the others in a tank battle."
"Black Forest has a lot of people on the bench, so presumably, if they needed someone, they'd include one of the benched players," Nakajima said. "But who knows? Maybe they have enough tanks that if one breaks down, they can swap it out for another until it's fixed, even if the replacement isn't one of the better ones."
"Well, we do things differently at Oarai," Suzuki said. "There's no such thing as a benchwarmer or a tank too weak to be used. Let's show them how well we can work with the people and tanks we have."
The Maus continued its pursuit of the fleeing Oarai tanks. Sumire scanned the area, seeking out which ones seemed most vulnerable, and Turtle Team caught her attention.
The Maus' cannon fired again, and its shell directly struck the Hetzer with a tremendous blast that some observers believed would have obliterated the tank if not for the carbon plating. The impact flipped the Student Council's tank length-wise and caused the white flag to pop up.
"They got us..." Anzu said, still in shock over how quickly and completely she had been defeated.
Miho frowned. She had a plan in mind involving Turtle Team, albeit a risky one, but the loss of the Hetzer, the tank most suited for its role, rendered it almost impossible.
As the tanks retreated, Teru peeked out of the Maus to survey her surroundings and see where each of her opponents was escaping. She was out long enough to see the Panzer IV and Char B1 Bis escape down a side street; she could pursue them but could not yet fire on them.
It was also long enough for Saki to spot her sister and identify her as the massive tank's commander.
"So, my sister's in command of the Maus," Saki thought. "I suppose that she's doing her part for Miho-senpai's sister's plan, but why's she still doing tankery? Why is she fighting so hard against us, even considering what's at stake? I don't think it entirely has to do with me, since I only just returned to tankery, but I still don't understand."
Inside the Maus, Teru's crew was pleased at how things were going. While the tactic they were using had been intended as a means of buying time, they had already succeeded in taking out a suprising number of Oarai's tanks.
"That's for detracking the Jagdpanther," Awai said.
"Who's next, Teru?" Sumire said. She wondered if any of the tanks had Saki's friends in them, but put that thought out of her head. She had always taught Saki to think of the other tanks as targets and to not bear a grudge against them, but not hesitate, so she was determined to take down any target Teru ordered her to shoot.
"The Char B1 Bis," Teru said. "It's slightly behind the others and more vulnerable; the flag tank's too elusive at this point. Then again, it's not as though any of those stand a chance against our tank."
As Seiko loaded the next shell, Teru surveyed the battlefield and saw that the Tas had disappeared. Were they hoping to use it as bait, under the assumption that Teru was preoccupied with taking down her estranged sister? But Teru had a job to do, and focused her attention on the Oarai flag tank and any other that stood in her way. And yet, a part of her hoped that, if Oarai was as desperate to protect the flag tank as they seemed, Saki would ultimately be forced to come out and try to defend it.
"What will you do now, Saki?" Teru thought. "Your allies are falling at my hands, and you can't protect everyone- perhaps you can't protect anyone. With so many having fallen and so many more who will follow, you must be feeling the same despair and fear I felt on that day three years ago. So ask yourself- can you do better than I did, saving as many as you can while you yourself are imperiled? I look forward to finding out."
Meanwhile, the Tas escaped into the alleys of the urban battlefield, searching for a point from which it could attack the Maus while it was preoccupied with the flag tank and its protectors. It would need a good angle to attack, and an opportunity to strike without the Maus attacking first.
"The Maus isn't invincible, but it'll be difficult to get close enough to penetrate its armor," Mako said. "We'll need a way to bring that behemoth to a halt if we want to get an opening."
Nodoka realized that Saki, their gunner, and the one most crucial to this plan, had been oddly quiet since they first laid eyes on the Maus.
"Saki?" Nodoka said.
Saki removed her socks, and slipped her feet back into her boots.
"I'm ready, Nodoka-chan," Saki said.
"Octopus Team?" Miho said over the radio. "Are you in position?"
"We are," Hisa said.
"Approach the Maus from behind on my signal," Miho said. "We're taking it down."
Miho then gave the directions, and Hisa prepared to carry them out.
"Did you have Saki in mind when you came up with this plan, Miho?" Hisa thought, but realized that their plan was their best chance of taking the Maus, and with it, one of Black Forest's vital strategic assets, out of the game.
The Maus pursued Anglerfish Team and Mallard Team through the streets of the town. Although they could outrun the Maus, they were not yet out of its line of fire.
The Maus' cannon fired again, causing the Char B1 Bis to stop in its tracks, and throw up its white flag. Moments later, Anglerfish team rounded the corner, toward the bridge, and the Maus followed, brushing past the disabled Char B1 Bis.
"Mallard Team, are you alright?" Miho said over the radio
"All of us are fine!" Sodoko said. "And I have a message for Reizei-san!"
Mako's ears perked up in attention.
"You might be lazy, but you're good at driving- better than the rest of us- and we need your help!" Sodoko said. "If you get us through this, I will erase all your tardies and absences!"
"Got it," Mako said.
"You're really going this far, Sodoko?" Gomoyo said, once Sodoko's transmission ended.
"It's all I can do at this point," Sodoko said. "Surely you realize by now? We never really caught up to the others in terms of our skills at tankery. Reizei-san might not have known it at first, but her working on getting up in the morning, practicing, teaching others, and putting her skills to use in tank battles all benefited the school."
"I understand," Gomoyo said. "It's just that I never would have expected you to make a compromise like this."
"Oh, I will still be at the gate of the school, marking people late and taking them to task for other rule violations, until I graduate," Sodoko said. "But make no mistake, at least in Reizei-san's case, I won't forget that she can come through for us when it mattered."
"The same goes for Gomoyo and I," Pazomi said, "especially if, thanks to Reizei-san and the others, we can stay at Oarai for our final year."
"In the end, the rules are a means of getting people to work well together," Gomoyo said. "And while we do our part to follow the rules and help others, our success comes as a result of everyone doing their best."
"You're right, Gomoyo," Sodoko said. "For all their quirks and bad habits, the others have pulled through when it mattered. I hope they can do so again, for all our sakes."
Anglerfish Team pulled ahead of its massive pursuer, and began to cross an overpass. Crossing such a wide and exposed area would be risky for them, but they hoped pursuing them would be even more so for the Maus.
"There's the Panzer IV," Teru said as the Panzer IV sped across the overpass. The Maus slowly rounded the corner, as its target reached the other side.
Sumire fired the cannon and narrowly missed, but the shockwave nearly knocked the tank over.
"Quickly!" Teru said. "We've got an opportunity to take out the flag tank- don't let it escape!"
"You think you can escape us?" Awai said, accelerating forward as quickly as the Maus's bulk would allow.
Takami, sitting at the controls for the Maus' radio, realized, a moment too late, what was going on, as the Maus advanced onto the overpass, buckled under its weight.
"Wait, Awai-chan!" Takami called out. "The bridge-!"
Just as the Maus was about to fire on the Panzer IV, the overpass gave way beneath it, and it fell onto the street below, its rear still on the upper level.
"What the hell!?" Awai exclaimed as she frantically tried to move the colossal tank.
"Calm down, Awai, we somehow haven't been disabled!" Sumire said, as the turret shifted under her control. "But it appears we're stuck now!"
Teru climbed upward and peered out the top. She was out for a moment, but that was long enough to see the Tas aiming at the exposed vent at the back.
"We need to get out of here!" Teru said as she climbed back into position. "They're aiming at us! Saki's aiming at us!"
Saki then took aim at a vent on the back of the Maus, focusing on making the shot, as she had against Saunders' flag tank. She did not know how long the window of opportunity would be, but her feelings were clear to her.
"Onee-chan, I don't know if you'll ever forgive me, or if our family will ever get back together again," Saki thought. "I don't know what Mizuho-chan would say or do if she were here today to see our family in this state, especially after I forgot so much about her. I don't even fully understand why we took different paths, or why you persisted with tankery when I gave up until I saw it as a means to reunite us. But there is one thing I'm sure of, ever since I started on this quest to reach out to you, something that I thought I had forgotten. It's one thing you taught me, and all the reason I need to continue with tankery into the future."
"Tankery is fun, isn't it?" Saki said out loud.
Saki then pulled the trigger.
The Tas fired. The shell flew through the air a short distance, before striking the exposed vent.
A large blast resulted where the shell hit the Maus, causing the hulking tank to shake from the force of the impact.
The white flag raised on the Maus.
As the impact subsided, the crew of the Maus desperately tried to launch a counterattack against their attackers, but to no avail.
"The…the controls aren't responding!" Awai said, as she desperately tried to get the tank down off the slope, before finding Oarai's forces and paying the humiliation back a hundredfold. After a moment, she realized it was not a mechanical malfunction, but rather, the system for disabling eliminated tanks working exactly as intended. "No… this can't be happening! Did these amateurs really take down the Maus?"
Awai looked up at Sumire, who shook her head. They both then turned to Teru.
"Saki…" Teru said breathlessly.
Idle for the rest of the finals, as she had been until Oarai had reached the town, Teru had nothing left to do but think, to ponder the uncomfortable subjects that she had tried to put out of her mind, and Saki's show of determination had given her much to think about.
Teru had long understood that the way one did tankery said a great deal about oneself, and it was clear to her what Saki had decided. Saki knew that she could not save everyone- some had already fallen, and others would defeated before the battle ended- but she chose to trust in her allies and save as many of them as she could.
What would Saki have done if she had been the one who was conscious and could swim back then?
Was what had happened truly beyond Saki's understanding, or was that merely something Teru had kept telling herself over the years?
Was it possible that Teru had misjudged Saki all this time?
The questions kept on coming into Teru's mind, just as they had when she lay in the hospital bed after Mizuho had died. But this time, the answers Teru came up with led her to one common point, one single moment of clarity.
"I've been such a fool..." Teru thought, blinking back tears.
Toki, Sera and Ryuuka, watching from the sidelines, saw Oarai triumph against a tank they had never even expected to face, much less defeat.
"Amazing..." Ryuuka said. "They defeated Miyanaga Teru's crew, even when she was in a command of a tank like that."
"And they did it without being taken out themselves," Sera said.
"True," Toki said, "although they have lost a fair number of their tanks getting this far."
"That's right," Ryuuka said. "But we managed to inflict a fair number of losses early on, only to see the tide change in Black Forest's favor."
"I suppose so," Toki said. "But really, nothing's impossible for Oarai at this point. If they can get the flag tank by itself, taking it out is all they need to do to win."
Toki could not help but smile.
"There was a lot that I couldn't predict happening over the past three years," Toki thought. "My getting hospitalized, Black Forest losing, and now, the Maus being defeated. I'm looking forward to the next great surprise, Oarai Academy."
The Atago family eagerly watched the defeat of the colossal tank well before the rest of the Black Forest forces reached the town. Oarai had done surprisingly well with the tanks at its disposal, but there was still the question of how or why they would go into the tournament with tanks of many different nationalities, and varying degrees of quality.
"Hiroko, where did you say Oarai got their tanks from?" Kinue said.
"The article I read said they literally found them laying around the ship," Hiroko said. "I can't see much demand for them, but to think that they've accomplished this much with just those tanks..."
"So Black Forest is fighting against tanks that are essentially scrounged from the garbage," Masae said. "And they're commanded by the girl they all but forced out."
Hiroe nodded with a grin, pleased that her prediction was likely to be vindicated.
"Doesn't Darjeeling have a saying like this for this occasion?" Hiroe said. "Something about throwing the baby out with the bathwater?"
"That sounds about right," Masae said. "Having come from Black Forest, Miho likely knows its limitations, and also knows her sister well."
"That's possible," Hiroko said. "But if Maho knows her sister as well, she's most likely prepared for something like this happening."
The Black Forest forces approached the town. As Maho had ordered updates on how many tanks they were able to defeat, as well as how well they were holding up, the Black Forest crews were pleased to hear of the casualties were taking. But few of them could have predicted Takami's final update.
"This is the Maus- we've been taken out," Takami said over the radio, her usually placid voice slightly shaken from the shock of what had happened.
"What!?" Erika said. "This isn't possible!"
"It's served its purpose," Maho said flatly. "We should be at the town in two minutes."
"Teru lost, too?!" Erika thought. "I really can't count on anyone here."
Erika wondered how things had gone so wrong. In the first round, they had crushed Chihatan- a school with the same number of tanks as Oarai and more experience- even without the advantage of numbers, and had repeated the feat with Koala Forest in the second round. But Pravda had given them more trouble than Erika had thought, inflicting heavy casualties on Black Forest, despite ultimately being defeated.
Could Oarai do even better? Could they, despite having lost so many of their tanks, take out the single enemy tank that mattered?
The Black Forest tanks reached the town, planning on finishing off the remaining Oarai forces. Erika seethed with rage; she was proud to be a graduate of the prestigious Nishizumi school and vice-captain of Black Forest's championship-winning tankery team; she believed she had earned through a combination of talent and determination, and that her efforts served to bring glory to both of them. And now, a bunch of amateurs were, by persisting this long and coming so far, dragging her school's name through the mud, so Erika looked forward to taking out her anger on them.
"This is all a bad joke," Erika thought. "But while we can't make up for the humiliation we've suffered so far, we'll make your defeat of the Maus the punchline, Oarai Academy."
While the Black Forest forces approached the town, Miho spoke with the rest of the team, as they hastily regrouped.
"Everyone, we have a few minutes at most before the Black Forest forces approach," Miho said over the radio. "We cannot defeat all of them, but we can isolate and defeat their flag tank- the one commanded by my sister. I have a plan to get that tank alone."
Miho then went on to explain her plan to the team, having modified it to take into account how many tanks they had lost.
The plan's essence was simple, as was each team's part in it. Miho was fully aware that most of Oarai's tankers were amateurs, and that mere months of training would not make them disciplined soldiers, no matter what was at stake. She also realized that not only were straightforward attacks like the ones that were used by Black Forest impossible given her crews' level of discipline, but their tanks would not stand in a straight-up fight.
Miho had to do what she could, with the people and resources at her disposal. It was a great deal to ask of a crew consisting mostly of relative novices to tankery, but Miho was convinced that they could rise to the occasion, as they had in the past.
As the Dragon Wagon pulled Turtle Team back, the members of the Student Council inside reflected on what had happened. Whatever happened, their participation in the tournament had come to an end. And as much as they had hoped it would not have to come to this, they were now relying on the remaining members of the team.
"No matter what happens, there's nothing more we can do," Yuzu said. "In the end, we're still out of our depth."
"Maybe, but do you two remember why we got involved in tankery in the first place?" Anzu said.
"We needed the extra members," Momo said. "Of course, Hisa would have jumped at the opportunity, regardless of whether the school was in danger."
"That's only part of it," Anzu said. "You two were there at the meeting when we heard about Oarai having to shut down. We were desperate to do anything to prevent it, even if we didn't know anything about tankery. And similarly, while we would have to do just about anything to make sure that a tankery prodigy like Nishizumi-chan joined us, it wouldn't have felt right to let her, or even Takei, sit back and do everything."
"I was honestly trying my best, even when I was at the gun," Momo said. "And I think that was a petty good representation of us as a whole. We were in over our heads, out of our element, and there was nothing we could do but try our best, desperately trying to protect what we held dear..."
Every time Momo sat in her tank during the tournament, she was fully aware of what she was fighting for. She knew that the tournament would decide Oarai's fate, and there was no such thing as a match in which they could do less than their best. Overwhelmed by fury and desperation, she would first shoot and miss, then fire as quickly as possible to make up for not hitting the first time, often until she was taken out of the game. But while Momo was not exceptionally bright, she knew that her habits were not helping. And it frustrated her to realize that she could not do any better than she had at the moment.
As tears of frustration and despair began to well up in Momo's eyes, Anzu patted her shoulder.
"There, there, Kawashima," Anzu said. "You can't cry until it's over."
"And it isn't," Momo said, slightly relieved. "It's all up to Commander Nishizumi."
As the Black Forest tanks surged into the town, Miho put her plan into action, quickly striking at the incoming forces.
The Tas fired, taking out a Jagdpanther, while the StuG fired on a Jagdpanzer IV, disabling it.
"So there are worse things than being detracked," Kuroko thought, as her tank was taken out of the game.
Oarai then retreated, with most of the Black Forest tanks, with Maho's tank at the lead, surging off toward Anglerfish Team, which sped towards an abandoned office complex with a courtyard in the center. The gate was narrow, and Miho's Panzer IV and Mako's Tiger II barely fit through.
As soon as those tanks passed through, though, Sparrow Team, seeing their opportunity, moved forward and attacked, taking aim at the tank behind Maho's.
Momo pulled the trigger at the exact moment, hitting the exact tank she needed at the exact spot. The Elefant that was second in the group skidded to a halt, in the middle of the passageway through which Miho and Maho's tanks had just passed.
Knowing Yumi's next command, Satomi moved to the next stage of the plan, quickly reversing, then turning out of the way.
A second volley of shells fired, missing the tank. It was clear from the amount of time between shots that the crews had not put much effort into aiming, and increasing the number of shots fired at once did not significantly increase the odds of one hitting the tank.
Sparrow Team quickly turned toward an alley, only to see a Tiger II emerge from it, and fire on them at close range, with a calmly and carefully aimed shot.
The Cromwell halted in its path as the white flag raised.
As Koume opened the Tiger II's top hatch and looked upon the tank she had just disabled, she smiled, pleased that her plan, formulated on the spur of the moment, had worked.
She was once again grateful that her commander had sent her a link to a video of Miho's battle with BC Freedom; as a practice match, it was not broadcast on television, but a fan had posted the video on the Internet. Maho had, after seeing the video, offered to show it to Miho's old friends at Black Forest, who had eagerly and gratefully accepted, with Koume finding Octopus Team's battle with the enemy tanks one of the better parts that did not involve Miho's crew.
Koume momentarily reflected on how she had used this knowledge against her rescuer's new school. But Koume and Miho recognized that while Koume owed Miho a debt of gratitude, they were on opposite sides now, and their respective teammates were counting on them. Koume had vowed not to let down her teammates like she believed she had in the past, and so wanted to do her part.
Koume then reported in, and was unsurprised when Erika was less than fully relieved by the news.
"It took you all those shots to take out just one Cromwell?" Erika said over the radio. "Commander, please wait until we get through!"
After Momo's shot knocked out the Tiger blocking the entryway, Maho realized the situation she was in, as she surveyed the industrial plaza.
"How fitting..." Maho thought. "A final duel between Miho's crew and mine. I no longer have the advantage of numbers that Black Forest had over Oarai, whether at the beginning of the match or now."
Maho and Miho's tanks circled around the pillar in the center, exchanging cannon fire, but missing each other. Miho's tank darted into one of the side alleyways, hoping to lure her sister into an area in which she could strike first and win.
At that moment, Maho heard Erika inform her of the Cromwell's defeat and her attempts to reach them over the radio.
"That's a sound strategy, Erika, but there are a few problems," Maho thought. "Miho is desperate to take me out before she ends up having to deal with more tanks than she can manage, so I will need to keep her on the defensive. And furthermore, don't you, a Nishizumi disciple, know that the Nishizumis stress advancing without hesitation? I know what Mother wants me to do here."
Maho fired her main cannon, forcing Miho to reverse her tank around the corner, out of the path of the shot. Maho then issued a pursuit order to her crew, hoping to force Miho into an area from which she could not escape.
"We've managed to stay in the game thus far," Miho thought. "But if the rest of my sister's tanks get here, we won't be able to win."
Miho paused to consider the ramifications of her sister's strategy.
"So you have faith in your teammates as well, Onee-chan?" Miho thought. "I may not have any other crews left in the game, but the ones who have been defeated thus far are counting on me."
Sparrow Team watched the tanks head back in pursuit of Anglerfish Team, and hoped they had bought their allies enough time.
"Everyone," Yumi said, "when you got started in this, did you feel as though you were stepping into someone else's war for our own purposes?"
"Kind of," Satomi said.
"To some degree," Mutsuki said. "But so were Noriko and the others from the volleyball team."
"I came because Satomi-chan asked me- both to the club and to the tankery team," Kaori said. "I didn't really think too much about either."
"When I saw you talking with the treasurer, Senpai, I realized something was amiss, but joined because you invited me~su," Momo said. "We might have our own reasons for being here, but all of us are here because we want to be, and none of us want the school to shut down."
"Exactly my point, Momo," Yumi said. "We didn't start out as anything close to the team we are today; we became this by fighting together, improving our skills, and strengthening our commitment. This wouldn't have been solely brought about by the Student Council being up front with us about the stakes; we had to make this a team that could win."
"And now it's up to Anglerfish Team," Mutsuki said.
Octopus Team and Hippo Team went to work on the surviving Black Forest members, knowing that their efforts were mainly meant to buy time. Initial shots fired on the other Black Forest tanks took down one of their opponents, and detracked another.
Hippo Team, left with nowhere to escape, and only one side of their tank that was able to counterattack against the enemy, was left with no other options than to make a final desperate attack on the enemy.
"Cowards die a thousand times before their deaths!" Caesar said as Saemonza fired on an enemy Tiger I, striking it in the front in a shot that she believed had little hope of hitting.
The shot impacted the Tiger I with a loud blast, and Caesar watched with pleasure as the Tiger I's white flag rose above the plume of smoke.
A moment later, a Panzer III and Elefant fired their main guns on the StuG, causing it to nearly tip over with two shots to the front that shook the tank.
The white flag popped up on the History Team's tank.
Elsewhere, Octopus Team was similarly surrounded by enemies. With Hippo Team defeated, all of them were closing in on the one remaining enemy in the area, and all their guns were trained on a single target- the Tas.
Saki fired one last shot, disabling the Elefant nearby. Moments later, Erika's Köningstiger fired and struck the Tas in the side, disabling it.
Hisa looked over at the tank that had succeeded in disabling her, and recognized it from the match between Black Forest and Pravda. It had been the Black Forest flag tank back then, and unless Hisa was mistaken, she concluded that it was Erika's tank as well.
"I imagine you're quite pleased with yourself now, like you were at the cafe," Hisa thought. "But back then, you were right to be scared by what Reizei-san proposed. If anyone can lead Oarai to victory over Black Forest, it's Miho."
The Atagos noticed the Black Forest tanks desperately trying to reach where Miho and Maho's tanks were facing each other, in hopes of saving the latter and defeating the former.
"Black Forest's panicking," Masae said. "Their commander's talented, but without her guidance, the troops aren't quite as strong as they appear."
"I figured as much," Hiroe said. "Maho was doubtful at first in the semi-finals, so when she was, I had a chance to beat her."
"But when Maho-san's tank fired on mine, she seemed to have made up her mind and solidified her resolve," Kinue said. "She must have known what she needed to do, at least in that moment, and had the will she needed to do it."
"It seems she's made up her mind, this time," Masae said. "All that's left is for Miho to rise to the occasion and defeat her."
"This duel will determine the outcome of the tournament," Masae thought. "Maho, whatever happens, I hope the outcome will be one that you and your sister will be satisfied with."
Hippo Team sat back in their disabled StuG, watching the Black Forest Tanks depart from their defeated enemies.
"I am Sugiyama Kiyomi, no doubt an adversary quite worthy of you, but I am exhausted and can fight no longer," Saemonza said to the enemies who could not hear her. "Go on, take my head as your trophy."
"Is something the matter, Saemonza?" Oryou said. "It's not like you to slip into using your real name unless someone makes you."
"Nor is it like you to use that term, Take- Oryou," Saemonza said. "I can't help but wonder if, should we end up having to switch schools, they'll more stringently enforce the dress code."
"As annoying as Sodoko... or, as I call her, McCarthy, was, she couldn't actually do anything about it," Erwin said. "And yet, she is also as much of a part of the school as we are, which is why I consider her and Mallard team our comrades."
"Oarai's not perfect, but all the flaws about it are things that make it the school that it is," Oryou said. "Perhaps it may have to change the way it does things even with a new lease on life- a process I might call a Restoration- but I hope it never loses sight of its own identity."
"In any case, the die is cast," Caesar said. "We pressed on the attack in hopes of doing what we could to weaken the enemy's forces. And we entered this battle in the first place for the mere chance of saving our school. We have done what we could and can only entrust our allies with what happens next."
Octopus Team waited as their tank lay disabled, not far from Hippo Team.
"We're down to our last tank," Mako said. "We've had to sacrifice quite a bit to get this far."
"And yet, we're one defeated enemy flag tank away from winning the championship," Nodoka said. "For most of Black Forest's rivals, there is little they would not give to be in our position."
"That's true, Nodoka-chan; isn't an opportunity what we've been searching for all this time?" Saki said. "Isn't that the reason why the president made the deal in the first place? Isn't that also why you made a deal with your father? Isn't that why I sought out tankery as a way to get my sister to talk to me again?"
"That's right, Saki," Hisa said. "I'd also wanted a chance to revive my school's tankery team and have a chance, if only one chance, of competing against my peers in the tournament. We got farther than I ever expected- and still have the possibility to get farther yet- and I'm grateful to all of you for helping me on this endeavor.
"You're welcome, Hisa," Mako said. "I just wish we could have stayed in the game until the end."
"We've done what we can," Hisa said. "It's up to Miho now."
Maho's tank sped after Anglerfish Team, which barely dodged a shell by turning into a narrow dead end. As Maho's team rounded the corner, Anglerfish Team went into reverse and rammed Maho's tank, throwing off its next shot and buying enough time for them to escape around the corner near where the previous shot had landed, heading back toward the central courtyard.
Miho knew that she had been able to stay in the game so far, but she also knew that she would have to defeat her sister soon, or she would permanently lose the chance. The sacrifices her teammates made had bought her time, but that time was almost gone.
As the disabled Elefant was hauled away, the rest of Black Forest's tanks prepared to go through the gate and assist their commander.
Maho realized that her troops were about to break through, and almost in firing range of Miho. One way or another, their duel and the match would soon be over.
"I'm sorry, Miho, but you know what I have to do," Maho thought. "But I also know what you have at your disposal."
Maho, having made her way back to where her duel with Miho had begun, prepared to retreat and let her reinforcements finish off Miho.
Miho, however, remained in pursuit of her sister, and both their tanks aimed their main guns at each other, for one final clash before Maho's forces closed in and overwhelmed Miho.
As Miho's Panzer IV and Maho's Tiger passed each other, they exchanged shots from their main cannons, causing a roar of gunfire, a pair of loud explosions and a large plume of smoke.
One shot struck the pillar in the center.
The other squarely made its mark on Maho's Tiger.
As the smoke cleared, Miho looked and saw a white flag rise... on her sister's tank.
"Oarai Academy wins the tournament!" the announcer said.
Maho's crew glanced at each other in disbelief, as they tried to comprehend what had happened.
"I-I'm sorry, Commander," Maho's gunner said. "The shot struck the pole."
"Don't be," Maho said calmly. Maho knew that some would conclude that the finals had come down to a stroke of luck, but she knew better than to think that. To her, the only coincidence was how her tank duel with Miho had ended similarly to one the sisters had years ago. "What happened this time was meant to happen."
"You did it, Miho," Maho thought, pleased. "Whatever the future has in store for you, your friends and your school, I hope you can enjoy this moment, along with those who helped you earn it."
Author's Notes
I'd like to thank Stalker117 for beta reading this.
Again, this match is quite similar to canon, although it does work with the story, such as allowing the Nishizumi and Miyanaga sisters to prove their skills against each other.
Two more chapters will follow, showing the ending.
I'm also putting up a poll on my profile, asking what readers' favorite battles are. Please vote and/or leave a review, indicating what your favorite is.