Maria surveyed the wreckage on the battlefield. They had lost 1 tank, whilst Koala had lost all 7 of theirs. Maria suspected their plan was to pin them down in the north, let the 17pdr do its work, while the scouts ensured the south flank was protected. Their defensive line in the north was good, but it crumbled once Maria's force did a cavalry charge, and Trout's force attacked from their left flank. It was a solid plan of theirs, but not solid enough.
"Hey Marie!" someone called from her left. She looked over and noticed it was Correa and Corriander. "That was a damn good plan you did there." she continued.
"Thanks." Maria said. "You had a good defence there, but it didn;t hold once our reinforcements arrived."
"Indeed." Coriander said. "But nonetheless, this was a good practice for both of our forces, we look forward to fighting alongside you." They both gave a salute to Maria.
"One more thing," Maria said. They both turned their heads to listen. "There's a difference between choking, and suffocating." She said. Correa grinned, and they continued on their way.
Maria found herself looking out into the dark blue baltic sea. As unforgiving and cold as it was, it was beautiful. It battered Kiel's coastline on this quite windy day. This water once held the pride of Germany's navy. A city that held warships in a past life, now holding war machines of another element. The strong wind from the sea played with Maria's hair like a little child. She often found herself staring at such unforgivable seas and environments. As ruthless as they were, they had a hidden beauty that Maria appreciated.
She checked her watch, which read 5:28pm, she would have to go back to the ship soon, or have to deal with the bitching of the school hall monitors. The rest of her crew were probably waiting for her anyways.
When she arrived at the ship, the hall monitors , all little freshmen who thought they were entitled to be bitches started throwing questions at her like she was a catcher in baseball. She simply responded to all of the questions with "meh." and continued on her way, much to the anger of the hall monitors.
Dinner was a pleasant dish of cooked salmon and rice, with a side of baked potatoes. It was one of the nicest dinners she had in a long time. When she was finished, not a single speck of food was left on her plate. She noticed that none of her friends attended dinner, she wondered why that would be.
The night in Kiel took over the day quickly, and with it the thoughts of the night. She found herself staring at the city, its lights fighting to keep the dark at bay.
There was only a single game in between her team and what Sensha-do truly was.
A voice called from behind her, "that's where you've been!" the smugness in her voice gave it away that she was Abriga. "What're you doing up here?"
"Looking at death." Maria responded, taking out a cigarette in her pocket and lighting it. Abriga winced at the smell of the smoke, but she did her best to ignore it.
"Can you keep a secret Abbie?" Maria asked.
Abriga bore a look on her face that looked like a mix of confusion and nervousness.
"Yes?" she said, unsure of what the response would bring.
"Every match beyond the first qualifying match will be using live ammunition." she said, not a trace of emotion in her voice.
Maria could visibly see how shocked she was. She assumed the first thought to have come into her mind was her parents, and their deaths caused by the very same circumstances they were facing.
"That's not even all, they're planning to put in even more rules." she finished.
Abriga took a long breath, and let it all out. "You want to know what really happened to my parents?" Abriga asked. Maria simply nodded.
"A shell flew into the tank that my mother was in, the ammunition in the right side of the turret exploded and killed everyone in the tank." Tears were forming in her eyes. "My dad was a referee for the match, and when he saw the tank explode, he rushed to it to tried and rescue her. But he never made it." she sobbed. "The other referees shot him when they noticed him trying to get to it, because he would interfere with the match. No one on their team survived. And they simply went on with everything." tears were running down her face like a river now, her soft skin now wet her sadness. "They want to see us all burn Marie, and they won't be satisfied until only one team remains. This is a cleansing of the tankery girls."
Maria stood sullen. She had her guesses on why they wanted to kill possibly hundreds of girls, but to think it was for people's own appeal, Maria reached for another cigarette.
"What happens to the qualifying teams that lose?" Maria asked.
Abriga looked at her, no more tears were on her face, now it was a stern look that Maria had never seen before. "Executed." she simply said. "Only one team will live to tell of this tale."
"Well then, lets not keep them waiting." Maria said, walking back to her quarters.
"Where are you going?" Abriga asked.
Maria turned back towards her and grinned. "To hell and back." she said.
Matches were picked the following week. Maria announced to the joint tankery team who they would be facing.
"For the first match, we will be facing…" she paused to regain her composure, a breath in a tornado. "We will be facing Viggen High."
"Wait, the swedish drunkards?" you gotta be kidding me!" someone from the further back said.
"If i was kidding i wouldn't have a piece of paper in my hands telling me that we're facing Viggen." Maria responded, her voice tired from lack of sleep. "We have two weeks before the match, i recommend all of you get in the mood and practice until you drop, because if you don't," she stopped and took a good look into the crowd. "well you'll drop in another way i'm sure you won't like."
Her gaze was fixated on the crowd, all of those faces, all of those personalities, emotions, all of those lives. But all Maria could see, no matter how hard she tried, were dead girls.
They looked at her with a concerned confusion, wondering what was hidden behind her soft spoken words. Maria simply walked back to Major Jim to be comforted by the only other soul that was ready to die. She inspected it's 6pdr shells. She wondered what would happen to the human body if it was hit by one of these. She waved the thought away and put the shells back in their rack. And went back to where the tank crews were, who were now chatting casually. She wondered what their happy little faces would look like once they were aware of the death knocking on their door.
That night she dreamt of standing over her friends rotting corpses, burnt almost beyond recognition. She planted a flag down on the ground below all of her dead friends. Their charred faces looking up at her with a look of disappointment. She looked around her, but she could only see what was once a field, now a slice of hell of earth. Her hands were covered in her loved ones blood, her uniform now ripped and tattered, and her face baked in dirt and blood.
A figure approached her, stepping over the remains of bodies, it's silhouette dark at night. As it got closer, it's silhouette lightened, and she saw herself staring back at her.
"Now tell me," her shadow spoke. "Was it worth it, looking at what you did, reaping the consequences of your actions? Without the ones you love, without the spark of love," she grinned. "You are nothing but an empty husk. So think about it, its your choice what happens next." she waved goodbye and walked in the void of Maria's mind.
Maria woke up in a pile of sweat soaking every extremity she could feel. She looked over at her nightstand, which was holding her dagger, its words shone in the darkness, waiting.