Katyusha and Nonna had crossed the river as they were now on the other side. After giving orders for Klara to relocate and help Brook out with the break-out from the city. Katyusha and Nonna began speaking as they were ready to spring phase two of the plan.
"We'll ask everyone if they are ready as we want to begin the next phase of the operation." Katyusha asked as she wanted to get this rolling as she was still on a tight schedule.
"Yeah about that, Nina and Alina won't be able to cross the Dnieper with Maho on the other side. They're trying to rebuild the bridge but they are running out of High explosive ammo to keep them under the smoke." Nonna told Katyusha about this. If they ran out of ammunition, Kuromorimine would destroy the bridge in another section and they would need to start from square one. Katyusha decided to take a moment to think about this as she was deciding on what the next phase of the plan should be.
"Okay Brook and Klara should have enough strength to break out from the city. We're at the weakest point of their line as Kuromorimine has concentrated about half of the team at the great bend of the Dnieper. All we need to do is cause panic in the center for Kuromorimine to peel its strength away from that area so Nina and Alina could advance without much resistance." Katyusha explained the plan to Nonna as Nonna nodded. Katyusha continued to speak. "I want you to be leading this one."
"Right." Nonna replied as they were getting ready. Katyusha decided to send the message to Brook as she was ready to give her the signal.
"Okay Brook, are you ready for the next step?" Katyusha asked her.
"Yep. Klara just arrived and we're ready to keep going." Brook replied. Katyusha nodded satisfied.
"Okay your job is to break out of the city and we cause panic in the center. Maho will not know where to send her tanks to help who." Katyusha laid out her plans as she wanted to get the jump onto Kuromorimine again.
"You got it." Brook replied as she looked down to her crew. "Okay roll forward." Her T-34 began to take the lead as the combined teams were going to try striking into Gregor and Magyar that was stationed in the city after Erika panicked and abandoned the city.
The Gregor students weren't prepared as they were busy among themselves while Stefanik was keeping a look out from her Panzer 38T. Kafka was listening to some music and the others were chatting with themselves or the Magyar students.
"So you know the tropical fire-ants?" Laska asked as she was reading a book about insects.
"Them? Yuck! I will freak out if I say any ant in my dorm." Jeney recoiled in disgust.
"Well ants are pretty smart so if you say to someone they have they have the intelligence of an ant. Then that means they are smart people. It's not the size of the brain that determines intelligence but rather if they can solve problems. I captured a queen ant with Richta when I was foraging for button mushrooms and I got a small ant colony in my dorm. I'm planning on upgrading it soon and giving them more space." Laska told Jeney to calm down that there was nothing to fear. Lazca looked at Laska.
"Well I might ask Laska, if you were an ant, would you go to discos?" Lazca asked as that was an odd question.
"What kind of question is that?" Laska asked. A distant boom was heard as Solti was looking around keeping an eye out for Pravda as well. She knew where that booming sound came from as she looked at Rona and Kadosa.
"Would you two stop messing up the electric to the city? Maho said everything was off limits." Solti politely told her two teammates to quit fooling around. Kadosa and Rona looked up at Solti as they nodded and bowed.
"Sorry." They responded. Solti turned back as the booming was heard again but it was different. Then it gave away to a growling sound, almost if tanks were approaching. Solti and Stefanik looked at each other as they knew this meant only one thing.
"Pravda tanks are approaching!" Solti called out to her students as she decided to raise the alarm. The students hurried to their tanks as they climbed in without a moment to spare. The tanks continued forward as Brook kept her head outside of the tank as she was going to help spot targets. She gripped the handles of the machine gun she was using as she pointed it to the left.
"Enemy at ten O'Clock, take the shot." Brook called out as she fired a few shots off at the tank. The tank she was firing at was a Panzer 35T. The Panzer 35T crew felt nervous as the paintballs pinged off of the tank's armor. The T-34 turret traversed to where it needed to be as Brook gave the order. "Fire!" The T-34 fired as the shot tore into the side of the tank. The Panzer 35T crew squealed as their tank was forced over to its side and a white flag popped up, that was one tank down. Elsewhere the crew were doing their work as they found Gregor and Magyar easy pickings, even their tank destroyers were no match for their speed and ferocity. Solti and Stefanik managed to regroup as they knew they couldn't hold them back.
"Solti! We need to get out of here. We're getting ripped apart!" Stefanik called out to Solti that they needed to retreat. Solti began to think but she was working on trying to hold Pravda back for a few more moments.
"Fire!" Solti shouted from her Tiger 1. The Tiger tank fired a shot that slammed into the front of one of the T-34's taking that tank out almost immediately. Another white flag popped out as Solti knew that Stefanik was right.
"Okay everyone, fall back, we regroup with Erika." Solti called out as all the tanks made their retreat. Pravda continued firing upon them but Klara held her hand up. There will be no pursuit. Brook grabbed the radio as she began relaying the information back to Katyusha.
"Katyusha, Magyar and Gregor are on the run, we lost three tanks but we've taken out about eighteen of theirs." Brook relayed the information back to Katyusha. Katyusha nodded as her tanks were on the move.
"Okay good. Now pursue them to make sure they don't regroup. We'll spring the trap closed as we know that we have the flag tank in the area." Katyusha gave the order to keep chasing them. Brook nodded as she began to signal to the group with Katyusha new orders.
"All tanks in our group, we are now pursuing them so get ready to move." Brook gave the order as her tank began taking the lead once more as Klara followed up behind. They were going to move.
Erika had relocated herself into the center as she was joined by the Croatian gang and Count or rather what remained of them.
"Well great, we've got no effective tanks other than the Tiger 2, most of our good tanks have been knocked out so we're stuck with about fifteen tanks left." Istria grumbled as Klara had dealt a serious blow early on and now they needed to make do with the strength they had.
"What about Solti, she promised that she was coming to our aid but she never showed up." Mizuki grumbled that the Magyar Academy commander was late.
"I bet she's off doing her own thing." Anna told Mizuki to not get worked up over it. Then there was a grumbling of tanks that the students knew all too well. Pravda was approaching. Katyusha and Nonna were leading the way as the SPG's began firing.
"Pravda's coming, prepare defensive positions!" Erika shouted as the students got to work to try to hold the line from Pravda but it was already too late for them. Nonna decided to take the lead with her brand new tank as she got down into the hatch and fired. The shot missed and tore up a lot of soil when she fired, hitting her targets wasn't her objective however.
"Nonna's back and that isn't a Kv-1 she has in her arsenal? Is that correct?" Erin asked as she was unfamiliar with this new tank. Nonna just needed to adjust her aim and she fired, the shot took out a Panzer 4 from Count as the students were getting worried about this new heavy tank.
"That's not a Kv-1 that Nonna is controlling, it's an IS-2." Erika responded as she fired. She takes out SU-122 in the process but even that wasn't enough. Katyusha's plan worked. The T-34's came from the other side as the tanks swiftly cut off any escape for Erika and the remaining tanks. Erika was now trapped.
"You have an hour to surrender I will give you time to think about it, if you do, then we will consider it a victory." Katyusha laid out terms for their surrender if they decided to give up. Erika knew she needed to turn the situation around and escape. She went to the Tiger 2's radio and began transmitting a signal for help.
"Maho? Nishizumi Sempai, you there?" Erika sounded frantic as she was giving the call for Maho to come to her aid. Maho was listening when she picked up Erika's call.
"Yes Erika I'm here, what is it that you need?" Maho asked Erika what this distress call was about. Erika began speaking.
"I got news from Stefanik that Pravda launched a breakout from the city and overwhelmed them. I knew my position could be a possible launch pad for a counter offensive and try to threaten Pravda's defenses but I'm now surrounded by them and given an hour to make up my mind." Erika was almost in tears as she knew that she was being pressured by Katyusha to come to a decision. Maho wasn't surprised.
"Erika you idiot! If Pravda was that big of a threat you should've retreated and not try counter attacking. Pravda got the jump on you and now you've been cut off." Maho told Erika that she should've left her position if she was going to avoid getting cut off. Erika didn't bother responding for a moment as she continued to speak.
"Please come to my aid, if you don't we will lose and it will only further Pravda's advance." Erika made the plea that her superior would make that decision and come to her rescue. Maho knew that it would be risky but she needed to get everyone's approval.
"I'll think about it." Maho replied. She decided to get off the radio and contact her team instead. "Okay Erika and what remains of the Croatian gang and Count have been cut off and surrounded. I don't know what we can do to try brightening Erika's day but I need suggestions or the timer will run out and we will lose." Maho decided to let her team think about it. El and Pomorie came to no conclusive thought as their tanks weren't strong enough to punch a dent into Pravda's tanks. Olivia however knew exactly what to do to lift Erika's spirits.
"How about we launch a rescue attempt and save Erika from the encirclement?" Olivia gave Maho the suggestion to try getting Erika out. "If we don't do that then the match would be over as we don't have much time."
"Are you sure this will work?" Maho asked Olivia if this would at least change the situation a bit for them.
"Maybe, but we need to coordinate together." Olivia wasn't entirely sure about the plan working. Maho thought about it for a moment before coming to a conclusion.
"Okay you have my word. I'm letting you take the lead." Maho sighed as she was giving her apprentice the duty of leadership. Olivia nodded as she was going to try her best to yield positive results.
"Okay all students in my section on me, we're going to save Erika." Olivia called out as she needed every last tank in the group to follow her. The tanks growled and purred as Olivia took the lead and headed off to where Erika was trapped.
The Pravda students were busy watching the timer tick down to when the terms of surrender were up. Erika gave the false presentation that she was still thinking about it but she didn't know that Olivia was coming to her aid. Olivia was looking on ahead as she was observing Pravda from her binoculars. Looking at it, she began making plans on what to do.
"Erika is trapped. I should take the lead while the Brummbars and Nashorns provide cover. Maho your job is to keep Pravda from attacking while I try retrieving Erika and the rest of the tanks." Olivia laid out her plan as they nodded with agreement.
"Okay you do what you need to do, I'll follow behind and try keeping the neck of the breach wide enough for the extraction of the flag tank." Maho gave the plan as Olivia nodded and saluted to her. Maho nodded into a small smile as the Tiger 1 leads the charge. The Brummbars and Nashorns began to open fire as their shells began raining down. Nonna knew where this was coming from.
"Looks like help has arrived. Katyusha, you need to keep Erika contained, I'll go out of my way to keep Kuromorimine from extracting Erika." Nonna told her as the IS-2 rumbled. Katyusha nodded as her tank began driving off.
"Shells landed all around as the two teams were on a collision course. Maho sped on ahead and fired her Tiger into a T-34, knocking that tank out from the start. Olivia fired her shot next taking out a SU-122. The smaller tanks sped on ahead as they were going to serve as a distraction and bait away some of Pravda's tanks.
"Operation Chaos Brigade is going to begin, let's get this chaos rolling." Pomorie called out to the remainder of the light tanks that their job was to cause as much disruption to Pravda as possible. The T-34's began turning as they saw a large number of light tanks, easy prey they might say as they began rolling after them. Pomorie turned her turret to the rear as she noticed that the majority of Pravda's tanks were chasing them down, while she had no chance of taking them out, she would act as a decoy to try getting Pravda to chase her. She managed to bait Katyusha away.
"Come back here!" Katyusha shouted. Pomorie snickered as she fired an HE shot at Katyusha. The shot mostly shattered into paintballs as Katyusha growled. She fired in retaliation but Varna clutched the gears and swung them away from the incoming shot. One such advantage that Pug team had was making sharp turns. With the T-34 being larger, it wasn't as nimble or small of a target as the vickers. Katyusha was annoyed as Pomorie fired another HE shot at the T-34 in an attempt to coax it into continuing chasing it. "Chase them down!" Katyusha gave the order that these light tanks were just pulling hit and run tactics to be annoying. But she forgot all about Erika and the group which the two tiger tanks were now trying to rescue.
"Erika, you think you can help us break out?" Maho asked as she wanted to figure out if Erika had the strength to help in escaping.
"I certainly didn't know that you were coming to my aid." Erika responded as her Tiger rumbled. She popped her head out as one of Yogurt's tanks, Srebarna's Vickers tank was shot in the rear and taken out of action.
"Son of a bitch! Gah! I wanted to be able to continue taunting them." Srebarna grumbled. Erika knew that the situation was desperate as the light tanks although providing a good distraction were getting hunted and taken out.
"Count Croats, provide assistance to Pomorie and her friends." Erika gave the order as the remaining tanks in her group dispersed to serve as a distraction. Erika's Tiger was going to attempt to escape on its own. Noemi's T3 fired at Katyusha's tank as Pomorie's vickers continued to run rings around the T-34. Katyusha growled as she had to hunt them down.
"Keep focus on one target we don't need to get ganged up on everyone. Nonna, prevent Erika from escaping!" Katyusha shouted as she didn't like the fact that Erika was going to get away. Nonna nodded as her IS-2 came into play. The three tiger tanks had reunited but this reunion was going to be short lived.
"Now that we got you Erika I say it's time we call the team back?" Maho asked Olivia if it was safe to pull out. Nonna prepared to fire a shot at the rear of the Tiger 2 and claim victory but Olivia was a tad bit faster than Nonna.
"Erika! Watch out!" Olivia shouted. Her Tiger 1 threw itself forward as Nonna fired, the shot bounced off the angle of her tank as Nonna was frustrated. Olivia turned to Maho.
"We can't, we have company." Olivia called out as she pointed to the IS-2.
"Oh right." Maho gulped as she had completely forgotten Nonna. Nonna fired again as the shot missed the Tigers. Olivia turned as she went to engage Nonna and she turned to Maho.
"Remember when I go down, remember me for trying to distract." Olivia gave Maho the signal to get Erika out of there while she was to handle Nonna. Maho gulped as she continued to watch the chaos unfolding.
The Tiger 1 took up position against the IS-2 as the tanks were going to duel. The IS-2 fired again but Olivia's tank dodged it by driving away. She was trying to get to the weak point of the IS-2 in the rear. She fired a shot onto the side of the heavy tank but it shrugged off the hit. The IS-2 turned and began firing at Olivia as she fired back. Maho and Erika went off to make their escape.
Pomorie and Noemi tried to continue their hit and run tactics as they weren't having such luck. The school tanks were going down one by one as the T-3 was shot by Katyusha. The Panzer 3 tank spluttered and came to a stop as a white flag popped out. Katyusha smiled as she knew she had only Pomorie left to focus on.
"I have you now you cannot run or hide from me!" Katyusha called out with her insanity. Pomorie knew the only point at this time was to try to keep Katyusha distracted and by Maho and Erika time to escape. The Vickers continued to fire but it ran out of HE shells and had switched to AP. They fired but the shell bounced off the front armor of the T-34. Katyusha fired and again. Varna threw the gears and dodged the shot. Pomorie fired as the shot bounced off the armor of the T-34. At this point, Pomorie's luck had finally run out. Serval neighboring T-34's from the sides had just finished engaging the light tanks and had come to reinforce Katyusha. The two tanks fired at the lightly armed vickers, causing the tank to bounce up and flip onto its turret. A white flag popped out from it as that tank was now out. Pomorie, Rila and Varna were on each other as they were crammed in their knocked out tank.
"Well better out than doing nothing." Pomorie said as she wanted to keep their spirits high. The others weren't concerned. Time for Kuromorimine and the others was running out.
Olivia was enjoying a nice one on one fight with Nonna as she had managed to wither Nonna's nerve down to nothing. Nothing had been firing shots away trying to hit the weak point of the Tiger. Olivia had her tank firing broadside at Nonna as Nonna tried finding ways to get a knockout. The IS-2 stopped as Olivia just kept on going without realizing that Nonna had stopped. The T-34's appeared as Olivia decided to focus on them instead. She turned around as she went to fire on the T-34's. She fired the first shot as it took out the leading T-34 as two more fired at her. Both shots bounced off of the tiger tank. Olivia ordered her gunner to fire again which she did, knocking out the second T-34. The last one fired but again it missed, Olivia just needed to readjust her sight as she looked to her gunner.
"Fire." She ordered. The gunner fired as the shot took out the last T-34. That was three tanks down but Olivia completely forgot about Nonna and she was going to pay the price. A shot came from behind slamming into the engine of the Tiger 1. The tank bounced before falling silent. About fifty yards away was Nonna as she was observing the work as a white flag popped from the Tiger 1.
"That's what one gets for being distracted." Nonna responded as she went to go hunting for Erika.
Erika and Maho weren't enjoying themselves that much as they were tangled from the fire of multiple Pravda tanks. Four T-34's and a couple SPG's went down as the two tanks were getting more and more cornered. Nonna arrived with the IS-2 moments later as she needed to choose the target. Erika was waving a black flag around as she determined it was the flag tank. Nonna fired as the IS-2 shot tore into the rear of the Tiger 2, knocking it out with ease. And with that the match was finally over. The SU-152's pulled up moments after the match's conclusion.
"We're here." Nina panted to Nonna as she was exhausted. They had spent much of their time repairing the bridge in order to cross.
"You two are here but sorry if you missed out on all of the fun, we beat ya to the flag tank." Nonna told Nina that she missed out.
"Yeah that's okay. We didn't see much action other than the area we broke through and forced them across the river." Nina yawned as she was tired. Nonna handed her a canteen of water so she could begin drinking. Nina gulped whatever was in the canteen down as Nonna patted her head.
"Looks like you were pretty thirsty." Nonna responded. Srebarna approached Erika and Maho as she had some choice words for them.
"I am extremely angry at Erika, she knew that she could've evacuated when she was given the chance. Instead she decided to use her position as a launch pad for an attack and got herself encircled. And I'm even more angry at that apprentice of yours as she decided to rescue Erika as that was doomed from the start. What makes her think it would be a good choice to rescue that dumb commander?" Srebarna was red with anger. Maho didn't like how Srebarna was acting in front of her, insulting Erika was one thing but insulting Olivia too? Maho knew she needed to speak.
"Don't know what skills you could lead and if Olivia managed to get everything according to planned, this match could be continuing but Pravda has tricks up their sleeves so we shouldn't underestimate them. Plus if Olivia didn't rescue Erika, the match could've ended with us completely ignoring Erika." Maho wasn't tolerating Srebarna's attitude to her leadership and her plans.
"Exactly so when Erika sent out the message for help, we should have ignored her." Srebarna told Maho. Maho placed herself between Erika and Srebarna as if enough was enough.
"You have no sense in working as a team huh?" Maho asked as she knew Srebarna was getting angry over a lost match.
"I'll show you what a lost match will look like." Srebarna exploded with rage. She swung her foot around as she tried to kick Erika but Maho side-stepped away. Srebarna's foot struck the side of the tank as Srebarna froze. She looked like she was in pain, her eyes began watering up as her cheeks puffed out. She pulled her foot away and screamed. She fell over as she had tears flowing down her cheeks as she was in pain. Pomorie, Rila and Varna walked up as Srebarna was in agony.
"Well karma can strike like lightning one might say." Pomorie asked as Srebarna got what she deserved.
"I guess so." Erika responded as she smiled. The brat ended up with an injury.
"Hey everyone, Srebarna is crying, point and laugh." Pomorie told everyone to keep rubbing salt into the wound. All the students surrounding her began laughing as they knew that Srebarna got what she needed. Might as well humiliate her.
It was night time as the students had returned back to their ships. Dimitri promised a special something to someone. Maybe a way to reconnect with the spirits within.
"I know that this might be kind of something I never wanted to do with a friend but it's for someone like you. If you want to truly break away from the sins of the past, trust me I know what it's like to think something is a good idea but to only regret it later on and it would have disastrous results like what have I done. This was not how it was supposed to turn out." Dimitri walked along with Brook as he looked at her. "You did excellent on the field as you always do but now I think we should truly try riding you of the spirits that haunt you."
"I certainly do need this as someone that has been through a lot. Ivan's still looking down at me from the heavens keeping the angels over watch of me." Brook replied that Dimitri responded by giving her an orthodox cross and a globus cruciger as he had her hands hold the objects. Four adults walked up as they were going to give the girl a spiritual awakening.
"Да исправляется молитва моей, яко кадило перед Тобою: Воздейние руку мою, жертва вечерняя. Господи, воззвах к Тебе, услиши мья: Вонми гласу моления моего, внутривоззватие ми к Тебе. Положи, Господи, хранение устом моим: и дверь ограждения об устнах моих. Неуклонные сердца моэ в словеса лукавства: нескрывати вини о гресах." Brook kept her eyes closed but she felt like she was being transported somewhere else.
Brook opened her eyes as she was on a starry sky in the clouds with Dimitri as she began walking to the gates. Grigori was standing there as he was holding up the cross.
"So the girl who has seeked my guidance decided to come and have a spiritual awakening?" Grigori asked. Brook looked on as Dimitri held the cross.
"That's why we came to ask you about that sir." Dimitri responded as Grigori nodded and decided to let them in.
"The Patriarch Ivan will be more than glad to see you and help your conversion to being good Orthodox prayers much like I have when I still have my body." Grigori guided them to where Ivan was preparing the crosses. "Ivan your girl wishes to be an Eastern Orthodox like the rest of the family."
"Okay I will help with her conversion." Ivan responded as he walked over to his daughter. "Okay in order to complete your conversion to being an Orthodox. I will listen to my father. He has final say in all matters. I will not sin, commit acts of treachery, betrayal or acts of greed for my own wealth. I will not listen to what the news might say, only my father's voice is the one to guide me. If I listen I may earn my spot with the angels and continue guiding others around me to keep growing. My father also wants what is best for me. I will not disobey him or the Lord and Christ itself. I will pray everyday, yearn for loved ones to be safe. Even if I try risk, it is for the protection of my loved ones and family and the lord as a whole. Amen."
"I will listen to my father. He has final say in all matters. I will not sin, commit acts of treachery, betrayal or acts of greed for my own wealth. I will not listen to what the news might say, only my father's voice is the one to guide me. If I listen I may earn my spot with the angels and continue guiding others around me to keep growing. My father also wants what is best for me. I will not disobey him or the Lord and Christ itself. I will pray everyday, yearn for loved ones to be safe. Even if I try risk, it is for the protection of my loved ones and family and the lord as a whole. Amen." Brook repeated after Ivan as she repeated his words. She then felt something drop as she looked around. Her back seemed to have sprouted feathered wings. She was almost if she was flying. She couldn't believe this. It was almost like she was flying to the light of the sun. She began laughing as this was so cool. "I can't believe this, I'm flying!" Brook laughed as Grigori and Ivan looked on. This however was only a dream.
"Brook." Dimitri was shaking her awake as she dropped her Orhtodox Cross and Globus Cruciger. Brook opened her eyes as she was almost dreaming about this.
"Was I asleep?" Brook asked if this was true.
"For a half hour at least. You were repeating hymns and you were laughing as you felt like you had wings like a bird and you were flying through the air." Dimitri gave his answer that it was true, she was indeed flying.
"My body would stay on the ground yet the spirit flew on to protect others from sins of the west." Brook responded as she gave her interpretation.
"Not necessary but you were flying." Dimitri patted her on the back as he got up to bring her back to her dorm. "Remember, come weekly or if you're in trouble and need Christ's word himself, he will be there for you."
"Thank you." Brook smiled almost in tears from this awakening. Things were going up hill for her.
[A/N]: This story is about 6 months old now and probably the longest thing I've worked on so far as I keep getting more and more invested into it. I will keep working on it as the story continues to grow and get more and more confusing.
The second half of the match is over and some students are happy and others are disappointed. Someone's going home with a broken foot because of her reactions.
Also a small thank you to CrabbyCakes who helped me put together the team for this match and I would most likely be asking for small ideas on what to do next as there are two events I would want to do with the protagonists during their down time. Other than that, there is nothing else to say about this chapter.