It had been a couple days since the match on Kuromorimine had happened and the Kuromorimine students had no choice but to negotiate a peace between the other schools in order to save themselves. Weary from the last match, Maho took her team with the others as they were going to find peace between them. Maho had gathered the students who were still able to give one more match against Pravda but it was just going to be for fun this time. Twenty or so tanks arrived at the field as Maho was now waiting for what Pravda was going to bring. She got her answer as twelve T-34/85's, five Is-2's, two ISU-152's and a Kv-2 arrived on the field. Katyusha got out of the Kv-2 as she and Nonna were riding it personally to use as a form of transportation.
"I bet this match will be fun as it is." Katyusha began. Maho sighed as she knew this match wasn't going to last.
"There is no way that Kuromorimine could win. I actually wanted to speak to you about our terms with Darjeeling and Kay while my apprentice is letting off some steam from the last match as she said it felt empty." Maho told Katyusha as they were still waiting on two other people to come before they were to negotiate a peace.
"Well some of my students felt the same way, it's a win-win for us." Katyusha responded as she was looking at the tanks "You only brought along one tiger tank for the match, it just shows that your school is really weak at this point so those who might still have the strength to even raise a finger, will be put down in a matter of minutes."
"I understand that so I hope your terms are fair." Maho replied. A Willys jeep pulled up as Darjeeling and Kay were riding in it.
"The mud has made the ride to the area bumpy, I nearly spilled my tea on my skirt." Darjeeling told Kay that she could have had a smoother ride to the field.
"Well I don't control the weather so of course we're going to hit a few pebbles." Kay replied as she wanted to say that something like this was something she had no control over. Maho looked at two of them as they got out of the jeep. They walked over to Maho and her friends as Darjeeling began speaking.
"Well I suggest we should get on this peace treaty as I don't want to be sitting out here where my boots can get filthy." Darjeeling told Maho that she wanted to make this quick. Maho nodded as Kay was thinking much the same thing.
"Well we're still setting up our carnival so the process is going to take a while, maybe into the next week if we have to." Kay told them. Katyusha nodded as Maho stood there nervously.
"Well I suppose we can get Maho to be able to make our deal. Now let's see what we can do." Katyusha began. She then turned to Nonna as she had a request for her in particular. "Be today's judge, we need to discuss what would be fair for Kuromoirmine." Katyusha told her. Nonna nodded as Maho, Darjeeling, Kay and Katyusha walked away.
"All right, get into your starting positions, I'll be observing you today." Nonna told the groups. They nodded as they went to bring their tanks into their positions. "It's an annihilation match so I hope you're all aware." Olivia who was hearing about this gulped as she felt anxious. There was no way Kuromorimine was going to survive this.
Meanwhile, Pomorie and her friends were at the hospital and they agreed they were going to meet Ami and the surgeons for Rila. Pomorie began to speak.
"Have you decided to give it some thought?" Varna asked Rila if she wanted to go through with this surgery.
"Yeah. I think I was beginning to get second thoughts about getting my eyes operated on as I fear something might go wrong. I would be much better if I still had my eyesight instead of being blind." Rila replied as Pomorie placed her arm around her friend.
"No matter what happens from this day forth, you will still be our friend." Pomorie told Rila. Rila began to think about what Pomorie just said. She turned to Pomorie and began to speak to her.
"Friend, I hope things go well." Rila then began to remove her glasses as Ami walked up to the girls.
"Splendid work with the victory two days before. I bet Rila is ready for this." Ami told her friends. Rila finished removing her glasses as she looked at Ami. Ami seemed distorted and blurry the way that Rila was looking at her as she was used to having the glasses on.
"I'm ready." Rila told Ami as she handed them to Ami. Ami nodded as she walked over to the stretcher and laid in it. She was ready for something life changing. The doctor's wheeled her away as Pomorie, Ami and Varna decided to sit in the lounge to pass the time.
"So what are your plans for the last two months of this year? Maho's going to sign a peace treaty as her school has a shortage of money and oil. They got drained this year and now we are trying to figure out what we should do to try to remedy them so this doesn't happen again." Ami told the two girls as they wanted to see if they had any solutions.
"Well what's going to happen to Maho as of next year?" Pomorie asked as she wondered what was going to happen to their commander.
"Maho's graduating when this year's over so she better pick her successor. Erika just got removed from vice commander permanently due to her becoming delusional especially in the last few days. When Erika found out about this, she shot herself." Ami began. Pomorie seemed worried for Erika.
"Is Erika okay?" Pomorie asked. Ami began to think before she came up with an answer.
"Erika's fine as she just shot herself with a paintball and is in the nurse's office as a result of it. However with Ms. Itsumi suffered mental breakdowns, I think Maho removing her from Vice Commander was the right call." Ami stated that Erika was going to be alright but her removal was probably the best thing to do.
"But the question remains, who's going to succeed the both of them?" Pomorie asked as she knew that Kuromorimine needed a strong leader to help carry them on.
"That I don't know for sure." Ami responded with uncertainty. Varna was looking at her phone as she decided to tell Pomorie.
"Hey, a match is going to begin with Kuromorimine." Varna reminded them. Pomorie huddled close to Varna as Ami walked over to see what this was all about:
"They are going to have another match?" Ami asked with confusion.
Back on the field. Pravda had split into two groups, the T-34/85's were spread out along the northern area while all the other tanks were going to spearhead their way to the center. Nonna was looking on as she knew the match was going to begin.
"Okay Nina, I expect you and Brook to pull this off swiftly. I am well aware that Kuromorimine is very weak at this point and they are bound to surrender within minutes so get this distraction done so we can begin planning for next week. Kay's having a carnival so we must hold our parade before we go there." Nonna told Nina about the plan.
"Okay let's see if we can get this done within an hour." Nina responded as the faster they could do this the faster they could get back the ship. Hopefully Katyusha could arrange a peace deal with Kuromorimine now that they've lost. "Okay Brook we're on a timer, we need to get this match done swiftly as I want to be back in my room in preparation for next week. Maybe get some clothes for all of us." Nina instructed Brook about the fact that they were running on a timer.
"Okay I got you." Brook replied as she began thinking. "All tanks move in a semicircle. I want to be able to trap Kuromorimine in the town over." The T-34/85 crews nodded as they began to move. A couple of Panzer 2's noticed this and decided to withdraw. Brook's plan was simple, herd Kuromorimine into a spot where they aren't able to move independently and get Nina to blow them away.
Olivia Kaya was waiting in the city with her Tiger 1 as her plan was to hold out in the match of attrition and use her superior range to knock out the Pravda tanks. However, only three of her tanks had guns powerful enough to stop a T-34/85. This was going to be a very one sided match. She was looking out of the binoculars as she was keeping an eye on the Pravda tanks that were closing in on her. A radio call was all she needed.
"Olivia, we got movement to the south of us!" One of the commanders from the sector decided to notify her about this. She knew full well it was a trap and there was little she could do about it.
"You're on your own. I will try to keep the T-34's at bay." Olivia told the crew that she wasn't going to assist them purely because she needed to keep Brook's group from reaching the abandoned city.
Brook was looking through her binoculars as she managed to spot the tanks held up. She knew fighting Olivia head on would be disastrous even if her tank was the only one able to knock out a T-34/85.
"All stop." Brook ordered her group. The tanks ground to a halt as they were far out of Olivia's effective firing range. Brook decided to grab the radio and tell Nina about this. "Nina, we're going to stay out of range from the tanks inside, I'm not going to risk getting into a fight with that tiger. We'll dig in and wait for a siege while it's up to you to flush them out."
"Got it." Nina replied. The Kv-2 rolled forward as it began to lob its shells at the defenses in the town. The crew knew they needed to work fast if they were going to take the town in the appropriate deadline. "Kv-tan, stay behind and continue providing support, I'm going to roll forward." Nina told the Kv-2 crew to stay put while she was going to clear out the town. The remaining seven tanks were going to cause chaos in order to get Brook to move up.
Olivia was in the town as she was getting bombarded, she looked around, three tanks had been knocked out and more shells were coming in. The other crews were starting to panic.
"How much longer until that Kv-2 runs out of ammunition?" One of the commanders asked as she was starting to panic.
"I don't know exactly but stay where you are!" Olivia called out as she wanted to keep the team together. These words proved futile as the other tanks began scrambling to the west. Olivia's tank was the only one left in the town as the Kv-2 was flattening it. They were heading straight for Brook's trap. Brook who was observing this knew this was perfect, not only was the enemy fleeing but they were fleeing straight for her.
"Okay get the guns ready! I want to be able to flatten my foes like planks of wood getting cut up." Brook commanded all the tanks in her squad to get ready. The various guns on the tanks began rotating around as they were going to find their targets. Sixteen tanks began rolling along as their crews were unaware of what was about to happen. "Ready, aim and fire!" Brook called out. The twelve T-34's began firing as they were going to take out the weaker tanks first so that the larger heavier tanks could be hit with multiple shells. Tanks from this group were beginning to get taken out within mere seconds. One after another just five seconds apart from the other. The small group was beginning to get stripped away of what it has. After a few seconds of reloading, the tanks fired again as they quickly finished off the remaining tanks. Brook looked out to see the sixteen or so tanks that tried to break out lay wrecked across the field.
"They never stood a chance." One of the T-34 commanders told Brook. Brook knew that the path to the city lay open.
"Yes, now let's move." Brook gave out the order to get moving. The grinding of steel against the soil was heard as the tank. They were going to move into the city. However, that wasn't necessary. Olivia was the only one left yet she was being targeted by every tank on the field. Olivia looked up and saw a massive 152mm shell fly in from nowhere. She gulped as she knew her time was done. A massive paint splatter was left on the tank as a white flag popped out. Olivia's tiger was now out. Nonna clicked on the watch.
"Time!" Nonna shouted as she began reading how fast this match went down. She began counting on what this meant as she read the clock. "Nineteen minutes, that has to be a new record." Nonna exclaimed as she was impressed with how fast the match had concluded. This was the last time Kuromorimine had been defeated and the last time they will ever host a match.
Nonna walked back to the tent as Katyusha was still discussing the peace terms with Maho to see what would be fair for Kuromorimine.
"I hate to interrupt but the match was over in nineteen minutes." Nonna began as she didn't want to be rude to Katyusha. Katyusha looked at Nonna as she was curious to see who the winner was.
"Who won?" Katyusha asked as she seemed curious about this. Nonna looked at her tiny friend as she was ready to deliver the news.
"Pravda won, The Kv-2 flushed out the enemy as well as flattening the town." Nonna told Katyusha what exactly happened. Katyusha nodded as she turned to Maho and began laying out what was to be expected. Darjeeling began to speak on Katyusha's behalf.
"From what we have discussed with you and ourselves, we've decided that this would be the best for Kuromorimine, Saunders, St. Gloriana's and Pravda have agreed to lend you some fuel and money to fix your finances and get you prepared for the next year. As for losing, you will send Erika and her most stubborn students to our school to dig up our potatoes starting May tenth and will be heading along for the rest of the year." Katyusha told Maho that some of her biggest supporters will be sent to Pravda on potato duty. Nonna walked to Maho as she began speaking to her.
"Well you wanted victory over us but sadly you weren't going to get it. You and your apprentice though did your hardest to beat us but times are changing I'm afraid." Nonna told Maho that she was going to give respect to her and Olivia that they managed to have a long set of fun matches.
"Well thank's Nonna." Maho replied. Kay slipped her a piece of paper with the terms for the peace between the schools.
"Sign here and I will guarantee you both free passes to the rides." Kay told Maho. Maho grabbed the pen and signed in her name. Kay took the piece of paper away as she continued speaking. "Well I can't wait to see you all next week. Bring whoever you wish." Olivia entered the tent as Maho turned to her.
"Well we wanted to do what we didn't get to do last year but we still lost. " Maho began. Olivia looked at her as she sighed but she wasn't upset about this.
"Well I've done all I could and that's what mattered. I wonder what next year will bring?" Olivia asked as she wandered over and took a seat next to Maho. Maho wrapped Olivia in her arm and began to ruffle her hair with her free hand.
"You've kept me happy this year and I couldn't thank you enough for it." Maho thanked her apprentice as Darjeeling and the others watched.
"Wow, she is happy with Kaya-san, I wonder if she would be just as happy with Miho?" Darjeeling asked. Kay turned her head as she began speaking.
"I mean Miho is her little sister by blood, I think Olivia could be part of the family or that's what I heard." Kay responded as she sat back into her seat.
"So you want to finish that carnival I want to see?" Darjeeling asked. Kay got the reminder.
"Oh yeah. I'm off so if you need me. I'll be building." Kay told them as she got up and left the group.
Meanwhile Pomorie and Varna were watching as the match had ended. Ami was looking over as she was beginning to speak.
"Who won?" Ami asked as she wanted to figure out the results from the match.
"Well Pravda did and our friend signed the fact that there will be no more matches happening between them." Pomorie replied. Ami nodded as she continued to speak.
"Well looks like you girls will have it easy, you'll all return home as leaders to your school. I think it's time to slip back into farming, don't you think?" Ami asked as she wanted to see if the girls were ready to begin growing their food for the summer.
"Yeah we could use the rest and go back to old times." Varna giggled as she relaxed on the waiting room chair. "I wish Rila would join us in this conversation."
"Hopefully she will, and she will be released tomorrow morning, she'll need her rest." Ami told Pomorie and Varna. A doctor came through the doors as he was ready to speak with the three ladies.
"Well the surgery on Rila's eyes was a complete success, the bandages will stay on her face for one week as she will have the time to recover. You're free to visit her if you wish." He responded as he kept the door open. Pomorie and Varna got up as Pomorie was still holding her glasses. They were happy to see that their friend was all right.
Pomorie and Varna walked to where Rila's hospital room was as they wanted to visit her. They were walking down what seemed to be a minimalistic type of environment, gray walls with the occasional doctor or nurse walking down. Pomorie and Varna arrived at the room where their friend was going to be staying and opened the door. Varna was inside in her hospital bed stretcher as she looked like she was fine but the upper part of her head was wrapped in bandages.
"How are you feeling Rila/" Pomorie asked Rila how she was feeling after the surgery. Rila looked up as she seemed curious about where the noise came from.
"Who said that?" Rila asked as she seemed curious about where that sound came from.
"It's me Pomorie, me and Varna are checking up on you to see how you are feeling." Pomorie told Rila that it was her so there was no need to panic. Rila looked around as she collapsed back into her hospital bed.
"I need to keep my eyes closed as I have to let my eyes heal from what they did, it was painless and thank goodness for that but I need to wait a week before I can get the bandages off, I feel like this will be eternity." Rila responded as she snuggled up to her pillow. Varna walked over to Rila as she placed a hand on her.
"It's okay, a week is nothing and it will go by like it's nothing. We'll stay with you if we have to." Varna responded as she wanted to reassure Rila that there is nothing to fret over. A nurse walked in as she wanted to speak to the two girls.
"You two can't stay as Rila needs her rest." The nurse told Pomorie and Varna to leave at this very moment. Pomorie and Varna wanted to protest as this was their friend but Rila needing some sleep was something she needed. The two girls nodded as they left the room, it felt like they weren't doing their friend justice, especially what she had been put through. Even though they were gone, they were going to be back.
Pomorie and Varna returned to the hospital the next morning as Rila was going to be discharged for that day. They decided to wait around in anticipation for their friend. Rila was spotted walking by as Varna got up and walked over to Rila.
"You're on your feet! I'm so excited that you're heading back to our school!" Varna told Rila as she hugged her tightly. Rila, even though she couldn't see right now, decided to ask.
"What did I miss? Are any more matches being scheduled?" Rila asked as she felt like she was out of action for what seemed to be like months. Pomorie got up and she began walking over to Rila to speak to her.
"Well I don't think there are any matches being scheduled as of now but Kuromorimine pretty much ended the matches though as I think it was stress that wore them down." Pomorie hugged Rila as she was more than excited to see her.
"Looks like we're finally going to get some well earned rest." Rila told her friends as Pomorie joined them in the group hug.
"Well the next few days should be easy as we can finally relax and get ourselves rested for what is about to come. Pomorie released her friend as Varna did the same. They then held onto Rila's hands as they began walking out of the hospital, they were thankful of having their friend back.
When the three got on the tram to head back to their school, they decided to talk. Pomorie seemed nervous about it but she decided to begin the conversation.
"So Rila, what will be the first thing you want to do when you take those bandages off?" Pomorie asked as she wanted to see what her friend wanted to see. Rila began to think as she was trying to come up with what she wanted to see.
"Probably something exciting between my friends, lights all around in a crowd of people having the night of our lives. Maybe with some of the students from the other schools." Rila told her friends that was what she wanted to see. Pomorie looked at her phone as she managed to find the carnival that Saunders was advertising. That was still a few days away.
"I think I know what we should do but we need to keep this secret so we don't spoil the surprise for you Rila." Pomorie told Rila what they should do but they didn't want to spoil it for her until the time was right.
"Hey Pomorie, I just got a text from Darjeeling. It says: ``After your hard work and tribulation from the year that we've watched your school we're lending you another Vickers six ton tank as a reward but it has to be Pug team tank because your vickers needs to be shown as a unity symbol for when it gets back to your school." Varna read the text aloud. Pomorie knew it was probably taken to the retro museum to be on display and that Darjeeling had gone to visit it.
"Hmm we could probably get our tank repainted, but Popovo would need to come up with a new logo for it." Pomorie told Varna about it. Varna nodded.
"Yeah I'll speak to her later today about it." Varna responded.
The road ahead was bright.
[A/N]: The last match that will be happening in this fanfic has already happened and I'm sorry to say but there are only two more chapters left in this fanfic, shocker right? I want to move on and work on something else but I wanted to get this out of the way as fast as possible so I can start up on something else. I know it's another short one but that's because there wasn't much going on and the match went by really fast to signal that Kuromorimine has crumbled and has pretty much stopped. I think what Katyusha proposed was fair though the school will never be the same. Next chapter will be a long one as there will be a lot going on. See you later.