It's a Fierce Fight! Tarczay High!

Nagano Prefecture - staging area - 09.15h Sunday

"Ah thank God we're finally here," Saori was all too quick to mention, breathing a sigh of relief, as she was amongst the first to get off the tank and stretch her legs. Fortunately, they had been able to make use of the railroads for most of the trip which meant that everybody had been able to catch some rest during the ride, after that, it had only been a short journey on the road. "I'm glad that we got here in time so I can catch a break, that was a pretty rough drive you know. My butt is still feeling sore after that ride."

"It doesn't really bother me. I'm just excited to get to see the other team's tanks!" Yukari said in return, beaming at the prospect of getting to see a whole group of never seen before tanks. "It's only a short distance anyway so we'll be fine. Ah, I can't wait to get there. I've never seen a Hungarian tank before so I can't wait to see them!"

"… Ehm sure…" Saori mumbled underneath her breath, taking note not to dwell on the brunette's excitement as the prospect of seeing never seen before tanks. Odd how after all this time, and having seen it several times before, she still could not get used to it.

"Excuse me miss? Are you captain Nishizumi from Ooarai Girls Academy?" A man's voice could be heard and as several of the team's members turned to have a better look they could see a group of men approaching them, making their way towards Miho and her crew.

"I'm Nishizumi Miho yes," she said, answering their question. "How may I help you?"

"Ah no, we're actually here to help you," the lead man said before making a bow. "I'm Nakamura, I'm here to deliver the ammunition you had requested. If you could get your vehicles parked in the designated area we can begin to resupply you."

"Ah thank you," Miho offered her thanks to men before she would turn around and inform the drivers to get their vehicles parked in the area that had been allocated to them, "Once you're done with that we can begin to resupply our vehicles. Make sure that everything you need is accounted for."

The assorted crews scattered after hearing their orders, returning to their respective tanks the engines were fired up as one by one the tanks began to move, gently rolling forward as they were guided by men in yellow safety vests.

"Nishizumi-san, if you are willing to follow me we can get the documents for your ammunition and fuel delivery signed. Our office is right over there so if you could, please." One of the officials was kind enough to inform her, this was just another aspect that went on behind the scenes. As the commander of the team, her signature was what would be needed in order to validate the legality of the documents.

With that knowledge, Miho would make her way over to the officials and get all of the paperwork sorted out, once that was out of the way she could make her way back and see for herself if the rest of the team would have been able to finish the task of resupplying.

"Refueling shouldn't take them long though I guess loading all of the shells are going to take a bit more time," she said to herself, reminding herself that loading a tank was a time-consuming job that required all of the crew to join in. At least they were fortunate enough that none of their tanks carried a large caliber weapon, she did not dare to imagine how hard it must be for the poor crews of the IS-2 or KV-2 that Pravda employed.

Shaking the mental image of loading those massive, and therefore heavy, shells from her mind she would enter the office and sit down opposite to one of the officials. Enjoying the refreshing breeze created by the office's AC unit she was waiting until she would be given the proper documents for her to sign.

"All right, if you'll just go over this with me to make sure that you've received all that you have requested we should get this done in a couple of minutes."

In contrast to what the kind man had said the signing of the documents would come to last a little longer than what Miho had expected it to be, a good twenty minutes or so, still, there was little that she could have been done about the matter as it simply needed to be done. At least now there would be no legal issues for them to worry about. "They've really become rather strict when it comes to counting the shells that we use these days. I guess that's just the way that things go these days. Still, I'm glad that at least I got that all over. I hope that the others were able to get everything done."

While she was making her way back to where their tanks were parked, Mhio would crane her neck back in order to have look at the cloud-filled grey sky overhead, and her gaze was met with what she had been fearing for earlier as the weather did not seem to let up. "I guess we should expect some heavy rainfall, I just hope it won't happen during the match. If it does, we're going to have a rather tricky fight on our hands."

"Nishizumi-dono!" Yukari shouted as the sight of her commander before coming over to inform said girl of their current status, saluting her when she said, "I'm happy to report to you that all of our tanks are refueled and have been supplied with their ammunition! The last of the minor maintenance is being carried out as we speak."

"That's great to hear, thank you, Yukari-san." Miho was delighted to hear that all of the final preparations were almost done. With the team being in high spirits and well motivated for this match, they were as ready as they were going to be, all they would have to wait for now was for the opposing team to signal that they were ready.

Craning her neck to have a look at the clouds above Miho was starting to feel a little uneasy again about the prospect of having a severe rain shower happen during the match, an occurrence which often would put a damper on even the best laid out plans. "I wonder if it's going to stay dry."

"We might have some trouble with the weather if this keeps up. It seems like there's already some serious fog hanging over the match area," Yukari remarked as she had a look as well at the dark clouds overhead. "I really would've liked to have better weather than this."

"You're right," Miho said as she was in agreement with her friend, the poor weather coupled with having barely any information on their opponent would make for a tense match, the team was going to have stay vigilant. If the fog was going to become worse then there was a high risk that their visibility would be considerably reduced.

"So how should proceed once the match starts, Nishizumi-dono?"

"I think the best thing we can do is to go and secure the high grounds before sending out a recon party. Once we've found and identified the enemy flag tank we'll look to set up an ambush for them," Miho explained, highlighting several of the details of her plan though she was keeping her options open as there was no telling what an unknown opponent might try on them.

"So you're saying that we should be holding back this match?"

"Only at first yes, we know what the Hungarian made tanks are capable off but we sadly don't know what tanks Tarczay has or how many of them they have. And besides, they have nearly twice the number of tanks that we do, so I don't think we should rush in and risk driving into a trap. There's just too little information to work with."

Yukari nodded, it was true what the other girl had said, and again it was making her feel guilty over not having gone out on a quick recon mission, feeling that it was a mistake on her behalf in that she was responsible to devoid her team of such crucial information. Still, there was little that anybody could do about that now. There was nothing to be gained by seeking to put blame on anybody.

"Than what should we do?"

"We'll play it cautiously at first; we should have plenty of time to do that. But I'm more concerned about the match area and the weather than our opponents at the moment. The terrain is rather hilly and heavily forested as well; the roads are pretty narrow so we'll have little room to maneuver. That's why we'll need to be a little cautious; we don't know this area as well as they do."

The match was being held in the Nagano Prefecture, somewhere close to the city of Matsumoto though nobody knew of course where exactly it was situated. Not that any of that did matter at the moment, once this match was over they would be going back to the ship. Being on an already tight schedule there was simply no time for any of them to go sightseeing, as unfortunate as it was.

Of course operating the tanks in such a mountainous area would present them with some unique problems of its own, especially for the larger and heavier Leopon, as a heavy breakthrough tank it was entirely unsuited for operating in such dense areas and Miho was finding herself struggling a little with where she wanted the big tank to be.

"So we're just going to see drive around until we find them?"

"Not exactly," Miho was shaking her head before she would explain her plan further, "We'll have Duck out there to perform recon from a distance, in the meantime what we'll be doing is kinda like recon in force but we're not going to be aggressive about it. We'll try and lure them out in order to assess their composition and numbers, once we've managed to do that we'll pull back and regroup with Duck."

Nodding her head Yukari got the gist of what the other girl was suggesting, she could understand that there was no reason for them to act in a rash manner as there was nothing at stake. That said, she had actually been hoping for them to take a more proactive approach as that would give her the best chance to get to see the Hungarian tanks up close.

"Don't worry, Yukari-san," Miho said in return, seeming to have picked up on what her friend was thinking about. That said it was hardly a surprise after all of the time they had spent together. "You'll get your chance soon enough, after all, we do have to knock out their flag tank and vice versa. Hopefully, you'll get the chance to see them up close once the match is finished."

"Yes!" Yukari said in return, beaming a little as she was experiencing a sense of happiness at her friend being so keen of perception though it really should not come as a surprise to the brunette, she and Miho had gotten to know each other over the past seven months, and in all that time they had gotten to know each other pretty well. Then again her obsession with seeing rare tanks was no secret and just about every one of her friends knew about it.

"Let's get going then, shall we? The others are likely waiting for us."

"As you say, Nishizumi-dono!"


Nagano Prefecture - fields - 09.35h Sunday

Standing there in front of the sdkfz 254 scout vehicle that they had used to get here, Miho along with Anzu, Momo, Yukari, and Azusa had come to meet the opposition. Just to their right were the familiar faces of a trio of girls who would act as the judges for the upcoming match.

"I can't believe that they have the audacity to make us wait." Momo could be heard cursing underneath her breath as the monocle-eyed girl gave voice to her irritation about being kept waiting for the opposition to show up. "I'm going to make them pay for this insolence."

"Ah don't sweat it, we're here early," Anzu remarked in her usual carefree tone, seeming not to worry in the least about the absence of the other team's commanders. "Until then, let's just relax and enjoy the scenery~."

"Nishizumi-dono, how much longer do you think we'll need to wait?"

Miho had a look over her shoulder, to the fluff-haired girl who had just asked her a question. "To be honest I don't really know but I'm certain that they'll show up soon. We just need to be a little patient."

Looking to her other side, to where the three judges who had been assigned to oversee this match were waiting, she could tell that they too were becoming a little annoyed by their opponents being late for the meeting.

Still, given that this was not a tournament the judges could do little about the matter. For friendly matches and such there were less strict rules unlike in the official matches and tournaments. Even so, it was viewed by most participants of the sport that it was only proper etiquette to show up in time, a simple matter of courtesy, a practice that had been upheld by every other team that Ooarai had encountered in the brief period since it had revived its participation in the sport.

"I'm certain that they'll be here any moment."

Sure enough, as if on cue a vehicle appeared as it steadily made its way over towards the group. With the rumbling of its engine signaling its presence Miho and the others were looking with keen interest as the car or rather truck came closer. At first, they were struggling to identify the odd-looking vehicle, its curious shape not familiar to any of them.

It was some sort of six-wheeled light truck, though judging by the amount of passenger it seemed to be carrying this one could likely be classed more as a staff car of some kind, appearing to be colored in a dark olive green tone. Another rather unique feature of this staff car was the typical sloping engine bonnet.

"What kind of car is that, senpai? I've never seen one like that."

Although interesting the car wasn't what had caught Miho interest, she was more concerned with the people inside the car, amongst them would certainly be Tarczay's commander.

"Oh, I know!" Yukari beamed all of a sudden as if she had gotten an epiphany "It's a staff car based on a Germa 143 Krupp Protze light truck! They were made exclusively for high ranking officers in the Royal Hungarian Army! Oh, this is so cool! This is my first time seeing one! I need to get a picture of it! Ah! My camera! Where's my camera when I need it?!"

Her lively reaction prompted an immediate chuckle from the others much to the dismay of the messy-haired brunette who could do little but let out a soft whimper in response.

Finally, the car would come to a halt, a group of four girls began to exit the vehicle while the driver and the girl next to her remained seated. Watching as the group of four girls were making their way over towards them there was one girl in particular that caught Miho's immediate attention, leading the group was a beautiful young girl with shoulder length ashen hair, a dark magenta bow at the end of a twisted braid, there was a certain elegance to her but the stoic expression in those dark brown eyes, almost as if they were piercing through them, spoke of a different picture. The girl made a rather imposing impression on them.

"She looks kinda angry, don't you think? I don't like the way she's looking at us."

"Now that you mention it, they all have the same look in their eyes. Almost makes you wonder if we did anything to offend them. That's weird…"

Even though nobody could truly explain it, there was an apparent sense of hostility coming from their opponents. Something that nobody of the Ooarai group had come to expect and they were left mystified as what cause for this hostility these girls could hold.

"So you're the great Ooarai that I've heard so much about?! Somehow I had expected a little more, something more impressing, how disappointing. Listen up you all! I am Goulash of Tarczay Academy, commander of its armed forces!" the girl introduced herself and she was being anything but shy about it. This was not the kind of person that would beat around the bush; this kind of blunt honesty was new to them.

Nobody of the Ooarai girls present knew how to react to this sudden declaration, a collective state of shock held its sway over them, leaving them ill-prepared for what would follow soon.

The most left of the judges and the one closest to the girls from Tarczay was quick to inform said girls, that it was time for the commanders and sub-commanders to offer their greetings and respect before the start of the match.

However, what transpired was anything but that. Not only did all of the girls present from Tarczay flat out refuse to bow and show their respect to their opponents, their commander, the girl who had introduced herself of Goulash also took a step forward and pointed an accusing finger at Ooarai.

"You must be feeling so proud! Having made it so far as to be considered to be on par with the Big Four! Looking down on all of the smaller schools, don't you! Well, your time is up! You all looking down on us finally come to an end! Before this day is over I will bury you and your lies! And with that, I'll take my first step to rid this sport of the plague of the Big Four! You people have been the cause of this sport's decline for far too long, and your farce is going to end! We'll expose you imposters for what you are!"

By now it was becoming apparent that the judges as well were disapproving of the sort of behavior that was being displayed by the other team and one of the judges who went by the name of Remi Takashima gave voice to that disapprovement, "Miss, I must kindly ask you to cease with your accusations. We consider it to be inappropriate and not the sort of conduct that the federation approves of. If you have any proof or documentation to back up your accusations then please direct those to the federation's legal department, they will look into the matter."

None of the Ooarai students who were present could say a word in return; stunned by the suddenness of the girl's venomous accusations they were all left speechless. Clearly, this was anything but what they had expected for meeting the commanders of the opposing team, surely there might have been some frustration or anxiety present but nothing had prepared for this outright hostility.

Offering a silent prayer for the presence of the judges Miho was probably the most perplexed of the group, she could not imagine why these girls seemed to have an issue with her school. Furthermore, what was this girl talking about when she said the sport's decline? How had Ooarai been lying to other schools? Where did that come from? A farce? Imposters? Nobody knew what to make of it. Nothing of it made any sense to them. What did it all mean? It was all so confusing.

"With you and the other big schools out of the way the lesser schools will have at last their chance again! Mark my words, Ooarai! Your deception won't save you this time! Prepare yourselves!" Turning on her heels she had one last look at them before she gave them her final words of advice, "Please show me how graceful you can lose, Ooarai! I'll be certain to savor the sweet taste of your defeat. Oh, it will be oh so delightful to see you all in tears. Bye now."

By now a second judge gave voice to her disapproval of these accusations and the refusal of Tarczay to bow to their opponents, "Miss, this is inappropriate behavior. We must kindly ask for you and your teammates to cease with this course of action and take your leave. We will get back to you about the matter once the match is over as your conduct is contradictory to what either the sport or the federation seeks to promote."

"I see you judges are still part of the problem," Goulash shot back at the trio of judges, visibly holding back her tongue but she did seem to somewhat adhere to their words as she ceased her accusations and gave all but a curt nod to them before she spun on her heel and stormed off. The remaining girls of Tarczay were quick to follow their commander's example and left without even so much as saying a word.

Neither Miho nor any of the other girls from Ooarai for that matter could say a word in return. They could all just merely watch in silence as the group from Tarczay made their way back to their vehicle, boarding it before they would eventually leave.

Momo could only growl. "How impudent of them." Once the opposing group was at a sufficient distance, she was not all that keen on getting into an actual fight against any of those students. Still, she could not deny that inside she was more than upset about their treatment of Ooarai and its achievements.

"We apologize on behalf of the federation, I can assure you that there will be a reprimand for Tarczay following this match," one of the judges was quick to inform the girls from Ooarai, explaining to them that this kind of behavior was simply unacceptable and went against the policy that the federation was endorsing. "We wish you the best of luck during this match. Goodbye."

Saying their goodbyes to the trio of judges who were present to oversee the match, Miho and the others were slowly making their way back to their own transport vehicle, their minds trying to puzzle together what this commotion was going to mean for this match. Even then none of the judges had deemed it necessary to postpone the match so they were likely not viewing this rudeness on behalf of Tarczay as an indication for problems for the duration of the actual match.

"Well, I guess we've got our work cut out for us~," Anzu remarked in another one of her usual carefree sounding tones, as if the whole ordeal had simply not happened, a remarkable feat in itself. "So it seems like they really don't like us, this ought to be an exciting match!"

Three of the other four girls just looked at her with an equal mix of surprise and confusion, how anybody could interpret what had just occurred as a prospect for an exciting match was simply beyond them, then again this was the president of the student council they were looking at so there was that. Not that it inspired much confidence in any of them.

"… Nishizumi-dono…" was all that could escape from Yukari's lips as she would turn around and allow her eyes to come to rest on the figure of the team's captain. Seeing the girl standing in front of her, Yukari could do little other than try and imagine what had to be going through said girl's mind. What Tarczay's commander had accused them of was simply unjustifiable, unwarranted, and above all unforgivable.

Next, to the messy-haired brunette, the youngest girl in the girl was struggling with similar experience; the venomous words of the opposing team's commander had lunged itself as a barbed hook in the girl's heart, poisoning her feelings, clouding her thoughts, and leaving her mind in turmoil. 'Could it be that there are other schools out there who view us in the same view as they do? Are we hated by others? No, it can't be, they've got to be mistaken! They've got it wrong! Why would they even say such a thing?'

"Nishizumi!" Momo snapped, "We need to act fast and crush them completely! They need to be taught a lesson they won't forget! We can't allow them to get away with such blatant lies! This will not stand! I won't allow it! We've got to act!"

As the other members of the group began to discuss what had transpired, tempers were gradually rising as one heated remark gave rise to another, fueling a vicious spiral. Those participating in the argument displayed an equal mix of confusion and resentment; given the course, this argument was taking there would be only one outcome.

"Everybody, please calm down," Miho addressed the group as she sought to restore order and diffuse the situation as she was aware that with tensions rising there would be a risk falling to the enemies' ploy. "There's no point in you all getting worked up about this. This dissension might just be what they are after. Please, just take a moment to regain your composure and let us think about what happened with a calm, collected mind. Getting upset about this won't do us any good either."

"What?!"

Yukari stood there, not sure if she had heard it right. "B-But Nishizumi-dono…"

"Nishizumi-chan has a point here; I suggest we all listen to it."

Raising her hand Miho gestured for everybody to listen to what she was going to say. "I know that what they said must be painful for you, I know it is to me but we all know that it's false, that we gave it our all during those matches. We played honest and true to the spirit of Sensha-do, we never did anything wrong in our matches, and in this match, we'll show that to them."

There was a sense of collective agreement between the girls present here, what the girl had just said was true; they had proven their worth before, and they would do so again. It was after all the Ooarai way to rise up to the challenge when presented with one. This was nothing new to them, they had done this before and they would do so again.

Satisfied that her words were having the desired effect Miho gave another one of her familiar orders. "Alright everybody, now let's go back to our team. We've got a match to deal with." And with those words, the quintet of girls began to make their way back towards the rest of their team. Whatever issue they might have with Tarczay's unfounded accusations, they would resolve them through the sport itself, and prove that their school's victories were anything but a fraud. The outcome of this match would send a message to their opponents.


Nagano Prefecture - mountain pass - 10.15h Sunday

Much like she had initially feared the heavy rainfall, which had begun right after the start of the match, was already causing them plenty of trouble. A good thirty minutes or so into the match and the visibility had already been reduced to almost nothing, to compound matters the noise of the rain clattering on the steel hulls of the tanks meant that it was almost impossible to listen for the enemy. With that, they were left effectively blind at the moment

"So much rain, it's even worse than I thought it would, I wonder if they'll stop the match if this keeps up," she said to herself.

Having donned a raincoat in order to gain some much-needed protection against the never-ending torrent of rain Miho was getting worried about the steadily deteriorating situation.

"We're almost blind here," Miho said, feeling a little frustrated at how their progress was starting to come to a halt. Pressing on the sides of her throat microphone she radioed to her driver, "Mako-san, please be careful where we're going, the rain is making the road difficult to traverse. Stay alert at all times."

"Right."

Just ahead of her tank was Leopon, the tank's massive shape obscuring a good part of her view though she was counting on Satoko to keep a watchful eye. Miho's vision itself was already severely limited and the remaining Ooarai vehicles, forming a column behind her, were almost blind as she was.

Pressing against the throat microphone once more she radioed her orders to the tank in front of her. "Leopon, please keep a close watch. We won't have any warning should Tarczay plan to set us up for an ambush, stay vigilant at all times, and make sure that you keep moving."

Having received the acknowledgment of the other tank's commander Miho turned her attention back to the map she had been given. Consulting it she was aware that the area up ahead was the area best suited for an ambush, the narrow road they were traversing was considered the wide part, there would be almost no room left to maneuver for them.

"If Leopon was to get taken out they could block the road and trap the whole team. We've got to make sure that we have a route of escape in case things go bad for us." It was enough to make her worry, their situation made even worse as she had heard that their opponents had been on these grounds before several times so they held somewhat of a home-field advantage.

"Saori-san, could you inform the rest of the team for me to keep a close eye on their immediate surroundings."

"No problem, Miporin. I'll let them now."

"I wonder why they were so hostile towards us?" Miho asked herself, thinking to back to the meeting they had with the commanders of Tarczay which had been very different than before. For some inexplicable reason Tarczay's commander, a girl who went by the name Goulash, had been downright hostile in her attitude towards Ooarai. Even now it was not sitting well with her. She could not come up with a reason as to why their opponents would hate Ooarai, and that was what was troubling her the most right now.

"Miho-san?" Hana asked as she turned around from her spot as if she had sensed that something was troubling her commander. "Is there anything wrong? You look a little absent. Are you still bothered by what happened before the match started? When you went to meet our opponents?"

Hearing the question Miho had lowered herself in the cupola so that she could see her friends, it was feeling a little odd hearing their voices from inside the tank and being inside the confines of the tank did mean that she could warm up a little.

"I think it was really rude of them the way they treated Nishizumi-dono," the messy-haired brunette declared loudly in order to chime in on the discussion. "They have no right to call us that, we fought hard and fair in our matches! We deserved those victories! Who do they think they are to say those things?!"

"Then do you think that we made a mistake by agreeing to this match, Miporin? I mean, they've got like twice the number of tanks on their side. I don't think that they're planning on going easy on us."

"Actually," Yukari chimed in, her finger raised, as she felt the urge to correct. "They have one tank short of that but it's pretty close."

It was likely for the best that the messy-haired brunette could not see the look of disapprovement in the eyes that the radio operator was giving her at that remark.

Miho gently shook her head in response before she gave her answer, "I don't feel that agreeing to this match was a mistake. Even if our opponents have more tanks than we do, it offers us a good opportunity to train for such matches. The odds have never been in our favor anyway, and besides, I doubt we'll be able to achieve equal numbers next year so more practice on how to deal with an opponent that outnumbers us isn't such a bad thing."

"You think so?"

"I do," Miho was all too quick to say, "We've all learned a lot ever since our school picked up the sport again, but there is still so much for any of us to learn. We should take up this opportunity." No sooner had she spoken the words or she had made the decision to go back outside again in order to keep track of their surroundings, and besides she did not really want to linger on what had happened before.

Yukari was feeling a little conflicted, she truly wanted to believe the words that her commander had just spoken but deep in her heart, she could not bring herself to ignore the disrespect that their opponents had shown. "Even when our opponents keep accusing us of something we never did? I don't really feel that there'll be much if anything to learn from this match. It just doesn't feel right to me that they can do that and get away with it."

"Then ignore it," the driver remarked in her usual dead tone.

"I don't think it'll be that easy to ignore the rudeness displayed by our opponents," Hana rose from inside to voice her opinion, feeling that the remark of their driver was easier said than done. Even then she was remaining calm and collected, not giving off the appearance to being fazed by the subject at hand although she was in need of some fresh air.

"Nishizumi-dono, I don't think that we should let this slide that easily! I strongly feel that we need to take action against this!"

Cautioning for her friends to calm down Miho mentioned that regardless of the reason for Tarczay's behavior they still had a match to fight; it was going to do them little good if they were all going to get worked up about it and lose sight of the actual match. "Let's just calm down and focus on the match first. We might learn more once this match is over. I do plan on going to see their commander after the match and see if there is a way for us to come to an understanding. Maybe all of this has just been a misunderstanding."

"Of course."

"As you wish, Nishizumi-dono!"

Seeing as her friends withdrew back into the confines of the tank Miho was once again left to her own devices as well as bereft of an additional two pair of eyes. Well, for now, she could do having some silence to order her thoughts, there was still a lot going through her mind.

"I'm sure that they must've had their reasons for saying that. I wonder though what those reasons might be," she said to nobody in particular, speaking in a hushed tone, as she was trying to come up with a suitable reason but left devoid of any further information she could not come up with one that made sense to her.

Alone with her own thoughts, her mind began to slowly drift back to the issue of them being outnumbered by almost two to one, and as any capable commander knew, that was a considerable advantage in the enemy's favor.

'We've faced such odds before, and we were able to overcome them back then.' She reminded herself of what they had faced before, of course, it stood to good reason that they would not be able to pull that off again next year. 'We've been fortunate enough that our opponents underestimated us but now they know exactly what we can do, they won't make that same mistake again.'

It was a troubling prospect, made even more problematic in that it was also connected to the school likely not being able to expand the team enough and then there was still the issue of those crews that would graduate. With not enough tanks to reinforce the team and being dangerously short on crews meant that Ooarai would come to face hard times, luckily they still had some time left for them to try and remedy their predicament.

'It won't be easy but with any luck, we'll get plenty of new crews, I can only hope that the President's plan is going to work. Still, that leaves us with a shortage of tanks and we really could do with gaining some strong ones.'

There was a lot that they would need to look at, everybody knew about Ooarai now; they all knew what they could expect from this small school. The schools that they have been able to defeat would be learning from their mistakes and take appropriate measures to ensure they could combat Ooarai again next time.

'It'll be even more of an uphill battle next year. That's why we need to reinforce the team. We can't expect that the same tactics are going to work for us again. We need more tanks, we need more crews, and above all, we need to further train all crews. There's so much work ahead of us and I don't even know where to begin.'

Pushing such thoughts to the back of her mind, Miho made a quick mental note to herself that such thoughts could wait for until after the match. Besides, there was a lot that she was going to have to discuss with the student council anyway so it would seem to be a good idea to do so after the school festival had come to an end. That would seem to be a good place to start.

'I need to focus on this match first; we need to show Tarczay that everything that we've done is the truth. With a little luck we might be able to talk things out after the match is over, I hope we can clear things up. I think it's got to be some kind of misunderstanding. I'm confident that we can work things out between us.'

Taking a deep breath, before letting out a sigh Miho began to scan her surroundings once more before telling herself, "I'm surprised that we haven't seen anything yet of Tarczay. I would've thought that by now we should've seen something from them. Maybe I should call Duck and see if they've had any luck with locating the opposition."

Somehow the long absence of contact with the enemy it was not sitting well with her, there was something about it that was giving her an ominous feeling. "Duck team, can you hear me? Have you had any luck with locating the enemy?"

The response she got was not the kind she had wanted to hear as it seemed that the tank she had to send out to scout ahead and locate the opposition for her, had been rather unsuccessful in its assigned mission. All of which was now begging the question, where was Tarczay and what were they planning? None of this was making sense to Miho. She grew uneasy as there was an unsettling sensation starting to creep up on her.

'I don't like the sound of this, not seeing a sign of them is a bad omen for us. We don't have knowledge of this area, if we can't find Tarczay soon we'll risk that they'll be able to set up an ambush.' The die had been cast, and Miho could not afford to wait any longer.

"Everybody," she said through the radio, addressing all of the tanks in her group, "We'll come to a stop just around that corner up ahead, till then stay alert. We-."

The attack came out of nowhere, without any form of prior warning, leading the column Leopon was the one to suffer the brunt of the enemy attack. Several loud explosions erupted across the stricken vehicle's side as it was raked by enemy fire, a vast expanse of black, acrid smoke obscuring the vehicle from its companions' view.

Shortly after, the heavy tracked vehicle began to lurch to its left, before grinding to a screeching halt, black smoke erupting from its engine deck. With a loud sound the white flag on top popped up, signaling that for the remainder of this match, Ooarai's heavy hitter would be out of the fight.


Nagano Prefecture - forest - 10.25h Sunday

Listening carefully as a torrent of messages came flooding in over the radio it became clear to the four-man crew of the Type 89 that something had gone horribly wrong, there was no doubt about it.

"We need to do something!" Taeko said as she looked away from the machine gun in front of her, "We can't sit here and do nothing! They need our help! We've got to go!"

"We've got problems of our own!" Noriko yelled at the top of her lungs as she dropped down from the tank's cupola mere seconds before a barrage of enemy fire erupted all across the tank. The sound of the impacts riddling the tank's outer surface was deafening, the volume of enemy fire frighteningly intense.

Inside the armored hull, the quarter of girls had their hands pressed against their ears in an attempt to block out the noise. "Kawanishi! Get us out of here! They're coming for us!"

"Right!" the driver grunted as she gripped the controls tightly and floored it, kicking the tank into gear the remainder of the crew almost lost their footing as the vehicle lurched abruptly to the side.

"Sasaki! Get on the gun!"

"Right!"

"Kondou, let the captain know that we're unable to provide support! After that, get me a course to get out of this forest!"

"On it!"

"Kawanishi! Put as much distance as you can between them and us!"

"You got it!"

Holding on for dear life as her driver pushed the engine to its limit Noriko began to climb back up the cupola as she needed to have a look at their surroundings and get an idea on where they might be heading at. The radio operator was going to need information after all, and their driver was going to need the correct directions.

Looking over her shoulder Noriko could tell that their attackers had not yet given up on them, far from it as it was clear that several tanks had given chase, a quick count already got her no less than five of them, a good one-third of the enemy team.

"They're on our tail! Floor it, Kawanishi! Zigzag to avoid their shots! We can't afford to get hit!"

The number of shots coming their way was steadily decreasing; no doubt a result of Duck quickening their pace which meant that their pursuers had fewer opportunities for firing on them. Although there were still the occasional shots fired at them, and some of these got perilously close to them, they were becoming less frequent.

"I guess they're not so keen on wasting their ammunition on us," Noriko murmured as she observed it, if that was the case than they had a greater chance of making it out alive. That said, she could not shake the uneasy feeling that perhaps there was something else at work here, something that her opponents were aware of while she did not.

Pulled from her thoughts as the type's gun fired in return Noriko instinctively reached down in order to grab another shell and quickly loaded it into the gun's breech. "Fire!"

"Yes!" Akebi said shortly before she gently squeezed the trigger, the tank rocked as it fired, its breech recoiled back into the turret.

Even with a reduction in the enemies' accuracy or their reluctance to open fire, there was still the issue that their pursuers had significantly more tanks, and thus more guns to use against them. If they wanted to, they could all fire indiscriminately, and through sheer chance land a knockout hit on Duck's Type 89, the odds were simply in the enemies' favor.

"I guess we're having as much trouble hitting them as they do," Noriko remarked bitterly as she lost sight of the shit just fired, the thick fog that obscured their assailants from her view swallowing the shell, "Though I shouldn't complain about it, without it I doubt we would've lasted this long. Still, I'd love for it to clear so I can get an idea what is following us."

Machine gun fire raked the side of the tank, causing Noriko to instinctively duck inside the armored hull. "Oh, that was pretty close. Not bad. There are definitely several of them."

"You're kinda enjoying this… aren't you?" a nervous Akebi asked as the face her commander was making might be best described by some as slightly unsettling.

"Huh?" a surprised Noriko led out, "You think so? Was I making a funny face?"

"Akebi nodded her head in return, "You kinda did."

"Oh… well, ehm… sorry about that… still, it's pretty exciting don't you think?"

Sitting at the controls of the tank, and firmly gripping the handles in her hands Shinobu could do little but roll with her eyes about the odd conversation that had started off behind her back.

In her mind now was not the time to be losing oneself in the excitement of battle, not when they were the ones getting chased by multiple enemy tanks, and especially when they were making a mad dash in order to escape said enemy tanks.

"I just got word from captain Nishizumi!" Taeko hurriedly reported, gazing up the turret. "We're to prioritize our survival first and break contact with the enemy. Once we're cleared of our pursuers we should contact them again."

Noriko couldn't help but grin at hearing that message, it was clear that Miho was already formulating her next move and it was going to involve them. Given that it would likely be a rather important assignment it was more than enough impetus for Noriko to want to escape.

"Let's do this! Everybody, we're breaking free from them! Volleyball club, fight!"

"What?! How?!" A collective cry shot out from the other three members.

"With guts!"


Nagano Prefecture - mountain pass - 10.30h Sunday

"We need to get off this road!" Azusa shouted loudly as she dared to risk a peek outside her cupola and saw one of her fears become a reality as several enemy tanks broke their concealment, their main guns firing as they trundled forward. "They're trying to pin us on this road! It's a trap!"

Seeing their muzzle flashes she could tell that there were at least four tanks pressing the attack but the continuing downpour made it almost impossible for her to identify what type the attacking vehicles were.

'What should we do, this is only getting worse? How badly do they want to knock us out? This doesn't feel right, something's wrong here.' All the while the incoming enemy fire was intensifying as if the opposing team was throwing everything they had at Ooarai. Could it be that Miho had been mistaken in her judgment, that the hostility displayed by their opponents at the meeting had not been a taunt, that it was very much real?

'This isn't good. If they really want to take us out that badly then there's no telling what they might do in order to achieve that. What should we do? What should I do?' Then it came to her, what needed to be done, what she needed to do; to assume control of the situation, and to issues orders to her crew. In the absence of immediate orders, Azusa took the initiative.

"Aya, turn the turret! Targets, ten o'clock! Range, less than a hundred meters! Fire!" Relaying her orders quickly to the twin-tailed gunners she was doing her best to make an accurate estimation of both the direction and the distance of the enemy tanks, even than she was unable to confirm if the shots were hitting their targets or not, and given the limited power of their 37mm gun it was likely that even if their shots found their mark, the rounds would simply bounce off.

'It's no good, without an actual target to aim for we can't make use of the 75mm and the 37mm isn't going to cut it against their frontal armor. We don't have a choice, and at least we'll be bringing our frontal armor to face their fire.'

"Karina, turn the front of the tank towards where the shots are coming from!"

"Yes!"

"Finally I get to have a piece of the action!" Ayumi chirped as she was anxious to bring her gun to bear on the opposition, with the tank having been facing the road and the direction that the enemy was coming from the tank's hull mounted gun was all but useless, but now she could get a slice of the action. "Take this!"

There was a loud crack as she opened fire at the first target of opportunity, which was quickly followed by the gun's breech recoiling back the length of its recoil guard. She always got a kick of firing the main gun; there was just something undeniably exhilarating about the whole matter.

"Ayumi, don't fire randomly!" Azusa remarked as she watched with dismay as the shell flew clear of any potential targets, "Pick your targets carefully, make your shots count. We don't have the luxury of firing at random, they'll pick us off."

The noise of rumbling engines and the distinct clattering of metal tracks was becoming ever more present; it was obviously clear now that the opposing tanks were rumbling towards them. Could it be that the enemy commander was planning on finishing them off in a close-range brawl? Given the relatively low power of their main guns, that did make sense to the young commander.

"This is bad, if we get pinned on this road we'll be easy pickings for them," Azusa let out a little curse underneath her breath as she had some idea on what the other side might be up to. For a brief moment, she came perilously close to ordering her tank to drive down the hill but had she done just that, she would have committed an act of insubordination as there was no order for them to retreat. Furthermore, when she came to the realization that it would be a rather reckless action as she had her reservations about the tank managing such a decent, she came to reject the idea as being too dangerous.

Her intuition was telling her that to stay here would lead to only one likely outcome, the defeat of Ooarai but where would they go? She had already ruled out the most obvious route of escape and at the moment she could only come up with the almost equally reckless idea of simply charging the enemy and hoping for the best. "What would the captain do?"

"This is Miho, all tanks are to form up on me and follow my lead. Everybody, we'll be going down this hill. I know that this sounds risky but it's our only way to escape from this ambush."

Azusa could hardly believe her ears when the order was relayed to her by Yuuki, rushing up the cupola of her tank she got confirmation of what she had feared as she could see the Panzer IV moving towards the edge; Miho was planning on taking them down the mountain.

"No, senpai… you've got to be joking, right? You can't be serious?" She found herself asking that very question, not sure if what her captain had just said was genius or rather insane. Shaking her head in disbelief as it became clear that the other girl had been quite serious about the order. Azusa bit on her lip, telling herself that despite having just rejected the idea herself for being too reckless it was all going to work out. If their captain believed that they could do it, then surely their chances of making it had to be worth the risk.

'Nishizumi-senpai has been there for me the past few weeks, she believes in me, that's likely why she made me the sub commander for this match. I need to repay that trust; I must believe in the captain, I need to believe in her.'

Even then her mind was unwilling to follow the order she had just gotten, her mind still reasoning that the risk was simply far too great. 'With all of the rain that we've had that slope has to be slippery, there's no way that we can use it to get away. The tanks won't have any traction with all of the mud on the slope, there's no way that we'll be able to keep the tanks under control. But senpai...'

Taking a deep breath before letting out a sigh she went and calmed her mind, telling herself that it was all going to be alright as long as they trust their captain. "Azusa?" She could hear the call coming from her driver. "What should we do? Do we follow the captain's orders? It looks pretty scary you know!"

"I'm scared."

"… Y-Yeah, it's… pretty scary… you know…" Aya uttered underneath her breath, appearing to be somewhat nervous, and for a good reason.

"..."
Shaking her head Azusa said, "No, we'll do as captain Nishizumi says, we need to have faith in her orders. She wouldn't put us needlessly at risk. I believe in her." Having a glance at the other girls inside the confines of the small turret she gave the order to her driver. "Karina, take us towards the edge."

As the tank's bulky frame began to tilt over the edge Azusa grabbed on and yelled at her crew to do the same. "Everybody! Grab onto something!" This was going to be one bumpy ride.

Nobody wasted a moment, grabbing on for dear life to whatever was nearest to them, a first the nose of the tank began to gently dip down, the entire vehicle tilting forward until it went beyond its center of gravity and at that point, there was no longer any stopping it.

With the tank hurtling down the hill it was picking up a good amount of speed, and Karina was finding herself struggling with the controls in order to keep the downhill charge of her great metal beast under control lest they would careen out of control.

Inside the tank, it was anything but a pleasant experience, despite their best attempt to arrest themselves the six girls inside were being tossed up and down, left and right, something that was made all the more unpleasant by the fact that the interior of the tank was packed with hard objects.

"Ugh, I think… I'm going to vomit…" the twin-tailed girl complained.

Daring to risk a glance out of her cupola Azusa was somewhat relieved when she saw that their assailants had opted for the more sensible option of not to copy the rather reckless escape that Ooarai had opted for. "It seems like we've lost them. Karina, pay attention to where we're going! Keep her steady as I don't want us to roll over!"

"I'm trying! This is pretty hard, you know!" A distressed cry came from her driver who was still caught in her own struggle with the tank's controls. "Everybody! Hold on tight! This is gonna get rough!"

The tank lurched violently to one side, the six girls inside the steel hull screaming for their lives as the tank rocked dangerously close to its center of gravity, risking it toppling over.

But it held, by the skin of her teeth, Karina was able to keep the tank from tilting over.

Praying that they would make it out unscathed no one was spared a moment of respite during the harrowing rush down the mountain slope. Every violent moment of it seeming to last for an eternity as time seemed to slow down to a crawl. Everybody inside was just wishing for it to be over.

Without any warning the front of the tank was suddenly lifted into the air, Karina not having noticed that there had been a sharp rise in front of her, kept pulling on the levers but to little avail as the tank became airborne. Seconds later it smacked against the ground, the suspension groaning and letting out a metallic shriek in protest, it was a violent experience that its crew who were holding on for dear life could have done without.

Being tossed around inside the steel hull like a bunch of ragdolls was anything but a pleasant experience for the tank's six girl crew but there was little that any of them could do about it at the moment.

Ayuumi cried out, "Ouch, my butt hurts!" A moment after she got slammed into her seat.

"Karina!" Azusa shouted as she was doing whatever she could in an effort to remain on her seat; it was becoming clear to her that the tank had never been designed with the intent to go hurtling down a mountain. "Keep her steady! Don't let us topple over! Do whatever it takes!"

"You got it!"

As the bottom of the hill came rushing towards them at an alarming pace, the dark-haired girl shouted to the others that they needed to brace themselves for the impact. This was not going to be pretty and barely had the thought surfaced or she asked her radio operator to keep the first aid kit at the ready, just in case they were going to need it.

Next, to her, she could hear how her gunner was offering a quick prayer, not that she could blame the other girl for it.

"Everybody, brace!"

With a loud groan, the tank slammed into the dirt at the bottom of the hill, rocking violently back and forth. All of them could clearly feel the bone-jarring impact when it happened, several of the girls fighting hard not to get flung from their seats.

Struggling as it sought to gain traction on the muddy ground, the tank staggered, a terrifying shriek came from the metal hull as if the steel beast itself was protesting against the harsh treatment it was receiving at the hands of its occupants before it was finally able to free itself.

For the young girls inside there were cries of joy and sighs of relief being exchanged as they had all managed to get through this ordeal with nothing but a few scratches and some bruises to show for it. But their moment of reprieve was only short-lived as that second rounds began exploding around the tank itself, churning the mud and earth around it.

"They're shooting us!"

"We need to get away!"

"But where?!"

Azusa yelled for her driver to get the tank in gear and them out of there, it didn't matter in which direction, just as long as it would take them out of harm's way. "Anywhere will do! Just as long as it takes us away from them! Now hurry! We can't stay here."

Risking a peek from her cupola the girl saw, much to her own disappointment, that they had gotten separated from the others but right now there was no other option to rejoin with them. With a heavy heart, the young girl knew that they would be on their own. 'Nishizumi-senpai, please be safe.'


Nagano Prefecture - mountain pass - 10.40h Sunday

"Tssst," Paprika clicked her tongue as she watched with disgust as the last of the Ooarai tanks disappeared from her sight, "How unsightly you are Ooarai, opting to flee instead of standing your ground and fight! Have you no honor?!"

Standing on top of one of the many Turán I tanks that the team had brought it took all of the venomous redhead's willpower not to get back into her tank and order a full advance, but she could not do so unless decreed by the team's commander.

"How fortunate you are." She would get her chance soon enough; it would only be a matter of time before they would catch up with them. And then, she made a vow to herself, in that she was going to end this charade. "Once we've caught up with you we'll expose your lies to the world. It's laughable that a team such as yours won the national tournament without any aid. I wonder what you promised to those schools if they were to let you win."

Much like her fellow classmates, she had no interest in this year's national tankery tournament as it was obvious that the big schools who had their reign of terror would come out on top. That was until news had spread around of a newcomer school that had managed to beat one of those big schools, nobody believed it, and yet there it was. There were great joy and excitement going throughout her school as everybody saw it as a sign, a new hope. But alas, it was not last for long, the longer the tournament went and the further this unknown school climbed up the rankings, the more the anger and resentment began to settle as nobody could believe anymore that this school was doing it on their own strength. Not against the big schools that this unknown school was winning.

"You spat in our faces! The false hope that you dared to give to others! Your lies are going to be exposed today! Mark my words Ooarai, your time is up!"

Reaching up with her right hand and running it through her hair she could feel how sticky it had already become. "I really hate this kind of humidity," she whispered, followed by her letting out an exasperated-sounding sigh.

A voice to her right drew her attention, her green eyes darting to her side, coming to rest as a girl who went by the name of Palacsinta saluted her. "What is it?"

"I'm sorry to report but the hounds have not been able to take out their quarry," the short-haired brunette girl reported. "They are still giving chase but the prey is proving to be rather… hard to take out. Should I report their failure to the Supreme Commander?"

"No." Paprika raised her hand, signaling that there would be no need for the girl to do so. "They should report it themselves. If they have any sense of honor they will be the ones to report it. If they can't even do that then they deserve the repercussions!"

The other girl nodded her head in agreement. "Understood. What are your orders then?"

Getting down from the tank Paprika could not help but show a little grin on her face at that question. "Isn't that obvious? We'll go and find those cowards. We'll hunt them down. And once we've done that, we'll crush them!"

"And how do you plan on doing that, Paprika?"

The two girls in question looked up in horror, much to their surprise their commander was standing there in front of her own personal tank, a Turán II with its distinctive short-barreled 75mm gun. And from the look on her face, it was clear that she had overheard every bit of their little conversation.

"S-S-S-Su-S-S-Supreme… C-C-Commander!"

"You know Paprika, you're hardly in a position to make such a claim!" Goulash mentioned as she strolled forward, towards the girl in question. "You're the one who wasn't able to finish off the remainder of the Ooarai tanks. Did I not make it clear during the briefing that the lead and last tanks of their column were to taken out first?!"

"Y-Y-Yes… Ma'am!"

"And you failed me."

"… Yes…" Her head low the girl in question didn't say another word, regardless of what she would say in return it would not chance the predicament she was finding herself in at the moment.

"And how do you plan to make up for your failure?"

"…"

"You would cost us our victory, Paprika? That would be unwise of you."

"... N-No…" the girl stammered, dropping to her knees, awed and scared at the unexpected presence of Goulash.

"As I thought. So tell me, Paprika. Do you know what is going to happen should Ooarai manage to win this match? Do you have any idea what that will mean for us?! How it will make us look? What it will do to our goal of cleansing this sport of its corruption? We're never going to get another opportunity to expose those big schools for what they are! For what they have done to this sport! Never!"

"… I… uhm… it won't happen again. On my word, I swear that I'll find them and take them out."

Goulash nodded her head in satisfaction after hearing that declaration. "Good, I'm glad to hear that. Now get out there and make good on your word. Don't offer them any quarter or mercy, I want Ooarai to be utterly crushed. We will accept nothing but their complete destruction, is that clear?"

"Y-Yes, commander!"

Turning her head to the tanks behind her Goulash made a gesture for the other girl to get out of her sight, she was finished with her anyway, and if the girl was serious about her apology then she would best be on her way.

"Everybody, mount up! Find them, and eradicate them!" she was bellowing her orders, watching with a sense of satisfaction as those crews that had dismounted their vehicles were only all too eager to get back inside. The loss of one tank would hardly be a setback for their opponents, they only way for Tarczay to win this was to retain the initiative and press their opponents into a corner.

"We've taken out your big gun, Ooarai. But I doubt that'll affect you too much, no as long as your commander is alive you'll come up with a way to strike back at us." To her, it made sense that the first priority of their opponents would be to reorganize and link up with those elements that had gotten separated.

"Where do you plan on taking a rest? Surely you want to keep on going for a while to put as much distance between yourself and us, don't you? Or are you going to cower like the cheaters you are and hide somewhere until they cancel the match?"

Until then, however, they would not have the luxury of wasting time, every second that they were spending waiting here would be a second that the other team could use to get away from them. At the moment they had been able to secure a small tactical advantage but that was not going to last them forever, they had to pressure Ooarai while they were still on the run, to keep on hounding them, to prevent them from regrouping and mounting a counter-attack of their own.

With their engines roaring the tanks were moving out in pursuit of their prey although nobody, in particular, gave the impression to be all that keen on taking the same route as their opponents had in their desperation to escape.

"Now Ooarai, let's see how well you can run. Just keep in mind that running will get you nowhere, we'll eventually catch up with you. I hope you'll keep us a little entertained before we finish you off then."


Author's note: This was originally supposed to be a short chapter, it did not go as planned.

On a different note, first I want to apologize for it having taken so long for this chapter to get posted. There have been several reasons for it but I won't bore you with the details, have a good read and enjoy the chapter.