Caught in a Sudden Pinch!

Nagano Prefecture - forest area - 11.10h Sunday

Seeing as she was now left with just four tanks remaining in her group at the moment, Miho was starting to feel a little dismayed about their current situation. She did remind herself that things could have been a lot worse; then again they could have also been a lot better. "I guess they really got us good there. To think that we drove right into that ambush, they were just waiting for us."

During their mad dash to escape from their opponents, they had unfortunately gotten separated from several tanks and Duck still had still not been able to join up with them.

"So Commander, what will be our orders then?" the blonde-haired Reki-jo asked as she got down from her steel beast. "There's just four us left at the moment. Leopon is down for sure, we've lost contact with both Mallard and Rabbit, and Duck is still on its way towards us but they were being chased. So what will we do?"

"First we need to see if we can re-establish contact again with the missing teams," Miho said in return, it was obvious where her priorities would lie at the moment. With her team having lost its coherency it was only natural that her first order of business was to reform that coherency. That meant that they needed to get into contact with those tanks and see if they could rendezvous again.

"Saori-san, could you see if you can raise any of them over the radio? If that doesn't help, try and send them a text message. Let them know that we're okay, ask them what their status is, and inform them of where we'll be heading. Tell them to rendezvous with us there."

Pointing at a certain position on her map Miho was confident that the other teams would be able to navigate to that location. The only question now was if they could get in touch with them in the first place.

"You got it, Miporin."

For the time being, they had been able to shake off their pursuers but that did not take away the fact that the enemy team would still have a rough idea on where Ooarai's tanks were. There was little doubt in her mind that most of the opposing side's armor would be rolling into this area sooner than later, which meant that it was important for them to get away from here as quickly as would be possible.

Luckily this little forested area would also provide them with some measure of protection from the rain, allowing the crews to exit their vehicles and perform their tasks without the added complication of getting wet.

"Everybody, what's the status of your tank?"

While she was waiting for each crew to check their charge, Miho began to ponder again about their current situation, asking herself how it had been possible for them to walk into that ambush, one that should have been obvious to her. "We messed up there… no, I'm the one who messed up… I... should've seen this coming."

She made a mental note to herself to reflect on the matter once she was back home, they had been careless, and as the team's captain, she was the one to bear the responsibility for it. Still, she had to admit that it had been a well-executed ambush; Tarczay knew what they had been doing.

"So, do you want us to go and hunt down some of the enemy tanks?" the diminutive girl asked all of a sudden, perched on top of the body of the Hetzer, seeming to take things at her own leisure as she was chewing on another sweet potato snack. "Kinda a shame that we weren't able to knock out any of theirs. They sure got us good ~."

"I feel that they did pretty good on that ambush though I think that we were pretty lucky in that we only lost one tank in that engagement. It could have been a lot worse for us but everybody did great during our escape."

"What do you think are the odds that they'll try to spring a second ambush on us, Nishizumi-chan?"

Thinking about it Miho was weighing her options and doing the math, she could not rule it out entirely but she was also fairly confident that with the first ambush having been unsuccessful that their opponents might try it again. "I don't think it'll happen soon, right now they're likely searching for us but if we give them too much time they'll try and set up a second ambush."

The girl nodded her head in agreement, her twin tail moving in accordance, all the while still chewing on her trademark snack. Leaning forward she said, "I don't think it's good if we were to rely on that. Don't you think so as well, Nishizumi-chan?"

"Yeah," the girl agreed, right now it would do them little good. "I'd prefer it if the odds were a bit more on our side. I'd really like to get to know more about our opponents and especially where they are keeping their flag tank. We'll continue to be at a disadvantage as long as we don't know where it is."

"Should we tell Duck to go look for their flag tank then? Instead of having them rendezvous with us as planned?"

"Let them go and scout ahead," Miho answered the question, "We need to have a good idea on where our opponents are, we need to know where they are heading. Also, be sure to let Duck know that at all times they are to make sure that the other team doesn't spot them."

That would hopefully provide them with the information that was needed so they could formulate a strategy in order for them to regain the intuitive.

A slyly smile began to appear on the shorter girl's face as if she had just gotten an enjoyable idea. "Than what do you say if we spring an ambush of our own? That ought to make things a bit more fun, don't you think? Shouldn't be too hard for us to pull off once Duck manages to find them?"

Looking at the other girl Miho could see the reasoning behind that suggestion. If they could pull off a successful ambush while their opponents were still looking for them that might just provide them with the means to seize back the initiative. Being able to knock out a few of their tanks in the process would also have the benefit of offering them some much-needed breathing space.

"We'd have to look for a suitable location," Miho said in return, "Furthermore we'd first need to know where their tanks are. I've already told Saori-san that should she be able to contact Duck that they are to try and locate Tarczay."

"Nice~. So that means we'll just get things sorted here and be off on our way then, right?"

Nodding her head in response Miho said that was indeed was she was planning on for the moment, once all of the tanks had been checked they would be on their way.

Coming to a halt and clacking her heels together Erwin was the first of the crew to come and report their status, "Commander, I'm glad to report that the StuG has not suffered any damage and apart from having to tension the left track she's ready to go."

Both Miho and Anzu nodding their heads in acknowledgment of the report, and with having made her report the blonde-haired reki-jo turned on her heels before making her way back to her crew.

"Well, that's one already," Anzu remarked, tilting her head to her left she had a peek to see how her compatriots were doing with their own steel beast. In response to the sight she was greeted with, a struggling Yuzu and a panicking Momo, she did little but shrug her shoulders before she would turn back to face Miho and act as if nothing had happened.

"Anything wrong, prez?"

"Nope~."


Nagano Prefecture - unknown location - 11.20h Sunday

"We're lost, aren't we?" Aya asked the obvious question that was at the front of their minds, "There's not a sign of anybody else. Oh, I really don't like any of this…"

"… Yeah…" Azusa was forced to admit as she lowered herself back in the cupola, for the past ten minutes or so she had been trying to see if she could spot any of their teammates but her efforts had met with little success. After the mad dash to get away from their enemies' ambush the Ooarai team had lost its coherency, the fleeing tanks going into their own respective directions.

"Yuuki, any luck with contacting anybody on the radio?" the brunette asked as she turned her remaining hope on her radio operator. With no means of establishing visual contact, they had only one other means left to resort to, and that was establishing contact again through either the radio or their cell phones or at the very least try to.

"… Sorry, there seems to be a lot of static, I can't seem to raise anybody on it," the black-haired girl said as she shook her head. "I don't know if it's these mountains or not but we're not going to be able to contact the others through the radio."

"Ugh," Ayumi was quick to let out in response, "And we're not able to get through to anybody with the cell phones either, I don't even have one bar you know. This place has such poor reception."

The collective mood inside the tank was steadily getting worse, each member feeling as if they had been abandoned and lost out here. Without any means of contacting the team, or for that matter, anybody else, meant that they would not have to expect to be getting any kind of help anytime soon.

"So what are we gonna do now?"

"The only thing we can do," Azusa answered the question, "We'll continue with the match anyway, even if we can't reach any of the others, even if we can't get orders from captain Nishizumi, we still have an obligation to continue the fight."

Four of the girls were exchanging some concerned looks with each other, they were having their own reservations about that suggestion. Saki, on the other hand, was simply staring at the sky, in her usual manner, as if all of their worries would soon be resolved.

"…"

"Listen, I know that it isn't much to go by but we've got to at least try," Azusa was quick to remind her crew, they could not stay here indefinitely as at some point the enemy was likely to come and have a look here. She was especially keen on preventing that from happening. "You're right about being hesitant here, I don't really like to go either but we don't have much of a choice. We're not going to be able to contact anybody but if we get out of these mountains we might to be able to raise any of the others or if we're lucky, run into them."

Aya spoke what was on her mind, "Or run straight back into our opponents."

"She's right, there's no telling who we'll run into first," Yuuki was quick to voice her concern as well.

"Still Azusa's got a point, we can't stay here either," Ayumi said in response to that, making a little grin as she gave off the impression to be itching for a fight. "At least if we run into the enemy we can still try and fight our way out, and besides we might just get lucky and get to surprise them. I still need to get back at them for not having been able to score a kill."

Azusa shook her head before expressing her own concerns, "We can't go off and pick a fight with the enemy, not when we're just by ourselves. If there's going to be more than one tank we could be in a lot of trouble. No, we should avoid making any contact with the enemy and work our way back to the rest of our team."

"Sure but how do you think that we're going to do that? I mean, we don't know where anybody is or for that matter which way we need to go. I don't see where we-." Karina stopped mid-sentence before slowly turning her head as she caught the distinct sounds of tank tracks clattering and an engine rumbling over the noise of the rain outside.

"Everybody quiet," Azusa said, quickly giving her crew an order as it became noticeable that the noise was steadily growing stronger, the tank was coming their way. "Quick, get to your stations, there's no telling who it might be!"

Rushing up through her cupola she began to scan their immediate surroundings but the dense vegetation was severely restricting her visibility, there was no telling from which the direction the unknown tank could be coming from until they would be almost on top of them.

Ever since it had begun to rain it had not stopped, next to the detrimental effect it was having on their visibility it also posed a second, equally significant, handicap to them; the noise of the raindrops against the steel hull was loud enough to mask the sound of an approaching tank.

There was no telling how close the approaching tank could already be, any semblance of trying to estimate its range by listening to the sound was little more than an exercise in futility. It was simply impossible for Azusa to make any guess as to how close it could already be to their position, for all she knew the tank could almost be on top of them.

"Gun's loaded," Ayumi yelled as the noise of her gun's breech slamming shut could be heard echoing inside the steel hull. "Gotta make it count! We're only going to get one shot at this!"

"Got it!"

Seeing what was happening Azusa yelled for what it was worth in order to stop her gunners from doing anything rash, they needed to be calm and collected if they wanted to have any chance of making it through this. "Don't act so rash! Don't fire until I give the order to do so!"

'I can't believe this. We don't want to attract any unwanted attention to ourselves. I just want that tank to drive along and go right past us. We can't afford to get stuck in a fight right now… I just wish… that Nishizumi-senpai was here…'

Letting her head rest against the cold steel of the cupola in an effort to calm her own nerves Azusa was starting to feel uncertain about herself and her decisions. Oh how much she was wishing for their captain to be here with them.

"What do you want us to do?" a voice ran out from below inside the tank.

Hearing the call for orders the distressed brunette would gaze up from her position before slapping herself on the cheeks, right now she needed to be calm, she needed to regain her composure as her crew was going to need her.

All the while, the noise of the approaching tank was steadily getting louder; it would not be long now before they would be on top of Rabbit's position.

"Alright," Azusa said, lowering herself back inside the turret before relaying her orders to her two gunners, giving direction as to where she wanted for them to have their guns trained. Going back up the cupola she had another look at the spots that she had indicated, they would do for now, as they were the most likely points where the approaching tank would appear from.

Gripping the edge of the cupola tightly the girl could feel the palm of her hands being sweaty, a clear sign that she was pretty nervous about what was going to happen. "Just make sure that you don't fire until I give the order. Do you hear me? Do not fire unless I give the order to do so."

"… Sure."

"Yeah…"

"I mean it, I'm serious about this," the brunette was quick to rebuke the somewhat half-hearted sounding response she was getting from her gunners. "We don't know who it is; it could be one of ours. You don't want to hit our teammates now, do you?"

Ayumi made something of a rebuke to that. "Who could it be, we're all alone out here. It's got to be one of our enemies'."

The only positive about their current situation was that in all likelihood the enemy tank was not aware of them being there, the rain hindering them as much as it was hindering the opposing tank. If their assailants were left unaware of Rabbits presence than they would stand a good chance at pulling off this ambush as the other tank likely did not have a shell loaded or the gun aimed in the right direction.

They had maybe only one shot at this but it did seem to be the case that the odds were in their favor for getting in that vital first shot. Landing that crucial first hit would give them their best chance at knocking out the approaching tank, or at the very least provide them with an opening to escape. That said, Azusa did not dare to think of the possibility of there being a second tank, and if that was the case they would be done for.

The noise grew to such a point that it began to drown out the noise produced by the rain, this was it, there was no turning back now.

There was a deafening noise as he unknown tank bulldozed its way through the dense undergrowth, the heavy tank forcing, in a somewhat rather violent manner, its own path through the vegetation, crushing the lush undergrowth beneath its armored bulk.

The distinct rhomboid appearance with a small rounded turret squatted on top of it betraying its identity. Seeing it Azusa dropped inside her cupola, frantically yelling at her crew, "Stop! Don't shoot! Don't shoot! That's Mallard! They're friendlies!" as she was able to recognize the tank bearing down on them.

There were no words that could describe the sheer elation that Azusa and her crew were experiencing at the sight of Mallard's Char B-1bis coming to a halt next to them. With the familiar face of said tank's commander appearing from behind the turret, there was a huge sigh of relief coming from the sextet of girls inside the other tank, they had never been happier in their lives to see the head of the School Morals Committee; Sono Midoriko.

"What's the meaning of this?!" the black-haired girl demanded of them, making it clear that she wanted to know what was happening and why her tank had narrowly avoided taking a round from Rabbit's tank in the face. "Why's your gun aimed at us? Didn't you hear us on the radio? We told you that we were coming to your position? Now answer me!"

Unfortunately, it would seem that the sense of relief was a bit one-sided as the older girl gave off no impression that she was glad to see the younger girls, least of all because she was apparently aware of the fact that the younger girls had almost opened fire on her. And if the tank's commander had not been so quick in her reaction than it was likely that her crew would have.

"… Uhm, where are the others? Shouldn't there be more tanks with you?" Azusa began to ask as the absence of any other Ooarai tank began to become rather noticeable, "Please, don't tell me…" Surely by now any other tank that had been accompanying Mallard should have made their appearance by now but there was none.

Shaking her head the older girl could only say, "I'm sorry but we got separated as well from the east when we went down the mountain. To be honest we had been hoping that the rest of the team would be with you but it seems now that we both got separated."

Azusa had to swallow after hearing that. "So… have you been able to get in touch with any of them on the radio?"

Again the other girl could only shake her head, "No, we haven't been able to raise anybody outside you. We heard your message over the radio which is why we came this way but it seems you're in the same boat as we are."

"Wait," Azusa said as she had heard something that concerned her, "You just said that you heard our message over the radio, right? Did you try and contact us?"

"Of course we did! We heard you alright. That's why we came here. And yes, we did try contacting you over the radio. Multiple times even but we never heard an answer from you. We were worried that something had happened to you so we came here as fast we could."

"… I-I'm sorry, senpai," Azusa could only say in return before making a bow after having heard that. She was going to have to ask Yuuki to have another look at their radio. If it what the older girl had said was true and they had been trying to contact Rabbit multiple times without success then the likely reason for that had to be that the M3's radio was damaged.

It was as unfortunate as it could be, and the brunette was again reminded of the fact that the situation that they were findings themselves in was still a precarious one. But they had at the very least been able to get into touch with another tank. They were no longer all by themselves. Now they could try and come with a plan to find the others.


Nagano Prefecture - hilltop settlement southern approach - 11.45h Sunday

At the head of a column of rapidly moving tanks, Miho was keeping a vigilant watch just in case the opposing tanks had already moved up though it was with a sense of satisfaction that she could not detect any signs of activity, thus far the area remained absent of the sound of tank engines bar their own.

Holding up her hand she was watching with some trepidation as a droplet fell on the palm of her hand, clenching her hand and gazing at the skies overhead she could see that there would be no chance of this continuing rain shower letting up anytime soon. That in itself was both a blessing and a curse.

"I guess there's little we can do about that, still we're going to have to make the best of it," she said to nobody in particular as she was just giving voice to some of her own thoughts. "It's time that we're going to turn the tables of Tarczay, we need to take out at least a couple of their tanks at the earliest opportunity if we want to turn this match around."

Furthermore, they would need to get an idea on where their opponents were heading to.

"Miporin!" She could hear Saori's voice through her earpiece, if her radio-operator was contacting her then surely it had to be something important.

"What is it, Saori-san?"

"I got word from Duck. They're currently observing the bulk of the enemy team."

Listening to what the ginger-haired girl had to say Miho was starting to feel a little better, firstly because they now had an idea on where the bulk of the opposing forces were, but more importantly also because she now knew that Isobe and her crew were alright.

"Have you told them to keep their distance? They should do what they can in order to avoid being detected by the other tanks. I want them to keep monitoring their movements."

"You got it, Miporin."

Lowering herself into the turret Miho would reach out and pick up the map, with Duck knowing where their opponents were located she could begin to formulate a plan. Holding the map in front of her she pulled out a pencil and informed Saori that she would like to get some coordinates from Duck. "Tell them to let us know as quickly as possible."

"So Nishizumi-dono, what's going to be our next move?"

Hana chimed in as well, pulling herself away from the tank's gunsight, "I think it's best to return the favor and lure them into an ambush of our own. Don't you think, Miho-san?"

Miho shook her head, "Getting them to drive into an ambush would be nice but they have the advantage of knowing this area a lot better than us so it's not going to be easy."

"And we can't really engage them in an open attack, they have the numbers on their side," Yukari added to what Miho had just said, feeling that it was important to again remind the others that it was important for them to start reducing the enemies' numbers. Furthermore, there was another issue that they would need to deal with, and that was there was still nothing known about which tank was the enemies' flag tank.

"You're right, we definitely need to learn which tank of theirs is the flag tank but right now it's more important to know where the bulk of their forces are heading to," Miho was quick to inform her crew, letting them know what her list of priorities was with regards to their opponents, "Once we have that information we can look if it's possible to set up an ambush for them or attack them from a direction they wouldn't expect us. With any luck, we might be able to keep them busy and create an opening for Duck to get behind their lines and search for the enemy flag tank."

"But wouldn't that put Duck at risk?" Hana was the one to ask, of course, she understood that this was an important task but she did also see that there would be quite the risk involved for Duck when they were out on their own. "If we can't keep our opponents fully occupied there's a chance that some of them might go after Duck when they learn of it."

"You're right, and there's no guarantee that some of their tanks might not fall for our ploy. And that's why we first need to whittle down their numbers," was the answer from Miho as she was in full agreement with what Hana had just mentioned, there was no way that she was going to put Duck at more risk than they needed to be, "As it currently stands it's too dangerous for them to go and try that."

"Miporin," Saori interrupted her friend's explanation when she turned away from her station, "Duck just radioed in the coordinates of the enemy tanks and also where they seem to be heading. I've got them written down here for you."

Reaching forward and taking the note that Saori had written for her, Miho made a quick comparison to the coordinates on her own map before it would dawn on her where they could set up an ambush.

"This might just work. If they keep heading along this route they're bound to come up on this place," she said, tapping her finger on the map, denoting a location that would play a pivotal role in her plan. "Mako-san, please keep heading up this road. We should get there soon."

The tracks clacked harder with increased effort as the Ooarai tanks began to climb uphill through a tunnel of dead trees, squeaking metal tracks clawing at the road.

Observing the terrain from up in her cupola Miho was making sure that there would be no unpleasant surprises for the drivers as the road was becoming rather treacherous to navigate. A quick glance at her watch told her that it had been close to twenty minutes or so since they had last spoken to Duck and formulated their next move. "Almost there now," she whispered.

Up ahead of them the distinct shape of a hilltop settlement was slowly coming into her view, it would be a good place to come to a halt and assess the situation, and should the opportunity present itself, to set up an ambush there.

Pressing her fingers against her throat microphone Miho addressed the other tanks in her group. "Everybody!" she spoke through her radio, "We'll be coming up on a settlement at the top of this hill. Keep your eyes open for enemy tanks as it's the perfect spot to lay an ambush."

Hearing the other crew reaffirm her order Miho was about to turn her attention back to the settlement they were approaching when she heard somebody call her out over the radio.

"So Nishizumi-chan~," came the all too familiar voice of the student council's president, and from the sound of it, she was likely pretty anxious about what Miho was planning on next. "You got something in mind for this place? Seems like a great spot for us to ambush them, you know~."

Miho would find herself in agreement with that assessment of the place; of course, they would first need to inspect the area to gain a better understanding of where to best employ an ambush.

If their opponents had gotten here before them they would likely do the very same as Miho was planning on, this hilltop settlement commanded a dominating position over the valley down below and because of that, it was of great strategic importance.

"Anteater, please keep a watch on our rear. We don't want for any of their scouts to come up on our rear."

"Roger, nya!"


Nagano Prefecture - hilltop settlement northern approach - 12.30h Sunday

It had been a while since any of them had last seen anything from the Ooarai team and it was not sitting well with Goulash, this was exactly the sort of thing that she had wanted to avoid from happening.

Ooarai had gotten an opportunity to get away and had thus far been able to avoid further contact with any of Tarczay's forces. But where were they now? Someone had to go looking. And that was precisely what they were doing right now.

Even their own recon elements had been unable to locate the missing Ooarai tanks after they had lost contact with them, to think that they were still eluding them after all this time was an affront to Paprika's pride.

"Where did those cowards run to?" she asked herself, pondering on what possible routes they had not yet investigated. The number of places where their opponents could be hiding was steadily dwindling; the settlement at the top of the hill that they were approaching was one of the last few remaining locations.

"All tanks, continue the advance. We'll take a halt at the settlement at the top of the hill."

On Paprika's word, the tanks resumed clanking towards the buildings just up ahead, from that location they would have a commanding view of the area surrounding the settlement. With some luck, it would offer them the opportunity to get an idea of where Ooarai could be hiding.

"Lead elements, remain vigilant upon entering the village." Picking up the speaker the girl informed the lead elements of the column to keep an eye on their surroundings as villages like these were often a prime location for setting up an ambush. "I doubt they'd be up here, but it won't hurt to be cautious. They've only lost one tank so far, that still leaves us with seven more to knock out. Well, at least they no longer got that Tiger of theirs."

"Paprika." Goulash's commanding voice came through the radio, calling the girl's name.

"…Y-Yes, commander!"

"I expect for you to keep your cool about this. Oh, and make sure that there won't be a repeat of what happened before. Am I clear about that?"

"…Y-Yes… commander! A-As clear as can be…" Paprika gave her an uneasy answer, there was a lump stuck at the back of her throat after she had been reminded of her earlier failure. She was going to have to do a lot better in this match than what she had been doing so far in order to make up for her earlier failure. Otherwise who knew what might happen.

"I hope that I don't need to impose on you the importance of this match and of us attaining victory over Ooarai! Anything less will be simply unacceptable! Not if we want to wipe this sport clean of the corruption that has been infesting it! Don't forget the disgrace that has been inflicted upon our school! Upon our team!"

It was a stark reminder to Paprika about what their school had gone through in the past, she could still vividly remember the day when she first set out to join her school's tankery team, only to learn that bar a select few individuals there was nobody there to teach them.

Crushing defeats at the hands of the big four had completely eroded the desire of those few remaining members to continue with practicing the sport or to teach new practitioners.

For her, for Paprika and for so many others like her it had been devastating, she heard the stories that the older students would often tell, about the teams that reigned the tournament circuit, and one that stood above all else, a team against which any and all resistance would be futile; the scourge that was known to the country as Kuromorimine Girls Academy.

For the past few years there had been the burning question of what was the point of participating in the tournament for one if that came with the risk of having to face that school in your first round, one could better save themselves a lot of wasted effort and simply not show up rather than try fighting them as it was a guaranteed knock out.

Her hand was trembling as she could feel her anger grow within her, noticing it Paprika took a deep breath in order to calm herself. She needed to be calm right now as they were about to enter the village.

The lead Turán pulled even with the doorstep of the first dwelling when the crack of a gun stopped the tank cold in its tracks. With a vicious clang of steel on steel, the tank shook on its suspension from the blow.

They had found the remaining Ooarai tanks. But not before the remaining Ooarai tanks had found them.

"Lead's hit," her gunner, a girl who went by the name of Csiga, cried out before she began to turn the gun forward, to face their assailant.

Paprika didn't say a word in return, just biting her lip in frustration, cursing her ill-luck for having driven straight into the enemy forces.

The second Turán was idling at the entrance to the settlement as its turret swung side to side, searching desperately. Neither the tank's commander nor her gunner had seen the shot.

From ahead, a fiery green tracer cut through the air and slammed into the front of the tank's turret.

"Situation report!" Goulash radioed from the rear of the column, demanding to get an update on what was happening. "Situation report!"

No reply came from the front. The two tanks in the lead had gone silent. Those behind them had no idea what was happening.

Paprika's eyes darted back and forth over the chaotic scene as her mind swirled with panic. The first two tanks had been reduced to useless shells, and right now only one tank remained operable ahead of them. The relative safety that had sheltered her tank was rapidly diminishing.

The commander of the tank, a Turán II, directly in front of Paprika's, couldn't take it anymore. Her tank veered to the right and drove off the road into a shallow gully.

Paprika couldn't believe her eyes. Was the tank's commander simply abandoning them? There would be repercussions for this later.

Peering through the narrow slits of the tank's cupola, her eyes trained on the rise. A sudden realization began to terrify Paprika: They had been the fourth tank mere moments ago. Now they were the first.

"You've got to be kidding me!" she spat, "... T-T-This… can't be…"

Farther to the right the Turán II suddenly reappeared, climbing uphill this time. Paprika marveled at the commander's audacity. The tank wasn't running after all. It was circling around the village in an attempt to try and get a side shot on the opposing tank.

The radio squawked to life as a tank commander's voice sounded the alert from farther back in the column. "They're outflanking us!"

One of the crews had apparently spotted some movement to their left. It was a sure sign that some of Ooarai's tanks were coming to finish the job that the tank on the hilltop had started.

Taking that into consideration Goulash was left with little choice and reluctantly gave the order for a full retreat back to their previous collection point. Tanks began turning around haphazardly. In front of Paprika, the Turán II came to a halt before carving a slow reversal in the mud. They had no choice but to turn their backs to the enemy.

It was complete and utter chaos. In the midst of it, Paprika realized that no one had a gun on that rise. If the enemy tank, which was undoubtedly still up there, were to simply move to the edge, it could pick off the retreating Tarczay tanks one by one as they fled.

"Dammit," she cursed underneath her breath before gesturing for her gunner to lean over. Paprika told Csiga to lay down a barrage of suppressive fire using HE rounds while they retreated. "We gotta scare them from coming after us."

Her gunner was confused. Since the enemy tank hadn't shown itself, she had no idea where to aim. "What do I fire at?"

"Anything!"

Paprika told the driver to get them out of there. The tank pulled a sloppy K-turn, and then the engine roared as the tank barreled after the others.

Csiga swiveled the gun behind the tank and took aim at the settlement's entrance. Even if she didn't have an enemy in her sight, orders were orders. Her foot came down on the trigger.

The explosion rocked the hilltop settlement. Riding and firing backward, Csiga shifted her fire from side to side. Gravel and small stones leapt from the road, stonewalls turned into dust, and trees shattered as she sprayed the area in front of the abandoned Turáns.

After every shot, the gun breech jumped back like a piston before excreting a smoking shell casing. The loader was all too keen to quickly to feed the gun a fresh and allow Csiga to take aim again before pressing the trigger.

In the midst of Csiga's firing, the Turán II reemerged, plowing through the cover of the thick brush alongside the road, crushing the vegetation as it went.

Paprika watched as her crew kept working hard in an effort to pump shells after shell at the enemy position. Inside the turret, Csiga kept thumping shells towards the rise, the reticle was bouncing but accuracy didn't matter here. The world was bursting between them and the Ooarai tank, almost like an artillery barrage falling from above, a storm that hopefully, no enemy tank would want to move through.

And that was the plan that Paprika had in mind when she had given her order to Csiga.

The Turán II rumbled back onto the road to join the retreat and finally, Csiga could hold her fire, the other tank would take it from here.

Steam rose from the gun breech next to her and spent shell casings littered the floor. Meanwhile, Paprika kept her eyes peering at the rise behind them through her binoculars, the distinct shape of the two abandoned Turáns shrinking as they got further away from them.

Csiga set her foot aside the trigger and caught her breath, she was exhausted.

Somehow they had made it out of there but Paprika was anything but happy about the outcome, Ooarai had been able to best them, taking out two of their tanks and forcing them into a retreat.

"…Damn you!" she spat underneath her breath, hitting her knee with a clenched fist in an effort to defuse some of the anger that was rising inside of her, to think that those girls had the gall to force them into a retreat, it was unthinkable to her. She would not stand for this.

"Watch my words, Ooarai. I'm going to make you pay for this! You just wait and see!"

This insult to her honor was something that she would not let go unanswered, this insult demanded a retaliation.


Nagano Prefecture - forest route - 12.35h Sunday

With Mallard now having taken the lead, the two tanks were slowly making some degree of headway. It was a bit of a slow process navigating through the narrow confines of these mountains roads but they were at least making some progress and up ahead in the distance the path was starting to become wider.

Bringing up the rear was Rabbit's M3 Lee, its top turret rotated to its rear just in case any enemy tanks were to get any funny ideas. Luckily Yuuki had been able to get their radio working properly again but its reach was disappointingly low so they were limited to communicating with only Mallard for the time being, provided that the radio would not go dead on them.

"So Rabbit, do any of you have any idea where we're supposed to go?" Came the voice of the lead tank's commander, a girl who was known by her nickname Sodoko although she never seemed to like it when anybody called her that way. "We didn't get any orders from the captain so I have no idea what's going to be our best course of action."

"If I may, senpai?" Azusa radioed as she did have an idea, even if they were without orders at the moment there was still a course that they could follow, take out the enemy. "I think we should head forward and see if we can take out several of the enemy tanks."

"I don't know, it sounds pretty risky." Came over the radio, the hint of disapproval in the other girl's voice rather obvious. Though in this case, the younger girl could hardly blame her for that.

It was definitely going to risky, they had no idea where the enemy tanks were located or even what tanks the opposition was fielding.

"I know, senpai. Still, I think we should go and do our best. Right now the most important thing for us to do is to re-establish contact with the others while trying to whittle down the enemy numbers until we have located their flag tank."

"Right, we'll continue taking the lead then. Just keep your eyes out as I don't want to get caught in another ambush."

Having a quick look at her watch Azusa noted with some sense of disappointment that they had been driving for a good thirty minutes since her last check, and still, they had not been able to find any trace of their teammates. "Still nothing eh."

Letting out another sigh as she brought up her binoculars she began to scan their surroundings for any sign of their team's tanks. "If only I could get sight of them at least then we'd know where we need to go. I just wish we knew where they were."

Mallard had been trying to contact the others through the radio but had little to show for their efforts, as for Rabbit given that they were unable to receive any messages Azusa had said that there would be little point for Yuuki to man the radio any longer.

"Well, at least we're starting to get out of those hills. With any luck, we might get some reception on our phones. No doubt Takebe-senpai will notice it if she were to get a message from us."

Trundling along the narrow path Azusa did make the most of the opportunity to take in their surroundings, this was a lush area and the forests that were present were quite a sight to behold. Still, there was one issue that kept vexing her, holding up her hand she said, "I just wish that this rain would stop."

"Hey! Everybody, look!" Aya shouted, interrupting the rest of the crew with what they were doing, as she caught sight of something just up ahead of them, there was a somewhat blocky shape starting to appear out of the fog. "Kind of looks like Hippo, don't you think?"

"Don't be too hasty," Azusa cautioned for her as it was difficult to identify the object up ahead with any kind of certainty. "And besides, it might be those assault guns that the Hungarians build. What were they called again? Something like Zini, Ziny, or perhaps Zjinj, ah I don't know. The ones with those weird names you know."

Closing the distance the blocky form was starting to take on a more familiar shape, its squatted appearance, a long slender barrel that protruded from the front of the hull, and the distinct figure of a muzzle brake at the end of it.

"That's gotta be them! I'm sure of it!" Karina shouted as she caught sight of it, "It's gotta be Hippo, those weird guns don't have long barrels or a muzzle brake for that matter. It has to be them, we've found them! Yay! Hooray!"

Everybody inside the tank began to rejoice, the feeling that they had finally been able to link up with the remainder of their team causing them to discard any and all notion of discretion as Karina floored the tank, causing the tank to pick up speed rapidly, quickly approaching the squatted shape of the tank destroyer up ahead, and throwing caution to the wind in the process.

"H-Hey!" Azusa protested against this sudden rush. "Don't be so careless. We don't even know for sure!"

There was movement coming from the tank just up ahead, in all likelihood Hippo's crew had already noticed the two approaching tanks coming up behind it.

As it began to turn around there was a glimpse of something that caught Azusa's attention, somehow there was something about its appearance that didn't feel right to her. "That's odd," she said underneath her breath as she squinted her eyes in an effort to get a better look, the rain was making it hard to make out the finer details, the only thing she could really see was its squatted profile, a long-barreled gun protruding from its front, the distinct shape of a muzzle brake at its end.

"Mallard, have you heard anything from Hippo?" She had her message radioed to the other tank as now it was becoming all a bit too suspicious for her liking. "We need to know if this is Hippo?"

Barely had she finished her message or she caught sight of something a second time, was it just her imagination? Was the rain playing tricks on her mind? Then with a third glimpse she finally could tell what was wrong, there, attached on each side of the assault gun was a screen, some kind of skirt, she didn't know what it exactly was but she did know that Hippo did not carry those.

Ducking inside her cupola Azusa yelled as loud as she could, "That's not Hippo! They're not on our side! Stop! Stop, now! Mallard, we need to pull back!"

"No." Came the message from the lead tank. "There's only one of them. If we act quickly we can overwhelm it and take them out. All tanks advance!" The heavy tank lurched forward, its hull-mounted gun belching fire and smoke.

Against her better judgment, Azusa gave the order for her crew to support Mallard, the two of them would now go and engage the lone Zrinyi in order to take it out. She wasn't keen on it but there was little choice at this point, the enemy tank could radio their position to the others of its team, it could call for reinforcements, it could even take out either or both of them if given the chance.

"Aya, Ayumi, get ready to fire when I give the order!"

"Okay!"

"Got it!"

Firing both of its guns the Rabbit's M3 joined Mallard as the two tanks began to press the attack, outnumbered and severely outgunned the odds were definitely not in the Zrinyi's favor.

Despite the odds stacked against it, the Zrinyi did not back down from the fight, its crewing seeming unfazed by the ferocious attack that was mounted against them. It fired its main gun in anger, with an ear-splitting bark, flames leapt from the long-barreled gun's muzzle as a round was blasted downrange. The gun's recoil rocket the assault gun back on its heels.

The shot narrowly missed Mallard by just meter, kicking up a plume of dirt behind it. Even so, its crew was already busy in the process of reloading the gun, they knew that despite being outnumbered they had the advantage in armor and firepower but the advantage in numbers of their opponents was a difficult one to overcome.

Sodoko grimaced as she watched how one of her shots simply bounced off the assault gun's front plate. "It's that thick, eh? That's got to be a breach of the rules! Gomoyo, see if you have more luck! Fire the hull gun. Aim for their tracks!"

The fight got fiercer, shells were tearing the area to pieces, and it was a one-sided fight that could have only one possible outcome. That was until the sound of snarling engines and squeaking metal tracks grew ever louder.

"Where the heck did they come from? Look, over there!"

Caught unaware by that sudden remark and turning to her left in order to see what her gunner had been hinting at Azusa could do little but stare in utter horror as two more Zrinyis appeared from around the corner, and judging by their rather stubby looking guns these were likely the variant equipped with a large caliber howitzer.

"This can't be good!" Aya remarked, looking away from her sight, "Azusa, what should we do? That thing just got company!

The tree Zrinyis promptly opened fire on the two Ooarai tanks and trapped in the confines of this narrow mountain road Mallard and Rabbit made for an easy target.

"Get behind us! You pull back, we'll cover you!" Came through the radio as the large bulk of Mallard lurched in front of Rabbit in an effort to shield the other tank from the attacking assault guns

"But what about you?!"Azusa yelled in return, she knew that this was a fight that Mallard was never going to win. "You can't face all three of those, senpai! There's too many of them for you to handle by yourself! I can't abandon you just like this!"

"You have to!" Came the rebuke, the other tank's commander would have none of it. "You're the vice commander! You need to make it back to the captain and warn them! Now go! If you stay here we'll both be taken out! Go! Hurry! We-."

Mallard's final transmission was cut abruptly short as a shot fired by one of Zrinyis found its mark and slammed right into the tank's frontal armor plate with a clang of metal on metal. The violent nature of the impact was enough to cause the tank to shudder and sway on its suspension as it absorbed the punch.

"No!"

With a loud pop, the white flag appeared on top of the tank, signaling that it was out of the match. That now meant that Rabbit was all on its own again having to face no less than three attacking enemy tanks, it was an engagement they stood no chance of surviving.

"… K-Karina, get us out of here! Now!"

"R-Right!"

Risking another peek Azusa saw to her horror that the trio of assault guns, having taken out Mallard, were now content to do the same to Rabbit. Seeing their guns turning towards them she yelled to Karina, "Full speed, with zigzags!"

A dark streak punched the road with a burst of orange and a shockwave of smoke. Another orange burst leapt from the ground, then another.

Azusa was forced to duck from the force of the blasts, which were so strong that they blew the leaves off the surrounding trees. Slowly, and cautiously she rose back to eye level. "Too close."

But their moment of reprieve was only short-lived as seconds later another volley of rounds began exploding around the tank itself, churning the mud and earth around it. A glancing blow grazed the tank, producing a loud wailing noise.

Instinctively Azusa ducked inside the turret, her body's natural instinct for self-preservation kicking in.

The engine was howling from the strain, the tank bouncing over shell holes, and everyone was tightly gripping the edges of their seats in order to keep themselves from being thrown around and getting bruised.

Azusa called for her driver to floor the tank. "Don't stop for anything!"

The tank shifted gears, lurched forward, and began clanking towards a shady cut in the woods, which was behind and to the left of them.

Shells would at time burst a few meters on either side of the fleeing machine, at time ricocheting off the ground in front of it, their trajectory indicated by barely visible tracers. Rabbit also received several glancing bits on its hull and turret, which were followed by shell explosions with flames that almost blinded the crew; for a moment it even seemed that the tank was set ablaze.

"We're on fire! Get the extinguisher! Quick, put it out!" Somebody cried out in a panic-stricken voice.

Stinging white fumes spread inside the tank; Aya could do little but cough and wave her hand in an effort to clear the smoke. The turret exhaust fan had stopped working, possibly a result of damage suffered earlier.

"We're not!" Azusa cried out as she caught wind of what had happened. "A shell exploded outside the tank. That was just the explosion you saw! We're not on fire! Get back to your posts!"

Up in the cupola, she was flung sideways as her driver threw the tank in a series of screeching turns in an effort to throw off the enemy gunners' aim. It was a valiant effort but one that would be in vain as there were too many enemies shooting them.

Despite the pounding fire, Karina swung the tank towards the cut in the forest, striving to get behind a wall of threes to try and gain some cover. For a brief moment, however, the turn to safety presented one of the Zrinyis with a clear view of the Lee's side profile.

The enemy took the advantage, seizing the opportunity. Yet another shell slammed into the tank, this time finding the right track. The brutal impact flung the tank's driver sideways and Ayumi against the steel wall.

Ayumi clutched her shoulder after recovering her footing, Karina was barely able to regain the controls from the midst of the chaos. She quickly reported to Azusa that she could feel the damage they had suffered; the shell had severely damaged their track, it could snap at any moment.

"Keep going!" Azusa urged her as they had no time to stop; all that truly mattered now was getting away from their assailants.

The tank kept rolling towards the cut until its attempt to flee was viciously cut short when one shell impact slammed into the side with the noise of a cathedral bell. As the tank lurched sideways there was an unmistakable crack coming from outside, something had snapped.

The violent jolt that followed flung the tank's crew from their seats, the driver losing all control of the tank's erratic movements, there were shouting and cries for help as nobody knew what was happening anymore.

Azusa and her crew were screaming for their lives as they felt their tank going over the cliff, vanishing from sight, disappearing down the mountain, the darkness of the trees below swallowing them whole.

Overseeing their work the crews of the trio of assault guns were more than satisfied with the fruits of their labor. All that time waiting on this road had finally paid off in a big way. One tall girl in particular, with her brown hair tied in a ponytail, gestured to one of her crew to pass her the microphone.

Pressing the button she radioed in her message. "This is Rétes. Confirming two Ooarai tanks knocked-out."


Author's note: Latest chapter for you. Enjoy the read.

Well, another edition of Militracks has come and gone, hard to think that I've been visiting the event for 10 years now. Not really all that much in the form of new vehicles, but then if you've been to every edition of the event that should hardly come as a surprise, although they had a lovely late production model StuG III Ausf. G from the Sdkfz organization from Poland.

And the big star, the Panther Ausf. A from the tank museum in Saumur which spotted a nice looking if somewhat historically incorrect new paint scheme. Was great to get the chance to see one driving around and if you've been to Tankfest this year you'll have seen it as well. Sadly though, I was not able to get to have a seat inside, if I had been given the opportunity I would have gladly given up the ride in the Tiger II that I had last year for the Panther as the tank is one of my personal favorites.

That said I had more than enough fun there as I bumped into one historian after another, talking to these individuals is always a treat and it was such a shame that our conversations came to an end.

There was Yuri Pasholok, a Russian historian who has published a superb book on the T-60 small tank last year and who was generous enough to sign a copy of the book that I had brought along as well as entertain me with some info about future books from him, suffice to say that I can hardly wait to see these books be released as they will certainly make for fine additions to my personal library. Even though he is a bit reluctant to admit it his English is actually a lot better than he gives himself credit for.

Next up there was the always knowledgeable Hilary Doyle, and if you have an interest in German armor of WWII than this means really needs no further introduction. In his case I brought one of the oldest books in my collection, a tome that he and the late Thomas Jentz wrote many years ago, one of the definitive works on the Panther and he was just smiling from ear to ear when I showed him the book to which he was only too eager to sign it for me.

Also ran into Craig Moore who has by now released his second book on German SPG although I had a copy of his first book about tanks of WWI with me which again got signed. Another enjoyable discussion which again got cut short and I am looking forward to his next 2 books that he made a brief mention of.

I did miss Bernhard from MHV which is a shame as I really would have loved the opportunity to be able to discuss some matters in-depth with him but alas. Perhaps I'll have more luck next year should he decide to show up.

Met expert on German WWII armor Herbert Ackermans, the man is just a tome of knowledge when it comes to this subject and talking to him was just a delight, much to the chagrin of my friends, our little talk when for more than hour before we got interrupted by Rita and Sofi.

At this point, I am forced to admit that it had completely escaped my mind that Rita also loves that irresistible Dutch delicacy known as stroopwafels, curses!

Note to self: get plenty of stroopwafels for next year's Militracks event.

Of course, I once again spent way too much money on books despite my best intentions to limit myself. That said, I also donated a good amount to the Nashorn restoration project.

Had another edition of the Santa Fe Event in August, one really could notice that this event was less visited than Militracks which is a shame as they had a lovely collection of vehicles present including a pair of M4A1 Shermans and boy were these tanks noisy when their engines were running, you would hear them from the other side of the area.

They also had an M24 Chaffee and I was able to acquire a ride on this speed demon, our driver sure knew how to floor it. I was holding on for dear life all the while grinning like a madman, I would so get back into one if I was given the chance again.

Well, enough rambling from me, have a good time and see you next time.