"Alright, Turtle Team and Hippo Teams, take up defensive positions on the hill. The terrain is hilly, ending in abrupt, small cliffs, so watch out for flankers."
"Yes ma'am!" Anzu and Erwin cried. The Hetzer 38(t) and the Stug III turned around and began to climb the hill. The hill was rocky, somewhat steep, and had a flat top. The perfect sniping position.
"Duck Team, I want you to scout out their positions, and watch out for the Panzer II, it's fast. Everyone else, follow me, we'll use the hills to our advantage and flank them when it's time."
"Yes commander!" Soon the entire team was off and rolling, going over the hills and following close to the Panzer IV H. Soon the entire team came to a clearing, where the hills subsided. There were large clumps of trees and bushes sitting about. A very good place to be ambushed, unfortunately. "Let's get moving, we could be ambushed at any time. Duck Team, how's the reconnaissance going?"
"We don't see any of the-C-crap!" Noriko Isobe was heard shouting to her team over the radio, "Get the gun around, and pick up speed, we gotta outrun this guy-!" before the radio was cut short by a horrifically loud sound that resembled the whirring of a Wirbelwind Flak truck. "Sorry! We got taken out by the Panzer II, it's heading your way!"
"They're already here!?" Saori exclaimed. Just as she finished her sentence, the steel blue Panzer II came flying over the hill, speeding right into the Ooarai formation, and before the Ooarai Team could get their guns turned in time, Hans, in the turret, pulled down the trigger and unleashed a whirlwind of 20mm AP rounds. Speeding between the tanks, the Panzer II blasted at them, and when it entered an opening, the M3 Lee tried to take a shot at it, only for it to drift and dodge the entire shell, before returning fire.
"That's some impressive drifting skill!" Tsuchiya remarked. Finally, after about 1-2 minutes of Hans' Panzer II drifting and shooting, it drove off down the middle path, dodging any shells thrown his way. "Finally, he's gone. Let's get moving before we get attacked." Tsuchiya pressed down the accelerator, but instead was greeted with a long, loud, grinding of metal.
Miho turned on her radio. "Everyone, are you alright?"
"We're still in, but our treads aren't!"
"That guy hit the treads of the M3!"
"Dead in the water!"
Miho clenched her hand. "He shot out all of our tracks...Mako, can you see if you can move the Panzer a bit?"
"Hai." Mako pressed down on the accelerator, but the Panzer IV went only one way on one tread. "He shot out our treads too. All of our treads."
Miho commanded, "Everyone, try to move at least a bit. Leopon Team, see if you can repair our tracks before-"
*BOOM* Miho dodged down as an 88mm shell hit the side of the Panzer IV turret, violently cleaving off the Schürzen, and Miho's fear became true. Down the middle road ahead of them the two Panthers and two Tigers were rumbling down, unleashing a barrage of shells. "This isn't looking good Miho!" Hana fired a 75mm round into the Panther, which harmlessly ricocheted off and into the air.
"Nishizumi-dono, we gotta get out of here! We're caught between hammer and anvil, we can't move!"
Miho, fortunately, came to a decision. She grabbed her radio. "Everyone, try and hold out for as long as possible! I'm going to call for help!"
On the hilltop, Erwin and Anzu sat hanging out of their tanks. Erwin was using binoculars to look for the German tanks, but she didn't see them. Suddenly, she heard the sound of creaking metal to her left and turned. Setting down a number of folding chairs, Otto, Willy, and a few other Germans and Allied Soldiers, sat down to watch the battle unfold. "What're you guys doing here?" Erwin inquired.
"We thought we'd see how Faber and his men do against you guys." Willy took a swig of juice from a bottle. "From what I can tell he's doing great. I'd check your radio if I were you, Erwin."
Erwin checked her radio, and heard the command. "We're pinned down by the Tigers and Panthers! Hippo Team, Turtle Team, I need you to flank around while they're preoccupied and get them off of us, and hopefully take them out. We can't move, their Panzer II immobilized us all."
"Aw crud! Oryou, get us moving! Caesar, load AP rounds! We've gotta go relive our allies!"
"Yes ma'am!" The Stug III lurched forward and down the slope, with the Hetzer 38(t) following close behind.
Back down in the opening, Peter in his Panther shouted another order. "[Feuer.]" and a 75mm shell flew from the barrel, impacting cleanly with the hull of the M3 Lee. Smoke and a simulated fire poured from the tank, and a white flag popped from the top. "[Well now we know what happens to when we disable their tanks.]" Peter flinched as a 75mm and 47mm shell from the Char B1 Bis impacted against the glacis of his Panther. The 47mm bounced off harmlessly, although the 75mm jolted the tank. A shot from one of the Tigers went into the Char B1, disabling the 75mm hull gun.
"[Wait a minute...Where's their Mark IV?]" Peter turned to look right too late as a 57mm shell impacted the side of the Panther. The extra armor stopped the shell's killing power. "[Crap!]" Peter grabbed his radio and called out, "[Their Mark IV is on our right flank, and my turret is jammed.]"
Lennard's gruff voice followed. "[Pull back and repair it. I'll cover you.]"
"[Dankeschön.]" Ordering his driver, Peter's Panther drove backwards, and Lennard's Tiger filled the gap, now angling his armor. As it drove backwards, Peter's Panther fired a shot at the Mark IV, but the shot missed and impacted the hill it was hiding behind instead. Lennard fired another round at the Tiger(P), which bounced off the angled glacis, and in turn, it fired an 88mm shell right into his side, which he had exposed a bit too much of. A simulated engine fire began, but the crew paid it no mind, as Lennard climbed out of the cupola with a fire extinguisher.
"[Keep shooting. I'll fix the engine myself.]"
"[Jawohl.]" The barrage, however, continued, and to Peter's horror, the Mark IV poked back out from the rocks and fired another shot, this time hitting Lennard's Tiger in it's right side. Lennard was thrown from the deck, and the engine was now totally disabled by Sensha-do rules. And yet, the white flag didn't pop up somehow. The Tiger was still going, and it took another barrage, and returned a single shell, which hit the Anteater's Team Chi-Nu in the gun mantlet, sending it spinning. It's engine burst into a column of flames, and a white flag popped from it's turret. "[Lennard are you alright?]" his Tiger's loader asked, popping his head out. His face was covered in soot.
"[Agh, nevermind me, get the fire before you get burned.]"
Suddenly, Faber's voice cut into the headpieces of the tankers. "[They'd have called their Stug III and Hetzer 38(t) by now, split up. Pick them off while they're split.]" Following their orders, the other tanks reversed out of the pathway.
"Yes! We can repair the tracks now!" Satoko and Tsuchiya hopped out, tools in hand. "Hand me that-eek!" Satoko had held her arm out for a hammer when an MG-42 opened up as the German Tanks restreated, causing Satoko and Tsuchiya to throw themselves on the ground. "Are they trying to kill us!?" Tsuchiya yelled at the tankers as they reversed out of the street.
"Probably just trying to scare you guys…" Saori giggled nervously.
The Stug III and Hetzer turned around the corner, followed by the Mark IV. Erwin popped her head out of her Stug III. "You guys alright? It sounded pretty bad over the radio."
"We're alright, Erwin. The M3 Lee was hit and taken out by one of the Panthers, and...we're not sure about the Chi-Nu."
"How about you guys?" Erwin asked Lennard and his crew. After extinguishing the engine fire amongst other things, they were sitting on their Tiger, sleeves rolled up and covered in soot.
"[Guten tag.] We're alright, this sport that you do, it's nice because you don't have to worry about getting blown apart by a shell."
"Geez...Have you seen that happen or something? Ah, crap I shouldn't have asked that."
"Eh, I've gone through quite a bit of battles in this Tiger. If you wanna hear about dead crews, ask Hans." Lennard wiped off his hand with water, and said to the Ooarai girls, "Hurry up, Faber won't be waiting forever."
Meanwhile, over at the Chi-Nu…
"The gun's completely messed up…" Hoshino looked at the mantlet. The 88mm shell fired by Lennard had gone straight into the mantlet, leaving a large hole, and while it wouldn't have gone through with all the Sensha-do safety measures, the gun was left twisted and bent. "Well, I'm afraid it won't work anymore until we take it back for full repairs."
"Awww…" the 3 gamer girls muttered.
Several minutes later...Miho touched her radio again. "Is everybody ready?"
"Hai!" was the tumultuous response.
"Alright. Panzer vor!"
"There they are!" Yukari called out as she held her head out of the turret. Out in the middle of a field, the 3 tanks were spotted, which suddenly threw up gas grenades, and before anyone could fire, they were seen running off in 3 directions.
"Should we pursue them?"
"Hmmmm...They could be trying to lead us into an ambush, but if we leave them alone they could swing around to hit us again. Alright, go pursue, but keep a careful eye for an ambush. Report to me immediately if you see the Tiger II, Faber is our biggest threat. The teams split up on the hunt. Following the remaining Tiger was Leopon and Hippo Teams. Following one of the Panthers was the Hetzer 38(T) and the Char B1 Bis. Lastly, following the final Panther was the Anglerfish Team and Shark Team.
The Stug III and Tiger(P) followed the Tiger 1 into the woods, where it became dark very quickly. "Keep an eye out, Saemonza. He could be trying to ambush us."
"Roger that...There it is!" The sandy hull of the Tiger came into view, and with a pull Saemonza fired a 75mm shell right into the glacis. The shell bounced off with a loud scrape. The Porsche fired, it's 88mm shell ready to hit it's mark. The Tiger's engines roared.
"W-what the!?" Hoshino watched as the Tiger turned it's entire hull on the fly, deflecting the shell.
Inside the Tiger's cupola, Carl shouted, "[Feuer!]" and the tank returned fire. The shot hit the Porsche dead on, but the smoke cleared and only a dent was seen in the mantlet. "Feh! [Get around to their side!]"
"[Jawohl!]" the driver stomped on the accelerator and the Tiger rushed forwards before stomping on the brakes, scraping their Tiger to face the Porsche's side and dodging a shell. The Tiger fired right into the enemy's side, and the white flag popped up. "[Alright, let's find that Stug III.]"
"[Sir, their right there!]" Carl looked to the left, and to his shock, the Stug was directly to their left flank. Even before Carl could utter a command, the 75mm gun of the Stug III blasted their flank with a shell. Smoke pouring from the Tiger, the white flag popped up on the turret.
"Great job!" Erwin grabbed her radio. "We've taken out the last Tiger! We lost the Leopon Team though."
Miho radioed back, "Great job! Go back into the fields and wait, the Student Council should be on their way back as well. They lost the Char B1 though. Me and the Shark Team are pursuing the last Panther."
"Roger that!"
Coming into a clearing, Miho took note of the arena. It was surrounded on 3 sides by tall cliffs, with plenty of maneuvering room for tanks. The only way for the last Panther to escape was to go into a narrow passageway. The cupola of the Panther opened, and Peter's bandaged face popped out.
"Surrounded eh?" he muttered to himself. "[Fire on the Mark IV!]" The turret of his Panther began to rotate at an alarming speed.
"Agh! Rum, turn the Landship! Murakami, Cutlass, open fire!" Murakami fired onto the Panther, but their shells bounced. Without a second to spare, the Panther fired it's powerful shell into the Mark IV. Ogin and the others were thrown around by the shock, and just as Ogin opened the hatch, she saw the white flag pop up. "Damn, we got taken out!"
Hana trained her sights and pulled down the trigger. The round hit the side of the Panther cleanly, but with a bang, the last piece of armor protecting the Panther's flank was destroyed.
"[Feuer!]" The Panther fired a round which cleaved off more of the Schurzen.
Yukari slammed another round into the chamber, and Mako stepped down on the gas. "Hana, if you can get a shot into his side, fire as soon as you can. We can't outlast this guy in his Panther, shots against the front won't be effective. Mako, make sure we're not in his gun's line of fire, a good shot from him and we're out."
"Alright!" the two girls shouted in response.
"[You've got a clear shot!]" Peter was heard shouting in German. "[W-what the!?]" Before his gunner could fire, Mako accelerated the Panzer IV again, this time ramming the side of the Panther, sending it spinning.
"Fire!" With one last shot, the 75mm left the barrel of the Panzer IV and right into the unprotected flank of the Panther. The explosion and smoke was enough. The Panther was out.
"Finally…" Miho breathed out in relief. "Alright, one last tank, then we're done!"
"Roger that!" everyone responded through their radios.
Faber opened his eyes, and rose from his sitting position atop his Tiger II.
"[Kommandant, we're out.] Peter's voice crackled from the radio.
"Good job." he said into the handheld. "You've all fought well, I'll take it from here." He stomped on the roof of his Konigstiger. "[Looks like we'll have to complete the job ourselves. Panzer vor!]" The engine roared to life and it lurched forward down the road, into the open field. It drove for a few minutes, before it finally came the clearing down the road. Sitting in the middle of the field, the Panzer IV, Stug III, and Hetzer 38(T) sat. The Panzer IV in the middle, the Stug III to it's right, and the Hetzer to it's left.
"He's here…" Momo muttered to herself. Her hand tightened around the 75mm shell she was to load. "Oh, we're so dead…"
"Final opponent huh? Like the last stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae."
"Or the last stand of a samurai."
"Feels like the last stand of the 44th Infantry Division to me." Erwin remarked.
"That's it!" her teammates said eagerly.
Miho, Anzu, and Erwin, their heads sticking out of their respective tanks, stared for a moment, and Faber returned that gaze from his scarred and eyepatched face. Faber, quick and decisive, shouted for all to hear, "[Feuer!]" The 88mm KwK 43 gun boomed and the shell flew out and hit the Stug in the side.
"Oryou, reverse and reposition!"
"Roger that!" Oryou put the Stug III into reverse.
"Alright, we should have time until they load the next shell-" *BOOM* another shell flew from the barrel not even a second after the first. This shot hit the Stug again, this time head on. "Damn it!" The white flag popped out of the Stug.
The Konigstiger's turret turned to face straight forwards, and fired another shot, but Mako was already slamming down the gas. "What the heck!?" Momo screamed. "That thing fires so fast!" Anzu, in the gunners seat of the Hetzer, fired a clear shot into the Tiger II's flank. With a loud clang, a plate of metal was torn off. "F-Fire! Hurry!" Momo squealed. It was too late. The Tiger II turned around, and the Student Council watched in terror as the black hole in the barrel of the Tiger II lit up, and a shell threw them all backwards. The familiar sound of the white flag popping up met their ears. "Damn it! We're out!"
"Calm down, Momo-chan."
"Don't call me that!"
The Konigstiger immediately turned its attention back to the Panzer IV, which halted. Miho gulped. "It's become a one on one duel. Mako, don't stop moving, Eisenherz's Tiger II is firing very fast, and we can't afford to rely on the Schurzen. Hana, when the Tiger II was turned around, did you see that box on the back of the turret?" Hana nodded, and Yukari suddenly realized it.
"That must mean-!"
"Hm. The Tiger II has an autoloader. Mako, when it's fire rate slows down, at my word, get us around to the back as fast as you can. Hana, in the meantime, keep it occupied."
Faber, his body sitting out of the Tiger II, declared aloud, "Let's end this…[Panzer, vor!]" The Tiger II put on a burst of speed, and Mako hit the gas as well. Another shot flew from the Tiger's barrel, missing the Panzer IV and creating a large hole in the ground.
"That's his 4th shot." Hana fired a shot, which ricocheted off the turret.
A 5th shot. A 6th shot. 7th. 8th. Then, the gun fell quiet. "Mako, now!" The Panzer IV sped up, Hana fired a shot that killed one of the Konigstiger's tracks, and just as Faber's loader pushed in a 9th shot manually, and the turret was turned, the two tanks fired upon each other simultaneously, the Tiger II into the Panzer IVs glacis and the Panzer IV into the Tiger IIs rear. Silence fell. From the hilltop, Otto, Willy, and the other soldiers leaned forwards. The Ooarai girls, gathered with them, did too, their damaged tanks sitting at the base of the hill. Silence...Then...
"It's a tie!" Miho shouted. Both white flags stood on the respective tanks, signaling the end of their training match. Faber, however, began to laugh.
"W-what's so funny?" Miho began to look around wildly. "Oh no…"
"What is it, Nishizumi-dono?" Yukari and everyone else wore faces of confusion. An engine like a motorcycle roared, and everyone's faces went blank with shock, except for Faber, who was still laughing. Sitting directly behind them, in his steel blue, practically untouched Panzer II, was Hans, who wore an unbelievably smug grin.
"We're not out just yet nyaa~!" Hans gave a strangled yell as the Type 3 Chi-Nu rammed his Panzer II, and his driver kicked the speed into overdrive. Hans dropped into the turret, and managing to turn the turret around, he fired directly into the utterly destroyed mantlet of the Chi-Nu.
"Come on, Momo~!" The driver of the Anteater Team, Momoga, pressed down even harder on the gas. With a great scraping of metal, the Panzer II freed itself from the crushing action of the Chi-Nu before the gun was aligned to fire directly into the Chi-Nu's turret from the side.
"Oh no…" Nekonya muttered. Hans pulled down the trigger, and unleashed a hail of 20mm AP shells. The rounds pierced and chipped at the Chi-Nu's turret, creating a sound so loud that the 3 gamers within covered their ears while squealing.
*click* "Oh, ran out of ammo." Hans finally got himself out of the turret, and saw the white flag sticking out of the Chi Nu. "Well, we won!"