The four remaining tanks each had a different response to this development, as the coach radioed the news of the defeats of the 4TA tanks.
—-
"Wallace, where are you guys at?" Logan Albrecht contacted Wallace on the radio.
"Come up to Keith Hills, we'll link up and then go after the Locust ourselves." Wallace responded on the radio.
"Let's go and wait in the shade for our commander, it's getting hot out." Wallace said to his driver.
"Yes sir. Though wouldn't it make more sense to head towards Kat and them and then wait for the commander? "The driver said, having just gotten them in the shade.
"No, if we can go together, we can 2 on 1 that Locust and then 2 on 1 the M1917." Wallace said.
Wallace then paused, before he gained a puzzled look on his face, then turned to get back on the radio, "Wait, Logan, did you not find the M1917?"
Logan responded on the radio, "No I couldn't find them, they went and hid and they ain't come out yet!" He said just short of shouting on the radio.
"Did you try to shoot them?" Wallace said to his friend on the radio. A long silence was heard on the radio before Logan Albrecht responded.
"Please give me an excuse not to shoot you the moment you get into range?" Albrecht said, to which another long silence followed.
"Defeating that third locust will require two tanks, we both know this," Wallace said as if to ground his irate commander.
"Fine, we'll be there in about five minutes," Logan said over the radio.
—-
Meanwhile in the M1917 tank, James had tapped into the frequency of the Locust's of Wallace and Albrecht.
"Hand me the map of the battlefield." David asked to which James complied.
"If Wallace is here at Keith Hills, then Albrecht will have to go up here to the north of the battlefield, leaving us alone." David continued.
"Then we can move and observe their movements from afar," Zeke said with a grin.
"Exactly!" James said.
"In that case, ahead slow, let's move with great stealth to the south." Zeke commanded as the tank began to move.
—-
"So, what's next then?" Allie asked as they had moved their Locust towards the river at the southern border of the battlefield.
Kat sat and pondered the situation, "We're the only ones left in this half of the battlefield. That Albrecht and Wallace will probably go tank hunting for us. Since we took out those 4TA's. We are now their biggest thorn in their climb to the commandership."
"There's one of us, those two together, and that one M1917 or whatever it's called, right?" Terra asked.
"Yes" Kat said, her voice trailing off, "I still can't figure what the plan of that one tank is, is he playing the long game or just playing hide and seek?"
"What's the worry with them? Albrecht and Wallace are our main priority." Allie said.
"The enemy you ignore is the enemy that defeats you, ignore your enemies at your own risk." Kat said, reminding her crew of the peril.
"What's to say they won't split up, with one of the two coming here and then a final showdown." Terra said.
"And one coming here to take care of us before settling it out amongst themselves." Kat said in frustration. "Then that is our plan."
"To sit here and be bait?" Terra blurted out.
"Yes, let's get to the shade, and we should be able to hide." Kat commanded.
—-
The coach and the blonde woman continued to watch the tanks maneuver through the forests on the battlefield.
"Thoughts so far on the battle so far?" The coach said, as the woman had returned to her arms folded, with a dissatisfied frown on her face.
"Why is she hiding in wait? She's just a sitting duck!" The woman said in frustration.
The coach shrugged, "Well, she was good enough to take out two of my 4TA's and we used them often as fast paced enforcers."
"Is this to say that's why you don't have a tankathalon championship?" The woman said, glancing an unamused look at the old coach.
"Shall I get you a ladder for you to get off your high horse? Or are you worried you may have to work for something?" The coach said in retort as the woman huffed in silence, watching the match play out.
"In all honesty, I despise having to wait for matches and not having any control over it." the woman said, as if to apologize for her outburst.
"That's understandable, tankery and tankathalon are horrendous for creating such sentiments." The coach said.
"I want to be the one to take out that Locust." Albrecht said to Wallace, as both were riding with half of themselves outside the tank, looking for Kat's Locust.
"That works, Kyle was spot on taking out the other Locust. Let's hope we can deliver the knockout blow for you sir if you need it." Wallace said with confidence.
"Good, good. In the name of all that is Jackson and Lee, I will steer this school to victory!" Albrecht said with a raised fist in the air.
"Hurrah!" The six tankers shouted in unison as they continued to charge towards the western half of the battlefield.
Kat and the others in their Locust were sipping on water as they laid in wait for the battle to come.
"It's been an hour; don't you think a Locust would have come at us by now?" Terra said in a bored tone.
"Bold of you to assume it wouldn't be that M1917 that could battle us." Kat said to reign in her crew.
Allie chuckled, "Are you sure that boy wouldn't attack his beloved." she teased.
Kat blushed bright red, "It isn't like that! He was just nice to me; you're reading too much into it!" she said just short of a shout.
Allie then lightened up, "Alright, alright, I'll calm down."
"In the meantime, should we move? I know we're supposed to draw in the enemy, but it feels like we're exposed." Terra said, rather concerned.
"I'll take a look." Kat said as she popped out of the roof hatch of the Locust. She grabbed her binoculars and began to survey her surroundings, slowly scanning the area.
The other girls popped out of their hatches and began to survey their surroundings as well, as if to be extra sets of eyes for their commander. When out of nowhere, a tank shell scraped left half of the tank.
"Holy Valentine! Allie, emergency ahead full! Get this rust bucket moving ASAP!" Kat commanded, genuinely startled by the shell. Allie desperately struggled to get the tank to start back up as within moments, the Locust of Logan Albrecht came into view behind them.
Albrecht was within a couple hundred feet when Kat's Locust started moving at a rapid pace.
"Continue firing! Don't stop until their white flag shows up!" Albrecht could be heard shouting to his crew as shell after shell whizzed past their Locust.
"Allie, can't you get this going any faster?" Kat pleaded with her driver.
"I'm trying, I'm trying!" Allie said, as machine gun fire from the Locust forced them into a left turn.
"Allie, Terra, we must fight back. Be ready for the same as before, fire as soon as it is in the view!" Kat commanded.
"Loading complete, I'll be ready," Terra said, trying to suppress her nerves.
The two tanks continued their cat and mouse movements for another thirty seconds until Kat shouted, "Now!". The Locust then lurched and spun 180 degrees with their turret now face to face with the Locust of Albrecht.
"What the!" Albrecht shouted seeing the move unfold in front of him like a video game move, as the deafening boom of the Locust's armament fired. Instantaneously Terra landed a direct hit and the white flag of Albrecht's Locust appeared. The Locust of Albrecht stopped along with Kat as the crew had stopped their tank to catch their breath.
The jubilation of the crew was short lived as the tank was violently shaken by a direct hit of a shell from the Locust of Wallace.
"A direct hit!" Wallace said with a satisfied grin.
"Indeed, a shame we had to lose the commander in the process" Kyle the gunner said with a shrug.
"Now to the M1917A?" Kevin the driver asked.
"Might as well, now it's time for a game and hide seek." Wallace said, sighing as if to be returned to reality.
As the crew of the Locust began to prepare to head back east to begin the hunt for the M1917, a small flash of light appeared behind them. When the Locust then was violently rocked.
"We've been hit!" Kyle shouted in surprise as all three were taken by surprise when the shell hit and a small white flag popped out of their tank.
"NO! NO! NO! NO! NO! NO!" Wallace said, as he grew incredibly pale as reality really began to sink in.
He then popped out of the hatch and feverishly began looking around for the M1917, until he spotted it directly behind them, 1,000 feet away. He angrily slammed his fist on the smoking tank.
"Where are they sir?" Kyle and Kevin asked in unison.
"At our 5:30." Wallace said with great frustration, as a cell phone began to ring in Wallace's pocket.
"That's a hit! A white flag!" Zeke said with excitement.
"Excellent shooting James!" David said with excitement, followed by, "man, I've wanted to get back at him".
"I think we're the last tank standing." James said, beginning to possibly realize the circumstances.
"No way!" The coach said in surprise as the alert of the first white flag for Logan's tank appeared.
"Yes!" The woman shouted as she jumped out of her chair.
"What's going on!" The coach then said as there were now three white flag alerts. The woman was left speechless as they both began to read the alerts that had popped up on the computer.
"Locust 1 Albrecht, defeated by Locust 4 Kat. Locust 4 Kat, defeated by Locust 2 Wallace. Locust 2 Wallace, defeated by M1917 Zeke/Hughes/Christian. " they said in unison.
The coach then reached for the radio, still at a loss for words, his finger on the button for the microphone. It took him a minute but felt like an hour to decide what to say.
"All tanks are defeated. M1917 tank, return to starting position. Recovery vehicles will be there to pick you up soon. Good match everyone, meet here at the office tomorrow for the results at 5 pm." The coach radioed.
"So, do I get my Sherman?" The woman asked, to which the coach who was still at a loss for understanding what was going to happen next, simply nodded.
"You are dismissed, be here at the same time as the others." The coach said. The woman nodded and walked out with a grin, feeling satisfied with herself.
The coach meanwhile sat at the desk, staring at the computer screen and began to contemplate everything that happened with the match as he muttered, "I'm too old for this."