Wallace answered his cell phone, seeing it was Logan who was calling him. As soon as he clicked the answer, his best friend began shouting through the phone.
"How could you get defeated by that stupid M1917!" Logan exclaimed.
"They struck from behind while I was preoccupied cleaning up your mess" Wallace said, emphasizing the fault of Logan.
"Wallace, do you think the coach will really put him as the commander?" Albrecht said, a strong tone of concern in his voice as if the realization was settling in.
"I don't know, but I'll get on the horn and mobilize the others, perhaps we can save ourselves and get into the Sherman or Pershing" Wallace said, sitting on the tank as his crew mates exited the tank.
"We'll have them join the meeting, maybe that will persuade the coach to keep us in some degree of power," Albrecht said.
"Or at least have a shot at one of the big tanks," Wallace said.
"If there are any big tanks," Albrecht said ominously.
Kat and her group sat in their tank, brooding and stewing over their loss.
"We were set up," Allie said, breaking the silence.
"Yes, but at least Zeke and company got back at them for us" Kat said, sighing in disappointment.
"That move was awesome though" Terra said with glee.
"Indeed, for something we have only used in competition once, it was pretty good, good job to both of you" Kat said, praising Allie and Terra.
The three of them got picked up about an hour later via a four-wheeler and small trailer, as everyone had to ride back to the various starting points in the same trailer. The ride back was rather silent for everyone until each group was dropped off.
Every tank group had a different reaction to the results, with some more satisfied compared to others.
It was now Sunday evening at five pm, when Kat, Allie, Terra, and two other ladies walked through the door into the same practice gym as before, every seat but five were filled.
"Good grief, I know we were bringing extra members, but I didn't expect there to be this many extra" Kat exclaimed with shock.
Terra then pointed to some seats saying, "hey, there's five seats over there in front". The five girls moved to five seats in the front row as the chatter among everyone was quite loud.
The buzz and anxiety in the crowd was continuing to grow when the clock rang out for five thirty, the coach walked out to the mixed cheers of the crowd.
"Welcome everyone, it's nice to see more people here than Friday night's meeting. For those of you who were at Friday night's meeting and participated in Saturday's try out battle, I want to thank you for your spirited participation" the coach said.
"I did mention that there was further information to share, this will include our uniforms, tank selections, schedule, and our basic procedures" the coach added.
"But first and foremost, the thing that I think you are all waiting for is to meet the commanding crew for the Institute of Carolina's Battlefield Mastery and we will use this to showcase our uniforms for everyone" the coach continued.
"First, is the driver, David Christian, sporting our traditional home uniform" the coach said, as David walked out in a uniform that seemed to belong in a different millennium. He wore dark black boots, bright white pants, a white shirt, dark blue overcoat, and a matching dark blue kepi hat, with the ICBM logo.
"Second is the gunner, James Hughes, sporting our alternate uniform for home and away matches" the coach said, with James walking out wearing everything the same as David, minus the overcoat, which was bright red in color and looked impressive in contrast to the other uniform.
"Third is the commander and our overall commander of the school, Benjamin Jeremiah Ezekiel, sporting our trademark away uniform" the coach said, as Zeke walked out in a uniform similar to the others, with confederate gray pants, white shirt, gray overcoat, and kepi. The trio then sat down in three chairs beside the coach.
"Now, it is time for our tank crew selections. First is our commander's tank, the M1917A, which is the group mentioned previously. Our next three tanks are the ones you have all been waiting for" the coach said, as David and James got up and opened the curtain partitioning the practice gym.
In front were three big tanks, an M26 Pershing, an M4 Sherman, and an M24 Chafee. Behind those three were the seven tanks that participated in the tryout battle. The tanks had been mechanically repaired but appeared with the same battle scars from the tryout battle.
"So, after taking into consideration performance in the match, some additional considerations, and the inputs of our new commander. Here is our lineup, first, in the M26 Sherman, Kat Black, Allie Major, and Terra Jones. If I remember correctly, you said you had extra members you brought?" the coach announced and asked. Kat stood up and nodded, tapping two girls on the shoulder.
A girl of medium height and light brown hair, wearing a white dress with pink trim stood up, "loader Yui Fushikawa reporting".
A second girl stood up, she was the tallest of the quintet and most well-endowed, wearing a red blouse that highlighted her features even more, and a black skirt, "radio operator and technology officer Scarlett Fontagne reporting".
"Excellent, go ahead and stand by your tank" the coach asked as the quintet moved to their Pershing, "now, for our Sherman, that crew has already been determined. Violet, do you mind introducing us to your crew?" the coach finished.
Kat froze when she saw the woman stand up, she went pale and began to have flashbacks to previous battles, when she muttered, "the platinum assassin".
The platinum blonde woman from before stood up, along with four other ladies, "Violet Valentine, four-time state tankery champion of Ohio, commander reporting".
The woman to her immediate left followed next, "Sarah Gillen, driver reporting"
The woman to her immediate left continued the introductions, "Savannah Arthur, assistant driver and bow gunner, reporting".
The woman to Violet's right then spoke up, "Lucy Dixon-Lee, loader, reporting".
Finally, the woman to Lucy's right finished their group's introduction, "Anna-Marie Zydek, gunner, reporting".
"Excellent, proceed to your tank please" the coach said. "Now, finally, our M24 Chafee crew. We had some debates about this, but we have settled on the crew for it. Henson, Haley, and Denton, you three are in the Chafee, take your newbies over to it" the coach said, trying his best to gloss over this significant announcement. Logan Albrecht clenched his fists and gritted his teeth at this announcement.
"Every other crew that was in the tryout battle will retain the tanks they crew previously, Albrecht, you brought back those ROTC people from last year, correct?" the coach asked.
It took every degree of restraint for Logan to not have an outburst, "yes sir" he said, bluntly.
"Good, everyone else shall go to their tanks. After that I will note our schedule and explain some notes for the upcoming season" the coach said as everyone moved to their tank, sitting on the tanks in various positions, awaiting the coach's monologue.
"So, the tankery regular season is closer to football, with the playoffs being closer to basketball. But we'll worry about the playoffs when we get there. Now, our season starts next Saturday at home against the George Custer School of Excellence, colloquially known as GCSE, a subset tankery school at Ohio State" the coach said, before pointing to Kat and Violet, "you two should be intimately familiar with the school, help Zeke with strategy this week please" the coach finished.
"This first match is an exhibition thankfully, after that on September 3rd we begin our non-conference season officially on the road at the University Kentucky, facing the Hatfield School of Tankery. The following Saturday, the 10th we will return to Kentucky going to University of Louisville and facing their McCoy school of Tankery. From there, we come home to face the Speedway Academy of IUPUI" the coach continued before being interrupted.
"IUPUI?" someone asked.
"Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, it's a joint university with a tankery subschool below that" the coach explained.
"From there, we start the conference season, against the Virginia Military Institute in Lexington, on 10/1 they were the champions of the conference last year. The second conference match we travel to Tuscaloosa and take on Alabama on 10/9. They're also hosting football that week and need extra time to handle us there. Our third conference match is at home on 10/15, where we face the Florida State Seminoles, they're a very Jekyll and Hyde team from what I'm told. Fourth match on 10/22 we host Georgia here. Fifth match is special, this is the east-west rivalry week where there is intra division play. We're slated to play Louisiana-Lafayette on 10/29. Our sixth match we travel to Hampton University on 11/12, seventh match is 11/19 where we host Charleston Southern. Our final match of the year barring playoffs will be against our designated rivals, Elizabeth City State University on 12/3. It is a long schedule, but nothing we at ICBM haven't faced before in our tankathalon days' ' the coach finished, sipping on a glass of water after his scheduled monologue.
"Finally, two more items, our basic day by day schedule. Unless otherwise stated, matches are on Saturday's. Sundays involve packing up the tanks after the match and traveling home. Monday is spent unpacking the tanks, letting the automotive school repair the tanks, and finally reviewing film from the previous match, Tuesday will be spent on firing and developing a strategic plan. Wednesday is firing and practicing maneuvers within the strategic plan originally developed. Thursday will be spent with final practice and then packing up the tanks to head to the next match, the commander will also leave on this day going to a match, I will explain that in a minute. Finally, Friday will be spent loading up yourselves and heading to the match site" the coach finished.
"The last thing before you're dismissed, our non-conference matches are flag battle rules, while the conference wants to do annihilation matches. This is similar to our split in tankathalon at times. Everyone minus the commander and his crew are dismissed. Report here tomorrow at four for practice" the coach finished. Everyone except Zeke, James, David, Violet and Kat left.
"I say, I say, so you two joined our new commander" the coach said, raising an eyebrow.
"Come with me then, you'll get to see his new office" the coach said, waving his arm to motion for them to follow. The coach left the practice gym and guided the quintet down the hall through the office door of the tankery office, followed by a turn and unlocking another door.
The smell of mahogany and leather filled the nostrils of everyone as the coach opened the door. The office itself was rich in its appearance, smell, and touch. A mahogany desk was the centerpiece of the room to the initial meeting of the eye, with a matching leather office chair.
To the right was a small seating area in front of a big screen, with a projector, this was the area for studying film. To the left was a small bookcase, with books on various strategies, histories, and other aspects of Tankery.
Finally, the thing that caught the eyes of everyone as the coach walked up to it was the wall behind the office chair and desk. This was a plaque on the wall, with a saber sword being held up on it. The coach reached up and picked it up, handing it to Zeke.
"Benjamin Jeremiah Ezekiel, this here is the Saber of ICBM. Wear this into battle with pride, this saber has been passed down through the commandership of our tankers through the years. Pray you do not disappoint me, the school, and the spirit of this Saber" the coach said. Zeke held the saber in its sheath, goosebumps formed on all five of the tankers as Zeke held it in his outstretched hands, simply amazed at what he had inherited.