"Fire!" Kat shouted as the M26 Pershing fired a practice round, it hit its cardboard target tank with perfect accuracy. Other tanks continued firing on other targets and target tanks.
It was Wednesday afternoon, and everyone was hard at work with practice. The heavier tanks were doing target practice while Logan had led the tankathalon tanks on their own practice, much to the dismay of the others.
Logan had taken all six tankathalon tanks away from the practice area and to the corridor between the football stadium and the golf course. Far away enough that they could all have a conversation in private.
"That new commander of ours is driving me up the wall" Logan said in a mocking tone, using air quotes on the word commander.
"Logan's still jealous those ladies took him out" Jose Augustine said, as the four in the 4TA tanks laughed loudly at this.
"Silence!" Wallace barked at the four, "we still need to make the best of this situation. That Zeke is going to begin to wonder where we went to and why we haven't reappeared".
"I hate when you're right" Logan said dismissively, "yes, we need to return in formation" he said checking his watch, "that way we can prove we did something, we'll find our time to take back what is rightfully ours" he finished, raising his fist to the cheer of everyone in those tanks. _
Violet waved over to Kat and ordered her crew to stop firing, amidst the firing of the Sherman and the Pershing, "Hey Kat!"
"Stop firing" she said to her crew, before turning her attention to her former rival Violet, "what do you want?" she said rather coldly.
"Any clue where those tankettes disappeared off to?" Violet asked.
Kat's face showed a look of concern, "come to think of it, I've not seen them either since they left for maneuvering practice," she said, putting air quotes over the last two words.
"Have they shown this behavior before?" Violet asked.
Kat shook her head, "No, but I have very little data about them. They have all been very cold and abrasive to me, I've noticed they're even worse to you" she said.
Violet folded her arms, frowning in disappointment, "I know sister sent me away down here with the tanks, but I did not expect such a cold reception" Violet said.
Kat gave a sympathetic nod, "me neither, as a four times state runner up, I would have hoped for better too.
Violet gave a quick smirk, before returning to her frown, "still, I don't trust them, I know the team from back home was built around me from the beginning due to my sisters, but I have never felt this uneasy with any team" she said.
Kat nodded at this, "I had a similar experience after I built the team around myself, I cannot trust anyone here, minus the group in the Chafee, and Zeke" she said.
Violet's brown furrowed, "and not us?" Violet said, rather perturbed.
Kat fumed at this response, "and why should we trust you, you did take us out four years in a row" she said.
Violet sighed, turning her head facing away from Kat, "we both know that we did our best to win. It's in our best interest to trust each other and help each other, if not for us, for the betterment of the school" she said, before adding, "I'll trust you, Zeke, and the Chafee crew a lot sooner than I would trust that Albrecht and Wallace" she finished.
"You're right there" Kat said, "Wallace was the one who took me out".
"You were set up from the beginning, you were always susceptible to that one" Violet said.
Kat raised an eyebrow, "how do you know?"
"I was too late to join the battle, and Coach let me watch the battle with him, we had a bet and that's how I got command of my old tank" Violet said, with a slight degree of smugness.
"Well, it'll be nice to be on the same team as you for once," Kat said with a slight smile.
Just as soon as the two finished that conversation, a line of six tanks appeared from the woods in a beautiful single line formation, at speed, and with perfect synchronization, turned their turrets to fire on the target tanks. Each tank fired three shots, and after the third shot, Zeke came on the radio.
"Attention all tanks, very good work for this practice. I ask all tank commanders to come back to the office to discuss a strategy plan for Saturday's match. Be at the tankery office in one hour please, Zeke out" Zeke said.
"We'll bring this up with Zeke later" Kat said, with Violet nodding in agreement. _
"Think that fooled them?" Albrecht asked Wallace as they moved the tanks towards the aircraft hangar at the airport. Just up from their makeshift practice field.
"Yeah, yeah, what about this strategy meeting Zeke wants to do?" Wallace asked.
Logan pondered this as they lined up to move the tanks back into the hanger for the automotive students to service the tanks. "We'll go, but it'll be just us two, dismiss the Augustine's and the other two Locust commanders. We'll give our own strategy" he said.
Wallace looked over to this friend with concern and nodded. He began dismissing the various people Logan told him to. Everyone who was to be dismissed left and went home. Albrecht and Wallace made their way back to campus and to the tankery office.
When the pair walked in, they could see Zeke, Violet, Kat, and the crew from the Chafee all studying film.
"Film study was at six thirty" Zeke said to the two, practically barking his statement.
"Forgive us sir for our transgression please, what have we missed?" Logan said in a surprisingly apologetic tone, bordering overt feigning of sorrow. Wallace was nodding in agreement with the apology, and both had taken off their kepi's to reinforce the narrative.
"I just wanted to congratulate our three crews doing firing practice today first and foremost. As those three completed series two of our firing practice. The results being one zero zero, perfect shots" Zeke said, a small round of applause came from all the members in the room.
Zeke then started the film, showing highlights of GCSE and their exploits during previous matches. Everyone was taking various notes of the match as Albrecht and Wallace seemed to become infatuated with the commander of GCSE Heather Valentine. As they secretly lusted over her curves and everything about her.
Heather was known as the American Tankery Queen for her exploits on the battlefield and called the Blonde Bombshell of GCSE for her looks. As she and many of her of age crew would pose with their tanks as pin up models on calendars for distribution. Many would get the calendar just for Heather, this among her many accomplishments went to her head.
Albrecht and Wallace had stopped taking notes and were instead texting back and forth on their smartphones. Texting lewdly about the GCSE commander and scheming a plan as Zeke had started talking audibly about a strategic plan for to tackle GCSE and their style of annihilation in battle.
_ "So are we agreed about the retaliation strategy?" Zeke said, to which everyone nodded.
"Hey, I think there was a book or something about running that strategy, can y'all help me find it?" Zeke asked.
"Sure" Kat and Violet said, with Violet putting her phone down on the arm of the chair as she and everyone else got up to help Zeke find that book, minus Albrecht and Wallace who were busy doing some strategizing on their own.
The group poured over the small wall of books, before finding a small pamphlet with strategic notes from previous commanders of the tankathalon days.
"A-ha!" Zeke said as he read over the notes, "I should be able to make do with these plans, you are all dismissed, eat well and have a good evening".
As everyone left, Violet was left quite perturbed as she left the room. Kat noticed this and decided to approach her former rival once they were alone.
"Something wrong?" Kat asked.
"It's my phone, I don't recall if I had before I set it down but, when I returned my phone had the contact of my oldest sister up" Violet said, her voice trailing off before continuing, "I know I should delete it, especially if it is true, she sent me here to keep her own influence at GCSE".
Kat frowned at this, "It's a shame this happened to you, six months ago I might have wished this on you, but even in the short time you've been here, you're much nicer than your reputation has left me to believe" she said, complimenting her new friend.
Violet couldn't help but chuckle lightly, "thank you, I appreciate this, hopefully we'll beat my sister so we can have the last laugh", Kat nodded and the two went on their way to supper. _ "Thank you, I shall take this under advisement. You can rely on me, we'll take them out for you" a woman with long blonde hair, curvaceous feminine features, and a feminine voice like silk that could lure any man into a trance said ending the phone call. This woman's voice and heaven-sent features belonged to the one known as the Blonde Bombshell and the American Tankery Queen, the commander of GCSE, Heather Valentine.
The woman grinned as if she had won the lottery, she texted something on her phone before returning to what she had been doing prior to the phone call. Gazing at a pin-up calendar of herself and her teammates and their tanks.
"They captured the real me, that's, that's beautiful, I could cry" Heather said, smirking as she gazed at a rather lewd picture of herself on her E8 variant of the M4 Sherman tank.
Two girls with straight blonde hair had walked up to the desk of their eldest sister as she had been daydreaming lewdly following her gazing at the photo of herself.
"Uh, sister we're here" one of the two girls said, as the startled eldest Valentine sister returned to reality.
"Alright, alright, you two, I've got a job for you wonder twins!" Heather said regaining her composure despite her flushed face.
"Uh, we have names you know, mine is Abigail" the first twin said.
"And, and Jessica," the second said.
"I ain't got time to say both names! Now, I've just gotten off the phone with a rat from ICBM and they gave me information. Baby sister is in a Sherman, and her high school rival is commanding their Pershing" Heather said.
"Her high school rival?" Jessica asked.
"You mean Coach Black's daughter?" Abigail quipped.
"Yes, Damien's daughter!" Heather said, annoyed.
"We've been tasked to destroy them both along with the flag tank" Heather said.
"D d destroyed?" the twins stammered.
"d-word" Jessica said concerned.
"Like hurt?" Abigail asked.
"No, not hurt, just destroyed, especially their pride" Heather said reassuring her sisters.
"Oh ok" the twins said in unison.
"The rat wants them destroyed in quick succession" Heather said, before shrugging, "maybe they have a hot date, or something, but I am sending a calendar to the rat for their help" she finished, before quipping, "I may even sign it too" she said smirking. The twins rolled their eyes at the vanity of their sister.
"So, uh boss, what do you want us to do?" Abigail asked.
"Just go and formulate a strategy with those objectives in mind, I'll go and look over it before we head down there. Also, get the tanks ready and teach everyone Union Dixie, I want to put a stake through the heart of those confederates" Heather said.
"Metaphorically, right?" Jessica asked.
Heather huffed in annoyance, "yes sister, I meant that metaphorically, you're both dismissed".
