It was now 11 AM on Friday and Zeke was getting dressed in his tankery uniform, putting on the blue overcoat and kepi hat, he couldn't help but enjoy the look in the mirror. As he thought to himself, "I do make this look good".

He walked down to his truck where three people stood around it, all wearing the same uniform as Zeke. It was Kat, Violet, and Kurt Henson, commander of the Chafee.

"Thank you all for coming, if you want to go ahead and hop in that would be great, it shouldn't take more than 30 minutes to get down there. I do appreciate having you all here for this" Zeke said.

He opened the doors of the pickup truck, and everyone climbed in, with Kurt and Violet in the albeit cramped back seat, and Zeke along with Kat in the front. The truck was started up and made their way to the match site.

They were on highway 401 down to Fayetteville when Zeke broke the silence, "if coach told me right, we'll just need to do the coin flip and get the tank pits settled. You three were able to get the tanks packed up correctly right?"

"Yeah, the automotive students were getting them loaded onto the road transports when we left to come back to campus" Violet said.

"Thanks, Violet, what is your sister like in person?" Zeke asked, "I'd like to try and not be intimidated in the first match" he chuckled.

Violet groaned loudly as she sat back in her seat, "I had a feeling you were going to ask that" she huffed. Kat let out a light chuckle seeing the over reaction by her once rival.

"She is very arrogant, attempts to command respect, is quite vain, and constantly tries to feed her own ego" Violet said.

"I see, so most likely she'll try and impose her ego on us" Zeke said, rolling his eyes as they drew near to the meeting place for the ceremonies. A small grass strip airport on a farm just west of Fayetteville.

When the crew parked and got out, Coach Beauregard greeted them coldly, "folks, I say folks, you sure do like to keep people waiting".

"You said 11:30 sir?" Zeke said pointing to his watch.

"That I did, but if you are not ten minutes early, you are late, this is not just true for Tankery but for the professional world as well" Coach Beauregard said.

"Sir, yes sir!" Zeke said back, acknowledging the fault.

"Good, go ahead and meet over there near the runway" the coach said as the quintet walked there were a couple of officials and other people there talking.

A man in a well-dressed suit then waved to them, "hey, over here" he said.

"Ah, Coach Black, very good to see you," Coach Beauregard said, as he shook his hand.

"It is very good to see you, Grandpa told me many stories of your time in Korea and Vietnam, thank you for your service" Coach Black said.

"Thank you, it was an honor to serve with your grandpa, let's have a good match" Coach Beauregard said and nodded.

"Indeed, let's have a good match, give us your best shot" Coach Black said optimistically.

"Baby sister, it's good to see you," Abigail said, giving a warm smile to her youngest sister.

"Thank you, are you and Jessica doing well?" Violet asked cordially.

"We are, Heather keeps us busy, but we are doing well. It's good to see you continuing Tankery" Jessica walked up and added.

"Though I fear you're just here to be cannon fodder for our sister's ego," Abigail said.

Violet was about to speak when a voice bellowed from a few feet away, "wonder twins! Get over here, they're ready to do the coin toss" Violet Valentine said.

Everyone walked over to a pair referees, both were dressed in black pants, with white and black striped shirts.

"Greetings everyone, I am head referee Tommy Newcastle" the first man said, he was short at only 5'6", balding and somewhat tanned skin.

"And I am NCAA Tankery Official Jameson White" the second man said, towering to the others at 6'1", with a shaved head, and thick glasses, he was slightly younger than Tommy, but both were well into their 50's.

Tommy then spoke to continue the procedure as a third official in a full business suit held up a small camera to capture the scene, "Tankers, please shake hands" to which everyone did, from the coaches to the commander, and Violet and Kat with the wonder twins.

"Now, per Japanese Shensado Federation and NCAA rules, there is to be a coin toss to determine starting locations. Please hand over initial roster lineups" Tommy asked, to which both sides handed them to Mr. White.

"Commander Valentine and Commander Ezekiel, this is the official coin used for today's exhibition match" Tommy said holding up the coin, "on the side noted as heads is the GCSE school emblem and the side marked as tails is the ICBM school emblem. Commander Valentine, your team is the visiting team, you will make the call to Mr. White, he will repeat the call, I shall repeat this call. I will then toss the coin up into the air and if anything happens or is to influence the coin flip it shall be redone. Commander Valentine, what is your call?" Tommy asked.

"Our call is heads," she said authoritatively.

"Heads is the call," Mr. White said.

"Heads is the call" Tommy said, continuing with the ceremony. The coin was tossed into the air, turning end over end until it fell to the grass with the heads side up. Tommy then held the coin up to show that it was heads.

"Commander Valentine, you have won the toss, which side of the battlefield do you wish to start?" Tommy asked.

"South side please, we shall set up our equipment here at the airfield" Heather said.

"Commander Ezekiel, you will start on the north side of the battle field" Tommy said, as he handed the commanders maps.

"On the map are the designated starting points, Commanders, you are to have all equipment set up by 10 AM for a match that starts by noon. Any team or tank that is not ready by curfew time will be assessed penalties per the JSF and NCAA rulebook. Both commanders are to meet back here at 10:30 AM with a final roster of tanks and personnel. An NCAA or JSF official will be at your respective pits to ensure all shells and other equipment are to the rulebook. Finally, everyone turn, and face your opponent and bow '' Tommy said.

Every player and coach bowed to the other and saying in unison, "let's have a good match"

"Everyone is dismissed, good luck to each of you" Tommy Newcastle said as he and the other officials walked away to the trailer of a semi-truck to do some pre-match paperwork.

"Wonder Twins, go ahead and get on the horn to the others to let them know our location" Heather commanded to her younger sisters, who nodded and turned away.

"Oh, excuse me, Zeke, is it?" Heather asked, her authoritative voice now returning to a more seductive tone.

"Yes, what is it?" Zeke asked.

"Tell me, where is a good place to eat around here? I had some fans in this area I wished to treat" Heather said smugly.

Zeke shot her a cold glare before saying, "surely, you can find that on your own".

"I shall, just as I shall find your team merely cannon fodder on my way to the world title this year" Heather said smugly, struggling not to laugh out loud seeing Zeke's even colder reaction.

"That's enough Heather" Coach Black said to his commanding tanker, before saying, "go and help the others". Heather rolled her eyes and went to the twins to read over the roster sheet.

"Oh Kit Kat" Coach Damien Black said to his daughter, "please give us a good match".

Kat simply blushed at this teasing, before composing herself, "yes sir!" she said, walking off to help coordinate everything.

It was now 9:30 AM on Saturday, match day against GCSE. Everything was ready, everyone had been there since 8 AM, having breakfast, loading shells, planning mini strategies.

"Attention everyone!" Zeke shouted to get everyone's attention.

"I first want to say, thank you to everyone for coming out and dedicating yourselves to the tankery team. Before it gets any later, is every team ready? I need to submit our status here shortly" Zeke said. Everyone nodded and gave thumbs up, so Zeke found Mr. White who was their designated official.

It was now 11:30 AM, and Mr. White had gotten everyone to their tanks and gotten them ready. He mentioned something about opening ceremonies and then referenced a small TV and speaker system he had gotten ready in the pits.

An announcer's voice then began to boom from the speakers that were setup, "welcome everyone to this match between the George Custer School of Excellence Yankee's and your Institute of Carolina's Battlefield Mastery Rebels! Today's match will be subject to flag battle rules. Those of you able please stand for the presentation of colors".

A group of four ROTC members from the ICBM school then appeared on screen holding three flags, one was the American flag, then a state flag of North Carolina, and finally a flag of the branch of their ROTC, the army.

"Please remain standing for the national anthem, performed by the student band" the announcer said.

As the band played the national anthem, Zeke could not help but feel the nerves build, it was soon to be time for the match to occur and to be the first true test of his commandership skill. The anthem then finished, and everyone sat down in their tanks to prepare for battle.

The announcer's voice then came back over the radio, "and now, it is time for some of the most famous words in Tankery, with me now is university president, Jerry Wallace to give the command".

"Tankers, start your engines!" the university president said as across the battlefield the roar of tank engines filled the air.

Referee Tommy's voice could then be heard over the loudspeakers, "let the battle begin" as he shot a green flare into the air to also signify the start.

Zeke took a deep breath before announcing, "all tanks advance formation full".