"YOU BASTARD!" Juno was enraged at the scene and got off her tank, running towards the S.R. commanders.

"I- I didn't mean—" Lucya stammered, incapable of expressing herself.

"They're..! HOW DARE YOU!" Juno wasn't faring any better as she lost control of her emotions, running towards Lucya's T-34/76. At the same time, the remainder of Company C's crew, hiding inside their tanks, finally got out, distressed due to the commotion.

Lucya was frozen in fear; she closed her eyes and began to weep. Antonina, growing more worried, jumped out of her tank and ran over to comfort her.

Juno made her way and climbed on the T-34/76, and Antonina was on her way. It looked like it was going to get bloody. However, when Juno raised her hand, she halted before sighing. She knew it was useless to start any more bleeding. "Get the fuck out of that tank, fucking disgrace."

Lucya stood still but eventually got out, still sobbing, like a child who realized they messed up bad. Company B's commander stared into her soul, clenching her fist. She relented after a minute, jumped off the tank, and went to the mechanized pyre. She saw the other members of C company fall to their knees at the dreaded sight. Some were speechless, and some had tears welling up.

"Why... Why the hell didn't she just—" one of the commanders broke down in tears, causing the rest of her tank crew to begin weeping.

Juno sighed as she looked at the depressing image. Soon after, she stomped her foot to get everyone's attention. Lucya didn't follow, she was cut off by Antonina, trying to console her crying commander, but even she was horrified.

"Quick, take out your fire extinguishers. We might be able to save something or someone... from... This," she said grimly. And with five of them, they successfully calmed the flames.

"Do you really believe that?" Eveya had made her way from the Hetzer, half panting from the sprint.

"If..." She halted, trying her best to form actual words instead of slurred, drunken-like speech. "If nobody's going to be optimistic, who'll actually have the will to make a change in life?" Juno gave a weak smile before bracing. She'd have to climb on top of the Tiger.

Juno climbed on the hot steel, ignoring the pain, and looked inside the tank from the opened hatch. She lifted a mostly charred body from the fire without hesitation. She laid her on the floor before going back to the wrecked tank, but she came out empty-handed this time.

"Seems like the commander lucked out. Her body was the only one that somewhat survived." She laughed in disbelief at what she saw. A disfigured mess.

Juno put her two fingers on her neck. Surprisingly enough, she heard her heart beating. "What- MEDIC! MEDIC! HER HEART'S BEATING!"

Everyone's frowns quickly vanished as panic set in. The burnt commander didn't have long. They needed the paramedics to get here instantly. Fortunately, an ambulance had arrived instead of a tank recovery crew. The paramedics had brought the wounded body inside, and the ambulance drove off after confirming for themselves that it was too late for the others.

Juno sighed in relief. She'd hopefully get the care she needed there. She glared at Lucya before taking out her phone and calling someone.

After a moment of silence, T.G.'s Vice commander arrived on foot at the scene. Her face lacked much emotion as the only thing there was a steely gaze and her eyes hidden by her cap. After staring at the wrecked Tiger, nobody followed her as she marched towards S.R.'s captains.

Lucya's expression was still one of guilt and weariness. The vice commander sighed and took her cap off. "By order of high command, we will be spectating you from here on out."

Lucya's guilty expression vanished for a second, being replaced by one of confusion. She had a question, but it didn't matter. Her guilty expression returned. "Why did you forfeit?"

"Well..." She looked towards Antonina, who quickly pointed toward Lucya's expression. The Vice commander, who wanted to explode, sighed and put her hand forwards for a handshake. "Something like this was... Doomed to happen at some point. But what's done is done."

"How... How are you so okay with this? Wasn't she a commander?" Lucya didn't shake her hand; instead, she buried them inside her pockets.

"I'm not. But I assume that raising hostilities wouldn't help anybody get through this. I'll deal with my feelings alone." The Vice commander's hand moved back, and a tear rolled down her eyes.

"Well, she isn't dead—" the Vice commander's steely gaze started to shatter as Lucya could see the boiling rage in her eyes.

"She'd be better off dead. Now, let us face each other at the finals. We do not intend to lose in the loser's bracket." The Vice commander turned around and left the two alone. They could see her wiping tears from her eyes as she stormed off.

It had been two hours since everybody went back home. The Vice commander was called to the commander's office. She looked at the wooden door and shakily opened it. "Commander, you wanted to see me?"

There, nobody stood. The room was desolate; her attention was directed to a seat, where she assumed she had to sit down. In front of her was a note. After quickly reading it, she felt many waves of emotion consume her. The message was attached to an envelope that she took and left. The commander wouldn't grace her subordinate with even a conversation.

Well, she knew what she had to do. Someone was waiting for her in the hospital. It was agonizing to have to continue working as if nothing had happened. She needed to be there for her. Especially now.

She lit a cigarette while walking toward the hospital; thoughts raced through her mind. What if she was too late? Should she bring flowers? She groaned, shook all of the ideas away, and ran towards the hospital, dropping her cigarette on the floor.

It was time for yet another meeting involving most major schools to discuss various topics on combined arms. As the combined arms tactics were under scrutiny, some of the higher-up schools were given representatives in the conferences to voice the opinion of the practitioners. Although the whole thing was more of an excuse to make the protests stop, as they had nearly no power, it was still mandatory to partake in them as the elected member of T.G. Academy.

"Another week, another shitty meeting," Ella groaned as she made her way to the site, dressed far too sharply for her liking, to a meeting far too pointless for her liking. "What the hell did they have in mind this time..?"

She arrived 20 minutes early, so she took out her phone to see if she had received any messages. She had none. She sighed before plunging deep into a sea of thoughts. She wondered what made her want to be here. She had chosen to take this role for her team, even if she had no prior experience. Although she was doing the best she could, a part of herself could feel like she was taking a backseat, watching as everything in those meetings unfold and not being able to put in her argument. Week after week, month after month, ignored opinion after ignored opinion. Most of the representatives had already given up and remained silent during the meetings. She'd likely do the same.

The school representatives all took their seats and talked while waiting for the speaker to present a topic. They all resented the various officials, believing that they were only in it to make a profit and get something on a news headline. During their ramblings, Ella noticed that S.R.'s representative was trying to avoid any exchange. She didn't have time to mend any relationships or ease the feeling of guilt. Later, she'd talk to her as a long, tiresome hour had begun.

To begin the discussion, they were once again back on the topic of what should be included in combined arms. "As we have added aircraft, artillery, lighter vehicles such as armored cars, I feel like we have one more thing to add that we must imperatively discuss."

Yes, they did have an important topic to discuss. It was one that the school representatives hoped could keep off the table if they kept their mouths shut. "The issue of... Infantry."

Some clenched their fists, some looked away, and some bit their lip. They would've killed to avoid discussing this. Even the mere thought of implementing infantry was basically asking for an accident to happen. Asking for even more innocents to die just for a bit more cash. It was disgusting how far some would go just for personal gain.

"Now, to start, they'd already need to be equipped with body armor, head to toe—"

"Sir, this topic shouldn't even be discussed," Ella spoke up, resolve gleaming from her eyes. "Although lighter vehicles could be made resistant, and artillery out of reach, a tank shell would crush any armor made, no matter how 'safe' they are."

Silence filled the room before that same official spoke up, "That is why we are now asking schools to acquire specific shells designed against infantry. Usage of any other type of shell is strictly prohibited."

Ella scoffed. "And what about indirect fire? If you don't let them fire on vehicles because they're always next to infantry, what then?"

"It'd be likewise for indirect fire. As you'd all know, artillery isn't exactly efficient at taking out vehicles in the first place. Their accuracy is limited as well. Because of this, we are implementing similar shells for artillery to use," the official retorted. Ella was fuming internally but managed to stay calm.

She glared into the man's eyes, who stared right back, but with less aggression. "Very well. But know that you will have blood on your hands. Just wait. An accident WILL happen." She quietly left the room. Nobody stopped her, as they all stood in shock at what she said. She'd wait right outside the building until it ended. "Fucking body armor bullshit." She started tearing up as she gritted her teeth.

Soon after, people started pouring out of the building. Ella looked for someone in the crowd. S.R.'s representative. After spotting her hastily leaving the scene, she ran and caught her by surprise.

"Inessa," Ella spoke sternly, which caused her to stop walking.

"Oh! Funny seeing you stayed—" she said while laughing before quieting down after seeing Ella's expression.

"Save it for someone interested."—Ella hushed her with her hand as she sighed in frustration.—"T.G. Holds no ill feelings towards you or most of S.R., and I'm not blaming you for ANY of this. Capeesh?"

Inessa sighed in relief before getting a weary expression. Ella rolled her eyes before giving a halfhearted smile.

"So, how did the meeting end? Sorry for storming off. I just don't want that kind of accident to happen again, period. I got a bit too emotional, and... Well, you know what happened." She sighed as she sat down on a bench not too far by and motioned her to sit down.

"Well, your sudden exit silenced everybody for a while. Nobody felt too willing to discuss anymore. And without anybody arguing against it, they—" She dodged eye contact, ashamed of her lack of action.

"It's okay. I should've done more." Ella's tears came up again as she quickly wiped them off." I just ran away from my problems, again."

One word. 'Again.' not willing to prod at her when she's already weary, Inessa decided to let her be. "We"—she put her hand on her shoulder and gave a weak smile.—"weren't any better, if that's any consolation whatsoever." Inessa let go of her shoulder and looked up into the sky. "You've shown us that sitting idle won't do anything. I promise you that next time, I'll stand with you. But don't blame yourself for what happened in this meeting. I'm sure we'll get an opportunity to rectify this."

"Me... Me too." Ella smiled before getting up and walking off. After taking a moment to take in what had just happened, Inessa got up and walked off. Lucya needs to know about this.

Lucya had been tirelessly working on her plan for next week's game. If what that Vice commander said was true, she knew the entire school would be humiliated if they lost this. Winning in such a barbaric way, just to prove that you didn't even deserve it in front of them. Something like that would be a blow far too decisive for her to bear. On top of that, she had blood on her hands, and she had to do something about it. A start would be winning this match.

"It's not your fault, they said." Lucya thought about what exactly happened. The ISU-152 shot a shell, damaging their engine and fuel tank, and then the Katyushas fired barrages that made the tanks explode, and with it, the engine. When they tried to get out, a rocket from one of the volleys hit inside. "It was an accident, they said." She cursed herself for being an idiot. "How am I going to face the crowd tomorrow..?"

It was almost midnight, and she gathered all of her thoughts about the upcoming game. The school they were up against was called B.N.C. High school. A British no-name that had been eliminated in the first round of last year's tournament. Not much is known about their combat tactics since little to no footage was taken of the events. Giving up on getting information on the school, for now, she looked at a separate piece of paper, listing everything they could get with the new rules: Aircraft, Artillery, mines, emplacements, infantry- infantry?! Lucya researched the topic thoroughly, and there are body armor requirements, and you can have 30 soldiers max. She sighed. What kind of body armor can resist a tank bullet?!— right. They prohibited the use of the main gun on infantry. She could always do without some of the stuff, but she knew some schools wouldn't be holding back and would've gotten every advantage they could grasp. S.R. was not extremely rich after purchasing the extra soviet tanks but could still afford some sledgehammers.

She still had a week to prepare; she shouldn't rush this. If she makes a wrong decision now, it'll cause a butterfly effect that might cost them the game. Only excellence will get them through the championships. She decided to talk to her commanders tomorrow before practice. If she could convince herself to look at them face to face, that is.

For now, however, she'd go to sleep. Maybe she could cram in 5 hours of sleep until class starts. She had heard rumors that some schools with tankery as an option separated the tankers from regular classes for extensive training and practice. Albeit not for too long. A month at max. If only her school had the same thing... Starting school at 12 PM sounded like a prestigious luxury that she would never experience.

Then again, sleeping felt wrong. The dread of what would occur tomorrow was so great that spending each hour conscious and awake felt like a necessity as if Lucya was dooming herself by sleeping more. She shook in fear, thinking about what could happen the next day. But depriving herself of sleep any further would just make her look depressing. Well, more than she already looked.

She gave in to her body's limp and tired state and hit the hay.

"What do you mean I can't see her?!" Lila was stuck at reception, unable to see her friend.

"I apologize, but operations are still ongoing due to her shattered legs and arms. Apparently, they'll be done soon. Please be patient."

"Ugh... I understand." She gritted her teeth and sat on a seat nearby. There, she opened up the letter she had got from her commander.

There was written a familiar address. It's the hill she'd walk by on her way to the academy. She didn't know it had any value to the captain.

She grumbled as she got up and left the hospital. She'd visit her tomorrow. She arrived there soon after and looked around. There was nothing here but a patch of blue flowers. "That wasn't there before. Weird."

She took out her phone and punched in the number she was given. "I'll have to do this four fucking times..."

"Hello?"

"I assume you heard about what happened. No?"

She stood silent as the words couldn't leave her mouth. She took a deep breath before saying, "Then I regret to be the bringer of bad news."

Soon enough, they hung up. Lila could feel a tear go down her face. Why did she have to do this? Shouldn't the commander do something for once? Why the hell was she the one that had to do this?

"Comrade commander?" Antonina peeked through the door of the commander's study. There she was, sleeping on the floor, with a sleeping bag. Antonina sighed before turning on the lights. Lucya winced at the bright light before slowly getting up. "Что теперь, Антонина?" Her voice was muffled by the rugged bag she was sleeping in.

Her second in command sighed before pointing at the clock. Lucya took a bit but then noticed. She was late.

"сукин сын!"

"Good job, commander." Antonina giggled slightly at her disorientated and disorganized leader.

"Shut up! I was awake late yesterday, and it just— Ugh! I need to get there on time today..!" Lucya quickly took off her vest, revealing her normal schoolwear, before leaving with her bag in hand. At least she didn't forget to organize before sleeping. Antonina sighed before leaving herself.

"Classes start in 3 minutes and you're already in the school building, so why are you panicking—" The Vice commander turned around and looked inside the room. "—Did she fucking sleep here?!" she stood silent before sighing; at least she found her commander after an hour of searching.

Classes went by slower than ever before. Lucya couldn't even focus as she could feel stares from all of the tankers she met. She dreaded the hour that was to come: the training session. She had to prepare something, yet all she did yesterday was think of strategies. She'd have to face the crowd unprepared. And with the acceptance of her fate, the hour passed. The bell rang, and she bolted off to the tank commander's room.

She fidgeted there, waiting for everyone to come in. After 2 minutes, the tank commanders slowly started flooding the room. It was typical of them to meet up here first to discuss before beginning training, hence why the rest of the crew were currently on break for another 20 minutes. Silence filled the room as they all sat down. Nobody would speak for another minute before Antonina raised her voice.

"Commander, I believe you have something to say?" She winked and gave a slight grin. The commander's expression darkened, and she sighed. She'd strangle her later.

"Right. I—" The disoriented commander couldn't formulate her words well. "—I'd like to apologize. Our last round was—" She stuttered and went silent again. "—Well, a result of a stupid decision on my part."

"So, we can agree on one thing at least." Company S' commander sighed. "They didn't deserve such a thing. Nobody deserves such a fate. This most likely will cause damage to our image... Perhaps we could go visit them—" She stopped herself, gritting her teeth. "—Oh god's sake—" She slammed the table, shaking a little.

Lucya sighed, looking away to dodge eye contact. "Iskra, they probably hate us; well, I know the Vice does, anyway."

"With good reason." Iskra sighed, tearing up. "Let's— Let's get to training. Maybe with fresh minds, we can figure something out." The other tank commanders, who were giving weary and judgemental gazes at the commander, started weakly nodding. They wouldn't say anything, but silence sometimes is louder than any word in our dictionaries.

Everyone started slowly leaving. Although Lucya managed to keep a calm face, that façade wouldn't last much longer. She broke down into tears when everybody else left, guilt consuming her soul. She steeled herself, wiping off her tears before leaving the room herself.

She had to address the crowd like she usually did, to quickly explain what they would be doing. However, she relegated this to Antonina for today. She'd face the group later. She'd go into her tank and talk it out with her crew before anyone else.

"Hello everybody." Antonina went up to the podium, with everyone giving confused looks. "I'm replacing Lucya as the speaker for today. She's still trying to figure things out. She's still going to be participating, but don't expect her to speak up."

Everyone's gazes wavered, and someone from company S raised her hand.

"Yes?" Antonina didn't expect any questions, considering that she barely had any information on what she was supposed to say in the first place.

"Are... Are we murderers..?"

The crowd went silent. Some would've gone to silence the young girl before she spoke, but it was far too late.

"I shouldn't be the one to answer that... But in my opinion, you were just following orders, not like any of us knew what would happen." It was a weak response, but one nonetheless. It seemingly appeased the team for now, but they'll probably ask to see the captain face to face. Antonina sighed.

"Today, we'll be splitting into two teams! S company, your six katyushas will be split evenly between our two groups. Our ten T34/76s will go to team A, and the ten T34/85s will go to team B. The BT-7, an IS-2, the SU-76, the KV-1, and the 3 SU-85s will be diverted to team A."

"What even are these teams?" Some members of the crowd grumbled.

Antonina shrugged. "I'm just reading the notes she gave me. The best guess I have is that she split up some and threw in randomly the rest."

"Continuing."

"The KV-2, T-70, 2 IS-2s, and SU-100 are team Bs."

"This feels slightly unfair." Team A was already beginning to complain. This was going to be a horrendous uphill battle. "So we have 10 tanks worth as much as cannon fodder and a few tank destroyers. Great!"

"Hey! Don't shit on the T-34!" Another one of them shouted from the back, as they rapidly came up to her.

"Fucking try me you asshole!—" A few others from both teams A and B came and interrupted the fight, as a few other members of A team tried to calm her colleague down.

"At least we have an IS-2 and a KV-1 on our side!" some people desperately tried to appease the situation, but it didn't work.

"And that's ignoring the SU-100 being just a direct upgrade to the 85s," Antonina mumbled to herself, away from the microphone. She sighed, before facing the crowd once more. "Alright, let's get moving. Ready up your engines. And don't worry, the commander's on your side. Maybe she wants a bigger challenge."

"Just because she's competent doesn't mean it makes our chances any better..." They begrudgingly walked to their tanks, demoralized before the game even started.

Antonina sighed. She knew why she was stacking the odds against herself instead of making a more fair contest.

On one of the other sides of the world was a carrier ship. A girl with a beret, donning a white suit and green eyes, faces a crowd of well over fifty dressed in different colors. Blue, gray, and dark green. "Ladies! The time has come to deal our enemies a terrific blow!"

"The blow will be struck by our combined artillery, infantry, air forces, and armor!" the crowd cheered in unison before quieting down again.

"There is no doubt that our combined forces will end this match in the only proper way. The total annihilation of their forces! Practice begins in the afternoon, 5 PM! I expect everybody to be ready by then. We aren't going to be waiting for anyone late this time." The crowd mumbled before the announcement before the commander clapped to get everybody's attention.

"We would have fought T.G. again to reclaim our honor, but they got knocked out in the last round, and are now fighting in the loser's bracket. As we're facing those who defeated them, we're ramping up our training."

"So we're going to have sessions during the weekend, unfortunately."

Some groans of disapproval were made, some cursing under their breaths.

"But it will be worth it. Even if it's painful, even if it's tiring, we'll be able to celebrate after the round with our enemies. If we lose, however..."

The crowd went silent. The school's reputation was on the line once more, and if they lost, it'd be even more damaging. But soon after, their captain said with a smile,

"Let us celebrate with joy with the enemy anyway, as we'll give them a bloody good show, worthy of a thousand toasts! Now all of you, bugger off to your positions!"

"YEAH!" a unified voice screamed out before the group got into their tanks.

"God DAMNIT! DIDN'T WE CHECK THE ENGINES AN HOUR AGO?!" Ksenia, a girl with straight blond hair and a silver ring, complained to the rest of team A as her engine broke down and took them out of the game.

"T-34/76 engines aren't really the best in the world either, calm down. The mechanics probably ran out of time or something when repairing yours." Lucya's R.O., Fran, sighed. "We'll tow you back later. For now, cover our rear." Ksenia groaned as the rest kept going.

"There's a hill at point 78604. If we can position ourselves there, we'll have a significant advantage. We'd just have to watch for indirect fire— well, lighter tanks would." Lucya talked to herself, map and pen in hand. "But they'd probably be heading the same way... We need a distraction." Lucya looked toward her Radio Operator. "Ask the KV-1 and the BT-7 to split off from the group and scout out ahead. If the BT-7 finds anything, use the KV-1 as a distraction."

"Understood." The tank crew hasn't actually gotten to talking about the event. And nobody felt particularly open to discussion, leaving them in awkward silence.

"Scouting missions? Hell yeah!" the BT-7's commander laughed in joy. "Alright, Sorel, try to keep up!" the energetic commander laughed and rolled off, the KV-1 paling in comparison.

"Wait up, asshat!" Sorel groaned as the BT-7 soon climbed over the hill. "That dipshit will get herself eliminated, and it'll be my fucking fault, like always." She slumped down and crossed her arms. "Let's follow suit, I guess."

The BT-7 quickly hid behind the foliage. They could see it all. The hill they were going for, The enemy starting point behind dense vegetation, and another hill next to it. And there, in the open field, was their tank column. Having their heavily armored IS-2s upfront and at the back was the SU-100. The Katyushas followed at a distance but stopped as soon as they got in range of... Something. The KV-1 finally got behind them; they could talk.

"So, what did you find, Sphene?" The KV-1's commander was fidgeting around, trying to get a better view for herself, but she knew that she'd be immediately spotted if she left the cover of the trees.

"I found their tank column. The enemy's rocket artillery was at the back, and they took their positions. I have a hunch that they put them there to slow our advances as soon as they start going up the hill or something like that."

"That sounds... Reasonable. So they'd use the rocket artillery to get a cheap shot in before running in themselves?"

"That's what I assume. So what, we're here to disable the rocket trucks?" She was about to ask her driver to rush forwards but waited for a reply.

"Well, she did say cause a distraction. Getting rid of their artillery would certainly throw them off. Besides, when did disagreeing with you stop you from doing something?" Sorel chuckled, although she was bothered by her behavior.

Sphene sighed. "True, true. Alright, let's get this shitshow on the road!-"

"Wait. We need to devise something-" Sorel doubted that anything she said would get through to her.

"LAME!" Sphene laughed as the light tank rolled off, using a pathway that left it still more or less hidden. "You piece of shit," she groaned. But at least she wasn't running directly at the tank column. That job would go to her.

"Alright, girls, let's move this piece of junk. We need to get their attention. And also, please inform our commander of their grid point. We'll need all the help we can possibly get."

"The enemy is in a tank column, and they're at grid point 364807. They're requesting support." The R.O. Quickly took the commander's map out of her hands and marked their positions. The commander sat still for a moment before speaking. "Negative. Our rocket trucks are too far away, and we need to keep them loaded for a close-range launch in order to slow enemy adnvances. We can't afford to waste time by having those things reloaded. And tank support? No chance. We're already running low on firepower. Decline their request."

The KV-1 made its appearance and, to no surprise, was nearly instantly spotted. The tank column scrambled and got three tanks to face it while the rest followed along their path. 3 T-34/85s proudly stood in her way. The KV-1 sat still, well in their effective range.

"Fire!" The KV-1's gun roared as it aimed at the medium tank's turret ring. In return, the T-34/85's continued firing salvos. Seeing how the other tanks were going on their merry way, she knew she was running out of time. To make them scramble a bit further, she ordered the KV-1 to land a shot on the tracks of one of their tanks. Before long, it fired at the tracks of one of the T-34/85s of the column, causing it to halt in its path and making the other tanks move around them.

Soon after that, the SU-100 aimed and shot at the KV-1's side armor, damaging it. The T-34/85's commander hopped out, and so did the rest of her team to get the tracks back on. "Wait... Where the hell is the T-70?- Oh. OH NO!" Sorel's R.O. Already knew what was going on.

"Eh? The hell do you mean there's a tank guarding the Katyushas—" The T-70 fired at the rolling BT-7, barely missing. "SHIT!- evasive maneuvers! We'll roll right away—" She pondered before speaking up to her crew. "Let's hit 'em! Side and rear armor hits only! We're way faster than them!" She chuckled and whispered to herself. "Let's see who's the better light tank, hmm?"

The BT-7 quickly turned around, firing at the T-70, which had already moved out of the way. It responded with a salvo, going right above the BT-7.

"Moving around constantly, ugh." The BT-7 rolled around the T-70 once more, firing at its side armor. The T-70 quickly rotated, and the shot landed on its frontal armor, ricocheting off. "God damn it... Alright, new plan. Go real close to that bastard, hug 'em. Don't let them dash out like that."

The BT-7 ran in, turret already facing sideways. It slammed into the T-70, hugging its side armor as much as possible before firing a shot that missed as the ram, although coming from a relatively light tank, still pushed it off course. Unrelenting, the BT-7 kept pushing on while the T-70 scrambled to rotate their turret, not giving them any room to breathe, as they fired one more shot. As it struck the T-70, it fired back in response one last time before being eliminated.

"They actually eliminated the T—" Yet another shot from the SU-100 landed, causing the tank to shake, and raise a white flag. "Sigh. I'm surprised we lived through the first few hits. They need to sharpen up their aim. Whatever. We disabled two of them, at least." Soon after, one of the T-34/85s left to defend the artillery and destroy the BT-7.

"Thank god for carbon nano-tubes... Or whatever the fuck they're called." The KV-1's commander laughed while her R.O. transmitted the unfortunate news.

"..."

"What is..."

Looking around herself, she saw her arms were, as far as she could see, completely bandaged.

What the hell happened to her? She pondered this question as she lay there, confused about everything going on around her. Where was Lila? Weren't they in a tank battle? Where the hell is her crew?

She wouldn't get any answers, until tomorrow.

"God fucking— well, at least the BT-7's through at the back. But we lost the KV-1." Lucya sighed in frustration after hearing the news from Fran.

"Wasn't it supposed to be a suicide mission commander?" Fran sighed as she looked at Lucya, who was looking back at the map, scribbling.

"I was hoping for a bit more than that, at least. Hopefully, that was enough for us to be there first. Then we'll unleash hell." Lucya sighed as their tank column kept pace.

The two tank spearheads arrived on the hill. Although Lucya had the advantage in the distance, their firepower had gotten exponentially weaker. They were counting on the BT-7 to deliver with whatever plan it had in mind before it was found out.

Lucya's spearhead arrived there first and got into a line formation. Their T-34s, an IS-2 at the front, and the SU-85s and 76 at the rear. They were ready to unleash hell on any tank that met their eye. And soon, the interaction began as an IS-2 led the column. In less than a few seconds, the T-34/85s appeared at its sides, and they were ready for a confrontation.

"Order the team to fire! Give grid coordinates to our Katyushas. We might be able to get a good hit in." And then salvos were traded. No tanks were eliminated on the first salvos, but a few were hit badly. Then, all six Katyushas fired but failed to do much. Lucya gritted her teeth. They were still evenly matched in terms of firepower, but that'd last only until the other IS-2, SU-100, and the KV-2 arrived. They needed to tip the scales in their favor.

"Order the tanks at the rear to fire at a single tank and take them out. We need to change the amount of firepower the enemy posses." But she knew that wouldn't be enough to change the tide. But then she got an idea.

"We'll hold this hill. I have no intention of retreating. Tell the T-34/76s to fire up their engines and charge the enemy line after the next salvo. We'll get in between the enemy tanks and fire a point-blank shot." Her radio operator looked at her with great confusion but executed.

They had to brace for the next barrage.

As the enemy side unleashed their firepower, 4 of the T-34/76s were eliminated. The blast had given everybody a mild headache, causing them to take a bit to initiate their plans. As soon as they recovered from the initial shock, Lucya screamed. "Now!"

The tanks rolled forth into the spacing between the enemy line. They launched a point-blank shot at their side armor, eliminating 5 tanks, before rolling off, barrelling through their lines and past them. The tanks which hadn't followed along with the frontal charge continued to barrage the enemy's frontal armor, causing another one to be eliminated. However, this seemingly successful operation had let the arriving enemy tanks unleash hell.

Fortunately, only one of the T-34/76s was eliminated, as most shots were missed due to the surprise.

"Brace! Go forwards, using evasive maneuvers past their heavy tanks, and get down the hill! We'll launch a second assault from there. Keep the tank destroyers on the hill and buy us time. We'll tell you when to pull back."

Lila laid down on the bed of flowers. She was immobile and exhausted after the phone calls. Each call lasted barely longer than 10 minutes, yet it felt like a month had passed.

She felt nauseous as she slowly got up from the ground. She felt miserable, and she probably looked the part. She quickly ran away from the scene, not wanting anyone to see her this way. She cursed herself for getting to such a point as she ran back home. All the streets around her felt like they were twisting and turning. The edge of her vision became more and more of a blur, making her unable to see as she could soon only see what was right in front of her. Shaking her head violently, she ran straight into her neighbor's door. After getting back up on her feet in a panic, she scurried off and ran inside her house, where she collapsed.

She got up with extreme difficulty before sitting on her divan. She didn't understand why she felt so lethargic, and she loathed herself for it. She needed to get things done for the next battle. T.G.'s name would be tarnished if they lost twice in a row during the first rounds of the tournament. Even if their game happened in two weeks, the commander would be displeased with procrastination. Her parents would beat her to death if she was demoted on top of this. She started tearing up. It wasn't fair. Why did it have to be her that had to deal with all of this? Was she supposed to just grow up and accept that accidents happen? Is that what the sport of her dreams truly boils down to?

Maybe, just maybe, she could sleep it off for today. She'd get to work tomorrow.

A short, black-haired girl with a white cap and a blond-haired girl with similar stature had been walking down a desolate street. "Eveya." The girl readjusted her hat before looking at her companion with brown eyes. "Why did you bring us here?"

"Oh, it'd be fun to take a walk down untaken paths!" she giggled, but her smile soon faded. "And it can help us think."

Silence filled the streets once more. On their sides, there were run-down houses that weren't used for years now, with trees and various overgrowth taking back what was theirs and insects making their homes. A beautiful sight, showing Mother nature's relentless ways.

"You know, we should all strive to be like nature," Eveya muttered, half without noticing.

"How so?" Allie looked at her companion, who looked up into the skies.

"Despite our relentless strikes, destroying anything it has, as long as it has something to build off of, it will. It'll try until it succeeds at taking back her land, even if it takes centuries. Similar to our school's motto, right? The ends justify the means..." Eveya looked down to the street and sighed.

"No matter what gets in our way. Taking our chances whenever we get them, no matter how inhumane or dishonorable they could be..? Is that really what you think our school represents?" Allie raised an eyebrow as eveya pondered.

"Well, considering how most of this incident was pushed under the rug... And how the commander has yet to even bother addressing this... It's really fucked up. And everyone seems so fine with it all, you know?" Her expression darkened.

"Oh please. First of all, it'd be the vice commander if anyone speaks up, let's be honest. Second of all, I'm sure everyone is dealing with this in their own way. Some of us were really close to Karla. Far too close for them to not mourn. Even if she's alive, she'll probably be stuck in that damned hospital. On top of that, all of her crew died. And their friends... Will they be fine with how they'll never be able to see their pals again? Of course not!" Allie scoffed at the idea, although she wasn't sure if it was her denying something that she already knew.

"Well. I hope you're right. I really do." Eveya laughed. "A school's doctrine can only go so far, right? If it was really that harsh, nobody would be in Tankery."

Allie shrugged. "Don't they give us benefits for participating in Tankery? Something about keeping the school's heritage alive... Didn't they form our Tankery team only 5 years ago though?"

"Well. It could be a personal thing, with the principal or something," Eveya muttered. "That elusive person that just... Is it just me or do I have no recollection of seeing them?"

"Of course, it's just you..." Allie went silent.

"It's always someone else that spoke on behalf of them!" Both of them were baffled at such a blatant revelation.

"Order our 85s to chase those tanks. They won't get far. Take no interest in those Tank Destroyers." Antonina's orders were precise as she fired a salvo at the evading T-34/76s.

"Commander. What do you have planned..?"

Author's notes? Who reads those anymore! Phahahahahaha!

Well, in any case, thank you for reading. I was not expecting it, to say the least.

Writing this chapter was a bit of a headache as a lot had to be put back into work since it didn't really make much coherent sense. But hey, it's done now.

Leave a review if you feel like slapping me on the wrist or something, I hope to improve on my work, so although it'll probably make me have to rework the chapter, it's a sacrifice I'm gladly willing to make if it means improving my work.