Chapter 17:
Makoto warily eyed the buildings which lined both sides of the narrow street her Panzer and Riko's STuG were creeping along, noticing that many of them had been damaged and pock-marked with shell holes from previous matches. "We're really boxed in here" she told her crew. "There isn't any room to maneuver left or right. Minna, I don't like this."
"I'm feeling somewhat uncomfortable with it too, Mako-chan" Ami spoke, her voice unusually tense. "If Tigers should appear at both ends of the street, we'll be caught in the middle."
"Hai. And facing their strong front armor with a gun that doesn't have a hope of penetrating it."
"But wouldn't that go against standard Kuramorimine doctine?" Rei pointed out, cradling a fresh shell in her arms. "I thought they would stick together more and try to take us out with shots from multiple guns all at the same time."
"Maybe that's how they usually play it, Rei-chan, but I don't trust Maho. It'd be just our luck for her to try something new today, something we wouldn't expect from a highly-disciplined school like Kuromorimine."
"You believe she may try copying Miho's unpredictable style in today's battle, Mako-chan?" Ami asked in surprise. "That would certainly be out of character for her."
"Why not? It worked well enough for Ooarai during the tournament" Makoto grinned. "I'm so happy Miho beat her, that miserable little..."
The brunette's voice trailed off and she dropped into her turret, slamming the hatch closed above her head. "Still no word from Miho, Usagi-chan?"
"Nothing, Mako-chan. But the fight between Pravda and Saunders sounds like its easing up. I'm only getting a few random reports from Katyusha's tanks now."
"Probably because there aren't many T34's left in the running" Makoto muttered. She looked through her forward viewport toward Riko's tank as it passed by a long section of storefront, when the building's brick wall suddenly bulged outward, collapsing in a heap of rubble. A long gun barrel emerged from the resulting thick cloud of dust and debris, the massive tank it belonged to appearing in the jagged opening it had punched through.
"Ami-chan, Tiger on Erwin's right!"
The blue-haired girl rotated her turret traverse control until it banged hard against its stop. "I see it! Turning!"
Good fortune was with Ooarai, as Riko had heard the wall collapse and her STuG accelerated hard scant seconds before the Tiger I lobbed a shell towards it. The round scraped along the rear armor of the low-slung machine, leaving a deep gouge across its steel plating. Ami lowered her gun slightly and squeezed her trigger, firing at the Tiger's left track.
"A hit, Mako-chan! Its track came off!"
"No flag!" Makoto yelled into her throat microphone. "Hit it again!"
Minako jammed on the brake, stopping her tank just five meters from the Kuramorimine machine. Rei had already rammed another round into the breech, and Ami managed to fire off a second shell moments before the Tiger's turret had rotated far enough to target her Panzer.
"Got it!" Makoto grinned. "Scratch one Tiger! Good shooting, Ami-chan!"
Luna team's crew cheered, but their commander ordered the girls, "There may be more nearby! Stay sharp, minna!"
Usagi spoke, "Erwin says their tank is still fully operational, Mako-chan!"
"Great! Looks like we got lucky this time" the brunette cautioned her team. "We may not be so fortunate if they surprise us again. Minako-chan, catch us up to Erwin. We've got to get off this road and find somewhere with space to our sides to give us more time to react."
"Hai!" The blonde driver sped forward past the disabled Tiger, while Usagi gleefully radioed the other tanks of Red team to proclaim their kill, her upset stomach now all but forgotten.
. . . . .
Loud cheers rang out from the teens in Makoto's living room, the boys leaping off the sofa with hands raised in joy. "Way to go, Luna team!" Taro yelled. "That was a beautiful kill! Ryo-chan, your Ami is one heck of a good gunner, knocking out a Tiger with only two shots!"
The usually shy, soft-spoken sixteen-year-old beamed proudly at his friends. "She is! That's one Tiger down, and seven to go!"
Haruka raised her hand, giving Ryo a high-five. "We need to see more of that expert marksmanship from your girl, Ryo-chan!"
The group groaned as the picture abruptly switched away from the town, returning to the remnants of the firefight between Saunders and Pravda. "No! Not now!" Yuji grumbled. "I want to watch my Mako and her team knock out another one!"
"I do too!" Michiru giggled.
"Told you it'd get exciting, Michi-chan" her lover grinned.
. . . . .
Inside the lead T34, Katyusha bellowed into her microphone in a near-scream, "Status report! I want an update from all operational Red team tanks, and I want it now!"
She was stunned to hear only Nonna's voice reply in the affirmative, as coolly and calmly as ever. "It's just you and me, Katyusha-san. All other Pravda tanks are out of action." She continued, "Saunders' remaining three Shermans are falling back behind that ridge to our west."
"Only two tanks to their three? This is unforgivable!" the short-statured Pravda commander fumed. "Five days in the gulag for everyone careless enough to let themselves be knocked out this early in the match!"
Her driver cautiously spoke, "Do you think threatening detention after classes will improve our situation, Commander?"
"Silence!" Katyusha paused her rant to collect her thoughts. "We are outnumbered by Saunders but this battle is far from over! Nonna, follow me. We'll regroup further north and pounce upon the first Sherman that tries to cross the field to enter the town! We must even the score at all costs!"
"Hai. We'll follow your lead."
The two undamaged T34s heeled around and sped back the way they had come.
. . . . .
"I have an update from that big skirmish off to our west, Mako-chan" Usagi spoke on the intercom. "Two Red team tanks are still operational, and three from Blue team. They have temporarily disengaged."
"Kuso!" Makoto growled. "I was hoping we'd gain the advantage. Minna, this means Ooarai will have to work even harder now."
"I knew you were going to say that" Usagi muttered. "I'm slaving away too much here as it is!"
"On the bright side, the score is still even" Rei offered. "That's some positive news, Mako-chan."
"Hai. Even. For now. But we're still up against Maho and Erika and the strongest of Kuromorimine's tanks, so being even may not be good enough, Rei-chan. At least we're finally clear of that narrow side street."
Luna's Panzer and Hippo's STuG now found themselves at a wide intersection near the center of town, with both Makoto and Riko having emerged from their hatches. "There's a two-storey parking garage to our left, Makoto-san" Riko remarked. "How about we stop on the ramp that leads up to the second level? I can easily cover the majority of the intersection from there."
"Hai. Go for it, Erwin. We'll back you up" the brunette agreed. "Minako-chan, take us there first and fast. I want to make sure there aren't any unpleasant surprises hiding on the second floor."
"That's my favorite word, Mako-chan!" Minako giggled. "Fast!" She pivoted her Panzer sharply left then stepped down hard on the accelerator, sending her tank racing towards the structure, its weathered grey concrete cratered with dozens of holes from prior battles.
"Stop us before we reach the top of the ramp" the brunette added when they arrived at the building. "If there's a Tiger waiting upstairs, they'll have their gun pointed right at us."
"Got it!"
. . . . .
Makoto breathed a sigh of relief to find both floors of the garage deserted. She had her Panzer turn around and halt alongside the STuG, with both guns trained out across the wide-open space beyond.
The two commanders conversed from atop their tanks. "We probably shouldn't stay here too long, Erwin. If nobody shows up, we'll be out of position if another big firefight starts somewhere else."
"Hai. I was thinking the same thing, Makoto-san. But maybe we'll get lucky and another lone Tiger will drive past-"
The girl wearing the Field Marshall's cap was interrupted by a radio call from Saori. "Attention all Ooarai teams! Four Tiger II's have entered the town, heading north! Report your current locations please."
"I'll do ours" Makoto offered. She reached for her map and read off their current grid coordinates. "Hippo and Luna are waiting inside a garage entrance east of the intersection and are ready to move out. Just give the word where you need us to go."
Miho's voice came on the radio. "Please hold your positions, Erwin and Makoto-san. Those Tiger II's are headed straight towards you. I'm sending Turtle and Leopon to back you up. They should be arriving from that cross-street west of you in approximately three to four minutes at most. That Tiger you knocked out probably sent a distress radio call, so expect their friends to be hunting for you."
"Acknowledged" Riko replied. "Uh... how long do you think it'll be until the Tigers arrive at our location, Miho?"
"At their current rate of speed... I'd estimate about two minutes, max."
Riko and Makoto looked at each other. "Things are about to get interesting, Makoto-san" the girl wearing the cap grinned.
"Hai" the brunette chuckled. "Really interesting!" She squeezed her throat microphone and asked, "Miho-san, any idea who's leading that group?"
"I can confirm one of the Tigers is Erika's, Makoto-san. Sumimasen" the brown-haired commander apologized. "I wish we could help you out, but we're too far west of your position. There's activity on a hill south of us, probably my sister and her remaining Tigers forming up to rush us."
"No problem. We'll take care of the tanks coming our way" Makoto reassured her worried friend. She released her microphone, remembering how Kuromorimine's arrogant second-in-command had taunted her school and rudely insulted Yukari earlier that day. The tall brunette's expression changed, her green eyes narrowing as she felt the familiar Sailor Senshi fighting spirit swelling within her.
"Damned right we'll take care of them!" she vowed.
. . . . .