A/N: Chapter 5 has been split into two chapters.

-5-

The Thunder of Guns

The morning sun fell on the square where the two opposing teams slept for the night. The square slowly filled as some of the tankers prepared their vehicles for travel. It was really evident that a storm had passed through during the night, coating everything in a droplets of water. The girls did not complain too much however. The square was mostly tiled with cobblestone so there were clean paths to walk on and everyone had slept in the buildings. While some others were out and about, some still slept in.

Kay's crew were still in their apartment room. By the time Sam had woken up, Kay was already gone, but Bailey, Maria, and Nora were still there. The gun operators got up shortly after Sam.

"Morning," Sam said.

"Good morning," Bailey replied.

Maria just yawned.

"So what's for breakfast?" Bailey asked.

"I was waiting for you guys to wake up and tell me," Sam said. "We've got crackers and jelly."

"Pass," Bailey said.

"MREs."

"Lame," Maria said.

"Or would you like me to cook something?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Maria exclaimed.

Apparently this did not wake up Nora.

"But what is there to cook?" Bailey asked.

"Well, Tess's crew found a bunch of supplies in the restaurant's kitchen," Sam explained. "We could have waffles, bacon, eggs, hash browns…"

"That sounds good," Bailey commented.

"I'm up for that," said Maria.

"Okay. I'll go to the restaurant and you guys check the tank."

Sam pondered for a moment.

"Is there anything else you guys might want?"

*Snort* "Pancakes!"

The tree girls looked back at the bedroom. Nora was still in her sleeping bag but she was clearly awake.

"I would like pancakes!" declared the assistant driver.

There was a long moment of silence.

"Okay then. I'll add pancakes to the list," Sam said.

The driver walked out the door with Bailey and Maria right behind her.

"How did she hear us?" Bailey asked Maria.

"I don't know. I thought she was asleep."

Nora was left alone in silence. She got up and changed into her tankery uniform before heading out the door as well.

The square was pretty lively by the time Nora got there. Girls from both teams intermingled with one another and exchanged gossip or farewells before they go their separate ways. Others were prepping their vehicles. Nora looked around for Tess and found her standing by Erwin and Yukari.

The two Ooarai girls were leaning back in chairs. They had a round patio table in between them that had a plate of cheese and what seemed to be a wine bottle on it.

"Hey, man. How's it goin'?" Yukari asked Tess.

Tess did not answer Yukari's question as she had one of her own.

"What are you doing?" she asked.

"Oh, I'm drinking wine, eating cheese, and catching some rays, you know…" Yukari said.

"Don't you have to be 21 in order to drink this stuff?" Tess demanded.

"Oh, I only know the drinking age in my country. I don't know how yours works."

Tess could only sigh. Nora, who was next to her as the conversation played out, walked behind the Ooarai girls and picked up the bottle. She sniffed the mouth, then took a swig.

"Wha-. Nora!" Tess exclaimed.

Nora swallowed the liquid before answering.

"It's okay, Tess. It's only grape juice."

Tess scratched her head when Maria called from the restaurant.

"Hey, Nora! Breakfast is done!"

Nora ran off towards the rest of her crew, but not before taking a small slice of cheese from Yukari's plate.

Meanwhile, near the Sherman Jumbos, Esther was talking to her loader.

"You might want to see this," her loader said.

"Okay…?"

Esther was led to the right side of the Jumbo. The loader stopped near the rear. There, jutting out of the side of the tank, was a tank shell embedded in in the armor.

"What the?" Esther wondered.

"Yeah. I found it this morning when I was going to refuel," the loader explained.

Esther tried to pull the shell out. It wiggled around but nothing more. After a few more tries, she gave up.

"Any idea where it came from?" Esther asked.

"My guess is when we encountered the Panzer IIIs yesterday."

Across the courtyard, Kay had just informed Miho that she was letting Ooarai and Kuromorimine leave the town first. If they were to take advantage of her act of kindness, Kay will make sure that they will regret it. Ruby called to Kay and Saunders' captain gave a farewell to Miho and met the Hellcat commander under the overhang of a building.

"What's up?" Kay asked.

"I've got a call from one of my squad mates last night. Pravda has taken the hills at the northern end of the map," Ruby said.

"How many tanks are they down?" Kay asked, fully aware that Kuromorimine would have the range and armor advantage over the T-34.

"I don't know. They separated from Pravda after Black Forest retreated," Ruby said. "I don't think Pravda knew our Hellcats were in such close proximity."

"What does Pravda's leader have to say about all this?"

"I don't know," Ruby repeated. "She didn't say. But she did say that the Black Forest has lost all their Tigers, IIs and Is, except for Maho's Tiger I."

"Let's hope the information is accurate," Kay said, and then muttered under her breath. "It's just like Katyusha to not give the truth, even to her allies."

"Uh, Katyusha wasn't the one to contact us. It was Nonna."

"Eh?" Kay tilted her head to one side. "Why didn't little 'Miss Height Envy' tell us herself?"

"No idea," Ruby shrugged. "But I need to go over what our scouts have to report," she said as she walked over to the table with a map.

"One of our Locusts was shadowing a column of Black Forest tanks," Ruby explained. "They tracked them up until this crossroad."

Ruby circled the spot on the map.

"I suggest you take your squad and scout the area. The closest scout platoon is too far and I have to find my squad. I haven't heard from them since last night."

"What type of tanks did the Locust say Black Forest have?" Kay asked.

"I don't know," Ruby responded.

"Their numbers?"

"I don't know. I asked Alisa to try and contact them, but they haven't responded."

Meanwhile, the rest of Kay's crew had finished their breakfast and were on their way to prepare their tank to move out. Bailey was standing out of the commander's hatch while Nora and Maria stood on the back of the tank. The loader was teaching Nora how to fill up the gas tank.

"Something you should know is that the Easy Eight takes gas, not diesel," Maria informed.

Nora grabbed a green can and set it down on the engine deck.

"Is this gas?" she queried.

"Open it and find out," Maria said.

Nora was about to unscrew the cap when someone shrieked in panic.

"INCOMING!"

There was a distant whistling which rapidly grew into a scream as it fell right on top of the girls.

"Maria, jump! Jump!" Bailey shouted. The gunner ducked into the tank and slammed the hatch behind her.

Maria watched Bailey with a puzzled look on her face. She turned to Nora who shared her reaction. Any confusion they had quickly vanished as a geyser of dirt erupted in the square. More explosion followed as the loader and assistant driver jumped off and dove underneath the tank, covering their heads with their arms.

The girls in the courtyard scattered, taking cover in buildings as well as underneath or in a tank. Sam, who was on her way to the Easy Eight, quickly turned around and ran back towards the restaurant. She tripped and fell as pain suddenly gripped her ankle. She curled up in a ball as the hellfire continued.

The thunderous explosions persisted. There was a sudden heatwave that followed a fiery explosion as well as a sickening sound of metal twisting and ripping. Shattering glass was heard before everything fell silent.

The barrage has ceased. As the girls began to get their hearing back, the sounds of a crackling fire and girls crying in distress were the first things they heard.

Kay ran towards her tank yelling for her crewmates.

"Are you guys okay?! Bailey?!"

"I'm okay!" the gunner said as she cracked opened the hatch slightly to peek out.

"Maria?! Nora?!"

"We're g-!" Maria began. She stopped and looked at Nora.

"You okay?" Maria asked.

Nora nodded.

"Yeah! We're good!" Maria shouted to Kay.

"What about Sam? Is Sam okay?"

The three by the tank froze at the realization.

"Sam's not with us!" Maria said.

"What? Sam!" Kay shouted.

There was so much going on that it was difficult to pick out individual voices but Sam eventually was heard by her crew.

"Here!" their driver responded.

Kay ran through billowing gray smoke towards Sam's voice. She found the driver on the ground, still curled up into a ball.

"Sam! Are you okay? Can you stand?" Kay asked urgently.

"Yes. I think so," Sam said.

She took Kay's hand and was pulled to her feet. The moment she put weight on her right ankle she fell back onto the ground, holding her ankle and writhed in pain. The rest of her crew witnessed the event as they ran up.

"What's happened to her?" Nora asked.

"I don't know," Kay admitted.

"My-My ankle," Sam said, her voice riddled with pain. "I think I sprained it."

"There's no way she can drive in this state," Nora said.

"So are we left without a driver?" Bailey asked.

The gunner had a point. There was no one that could serve as their driver. Amy was in the hospital and they have not found a replacement that knew how to drive a tank.

Unless…

"Nora," Kay said.

"Yes?" Nora snapped to attention.

"Tess showed you how to drive, right? I mean, you have some practice?"

"Only by driving a couple feet and traversing," Nora said, not particularly fond of where this conversation was going.

"That's good enough. You're our driver for now."

"But…I am nowhere near as experienced as Sam!"

"That's okay. You only have to drive down the road for a couple of miles. After that Sam would probably be better and she can take over."

At the same time, Miho was making sure her crew, as well as anyone near her, were okay. Yukari was missing from her crew. She looked around and found the loader in the square, kneeling in front of a blazing fire. The loader's eyes were wide open and her mouth gaped in shock. In front of her, was the Anglerfish Team's Panzer IV…or what was left of it. The only thing that stood before her was burning shell of the tank that brought Ooarai victory last season.

Erwin stood by the StuG III with the rest of Hippo Team. The tank destroyer was in a better shape than the Panzer IV, but it was definitely out of the match. Its tracks were destroyed and the top of the tank above where the driver would be was replaced by a huge hole and twisted metal.

The destruction did not end there. During the barrage, the hotel where most of the girls slept for the night was also hit. Half of the building collapsed and there were people that were trapped. Alisa's Sherman was buried under the debris with only the rear and part of the turret exposed.

Tess ran up the pile of rubble and cleared some bricks. She opened the commander's hatch.

"Alisa! Are you alright?" Tess asked.

"Yeah, were good," Alisa coughed as dust fell into the compartment.

"Here." Tess held out her hand. "Let's get you guys out of there."

Kay had just arrived at the base of the pile as Naomi was making her way down it. Naomi passed Kay and grabbed a shovel off of the Firefly.

"Was there anyone in the building?" Kay asked.

"No, it's empty," Naomi said. "Now get a shovel and start digging."

Koume did a head count of the Kuromorimine-Ooarai team. Luckily, everyone was present and okay. Koume relayed a message from Maho which ordered all forces back to base. The three remaining tanks of their team started their engines.

Miho climbed onto Koume's Panther along with her crew and Hippo Team, the Panzer III. Just as the Panzer II began to move to take point, Miho looked back at Kay. Kay had just finished talking to Naomi and was in the process of turning when she met Miho's stare.

It was usually an easy task to discern what the Saunders tankery captain was thinking or what mood she was in. But now all she had on was a stone cold, unreadable expression.

The Panther jerked into motion. Kay broke eye contact when Nora handed her a shovel and started to digging.

Maho leaned over the sink in her private dorm. Her hands shook and she panted in anxiety and exhaustion. She looked into the mirror. The figure that stared back at her was not the strong and confident tankery captain everyone knew, but a little girl who was cold, tired, and defeated who only she knew who existed.

She closed her eyes as she thought back to what happened just minutes ago.

~o~

Maho pushed down on an open leg wound of one of her subordinates with the entire weight of her body. She could see that her hands were not nearly big enough to stop the bleeding as the warm red liquid squeezed out from under her hand.

The girl she was plugging the wound for was shivering violently. She screamed as her team captain pressed down even harder in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. The wounded girl waved her arms, trying to push Maho away.

"Stop it, Keiko!" Maho ordered.

She pushed Keiko back down with bloodied hand. In doing so, the smallest gap was opened and blood spurt onto Maho's face.

"Oh, shit!"

She pushed back down onto the wound which got another cry from Keiko.

Maho was trying to wipe the blood off of her face with her sleeve without moving her hands when a paramedic rushed over to her. The paramedic did not ask how bad the situation was as all he had to do was look and see what condition Maho was in.

He maneuvered a bandage underneath Keiko's leg. When Maho moved her hands out of the way, another spurt of blood erupted before the medic secured it. Keiko barely moved as the bandaged was tightened.

All Maho could do was stand up against Keiko's hole ridden tank in shock as the wounded girl was quickly carried toward a helicopter filled with wounded tankers.

~o~

Looking back into the mirror, she turned on the faucet and began to wipe her face with a wet towel. Her breathing increased as she wiped her neck, only to find that the red only smeared across her skin.

Frantically, she wiped at her neck but to no avail. Maho threw the blood soaked towel aside and then proceeded to rip her uniform off. Not caring if she broke any buttons or fabric, she stripped down completely and stumbled into the shower. She spun both of the hot and cold dials to their maximum and was greeted by a powerful stream of water. She rested her back against the wall and slid down until she hit the floor.

There she sat, soaking in the water as the floor of the stall around her ran red. As her shower continued, her breathing and heart rate slowed as the adrenaline slowly faded away.

There was a knocking on her room door.

Maho opened her eyes and looked in the direction of the sound. She really just wanted to be left alone now. The knocking continued.

"Who is it?" she asked.

"Koume Akaboshi," was the answer.

Maho did not answer so Koume spoke again.

"Is everything alright in there? May we come in?"

"Not decent," Maho said. "Meet me in the briefing room. I'll be there in ten minutes."

"Yes, ma'am."

Now in a fresh uniform, Maho walked to the briefing room. She was greeted by Koume who stood in front of the open door. The Panther commander gave Maho a rundown of what had happened in the town square.

"You are all okay?" Maho asked.

"Yes. Yes we are. The same can't be said about our vehicles though," Koume said.

"Miho?"

"She's inside."

Maho walked into the room and immediately saw Miho. The two sisters walked up to each other and held each other in a tight embrace.

"Thank goodness you're okay," Maho said.

"We are. But we do not have a tank to use," Miho said.

"Come with me," Maho said.

She walked out of the room with Miho on her heels. Koume joined them. The team captain walked straight for the hangar that held the ever decreasing number of tanks they have in possession.

"What other vehicles were destroyed again?" Maho asked Koume.

"Ooarai's StuG III."

"Get Matsumoto and show her to a Jagdpanzer IV/70. Tell her she'll be using one of those for the rest of this match."

"Yes, ma'am," Koume saluted and ran out of the hangar.

Maho made her way towards the small row of medium tanks, but briskly walked right passed them. Expecting to have been assigned to one of the Panthers, Miho was confused.

"Um, where are we going, Maho?" Miho asked.

"To the tank that you'll be assigned as a replacement for your Panzer," Maho responded.

"Yes, but isn't this where the heavy tanks were?" Miho queried as they passed a couple of Panther IIs.

"Yes," Maho said simply.

They walked all the way down until they stopped in front of a lone tarp covered vehicle.

"I want you to say hello to an old friend. I believe you met before," Maho said as she turned to face her little sister.

Miho timidly reached out for the tarp. She looked back at Maho for guidance. All Maho did was give a single confident nod. Miho grabbed the tarp and yanked it off of the vehicle.

Miho was greeted by an intimidating sight. Before her stood a Tiger 1H. It was spotless as if it was cared for more than any other tank in Kuromorimine's arsenal. What was the most familiar to Miho were the three digits painted in white on both sides of the turret.

It was her old tank; Tiger 217.

Miho was absolutely speechless. She stood still with her mouth agape in awe, confusion, and nervousness.

After a few moments of silence that lasted for eternity, Miho was finally able to grab her words.

"You kept it?" Miho asked.

"Yes," Maho said.

"Why would you when there is no one to command it?"

"I kept it in case of the slightest chance that you would return to Kuromorimine."

"What about mom? From what I understand from Kikuyo, she disowned me and intended to get rid of anything that was mine?"

"Yeah, trying to convince her was tough. I reasoned that we could at least use it for spare parts or as a backup or replacement in case something were to happen to mine."

"But…what would she say if she found out that I used it now? I mean, would she be okay with it?" Miho asked. Timid around their mother as always.

"Hey, it's your tank. Always has been, always will be."

"My squad! We're moving out!" Kay declared.

The Saunders girls that were in the town have finally cleared the pile of rubble. Besides Alisa's Sherman, there were two Locusts buried as well. Two tankers were also buried, but luckily they hid underneath one of the Locusts.

Nora had just settled herself into the driver's seat of the Easy Eight. She looked around uncomfortably. Even though Tess had already walked her through the controls, the assistant driver was still nervous. She turned to Sam for help. The driver helped Nora start the engine and get everything else in order.

"You got it. You're good to go," Sam said.

Nora gently pressed down on the gas pedal.

"Stop!" Sam screeched.

Nora looked in front of her and then slammed her foot down on the brake, bringing the tank to a sudden halt.

Alisa, who was in front of the tank, leapt back in alarm.

"What the fuck do you think are you doing?!" Alisa demanded.

"I'm-I'm sorry!" Nora said apologetically.

"Fucking watch where you are driving!" Alisa said, ignoring Nora's apology.

"Can it, Alisa!" Kay ordered. "You know better than to walk close to a running tank. Now get to your tank before I leave you behind."

After that mess was sorted out, the four Shermans lined up and headed down the main road out of the town. Ruby followed in her Hellcat, but immediately broke off in another direction once they cleared the buildings.

Kay's column traveled down the muddy road in silence. Nora looked through the periscope to watch the road. She adjusted slightly to avoid a burning abandoned Panther. They passed through the black smoke and was greeted by a battlefield covered with knocked-out T-34s, Panzer IIIs, Panthers, and a couple of Saunders' M24 Chaffees. There were no tankers in sight.

"Oh my…" Sam said as she moved her periscope back and forth, examining the battlefield.

"Have you seen anything like it?" Nora asked.

"No."

They passed a Panzer III that was upside down on the side of the road. The tracks were gone and the white flag suck out of its belly.

"It is rare to see this type of ferocity in a match," Sam said.

"What about the artillery in the town? Has something like that ever happened before?" Nora asked.

"Most likely. But those incidents would've most likely been accidents. What happened back there felt like it was intentional."

Nora said nothing and put her eyes back onto the road.

"To avoid any more life threatening situations, it's best to end this game quickly."

"There's still three days left," Nora said. "A lot can happen till then."

"Look," Sam said, adjusting her periscope. "Most of those tanks are Black Forest's. They have a lot of tanks, but they can't have enough to sustain them until Sunday. So don't worry. This game will be over…soon. But before it does, let's hope no one else gets hurt."

While the drivers had their conversation, Kay had just received a message from a marshal. She said nothing as her grip around the handset tightened.

Maho led Miho down the road. The two Tiger Is were accompanied by Koume in her Panther and Ooarai's Hippo Team in a Jagdpanzer IV/70.

Maho had suggested that Miho should take Tiger 217 out for a test drive so she and her crew could familiarize themselves with their new vehicle. Of course, it came as no surprise to anyone that when Yukari found out that they were assigned a Tiger I, she started spouting statistics, facts, and the history of the Tiger tank. Yukari knew more about this particular tank and its history with Miho, but she kept quiet about it.

When the Anglerfish Team was about to head out, Hippo Team decided to tag along for their own test drive. Koume was invited as an extra guard. They did not allow anyone else to accompany them to avoid drawing too much attention to themselves.

The group of four had reached a crossroad with a small two-story house not far off the road. There was a Locust outside of the house. The white flag was out and all the hatches were open. As they passed it, a message written in white paint could be seen on its side.

"You are now entering enemy territory. Good luck. Courtesy of Saunders GH."

There was a happy face at the end of the message.

"They never cease to be amusing," Maho said to herself.

The vehicles continued down the road a little further, just past a small group of trees.

On the other side of a hedge right next to the road, Maho spotted a column of smoke. She ordered for everyone to halt and put their heads on a swivel. Maho opened the hatch and looked towards the smoke with binoculars. There was a crashed plane in the field.

"Everyone, back up and head into the trees on our right," Maho said. "There's a plane there."

They backed up and headed into the trees. As they got closer, the plane was identified as a Focke-Wulf Fw-200 Condor.

"Think there's something in there?" Koume asked.

"We'd better check everything," Maho said.

"Then why didn't we check the house?" Miho pointed out.

"If there was anything in there, Saunders would have it by now."

An awkward period of silence later…

"So who wants to go check?" Maho asked.

"I volunteer!" Yukari said immediately.

Yukari exited Tiger 217 and made her way towards the edge of the trees.

"How are we going to cover her? Launch smoke?" Miho asked.

"No. That would give us away. All we can do is wait," Maho said.

Yukari walked as stealthily as she could through the barren field towards the aircraft.

"Looking for a black suitcase," she said.

She did not have to search around for her objective at all. It was right there, in front of the open door.

At an immediate glance, there was no serial number on the suitcase. Yukari moved the suitcase around to see if the code was put somewhere else.

Nothing.

"Well…that's odd," Yukari said as she headed back to her tank.

After the uneventful search, the girls drove back to their base.

They split off to do different activities once they returned.

Miho and Hana took the Tiger to the firing range so Hana could work on her accuracy with the new gun. Mako was asleep in the driver's seat when they arrived and Saori went and hung out with Rabbit Team. Yukari was in her room attempting to crack open the suitcase's combination lock.

Maho went to a game marshal to explain what had occurred. What she got as a response was interesting. There was no record of a suitcase being hidden inside an Fw-200 in that area.

Hippo Team was headed to their respected rooms when Shinobu Kawanishi of Duck Team waved down Saemonza.

"Can I ask a favor from you?" Shinobu asked.

The history buffs stopped and were in a brief moment of confusion. They never expected that one of the volleyball girls would approach them. On their own will anyway.

"Sure, what is it?" Saemonza asked.

"Sometimes when I see you, you carry a bow," Shinobu began. "Does that mean you know how to do archery?"

"Yes, I know archery."

"I was wondering if you could teach me."

Saemonza had both of her eyes wide open in surprise. She blinked a couple times before speaking again.

"Sure, I can teach you."

"Catch you later?" Erwin asked Saemonza.

The gunner nodded.

Saemonza went and got her bow and arrows from her room and then led the driver of Duck Team to the weapons range. Of course the range was meant for test firing tank guns, howitzers, and machine guns, but it was the safest part of the base where they can make sure no one would accidentally get an arrow to the knee or any other part of their body.

Miho and Hana were finishing up with their practice when the archery duo arrived.

Meanwhile, Yukari had just finished cracking the combination locks on the suitcase. Inside were papers that were not written in Japanese or English. She went to Erwin's room and knocked on the door. The door opened to reveal a hatless Erwin.

"Ah, Guderian!" Erwin said, calling Yukari by her nickname. "What can I do for you?"

"I was wondering if you could translate this," Yukari asked. "It was what we found in the plane."

She handed Erwin the papers. The blonde flipped through the pages briefly.

"I'm still learning German, so I won't be able to translate it a hundred percent. I can get most of it though."

"I think that would be good enough."

"Why don't you come in?" Erwin offered. "I just made some coffee and I got a couple of books you may be interested in."

Yukari made a quick bow as she accepted the offer.

Elsewhere on base, Maho was in the radio room going through the roster. She was trying to find out where the rest of her team is. All of Ooarai's tanks and crewmembers were in the base, but she was still missing quite a few of her own team.

"What's it like out there?" Maho asked the Maus commander.

"It's been quiet ever since we got here," Mauko replied. "Do you want us to come back to base? We've been catching some very concerning radio messages."

"I think you should stay put," Maho said. "We need the trump card. Just be on high alert."

"Yes, ma'am," Mauko said before she hang up.

Maho checked in with Ritaiko and the Jagdtiger commander who were acting as sentries a couple miles outside of the base. The two tank destroyers were two miles apart with four Jagdpanzer IV/70s in between them. Both commanders said there was nothing particularly interesting going on.

Right as she put down the radio, Erwin burst into the room. She was panting heavily and Yukari was right behind her in a similar state.

"What's going on?" Maho demanded.

"You should read this!" Erwin said between breaths. She held out the original document and her handwritten translation.

Maho scanned through the translation. Her eyes grew wide at what she had just read.

"Call everyone back to base! Now!" she ordered the radio operators.

The radio room suddenly became a loud clamor of words and call signs flew back and forth across the radio waves. Maho listened for each call sign when there was one in particular that she noticed was missing.

"Wait…where is Erika?!"

A/N: It seems to have become normal for me to include references. Most of them are obvious, but probably the least obvious one is the one with Shinobu and Saemonza. It could be just me, but I cannot see Shinobu without seeing Kaga from Kantai Collection.