-9-

Storm's Coming

The sun was continued to approach the horizon as a helicopter approached the Kuromorimine-Ooarai base. A marshal guided the helicopter down to land in the congested base. Once it touched down, Erika's crew jumped out with Chikari helping the vice captain.

Around them, tankers were unloading shells from their tanks. Shells stood in random groups around the tanks and the base.

"Commander!" Koume shouted as she barged into the map room. "Itsumi's back!"

Maho immediately ran out of the room. When she reached Erika, she threw arms around her, not taking into account the bandages and bruises that covered the white-haired girl.

"So glad you're safe!" Maho said.

"Commander... it hurts," Erika managed to croak.

"Ah, sorry!" Maho let go and took a step back. "What happened to you?"

"We got lost in the storm when we retreated from the hills," Erika rasped.

"No, I meant..." Maho gestured to Erika's body.

"Kay hit me with a shovel."

"She hit you with a...huh?"

"Never mind it. She wants to meet you at the crossroad at AM-44."

"Why?"

"I don't know."

Erika's breath was heavy and labored.

"Alright, you five get some rest," Maho ordered. "You definitely need it. You, come here for a sec."

Eko pointed a finger at herself and Maho nodded.

"How many tanks did Kay take for this meeting of hers?"

Eko only raised her index finger.

"Thank you. You may join your crew."

Eko briefly bowed her head before running off.

"Geshiko!" Maho shouted into the air as she walked to Tiger 212.

The Panther commander ran up to Maho and matched her urgent pace.

"Yes, ma'am?!"

"Is your tank void of the live shells? League munitions only?" Maho asked.

"Yes!"

"Good. Get two more tanks with no live ammo and come with me. We leave immediately!"

"Yes, ma'am!" Geshiko broke off and headed into the sea of tanks and shells. "Sangou! Hyou! Get to your tanks! We're leaving now!"

In under a minute, Tiger 212 and three Panthers were awoken. The drivers slammed their pedals to the metal and the engines roared as they left the base. They were only drowned out by thunder for a few seconds as lightning arced the sky.

Maho was out of her cupola and she could feel rain beginning to pour.

"Ugh!" Nora grunted as she put the gas cans back onto the Sherman.

"That's a story," Naomi remarked as Shiho finished. "Judging by most of the things we've come across, probably true."

"So how do we stop it?" Alisa asked.

"Best way is to get all the teams to stand down," Shiho said.

"My team's back at their base," Kay said. "And we're supposed to meet Maho here at some point."

"You're meeting with Maho?" Shiho interjected.

"Miho is most likely following Maho's orders," Kay carried on. "That just leaves Pravda. Whatever the hell they're up to. Alisa, you said you might've found two Pravda frequencies. Can you try and call them?"

"On it."

Alisa jumped up and climbed into the turret.

Tense silence followed. The only things that could be heard were the sloshing of mud as Kay shifted her weight from one leg to the other, a clicking sound coming from Nora as she played with her rifle's selector switch, and chewing coming from Naomi's mouth.

Shiho grinded her teeth as the pain started to creep back.

"I got nothing," Alisa announced after she poked her head out of the turret.

"Great." Kay let out a loud breath of frustration. "So what the hell are we supposed to do now," she stated.

"Removing the live tank rounds sounds like a good start," Shiho said.

"Good idea!" Nora practically jumped. "But...how do we tell League shells from the real ones?"

"Uh..." went the rest of the tank crew.

"One of the Black Knights brought a suitcase onto the plane," Shiho reminisced. "Did you guys manage to find it?"

"Nope." Kay shook her head. "Black Forest must have got it before us."

There was rumble in the distance.

"Storm's coming," Naomi said.

"Okay. Well, you and Alisa fix the track," Kay said before pointing into the distance in front of the tank. I'm going to the top of that hill to watch out for Black Forest tanks."

Kay turned to leave when she heard a click behind her.

"Na-uh."

Kay turned around and found Nora in a ready position with her rifle.

"You're not taking that pistol with you."

"Why not?" Kay asked.

"So you don't try and kill Maho."

"Wait! You're plan to meet Maho was so you can kill her?!" Shiho cried out, her voice breaking.

"Not ours. Hers," Naomi said.

"Even if you try to kill Maho, she'll be in a tank," Nora reasoned. "A pistol won't do anything to that. Even if she gets out of the tank and you shoot her, there is still a tank to deal with. You'll most likely die too."

"And you want to kill me to save her?" Kay asked.

"No, I want as many girls to get out of this 'game' alive as possible," Nora said. "And I'll wound you if it means to prevent another innocent's death."

Wind rustled the leaves. Then Kay chuckled.

"You got some resolve there, kiddo." Kay raised her hands behind her head. "Take the gun, Naomi."

Naomi stepped forward and took the gun out of Kay's pants.

"Well, I'm off. Make sure to fix that track."

"Hey, wait."

Kay turned around and caught a small bag that was thrown at her. It was jerky. It was followed by a canteen.

"Just in case you're hungry," Nora smiled.

"Thank you," Kay smiled back.

They watched Kay walk up the muddy road until the squishing steps were out of their earshot.

"Hey, I've been wondering," Naomi said to Shiho. "If your rival wanted to kill Miho, why not just weaken the carbon lining inside of her tank?"

"If she is still the same as I remember, she likes to see carnage," Shiho answered. "And you can't get that with only five people."

Kay continued to walk along the muddy road. She was already out of sight from her tank, but she continued on. She walked along the top of the hill until she could see the road leading off into the distance.

This seems to be a good place to stop.

Kay made herself comfortable among the shrubs, concealing herself. Ripping open the jerky packaging, she took a swig from her canteen and began to eat. As she did so, fat drops of water plopped onto her head and she could hear rain pattering on the leaves.

Well that's just great. More rain, more mud, more tanks that would get bogged down. Hopefully they get here quickly. The last thing we need is more girls to die because they couldn't get here...fast...enough...

Kay drifted off into much needed sleep. It was very welcome, but it felt like it lasted a second when something tripped over her legs.

She blinked her eyes to get accustomed to the darkening setting.

Looking at her legs, she could see another pair of legs over hers. Her eyes followed them to the right and she saw a girl attached to those legs. Kay could see a rifle and a pistol on the unknown person. And she was wearing...

...a Saunders uniform?!

After a few seconds of silence and exchanging dumbfounded looks, the girl moved first.

Using her forearms, she launched herself at Kay. Kay was pushed to the ground and was immediately being punched in the head. Still partially asleep, all she could do was weakly defend against her attacker.

The attacker stopped and there was a soft 'CLICK!'

A switchblade glinted in the brief light. The girl held it with both hands and plunged down onto Kay's face!

Kay caught it with her hands. The serrated edge ripped through her skin and she screamed. Her own blood fast and steadily dripped onto her face.

Then she came to a realization.

For the slightest second, Kay looked down. Her assailant was straddling her.

Adrenaline finally kicking into nitrous-fueled high gear, Kay forcefully threw her knee right in between her attacker's legs.

The attacker cried out and fell to the side, clutching her groin.

Kay grabbed the knife and tried to get a killing blow. The attacker raised her hand to defend herself, but only got a blade through her palm.

Blood flowed as Kay twisted the knife, eliciting more shrieks from her ex-attacker.

Not making any reasonable progress, Kay snatched the pistol from the holster and shot the girl in the head.

Kay fell to the side to catch her breath before rummaging through the deceased's belongings.

There wasn't much.

She had an assault rifle that said 'Colt M4A1 Carbine' on the side and had a scope of some sort. The pistol said 'Glock 19' with a stylized G and didn't have anything else that stood out on the gun.

Going through the gear, there extra magazines for both weapons. Digging further, she found a patch...

And on that patch was a black knight.

Kay frowned.

She should be surprised. She really should. But with everything else that had been going on, it was hard to even summon such emotions.

Kay was pulled from her trance when she heard gunshots come from the direction of her tank!

Grabbing the two weapons and magazine pouches, she sprinted back to her tank.

Even with the adrenaline, she could feel her legs drain from any energy. It felt as if someone was wringing a towel dry. Her heart felt like it was about to burst through her sternum and her chest felt like it would collapse onto her deflated lungs.

She finally got into view of her tank. Kay was breathing heavily, but still intact.

Muzzle flashes and tracers momentarily lit up the darkness.

Everything on the Sherman was blazing away and there was Nora on the fifty, screaming like a raging banshee.

From the Sherman, a flair was launched into the air and illuminated the battlefield. Kay could see many what she assumed to be Black Knights advancing on her tank.

Then a loud bang caught her attention and the Sherman's fifty fell silent. There lay a Black Knight with a sniper rifle right at her feet!

Before the sniper could chamber another round, Kay kicked the rifle to the side. Kicking the sniper over, the last thing the sniper saw could only be described as a shrieking devil.

"DIE!"

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll catch you guys and gals in the next one!

Oh, by the way, nothing motivates me more than reviews. So please do! Again if it's criticism, please be constructive.