Saturday the 10th came far too soon for many of the ICBM members. Wake up calls were done at 7, with an expectation of traveling down to the match site by 8. By 7:20 everyone was in the breakfast area of the hotel, grabbing hot biscuits, making waffles, and drinking coffee, chattering about their prospects, looking at the weather and more.

Zeke, Kat, Kurt, and Violet were all sitting at a small table eating their breakfast when Logan Albrecht and Christian Wallace walked up behind Zeke and looked down at him eating.

"Morning, commander" Logan remarked coldly, "any chance we'll win today?" he continued in a mocking tone.

"Depends, will you two actually show up for the battle?" Zeke quipped back.

Christian Wallace gasped feigning innocence, "sir, to accuse us of giving up on a battle, is to insult us and by extension ICBM itself".

Zeke rolled his eyes, "whatever, this time, when I give orders, they will be followed".

Logan then quipped, as Wallace turned to walk away, "it's a good thing you made the Pershing the flag tank, so someone with competence can lead the team when you're defeated"

It took both Violet and Kat to hold Kurt back to sit in his seat, as Zeke addressed his sub-commander, "they're not worth it. They will get their comeuppance eventually; we will have our chance". Violet and Kat both looked at each other in concern about Zeke's remark but both chose not to say anything at that moment.

At 7:30 the coach stood up and whistled to get everyone's attention, with everyone turning and quieting down to face the coach, "attention everyone, it is now 7:30. I want everyone to be ready to get in the van and bus by 8. We should be at the battle start location no later than 9. For anyone who is new here, once your tank is defeated and you are picked up by the crew recovery vehicle, you will be brought back to the start point. If you so choose it, you can be brought back to the hotel, it won't be held against you. Just no going and getting yourselves defeated early! Enjoy your breakfast, and good luck in the match, I know we can win!'' The coach monologued with everyone cheering at the last sentence.

The coach then walked over to Zeke and his group, "I say, why don't y'all go ahead and get going to the start point and get anything y'all need ready. It'll take us a while to get down there starting in the middle of nowhere" to which Zeke nodded and everyone got ready to go.

By 7:45 the quartet were on the road, with the GPS stating they would get there by 8:40, meaning it would be even longer for the other crews. This incurred a groan from the quartet realizing they may be running right up until start time to get everything ready.

It was now 11:15 and everyone had arrived, the final roster was turned in, and final preparations were complete.

Zeke decided now was a good time to address everyone for a quick pre-match pep talk, "good morning, everyone. I know our last match was downright embarrassing" to which everyone nodded, "but, today begins our real season, the non-conference schedule. I've learned, we've learned, and we know where we can improve. We absolutely can win today, let's work together and win this!" Zeke said, raising his fist in the air as everyone cheered, "now, let's use the weather to our advantage. The Hatfield's are prone to being antagonized, so let's make'em go as red as the Cardinal '', a few people chuckled at this.

Kat then spoke, "everyone, go ahead and get settled in your tanks, pre-match ceremonies will begin playing soon", everyone acknowledged this and got settled in the tanks.

Once each person got settled and adjusted as needed, they pulled out their phones to observe the pre-match ceremonies. This included many things, such as the Louisville fight song being played by the school band, the national anthem, and then a series of announcements. Including a mention of flag battle rules, the match starting at high noon, more importantly the raising of the banner celebrating the Hatfield's defeat of the McCoy's in the most recent GNTC conference tournament.

The second to last of these pre-match ceremonies was the announcement of the lineups for the match, going tank by tank to announce everyone, including a still shot of the tanker in uniform. Everyone on the ICBM team had been photographed in the gray uniform all wearing the matching Kepi hat for the away photos. Some were flattered by their photograph, and for some it reinforced the concerns of joining this team being a bad decision, practically being embarrassed to be seen in it.

When all this finished, there was only one thing left, the command to start the engines, this was given by Arthur Hatfield, the current Patriarch of the Hatfield family. All engines were fired, and the nerves were at their peak for the members.

A green flare was shot into the air signifying the start of the match, "all tanks, advance formation half speed" Zeke declared as the tanks took off, filing into a single file formation, "follow the road through the hills, we'll climb it and investigate further" Zeke continued.

The sky above was dark gray and cloudy as the rain drew ever closer to the battlefield for the match, Zeke then looked down to his own crew, and asked for a drink. As he sipped on it, he pulled out his phone and looked at the radar. The line of rain could be seen in the distance as he looked at the app, measuring the distance of the first line of rain.

Zeke then got on the radio to everyone, "rain should be affecting the Hatfield's in about 15 minutes, it'll hopefully slow them down and give us time to get to the high ground. Let's regroup once we get to the top of the first ridge. Everyone ahead full.

The tanks followed the road and once with enough speed built up, slowly climbing the massive ridge, the highest on the map. It took some time before everyone was up and stopped, the Sherman and Pershing tanks had the worst time of it but eventually everyone was up. The hatches on all the tanks were opened for ventilation and everyone tried to relax in the little time they had prior to an enemy attack or Zeke's commands. All commanders had binoculars out looking for the enemy.

It seemed both ICBM and the Hatfield's had the same idea, as the Hatfield tanks were on a ridge on the very far side of the map, at the high point on their side of the field. Soon two tanks could be seen leaving the main group.

"Capn! Two Stuart's are leaving the main group in a hurry" Kurt said to Zeke.

All eyes turned to the enemy, "I see" Zeke remarked, turning to the two 4TA tanks, "Bolivar squads, your 4TA's are amphibious. We need to use this to our advantage, go and take out those two. It should flush out the enemy where we will charge in and attack".

The two Augustine brothers nodded, "yes sir!" they said in unison, the two 4TA tanks leaving quickly. The rain had advanced beyond the enemy high grounds, and was closing in on the enemy, only about a couple of miles from reaching their position.

"Prepare to button up. I know it is going to suck, all commanders prepare your periscopes and be ready" Zeke commanded.

As everyone got ready, all eyes were on the enemy as they sat in place. Both sides were out of range of their tanks, so it was simply a waiting game. Some pulled out their phones to wait, with some of them tuning in the broadcast for the match. As Zeke watched the match, a small camera drone flew beside Zeke, he gave a smile, and a two-finger wave. All of this was to give off an air of confidence.

In the Lee squad Locust, Logan watched the broadcast in disgust from gunner Josh Jones's phone, "look at that idiot, feigning talent and confidence" he said grumbling.

A moment later he received a phone call from Wallace, "yeah, are you seeing this? The enemy is planning to wipe us out, and he sends the 4TA's with those Augustine dummies to take on those Stuarts!" Logan said.

"Exactly!" Christian Wallace remarked, "is he just going to run our good school into the ground?" he continued.

"What sucks is knowing at least with Heather we were safe. Knowing that Zeke, he'll send us to clean up after those idiots" Logan added.

-The two Bolivar squad 4TA tanks rushed down the hill of the ridge, both tanks slipping and sliding as they went down, the terrain was already soggy from previous rain, with the environment expected to deteriorate with the expected rain.

"Keep a lookout, those tanks could be anywhere!" Jose Augustine said on the radio to his brother.

"I know, I know, I am too busy holding on from the hill" Javier retorted back. The tanks had slid to a stop at the foot of the ridge and quickly set off in the direction of the ridge where the Hatfield's sat.

"Bolivar's, the two Stuarts look to be on the north facing side of the ridge hiding their location, the Hatfield's probably have eyes on you two as well. Good luck" Zeke said over the radio.

"Roger that, Bolivar's out" Javier remarked in response.

The two 4TA's ran headfirst into the rain, buttoned up and using their periscopes to look and see the enemy. They searched and searched, slowing down from their speed of 20 MPH down to 10 to get a better view. The rain started slowly at first, but had picked up in intensity, making it somewhat difficult to see, even if they were running unbuttoned.

They found a moderately sized creek that was already fairly swollen from previous rains, Javier then radioed to Jose, "we'll follow this to the salt, all the terrain slopes this way from the high points. We will find the enemy there".

Zeke frowned as he had lost sight of the pair of Stuart's from the Hatfield's completely, not even dust could be spotted from them. The rain was obscuring Zeke's view which didn't help matters.

"Commander!" Violet radioed to Zeke, "two locusts are leaving the Hatfield position, probably back up for the Stuarts"

"Understood. Lee, Longstreet squads go and back up the Bolivar squads" he commanded. The two Locust's roared into life and sprinted down the hill after their comrades in arms.

Zeke then looked left and right in suspicion and slipped into the main compartment of his tank, taking his phone and dialing Kurt's number.

Kurt looked at the call with confusion before answering in his tank, "yes capn?"

"I want you to back up the Locust's, I still don't trust those two and we might need the extra firepower" Zeke said.

"On it, we'll give them a five-minute head start to not raise suspicion," Kurt said.

"Good, if those four engage in combat, I don't want our side rolling over to play dead and get back to the hotel quickly, good luck" Zeke said, hanging up and climbing back up to sit in the rain and try and watch the battle.

"What did I tell you! What did I tell you!" Logan shouted to his crew as they got their Locust moving, with the gunner and driver complaining too as they slipped and slid down the hill like the 4TA tanks before them. Wallace's group struggled as well, with their tank taking out one of the mighty trees of the heavily forested hill on the way down.

Wallace in the meantime sent out a group text to Logan, and the Augustine brothers, and the other Locust commanders, "switch to radio 2, radio in when ready".

Everyone checked in within 30 seconds, with Wallace coming on the radio to mention, "monitor radio 1, we don't need his highness listening in"

"Agreed, Augustine's, any sight of the Stuart's or Locust's yet?" Logan asked.

"Negative contact, we're just about to be at the river" Javier responded.

"Hug the hillsides so you have bail out shelter from enemy fire" Wallace recommended.

The flash of a gun barrel appeared off to the right of Jose Augustine's 4TA tank, "enemy sighted 2:30! Attempting to return fire" he said, struggling to fire the 20mm anti-tank rifle and dial up radio one to alert Commander Zeke

Javier's tank turned and opened fire on the two Stuart's who were firing on them, the first rounds hit the thin armor of the Stuart and bounced off.

Jose's tank had been hit in the left tread and they were dead in the water as they continued firing. Moments later, the Stuart's concentrated fire on the 4TA tank and it was defeated.

"We're two minutes out!" Logan responded with urgency as the Locust's traversed the soft ground of the Kentucky rolling hills.

"Aw crap, they're engaged in combat" Zeke grunted, before noticing the Chafee team taking off at high speed to engage.

"All remaining tanks here, standby for orders. We can't become a meat grinder for the Hatfield's light tanks" Zeke said on the radio, frustrated as he had to lie in wait for the match to play out.

This left the other teams frustrated too as they were left to watch the match on their devices or through the outlets and periscopes of their tanks.

It was now one 4TA versus two M5 Stuarts, and though Javier tried his best, his aim was not up to par with the rain and wind that was affecting the teams. A shell from one of the Locust's landed a direct hit and defeated them.

There was no time to stew on the defeat as the Locust's of the Lee and Longstreet squads arrived, opening fire on the M5's. Though as soon as they got in front of Javier's defeated 4TA, they slowed to a crawl with their Locust's forced to ford the soft ground.

A shootout occurred between the slow Locust's and the still set M5's, Wallace aimed for the M5 on the left, a direct hit, but it didn't defeat them. The M5 fired back at the Locust and landed a direct hit on Wallace's Locust but didn't defeat it.

Both crews loaded as fast as they could, the gun barrel's flashed near simultaneously, with equal accuracy, direct hits! But defeating hits for both.

Meanwhile, Logan picked the right Locust, and it was a tough nut to crack. The first shot from the right M5 hit the Locust directly in the left track, severing it completely and leaving the already bogged down Locust dead in the mud.

The next hit was from Logan's Locust, a ricochet off the hull of the M5. The wind and rain had continued to deteriorate the battlefield conditions. All this was ramping up the anxiety in both tanks.

The M5 tried another shot, a ricochet off the hull of the Locust. This time the aim of Josh Jones was perfect, a flash from the gun barrel and a direct hit on the M5 Stuart forced the white flag of defeat to appear.

In the chaos, Logan had forgotten he was on radio two and was trying to switch back to report everything when he heard the whirr of a pair of tank shells fly overhead of the tank. Followed by another single shot coming from the other direction.

"WHAT IS EVEN GOING ON HERE?!" he shouted in panic to his crew.

"Lee squad come in, Lee squad come in, Lee squad report in now!" Zeke said on the radio with fury as it snapped Logan back to his senses.

"Lee squad here" Logan said, still panicked as the turret turned to fire on the Hatfield Locust's who were now in firing range and closing, "left track destroyed, returning fire on Hatfield Locusts, no clue who is firing behind us" he said.

The radio was silent for only a moment, "if you all were paying attention, you would know I sent the Chafee to help, good luck, they'll bring you back" Zeke said, with frustration in his voice.

"The nerve of that child" Logan remarked as he loaded the next shot for his gunner.

Meanwhile, the Chafee arrived at the same time as the Hatfield Locust's did, with the Chafee being deadly accurate. One shot, one kill. Two white flags appeared on the Hatfield tanks, as the rain finally began to slow down.

Logan and his crew drew a breath of relief, until a knock was heard on the main hatch of their tank.

Logan popped open the hatch in surprise to see Wallace standing on top of his tank, "fancy seeing you here, are you swapping out?" Logan asked.

"Just with your gunner, no clue how you didn't get taken out" Wallace remarked, pointing to the gunner. The gunner grunted in frustration as he climbed out and waited with the defeated Locust crew.

Kurt Henson then popped out of the Chafee, with a tow rope in hand. He attached one end to the Chafee and then shouted over to Wallace and Logan who were still talking, "hey you two, attach this to your tank quickly now! There's a Chafee on the way!"

Wallace quickly attached the rope to the disabled Locust, Logan shot him a look of annoyance as he finished the knot, with Wallace quick to remark, "listen, I don't want to be Chafee bait!" he turned to Kurt, "we're ready, tow away!"

"Turn your turret to the six of our travels, that Chafee might get here soon. With the mud and towing your trash heap of a Locust we'll be lucky to make half speed formation at best!" Kurt complained, motioning for his driver, Chelsea Denton to get them moving.

The Chafee chugged forward with the Locust in tow, barely chugging along at 15 mph. The Locust turned its turret behind to scout for enemies, like the Chafee that was towing it. Cautious for the attack of the enemy from the rear.