Gerald R. Ford, one day later…
Jay was helping out with the repairs and resupply of the tanks from the previous battle. He was sweating a bit from lifting heavy shells up from the ground to the waiting loaders and other crewmen of each tank. Some of the other guys were telling him to take a rest, not wanting to see Jay push himself too hard to the point where he may injure himself. He decided to take their advice and retreated into the briefing room to watch the highlights from the Mojave and Alaskan battle. He had heard that the Alaska team got absolutely manhandled.
"Jesus… the battle only lasted for an hour?" Jay said to himself, sitting on one of the many chairs in the room. He sighed and decided to analyze what he could from the footage. He then got a notification on his phone and opened it. It was a message from Pascal. He looked at the message, and it was more of a basic summary of the battle from the perspective he saw. He mentioned that the tactics were a bit all over the place, but it worked. Jay laughed at himself and put the phone down on a table and he just rested. He went through the other battles that had happened over the weekend. More particularly seeing how Lone Star and New York did. The camera from the helicopter flying over the battlefield showed an absolute slaughter of each team's opponents, with Lone Star's opposition getting the worst of it. He shuddered at the sight of a flipped T-26 light tank.
"Kommandant?" Hanz called out to him, and he looked at the door.
"Yes Hanz, how can I help you," he said. He was glad someone else had come, but he didn't expect it to be Hanz.
"You've been acting a bit different lately, is something the matter?"
"No, I'm just riding high on the victory. Nothing to be concerned about." Jay replied. He wanted to make sure his team didn't worry about him, although he had to admit, he was pushing himself to the limit some days. With only 5 days left until the next battle, he needed to find a new strategy to fight Mojave. They were fighting a couple of hours' drive from Vegas, near the reserve. He had a map of the area and he noticed the lack of landmarks, other than a couple of lakes and roads. He had to make something of it and he got an idea.
"Kommandant. I came to also discuss something with you about the next battle." Hanz said, which shook Jay out of his train of thought.
"Ok, shoot. What up?"
"I want to volunteer my tank to be the flag tank for the next battle." Jay froze and turned to face his friend.
"You want the target on your head?" He asked. He was slightly concerned with this request, not just for the safety of his second in command, but the fact that he was willing to put this weight on his shoulders this early was a shock. The only look that was returned was one that had a spark in it, like a fire resurging back into the soul.
"Kommandant, I have held this target, as you say, before. On my old team, I was the commander of a Panther at one point, and everyone else was using Panzer IVs. I'm quite used to it." He smiled when he said that, almost reminiscing about it. Jay just shook his head.
"You know as well as I do that you as the flag tank would be the worst thing that could happen. We're gonna be fighting in a desert environment." He said, gesturing to the map. "Not to mention that this area has a lot of hills." He was about to keep on going when he looked down at the map once again. He saw a road that was along a valley. "But they wouldn't...expect it."
A small smile appeared on the german's face because Jay had figured it out. "They wouldn't expect such an accident-prone vehicle to be the flag tank in such an environment. You're a genius!" He exclaimed. "And also slightly crazy. I mean...it's a long shot, but it could work." He began to write on the map, luckily he had a spare one for the battle in the corner. He marked out the possible positions of everyone's tanks, the different points they should go and some backup spots in case things went south. "And just like that, we should be all set."
"Do you have a name for the plan?" Hanz asked.
"Nah, not really, but I'll let you know of one if I think of one." He said.
"Then, I shall be on my way. And remember to actually get some rest tonight." Jay nodded. He knew he was right. As of now, he had gone about 28 hours without sleeping, not from riding the high of their victory, but from the messages was receiving from both Lone Star and New York. Both of those teams are used to fighting in this tournament, unlike JayPac, who hasn't made an appearance in over a decade. He looked down at the plan he had marked down on the map and gave a bit of a chuckle. He soon cleaned up the place and turned out the light.
The walk back to the apartment was a long one, in fact, it made more sense to take the tram, but he wanted more time to think for himself. He walked out of the tank hangar and proceeded to walk down the road that led right to his building. He walked along the quiet road and began to formulate and predict what Mohave was going to throw at them. Just as he made it home he began to feel a bit sleepy. Just barely being able to close the door behind him, he stumbled over to the couch, dropping his bag and flopping on the cushion. He knew he was pushing himself too hard, and with only a couple of days to go before the airlift out to Vegas, he needed to sleep.
JayPac AN-124,6 days later…
After a couple of days of talking with his team leads, and to a few of his teammates he began to relax a bit more leading up to the day of the airlift. They decided to leave with one day to spend in Vegas before the battle. The boys were in high spirits on the flight over, with Jay in control of the metal bird. As with most schools the team would fly their tanks to and from the city closest to the arena. This flight was no different than the last one they flew when heading out to face Portland. The flight was relatively uneventful, with the boys making some small talk over the radio. Hanz was in the middle of telling a story about one of his battles, while a couple of the flight engineers were chuckling about something they were watching. He had also got some news from one of the restoration club members about a secret tank they were restoring.
"Jay, you alright? You've been looking a bit too..mellow about the whole situation." Kyle asked. "That's my job, you know."
"I'm just thinking about the battle. Honestly, the weight of this is tearing me apart inside. I've just taken a note from you and learned to pack it neatly away." He replied.
"You know, you shouldn't be forced to put this away. That's just my two cents on the matter." Jay nodded, agreeing with his co-pilot. He kept his eyes out the windows, watching the clouds rush past the plane. The plane occasionally buffeted in the wind, even at thirty thousand feet. After another five hours, they were touching down in Vegas. They taxied the jet to the ramp, passing up some JayPac C-17s which were unloading their cargo of tanks. As Kyle was taxing the big jet into the position on the ramp, Jay saw another C-17 touchdown.
Jay ordered the jet to be ready to offload the cargo and power down the engines, which was taken care of by the flight engineers. Jay climbed out of the seat and walked over to the hatch leading down to the cargo hold. The hatch opened with a slight hiss and he climbed down the ladder to the cargo hold, which was full of the heaviest tanks. He walked past the IS-3 and a couple of M24s at the front as the nose and tail doors were being opened. It was going to be a long unloading process.
A few hours later…
After the last of the transport landed, and the flight line looked like JayPac's airport, the tanks had all been transported to the staging area, where they would be stored for the next 24 hours until the battle. The team had also been transported to a hotel not too far from the staging area, to which Jay called a team meeting. The large group gathered in the lobby of the Hotel, as they didn't have a conference room. He had spread the map on one of the walls.
"Alright, boys, now we have a very early start tomorrow morning, so I want this to get all done and memorized before you all go to sleep." Jay motioned for Hanz to come up and lead the briefing, handing him a yardstick he had picked up from one of the planes.
"Thank you, kommandant." He said. "Now then, we start from here, on the bottom side of the map near this river's edge." He began to drive a line from the start and down the road leading down the middle of the map. "We will have the main force heading down the middle of this road, hopefully drawing the fire from these positions." He pointed to a couple of marks on the map where Jay had made some predictions of some lines of fire along the path. One of the members, Leon, raised his hand.
"So, if I may ask, why are the firing positions so far away?" Hanz was about to answer, but Jay stopped him.
"It's because we're projecting their tank force to be employing some of the deadliest guns outside of the long 88," Jay said. "They are gonna be fielding Comets, Challengers, and even a sentinel tank outfitted with a 17-pounder cannon," Jay said.
"Not even the IS-3 is safe from a comet from the side," Hanz said. "Which is why I should also explain the route each tank will be taking." He told the group about the arrangement of the three groups, which tank was where and even which direction and attack they should expect.
"So who's gonna carry the target?" D-ray asked.
"I am." The whole room seemed to go silent with that one statement. "I'm dead serious. They wouldn't expect a Konigstiger to carry the mantle in this type of environment."
"The temperature is expected to get as high as 101 degrees tomorrow by mid-day, so If we can wrap it before then, then we have less of a chance for all of us to not overheat," Jay said. "Sorry for interrupting Hanz, please continue." He continued on about the projected areas where they could expect initial contact and warned them that the main heavy force would be moving slower than usual so as to not overstress the flag tank's engine. The team then broke for the night and each one went off to their own room. Jay, however, was still up, lying on his bed and staring at the ceiling. He looked at his phone, seeing a few messages from Pascal about the potential stratagem of Mojave. He replied with a short thanks message and put his phone on the charger for the night. He knew tomorrow was going to be pretty brutal on him and his team.
Nevada Arena, the next morning…
Jay, Hanz, and Cody were walking together, making sure they had each of their groups arraigned, and making sure there weren't any last-minute changes to the plan.
"So, you want my team to head up to this ridge, correct?" Cody asked.
"Jawohl, your long-range capabilities are going to be paramount in that position," Hanz replied. Cody nodded and stopped at his Panther, climbing up to the commander's position.
"Good luck, and don't overheat out there. Try to keep that engine in the yellow area if you need to push it."
"Make sure you all stay hydrated," Jay said.
"Wilco commander." Hanz and Jay continued to make their way to their tanks.
"This is my stop, Kommandant," Hanz said. "Hey, don't push yourself out there. And if you need to, alter the plans."
"Just make sure you keep a cool head yourself. It's gonna be pretty tough out there, but we'll do our best to knock out the flag tank." He said. Hanz nodded and saluted Jay.
"Good luck."
"Right back at you." The two went to their tanks and mounted up. The tanks were already set in the formations they would be traveling in to save fuel. Jay checked the time. 0555 hours. It should begin any minute. He looked up to see a Catalina flying overhead, wearing the Senshado federations logo and colors. The sun was just about to come over the horizon. He put on his headset and adjusted his mic.
"All tanks, this is Scout 1, radio check." He heard a good readback from all tanks and checked the time. "Alright, everyone. Crank up and prepare to move out." One by one, each of the tanks began to startup, and all the engines were idling. Jay stood with his torso out of the commander's hatch and waited for the signal to go. He gave the official overlooking their area a nod and the official raised a flare gun into the sky. Right at 6 in the morning, the flare was launched and the battle had begun.
"All tanks, move out!" Giving the signal with his hand, he felt the tank lurch forward and watched as one by one the tanks began to move out of the staging area.
Birmingham, England
Pascal was watching intently at the match that was unfolding over the Atlantic. This time, however, he wasnt at the school, but at home. He was watching it on his laptop. From the point of view, which was from the belly of the Catalina that was flying overhead, he could see the Jaypac tanks moving out from their staging area. He questioned why they would put the flag tank on the royal tiger of all things. He had another tab open, which showed a notification had been left unread. It was a message from someone on the senshado forum. It was from someone in one of the larger senshado schools. He opened the message, and at the end of the long string of messages that stopped long ago, the new message read. "Fortune favors the bold."
"You're right about that.." He said to himself quietly, tuning back into the match. The small dust cloud surrounding the JayPac tanks obscured the view, and the camera panned around to the front, trying to locate the opposing tanks. He watched, hoping that the team would spot the tanks before the plane did. But with the battle just starting, he knew there would be at least an hour to first contact. He opened another tab and messaged the person back; saying If you're talking about my old team, you would be right. But you know that's how we go.
Nevada Arena 30 minutes later…
The desert stretched on for what seemed like miles. Jay and his group of scout tanks were rolling along a particularly rocky part of the terrain. The path led up an incline, but it was nothing the M18 nor the M24s couldn't handle. Jay was perched on the tank, sticking his upper body through the commander's hatch and binoculars in hand. It was getting hotter by the minute, and the temperature on his phone was reading about 70 degrees. From his position, he could see a large cloud of dust being kicked up by the main force off in the distance.
"Keep us going driver. I want us to keep moving forward. Stay ahead of the convoy." He grabbed a bottle of water and passed it down into the tank. His gunner grabbed it and cracked it open. "Keep cool boys, the day has only begun."
In the main group, they had all the heavy tanks along with a couple of the light tanks and Tank destroyers. They were in a wing formation, with the heavies out front. Hanz was busy scanning the higher ground ahead of them, right where he had marked on the map. They continued on along the main road, with no changes to the plan, aside from the occasional radio check-in to report their position.
"This is Sniper 1 calling flag tank," Cody called.
"Go ahead."
"We've got targets moving in front of us, about 2 clicks out from our position." He said. "We're about 5 clicks to the west, should be in the one or two o'clock quarter." He grabbed his binoculars and looked in that direction. He couldn't see anything due to the haze, but he knew he had to trust the eyes he had out there.
"Driver, what's the engine looking like?"
"It's starting to run a little hot. Nothing to be concerned about yet." Hanz carefully thought of some options to get some more forewarning. Aside from Jay and Cody's team, he knew he had a couple of their units with him. He looked over at the Super Pershing, as well as the Pershing.
"Shield 4, Shield 5. I want you to take Scout 3 ahead with you. I want you to find a firing position a few clicks ahead of us." Hanz said.
"Hanz, you sure about that? You'd be losing a big piece of your force." Jay chimed in. Hanz considered the thought, but he figured it would be the engine or them. And he needed to get as many of them out as he could. Hopefully, find the flag tank.
"Shield 4 and 5 are to advance with Scout three. Keep ahead of the convoy and eliminate any Mohave tanks you find. Show no mercy." Hanz said.
"Waifu copies."
"Shield 5, roger. Wish us luck."
"Scout three copies, let's get those rears in gear heavies!" Hanz watched the three tanks accelerate away from the group. They kicked up a bit of dust, but not too much to block the road.
"Shield 3, Shield 2, maintain your position. Everyone else, fill in the gaps if you can." The tanks all moved into the formation.
After about half an hour, Jay was still busy tracking the main group, but he and his group hadn't spotted an enemy tank the temperature was reading about 82 degrees. And the tank was slowly starting to become uncomfortably hot. He kept passing down water to his comrades to make sure they were hydrated.
"Target sighted! 4 Cromwell tanks!" He heard being cried out over the radio. "Begining fire!" Even from well away the crack of gunfire between tanks could be heard echoing in the air.
"Target knocked out! Get that second one!" He heard the tanks start to panic as it sounded like they were getting flanked. "Yeah! Got another one-wait, what the deuce?!"
Louder cracks broke the air. And he knew what those were.
"Holy shit...so they do have those…" He thought about his decision and decided to try and change course now. "Driver, get us to the ridgeline in section alpha two-five. And high tail it!"
"Roger."
"Shield 4, Shield 5, Scout 3, rendezvous at point alpha 22, I have an idea where they could be firing from. Sniper team, regroup with the flag tank." He ordered.
"We're way ahead of you!" Cody remarked. "We lost Sniper 3 and Sniper 4." Jay and his team were making good speed toward the area they wanted to get to. They fell and rose with the sand dunes as they closed towards the ridgeling from the side. As they were approaching the ridgeline, he suddenly felt as if their approach was a bit too easy.
"Hold here!" He shouted. He felt the tank come to a stop on the small slope, and he scanned the area. What he saw horrified him. Looking right back at him with a glint from the glass was a 77mm ladden tank. The tank in question was a Comet tank. And there were quite a number of them.
"Jesus christ we found the whole team!" He shouted. "Gunner traverse right, load AP! Fire at will!" A shockwave then rocked the tank. They hadn't been hit, but the shot was close.
"On the way!" The tank rocked and a shell casing was ejected. The shot went high.
"Driver reverse, hard right, load smoke!" He then heard a sickening clang, only to peek out and see that an M24, Shield 5, had been taken out. The shell was put in the breech and the gunner fired. He heard Peterson's tank fire next to him, landing a knockout blow to a comet.
"Shield 5, where are y'all? We're being shot to pieces out here! Load AP!" The shell was loaded, not a moment too soon as another Comet came charging through the smoke. It was enough to make Jay yelp as the gunner fired a round, low, but enough to knock a piece of track out of commission the tank swerved as it fired, causing the shell to go into the sand beside them. Another was loaded and they fired into the side of the tank, putting it out of commission.
"Shit! Tank front!" The driver shouted. Jay just braced himself for the impact of the shell. Only to hear the Comet in front gets taken out.
"Looks like we arrived just in time." He heard D-ray say over the radio. His tank rolled up in between the hellcat and the Comet. He popped out the hatch with a smug grin on his face. "I'm awaiting my applause."
"You won't be getting any until we win. But thanks for the save." He looked and saw Scout three's crew helping out Peterson's tank, as he had gotten blown onto his side. "Wierd, I could've sworn there was a Pershing with you."
"Yeah, about that. We figured the place here was just a decoy, honestly, I'm shocked we got the call right on this one." He said. "But we sent Waifu after the real position, or what we thought was the position." Jay sighed.
"And you sent him by himself I assume." The silence was enough of an answer, and Jay could only hope that he was correct. "Alright, we're going to back them up, Let's move everyone."
Shield Four, the Pershing nicknamed Waifu, was making top speed along the desert sand to the repotted position that they would be in. He was told over text that They had found the group and they were to destroy it. Leon and his crew were on the lookout for the group. The time was nearly 10 in the morning, and the temperature was cracking at 92 degrees. He knew the engine on the Tiger was running hot and they would be slowed even further. Leon looked through the hatch of the tank, allowing the air to flow in and ventilate the tank. Suddenly a loud crack rang out and the tank was hit less than a second later.
"17-pounders!" AJ shouted. The tank came to a halt and the gun was elevated. The smoking gun was indeed a 17-pounder cannon, behind it was a Sherman Firefly. The was rocked again and again.
"Gunner, fire at will!" The 90 mm cannon opened fire on command. The round impacted the Firefly, knocking it out. A few more shots were returned. The shells rang off the armour, whistling away after each ricochet. Leon was able to identify the two tanks, with the third one being a bit unfamiliar.
"This is Shield Four, we've got him. The flag tank is an Thunderbolt! Fire!" The tank took another shot, taking out another Firefly. He stuck his head out the turret briefly to catch a glimpse of a couple of tanks moving behind him. "Welp, we've done our part. Looks like we're going down." He saw the two tanks stop and line their shots.
"But we go down Fighting! Fire!" He heard the two Comets fire at the same time as their tank. He ducted in and shouted for the boys to brace for impact. The round missed its mark, grazing the turret of the Thunderbolt. The two shells fired at them, however, didn't miss their mark.
"Damn, that's one way to go down. Well done to them." Hanz said He dropped down to view the engine levels. The heat from driving was almost enough to make the engine quit. "Stop the tank." The tank stopped with a hiss coming from the engine. The other tanks in the convoy stopped with them.
"What's going on, Shield 1?"
"Engine's cooked. We can't drive any longer without serious risk." Hanz sighed and he looked around. "I'll be damned If I stay here and not come up with something."
"How about we just set up some positions to fight our way right here?" Sasha asked. "That way we can still protect you."
"We're on the way out there, just sit tight and we'll encircle them from behind," Jay said. "Wait, I see them! They're really close to you all, keep an eye out!" It was then they heard the sound of shells impacting around them.
"Gunner! Get ready!" he popped out of his turret to see a couple of Comets flanking to the right and left. "Where are you.." He scanned around as the M36 next to him was hit and knocked out. The IS-3 quickly manoeuvred and returned fire, hitting the Comet, and causing it to flip onto its side. The T34 manoeuvred for a shot but was hit in the turret side, causing it to get knocked out.
"Damnit, we're gone!" Kyle shouted over the radio.
"I see him.." He saw the Comet lining up on the Tiger, but luckily the Tiger was ready to open fire on the Comet. The Panther opened fire, as did the tiger and the Comet. The shells grazed each other in mid-flight, each just barely missing their target. But one shell, from the Panther, was true. It slammed the Thunderbolt in the turret and knocked it out. The white flag popped up, and the match was called at 1105, right at the engine decided it was done with its service.
A couple of hours later…
After fighting the small fire caused by the engine overheating, the boys all relished how close they had come to losing that one. They relaxed in the staging area as the knocked-out tanks were going to be the first to be removed from the airbase. Of course, doing it in 100-degree weather was no simple task. They sweated through the afternoon to get everything back to the airfield for loading. The next day was going to be a long day of flying.
However, in an air-conditioned viewing area, Hana had been watching. It wasn't a lie to say she was a bit scared after the initial push was beginning to slow down. She knew what they did was a bold move, but even more so was that they manage to overcome their own battle. Her phone went off and she answered it.
"This is Hana Isuzu speaking. Yes, Phase one is going to plan. I'm telling you to put your faith in this team." There was a pause before an answer.
"Hana, you know you're going to have to have more than that when they face their next opponent, right?"
"I know Ami, but just as you had your trust with your students, I have that much more faith that mine can go all the way too." She replied. "I have to go now, excuse me." She hung up the phone and looked back at the screen. They were showing highlights from other battles that had happened at that same time. And they were looking mostly one-sided. She hoped that her teaching would continue to push the boys forward to reach their next goal.