It was almost time for Sky to return to the base. The afternoon had gone by while she was doing her patrol, and now the evening had progressed far already as well. She, Pepper, Crowley, and Barfly had gone to look for bases and enemies after the argument, leaving the others to guard their makeshift base. As she should have expected, Sky found no one anywhere near, not even as she had long left the radio range of her team.
Her surroundings were so quiet and peaceful that she noticed a sudden faint noise right away. It was far away, sounded like an engine … strangely familiar. She looked around but couldn't find a source of the noise, until she looked up and saw something circle in the sky a couple of hundred meters away. The flying object finished its huge loop, then flew over Sky and into the direction of the Tanking League's base.
Sky watched it with wide optics, then turned to her radio at once to warn the others. But she was reminded that she was too far away as no one answered.
"Goddammit," she hissed and set herself into motion, quickly driving into the same direction that the plane had disappeared into.
###
Rex was sitting by the buildings near the border of the base, talking to Awol and Arty. He was trying to distract himself from his gloomy thoughts by having a conversation with his low tier team mates, who were the only ones who didn't seem like they were in a bad mood. It was working pretty well, and for a while the VK managed to take his mind off the things that had been bothering him all day. It seemed like the cursed day was finally going to end without any further interruption, but that turned out to be wishful thinking.
The heavy's cannon perked up as he heard a noise above them. Immediately alarmed, he instinctively pointed his cannon at the shape in the sky, even though he realized a moment later that this was a pointless gesture.
"A plane," he murmured. It didn't seem to be hostile, or hadn't seen the tanks, because it apparently didn't have any intentions of opening fire on them.
He saw it fly a circle over the base before landing somewhere behind the hills. Rex watched with a concerned frown. The other team mates asked over the radio if anyone else had seen it, and Rill suggested to go take a look.
"Stay here," Rex told the low tiers. "It might be an enemy."
They nodded and took cover between the buildings. The VK started making his way towards where the plane had disappeared, and met Eject and Fox on the way, who were going into the same direction. Rill was visible not far away, on his way to the landing site as well.
"Do you think it's the Stuka?" Rex asked the other two heavies. It had been impossible for him to tell by the shape which model the plane that flew over their base was. He felt that it was unlikely that it was their missing team mate, but it was possible.
"If it's her, she's got some nerve … To come back after leaving us to die, that's brazen," Fox growled.
Rex looked straight ahead pensively. He really hadn't considered the possibility that she could come back, and he wasn't sure what to make of it. Would she have a good explanation for why she left? Her departure had been very sudden, so it was a mystery why exactly she had fled. The general assumption among the tanks was that it had been simple cowardice, but why had she waited and not fled right away at the first sight of the enemies? The more Rex thought about it now, the more enigmatic it was. He was willing to give her the benefit of doubt for now, but if her explanation wasn't very good, he would change his mind without hesitation.
He looked back as someone was approaching from behind them. Eohelm was hurrying towards them. They didn't stop to wait for him, but he managed to catch up anyway.
Before he could say anything, everyone's attention was directed at a hill ridge ahead of them as a big silhouette crested it. The tanks halted, pointing their already loaded cannons at it. Only Rex - whose cannon hadn't been repaired yet - hadn't loaded a shell, but the stranger didn't need to know that, which was why he aimed at them too. It trundled down the hill's side, coming towards them. Rill was close too by now; other than his team mates he hadn't stopped and was still driving towards them while also keeping his gun trained on the approaching plane.
He and the plane reached the others at the same time. From this close, Rex recognized the markings on the wings as Goggles'. He relaxed a little and took his sights off her; the other tanks didn't unload their cannons just yet, however.
Eject rolled forward a little.
"Why did you come back?" he asked.
"I'm sorry," Goggles said, as if that was an explanation. The tanks weren't satisfied with that answer and Eject went on with another question.
"You ran. Why?"
Goggles shifted on her wheels uncomfortably for a moment before she answered, with slight distress in her voice.
"Their plane. It was … a Spitfire. They're much more agile than I am. They eat planes like Stukas for breakfast. I panicked." She made a short pause, then ducked ruefully. "Take me back … please."
"Why should we do that?" Rill asked.
"It wasn't my intention to betray or abandon you. I wasn't thinking thinking clearly," Goggles said.
"Maybe it's not a bad idea," Eohelm said thoughtfully. Before he could explain how he arrived at that conclusion, Eject spoke up.
"How can we be sure that she won't just run away again next time?"
"That's something traitors do, after all," Fox said.
Rex and Eohelm looked at him with surprise. "Traitor" wasn't a term that was thrown around carelessly. Fox returned their gazes firmly, leaving no doubt that he was using it very deliberately. Goggles too looked aghast.
"I'm no traitor!" she gasped.
"A traitor is someone who abandons their team," Fox replied in a cool tone.
Goggles stared at him with obvious despair, but apparently didn't know what to say in her defence.
"What do you think? Isn't that the definition of a traitor?" Fox asked the others.
Rill gave an agreeing rumble from his engine.
"If it looks like a duck, swims like a duck, quacks like a duck,..." the KV-4 said.
"It doesn't seem to me like she had much of a choice," Eohelm threw in. "Would you have engaged an enemy that is much stronger than you?"
Rex nodded agreeingly. He had no respect for cowards or traitors, but Goggles' reasoning seemed valid. Attacking a much stronger enemy wasn't bravery, it was stupid.
"That's no excuse," Fox said. "She could at least have tried to hurt it."
"And if she had died doing that? Wouldn't have helped us at all either," Rex said.
"And if she hadn't?" Fox asked.
Rill looked at Rex directly.
"She is responsible for Noob's death, don't forget that. If she had tried to stop the enemy plane, maybe she would have succeeded, and maybe he could still be alive," he said. "She chose to dismiss that possibility in favour of saving her own tail."
It took a moment to sink in, but then Rex realized that this was the first time he had heard him actually use the Leichttraktor's name. Could it be possible that Rill had cared more about the little tier 1 than he had let on? In any case, Rex immediately felt a strong pang of still lingering grief and anger at the mention of his deceased team mate. His expression darkened as he looked at Goggles again. She defensively raised her ailerons.
"There was nothing I could have done against that guy! I swear, if I had stayed I wouldn't have achieved anything but dying too," she said, with a certain hint of hectic in her voice now. "What use is a dead team mate to you?"
"What use are you alive, if all you do is guzzle our fuel and run away when we need you most?" Fox asked.
"That's an exaggeration," Eohelm said. "She has been helpful in the past."
"Yeah!" Goggles shouted. "I saved your hides a bunch of times!"
"Are you siding with a traitor?" Rex asked Eohelm, his voice strident now.
Eohelm blinked, bewildered.
"Of course not … !" he said quickly. "But - …"
"I never really liked her anyway," Fox said.
"Planes can't be trusted," Rill added. "Always been like that."
"It was only a question of time until she would betray us in one way or the other. It just figures," Fox agreed.
"No …!" Goggles wheezed. "I told you, it wasn't - …"
She fell silent as the heavies closed in on her menacingly.
"You should better leave now," Rill said and pointed his cannon at her.
Goggles looked from side to side anxiously.
"And you would be wise not to come back this time," Fox said.
The Stuka backed up, but Fox had rolled behind her. Her gaze fell on Eohelm to her right, who however only looked back with an apologetic expression. There was a gap between him and Rex and she quickly turned around, fleeing past the two tanks.
The others didn't pursue her and instead drove up to each other's sides, watching her as she hurried off.
She wasn't even out of sight yet as they suddenly heard Sky's voice on their radios.
«Hello?! Can you hear me?»
They blinked, looking at each other for a moment before Eject confirmed to her that they could. There was some background noise, suggesting that the Pershing was in motion at the moment.
«I saw a plane - I think Goggles is coming back!» Sky went on.
As no one replied, Rill spoke up.
"We know," he said. "She was here."
«Was?» Sky asked. She sounded confused, but like she had a suspicion - one that she didn't like.
"We told her to leave," Rill said, which wasn't a lie, but an understatement in Rex' opinion.
«What? Who told you to do that?»
Rex' gaze darted around. He now realized that they had made a decision of the kind that a leader was supposed to make. But the others had disregarded this in such a spontaneous and casual way that he too had completely forgotten that they weren't the ones in charge.
"We thought it was in your interests," Rill said matter-of-factly.
"We assumed you wouldn't object to kicking a traitor," Fox added.
"I tried to stop them," Eohelm said hastily.
"She was unrepentant," Rex said, joining the effort of justifying their action. He hadn't meant to undermine Sky's authority, and getting on her bad side because of it wasn't what he wanted to happen.
«Miss me with the excuses!» Sky shouted. «Where is she now?»
They looked into the direction where the plane was still in sight.
"About 300 meters," Eject said.
«Tell her to come back!»
Rill looked at Eohelm.
"Go," he said to the Centurion.
Eohelm quickly set himself into motion to fetch the plane before she'd reach a spot from where she could take off.
A couple of minutes later, he returned with Goggles. She didn't say anything, and neither did anyone else. Rex assumed that the others were probably talking to each other through their radios, but no one messaged him.
They surrounded the Stuka again, as if they had to make sure that she wouldn't change her mind and run off after all. Rex found it surprising that she had come back again at all after the heavies had made clear what they thought of her and chased her off. But then again, she was starving and simply had no other option than swallowing her dignity right now.
It didn't take much longer until Sky returned. She approached her team mates, only slowing down as she had almost reached them already. As soon as she stood before them, they could see her grim expression. She looked at Goggles and then at the present tanks.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked with poorly concealed anger.
"We did what we thought was appropriate," Rill replied.
"Why didn't you wait until I return? Didn't you think I'd want to have a say in the matter?"
"Do you disagree with the decision?" Fox asked. "Do you not think a traitor should be kicked?"
"I think that she isn't a traitor," Sky said.
That earned her a couple of moments of baffled silence. Rex was the first one to put into words what the heavies all thought.
"How is she not? … How can you defend her after what she did?" he asked the Pershing.
"I am not excusing her actions," Sky replied. "But did you even give her a damn chance to explain herself?"
"Yes," Rill said plainly.
Sky remained silent for a moment, obviously expecting a more elaborate answer. As she didn't get one, she spoke on.
"She came back," she said. "As far as I'm aware, traitors don't do that."
"She only came back because she wants our fuel," Fox pointed out.
"Wouldn't you agree that she is a powerful ally?" Sky asked, trying another approach. "Kicking her, we would harm our team's strength."
"Which makes her desertion all the more heinous," Fox retorted. "If she's that powerful, she maybe could have helped us win the battle."
Rill nodded.
"One could argue that she is at least partly responsible for the defeat," he said.
"Stop twisting my words like that!" Sky snapped.
"Sky is right," Eohelm said. "We really need every help we can get. I understand that you're angry, but we need to put reason before resentment. Everything else would be short-sighted. I think Goggles deserves a second chance."
"Exactly," Sky said. She seemed to sense the protest that was about to arise and went on before anyone could get a word in. "Please tell me. Who is the leader?"
The heavies remained silent for several seconds before Rex answered her question, but only after the Pershing had stared at him.
"You are," he said subduedly.
"So who makes the decisions?" Sky went on, and gazed at Rill this time.
"You do," the KV-4 rumbled.
Sky looked at the others as well; then she spoke in a firm voice.
"My decision is that Goggles stays."
"She -" Fox tried to say, but Sky interrupted him.
"End of discussion."
She ignored the four frowns that were directed at her and turned to Goggles.
"Come with me. We'll find a good spot for you," she said.
Goggles nodded. Sky turned around and drove off, leaving her team mates behind. Goggles threw one last nervous look at the others, then followed the Pershing. Eohelm sighed before driving off into a similar direction. The heavies looked after Sky until she was gone, then Rill turned to Fox.
"A traitorous plane has no place in our team," he said calmly.
Fox frowned deeply.
"You heard our leader's decision," he said in sober tone.
Rill's gaze wandered to Eject, but the T29 remained silent.