The first rays of sunlight announced that the bad weather was finally gone. Arty squinted into the rising sun, already awake at this for her unusually early hour. She threw a look to her side, where Sky was parked next to her. The Pershing returned the look. It could be assumed that she wasn't having an easy time sleeping either, if for different reasons. Arty herself wouldn't even have wanted to be a leader if she had been offered the opportunity - there was so much to worry about and so many tough decisions to make. Making enemies was easy. One had to do what was best for the team, but the opinions what was best and how it should be achieved were diverse. The difficult part about it was pleasing everyone, or at least enough people to keep the majority satisfied, which often meant disgruntling the rest.
It was a fine line to walk, even for the most experienced leaders. The most convenient course of action was to conform to the popular opinions. That was what most leaders did, but Sky wasn't like most.
The Pershing wasn't someone who was content with the way things were. She had new ideas, visions. Some of them maybe idealist, but others possibly revolutionary. Her views were unorthodox; she was thinking outside the box and challenging the status quo. Unlike most, she didn't simply accept the way things were as a given. She was actively working towards change, for what she strongly believed was right. She was fighting the good fight - the problem with that was that she was fighting it alone.
Tanks, by default, were comfortable living by the principle of "don't fix it if it's not broken". They stuck to doing things the way they had always done them, that had worked for them in the past. In a world where innovation could kill you, most preferred to solve challenges in the well-tried way, not questioning if there would be a different, maybe even better approach. Arty was no different. The belief that change could upset the fragile balance of how her world worked was rooted deep inside her mind … but not deep enough to not be curious about these new perspectives Sky had to offer. Arty hadn't been around for a long time, however. The team mates who had lived and fought for many years weren't nearly as open-minded.
And if conspiring to kill a team mate - maybe even the leader herself - wasn't a certain sign of them rejecting Sky's way of leading, Arty didn't know what was.
Her train of thought was interrupted as Sky spoke.
"Breakfast?" the Pershing asked. Her voice sounded as careworn as it did most of the time lately. Arty nodded quickly, still trying not to give away any hints of what was going through her mind. The two tanks decided not to wake up Awol yet and made their way to the spot where they kept the team's fuel.
Eject was there, tending to his own fuel tank. He looked at the newcomers silently as they approached. Him being awake wasn't surprising. Arty assumed that he would go rest as soon as he finished his fuel can; after all he had been on guard all night.
Sky just went ahead and grabbed a fuel can. Arty did the same. They just sat there in silence as no one said anything. Arty just went ahead and guessed that Sky was still mad at the T29 after what had happened the day before, even if she didn't show it in an obvious way right then. But giving him the silent treatment was also a way.
Eject eventually finished refueling and turned to leave, still without a word.
Before Sky and Arty finished theirs, Eohelm - who had taken over as the guard - reported on the team's shared radio channel.
«Someone's approaching the base,» he said. «Single tank, from south-west.»
«That would be me,» Pepper responded and everyone who had been woken up by Eohelm's transmission went back to sleep. Sky set herself into motion to receive the Leopard. Arty figured that she had nothing better to do and followed her team mate to the border of the base.
Before they could reach it however, Sky suddenly stopped. Arty watched her with a puzzled expression as her turret traversed from side to side.
"What's wrong …?" the Sturmpanzer asked, having a sudden sense of foreboding.
"Where is she?" Sky asked. She started driving into one direction, but then stopped and turned, rolled into a different direction, only to stop again.
"... who?" Arty asked, but she knew well. She dropped her gaze, felt a shiver run through her hull.
"Where is Goggles?!" Sky shouted.
###
The whole Tanking League had been woken up and gathered in the centre of the base. The tanks were forming a half-circle, with Sky standing before them. She had told them to meet after a collective effort to search the base for the plane had failed. Now, an attempt was made to explain how she had gone missing.
"She probably ran away after all," Fox said, scrunching up his cannon.
"For good, this time," Rill added with a nod.
Sky stared at the two heavies. Arty felt like there was rage radiating from the Pershing's body.
"Are you sure that you didn't have a part in that? Again?" Sky asked them.
"Are you accusing us of disobeying your orders?" Rill replied calmly.
"Well, wouldn't be the first time!" Sky snapped. As Rill didn't respond this time, she went on. "Eject," she said, her voice low with anger as she turned to the T29, "Wasn't it your job to keep an eye on the base and its surroundings?"
"I didn't notice anyone leaving," Eject rumbled.
"You didn't notice a plane sneaking past you?"
"My optics can't be everywhere at once."
Sky's furious gaze darted around, as if she wasn't sure who to blame next. Arty couldn't help but flinch as it grazed her. She couldn't help but have the paranoid fear that somehow, Sky could see it on the Sturmpanzer's features that she was guilty as well. But her leader didn't even seem to be anticipating how much worse the reality was compared to what she suspected had happened - how guilty Arty really was. There was no doubt now who had been the target of the conspiracy. The SPG felt a strong need to just blurt out what she knew, to just spill the secret so her conscience would be at peace. But she didn't even know how many shells would be flying her way if she did that. The only ones she could tell on were Fang and Jack, as she still didn't know who else had been involved.
She threw secret looks at the heavies; their impassive expressions were like walls that Sky's wrath could barely scratch. Towering to each side of the Sturmpanzer, their massive hulls and cannons reminded Arty that their leader's power over them was an illusion.
Maybe it was best for the Pershing if she was left oblivious of the true extent of the way in which she had been betrayed.
"If I fucking find out that any of you made her leave," Sky eventually growled, "so help me God I will kick you out."
She glared at everyone for a while longer, then went on with a quieter, wearier voice.
"You're dismissed," she said. "Except for Crowley and Pepper."
Arty didn't hesitate and drove off as the tanks scattered. She had to halt abruptly as Rex almost ran her over. He was racing off in a way that he usually only did when he was upset. The VK had been strangely quiet during the discussion. Normally, he always had sentiments to add. Arty looked after him. Maybe he had his own suspicions what had happened and who was involved. Maybe he didn't even want to think it.
###
Crowley left the base. Sky had told him to go on patrol, and that was what he was doing. He drove along slowly, watching his surroundings closely. But his mind was quite absent. He couldn't stop thinking about the heavies' words during the previous discussion.
'For good this time,' Rill's words replayed in his mind. For an assumption, they had sounded very confident. After what Sky had told the Jumbo had happened the day before, it wasn't unlikely that Rill was one of the tanks who were to blame for Goggles' nightly disappearance. It was crystal clear to Crowley as it was to Sky that the plane hadn't left out of her own volition. The heavies had made themselves the suspects with the way they had acted and continued to act. But no one could prove that they had done it. And kicking them all based on a suspicion … would have been lunacy. But then again - even if their guilt was proven, how else should they be punished?
Crowley's gaze wandered back to the base with a frown, where the sun was just rising above the hilltops. He could see the shapes of some of his team mates that were scattered across the hills, but it was impossible to make out who was who. The Jumbo wondered where it all had started going wrong somehow, where it would lead, and if it could even be fixed before a real crisis happened. It wasn't up to him to fix it, or the heavies, or anyone else except Sky. But could she really do it, or was this team fractured beyond repair?
Turning his optics back to the area around him, he spotted a little farm a short way off; he hadn't seen it before since they had arrived here. It was quite overgrown with all kinds of vegetation, which made it hard to distinguish it from the natural surroundings. Crowley approached it, feeling like it could maybe conceal something useful. As he got closer, he noticed that a part of the ground before a barn looked burnt. There was strange looking debris of sorts in the middle of it. Upon reaching it, Crowley finally recognized the wreckage.
His optics widened for a moment, but then his frown returned. He turned to his radio, contacting Sky privately.
"Sky. Bad news ... You gotta see this."
###
Sky stood before the wreck. It was undoubtedly Goggles. What was left of the wings clearly showed the yellow stripes that the Stuka's paint had featured.
"I don't get it," Crowley - who stood next to her - said. "How did no one hear it? That must have been one hell of a bang!"
"I don't know," Sky replied quietly. Her gaze slowly sank to the ground. "I never thought …" She trailed off.
"Maybe an enemy -" Crowley suggested, but Sky interrupted him.
"This wasn't an enemy attack," she said. "She was murdered by one of us."
The Jumbo looked at her, but she had already turned around and raced off. Crowley hurried after her, but she didn't pay attention to him as he asked her what she was going to do. Her grim gaze scanned the hills in front of her, where some of her team mates had gathered to look at the approaching tanks curiously. They drove aside hastily as she reached them and drove right into their midst. Her turret spun from one side to the other as she threw glares at the others.
"Goggles is dead!" she shouted, loud enough for the whole camp to hear her, "I know it was one of you, so own the fuck up to it!"
She set herself into motion again, driving towards the centre of the base now.
"I demand to know who killed her!"
The Tanking League started gathering around her. The tank destroyers and the heavies, Arty and Awol, Eohelm, and the Shermans formed a circle around their leader. Only Pepper was absent, since he had gone on another scouting run. Looks were shared, the expressions ranging from confused to shocked.
"Who?! Who did it?!" Sky said with a snarl. "Who's the coward?!" Her glare wandered quickly; if looks could kill, everyone it graced would have dropped dead. As it fell on Arty for a moment, the SPG started wobbling on her tracks. Sky's gaze lingered, and Arty seemed to shrink under it, then she suddenly spoke up.
"I …" she said. Sky's optics grew wide. But before she could fully process the impact of what she thought her team mate was trying to say, Arty went on.
"I know who."
That raised so many questions that Sky didn't know which one to ask first. Arty's expression was one that begged for forgiveness.
"I couldn't tell you, I was afraid …!" she said with a shaky voice.
Crowley suddenly barged in.
"Don't beat around the bush! Tell us already!"
Arty looked at him, then she dropped her gaze to the ground.
"It was … Jack. He did it."
The AT-2 gaped at her for a moment, then his cannon started darting from side to side.
"What - I - I didn't -" he gasped, throwing fearful looks at everyone. Before anyone else could speak, he blurted out, "I didn't kill her! F-Fang did it! I just … helped!"
All gazes immediately turned to Fang. The Jagdpanther looked baffled at first, but then his expression turned dismissive.
"That's right," he said. "It was me."
Sky stared at him, speechless at the unexpected confession. But then again, was it really such a surprise? He had never been one of the good guys. The Ferdinand by Fang's side turned to his brother as well, but instead of shocked, he just looked concerned. Sky recovered and didn't even let him get a word in.
"Get the fuck out," she growled.
"Fine," Fang said with a shrug. "But if you kick me, you'll also have to kick someone else."
Sky's anger made way for confusion for a short moment.
"What?" she asked.
Fang sneered.
"It was the KV-4's idea," he said calmly. "He told us to do it."
"That is correct," Rill said without hesitation.
Sky didn't look at him, instead her gaze became unfocused. The other tanks were silent.
"Anyone else? Was anyone not involved?" she asked, her voice trembling.
There were a few more moments of silence, then Eject spoke up.
"I was part of the plan as well," he said.
That finally caused Rex to be the first one to shake off the daze.
"Traitors!" he shouted.
"Scheming teamkiller filth …" Crowley added.
"Silence!" Sky yelled.
She turned to look at Rill and Eject after all. She hadn't expected Eject of all people to betray her too, but maybe she just hadn't seen the signs. Her expression was dark with disappointment and hurt as she glared at her team mates.
"Kicked. You're kicked," she hissed. "Leave and never come back."
Fang shrugged again and turned around to drive off. Tate and Jack followed him. Sky looked after them for a moment, then her gaze darted back to the heavies, who returned it with stoic expressions. They didn't show any signs of intending to follow her order.
"What are you waiting for?!" Sky barked at them. "Fuck off!"
Eject and Rill looked at each other, then back at Sky.
"No," Rill said simply.