JayPac Viewing Area

The team members who weren't participating in the match all watched the screen in front of them, showing the two blasts from Ooarai's Tiger and Panzer taking out the King Tiger. Cheers erupted from the crowd as first blood had been drawn. The rest of sniper team grimaced upon watching their team lead get taken out.

"Damn, there goes five bucks." One of the crew members said, handing the money to D-Ray.

"I told y'all we were gonna lose a tank first." He said, watching his the T34 take shot after shot. "They gotta get out of there. It won't be long until they get smoked."

"Agreed. But if they remain in that tunnel, they're gonna get trapped." Peterson stated, while playing a soft bluegrass tune on his banjo. "But knowing Jay, he'll wiggle his way out of there." A few minutes passed as the team watched intently. Soon, the sight of JayPac's tanks rolling out of the tunnel came through and the whole team sighed in relief.

"Balls in your court, Javier. You better choose your next move wisely." Cody said. He was glad that he was well enough to view the match, but of course, due to the injury, he couldn't participate. The only thing he could do, even as a team lead, was just send his well wishes to the boys on the battlefield. They were gonna need it.

Ooarai Battleground

The opening exchange was a massive wakeup call to the group. They weren't in the US anymore, and they were the underdogs. The fact that they had knocked out four of their tanks was a massive stroke of luck more than anything, and they were sitting with that. Jay began to study the map a bit more closely, looking for any possible firing lines they might set up on.

"Javier, might I suggest something?" Patrice asked.

"I'm all ears."

"Why don't we try out that idea we came up with a while ago. It might just work. Plus, I know exactly where to go." Jay contemplated it. They needed to pull every trick in the book to try and win this, and it would mean they effectively lose one unit. Bringing the firepower, no matter how small, down. But he did see the spot he was thinking of. Not on the map, but to the northeast of the town. There was an overlook where he could get a pretty good view of the town and coordinate actions from.

"What's this plan?" Kyle asked. "Usually, I'm up to date with stuff like this."

"Well, the plan is for Patman here to go up onto that ridge. He can give us a bird's eye view of Ooarai's tanks and tell us where to avoid and intercept them." Jay explained. The town got closer, and just as he thought he was in the clear, shells came ripping through the formation.

"Shit! Left side! We got company!" The turrets of each tank swiveled to meet the opposition. "Patrice, get going! Let's give it a shot!"

"Roger that, we'll be quick. Full speed driver, get us out of here!" The tanks all accelerated, quickly getting into the cover of the town. Patrice's tank, on the other hand, was taking a side road which led to the desired position. The boys just needed to last ten minutes for them to get into position. Jay gave a hand motion for the tanks to split up, and each did so, dipping off every other street corner. Jay himself ordered his driver to get the tank in between a couple of houses and hoped that someone would drive out in front of his. Kyle was locking down a dead end, with a wall behind him that could be breached in case they needed a quick getaway. Leon had his tank lock down a street. Foster was just a block away from Jay, in his own ambush position. The stage was set. All it needed was its emcee.

"I hope this plan of yours works, buddy. I really do." Jay said, keeping a close ear out for any other engines. It wouldn't be long until first contact was made.

"This is Waifu, we got ourselves a Tiger." In the distance, the noise of the duel could be heard. Jay checked his watch, only 6 minutes had passed. He knew he had to do something, but he couldn't. "I could use some help over here! There's two of em!"

"I'm on my wa- PANZER IV! NOOO!" That made the remainder of them go cold. Foster had just ran into the one tank they didn't need to face. A few more minutes passed. Somehow, the duel of heavies was still ongoing, but from the sounds of it, it wasn't going well for the crew of the Pershing.

"Alright, we're in position and set to go. I've got eyes on you Leon. You better get out of there. The Panzer is heading your way." Patrice said, jumping straight into it. "Kyle, you got a Char B1 heading your direction."

"Anything over by me?" Jay asked.

"Negative, you might wanna go get that Panzer. Ah, I got you." Patrice was standing on the top of his tank with a pair of binoculars and map in hand. "This would go so much better with a table." He said to himself. He watched the Pershing and the Porsche Tiger go at it for a minute, then switched his attention to the T34, which had just bagged the Char.

"We just bagged ourselves another one! Hell yeah!" he heard Kyle say. "Leon hang tight, we're coming!"

"Kyle, turn right in two blocks, Jay go down one block and then turn left. You'll pin that panzer in."

"Roger that, lets go for three." Kyle said. Jay hung onto the cupola's edge as the tank zoomed through the streets at top speed. He was willing his tank to go faster.

The Pershing was in a bad shape. They had sustained multiple hits, and the crew was grateful the armor had stood up so far, but the tiger was literally driving circles around their tank. Not to mention having to knock out the third wheeling I-Go tank threw away whatever advantage they had.

"Leon get out of there! That Panzer is coming for you! We couldn't get her!"

"Negative! We almost got the tiger!" Leon replied. He was watching the gun inch closer and closer on target. "AJ! Reverse!"

"I'm trying!" The tank stopped and began to reverse, and for a split second the gun was lined up on the tiger. A perfect shot. One could even say they couldn't miss. But unfortunately, neither did the gunner on the Panzer. The left track had been shot out right as Leon gave the fire command. The hull spun to the left, snagging the gun away from the tiger just as the shot left the barrel. What would've been a knockout was instead a glancing blow. And the Tiger finished off the Pershing a few seconds later. Leon watched the tiger drive off with the Panzer, only to see the T34 come barreling around a corner.

"Not today ladies! Fire!" Kyle ordered. The gunner lined up on the Tiger and stomped on the trigger. The shell impacted the tiger, but they themselves were taken out by the Panzer in quick succession. "They got us guys, but I think they're down to their last tank. Good luck."

"Roger that, I still have eyes on the Panzer. Javier, get your tail moving, make a right at the intersection, and then a sharp left."

"Roger, I'm on it!" The driver didn't even need to be ordered to do it, he followed the instructions to a tee. And just like that, he was behind the Panzer. The exchange began. Isaac's first shot on it went high, impacting a house. The Panzer s turret slewed around to face the pursuer and let out a shot. "Driver, serpentine!" the shot glanced the hellcat right across Scout team insignia. Isaac's next shot hit, tearing off some of the side skirts of the Panzer. The Panzer then made a hard left, practically drifting around a corner. Jay's hellcat blew past it, and turned on the next street over to find them. As they barreled down the road, Jay could spot the Panzer between houses. He looked at the map, and say the roads crossed just ahead. "Hard left! Get ready to fire!"

Patrice watched from above, glad his plan was it had whittled Ooarai down to their last and arguably best tank. The sun wasn't helping too much and when a cloud covered it for a brief moment, he took a look into his binoculars and went pale. Miho Nishizumi was looking right at him.

"Patrice, where's that Panzer?" Jay asked, scanning the road ahead. "Patrice?"

"She's looking right at me!" A shot rang out, pulling Jay's attention to his left. He saw the smoke from the barrel and ordered his gunner to blast the wall next them. He ducked into the tank as the gun was fired.

"Forwards! Don't let them get Patman!" They drove through the opening, expecting to see the Panzer in front of them. They were not. He looked to his right, there was a staircase that led up to ridge, and halfway down there was the A13, white flag up with a hit mark right on the driver's port. He looked to the left and saw the Panzer, barrel still smoking and Nishizumi looking right at them. "Traverse left!" As soon as the gun began swinging towards them, the Hellcat was rocked by a huge impact. The tank spun about 60 degrees and came to a stop a few feet away. The white flag came up and one of the judges came running up to signal the match was over. Jay popped open the cupola and sighed. After asking everyone if they were alright, he climbed up and out onto the roof. He had been sweating a lot, and didn't even notice until a drop of it got into his eye. He quickly wiped his face with his shirt and hopped down to the road. All he could do really was wait for the recovery vehicles to come and retrieve their tanks.

JayPac Staging Grounds…

The whole team gathered around the knocked-out tanks, and their respective crews, all looked at their tanks in awe. The first battle between JayPac and Ooarai had been a close one. Each of the boys that didn't participate were attempting to cheer up those that did.

"The fact that you brought them down to their last tank is something that we should proud of, comrade." Sasha stated, patting Leons back. "If I had been there- "

"You would've been taken out first. Just like me." Hanz said. "They recognized me as a priority target. And an IS-3 taken out against tanks like them is a huge edge." Hanz and Sasha began to bicker, but that however wouldn't be the thing on everyone's mind. It was what was going to happen to them as they had lost the battle. Jay, Pascal, Hanz and Cody, nobody knew. They were going to get their answer, however. Just before the last tank was being loaded onto a transport vehicle, Instructor Izumo had stopped by to check on her boys.

"Even though you lost, I couldn't be prouder of you all." She said, looking at everyone. "You proved that the US league is just as good as the Japanese league."

"Miss, what's gonna happen with us? I mean, we still lost." Peterson asked.

"Well, Ooarai's instructor informed me that her proposal for the team to be temporarily integrated into Ooarai's roster was agreed upon. Which means you will be attending Ooarai academy." Everyone was shocked. Some with their mouths agape. "I'm kidding of course. Well, half so. You will be attending Ooarai for a few weeks, but they will also attend JayPac. After that, you'll be at it alone." Everyone was still shocked, with a few (Leon and crew) on the verge of happy tears. "I've already arranged your living situation so expect to move out in about 4 or 5 days."

The ride back to the docks was certainly quiet after that conversation. Everyone was still digesting what their instructor had told them, and only now was it starting to land home for a few. They were about to start a new chapter in their senshado experience, living and learning among the best of the best.