Jouko's room, Continuation school carrier

"This is Taiga Ou, your newest and most humble Sensha-do news reporter from the reputable Ooarai Girls' Academy, live from the east of Sapporo in the cold northern island of Hokkaido, a perfect place for skiing if you have the chance! Today our matchup is between two TITANS of Sensha-do! Pravda Girls' Academy, the unexpected victors of the 62nd Tournament against Kuromorimine, and the richest school practicing Sensha-do: SAUNDERS UNIVERSITY HIGH SCHOOL! MAN, I AM PUMPED FOR THIS MATCH, AND I HOPE ALL OF YOU WATCHING THIS ARE, TOO! I promise this match will feature drama! Spectacle! Emotion! You'll be pumping your fists in the air the whole time! You'll be..."

"Heh, nice energy from her, better than the sports casters we get in Finland."

"Yeah, they show energy, but not as much as this kid. I like her."

"'Like' as in romance? Ooooooh, Frisell is gonna get a new guwlfwiend! Awwww!"

"No, I'm not! You always misinterpret everything, Löfström!"

"Löfström, heheh, please, she totally didn't mean that."

"I mean, you never know, commander."

"Aren't we all Lutherans anyway? Surely we-"

"Oh, enough with the chit-chat, I can't wait to see some good driving here!"

A few seconds later, Alice barged through the door, carrying a massive tub of popcorn with a Boko doll on her shoulder. With help from the Sturmi crew, they managed to get the popcorn settled on the table on front of them and started to dig in as the match begun. Alice, not forgetting her original question, whispered to Jouko about why she didn't want to kill animals. Jouko whispered back, not wishing to interrupt her friends who were watching the match unfold.

"It pains me to see them minding their own business, God's creation enjoying God's creation only to be felled with no warning by a hunter's bullet. Humanity has hunted so many species to extinction that it's painful to consider. They were so innocent, they did nothing to us, and yet we kill them for stupid reasons like sport, in fact, I consider it murder, taking the life of a living being. The only times I would kill an animal were if I needed food, or if it attacked me and I had a risk of dying, and even then I'd feel be very guilty of myself. I don't want to see such beautiful creatures being killed, so I practice on dead trees instead."

Alice could understand. Animals were beautiful creatures, and seeing them killed for sport ahd personal profit made her share Jouko's pain. Looking back to the TV, she could see that the match had really gotten started. Pravda was using traps to counter Saunders' efforts of defeat in detail, dividing forces into smaller sections and annihilating them with superior numbers. However, Pravda was remaining well-consolidated and preventing any opportunities for Saunders to really divide Pravda, and their scouting tanks were easily dealt with, giving Pravda an early advantage.

This wasn't to say Pravda didn't meet any losses, however, and even with the early advantage things went downhill. Saunders decided to consolidate and meet Pravda as a full force, and their firepower, especially from their Firefly which, per usual, sniped from a far distance, was able to wipe out half of Pravda's tanks with help from a couple other tanks, and even came close to hitting the flag tank, but Nonna's IS-2 was able to spot the Firefly, and after a thrilling chase that had Hannes at the edge of her seat and yelling at the top of her lungs, Naomi knocked out Nonna with a nice little drift no doubt inspired by Hannes.

With this threat to Saunders gone, Naomi made her way back to the main area of combat where, sighting the flag tank, Naomi took aim at the T-34/85 and fired a powerful shot right into its engine, knocking it, and Pravda, out of the Losers' bracket. Katyusha could be seen in an overhead shot effectively suffering a mental breakdown as Klara rode up next to her and clambered over to comfort her. For the next match, Saunders would face St. Gloriana in what some people called the "Second American Revolution", given both schools' backgrounds. Hannes had been extremely excited from that chase, and as the TV displayed the results to Taiga Ou screaming so loud into her microphone that the crowd could barely be heard, yelled at the top of her lungs,

"YEAH, GOOD OLD DRIFTS ALWAYS WORK, AM I RIGHT? EVERY SINGLE TIME, BABY, LET'S GO!"

"And good fire rates that no doubt will cause some people to think both teams have autoloaders, heheh."

"And they were both so coordinated! No doubt their radio operators worked well."

Jouko and Alice were silent. Alice because, well, this was what she usually saw on TV, and Jouko, reminiscing of Finland as she looked at the snowy ground. As the broadcast ended, Jouko took a look at her watch, and her blood froze cold. It read 2:18pm.

"2:18pm?! We're eighteen minutes late for practice, Linder's waiting for us!"

Sensha-do practice field - Continuation school ship

"Load!"
"Ready!"
"Firing!"

The shell missed by mere inches. With Alice's T-34 perfectly in her sights, Jouko fired a shell right at it. As soon as the casing was shot back out of the barrel, Löfström had another shell in her hands, and she slammed it in with all her might, closing the hatch and getting Jouko ready to fire, a process that only took two or three seconds to do.

"She angled it... another!"

Löfström loaded another shell with ease, and Jouko took aim again, and fired, the shell heading straight for the turret ring. The T-34 suddenly moved, and the rocking from sudden movement caused the shell to bounce thanks to the armor that had come up in the turret ring's place. Jouko was seeing the Shimada style in action, and she could think nothing but praises for this thirteen-year old university graduate. Thirteen and already graduating university was an accomplishment that literally nobody could achieve, although Jouko could have been able to do that had she accepted the offers to skip classes, but being a dutiful girl, she decided to go through each grade for the whole year.

Another shell was loaded, and Jouko took aim, this time going for the tracks. But this too was thwarted as Alice stopped her tank just enough for it to lurch forward and block the shell with its track armor. Whatever the Shimada Style was, this was truly going to give the winner of the Loser's Bracket a Sisyphian challenge to overcome, if it was even possible to overcome it with two Sensha-do titans against one.

So this is the Shimada Style... no wonder it's dominated the All-Stars University here, this is impossible to do with sniping! Looks like we're going to have to get close.

"Drive at them, Hannes, sniping simply won't do. Löfström, keep those shells coming, I'll try to hit her tank the best I can."

And a chase commenced.

T-34/85

A hard tap on her right shoulder prompted the T-34's driver to swerve right, but moments later another light tap on her left shoulder made her slightly reangle the tank by pulling the lever to the left a bit. Feeling a bounce, the driver resumed her previous course, as each shot of the large cannon rocked the tank a bit from the recoil. It was pointed backwards, firing shell after shell against the Sturmi which kept avoiding. It was a never-ending chase that had been dragging on for almost half an hour, the cycle of fire and dodge repeating itself for the entire length of the training field, with not a single square inch of land being left untouched by the two tanks. There seemed to be no end to this chase, but as shell after shell impacted and bounced off her tank, she gradually saw that the end was near, and knew she was only delaying the inevitable by dodging and weaving and drifting about so much for so long.

My armor's getting weak... that Sturmi has landed so many hits and bounces on me without a single miss. Seeing Jouko in action was already impressive enough, but this is just a whole other level of mastery. How can one be so accurate despite moving so much? Rumors do say that her grandfather was friends with the White Death of Finland himself, so no wonder why she's so good... I can't hope to stand up for long, all of my gunner's shots keep bouncing or missing, and more misses than impacts. Oh well, I'm getting tired anyways, I've had no water for over an hour. I'll just end it here.

Tapping her foot on her driver's neck, she signaled the tank to stop, much to the driver's confusion. Looking behind as the tank ground to a halt, she saw the Sturmi grind to a halt as well immediately after, and after settling, fired a shell straight into her engine. A burst of flame and smoke erupted from it, and a white flag popped out. There were no bad feelings, though. The crew relaxed themselves into their seats, some on the verge of passing out from exhaustion. Everyone was sweating buckets, and opening the cupola and the other hatches provided amounts of comfort no words could ever describe, as the fresh breeze blew inside and cooled the crew as well as provide much-needed fresh air. Everyone was extremely tired and they could finally get some well-deserved rest from repeating the same stuff for over an hour.

Climbing out of her cupola, Alice greeted Jouko and her crew warmly. It was a tiring practice run, but very enjoyable nonetheless. Jouko had been able to see the Shimada Style in action, and it had given her a hard time knocking it out. Not even a close chase and some close quarters combat could allow Jouko to get a shot into one of the T-34's vital areas. Alice was so unpredictable that it threw even the hard-focused Jouko off-guard, but some shots that she had perfectly timed managed to penetrate, but not enough to knock out. Alice on the other hand witnessed just how deadly accurate of a gunner Jouko was. Even though she was moving everywhere all at once, Jouko didn't miss a single shot, even if her shots bounced. And her loader was very good too, at the fastest rate there was a shell every 3-4 seconds, an impressive rate.

Linder had been watching from inside Jouko's Sturmi, looking with nothing but astonishment as Jouko hit shot after shot after shot, and although she was bouncing most of her shells thanks to Alice's equally impressive maneuvering, the fact Jouko didn't miss a single shot despite all the movement and maneuvering from both tanks was nothing but otherworldly. She was also surprised at how much Jouko and her crew were able to keep their cool, as they did their job without batting an eye or breaking a sweat. It was as if they were just playing on their phones with nothing to do, and they were so efficient it was as if the tank were crewed by top-notch robots. Löfström was reloading insanely fast, and Hannes drove like a possessed man, not just possessed by one demon, but by multiple thousands of them, but if you were using Biblical references, then she drove even more of a madman than Jehu with his chariot.

What was also noteworthy was the fact that Jouko literally never swore or cussed at all, especially as the match was dragging on to its conclusion. You'd think that even the most religious person would start swearing out of frustration that he or she wasn't seeing success for so long, but not Jouko, and neither any of the other crew. In fact, they didn't seem to care at all. Was it because they kept in mind that this was practice and not the real deal? She didn't know if they still swore in real matches, but in taking the benefit of the doubt with this match, Linder could assume they only swore around twice, if they even were swears or just "kid-friendly variants" which she counted in that estimate. Tomorrow would come more practice, where she would be able to see Alice and her crew in action, and she was excited for that.

1 week later

Saunders vs. St. Gloriana was unfolding just like Bunker Hill, the St. Gloriana team attacking a hill in the center of the battlefield only to be repulsed by Saunders' defensive formations. Flanking was not possible since Saunders had every inch of surrounding territory under close supervision. The audio, which was as usual Taiga Ou's excited reporting, cut to Darjeeling transmitting orders over the radio, where she had begun to sound desperate. At this point in the match, the St. Gloriana tanks had lost half of their forces to repeated assaults on the hill to try to dislodge the Saunders tanks. Rosehip, in her usual "rush in, ask questions later" attitude, had been the first tank to be elimiated, by Naomi's firefly no less. That doesn't mean Saunders didn't suffer losses as well.

Although they were repulsing Gloriana assaults, they were losing tanks of their own, over half, more than St. Gloriana. The score was tied 6 knockouts to 5 in St. Gloriana's favor, and as the statistics of the screen showed, they were all running low on shells. In fact, they had barely any left. The live feeds in inside Saunders' tanks showed just how depleted they were. One tank showed they had one available shell remaining before it cut to another with only three left. The highest was four shells for the Firefly, though it was reduced to three as another shell was loaded. A split second after the gun was seen to fire, the statistics showed that another Matilda was taken out.

The Sturmi crew were joined by Alice and Linder and her crew in Jouko's room per usual. Linder offered bets, but the religious Sturmi crew politely refused, so they just betted among themselves, though Alice abstained with the Sturmi crew. They were in the middle of finalizing their bets when Hannes, the usual fangirl of Sensha-do watch parties, began getting excited again.

"Look! Saunders is grouping up! Will they charge in?"

"Just like 'Gettysburg', right? I wonder how many movie reenactments this tournament is going to see."

"It's the only option they have, Löfström, they're surrounded on all sides, they have no more ammunition, it's the logical way to do it."

"Well, at least we get to see them go out in a blaze of glory and not just let themselves die. I like to see some action."

"THEY'RE CHARGING IN! GO GET THEM! BREAK THROUGH!"

Saunders had grouped their forces and under heavy fire, charged in guns blazing. With the little ammunition they had, they fired as best as possible into St. Gloriana's tanks as they rolled down the hill. Alisa's flag tank was in the middle of the pack, and the Firefly was the speartip of this charge, hitting knockouts with precision. St. Gloriana did not expect a move like this, hoping that they would simply whittle down Saunders from their positions, but with them charging in, Darjeeling desperately ordered a retreat, her voice bearing rare tinges of panic. Unfortunately, whether or not she stood her ground or withdrew, the Churchill was toast. The Firefly was charging in, and about to deal a knockout blow when Rukuriri's Matilda drove in front and fired straight into the Firefly, knocking both out.

This sadly wasn't enough to stop the other tanks from joining the fight. Again, the Churchill was the only tank remaining, but not for long, as Kay and Alisa, as well as another M4 Sherman flanked around and encircled Darjeeling. Without hesitation, the three tanks fired their last shells, and as the smoke cleared, the Churchill was seen with a white flag fluttering in the breeze. Saunders had won, barely.

Taiga Ou was not the only one drowning out the cheers on TV, Hannes was going wild with delight, as well as the winners of the bet, which included Linder. Alice was showing excitement, jumping and waving her Boko doll around.

"THAT'S RIGHT, BABY! GIVE THOSE DUMB BRITS THAT GOOD OLD AMERICAN SUCKER PUNCH!"

"Easiest betting win of my life! That's why British tanks will ALWAYS be inferior to American steel!"

Jouko was a bit concerned with how badly they were smack-talking Britain, especially when Linder hadn't visited America before.

"Let's calm it down with the Anglophobia, shall we? Especially you, Hannes, don't forget our Bible studies last night."

Embarrassed, Hannes uttered a "Sorry, Commander..." before slumping back in the sofa. Linder followed suit afterwards. But, with Saunders victorious over St. Gloriana, and with Darjeeling's hopes of winning a tournament under her leadership truly gone, they would be facing either Ooarai or Bonple for the Semifinals. Given that Ooarai had the effective power of plot armor, well, some plot armor, on their side, it was pretty much expected Ooarai would win out against Bonple. Jouko didn't want to waste time mulling over tournament matches, however. As soon as the TV turned off, everyone rushed to do another practice round. It would be a free-for-all between Jouko, Linder, and Alice, as it was a Wednesday and free-for-all practice rounds usually took place on this day. Tomorrow would be annihilation match, and the day after would be a flag tank battle. Weekends were usually rest days, Mondays were target, driving, loading, and radio practice individually, Tuesdays were one-on-ones, and so on and so forth. This was the new schedule Jouko had implemented with Mika's blessing.

Ooarai school carrier - same day

"Wow, you're a real help to us, Anikada!"

"For a first-year who just joined us, you're pretty talented!"

"Your help really gave us a big boost!"

"Thanks for your valuable help. How, let's take our baby for a ride!"

Anikada was the newest addition to Leopon Team, having been trained by her parents who ran a relatively successful motor repair company, and in preparing for Sensha-do, had done lots of research about tanks. The Porsche Tiger had now been filled to full capacity, and after working for a week on getting a better engine, they had just finished installing two new Ford GAF 500-horsepower engines onto the Porsche Tiger, as well as making the necessary improvements along the way. They had worked hard, going over every single minute detail, even working long into the night, only taking breaks to drink water and eat, but otherwise were hard-focused on getting those new engines up and running, pouring over manuals even when on the job. They had some help in the form of Yukari and Erwin's tank knowledge. Any questions they could easily answer, which was a help to them.

It wasn't just the engine, they were getting some better tracks for the tank. Thanks to Ooarai's better funding, they were able to afford better tracks for the Porsche Tiger, and they had some members do the tracks as the rest did the engines. Now, with the final screws and nuts and bolts fixed in, the tank was ready for testing. Anikada's help had been invaluable: putting less of a strain on the workforce, possessing the engineering mindset for the big switch, and her smaller size helped in squeezing through areas where the older members had trouble accessing. Overall, without her, it was unlikely this could even be done in time for the next match against Bonple, which was to happen the very next day. Sure, they had a solid chance of winning, but Leopon was growing tired of having to repair so often during matches. This was a big breather to them, if it worked.

Anglerfish and the former three Student Council members were present in viewing the first test run of the tank's new engine. It was much better than the 306-horsepower engines that always broke down every single match. Nakajima eagerly signaled Tsuchiya to hit the gas, and the Porsche Tiger rumbled out of the garage with faster speed that caught everyone off-guard. After climbing over difficult obstacles, it finally came to the dreaded mud pit. Everyone was holding their breath. Last time, the Porsche Tiger had broken down, its engine not strong enough to force the tracks, which had snapped, off the mud. Would it happen again? Leopon had devoted so much time into fixing and improving on the most minute details that they were confident they would pass this time.

The heavy tank hit the mud, causing some minor splatters, though they weren't strong enough to impact the spectators. Tsuchiya slammed the throttle, pushing the tank to get itself loose from the clutches of the mud. Each passing second the anxiety of everyone grew, fearing the engine, transmission, and tracks would fail again, and they would have to spend more grueling time making the necessary adjustments. Fortunately, however, Leopon's upgrades didn't fail them. The tank gradually moved forwards through the mud, and just as the tracks felt like they had begun to strain, the Porsche Tiger broke free of the mud, and with a hard bump, sped on, slowing down as Tsuchiya slammed the brakes. Leopon Team broke out in celebrations, their upgrades had worked! Yukari was ecstatic as well, with the others smiling on, better confident in victory.

"WE DID IT!"

"One week of work and it was more than worth it! We'll be dominating with these upgrades now!"

"Anikada, you're really a part of the team now! You're really a big help!"

"We'll be knocking out much more tanks with these upgrades! It feels good to see success!"

"Thanks, everybody! It was fun to help you!"

"Oh, don't thank us, we should thank you!"

News of the Porsche Tiger's success spread through Ooarai's Sensha-do team, invigorating them and giving them hope again. The news of Alice joining Continuation had been a fright to everyone, and many had doubted whether they could win the Grand Finals with two of Sensha-do's greatest practitioners on their team. But, as Ooarai's financial status made a comeback and with the recent news of the Porsche Tiger's upgrades, as well as Leopon's new member, things were starting to look up for the school. Plus, there was a new surge of Sensha-do applicants that had come as a result of Ooarai's successes despite nominally being one of, if not, the smallest school in all of Sensha-do. Some were admitted to help fill the lacking crew members for each tank, and before long all vacancies had been filled, but there were still a sizeable number left.

That is, until one day, Miho broke out the news after a hard practice session right after the Porsche Tiger test.

"Everyone, I'm so excited to announce that with our new funds, we were able to buy a new tank for once!"

The team broke out into a mix of cheers, excitement, and cries of "WHAT IS IT!?", wondering what this new tank could possibly be. Some were hoping for another Panzer of some sort, thinking big like a King Tiger or even absurdly like a Maus, others another American or Soviet tank, or another assault gun. If you had guessed a Soviet medium tank, you would hit the jackpot if it was a gameshow.

"The new tank is a T-44! Although it won't be here in time for the battle against Bonple, it will definitely be in our roster in time for the Semifinals which I KNOW we will win! Right, everyone?"

"YEAH!"

Anzu then took over the stage in her usual bombastic attitude as Miho gave the former President some breathing room.

"In case you're wondering, the new team is four strong, and will go by the name 'Team Arachnid' as we negotiated with them! So if you like some little eight-legged insects, feel free to give one a kiss for me if you encounter one!"