Zuikaku

The morning of the match had come around like any other. The sun's rays gently washed over the ship and into the windows of the few fortunate to have their shades open. The ship itself had arrived at its port. And through it all, Javier was fast asleep. Unfortunately for him, someone decided to wake him up early. A loud banging could be heard on the door, hard and rapid enough that Javier shot out of bed and reached for the nearest thing he could grab, which turned out to be a stress ball. The knocking became fiercer, and in an instant, he flung open the door and nailed the guilty party with the ball.

"Ow! What was that for?!" The voice was feminine. To Javier's shock, it was Momo of all people. And her monocle had fallen to the ground due to the impact.

"Shit! Sorry! I thought I was gonna have to fight someone off! Here, let me get your monocle." The morning air was crisp, but he didn't care. He picked up the monocle and handed it to ho her. "Sorry again."

"I just wanted to make sure you got up in time. We leave for the staging grounds in a few hours, but I'm sure you know that," she said, taking her monocle and placing it back where it belonged. "I'll see you in a few hours." She looked him over, only to realize he was in nothing more than shorts and a t-shirt, and covered her eyes. "And make sure to have something decent on!" She then sped away, leaving a very dumbfounded Javier in her wake. He then checked the time and saw he still had a couple more hours to get going. It wouldn't take long for him to get ready for the day, and he knew it was going to be a long one.

On the way there, he ran into a couple of his teammates, who gladly followed Javier to where they were going. When they arrived, all the tanks were lined up, and their respective crews were making some final maintenance checks. Most of the tanks that had a travel lock had their barrels stored. Not missing a beat, he began preparing his tank for transport. It wouldn't take long for the whole area to become a hive of activity. Crews were rushing from one tank to the next, making sure their fellow tankers were ready to go. The girls had beaten the boys in getting ready, so they chipped in to help the boys out. One by one, the tanks were ready to go.

Just before leaving, Cody along with his crew stood at attention in front of Javier and Miho. Javier was smiling, happy to have his number three back in action. Miho on the other hand, was upset that they wouldn't be able to fight with them.

"Sorry I couldn't make the match this time," he said, solemnly. "We'll be cheering you on, though."

"You know you don't have to apologize, Cody," Javier said, patting him on the back. "The next match, whenever that is, you'll be back in the saddle. I know it." He turned to face the rest of his crew. "As for the rest of you, you'll be in good hands. For now, just take some notes and enjoy the spectacle."

"We have to get going, Javier," Miho said. Javier nodded and the two made their way to their respective vehicles for the journey. The large convoy of tanks all started their engines, hatches were open the green light was given to move. The streets rumbled, engines roared, and people looked on to see the convoy head out. Javier's M18 and Miho's Panzer IV led the group.

Staging Grounds

Just as it was during the match against Oarai, it seemed as if every senshado team in Japan was there to watch the spectacle. As soon as the convoy made it to the staging area, last-minute preparations were made. The boys and girls were engaging with the occasional visitors, as well as people from both the US and Japanese senshado federations. Both Javier and Patrice were happy to answer the questions they had, breathing a sigh of relief when they had gone.

"Well, well, if it isn't my budding prodigies." A voice came from behind the two. They turned and could hardly believe their eyes. It was their instructor. "You boys seem a bit popular."

"We couldn't do any of this without you, miss Izumo," Patrice stated. "To be honest, I didn't think you'd show up."

"And miss this? Are you kidding me? I personally made sure I would be able to come out and see you boys. Wait, where's Cody?" She asked.

"Still out, but he'll be back whenever we have our next match," Javier stated. "He'll be in the team stands, if you wanna go find him." She nodded.

"Its getting close to match time, so I'll leave you boys to it. Good luck out there." She then disappeared into the crowd, heading for the stands.

"Prodigies, huh?" Patrice asked, looking at Javier.

"Guess so. C'mon, let's get out there." On the way up to meet their opponents, he stopped by Sasha's tank briefly. He had heard that Pravda's sub-commander speaks fluent Russian, and he wanted his ear to see if they were going to say anything.

"Comrade, you want me to come up with you? But what about the Sniper commander?" Sasha asked, upon being asked. "Isn't he Russian as well?"

"He barely speaks it, and he already understood why I wanted you to take his spot up front with the rest of us," Javier explained.

Both teams stood across from each other and the tension was palpable. Miho and Javier were side by side, flanked by Patrice and Anzu respectively. Across from them were their counterparts. Needless to say, Javier was indeed shocked by how short the Pravda commander really was. Then came Anzio's commander. From her getup, he could instantly see where she drew inspiration from, as well as seeing her underlings celebrating her.

"Well, this is certainly going to be interesting," Patrice stated. Javier just nodded.

"Anything else you want to add?" Miho asked the two. Both Javier and Patrice silently shook their heads. Sasha, on the other hand, was watching the Sub commander of Pravda intently. At least until she made eye contact with him. That made him divert his attention long enough for judges to get through the rules and onto the formal greeting. The teams bowed to each other and retreated to their respective tanks. The battle was about to begin.

The Battleground

With a pop from the starting flare, the combined force of Oarai and JayPac advanced from their positions. The large group made their way into a forest just outside of a small village. It was in that village that the team separated into their respective groups. Miho and Javier were leading the two flanking forces. Each group contained one Chaffee and one tank destroyer to supplement the groups. The Anteater and Turtle teams elected to tag along with Javier, to Miho's disapproval, but she knew they probably could keep up with them. Leopon's team elected to go with the heavies, seeing as it made the most logical sense. Once the lineup for each group was agreed upon, they split up.

The main force, spearheaded by Sasha's IS-3 as usual, was to advance on a village in the middle of the arena where they were most likely to run into any forces. Both the T34 and the Super Pershing flanked them, followed by the King Tiger and the M36. For the time being, the Chaffee was in charge of guarding the rear. In all it was a formidable group, but ultimately a gamble. The team's best armor and firepower concentrated into one massive convoy.

Up on a hill sat another small village far enough away for the tanks to be concealed, but close enough to where they could observe the battle with a good vantage point. This is where Patrice had led his group once they had broken away from the main group. Of course, as Javier had predicted, the crew of the Waifu was less than pleased to be on guard duty again, but of course, they embraced their role as the commander's guard.

"So, this is the master plan, huh?" Leon asked, upon seeing the table being set up. "A table?"

"Not just any table," Patrice had climbed down from the side of the A13 with a map rolled up in his hand. "A table with a map." He unrolled the map and the two other crew members of the A13 each placed a rock on each corner to keep it steady on the table. He had also placed down a few wooden triangles, each with their designated group on it. They were placed exactly where the groups were on the map. "Your job is to inform us of what you can see from your positions. His headphones had been plugged into an extension cord that led into the cruiser tank, connected to the radio.

Javier and his group of speedsters were making good progress along the western portion of the arena. They were traversing through light foliage, explicitly staying out of the open fields whenever possible. Every now and again they had to navigate around a tree that was a bit too big for the tank to just knock over.

"We have no armor with us, and the rest of the team is with Miho," Peterson stated. "What exactly was your plan out here?"

"We're moving so that we can take out any heavy armor on the way over to the main force. Soften em' up a little if you will." Javier replied. "Scout 1 to Shield 1, how copy?"

"Loud and clear, so far you should be running into forces any minute now. Assuming they also went your direction." Patrice stated, not missing a beat. Javier didn't take that into account. If the commander is as cunning as Miho had alluded to, then that could very well be a possibility. "That goes for you as well, Ankou."

"Roger." Not much for conversation, fair enough. He thought to himself. He looked over to the Hetzer traversing the terrain with them. The thing that pulled him from the staring was Justin making a callout.

"Tanks! I see tanks at 3 o'clock!"

"Driver, get us facing that direction." Every tank stopped and traversed their hulls to face the threat. Javier got his binoculars, only to see a few T-34s heading in their direction. It was a small group. "Scout 1 here, we've spotted enemy tanks. We're gonna take 'em out." Javier could only imagine they would most likely spot the Hetzer out of the tanks there. "Steady… range is 1100 yards and closing." A shell was loaded into the breech. "Gunner, target the tank in the middle." The T-34s kept closing, to the point they would've definitely seen them. "Everyone, fire at will!" Each tank opened fire. With the six of them, those on the receiving end didn't have a good time. One shell ricocheted off into the air, most like the Chaffee's. When the smoke cleared, there lay a trio of T-34s. Two were 76mm variants and one 85mm. Their crews, once they emerged, looked shocked to see the number of tanks we had on the flank.

"We knocked out 3 T-34s, Patrice. Mark it down. But now the enemy force most likely knows our current position. Any ideas?" He called out onto the radio. "Patrice?"

"I copy, if you look to your left there should be a valley you can advance through. It'll put you out near the northern side of the town." He replied. "Keep in touch."

"Roger that, over and out." He looked back to see the other commanders looking at him.

"So, what's the move now? Are we going to sit here?" Peterson asked.

"Negative, we're moving out. Just stay alert and stick with me. Driver, get us going." The first tank to break the tree line was the Chaffee, and almost immediately a shot landed just in front of them. "What the hell?!"

"One o'clock! Up in the hills!" Javier grabbed his binoculars and looked in the direction the shot had come from. He couldn't see anything until the muzzle flash went off.

"Back up! Back into the forest!" The tanks began reversing, all the while, the Achilles crew and the M36 both opened up on the tanks shooting at them. They fell well short, of course, as did the return fire. "Button up! Load smoke, we gotta blind this girl!" The loader did as asked, and the gunner fired a round about 100 meters from their position. The Chaffee followed suit, and soon a large smokescreen enveloped the fields in front of them. "Everyone ok? No one hit?"

"We're ok here."

"Ditto, what the bloody hell was it?"

"Turtle, Anteater, You ladies alright?"

"We're ok, nya~"

"All good!" he breathed a sigh of relief. Now he had to think of a way out of this mess. The Chaffee next to them fired off a couple more smoke shells to keep them concealed.

Over in Hanz's sector, they were dealing with a whole different problem. And the radio waves between those tanks were full of cursing and frustrated shouts. Though the team wasn't taking any severely damaging hits, they were getting absolutely peppered by a swarm of L33s.

"Na Khui! These tankettes are everywhere! I can't hit them, Blyat!" Sasha shouted into the radio.

"They broke through our formation! At least we took out their Sevomentes before they could get close!" Hanz shouted into the radio. "Kyle!"

"I'm working on it!" The crew of the T34 was busy trying to shake off the L33s that had swarmed them. "Wait a minute… Gunner, aim for the L33's surrounding Shield 2! Hit 'em with the co-ax!" The gunner complied and lit up the L33s surrounding the Soviet heavy. One by one the white flags of each L33 that was hit came up and they were swatted off the tank.

"Spasibo, comrade!" The heavy tank spun around and fired at the King Tiger. The high explosive shell hit the armored skirts, near enough to a couple of L33s that it took them out.

"Verdammt! Sasha! What the hell was that for?!"

"You're welcome!" They were then raked by the T34, finishing off the last of the L33s. Everyone that was there breathed a huge sigh of relief. Then a round hit the side of the King tiger, which broke Hanz. In a fit of rage, he practically threw open the commander's hatch and looked around for the offender. About 100 meters away was the offender. The twin-tailed girl sticking out of the commander's cupola looked like she had seen a ghost. Hanz just smiled.

"All tanks, target that P40. Fire on my command." The turrets of five tanks all focused on the lone Italian tank. Hanz signaled for the girl to get inside her tank, having seen what just one could do to a person caught on the outside. She did just as a shot from the right rang out, hitting and knocking out the P40. Hanz snapped his head to see who the offender was, only to see the smoking barrel of an M24.

"Don't you think that would've been a tad bit much?" Foster said. "Just saying." Hanz took a deep breath, calming himself.

"Ja, maybe it was a bit much. Alright, Darrell, Leopon, how goes your track repair?" The two tanks missing from the confrontation had gotten caught by Sevomentes a mile back.

"We're almost done with the Tigers tracks, we should be on our way in just a few minutes!"

"Very good." Now they had to play the waiting game.

Patrice had been listening in to everything, having plotted out the positions on the map, and if what he had heard was true, then that meant that Anzio was out of the picture. They hadn't lost a single tank in the first exchange, mainly due to luck, and the skirmish had only produced two damaged tanks. Patrice's gunner handed him a cup of tea, to which he gladly took it. All three tank commanders were there around the table, watching and listening to what was happening. The ball was in the enemy's court, and they were about to swing back harder than they could've ever anticipated.