Undivided attention was placed upon the multitude of monitors around the main stage using night vision for the crowd. Their eyes were drawn to the green-tinted images flickering across. Each skirmish and engagement was expertly broadcasted only just recently stagnating to a few slow green-clad images that portrayed the lull of the current situation.

Transcendence's main force had retreated to the southeast leaving two allied vehicles stranded to the north. Pravda controlled the hilltops and swept westward where they had been led astray by Kaiser's feigned retreat. As both schools regrouped to begin planning once more the monitors flickered, showing the current tally of kills.

The words in red to the monitor's right, read off Pravda's remaining vehicles. An IS-3, KV-2, KV-5, IS-2, T-34-100, T-34-85, Two T-34-75, and an ISU-125. In white to its left was Transcendence. A Panther, Panzer IV, Tiger, IS-1, KV-1s, Stug IV, and T-34-85. In the center of the screen, the cameras on the ground and air shifted to focus solely on the Pravdans reconnoitering in the west.

Outside of the forest's edge, their main body prepared to clear the large expanse while three vehicles pursued the separated Transcendence detachment. The camera zoomed in on Katyusha delightfully giving orders as separate cameras showed Nonna and Clara nodding in acknowledgment. The audience's night vision then cut off to show the emboldened Pravdans bathed in the red glow of the moon as their vehicles advanced.

The screen flickered once again, showing an equally red-tinted scene yet far more hectic. Transcendence had set up a small defensive position in the treeline southeast. Having bought time the commanders were now reorganizing as their crews scrambled about repairing and shifting vehicles in preparation to counterattack. The consensus in their mind was one of 'What else can we do but attack?' Concerned and Hopeful looks were passed to their leadership in hopes of a way out.

The camera then closed in on three faces. Virtanen, Kaiser, and Knight kneeling at the base of a tree next to the Panther. With two mobile radios and multiple maps at their feet, they were debating their next move. Words not exchanged over radio couldn't be heard by the audience but the three angered glances being traded as the occasional cadet glanced over at them showed the internal discord to the viewers.

It was an understandable sight to those experienced in such troublesome times yet the crowd as easy-going and inexperienced as they were felt the sight was too distasteful of an official school partaking in Senshado.

Without their knowledge, Transcendence had painted itself even blacker as bickering ran amongst crews and officers. Though they had achieved an impressive initiative the audience now began to dismiss their position as hopeless. All anyone outside of the battle could do was wait and see what would happen next.

-Prior to Pravda's assault-

-Natalya's POV-

Something was amiss and Natalya was growing on edge. For a long pause after their skirmish, there was nothing. No activity whatsoever and that was the problem as their impromptu squad sat on the hilltop in concealment. The warmth of their vehicles was one of the very few factors that kept the crew's nerves from fraying further. Thin as it was already, the anticipation of the heavy resistance was expected. Contrary to their beliefs the only force that assailed them was the harsh winds beating against their hulls atop the hill.

Natalya retained radio silence with an occasional situation check. her crew seemed as concerned with their lack of action as she.

"Awwwww, it's so boring here" her gunner complained stretching in her seat.

"I thought the brass said we would see most of the action here" her driver added, leaning onto one knee, grumbling aloud.

"I'm not sure why either but Kaiser himself had informed me before we left Transcendence. If he deemed this spot worthy of his concern then I trust that judgment," reassured Natalya.

"Even so I don't see how" her loader commented. "This is practically the center of the area of operations. It should be highly contested yet we only repelled a scouting party..."

"Are you having concerns?" Natalya asked picking up on her loaders hint.

"Well, it's just that… either be we've gone completely ignored by Pravda in favor of a larger priority, not very ideal you can imagine. Or they are amassing forces for an assault, again not ideal, especially if they concentrate their aces."

Natalya's crew turned wide-eyed at the deductive reasoning of their teammate. On cue, a sharp noise had them jump in their seats. Diana was calling in to check in on their position and sightings.

"IS-1, IS-1 This is lead T-34 over." came Diana's voice. 'We need to get team names after this's lamented Natalya as she responded. As she picked up the receiver a different noise filled the air. Ironically this time no one jumped even though it was clearly cannon fire. A moment of hesitation passed as the radio perked up again.

"This is the SU-100, we are hit! taking fire, enemy to the north, northwest swinging southbound and approaching!" Anna's prior shyness was gone as she gave the callout, urgency, and concentration in her voice. Natalya swung her head to look through her cupola. Peering into the red darkness she saw five more lights ignite and disappear from the distance as the earth around their position erupted from the impacts.

"Adjust the gun!" ordered Natalya as her allies returned fire from within the thick cloud of dirt. The enemy was still at an ineffective distance for night combat and judging from the amount of fire received, had no less than six vehicles assaulting.

'Four against six, however, we're dug in.' noted Natalya as she gave orders. What most would think was a good position, Kaiser had taught her otherwise. They weren't actually entrenched but were resting atop a hill behind concealment with no cover other than their elevation and the terrain itself. To worsen the situation they may not even have a route of egress if the worst comes to pass as the darkness and their enemy's assault led to confusion of the lines.

Their foes, in contrast, were mobile and had the pleasure of relocating or even firing on the move as they had no fear of losing a strong defensive position. Once the enemy knew their locations they would be fish in a barrel incapable of relocating due to already being in the best positions possible and the natural reluctance to abandon the hill. The woes and pleasures of the attackers and defenders were apparent.

Natalya relayed her concerns to Diana in hopes of receiving reinforcements to counter the enemy's assault. The answer received was an immediate denial.

"The main body's being assaulted as well! They are pinned down by the rest of Pravda's forces and precision fire!" Diana informed quickly returning to focus on their defense.

Precision fire? Natalya asked herself. The first thought that came to mind was the hotshot commander everyone had been talking about, Nonna, a commander even Kaiser had advised his squad to be cautious of. Natalya gripped her skirt tightly in frustration as their foe pressed ever closer under their fire. The main body was pinned, attempting to break the assault while her detachment was outnumbered and being shelled.

Her competitive nature rose within. 'I won't be shut out like this.'

The force assailing them, six in total, were steadily advancing onto their position. Any amount of enemies lurking within the darkness remained unknown but the possibility was low as they would need numbers to assault the main body. Unbeknownst to her detachment, the assaulting Pravdan force was all but the IS-3, KV-5, and a single T-34-100.

The Pravdan formation began to spread thin as they advanced. Even a solitary silhouette sat opposite them on a small hill firing every dozen or so seconds. The large flash and eruption of earth next to their vehicles led Natalya to deduce it as a heavy tank. A shell from her vehicle flew over, scraping its turret, and sent it scurrying to the base of its hill and out of sight. The other five vehicles were still firing while maneuvering up to their position.

For every shot sent one was received in retaliation on both sides. Dead shrubbery, loose soil, and grass were kicked up into the air and onto chassis, further obscuring their vision as they sat dug in. Currently, they were impeding the enemy's assault with no clear way of repelling it. Natalya radioed Diana as she saw two more shots hit the ARL-44, the first bouncing into the air and the second landing flat into the turret.

"What is it Nat?" came the overly familiar greeting, perhaps due to urgency and focus rather than overfriendliness.

Natalya took a moment to order her crew to ignore the incessant plinks of machine gun fire raking the front of their vehicle and to acquire a single target of focus and apply pressure on it rather than switching between each moving flash. "Ma'am" Began Natalya, in contrast adhering to the formality of rank while under pressure. "We can't stop this assault, not under current circumstances, we'll have to adapt and surprise them, push them off balance."

"What are you implying Nat?" demanded Diana. "They're putting all their weight on us trying to knock us down, if we push back we can knock them off balance and trip them up. We need to take the offensive and push them back. Seize the initiative here and we can repel them at worst we'll take casualties and make a tactical retreat but we would still have some of our vehicles rather than none.

"That's a negative Nat, we can't abandon this point. We have ordered." came Diana's dismissive reply.

"We don't have a choice! If we stay here we'll lose the point, every vehicle here and expose our team's flank!." reprimanded Natalya.

"Our order's-"

"Don't mean anything if we aren't capable of fulfilling them! Our end game is defeating the enemy, right?" When no response came she pressed on softening her accusatory tone. "I know you don't want to disappoint Major Knight or risk losing face but you are the commander! You have to make the hard choices for the bigger picture!" A hitch of breath came over before the comm went silent again. With nothing but the blood in her ears reverberating in the headphones the silence felt deafening despite the steady rhythm of muffled gunfire outside.

"Let me radio the other girls, they'll get a grasp of the situation and we'll proceed as you advise" responded Diana.

"Understood we'll hold position until you are prepared" confirmed Natalya. All four vehicles were soon buzzed and Diana briefed the commanders with her on the new plan while their crews continued combat.

"All enemy vehicles seem to be proceeding along and through the dry riverbed that begins in the northeast of the designated combat area and runs southwest to this series of hills that we have set our defense on. That riverbed shoots straight south giving them a perfect avenue of approach to us and our main forces' left flank. This provides them with sufficient cover and they emerge only to provide covering fire to pin our position and free their own troop's movement. Therefore, we will assault their maneuvering element in the confined riverbed and attempt a breakthrough to disorganize their lines, in the chaos we'll attempt to swing south, southeast to free up the main element and set up a new flank. Priority for this task will be exfiltration and repositioning. Understood Ladies and gentlemen?"

"Yes Ma'am!" came the reply.

Natalya grinned, satisfied that her plea had gone through and her blood started to pump in excitement. 'Say what you will about her taste in men but she's at least a far better motivator than that string bean she's crushing on.' She quipped mentally.

The Pravdan vehicles were now at the base of their hill and beginning to organize the last leg of the assault from the riverbed. The first T-34 began to crest the elevated edge of the riverbed, gaining traction as it struggled to right itself, then was suddenly knocked backward and onto its side by Natalya's IS-1 charging them. Diana, Piper, and Anna's battered ISU soon followed behind, flying into the riverbed alongside her and sending their enemy's assault into disarray.

The battle's intensity skyrocketed. Having entered first, Natalya could see the other five vehicles standing in an organized line 5 meters between each through her cupola. The T-34 she had knocked over, lay on its side but not defeated as no white flag had appeared.

No hesitation came as canons fired near simultaneously at the oncoming Transcendence attackers as they descended all at once into the fray. The four Transcendence tanks began circling individual Pravdan vehicles using erratic movements to cause further confusion and make themselves harder targets.

Before their charge had begun Diana gave the mic to Natalya who had her own set of instructions to give. "Breakthrough by any means necessary, no coordination will be used here. Every tank will act as an individual and break through if possible, we all won't make it but someone has to get through to hold the line."

The order, though foreboding, proved effective. The Pravdan vehicles scrambled to regain order amongst themselves to effectively repel their attackers. Natalya and her comrades, however, were now acting on independent and immediate action. The Pravdan attack on their position had naturally lost its momentum and now Natalya shouted into her radio, "Break contact now!" she ordered, taking the lead after circling a T-34 variant and leaving its turret chasing hopelessly after.

Piper's vehicle followed suit making a beeline for the same sharp turn in the riverbed Natalya had taken, only to be stopped. A feeling that began as a light turned to a loud thud as her vehicle shook. Piper looked behind to see in the dim lighting her vehicle's right track coming off and laid flat out behind her vehicle. The culprit, an IS-2, commander stood out of their hatch and began waving her hands about pointing and giving direction as they tried to grasp the situation.

It was hard to distinguish her features but seeing the vehicle and the flowing Blonde hair behind her Piper deduced the figure's identity. "Clara is present in the IS-2, I repeat Clara is here in the IS-2! My ARL is immobilized! we'll cover your retreat!" With her final shout over the radio, her crew had already taken deep breaths. Knowing their commander's selfless personality they knew of their fate. As they prepared to defend against the onslaught of shells pinging against their hull and chassis rear thoughts of contempt were dismissed with content.

"I only wished we could have lasted longer," said Piper's loader.

"We're not done yet!" Snapped her gunner turning the turret as fast he could.

"Be realistic" quipped the driver struggling to give them a better position without a track.

"It's not such a bad way to end our part though is it?" asked Piper's RO as she reloaded the MG to draw their foe's attention.

Any bitter feelings of guilt that may have clouded Piper's quick judgment were gone as she looked at her crew with pride. "Thank's ya'll."

The ARL now turned itself to buy what time it could. Receiving a salvo of shells as its single track and bare gears churned through the mud they achieved their goal. This unfortunate event for them took most of the enemy pressure off of Diana and Anna who were now attempting their escape. Not wanting to draw heat onto themselves the two tanks decided to take the route Pravda had used to push on their hill in hopes of escaping by distance and losing sight in the darkness. First, they had to escape the vehicles dueling them while the other three were occupied.

Anna's SU-100 dodged misfortune as she swerved to avoid being rammed by the enemy's ISU-125. The near-miss left the Pravdan tank ramming into the riverbeds wall and encasing its barrel with mud while losing its traction in the slicker and looser crevices of the muddy edge. It was as Anna was about to take her leave she saw the IS-2 divert its attention to Diana's vehicle ahead.

Having realized that out of the similar vehicles skirmishing behind her, she risked friendly fire, but any that tried to escape the fray were enemies along with the obviously different vehicles. The IS-2's barrel stilled, leaving its two allies to continue firing on Pipers ARL as it began to lead its shot.

Never having been very loud or outspoken for that matter, Anna took pride in always following orders. Yet the one trait she had been praised for by her leaders, Virtanen, Kaiser, and the one she appreciated most, from Sokolov, was that she made rational and tactical decisions. "Driver to the right!, ram the IS-2!"

The ISU changed its course immediately to face the IS-2. Anna bit her lip, expecting not to make contact with the ram. Therefore she slid her hand over her gunner's shoulder. At the motion, her gunner tensed before relaxing into the gun sight. The IS-2 was too focused on Diana's retreating T-34-85, Clara having even descended into her hatch for safety as Piper's vehicle was still returning fire behind her. Keeping their sights on the path Diana was using to escape, Clara's vehicle locked its sights as Anna tightened her left hand, signaling the gunner to fire.

It wasn't a precise shot as their commander's training had dictated but it did connect and save their ally. The impact shook the IS-2 whose gunner was likely intensely concentrating only to throw the shot high when hit. The round hit Diana's vehicle but bounced with no visible damage other than jerking their tank harshly. In the last moment before impact, Anna breathed a sigh of relief as her gunner raised the cannon upwards in preparation to ram. The moment never came as she expected. Looking out she saw the final struggle of Piper's ARL-44, lying defeated with a white flag and five barrels pointed at her approaching vehicle.

As these events transpired the audience watched in awe as Transcendence lost Its first two vehicles of the match while the other two were routed. To top it off they had lost their flank. They watched as Pravda finally flipped the downed T-34-75 back up and got the crew reoriented Clara split the force into two. The first proceeded as planned, holding the high ground and scouting westward was a group comprising of a T-34-75, ISU-125, and T-34-85. The second group pursued their fleeing foe to ensure they posed no threat to her beloved leader's flank. This Important task force comprised a T-34-75, T-34-100, and Clara herself in the IS-2.

Back in the Transcnedance's vehicles, Natalya felt angered beyond belief. Her plan had worked, perhaps better than it should have in that situation. They were outgunned, outmaneuvered, and dare she fear, out skilled. She and Diana had escaped but the fact she had lost as many allies as she got out, nibbled away at her confidence in making the call. She felt nearly compelled to 'flip the bird' at Clara as she passed by just so she could revel in what little success they made. It was a fleeting thought of coping.

She had a larger picture to focus on and Diana to support. They hadn't been able to return to friendly lines but if she and Diana could meet up in the next kilometer or so, they would be free to rain hell on their enemy's rear flank, hopefully brightening her mood in the process.

Natalya's IS-1 stopped in an open expanse ready to leave if Diana didn't arrive soon, the mission would have to carry on without her if necessary. Luckily she had to wait no more than two minutes before she saw a T-34-85 approaching her position, the fact it held its turret high and swung side to side reassured her it was friendly. It seemed properly telling of Diana's personality that she would come up with such a way of showing non-hostility. The irony that they were now being cautious of each other for the same reasons their initial attack relied on was not lost on her.

The T-34-85 passed Natalya's IS-1, speeding to a treeling before it stopped to hide, Natalya's IS-1 took after. Emerging from her hatch, Natalya called for Diana. When no response came she raised an eyebrow. Tearing her headset off and shaking her hair loose she stepped out of her hatch and jumped over to the T-34-85. Natalya rapped her knuckles against the commander's cupola before pulling it open when no one emerged.

Inside she saw the crew shouting amongst themselves and the gunner trying to calm them all while the loader did her best to tighten some messy bandages around Diana's head. Natalya leaned, taking the bandage from the gunner whose hands were steady but calm was shattered. Properly applying the bandages, Natalya looked to Diana for consciousness and any other wounds. Diana in return gave only a weak smile through half-lidded eyes as the bruised gash on her head steadily flowed.

-Transition-

-Nonna's POV-

As another round came from the darkness impacting against her IS-3yet providing no real damage Nonna was surprised at the skill that Transcendence was showing against their assault. The latest round had been delivered not at distance but on the move while she had thought herself hidden. She watched the perpetrator, a Tiger follow after its surviving teammates.

"Nonna! fall back to the riverbed!" Came her adored leader's voice through her headset. "Are you sure Lady Katyusha?" asked Nonnaidispleased at having to stop her pursuit of that worrisome Tiger and its crew. "I, Katyusha am not so hotheaded! Katyusha has grown and shall ensure their defeat! We shall lay out some bait and reorganize!" Came the order. Another voice came through the radio, this time in Russian to Katyusha's dismay.

"Indeed our dear Lady Katyusha is correct, though I have prevented the escaping forces from the north from attacking your rear it would be best if we reorganize our forces accordingly." Though Nonna understood her compatriot, Katyusha was none too keen on being left out.

"Clara I said stop speaking Russian on the radio!"

With a chuckle Clara obliged. "As you wish Lady Katyusha".

"Perhaps you could learn to speak it as well" offered Nonna. Without entertaining the idea, Katyusha gave a hmph and ended the call. Without a doubt she was awaiting their arrival.

'Grown she has' sulked Nonna internally yet still thankful Katyusha had not changed physically. 'Had this been last year, Katyusha would have pursued relentlessly relying on numbers and armaments however, now she has stayed up countless nights despite Clara and I pestering her.'

She still took her daily naps of course but that did not stop their beloved commander from planning, rehearsing, and even dreaming of the oncoming match to recreate their first-year championship victory. In Katyusha's own words "Last year's defeat against Orai in the second round was an error, this year we will achieve victory!"

Her leadership style had grown considerably since their first meeting. To the school's shock, Katyusha had even asked the lowest member of their team what could be done to improve their performance. It was after all her last year as commander, as a senior she would still participate in the sport but her focus would be set on college and studying.

'Even then she will remain our beloved Katyusha' Nonna declared internally. 'For Pravda and Katyusha, Clara and I will eradicate all obstacles!'

-Present-

The familiar static arose in Kaiser's ear. "Sir, it seems Diana hit her head pretty hard when a round ricocheted off her vehicle, little blood and she passed out for a moment, the most trouble came from her crew fretting over her" reported Natalya.

Stepping away from his heated discussion with Virtanen and Knight, Kaiser addressed the report. "Very well anything else?" he asked. Having expected his calm response Natalya responded, unphased by the seeming nonchalant tone.

"No, sir she's bandaged up just fine...and apologies for being unable to hold our position or in assisting your retreat. The enemy's Clara headed us off and beat us back, hence my delayed report. We're proceeding northeast as we speak and the enemy is closing in. I don't know how long our fuel and ammunition will last under their harassment." She finished.

"Understood. Survive till further orders are sent" Kaiser ordered.

With an unwavering voice, Natalya responded with vigor. "Yes sir! We will maintain radio silence after this to mitigate any chance of interception" she declared before ending the transmission. Kaiser lowered his headpiece and looked over his shoulder. In the dim red of the night, he could see Virtanen leaning in towards Knight, both avidly listening into the same report but from Diana's crew. Just as Natalya had said, it seemed the panic from Diana's incident had worried her crew and therefore transferred to Virtanen and even worse, Knight.

The trio of commanders reconnoitered once more and knelt in a small circle, only a few vehicles were still running while the rest set security. The Tiger, Panther, Panzer IV, Stug IV, and KV-85 were all that was left of the main body. Each vehicle except for the lead tank, the Panther, was spaced about at random intervals awaiting any movement in the distance. Only Sokolov in his Stug IV remained separated from the formation as he patrolled a few hundred meters off to their escape route.

Kaiser's mind ticked, hurriedly trying to find solutions to their current dilemma. All the while in the back of his mind he couldn't help but compare this to his InfanterieKampf matches in the past. Compared to the standards then, they had failed in multiple ways. Shattered lines and units encircled and runoff, the only respite his mind found down this trail of thought was that it was not an infantry match and that they could perhaps use this to their advantage. They were using different arms and mobile units, after all, it was far different from having to hoof it everywhere and get on by sheer physical prowess.

The difficulty now lay in getting his counterparts to follow through with a practical course of action. He could see their emotions flaring from the expressions they were. Conflict and doubt, are a poisonous mixture, especially as time was short as always.

As Kaiser thought of how to broach the topic Virtanen tried to show his leadership and suggested a plan. "We need to reunite with our counterparts to the north" he stated with Knight nodding frantically along. "Once we do that we can set a new defensive line then-"

Kaiser stopped listening halfway. He looked at Virtanen who pointed and stared a hole through the small map before them as if the answers he so desperately sought were written on it in a cipher. Glancing left, Kaiser saw Knight's poor disposition. He was more jittery than usual, his wide eyes looking frantically between the map and Virtanen, nodding at every suggestion. It was clear he was desperate to aid Diana. His face grew more and more relieved as he was sure Virtanen's words would ensure that they would retrieve Diana and perhaps to a lesser extent in Knight's mind, Natalya.

Whatever chaotically scrapped together plan Virtanen was piecing together with Knight's blind approval was immediately shut down by Kaiser with one word. "No"

That was all it took for deafening silence to overtake the three. Knight looked at Kaiser in disbelief, Near horror on his face as hollow eyes stared at him. Virtanen, now wide-eyed slowly raised his head from the map to look Kaiser in the eyes.

Both looked to see Kaiser's imposing figure looking down on them with a particularly cruel expression. The red light outlining his black figure as the shadow cast from his cover did nothing to quell the sharpness of his eyes and the conviction of his answer. Had he always been so imposing? Or was it the situation and nerves wearing on their mind? Knight was speechless as Virtanen uttered a single word himself.

"What?" he demanded.

-End Chapter-