"Again?! Why does it keep happening!"

Slamming her fist on the desk, Rukuriri tossed the paper containing the report of another raid on another of Dublin's barracks. Three tanks had been stolen, but they were all high-quality. Another Churchill, Cromwell, and their first Black Prince was stolen. It was the second raid, the previous having happened a mere 3 days before. They had now lost ten tanks in total, in less than a week, from these raids. There were dozens more tanks across arsenals in Dublin, but how long before they would no longer be in those arsenals? It was uncertain when the next raid would take place, since the raiders were going to be unpredictable for sure.

"Governor, we can't afford to let another raid take place! We have to up our security before they come back!"

"Thanks, Captain Obvious..."

"I'm afraid we can't do that, Governor..."

"What's wrong, Cranberry."

"Look at this! Forty-six desertions reported over the past week. We soon won't have the manpower to deal with whoever these raiders are!"

"F-f-forty-six?!"

"Over the past week, it's a new high. The largest on a single day was a staggering twenty-four, yesterday, they brought their six tanks along, including a third Churchill."

"And all of them were Irish, too..."

"Why... everything is falling apart..."

"We still have over 100 tanks in Dublin alone, Governor! We can easily beat the rebels!"

"Not to mention we are replacing our Irish with English, we don't have to worry too much."

"I hope that's the truth. Peach, you're increasing the garrisons for every single arsenal we have in Dublin. Pull out any civilians and place a gun in their hands if necessary. I'm not losing any more tanks or materiel."

"Yes, Governor."

"Shall we inform Darjeeling?"

"I will. I'm confident I can keep things under control, I don't wanna go down as being babysitted. I'll send her a letter, but assure her I can fix it on my own."

"Understood, Governor... I hope you know what you're doing."

"Of course I do! Now, make sure we don't have any more raids make our tanks disappear any more. I need every tank available to keep order in the streets."

As Cranberry left the room with Peach, Rukuriri buried her head in her hands. It was all coming apart. Tanks were disappearing left and right, two arsenals had been raided and burned by unknown assailants, and six tanks and twenty-four crew had deserted. Rukuriri was sure the raids were from Irish nationalists, and knew that they were planning something. The loss of so many tanks in such short time meant that they were going to take as much as they could in preparation of a possible military action, most likely, rebellion.

Rebellion. The word hung in her thoughts as it crossed her mind. Rebellion against St. Gloriana. Rebellion against all she had been working for with her fellow Governors in other lands for the past ten years. Rebellion against the woman she served, admired, and loved. Rebellion against the nation she had been born, reared, and raised in. Rebellion against everything that bore semblance to St. Gloriana.

Letting out a sigh, Rukuriri sank back into her chair, dejected. How did it all get to this?

It was all a normal day as Alice and Chiyo were perusing over the papers that had been dropped on their desk by the secretary a few minutes earlier in their usual daily routine. Being the leaders of the All-Stars Organization that helped ensure peace in the world and organize friendly Sensha-do matches to keep things cordial between nations, they had to subject themselves to rummaging through the papers every morning before practice and other fun activities after. But what was impressive was the fact that despite being a mere child of 13 years, Alice was as energetic, charismatic, and willing as her mother, who had just reached the age of 34. A kind, caring, loving woman, Chiyo had raised Alice endearingly, nurturing her and training her in her future role as leader of the All-Stars Organization, and she had caught on very quickly. But today they would face a new challenge, one they didn't expect.

"Mother... what is this?"

"Hmm? Oh, my..."

"Ireland's in St. Gloriana... what's going on, Mother?"

"I... don't know... I honestly never expected this, Alice. Oh my again... can this all be true."

"What's wrong, Mother? Please, do tell."

"I'll allow you to read it yourself, dear... I can't imagine Darjeeling doing something like this..."

Gently taking the document from her mother's hand, Alice began to carefully read each word found on the paper. It was a Proclamation, judging by the title, and it bore much similarity to other declarations of independence, something that further fueled each other's concern. The further Alice read, the more unsettled she became, and she began to hug her mother for comfort as she pushed her Boko doll closer. Chiyo in return held her daughter to try to comfort her best she could as she joined her in reading the document.

"There's nothing to truly confirm, but we can't always judge a book by its cover. Before I give my own... what do you suggest, Alice?"

"We can't afford to investigate so soon. I'll call the commanders to a special emergency meeting in four days."

"Exactly what I was thinking, that's my daughter..."

Alice giggled at the rubs and pats her mother gave, but both quickly reverted to their monotonous mood, now thinking of how to approach the situation when the meeting came. Darjeeling was certain to be there, she always attended meetings like this, but would she know? It was happening right in her backyard, so there was no way she couldn't know. But if she didn't, it would be best if she knew. Alice wanted to avoid conflict in St. Gloriana, knowing that blood was sure to be spilled if things continued to go down the way they were going. And what would the others say? How would they react to this? Some would support the Irish rebels, others St. Gloriana, and it would be a big mess nobody wanted to handle.

But, if there was going to be any way to prevent bloodshed, it would have to be through this path. And for the sake of peace, Alice and Chiyo were willing to endure a bit of bickering.

"Four days, hm? I do wonder what it's about."

"I wonder about that as well, Darjeeling-sama. Perhaps it is about the situation in... you know."

"I'm sure it won't amount to much. Rukuriri's been supplied with sufficient arms, I'm sure she will do well."

Just then, a familiar pink-haired living organism of energy burst through the door, carrying a letter from Rukuriri.

"Darjeeling-sama, I have a letter from Ruku!"

"Please, do show."

Opening the letter, Darjeeling's eyebrows were raised in an inquisitive look as she examined the letter. Once she finished, she set it down and began sipping her tea as Rosehip sat and sipped tea as well.

"What was that all about?"

"Assam... it seems Rukuriri is having... some problems."

"Let me look... what on earth!?"

"What is it, Assam-sama?"

"They raided two arsenals and took ten tanks! And loads of guns and arms, including anti-tank weaponry, and tons of ammunition!"

"Wh-"

"And it was all in the span of three days... the arsenals were burnt, fortunately nobody has been killed."

"How? Assam-sama, I thought..."

"Don't mention it, Pekoe... I don't know what's going on with my girls there. This should've been prevented, I'm speaking with Scone when I get there... I'm not letting this happen again."

The room was filled with silence, save for the sipping by its occupants. Ireland was about to burst into flames if they didn't do something about it, and once it did, it was going to be a very costly affair that they didn't want to happen to them. A few minutes went by without any dialogue before another girl burst through the door, bearing another letter. Assam and Pekoe braced for possible bad news, while Rosehip leaned forward in curiosity and Darjeeling slightly nodded to acknowledge the letter. After it was set on the table, Darjeeling took one final sip before picking up the letter, examining its contents. Finishing the letter, her demeanor seemed to change.

"Alice has called everyone to a special meeting... regarding the ongoing situation in Ireland..."

"I'll go as representative! Darjeeling-sama, you can't leave at this moment, we-"

"I have faith in Rukuriri, she's proven competent at her job. Now, I'll have to prepare, no doubt it may be a stressful meeting."

"Good luck, Commander..."

As soon as Patricia heard the news, she immediately summoned the others to a meeting at Coleen's house again. Once everyone had been gathered, she didn't even have any formalities to begin.

"So let me get this straight... she's holding a meeting?!"

"Told ya, Pat..."

"Alright, alright... backup plan! Maud, your Flying Devils are back, right?"

"Yes, Pat, they just arrived yesterday."

"Caitlin, you willing to take some of your Volunteers to a raid in London?"

"What- you mean..."

"Alright, here's the plan. I got you some Gloriana uniforms, false IDs, and whatnot, act as British as you can and don't blow your cover. The Flying Devils will transport you there via transport plane in two days. Once there, use these IDs to bypass security and sabotage any mode of transport that tea lady's gonna use to get to the All-Stars Organization meeting-place in Saunders. Make sure you succeed, we can't afford to let Darjie know about the Proclamation. Once she finds out, she'll treat it like a Dec of Indy and we'll all be dead."

"Got it, Pat, consider it done!"

"As for our tank raids... Coleen?"

"Well, I was going to put this off until next meeting... but I've been lucky enough to get us a new batch of Irishwomen willing to fight against Gloriana. Shannon, you here?"

"Here, Commander Coleen!"

"Heh, already got a military going, calling you 'Commander' now."

"Don't forget, Shannon, Pat's the actual Commander, I'm just the gal who heads military affairs. Just call me 'Ma'am.'"

"My bad, Ma'am! Commander Patricia, Shannon of the Shamrock Brigade at your service!"

"'Shamrock Brigade'?"

"Shannon was a rising star in the Irish Division before Glorianification, remember? She was the head of the Shamrock Brigade, I remember we had a little friendly rivalry going on with my Cork Brigade, but we always won out. Shamrock was growing in skill as each match passed, and in our very last practice match before Glorianification... well, we fought to a draw."

"Oh, right! Of course! Shannon really was a fighter, shame she can be an airhead at times..."

"Hey! At least I almost beat Coleen in that match!"

"Yeah, probably because you decided to take advantage of the fact my tank's engine randomly broke down..."

"Ladies, that event is behind us, we should focus on the future, now."

"Yes, Commander. Apologies, Commander."

"Accepted. Shannon, how much of this 'Shamrock Brigade' do you have present?"

"I'll invite you outside for that, Commander."

Coleen proudly showed off the new additions to the growing Volunteers as Patricia and the others inspected the new materiel. 24 girls, including Shannon, stood ready with an array of 6 tanks: A Churchill, and five Matildas, one of them a crew member short. Patricia bore an expression of pride, Caitlin an expression of excitement, and the others expressions of surprise and amazement. It was a most welcome addition, the tank corps now expanded to 25 tanks with more enthusiastic veterans willing to fight the full might of St. Gloriana no matter the cost. They were still wearing Gloriana uniform, having recently defected and not receiving their Volunteer uniforms yet, but to signify they were joining the Irish rebels, they each wore a green armband on their right arms and a shamrock in their caps.

"Welcome to the Irish Volunteers, all of you! We're glad you made the right choice!"

"Any time, new pals! Shamrock's ready to rock these foundations to nonexistence!"

"Loving the enthusiasm! Say, wanna raid London?"

"Uh..."

"Aw, c'mon, don't leave me hanging!"

"Relax, Caitlin, they just defected, give them a while to rest. They'll need all the preparation they can get for the rebellion."

"Sorry, Coleen. Alright, uhh..."

"Now, don't feel embarrassed! Shamrock's all about the friendliness when we're friends!"

"YEAH!"

"Wow... you got the right folks, after all."

"Yep, and with more raids you'll likely do when you get back, we're gonna need another expansion to the garage."

Groans could be heard behind Coleen as the sentence was processed in their minds. They had a little over a week to expand, and that wasn't enough time. Coleen begrudgingly acquiesced to just leaving the excess tanks in the yard, though she warned of the potential consequences.

"When the patrols get here, they'll be wondering why we have so many tanks and the other arsenals have so few. We'll have to train harder in case the rebellion kicks off too early. Practice aim with cannons and rifles, and hopefully we can be able to stand a chance in Dublin.

And Shannon, are you sure you want to join us in this rebellion?"

"We're all willing, Com- I mean, Ma'am. We know the consequences and we're prepared to face them if we should!"

"Alright, bless your souls. Three days from now will be our final meeting and the week after, the rebellion begins. Say, as much as I like Shannon as a name, would you like to be known as a 'Chief of the Name'?"

"Sure thing! Shannon O'Rahilly, say, 'The O'Rahilly' doesn't sound too bad!"

"Excellent! We'll still call you Shannon, but we'll be sure to put your name as 'The O'Rahilly' in dispatches and other such things."

"Well, ladies, I believe that settles it. Caitlin, I wish you well in your raid, Coleen, keep training the gals, I want to make sure we make every shot count during the rebellion. As for the raids, Shannon, if you'd like-"

"Raiding is one of our specialties, Commander!"

"Wonderful! Get as many tanks as you can, as well as inspire as many tankers as possible to defect. I want to ensure Rukuriri and Assam have the hardest time of their lives booting us out."

"I'll get that arsenal filled in a week, Commander, don't you worry!"

"Now, don't forget, last meeting will be in three days. After that, train, raid, and nothing but those two. Got it?"

"Yes, Commander!"

"Good! Dismissed, all of you. Shamrock, get your tanks in the garage, we're happy to have you."

Two days later

"Clear! Drop!"

One by one, the thirty raiders under Caitlin dropped from the transport plane, led by Caitlin herself. Thanks to its Gloriana identification, the plane was cleared for Gloriana airspace, much to everyone's relief. Once everyone had safely landed, scattered across several areas of London, Caitlin fired a flare gun into the air, alerting everyone to her position, much to the curiosity of civilians, and catching the attention of a few policemen, contrary to Patricia's order of "Don't blow your cover." But, what worked worked, and soon the thirty raiders were united.

"Alright, we seem to have landed near the Barbican Centre. I want you all to split off into groups of six each. Bypass security as best you can, sabotage every piece of transport you possibly can, and come back in one piece. You can help each other, but I'll split you all into six to make it as mobile as possible. I'll be the one to lead the attack on the airports, the rest of you do as much damage as you can. Darjeeling must not be allowed to get to Saunders. Understood?"

"Yes, Ma'am!"

"Good luck everyone! Now, let's blow up some trash heaps!"

"Shamrock were the ones who defected that one day..."

"Wasn't Shamrock one of our best tank brigades from Ireland?"

"Yea, then Glorianification happened and we started whittling down their numbers. Heh. They cried a lot about it, I can remember."

"Especially Shannon... poor girl..."

"Annoying, a dummy, but you can't deny she had spirits."

"Hey... what's going on outside?"

"Sounds like... explosions?"

Lifting the curtain, Assam's face was filled with horror. A lot of smoke was billowing from where the airport was supposed to be.

"Wh... are those terrorists?!"

A St. Gloriana guard stationed at the airport suddenly burst in, ragged and bloody.

"They-they... just came in with our uniforms, showed some ID's and were allowed entry. They went into the tarmac, and started planting some explosives on the Commander's private planes. When security came to stop them, they pulled out guns and started shooting, and chaos began! It all got worse when the bombs went off, the gates were in chaos, the terminals were crowded from fleeing passengers, both sides suffered losses. I was lucky to escape, I got wounded by one of the raiders when trying to fire back."

The phone then rang.

"Hello? Assam speaking, the Commander is currently asleep."

"Ma'am, the boats have been destroyed as well! We've dealt with most of the- look out!"

"What's going on over there?!"

"Ugh... that was close... shard almost fell on top of us... the private boats got blown up! Some gals showed up in Gloriana wear, came through security and planted bombs on the boats, and we came to stop them but they opened fire. Two went down instantly and the rest scattered. We managed to take down three of them before the bombs went off with the other raiders still on them, looks like we suppressed them enough to make them face their own fate."

"So you're telling me... the private transports are all gone?"

"Well, I dunno about the airport or the cars, but..."

"The airport was raided, the private jets were blown up."

"So... what are we going to do with the meeting at Saunders? Do we not attend?"

"None of your business to question us, know your place. Keep working on getting those false-flag raiders neutralized, I'll inform the Commander of this. Thank you for bringing this to our attention."

Setting down the phone, Assam dismissed the wounded airport officer before sitting down next to Rosehip and Pekoe, who both sat speechless over the course of events just described to them.

"I'll tell Darjeeling about this. You two handle anything else that comes through that door. I swear, if its those Irish bastards I'll rip out the throat of that leader myself."

Assam was nervous as she drew nearer to Darjeeling's apartment in the palace. She knew it was a horrible blunder of security, and she would be one of those held responsible for allowing this to happen as her GI6 had yet again failed to stop this raid from happening. Arriving at the door, Assam knocked, and was surprised to hear Darjeeling bid her enter. Coming inside, Assam could see her Commander, still awake, with a very displeased expression on her face, watching a news report of the destruction of her private vehicles.

"C-Commander... I..."

"Get me Alice Shimada. Now."

Unnerved by this Maho-esque behavior, Assam grabbed the telephone, rung the number, and handed the line to Darjeeling before quickly booking it out of the room.

"Boko... do you ever wonder who is in the right in some conflicts? No? I know, it's hard to choose a protagonist sometimes- oh! Who could this be?

Hello, Alice Shimada speaking."

"Shimada, I'm pulling out."

"Darjeeling? I... your voice..."

"I apologize, but several unfortunate circumstances have occurred that are forcing me to cancel my trip. Be sure to inform me what happens."

"Will you not send a representative?"

"Our transports are, well, gone. The circumstances being, saboteurs blew up several of our transportation vehicles rendering us unable to travel due to the shutdown of our facilities following this attack. Civilian casualties have been reported, but thankfully no civilians killed. Twelve raiders have been killed at a cost of twenty-three of our own. A truly horrible day today."

"Oh... I am so sorry to hear that... I will mail you a report of the meeting, I hope St. Gloriana can recover from this."

"I'm sure we will, we won't let this hinder us at all."

"Good to hear. I hope you will recover soon, this is most unfortunate."

"Thank you very much, Alice."

The phone hung up, and Alice sunk into her chair, even more concerned with the situation in Ireland. Had this been a deliberate ploy to prevent Darjeeling to attend by some group, or was this an actual assassination attempt? Whatever the case, the chances it was from Irish dissidents was very high given the situation. This was definitely a point going to be used in the meeting, something like this happening around the same time as the events in Ireland bore little chance of coincidence. There had to be something behind it all.

Two days after

Ten commanders had shown up as expected, including Alice herself. Anzu of Ooarai, Maho of Kuromorimine, representing the Headmistress Shiho, who was unable to attend that day, Kay of the host nation Saunders, Anchovy of Anzio, Katyusha of Pravda, Mika of Continuation, Kinuyo Nishi of Chihatan, and Marie and Éclair, joint Commanders of BC-Maginot. Other representatives included Miho, who stood behind Anzu, Alisa and Naomi behind Kay, Erika, Maho's second-in-command, Nonna, who held Katyusha on her shoulders, and Haru Fukuda, a rising star at Chihatan noted for being influential in changing their tactics. Once everyone had settled into their respective seats, Alice opened the meeting.

"I'm glad you have all been able to come to this... rather unfortunate meeting... I'm sure you've all heard the news regarding Darjeeling."

"We all have, and it must've been those Irish!"

"We cannot jump to conclusions so quickly, Katyusha, though I do consider the coincidence of this taking place amidst the Irish situation."

"I agree with Maho, that's kinda weird... say, Anzu, you did some spying, Yukari didn't tell me the details since she was tired, but what did she show?"

"Well, turns out the raids that happen on those Dublin arsenals are Irish after all, then there was something about 'Irish Volunteers', and there's a big arsenal where they store all their stolen loot. Used to store some pre-war tanks, now they own some of the best of the best. Say, Miho are there any Centurions they have in Dublin?"

"To my knowledge, yes, but just one, and that's stored in the most secure place in Dublin, and only used for the Governor herself."

"Well, safe to say once that gets stolen that's a huge boost, I mean, just look at how easily Alice was able to use a Centurion against our tanks!"

"Agreed... let's just move on to what to do. Any suggestions, Nishi?"

"I'm unsure, Éclair. We can intervene, but like Maho said, we can't easily jump to conclusions, though I will admit that attack on the airport and seaport really tempts me to suggest intervention."

"Ah yes, that. The identities of the attackers haven't been revealed yet, but there is a chance they are Irish. As mentioned before, there is evidence to suggest that this isn't purely coincidental."

"So, do we intervene? My T-34s are ready to crush those rebels easily!"

"Now, now, calm your shorties, Katy, we haven't even discussed this 'Proclamation' thing yet."

"HEY! ONLY MY CLOSE ASSOCIATES ARE ALLOWED TO CALL ME 'KATY!'"

"Yeah yeah, so what about this Proclamation?"

"I will admit, it does bear some similarities to a declaration of independence, and it does contain grievances that we didn't know happen. And although we don't have solid evidence, the fact Ireland hates Gloriana right now suggests that what they're saying is really true."

"So, you're saying, Anchovy, that Gloriana has been... going tyrannical?"

"Ten years ago, Darjeeling announced the start of Glorianification, a policy to replace separate national identities of the different nations under their rule with pure Gloriana identity to 'bring all peoples closer together'. It sounds alright at first, but once you look into these details, you can see what's going on. Oppression, arrest of dissidents, similar to Katyusha, if you will."

"Not like you and Kuromorimine aren't as dictatorial as us..."

"Now, let's calm down, please. The question currently lies before us: do we support Ireland, or St. Gloriana? Let us be civil, please."

Silence came over the assembly as they began weighing their options, each Commander whispering to their associates on who to support and what statements should be given to support the argument. Miho privately whispered with Anzu on the matter, and elected to speak up in favor of Ireland. Taking a deep breath, and allowing the commotion to cease, Miho gave her statements in favor of Ireland.

"I believe it to be better if we support Ireland rather than St. Gloriana. As mentioned earlier, the fact that Ireland's people are opposed to Glorianification suggests the injustices and tyrannical acts mentioned in this proclamation are indeed authentic. If we pledge our support to St. Gloriana, we pledge support to tyrants and oppressors, and I don't think that will be a good look, at least for us, Ooarai.

There is also the consideration that Ireland has boasted an array of very talented tankers. I can still remember my matches against them, and they proved to be a very hard nut to crack. Coleen and Pat really gave us a run for our money, and the Shamrock Brigade very nearly defeated us. To lose these tankers means Sensha-do suffers a major loss as well."

Maho stood to give her counterargument.

"Yes, I can see what supporting St. Gloriana in this brewing conflict may give, and the high chances of us supporting actions mentioned in this document, but there is also the consideration that St. Gloriana pulls out of this All-Stars Organization should we decide to support Ireland, which they may consider a stab in the back. And while I admit it will be a loss to Sensha-do if we do lose these tankers, it won't necessarily affect the sport in the long run.

If St. Gloriana pulls out, that's the real loss to Sensha-do we'll face. We'll lose one of the biggest nations participating in this sport if we do take the risk of supporting Ireland. There must also be mentioned that raid on the ports, the destruction of property and transportation vehicles at the cost of human lives. I may sound cold here, but I am merely stating fact, and... I'm sorry, Miho, but I and Kuromorimine must stand with St. Gloriana."

"But, sister, that raid killed no civilians! And I can't put my hand to support whatever Darjeeling is doing with Ireland right now! And it isn't just Ireland, Glorianification is affecting Scotland and Wales as well! People are losing their nationality and identity in favor of this 'togetherness' that is just bringing more harm than good, it's like Gloriana hates foreign culture and wants everyone under them to change to their own regardless of what they think! It's just wrong, and evil! Don't you ever think that?"

It was here that Mika, who had sat calmly playing her kantele throughout the whole meeting, finally gave her thoughts.

"It seems we have the populist, and the idealist. One wishes to preserve humanity, one wishes to preserve an idea. One wants the rights of individuals respected, the other wants the sport dearly loved by all to remain intact. Who is in the right, only we can choose."

For several long moments, silence hung in the air as Mika's words sank in, save for the langouring notes of the kantele that returned once its owner had finished speaking. Then, Anchovy, grabbing a green and orange pen from her cloak, took a small white paper, drew green on the left and orange on the right, leaving white in the middle. Holding it up, she declared her support for Ireland.

Miho did the same, followed by Kay, Nishi, Mika, Èclair, and Marie. Kuromorimine voted in support of St. Gloriana, the sole nation to do so, and Pravda abstained, wishing to preserve some dignity while not fully stabbing St. Gloriana in the back. With that, the meeting had ended with a majority in support of Ireland, but with a powerhouse voting against. Maho had a face of deep concern, mirrored by Erika behind her. It was going to be a fateful decision, and everyone in the room knew that.

"I've just received word of the decision of the meeting. I'm happy to say, a majority got our support, Pat."

"Good to hear, but 'majority?'"

"Kuromorimine voted for St. Gloriana, Pravda abstained. What matters is we got Saunders and Ooarai having our backs, as well as the other nations that pledged help."

"Well, what helps helps. Say, Ooarai got a buff to their numbers, they're sitting at twenty tanks now. Still blows my mind how a nation with that small of a tank force blasted through two tournaments."

"What's done is done, and there are many lessons to learn."

"So, how's Caitlin?"

"Doing well, though still a tad remorseful from all the losses. We managed to accomplish the objective, but it turns out Darjeeling's still finding out anyway."

"Meaning those girls died for nothing..."

"What's done is done. Hindsight is 20/20, but I think we can both admit that was horribly misjudged."

"Amen, Coleen. But to some good news, the arsenal is finally filled?"

"Yep, thirty tanks strong. The outer court has ten more slots, so we can afford a couple more raids. Say, doesn't Gloriana have a Centurion here?"

"...you're kidding, right? You're actually gonna try to get it?"

"I mean, boosts our chances if we get our hands on that."

"We've got a bloody week left and you're telling me you can get a Centurion? A bloody Centurion, used only by the Governor herself?!"

"What have the Volunteers never been able to accomplish, Commander?"

"I suppose you're right, but I must warn you, Col, we've only got one shot at this, and we're running on a tight schedule. If you manage to get this, it'll be huge."

"Trust me, Pat, I have the best girls for the job."

"And they are?"

"Who else but The O'Rahilly and the Shamrock Brigade."

Author's Note: While writing this, I decided to just ask Sharky if I could use her Shamrock School for Girls characters in the story. Fortunately, she has said yes and given her permission, so say hello to the new additions to the Irish Volunteers!

Caitlin's raid ends up being in vain, and with everyone but St. Gloriana, Pravda, and Kuromorimine in support of Ireland, tension rises as the clock ticks down to zero hour, and Ireland is turned upside down. All the while, Coleen will be planning her most ambitious raid yet.

Next time: Coleen, Shannon, and the Shamrock Brigade attack Rukuriri's own arsenal in search of the Centurion, a tank that if wielded by the Irish rebels, will prove a deadly weapon against its former user.