Chapter 12

Traf and his crew, the acting maintenance crew for Oarai, made some final adjustments on the former Panzer IV D, now upgraded to H version and the Tiger I. That turned out to be an easy job now thanks to Fred Chong and the automotive club. Some people, who passed by, smiled at them, while there were three or four, who stared daggers at them (Erika Itsumi included).

"All tanks are ready now!" he announced to Miho with a salute. She nodded back at him and gave him the 'all clear' signal to enter the Tiger. The boys quickly slid into it and started the engine. "At least I had the precognition for refilling the fuel. If I didn't say to do it, we'll be sitting ducks really soon." The radioman and driver both nodded.

They drove their tank to the starting position and quickly left back to the watching grounds and garages. It was just in time to see a Willys MB Jeep stop next to Miho, her crew and the SC. Takashi suddenly jumped behind a random tank, which happened to be the Panzer 38 (t). It and the Panzer IV were the only tanks of Oarai still here.

"From his reaction I can guess that Alisa is indeed nearby…" Traf muttered. But, his muttering caught the attention of a certain blonde girl. She turned and smiled. "So, you are that boy, who was seen at the end of the match." That was more statement than a question, but he still nodded. "Trafalgar Jameson, position: engineer!" he said and saluted. "At ease, okay?!" she added in a commanding voice. "Jawohl!" Traf answered almost immediately. "Okay, Kay!" George shouted from behind him and the blonde laughed.

The blonde looked at the radioman curiously. "My sis is a well known speedster." The newly named Kay nodded and turned back to face Miho, but she suddenly waved her hand. "Sergeant Oddball! You can visit us again, if you ever want!" she called at Yukari, which jumped in surprise. Traf snickered at that. Oddball was really a bad disguise name. And from where came that sergeant?!

"Yukari… You are even worse than me in undercover. I managed to not be caught on the Graf Zeppelin for four hours!" the commander of the boy crew said (of course he didn't count his encounter with Erika). That drew surprised faces for everyone, who wasn't aware about him going there."Y-you really spied on Kuromorimine that long?!" Kay asked bewildered. "The only thing I found was only the place where they keep a Panzerkampfwagen VIII Maus and some Panther garages. Nothing more, nothing less."

He stood there without flinching for about ten seconds and noticed the surprise written on their faces (except Miho, who already knew). "By the way… Shouldn't you all go get the tanks to the starting point and meet in the middle?" he advised and rushed back to his tank with George and Takashi following him, pretending to run to the Schwerer Gustav replica that acted like a viewing screen.

Kay looked at the Oarai lineup. There were only five commanders, but they had six tanks. That means that the last commander is either too shy to show up, or is held as a secret… she realized after a while. "Welcome back to the 63rd National Sensha-Do Tournament!" announced one of the judges.

"Today, we have the 4th fight of the 1st round. Mode is Flag tank battle. My name is Hibiki Inatomi and I'll supervise this match." The judge took a deep breath. "Captains and vice-commanders, step forward!" Kay and Alisa with Miho and the SC president did as ordered. "Please bow." The four girls again obeyed and said the standard phrase, basically wishing the enemy good luck and having fun.

"Commanders, please go to your starting points." Kay turned and noticed a small smirk forming on Alisa's lips. I should rather watch her closely. And she went straight to her Willys MB.

Traf looked at the grounds surrounding their hiding spot from inside the cupola. "George, send a message to Miho to try luring the main enemy force to us. Takashi, the 45° turn of hull please." His crewmates nodded and did their jobs. George turned to him suddenly. "It seems that Takashi was right. They're listening to their communications!" he nearly shouted in frustration.

Suddenly, 3 M4 Shermans drove out from the forest and turned around. "Target locked!" Traf muttered as he aimed at the farthest M4. "Feuer frei!" And a Panzergranate 39 left the cannon with a loud BANG!

Watching platform for VIP #1

Darjeeling sipped her tea with a small smile on her lips as she watched the replay of the shot and the Tiger I speeding away. "They gained their attention and eased the pressure on the rest of their team."Orange Pekoe was silent and resumed watching the screen after a while. "I wonder if they can win this."

Darjeeling smiled again. "I bet they can. After all, their Tiger was the one to draw the First blood."

Watching platform for VIP #2

Shiho nodded with approval at the crazy stunt that the Tiger pulled. "Their tactics are exactly like being pulled straight from a book. Sniping the leading tank and running away, while gaining the attention of as many enemies as possible and thus creating a weak spot in the ambush for the others to break through it…" Maho remarked, while Erika just scoffed.

"This only confirms that they are dangerous for their enemies." Erika rolled her eyes in annoyance. "I hope that Saunders crushes their tank too severely that it would be unrepairable!" the white haired girl growled. Shiho gave her a cold stare, because wishing others only bad luck can turn against her easily.

"Erika, do you remember, what happened at that café?" Maho asked. Shiho noticed that the girl shivered for a second. "What happened there?" the headmistress of Kuromorimine asked. "Well, Erika called Miho a failure and the boys stood up to defend her. Trafalgar also called Erika crazy like Hans ze Flammenwerfer, whoever is that, and told her that he will make sure to shoot her tank down, if they face off against each other."

Shiho pictured the situation in her head. Well, he cares about his commander and doesn't make empty threats. And his fighting style is cut straight out from history... she thought and smirked too lightly to be noticed.

Kay almost jumped in surprise, when she heard that one M4 was shot down by the now retreating Tiger I and two others with Naomi's Firefly giving chase to it. "Dog to Warmama! Repeat! Dog to Warmama! Do you copy?!" one of the two chasing Shermans' crews suddenly spoke.

"This is Warmama. What's the matter, Dog?" she responded. "The enemy Tiger is unnaturally fast! Naomi gave us the estimated speed of it. It is at least 4 km/h faster than normal max. speed!" the radiowoman of the tank said back, clearly scared.

"Take it down, ASAP. Do you copy?" Kay asked. "Dog copies! But we lost it! Oh no! Help! *static*" And a second later, the sound of the 8,8 cm KwK 36 L/56 firing, echoed through the battlefield. "Naomi! Retreat now!" Kay shouted. "Already done, Warmama. It seems that the Tiger goes only after alone or leading tanks. Just like those at WW2."

So, they are trying to strike fear into our hearts… Kay realized and ordered her remaining tanks to regroup.

Alisa screamed in anger and frustration. That blasted Tiger took down two of their tanks and forced Naomi to retreat! She knew the tall girl enough to tell that she never backs away from a fight.

"Alisa-chan… We should rather regroup with Kay-chan and the rest." She stared at Helmet-chan with a glare. "And expose us to the enemy team? No!" she responded. "Everyone regroup at point Charlie 56!" suddenly said the enemy commander. Alisa smirked. At least something!

"They are going to regroup at point Charlie 56!" she announced. "How do you know?" Kay asked her. "Just a girl's intuition!" Alisa shot back. "Hahaha! You sure?" Kay suddenly responded. "Yes, I am sure." There was silence for several long moments. "Listen here, you lil' shit. If you lie, you will be court martialed!" the captain of Saunders threatened.

And as she said that, a Type 89B I-Go suddenly showed up. Alisa stared at the enemy commander and she did the same. The girl knocked on the top armor. "Take us away!" she shouted and the medium tank sped away. "Their advanced recon found us, Warmama! Permission to take them down?" she asked.

"No. Find a better hiding spot. Warmama out." Alisa sighed. "Take us away as fast as this tank can!" she shouted at Helmet-chan. The poor driver just nodded and started the engine. Little did they know that they were being watched by a hungry beast that came from the opposite direction than the Type 89B.

Meanwhile, at point Charlie 56,5

Miho waited for response from the Tiger I about confirming the position of the enemy flag tank. "They found it!" Saori announced after a while. "But, it is retreating to a new spot." Miho expected as much. "Tell the Duck team to prepare the last part of the trap." Her radiowoman nodded in response and texted Noriko.

The Nishizumi smiled, when the big cloud of dirt appeared. "Oh no! They found our flag tank! Retreat!" she announced with fake worry that was too convincing and almost got the others to do exactly that. "Let's test our new cannon on the nearest Sherman, when it appears." Hana and Yukari nodded with big smiles.

Saori texted something to the rest. "They will give us and Hippo team the nearest two Sherman's to shoot." Miho blinked. Saori just managed to get them and the StuG III a free shot and save ammo for the rest.

And soon after that, two M4s showed up riding to the top of a small hill in front of their hiding spot. "We'll take the nearer one." Hana nodded and aimed at the left unaware M4 Sherman, while the StuG aimed at the right one. BANG! the two cannons announced the shells leaving the chambers.