ARC II chapter 21

Boris looked at Trafalgar and his crew as they did final checks on their Tiger to make sure that it wouldn't fail almost instantly in the jungle-like area where they would have the battle. Hell, they had even fixed the turret traverse a bit with Tsuneo's help not so long ago on all tanks, which would prove to be needed against a swarm of LTs and MTs that Chi-Ha-Tan used. Not that he knew it at the moment.

It might be a 10 v 10 battle, he thought as he glanced at where Chi-Ha-Tan was gathered, but I have a bad feeling about this one. Honestly, seeing the predictable enemy suddenly change tactics just a week ago in battle with another team… It was scary. Not as much as Nonna was at times, but it also wasn't lagging much behind Vadim's sister and her natural coldness.

"At least they don't have an O-I…" he muttered loud enough for Grigori and Ivan and they nodded in response. But before they could continue in what-if scenarios, the head judge gave the signal to get into their tanks, which was obeyed by everyone.

Erwin smirked as she saw the boys' T-34/85 and Tiger I E spit away to find a good ambush spot. But, it quickly faded, when she spotted something moving in the bushes around them. As if it… "Enemy in the bushes!" she called out just a second before a barrage of 57 mm guns spit their ammo at the 8 remaining tanks.

They didn't do much damage. Just destroyed a bit of their Schürzen side skirts, which saved the turretless TD that the StuG III G was from being disabled. "Feuer!" Erwin commanded and Saemonza blindly fired into the bushes before them, just as the Mark IV suddenly left the formation as its jolly roger fell down.

"Shark team, return to the formation!" Nishizumi nearly shouted in the comms, receiving a negative answer almost immediately. And all Erwin could do at the moment was to watch as the Mark IV tanked several shells, before it fell victim to a Type 97 Chi-Ha Shinhoto's fire.

History repeats itself, she thought and put her cap down to shadow her eyes for a moment, before saying her thoughts aloud with the gravest tone she could.

And yet, she got confirmation of disabling a Type 95 Ha-Go by that blind shot at the same time, not knowing that another Type 97 Chi-Ha was preparing to attack the StuG III H's vulnerable rear armor.

Traf blinked, when he looked at the river. There's something really strange about it, he thought and focused on one exact spot, where he saw the flash of yellow… something behind the bushes and it wasn't even moving. What it was exactly, he didn't know, but it being suspicious was fact clear as a day.

"Мосва! Fire with your machine gun at a bush about 60 feet away!" He commanded and soon, the T-34/85's machine gun sent several short bursts of pellets on the bush… only to reveal that the yellow thing was an oversized duck head-shaped balloon on top of a boat-like tank. One that he recognized easily, thanks to seeing several pictures of it.

"They have a Type 2 Ka-Mi amphibious tank!" George quickly said into the comms and Traf nodded with a ghost of a proud smile on his lips. Only to pale, when he noticed another duck balloon, this one in perfect condition, unlike the other one. "This is getting out of hand. Now, there are two of them," he muttered and fired at the first Ka-Mi, since it was near spotting him.

And he smirked, when Boris and his crew did the same soon after that, taking out both amphibious tanks out of the match. Or so he thought, because the Ka-Mi shot by the T-34 survived only thanks to the duck balloon.

Viewing platform for VIP #1

Katyusha was excited for the duration of the match so far. Even Chi-Ha-Tan changing tactics didn't break the mood for her. Far from it. The match only grew more intense and she loved it even more than training for their upcoming match with KMM. But, she glared at the screen, when she saw that one Ka-Mi survived and repositioned itself.

"Nonna, I'm gonna have a word about this with that idiot of a brother later!" she announced to her second-in-command with a serious tone in her voice. And then, she saw that the Tiger I suddenly stopped, looking like the transmission broke and/or it got stuck in a mud, which she knew was unlikely for a skilled crew like Trafalgar Jameson's was.

"A trap?!" she said a bit louder than she wanted and it sure happened to be one as it got attention of a Chi-Ha and a Ha-Go, the former of which fell prey to the 88 mm main gun of the Tiger, while the latter was somehow disabled by a concentrated fire from two of the three MGs that the Tiger had at the same time… only for the rest of CHT forces to take down the StuG and M3 before leading the rest of Oarai to what most likely was a trap of their own.

"Катюша наслаждается этим матчем слишком много," Klara said with a smile and Katyusha did the only thing she could without shouting: she stared down her other second-in-command.

Viewing platform for VIP #2

Anchovy didn't party with the rest, as much as she normally did, today. She simply wanted to study the other commanders, now that she was outsmarted by Gregor, just to have a bigger chance at getting to the semifinals next time. She knew that she had to somehow get the money for new tanks as well as study the enemies' tactics, but given how unpopular was the cut on the food just to get a single P26/40… she was at a loss about what to do.

So, she was practically forcing herself to stay awake and find a solution, while watching the match before her. I should note this, she thought as she saw the Tiger I make a trap by making itself look like it broke down. And yet, she anxiously watched as CHT retreated and forced what was left of Oarai's forces to follow them into an obvious trap. The same one that was utilized against her, only to be used against Oarai this time.

And that unnerved her a bit. No, scratch that. It scared her, because her crush's sister won't probably win this and she won't bet her money on the Cyclops of a puppet commander to win a match if the true one is taken out.

But then, she saw someone with striking resemblance to Maho, if she had blue hair, and noticed that his face was constantly changing expressions between the smuggest smirk and the most angry sneer she had ever seen. And just from looking at him, she felt the malice oozing from him even more than 12 feet away.

Better should tell everyone from the team captains about him, she thought and tried her best to look at the match and not at the mysterious stranger.

A/n:

Hey guys! Sorry for the delay, but the news about the war going on in Ukraine slowed me down, as well as school.

Anyway, see ya later!