Pravda school carrier

"Good to have you visiting us again, da?"

"Indeed, for have you heard this saying, 'Isn't it great to have visitors from afar?'"

"Of course, of course, Confucius, blah blah blah. Now, as you may know, Darjeeling, I'm scheduled with Continuation High School for a practice match in a few days. And the fools requested that there be no limit on tanks, you can bring as many as you like! One must question their thought process-if they even have any!"

"It's best not to underestimate them, for you must always be wary of your opponents. As for me, St. Gloriana also has a practice match with Ooarai Girls' Academy. It seems they recently restarted their Sensha-do team and are looking to gain experience before the tournament. We're honored to be their first guests, I'm confident we'll have a good fight."

"Oh, don't be ridiculous. You'll crush them like a tiny bug with a heavy soldier's boot."

"Not if their commander is... let's just say, she's a veteran from a prestigious household, that has been disgraced from said household."

"Miho Nishizumi?! That joke of a commander, commanding that joke of a school?! HAH!"

"The very same."

"It'll be over and done with within five minutes at the First Round no matter who they'll face, mark my words!"

"As I keep saying..."

As Darjeeling took another sip of her tea, the thought of Jouko then crossed her mind. Knowing her abilities, if what she had been hearing was indeed true, she would be a fearsome opponent that nobody wanted to face in battle. A master of both sniping and close-quarters combat, she would surely take out a sizeable number of Pravda's forces before she herself would be knocked out, that is, if she would get knocked out. The granddaughter of a friend of the White Death himself, no wonder why she was such a deadly and terrifying force on the battlefield, alongside her crew. Unless Katyusha approached the battle with the necessary caution and tactical skill, her forces would be picked off by a sniper they couldn't even see, and soon the flag tank would be chased down and knocked out.

Meanwhile, Nonna was serving Katyusha her second cup of tea, and speaking to each other about the upcoming tournament.

"...and then, Kuromorimine's Maus will be knocked out to our superior firepower, and the match and tournament will be ours like last year!"

"We should still be wary of Nishizumi. There is a reason why they dominated for so long before we defeated them. They may as well take back the torch from us."

"Blah, nothing but child's talk. We'll crush them like the 62nd Tournament, mark my words!"

"Well, it was luck that made us win that time..."

"SHUT UP!"

As Nonna returned to her usual quiet, Darjeeling continued on.

"Well, as for the practice match against Continuation, I must reiterate my caution that you must be careful against them, especially considering they have a very talented tank crew at their disposal, with a powerful tank to complement that. You'll be whittled down before you get a chance to knock it out with a long-range shot."

"Nonna's completely capable of dealing with her! She won't stand a chance the moment they encounter each other! Her 122 millimeter cannon will easily defeat that 75millimeter peashooter of that Finnish girl, and even if Nonna should, in the most unlikeliest of circumstances, be ingloriously knocked out, we have so many tanks to throw at the Finns that she'll surely be overwhelmed and be done away with!"

"However, Jouko, being a girl from the forests, knows the woods very, very well. 'Tis no doubt that she will be able to not only lose your tanks in a pursuit, but also ambush and destroy a few of them before disappearing into invisibility, before anybody can realize what is occurring, all maybe within the span of a couple of minutes."

"Oh, enough of this nonsense. It's just a practice match, and Continuation's a minor school, what can they possibly do against our overwhelming numbers? Although, as the Great Katyusha should be known for her merciful and gracious attitude, I will simply limit our number to, hmm... say... 40 tanks. That seems very fair enough!"

"Well, I cannot do more other than wish you good luck in your match. As a matter of fact, I'm afraid I must now take my leave. St. Gloriana will hold their practice session tomorrow, so I must be there in time for that. I hope to meet in the Tournament, I'm sure our forces will do great battle, and what a spectacle it shall be when that day of reckoning arrives."

"Oh, it will be a pleasure crushing you then! Have fun with your little 'practice match', if you'll even call it that once you're through with it. It'll be a slaughter, I tell you, a slaughter! Now, I'll be leaving as well, to prepare my loyal followers for our battle-sorry, massacre of Continuation's meager forces. I hope we meet again soon!"

"Hmhm, we surely will..."

Battlefield

The day finally came for the match. It was set in snowy terrain, with forests spread out across the venue. Both teams stepped out for the customary greeting.

"Alright, Lofstrom, where's this... Katyusha... what on earth..."

Jouko was surprised at Pravda's commander, Katyusha's, height. She was no taller than a tank wheel! It was tempting to laugh, but she knew better than that, it was better not to judge a book by its cover. She had heard of this commander's prowess in battle, and knew of the possibilities this midget might hold. But it was hilarious at how tiny she was compared to her.

When Katyusha came to Jouko, she appeared to dither somewhat, her legs appearing to somewhat shake, and the rest of her body shivering as if she were wearing clothes that weren't thick as they were in some cold climate. Jouko was a tall six-foot woman, thanks to great nourishment and health, as well as being from a place where people were usually taller on her end compared to Katyusha's absolute 4'2" joke of a height, which was abysmally short even for an Asian like her, and to add insult to injury, she was 17. Either she had been born to midgets, or she had been severely malnourished in her upbringing.

Nonetheless, as soon as she mounted 5'9" Nonna's shoulders, her Napoleon complex swiftly took over, and she finally mustered the courage to speak, now towering over her opponent.

"I've heard much about you, Ju-, Jaj-, Ya-, Yo- how do you pronounce it again?"

Nonna seemed to whisper something in her commander's ear, before she spoke again.

"Ah, Jouko. I've heard much about you, we finally meet."

Jouko returned the handshake, "It is a pleasure to meet you too. It must've been a great feeling winning the last tournament. I hope we have a good match."

Katyusha scoffed. "Hah! That Nishizumi is nothing but a soft-hearted weakling. I came very close to losing until that snowball ran to help some stupid teammates. Pathetic. Utterly pathetic."

The gall of this girl. What did she think she was?

Katyusha's mocking, condescending tone, coupled with her sharp words, ignited a flame in Jouko, a flame of rage that grew larger and larger and intensified with every passing word. Her blood was boiling so much that it seemed at any moment that her blood vessels would burst and create quite a mess everywhere. Did this Katyusha not understand what kind of injustice Miho was being subject to? Did she not understand why Miho had done what she did? Did human lives really not matter to Katyusha like Kuromorimine? The very school they had faced in the Finals?

Finally, there came the memories of Frisell's revelation of just how badly Katyusha treated her subjects in school, just how brutal of a ruler she was, how so similar to Stalin she was, how many lives she had ruined under her rule. And she didn't feel shame for it? And this little midget, a joke of a human being, who was supposed to be nothing but a laughingstock to humanity, dared to act like this.

As Katyusha finished her mockery, it seemed Jouko would explode in anger, rush forward with unprecedented speed and fury, and strangle Katyusha to death with her bare hands, giving her the most terrifying stare of her life before it passed. She was strong enough to resist everyone who tried to stop her, not caring if she'd spend the rest of her life in the slammer for it. That was what she deserved, all for what she had done to all those innocent children that attended and were attending her so-called "school", ruining their lives for the rest of their existence, giving them something that would haunt their memory forever, it was simply nothing short of unforgivable and most deplorable not just to Jouko, but any human with a rational, logical mind.

Jouko opened her mouth to speak, intending to chew out this little commander as the wretched dog, the essence of evil, the joke of a person she was, to teach her a verbal lesson. However, as the initial squall of rage abated, Jouko's mind changed from one of fury to one of admonishment, shame, and regret. Her conscience seemed to scold her, now, shutting her mouth to allow her mind to do its work.

For all that Katyusha was, short in stature, childish in nature for her age, and a brutal person, she was still a human being, and the thoughts that had just crossed Jouko's mind were sinful. Her mind was taking her back to the many Bible studies regarding love for others. She remembered how Jesus had said to His followers to "Love your enemies", and this was not loving your enemies, but demeaning them, downsizing them, thinking very low of them, hating them, the complete opposite of what Jesus had taught that Jouko had studied during her early years.

Frankly, Jouko was as, if not, more at fault than Katyusha for allowing these thoughts to cross her mind, of how worthless and a joke midgets like Katyusha were. It was nothing but as evil as, and no better than the words Katyusha had just spoken, and even worse, Jesus had also said that merely thinking evil of someone was enough to make you face judgement. It was completely wrong to do that, and Jouko knew it. Dwarves and midgets may not be like normal humans, but they were still humans. It was wrong to downplay them, and the reproaches of Jouko's conscience made this abundantly clear.

There was the lesson of a change of heart, like King Manasseh of the Old Testament. To display hatred, that would give little to no result to helping someone become a better person. It required love, support, gentleness. To help the Holy Spirit work in one's heart to make them change their ways. If Jouko reacted violently, she wasn't just making the situation worse, she was fighting against the Holy Spirit. She had to maintain a Christlike character if she wanted to make Katyusha, and by extension Pravda, a better place. She had to stick to her Bible classes, and take each word to heart.

"Um... are we going to shake or not?!"

Outwardly, Jouko kept her cool, there was barely a change in her demeanor. It was an awkward pause after that mocking of Miho from Katyusha, but inside Jouko, previously full of anger and wrath, it had been replaced with regret and shame. After spending several moments relaxing her emotions, Jouko broke the tension and shook hands with Katyusha, without saying another word, much to the small commander's confusion that the conversation suddenly ended right then and there, not knowing of the inner battle Jouko had just fought.

After that tense, and somewhat awkward scene, both teams formed into their respective lines, bowed, and greeted each other a good game per tradition. Formalities now done away with, Jouko and her crew ran back to their Sturmi to start the match, driving back to their positions.

Over the radio, Mika briefed the team of their hit-and-run strategy on their approach to the battle, how Pravda would stick to more conventional methods of fighting and how perfect ambushes would be working against them. Although their T-26 tanks' quality weren't on par with their Pravda's T-34 counterparts, their more powerful tanks in the Sturmi and BT-42 could pack a good punch while the rest served as a distraction and try to stay in the fight for as long as possible, using the power and strength they had to deal as much damage as they possibly could. It was just the IS-2 that they needed to worry about the most. With plans finalized, Mika ended her briefing with a simple order to Jouko.

"And Jouko, like what Rumi said in the last tournament, 'Fight to your heart's desire.'"

After both commanders radioed their respective teams' preparedness to begin, the Bofors gun fired its round, and upon the shell's burst, the match began. No rules about numbers, Pravda could muster as many tanks as they wanted. Taking advantage of this, Katyusha, feeling "merciful", had decided to bring 40 tanks, compared to Continuation's simple 10, a decision agreed on by Jouko, and thanks to her status, virtually everyone else. It was going to be a very hard battle, facing odds of four to one, but with Jouko on their team, Continuation's spirits were riding high nevertheless.

"We'll maneuver to those trees over there. Make sure we aren't spotted."

Taking position in the woods facing open ground, Jouko patiently waited for the Pravda tanks to start making their way through the "corridor", an open field surrounded by trees on both sides. Her teammates were scattered everywhere else, though not too far from each other. She wasn't expecting Pravda to simply ride into her path, however. They weren't that stupid, especially now that they knew of her and what she was, her reputation had developed after her participation in the last tournament, and she and her crew were recognized as a deadly presence on the battlefield. Nobody wanted to encounter them, even if it meant their life.

The plan was to use Continuation's tanks to deal as much damage as possible while luring Pravda to Jouko's position where she would unleash hell on the poor fools. Frisell kept belting out the radio reports to Jouko as Mika continued to update Jouko of the situation. So far, all was going according to plan. Three Pravda tanks had been immobilized within 10 minutes of the match starting, though four Continuation tanks were knocked out as well. But, they were now getting close to Jouko's position, being drawn by the fleeing T-26s and BT-42.

Patiently peering down the barrel's scope, she watched as the small dots in the distance grew bigger and bigger by the second. Placing her finger on the trigger, she waited as her teammates drove past, chased by the larger Pravda force of ten tanks. But, the flag tank was nowhere to be seen, for some reason.

This Katyusha is smart, and a coward, but whatever, let's have some fun with what we have.

As the T-34s, surrounding an IS-2 and KV-2, drove past the forests, a loud burst was heard from the trees to Pravda's left, and a split second later, one of the tanks in the front of the formation burst into flames and smoke as a white flag popped out of one of the small hatches. Just before Pravda could muster a collective reaction, aside from suddenly stopping in their tracks out of shock, Löfström had already reloaded a second shell, and Jouko, with little hesitation, sent it barreling straight into another halted tank, white-flagging it as well.

As Pravda began to turn their turrets to the source of the firing, Jouko fired yet another shot, immobilizing another tank sitting right next to the IS-2, which by now had its sights trained on Jouko's position, barrel pointed straight at the Sturmi, no doubt about to fire. The KV-2 was still in the process of turning, as it didn't want to flip over. With not much time on her hands, Jouko had to act fast.

"Hannes, drive quickly! Get us out of here!"

Hannes slammed her foot as hard as she could on the throttle, and the Sturmi revealed itself, shooting out of the forest just as the IS-2's shell shot straight into where it was previously, the shell scraping the top of the Sturmi and shooting harmlessly into the forest.

"HANNES! NOT INTO THEIR FORMATION!"

"SORRY, COMMANDER! FORCE OF HABIT!"

"Just do what you usually do, Jouko!"

Hearing Lofstrom's advice, the Sturmi retaliated with a successful shot, firing the shell straight into the cluster of Pravda's tanks, taking out yet another one, now leaving Pravda with only eight, well, visible tanks. Several shells flew past it as the Sturmi, seemingly possessed, drove right into the middle of Pravda's formation, causing further chaos and confusion as Jouko fired wildly at any tank she saw with deadly precision while Hannes turned this way and that, spinning around several times and outmaneuvering several incoming shells, resulting in Jouko immobilizing a further three tanks.

The KV-2 had finally turned its turret, and was about to fire when the Sturmi drove around through the gaps, made a little drift, and had its cannon pointed right at their turret ring. Seconds later, the Sturmi fired, and the KV-2 was out. Some stray shells that had missed the Sturmi impacted other tanks unfortunate to be in the way, and one of the T-34s was another victim of this bad luck.

"Quick, Hannes, back into the forests! We've done enough damage for now!"

Circling around Pravda's now-broken formation, the Sturmi high-tailed it back to the cover of the forests, disappearing from sight of Pravda. As Jouko looked behind through the cupola, she could see one tank chasing her. It was the IS-2. Powerful shells flew past, felt even inside the tank, snapping even the thickest and largest of trees that stood in their way. The Sturmi crew knew full well that one hit from that 122mm cannon and their tank was as good as lost. Frisell continued to report on the team's status. So far, the others were able to escape with no further losses, and were now taking their positions for an ambush on the last few tanks, which were still moving forwards, searching for any trace of Continuation's vehicles, though they were increasingly showing worry.

Meanwhile, Jouko was still trying to lose the IS-2 chasing her, using the audible shots of the IS-2 to calculate how far it was. Shell after shell kept coming, zooming past, some coming within mere inches of the Sturmi, and one nicking one of the logs, thankfully ricocheting outwards into a random tree it would come across, but as the chase dragged on, the sounds gradually died down, until they stopped coming, meaning it had given up, and it was lucky, for Jouko, tired of this going for far too long, had been about to order Hannes to execute a 180 to just shut it up.

With the chase, presumably, now over, Hannes maneuvered the Sturmi to a small hill, with guidance from Jouko's map and use of the sun's position in the sky, where her teammates were visible from where she was. Jouko prepared herself to make several long distance shots to take care of the remaining tanks, calculating distance, and estimating the time of travel. There were only four tanks left, so this wouldn't be too hard to finish off.

Unfortunately, they didn't take into account the fact this was just wave 1, save for Jouko, who realized just as the Sturmi settled on the hill.

Wait. They said forty tanks. Does that mean...

oh no.

To everyone's horror, fifteen more Pravda tanks appeared out of nowhere, crossing by Jouko's previous killzone, which no doubt demoralized them at the sight of the amount of smoldering knocked-out tanks sitting there, but still pressing on as their crews cheered them on. Knowing Katyusha, she was probably screaming into her radio to inspire her forces forward, either threatening them, encouraging them, swearing at them to keep going, or a mix of all three, and it seemed to work well, if you counted out the supportive crew from the knocked out tanks. Even after viewing the carnage left by Jouko, they still pressed on where anybody with a right mind would just call it quits and retreat.

It was here that Jouko caught some suspicious movement in the corner of her eye, followed by a distant glint far off in one of the opposite hills. Using her binoculars to investigate, she found out that it was that same IS-2 that had been chasing her through the forest earlier, which was now moving to a different position, located to the Sturmi's right. No doubt it was trying to snipe it from afar, for it had probably had difficulty spotting it, and was likely now moving to another place where it was easier to spot and land a hit.

It was around 400 meters away, further than the Pravda tanks moving into the ambush, and it was unfortunate enough to catch the eye of Jouko, who didn't hesitate to give orders to her crew, seeking to make ends meet with this tank.

Receiving word of this new threat, Hannes turned the Sturmi accordingly to allow Jouko to have a clear shot on the IS-2, and with careful precision, after spending a few seconds calculating her shot, Jouko fired a shell straight into the moving tank, the gun's recoil shaking the whole Sturmi and knocking off some accumulated snow in the process. For several seconds, the shell made its way towards its target, all hoping it would hit.

To everyone's surprise, the shot not only made contact, but a flash of orange and a column of smoke was all it took to notify everyone that the tank was immobilized. Lofstrom smacked Jouko on the back, congratulating her for this kill. Expecting to be spotted by Pravda's other forces for this snipe, Jouko watched incredulously as the Pravda tanks obliviously pushed on, reinforced by the 5 remaining tanks of the first wave who had pulled back. They hadn't spotted her. Jouko's mind, although relieved that she hadn't been spotted and the ambush foiled as a result, still expressed concern.

Phew, the ambush is still happening. But, there's no flag tank. Is there going to be another wave?

Jouko watched as the 20 tanks of Pravda drove right into Continuation's trap. When in the perfect position, all that now remained of Continuation tanks opened fire with everything they had: the main guns, machine guns, whatever else was in their disposal. Within minutes 6 more Pravda tanks were destroyed, at the expense of 2 Continuation tanks. Jouko, seeing the situation, knew she couldn't sit back.

Deciding to help out, she opened fire from her position as well. With that same eagle-eyed accuracy she always possessed, she was able to pick off two Pravda tanks, with the rest withdrawing shortly afterwards, the second wave having lost all momentum and suffering heavy casualties. So far, with almost half Pravda's tanks immobilized against 6 tanks for Continuation. Aside from the ratio of 50-ish%-40% remaining tanks for Pravda and Continuation respectively, things seemed to be going great for Continuation.

Well, not for long.

A few minutes after the Pravda tanks withdrew, they reappeared again, with 20 more tanks, this time the flag tank, the T-34/85, among them, accounting for a total of around thirty.

Where are they getting these from? No time for questions, this is going on long enough, I'm taking out that stupid flag tank once I see it.

As the Pravda tanks appeared in view again, they were taking a different route. This time, they were going to ambush Continuation, splitting up into two groups, with one maneuvering behind a hill and appearing directly on Continuation's left, the other maneuvering towards Jouko's position on the hill, her presence on it discovered after her snipes. They were going for the old double envelopment tactic.

Knowing time was of the essence, Jouko relayed orders to Continuation for an immediate redeployment to meet the flanking force of Pravda that was moving around that hill.

"Frisell, tell them what's going on, and tell them to fall back. We'll try to hold back our visitors, hopefully the flag tank is one of them!"

Jouko watched with relief as seconds after Frisell completed her transmission Continuation fell back to more suitable positions, and by the time Pravda arrived at their appointed location, they were confused as to why there weren't any Continuation tanks in sight. Then, they realized their mistake, though far too late.

Upon Mika's command, Continuation's tanks appeared from behind Pravda's positions, firing away with all the power they had. Pravda was caught by surprise, losing 5 more tanks in the space of four minutes thanks to the T-26s getting themselves up close and using their gunnery skills to fire shells straight into Pravda's turret rings. Pravda wasn't as fortunate, only managing to knock out one Continuation tank in response. Chaos again engulfed Pravda's ranks, each tank struggling to mount a resistance against their adversary due to the unexpectedness of Continuation.

"Hannes, back into the forests, let's deal with our new prey!"

"On it!"

Leaving the hill and moving back into the forests, Jouko's eyes were dead alert on the slightest hint of a Pravda tank. Looking around through her binoculars, it was a burden on her eyes as they squinted, and strained to get the tiniest detail, and it was hard as the Pravda tanks were painted white. Each passing moment, paranoia had begun to grow, as at any moment a shell could slam into their tank and that would be the end of it. They had to be as alert as they possibly could, the slightest distraction could mean a big difference.

"Commander! Contact on our eleven-o'clock!"

Dropping back into her seat, Jouko readied her cannon, and took aim at the direction pointed out by Hannes. Once she was confident in a hit, she fired, releasing the shell, driving it towards its prey. With a bang, metal struck metal, and an explosion accompanied by the slightest sound of a squeak signaled its knockout. However, there was no time for celebration, as the other Pravda tanks nearby had heard the commotion, and were now on their way to intercept the renegade Sturmi, left alone and without any help. Hannes and Jouko again began to search, and this time, it didn't take long.

"Movement dead ahead!"

"I can see that, get ready to get dirty!"

Jouko heard the sound of the shell being inserted into the chamber, and as soon as the hatch was closed, fired. Again her shot rang true, immobilizing a second tank. At that same moment, a round hit the Sturmi's right logs, resulting in a minor dent in the armor from the recoil and impact. The logs had snapped, but not enough to splinter and no longer serve as armor. Realizing she was surrounded, Jouko ordered Hannes to evade as best she could while the former focused on taking down as many opponents as possible, knowing full well there was little chance of escape. And fight hard they did.

Drifting, swirling, turning this way and that, Hannes drove as if she were possessed. Her hands gripped the steering levers so tight that blisters had begun to form on them, and her muscles began to contract, resulting in pain, but Hannes didn't care. She would drive this tank as crazily as possible to ensure that Continuation would see a victory today, even if it meant both of her hands falling off. Her foot was also switching between accelerator and brake, being as irregular as she could in order to prevent any predictability that would hamper their efforts.

Lofstrom was working her arms off loading as fast as she possibly could, putting the hundreds of hours of practice she had put in over dozens of days to the best use possible. She was sometimes going too fast, once dropping a shell that landed near her feet. After that brief shock, she was back to the same speed, determined to make the Sturmi as much of an automatic rifle as possible. Soon, they were getting sore, but motivation from Jouko and the other crew pushed her to continue and ignore the increasing amount of pain in her arms.

Frisell continued to belt out communications despite the thick forests around them obstructing much of the signal, turning the knobs accordingly to get the best signal between the rest of the team she could get, which was mostly garbled static with barely audible voices coming along with it, meaning Frisell was working her brain off to try to decode the messages from the other combat area in addition to relaying orders and reports. The messages she was able to decode, however, weren't bearing good news, increasing desperation in the tank.

Jouko fired again and again, tugging the trigger as soon as she heard the shell's hatch close. Most of her shots hit and knocked out, tallying the score up to 5 in this skirmish alone, though a few either missed or bounced off its target due to angling or simple unluckiness. 15 tanks had fallen to the Sturmi's cannon so far, but that wouldn't matter if Pravda's flag tank wasn't taken out soon. Mika couldn't hold out for long, there was the possibility that right now, aside from Jouko, she was the only one still in the match. Jouko was still trying to find that flag tank, white-flagging another T-34 that passed by her scope, but didn't spot a trace of the flag tank.

Another shell was fired, hitting its target but failing to knock it out, much to Jouko's frustration. An impact at the front shuddered the tank, and again the Sturmi had cracked its concrete armor. A retaliatory shell silenced the Sturmi's persecutor. The Sturmi drifted to a position where it was right next to the tank, enabling Jouko to get another shot at another T-34, immobilizing it as well. The rapid pace at which Jouko had been firing, and the unpredictability of Hannes' driving had had an effect on Pravda, as some seemed to assume there were still more tanks with the Sturmi, prompting one, then two, then the other tanks to fall back. It was an unexpected development, but a welcome one nonetheless.

"Alright, Hannes! Take us to Mika ASAP!"

"No need to ask twice, Commander!"

"Say... my arms hurt."

"Lofstrom, we'll get you a good massage once this is over."

"It better be good, otherwise I don't think I can really load tomorrow..."

"Yeah, don't worry. Anyways, get ready for more-"

The sentence remained unfinished as a sudden dip jolted everyone. The tank was now angled downwards, and going at unbelievably fast rates.

"HANNES! WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!"

Katyusha was livid as she saw the tank count for her team decrease more and more. She was close to taking down Mika, but that stupid driver of that stupid BT-42 was making things too difficult. The double envelopment tactic had failed due to that Sturmi up above that had knocked Nonna out, somehow. Not only Nonna, the KV-2 had also fallen to its shells. She had barely heard of this mysterious tank and now they were on the verge of losing because of that tank. Amidst rage and anger, however, Katyusha had also developed a degree of respect towards her adversary. Her conduct and skill was impressive, and commendable. But no time for that, Mika was almost hers.

"KEEP GOING! THAT STUPID KANTELE PLAYER WILL BE SEEING HER INSTRUMENT ABLAZE BY THE END OF THIS!"

Pravda continued to attack, not hesitating one bit, determined to win this match. Shell after shell was fired, yet that BT-42 driver was somehow evading all of them. To make things worse, even though it had been detracked, it still could use wheels, its steering levers replaced with a steering wheel, a special feature that the BT-42 had. And boy, was it annoying.

"STUPID TANK! I'LL GET YOU-"

"Comrade Katyusha! Contact, eight-o'clock!"

Glancing to the mentioned location, Katyusha's blood froze as she saw the all-too-familiar shape of a Sturmi barreling towards her formation, intent on knocking her out and ending this. How did it get down the hill so fast?! A small flash was seen, and a T-34/76 that was right behind her ate the shell, slowing to a halt as smoke billowed from it, its white flag emerging shortly after.

"THOSE IN FRONT, FOLLOW ME AND KEEP PURSUING! THOSE BEHIND ME, TAKE CARE OF THAT STURMI!"

Immediately, four tanks pulled off the formation and turned to meet the Sturmi, but too late. After a quick shot, one T-34/85 was knocked out, the Sturmi zooming past moments later, speeding towards Katyusha's T-34/85 flag tank. It seemed clear that it was going to ram it.

"Q-Q-QUICK! EVASIVE MANEUVERS-"

With a loud clang, the Sturmi crashed into the T-34/85, followed moments later by an impact of a shell as well as the sound of a blast from the Sturmi, knocking the T-34/85 around from the heavy impact.

As the T-34/85 settled from its recoil, Katyusha wearily opened the hatch, and saw what appeared to be a white flag fluttering over her tank. Looking next to her left, she found the smoking barrel and completely messed up frontal section of a Sturmi, a white flag also fluttering from it. Looking finally towards the BT-42, it was here that her heart truly sank. It slowed, but not due to an impact. It was still in pristine condition aside from a few scratches and the loss of its tracks, and no white flag was fluttering over it.

As the truth dawned on Katyusha, she slammed the hatch shut, and cried into her tanker's helmet, seen only by her crew as the loudspeakers belted out the results of the practice match, and the inevitable celebrations from the opposing team broke out.

"Victory for Continuation High School!"

Continuation had just done the impossible, beating a school that outnumbered them 4-to-1 in this match. The spectators had been stunned to silence, their energy to cheer whisked away by shock and awe at what they had witnessed, save for a few enthusiastic fans that had been energized by the events of the practice match. Somehow, some way, Continuation had defeated the champions of the previous tournament, in a most incredible battle that any normal commander should've lost.

Meeting Jouko after the battle, Katyusha, who was by now composed and the tears wiped off, confidence rebuilt, now went to speak to her opponents. Previously the egotistic, bombastic, charismatic and high-thinking girl who sought that all bow before her, now she had nothing but awe and praise to shower at this tank ace's feet, surprised at how thoroughly this commander and crew had destroyed her forces, mostly by herself. Not even Nonna, who was arguably the second-best tanker behind Katyusha, survived an encounter with her.

"You-you must be the daughter of that Finnish sniper... how are you so good?!"

All Jouko could reply was: "Practice makes perfect."

Nonna extended her hand to her as well, but said something in Russian, a language Jouko had little knowledge in despite being from a nation right next to Russia. Fortunately, Katyusha didn't know Russian either, and was frankly annoyed by it. Thankfully, she wasn't the only one that had issues with this language barrier.

"Nonna, how many times must I tell you, speak in Japanese!"

Nonna rolled her eyes at this, but obeyed her commander.

"Well, good battle, madam. It was a great pleasure fighting you."

Jouko bowed her head in appreciation.

"And you too."

As Pravda left, Jouko could hear Katyusha saying something about "some new tactics to study about now". Departing with her crew and team, spirits, which had been running high beforehand, now had entered incomprehensible levels. Jouko and her crew, although imperfect, were by far the best additions to their team, probably ever. Confidence in victory at the next tournament was running very high, for if they were able to beat Pravda, the runners-up in the previous tournament, then they could have an equal chance to beat Kuromorimine. The thought was immaculate to the minds of everyone in Continuation, and it was a thought they wanted to make true. If they were going to get to the Semifinals, then this year was the time to get it.

Nishizumi Residence

Shiho was mostly quiet as she watched the practice match with Maho, who shared in her mother's quietude. They were rendered speechless as Jouko demonstrated her own style of Sensha-do. Unpredictability, excellent gunnery, inconsistency, and carelessness. At first, the Sturmi had rampaged in the middle of Pravda's first wave and knocked out almost 10 tanks, including a KV-2. Later, when an IS-2 attempted to snipe it, the Sturmi spotted it and drew first blood. After that, it helped its team repel a second wave, firing shots from long distances, landing hits on several of Pravda's tanks, two of which were knocked out. This, combined with Continuation's excellent positions and firepower, forced the second wave to retreat.

The third wave, comprised of nearly thirty tanks, all of Pravda's remaining forces, split into two, one force 15 strong, the other of almost equal size, the latter force attacking through the dense forests where Jouko had been, while the former drove around a mountain, seeking to do a double envelopment, only for this to fail as the forces behind the mountain were alerted, and met the threat successfully. In the forests, the Sturmi made battle with the second force. Within the span of ten minutes, all the while being in the middle of a dense forest, 7 tanks had fallen, the others thinking there were more tanks accompanying the Sturmi that they fell back, all because of the rapid pace of the firing and the places where each shell came from.

Once the persecutors had retreated, the Sturmi navigated, read, slid down the hill, appeared to the flag tank's left, and fired several shots that knocked out three tanks, including the flag tank which it impacted and fired upon, ending the match in a Continuation victory.

As the report ended, Shiho turned off the television and leaned back on the couch. Once again, Jouko and her crew had entered her worry. Another brilliant display of tankery had manifested itself, now, Kuromormine was at risk of losing to her. They had been lucky with a Saunders win this year, if Continuation would face them this year, though, there was a good chance that they would suffer the same result as Pravda. It seemed that Continuation had gotten a massive skill upgrade from this one crew, and it was frustrating.

"Maho."

"Okaa-san."

"I trust these upstarts will be no big deal for you?"

"Of course not, Okaa-san. Nothing stands in the way of victory, last year was a loss by luck. We had that match in us, if only-"

"I know. Now, as for your younger sister..."

"Her practice match is today. It should be sometime now."

"Shall we watch and revel in her humiliation?"

Maho silently nodded, unable to verbally agree.

"Very well, then."

Once again the television came to life, displaying what was in progress the match between Ooarai and St. Gloriana. Looking at the statistics, there was a StuG III, knocked out, an M3 Lee, knocked out, a Type 89, knocked out, a Panzer 38(t), and a Panzer IV. The fight had now proceeded to the town, where most of Ooarai's tanks had been knocked out. They had arrived at the part where the Panzer 38(t), for some reason, missed a point-blank shot, and was subsequently hit by four tanks and utterly massacred. If they were in Kuromorimine, you could consider them all dead. And yet, the best was yet to come.

Shiho's demeanor barely changed, but you could sense a sort of surprise in her as she bore witness to Miho's 1v4. So far, the only tank to get a kill was the StuG III, with its lofty banners that comprised its "camouflage" making it easily visible, an addition that would get them knocked out. However, Miho, aboard the Panzer IV, now went on a killing spree. Meeting the four remaining tanks head-on, a shell from the Panzer knocked out one of St. Gloriana's Matildas, escaping into an alleyway as the others gave chase. Turning corners, the Panzer IV knocked out a further two Matildas, and shortly after was ready to deal a killing blow.

Charging towards the Churchill, the last remaining tank of St. Gloriana, it was a mano-a-mano fight, one tank left for each team. Just as it seemed a collision was inevitable, the Panzer IV suddenly turned, performing a drift, and ending up behind the Churchill, whose turret had kept up with its prey. A split second after the Panzer settled, both tanks fired at once, and the battlefield was filled with much smoke, obscuring the results for several tense seconds. Shiho was certain that Miho had lost, while Maho was secretly hoping that her sister had pulled through.

Unfortunately, it wasn't to be.

Seeing the white flag appear on the Panzer IV, Shiho turned off the television, stood up, and went to get a glass of water. Maho was disappointed, yet the skills of her younger sister were still present in her blood. When she had heard that Miho was forced into Sensha-do, her concern again grew, but seeing the results, her hope in her sister returned. Now, in a match that was supposed to be the most one-sided in history, Ooarai had nearly won. If they had been a few more inches on target, a white flag would be flying over the Churchill. It wasn't a victory, but it was evident Miho still had it in her. Although she was disappointed, Maho was pleased at this.

Shiho, meanwhile, had returned, seeing Maho appear so rapt in front of the television, even though it was off. Knowing her daughter's thoughts, Shiho decided to give her a little reassurance, not wanting to have Miho's reputation be upheld in the family by any family member after what had happened.

"Keep in mind, Maho. St. Gloriana's quality has degraded. We were both expecting a sweep, yet it seems Darjeeling couldn't hold off a tank with a completely amateur crew. If you are to face Miho, show her that I'm right."

"Yes, Okaa-san."

"Your sister must be taught another lesson. Not only has she abandoned us, but judging by what happened, I am sure she will be aiming to fight us."

"I will make sure her school will be defeated with a swift stroke, Okaa-san."

"Good. It seems Erika was right to deem her a traitor. After she is decisively beaten, I will wipe her name off of the records of this family. She wants to be an outcast, she will be one."

Outwardly, Maho remained impassive, but inwardly, she felt a feeling of pain. If Miho was truly to be disowned, she would have to be treated as a complete stranger, her status as a member of the Nishizumi family revoked. If Shiho would find out Maho still treated Miho like a sister, Maho would be next on the chopping block, and the only thing Maho wanted was for her sister to be free from the hardships of being the heiress of the Nishizumi Style, which meant being devoid of personality, to be emotionless, to be uncaring to the world. Her sister wasn't like that, and she wanted to keep it that way. Although she was supposed to treat Miho as inferior, she was still her sister at the end of the day, and both loved each other very much.

"Now, let's refill our stomachs. I'll see you at the table."

Without saying another word, Maho simply nodded her head, bowed, and prepared for lunchtime. Inside her mind, she was questioning whether or not she could go ahead with facing Miho should such a match happen. If Miho would be disowned, it would be because of her, because she would be the one to lead Kuromorimine in defeating Ooarai, or even worse, be the one to deal the finishing blow. This was something she didn't want at all. She wanted to keep her sister as her sister, but that risked disownment herself. Sure, she would be united with Miho, but she had a duty, a responsibility to preserve the Nishizumi Style, and she would be mocked by the traditionalists of Sensha-do in that case.

Lunch proceeded without conversation, both women focused on consuming the contents before them, as well as thinking. Thinking of what would happen if this would be the result, or that would be the result, or what was the right thing. Maho was the more conflicted one of the two, but tried to hide it as best she could. Lunchtime came to an end, and Shiho retired to her room for her customary nap. In the meantime, Maho retired to her own room to meditate further, hoping for a solution, or a way to circumvent the situation, a compromise, but those thoughts were interrupted when her phone exploded in notifications. The concerns dissipating in her mind, Maho grabbed her phone and looked at what the commotion was about. The sight that greeted her was... ugh.

"What in the name of..."

The first picture was that of five girls, wearing clothes that weren't necessarily revealing, but skin-tight, and embarrassing. The clothes were pink, but that wasn't the worst part. There were fins on the legs, one big fin sticking out the rear, and absolutely goofy hats that appeared to be a 4-year old's design of what was supposed to be an anglerfish, or something. Yet, that wasn't even the worst part. They were dancing some cringey dance, on top of a truck, completely exposed, in full view of the public to point and laugh at, as two other students, dressed in blue, bottomless costumes without headwear, save for one wearing a red headband, beat a two-sided drum as a beat. How the dancers didn't fall off the moving truck, though, was truly a testament to their apparent skill in this otherwise complete embarrassment of a dance.

But the thing that really caught Maho's attention, however, was exactly who it was in front of the seven dancers. Taking a closer look to make sure she was seeing right, Maho's blood froze in a combination of shock and embarrassment. Right in front of the drum, with that same short orange hair, and timid appearance, it was none other than her own sister, Miho Nishizumi, dancing with six other girls as they were humiliated before the public. A video also existed, and as Maho watched it in its entirety, she was left completely flustered. After rewatching several times, it quickly clicked to her mind who was likely responsible. Punching in the number on her phone, Maho placed it to her ear, and waited for the response.

"Hello, Darjeeling speaking-"

"Darjeeling, please check your phone."

"I already saw, I can confirm I have no part in this."

"Are you sure? You do realize my sister's part of that."

"I assure you, I wasn't informed of this beforehand."

"You better, because this causes me a degree of embarrassment as well."

"I'm sorry, but if I'd known that would happen, I would've purposely lost the match."

"Ugh. Alright..."

"Is there more, or shall this be a brief conversation?"

"I just needed to know if you had any part in this."

"Alright. Farewell."

"Goodbye."

As soon as Darjeeling hung up, Maho dialed another number and called. At first, no response. A second call, and again no response. A third, fourth, fifth attempt, and still nothing. Frustrated, Maho left a voicemail, and continued in pouring over the videos and pictures of the events in Ooarai, embarrassed and infuriated at what was happening to her sister.

Minutes later, a ring, the caller originating from the same number Maho had tried to call. Picking it up, Maho didn't hesitate to make her feelings about the dancing clear.

Ooarai

"Listen! Listen! We had to give some motivation for a win!"

"I'll have you know I'm not a big fan of seeing my sister humiliated, Kadotani-san."

"Alright! I'm sorry! At least I danced with her!"

"Your humiliation isn't as much as the one I suffered when I saw."

"What-what are you implying?"

"Everybody knows Miho is my sister. What will they say about me? About Okaa-san? About the Nishizumi name in its entirety?"

Anzu froze, knowing just how much of a screwup this had caused.

"L-Look, I'll try to cover this up-"

"This isn't centuries ago, Kadotani-san. Whatever's online stays etched online. This is a stain that cannot be removed."

"Well, what can I do to atone for this-"

"Perform that dance naked."

"WHAT-"

"Either by yourself, or with your other councilors. Both can work. Make sure it's as public as the one I saw. Good day."

With that, the call hung up, leaving an embarrassed, and ashamed Anzu.

"Well, toast."

"What was that about, Prez?!"

"Maho's mad cuz of what we did with Miho."

"What did she say?"

"If we wanna atone for this screwup of mine, we might as well perform the dance by ourselves, naked, in the pub-"

"NO! NONONONONONO I AM NOT DOING THAT!"

"Oh, calm down, Momo-chan, I'm sure Maho-san was just kidding."

"WITH THAT DARK TONE OF HERS? HECK NO!"

"You can never know!"

"I'll take the benefit of the doubt and think she's joking. Besides, Miho told us her sister's warmer that we think! Surely she doesn't mean it."

All except Momo relaxed, and Anzu continued on.

"Well, tournament drawing's coming up. All we gotta do is pray we get a weak opponent for the first round. Otherwise, goodbye."

"Anzu-san, Miho nearly beat St. Gloriana! Surely strong opponents we can beat as well, right?"

"Don't forget, Yuzu, Kuromorimine might be a finalist. If we somehow get to the finals, we'll be facing a school that got a nine-year winning streak. Not to mention Maho now has a big grudge against us."

"Miho will get us victory, I'm sure!"

"I hope your optimism and faith isn't misplaced, Prez. A lot depends on this."

"Come on, Momo! We've got this, just have faith in Miho!"

With a silent nod, Momo joined the others in their optimism. Miho was their biggest chance at victory, and without her, aside from possibly Yukari, who knew her way around tanks and tactics and strategies used by many commanders in history, they didn't have a replacement.

"Now, say, about that naked Anglerfish Dance-"

"DON'T YOU DARE, PREZ!"