Amy had thought she'd been early to the Tankery garage, but she was disappointed when she realized she was the last of her crew to show up. They were all relaxing on or around the Ram, wearing their uniforms. None of them had worn their uniforms to practice, just like the rest of the team did. For practice, it was anything goes, as long as it was okay to crawl around a fighting vehicle with oil and dirt and grime with it on. However, today was different. Today would involve real combat with another team. Now was the time to look correct. Delilah looked the best of all, with a tartan kilt (she was adamant it was a kilt and not a skirt) and khaki shirt. On her right arm she wore a black armband that said, "51 Highland." Mia wore what looked like BDUs, but with a flecktarn pattern. Yelena looked like she was thinking along the same lines as Amy.

"See? I told you I'm not the only one with a proper tanker uniform!" Yelena said as she pointed at Amy.

Her clothes were very similar to Amy's CVC coveralls, and she'd brought a helmet of some kind as well.

"You two look like you're uncomfortable as hell. And you, Mia, don't look much better." Delilah said.

"You're gonna have exposed skin in a tank? There are plenty of ways to hurt yourself in a tank without the enemy even helping!"

"Hey, you gotta look good for the camera, right?"

Amy nodded at Delilah's head. "You're wearing that as a commander? No protection? Like, I dunno, a helmet?"

"Good lord, you don't want to wear a helmet on the inside of a tank, what's wrong with a beret?" Delilah said as she pointed at her black beret.

"Suit yourself. Just know that I do not drive like grandma in her Buick."

"More like Collin McRae in his Subaru."

"I do drive one of those too."

Eiko's eyes lit up when Amy said this. "Amy, you drive a Subaru?"

"Yeah, of course I do. Let me know when someone else makes an all-wheel-drive toaster that hauls ass."

Eiko giggled.

"Hey, if we're complaining about uniforms, why aren't we complaining about what Eiko's wearing?" Delilah said.

The Ram's bow gunner was wearing the standard Tankery uniform of Dominion a jacket that looked a lot like an M43 field jacket and an olive drab skirt. This one was most certainly a skirt, and Amy was surprised by how oddly short it was. "Eiko, you're the damn BOG. Your whole job ends with spent casings dropping in your lap. It's cute and all, but hot brass is hot brass."

"Meh. No worse than the time I got hot oil all over my arm."

"Yeah she's a mechanic all right." Mia said, still slouched against the turret.

Over time, the rest of the team had showed up and were getting the tanks ready to leave.

"Everybody mount up, I think it's about time we head out." Delilah ordered.

Amy had the Ram's engine purring nicely when Ayame gave the order to roll out. The whole team followed the M7 out to the street and toward a parking garage. Inside, there were the usual ramps up and down. This ramp, however, didn't lead to another floor of the parking garage but instead lead down into a series of wide passageways toward the back of the ship. After what seemed like an eternity, the passageway turned and opened into a large, cavernous space with trucks and cars and shipping containers. Forklifts rolled around and further away from the team, the deck dropped several feet to a wide-open area with what looked like landing craft and boats.

"Welcome to the well deck!" A student in a high-vis vest said as she approached the M7 and spoke with Ayame.

"Well… deck?" Yelena asked, leaning out her side door.

"Yes, the well deck." Eiko answered. "The biggest open space below decks. Where the landing craft and boats are kept and launched from. That pit down there floods with a few feet of water – actually the whole ship is ballasted and the waterline comes up – so they can come and go under their own power."

"That's a thing?" Delilah said, amazed.

"Of course! What do you think the L in LHA-4 stands for? Landing Helicopter Assault. Or Leaving Home Again. Or Largest Hotel Afloat."

Within minutes, the team had loaded their tanks onto what looked like a massive LCAC. An alarm buzzed and warning lights flashed overhead. Although it wasn't perceptible, the ship was moving lower in the water as the well filled with seawater. The stern gate dropped, and daylight poured in. Amy could hear the roar of the fans as the LCAC slowly moved out of the ship. There was a slight bump as they crossed the stern and dropped into the ocean, floating freely. The engines kicked into high gear as the landing craft accelerated up to forty knots. Most of the team chose to either stay near their tank or went inside the passenger area, but Delilah chose to stand by the rail, the wind whipping at her hair.

Ayame approached Delilah with what seemed like caution. "Hey!" she shouted over the wind. "Just so you know, we'll be arriving at shore in about twenty minutes. We've gone over the plan before, but I want to make one thing clear. If my tank is taken out at all, you're up. Other than that, I want you to hang back as the flag tank."

"Flag tank? Aren't skirmishes normally elimination matches?"

"Yeah, but Saunders wanted a flag battle. Something about fairness I think."

"We have any sort of guard assigned to us?"

"Probably not, I can't spare the tanks and you guys can fight your way out of anything that happens to come your way."

"Not even the Greyhound?"

"No, we can't use it in actual matches. Tracked vehicles only."

"Well that's stupid."

"Yeah, I know. I'll see you on shore."

Delilah sat on the edge of her hatch and stared in awe at the Saunders team. She'd been in awe the entire time. From meeting the team's commander, Kay, to the food trucks they'd brought along, to seeing the perfect row of ten M4 Shermans lined up in front of them, she'd been continuously impressed. Even on her team at home, the tanks Delilah saw and worked around were always in some state of dirty. Every single tank Saunders had brought was perfectly clean and it looked like every part was new. It was obvious what Eiko had meant when she said that the school was filthy rich. Delilah had tried to talk to Kay a couple times, but she'd been talking and laughing with Ayame as if they were longtime friends. Ayame looked only mildly uncomfortable.

It was time to move to the start positions, and Delilah was broken out of her daze. Ayame confirmed their plan with everyone over the radio, keeping in mind the lessons of communication that she'd learned when her group had been thoroughly steamrolled by the Ram and its crew. "As soon as we start, we'll head for Kidney Ridge. We'll hold a line there and be able to stop any advance from the hilltop."

Acknowledgements from each commander came over the radio. The team arrived at their start point, the only thing left to do was wait for the signal. With a few minutes of waiting, the start signal came. Ayame gave her command. "Panzer vor!"

Every tank in the team formed into the preplanned formation: an arrowhead with the M7 at the tip and the Ram protected in the middle. The M22 was sent to scout ahead and make sure the way was clear. Halfway to the hill, the Locust crew gave their answer. "All clear up here, standing by for arrival."

"Thanks, we're about five minutes out." Ayame replied.

The Ram stopped first, taking a well-protected position in a depression on the backside of the hill. The rest of the team crossed over the crest and spread out along a long line with significant distance between each tank other than the groups at the ends and at the center. From north to south there was the north group, which consisted of an M3 Lee and an M5 Stuart. Then there was the M8 Scott, then the M22 Locust. At the middle, there was the M7 and the CTMS. Next was another M5, and at the southern end there was the other M3 and the final M5. This would be the defensive line that Dominion would hold against Saunders.

Finally, the scouts had been able to get a good read on what Dominion's structure was. Kay would have preferred to know sooner, but after the stunt Alisa had pulled against Ooarai, Kay strictly forbid her from doing any kind of intelligence. That included both radio intercepts and scouting. Someone else would take care of that duty. Not like it really matters, thought Kay. We're all in Shermans so it's not like any particular crew has an advantage for scouting. She marked out the positions of the enemy on her map and brought each commander together to go over it before splitting up her team. Four tanks to the north, four to the south, and the flag tank plus one would creep up the middle. There wasn't much she could do unless she wanted the whole team to charge one spot. It was certainly an option, but Kay knew that the Dominion tanks were much more mobile than the hers and could concentrate themselves and maneuver around a large force, leaving her tanks open to flanking. This plan also kept most of her tanks out of the dense woodland at the base of the hill and let them move more freely. Besides, a broader plan like this was more fun anyway. Kay would get to work with three platoons and Dominion would get to use their mobility. It was a win-win.

Saunders split up and began their attack.

"Alright, remember to look for their flag tank. No one's seen it yet, and no one's seen that Ram. Means that's the flag. Let's see what those foreign girls can do, eh? Begin Operation Lightfoot!"

Things were working well for Ayame. The groups of Saunders tanks were easy to see coming, and the line had concentrated on each end. The M8 and Locust had gone to the north and Ayame had moved her tank as well as the lone M5 to the south. In the middle, the CTMS was to sit alone and watch in the unlikely event someone ever came up the middle.

"Does anyone see their flag tank?" Ayame asked.

"Which one is it?" Hiromi, the commander of the northern M3, asked.

"The Sherman."

"No shit."

"I don't know, maybe the one with the flag?"

Delilah interjected, "Knowing how Kay works, she probably parked it at the very rear. How many tanks are at each end?"

"Four from each team."

"Yep, sounds like Kay alright. She always likes to use equal numbers when she can. I bet the flag tank is Alisa's. Her and her escort are probably chilling somewhere way behind the line."

The conversation was interrupted. "This is the northern M5. We're hit!"

"Looks like they drew first blood." Amy said.

"Yeah, and I hope we start hitting back."

Another call came over the radio, again from the northern group. "This is the northern Lee! We're hit too! That one with the big gun got both of us!"

"That's Naomi for you." Delilah sighed. "How she does that with the 17-pounder, I'll never know."

Mia held out her hand. "Give me your headset real quick, Delilah."

"Uh… sure…"

"All tanks aim for the weak spots! The lower transmission housing, the hull gun port, and the mantlet are all good places to hit!"

Mia returned the headset and Delilah piped the radio feed over the intercom so the whole crew could hear. Another Stuart reported being hit, this time from the southern group.

"They're breaking through, we can't hold this line much longer!" somebody shouted.

Then there was garbled static.

"This is the CTMS at the middle! There's two tanks here, targeting now!"

Kay listened to her radio and almost felt bad. She'd wanted to see what Dominion could do, but so far, her team was practically crushing them. Where was that crack crew in the Ram? Why weren't they kicking ass right now? Kay knew that Delilah was a good commander, how come they weren't putting up a resistance?

"This is the flag escort! We just got sniped by that CTMS thing!"

"What?!" Naomi shouted back.

"HOW?!" Kay asked, but she wasn't very surprised. She'd seen her tanks get sniped by inferior designs before. What was going on here? This seemed oddly familiar… Maybe… Kay had a sneaking suspicion she wanted an answer to. "That M7 is the team captain. Fire at it please." Kay switched her radio to the team. "Alisa, you might have tanks crossing you heading north in a minute. Focus on the M7E2 and no one else if you see it."

A 75mm round went flying past the turret of the M7.

"Oh, come on, you shoot like that Kawashima girl!"

The result was what Kay had been looking for anyway, the round didn't need to hit. This was what she wanted to see happen.

"All tanks! Full advance!"

A round screeched past Ayame's turret. She ducked down in her hatch, terrified. This was too similar to that practice match… "All tanks! Pull back and form up on the Ram!"

"Ram, standing by." Was Delilah's calm response.

How was she so damn relaxed?

The Shermans were getting uncomfortably close. Ayame knew what to do. "Nozomi, charge down the hill. We need you to buy time."

Before the Stuart's commander could respond, Delilah cut in. "This again?"

"I'm trying to get myself out of here, okay?"

"Don't charge, just fall back normally. You're going to be alright. Have the CTMS cover you on the way back."

"They're so far away!"

"You'll be fine, you have two other tanks with you. Fire a volley and retreat."

"Don't tell me what to do!"

"Ayame, you're doing fine there's no need to-"

"I told you to wait in the back, didn't I?"

The Stuart charged downhill as Ayame and the Lee moved away as fast as they could to meet up with the CTMS. They were in sight of each other when Delilah came over the radio again.

"Do you think you could make a quick stand at the top of Kidney Ridge? It's defensible enough for everyone to drop shells, especially if you start bombarding with the M8."

Ayame was clearly not in the mood for suggestions. "Thanks, but we're getting the hell out of here. We'll just keep-"

The transmission was cut short by a 76mm round hitting the right side of Ayame's tank.

"They're hit." Haruki said, her voice emotionless.

Delilah sighed and leaned back in her seat. This was how things would go. She took stock of what was going on. She had an M3 Lee, the M8, the M22 Locust, the CTMS, and her Ram left. The last M5 Stuart was in the process of being taken out in its suicidal charge. Kidney Ridge was a defensible position for now.

"This is the Stuart. We got hit but took out a Sherman with us."

"Alright, thanks guys. We'll see you on the flip."

Saunders had eight Shermans left. Knowing the makeup of their team, it would be a combination of M4s with the 75mm gun, the M4A1(76) with the 76mm high velocity gun, and the VC Firefly with the 17-pounder. The Ram and Lee might be able to shrug the 75s if angled correctly, but the 76 and the 17-pounder would go through easily.

"I want the Lee to focus on the Firefly, the CTMS on the flag tank, the M22 to shoot anything that moves, and the M8 to bombard the living hell out of them. The Ram will focus on Kay." Delilah explained.

In minutes, the Shermans appeared below them. Rounds began flying downrange. The M8 peppered both groups with HE shells, rattling the Saunders tankers. Mia hit an M4 with APDS round, killing it with one shot.

"Was that the captain's tank?" She asked Delilah.

Delilah wasn't able to tell at first. She searched with her binoculars and was hopeful until she saw a head of blonde hair poke out of the hatch of one of the Shermans. "Unfortunately, you need to hit the big green one." She said dryly.

"I assume you mean the one with the big blonde lighthouse beacon on the turret?"

"Yeah, that one."

The flag tank was hidden, but evidently able to see them because a 76mm HVAP round hit the front plate of the Lee. There was no time to issue a warning, Delilah watched the muzzle flash and knew where the impact would be. She ordered the M8 to let loose HE shells on the general area of the flag tank. After more shots, Mia managed to bounce a shell off the side of Kay's tank. Just as she was adjusting her aim for another shot, a round from another tank bounced at a very high angle off the bow of the Ram.

"What the hell was that?"

Delilah could see the barrel of the Firefly smoking in the distance.

"We just bounced a round from the Firefly."

"Well that was lucky. A few feet back and we'd be toast."

"Yeah. Lucky." Amy complained. "I just watched a 17-pounder shell shred itself two feet from my face."

"I'm sorry, helmet-chan. Your brain bucket didn't soften the blow?"

"Oh, shut up and kill things."

"Guys, what do you say about getting out of here?" Delilah asked over the radio.

"Yeah, the only reason we're not dead is that the Locust is a tiny target."

"Okay. Kana, drop smoke shells on each group, and then put one right in front of us. Fire as fast as you can. Everyone else, fire fast. It doesn't need to be accurate. Use the coax if you have to."

"One course of smoky hell, coming right up."

Plumes of smoke rose around the Saunders tanks, blinding them unless they moved from their positions. Another sprung up directly in front of what was left of the Dominion team. Just as the tanks were pulling away, a stray shot from some tank flew toward them. It hit the M8, killing it among the rising smokescreen.

"Well that's our luck, isn't it? Better luck to you guys."

Now it was the Ram, the CTMS, and the Locust running alone from the Saunders team. They were seven to three.

"Delilah, what's that tall ridge to the northwest? Is it useful to us at all?" Amy asked.

Yelena and Delilah scanned their map, looking for what Amy meant.

"To the northwest? Looks like that's unnamed, but past it is Weakley Hollow. It's a long, thin valley that has a closed end pointing toward us. The only way in is in the open end to the west or over a dirt pass near the closed end." Delilah answered.

"What if we get over that pass and hold up there? We can try and force them to follow the base of the ridge and up the open end of the valley." Amy offered.

"Only problem is that they could split up and send a group up the pass while the other comes around. Granted, we've seen what happens when people try to attack up a steep slope with no cover, haven't we? Yelena said.

"I like Amy's idea. While it's got its issues, we don't have much else right now. We could try and run through this open ground for a while to make Saunders chase us and hope we kill something."

"I'm the only gunner on this team with any sort of ability to fire on the move. The whole Saunders team except the Firefly has a gyro. All they have to do is slow down a little and they can get on target. No good." Mia said.

"Then let's go for it."

The tanks accelerated toward the base of the ridge. After several minutes of climbing, all three were nearing the top of the ridge. In the open area below, the Saunders tanks had split up just as Yelena had predicted. Four including Naomi's Firefly were moving toward the ridge while the other three including Alisa's M4A1(76) flag tank and Kay's tank were moving up the base of the ridgeline to enter the valley from the other end. Before Delilah could give any orders, the muzzle of the Firefly flashed. The Locust was the unlucky recipient.

Two tanks left. There were ten, then five, then three. And now two. Amy shuddered. This was familiar. Her thought was broken by yelling from the CTMS.

"Oi! That was my friend, you bastard!"

The CTMS wheeled around and the turret traversed. The Firefly fired again, and the round made an uncomfortable hissing noise as it whipped by the turret of the Ram.

"Shut up already! And leave her alone too, look at me! Come get me!"

The CTMS fired. The 37mm round flew nearly a mile through the air before it struck the front plate of the Firefly. It was a textbook shot, hitting at the most vertical and thinnest portion of the transmission housing. A white flag popped up from the Firefly's turret.

"Suck it! Come get some!"

Delilah stared in awe at the CTMS, which was already lining up a shot on another Sherman. "That has to be the best sniping I've ever seen."

"So it would seem." Mia said.

"Miss Fraser, get on out of here. We can hold on here for a good while." The commander of the CTMS said. "You guys do your thing."

"Are you sure?" Delilah asked.

Another round landed short of the Ram. The commander went back to yelling at the attackers. A Sherman took a solid hit and went down.

"I guess that's a yes then."

On the backside of the ridge, there was a steep slope with what looked like a wide trail leading down into the valley. Amy gently nudged the Ram over the crest and down the hill. Delilah looked back at the CTMS one last time. Its commander was still out of her hatch, yelling obscenities at the Shermans. Delilah couldn't hear what she was saying, but she could see that the commander was giving them the double bird. That was the last she saw of the little tank as the Ram dropped below the crest of the hill and hit the steepest part of the slope.

Down in the hull, Amy was having a wonderful time. She put the transmission in neutral and let the tank coast downhill. Gravity would do the work here. As the tank accelerated, the ride began to get rougher and rougher as the suspension had to work more to keep up. Out of everyone, the turret crew would be most affected as their higher seating positions only made the rocking worse. Delilah had the worst of it as she had to stay far enough out of her hatch to direct Amy. She braced herself against the opening and held on for dear life.

"Amy, how fast are we going? The bogies can only take so much."

"It's not the bogies that will go on us. The engine will overrev really easily and the brakes will overheat too if this keeps up."

The slope levelled out a third of the way down, and Delilah had the crew rest there. She cringed as she heard the brakes grind as the tank stopped. Too much abuse and they'd overheat and wear themselves out. The CTMS came over the radio, informing them that while they'd stopped the group coming up the ridge, they'd also had their tracks shot out. It would take a good amount of time before the little tank was mobile again. Time was something they did not have.

"What if we can swing around the end of the valley before Saunders gets here?" Eiko asked.

"We could box them in that way and force their backs against the wall. If the CTMS can repair itself in time, we'd have ourselves a nice little pincer movement." Amy said.

Delilah nodded. "We just need to stay on the other side of the valley from them. This trail sticks to the left side when you're facing out, so we just need to stay to the right. Amy, you think you can get us down this hill?"

Amy sighed. "I'm not sure. It's steep as hell and the brakes are really starting to wear out already."

"What about engine braking?"

"I'll try, but the R-975 loves to rev until it blows itself up. There's no fuel choke at high RPM and it's not like a car that has a rev limiter. You put your foot to the floor or shift into too low of a gear at too high a speed and it's going to float valves and then send a piston into low Earth orbit."

"Once again, we find ourselves with no easy options."

"Welcome to Tankery."

Delilah looked downhill. She radioed the plan to the CTMS crew, who were still repairing their track.

"Amy, go ahead and try and get us down from here. Everyone else get your head out and help Amy watch where she's going. Yell if there's anything you see in the way."

The Ram crept down the slope, slowly gaining speed. Amy let gravity pull them down but left the transmission in gear. The needle on the speedometer crept higher and higher as Amy waited for the last possible moment to upshift. She let the Ram get close to top speed before gently pulling on the brakes, then downshifted. The engine RPM shot up as it pulled on the tracks. The tank was just barely slowing down.

"Right stick!" Mia yelled. "Rocks on the left side!"

Amy pulled hard on the right-side brake, just barely missing the large rock. In doing so, she let the engine get away from her. It was almost revving high enough to start floating valves, and Amy instinctively buried her foot in the clutch pedal. With nothing to stop it, the Ram hit the steepest part of the slope and accelerated rapidly.

"Everyone get inside and hold on!"

Delilah braced herself against her hatch, keeping herself at eye level to keep watch. Amy released the clutch and heard a terrible grinding nose and what sounded like misfiring. Eiko felt a piece of her die knowing what kind of repair job this would be. Engine braking wasn't enough and keeping the engine at this high of an RPM would blow it soon.

"Amy! Brakes!" Eiko yelled.

"I'm trying!"

"You're gonna blow the damn engine if you keep this up!"

"I know, I know!"

The tank was now hurtling down the hill with little to no way of stopping. There wasn't much for Amy to do. She put the clutch in and downshifted. "Brace!"

She quickly let go of the clutch pedal. The engine spun faster as the transmission ground horribly. The tank pitched forward sharply.

What followed sounded like an explosion.

The tracks snapped to a halt and ground into the dirt. In moments, the Ram had gouged deep ruts into the side of the hill. It finally came to a stop surrounded in smoke and dust.

"Holy crap my head hurts." Delilah complained. She'd faceplanted into the periscope when the tank came to a stop. Thankfully, the designers had included a pad on the bottom to make the experience a pleasant blow to the head.

"This is why we tend to wear helmets in the tank." Amy mused.

"At least we're still alive." Yelena said, coughing from the filthy air in the turret.

Even with the blown engine and shredded transmission, the white flag still hadn't popped. They were still in play.

Up on the ridge, the CTMS crew had seen everything. "Are you guys alright? Is anyone hurt?"

"No." Delilah replied. "But our engine is dead. We're fighting from here whether we want to or not."

It was now a game of waiting. Saunders would come up the trail any minute and one-shot the Ram. Eiko racked the charging handle on her Browning. She wasn't going down without making at least one tanker unhappy. Yelena refilled her ready rack with all AP and put one in her lap. Mia lined the gunsights up with the trail and about at where the front plate of a Sherman would be. The CTMS hid itself on the hill, ready to rain 37mm hell on some very unhappy Shermans.

In the distance, the sound of engines drew nearer. Saunders was almost on top of them. At any moment, they would break through the trees and end the match.

"Here they come." Said Amy. She felt useless now, unable to do anything except sit and watch.

As if on cue, the lead Sherman appeared from the wood line. A 6-pounder shot from Mia stopped it cold.

"Two more, we're even now."

The next Sherman appeared; Kay's blonde hair visible out of the commander's hatch. She dropped down into the turret as soon as she saw the Ram. Before Mia had time to line up, the CTMS managed a perfect shot to the roof of the turret. One more Sherman to kill and the match was theirs.

"Where's that last flag tank?" Delilah asked.

No one could see it. Every eyeball strained, looking for movement in the woods.

"Hey!" the CTMS commander yelled. "Right in front of you!"

"Where?" Delilah couldn't see.

Mia searched desperately for her target. There was nothing to be seen until a shower of sparks lit up a bush. The CTMS had bounced a shot off the turret of the Sherman, the sparks drawing everyone's attention. Then Mia saw it.

A gun barrel.

Pointing directly at her.

At a range that no one could miss.

"Jesus!"

The 76mm round hit the turret right next to the primary sight. Mia was blinded by the flash as the whole tank rocked back. Their white flag popped up. This was it. Dominion Girl's High School had lost to Saunders University High School. Mia sighed and lay back into Delilah's lap.

"Your back is so bony you made my knees hurt as much as my head."

"Ah well."

"That means get off of me."

"Do we need kneepads as well as a helmet for our delicate commander?" Joked Amy.

"That's officially the dumbest thing I've ever heard of."

"Second only to a beret." A new voice said.

Delilah looked up through the still-open hatch. Kay was looking down into the tank. "Are you guys okay? It looks like you came to a very sudden stop before getting hit."

Delilah climbed out and sat on the rim of her hatch. "Yeah, everyone's alright. A little shaken but alright." She looked at her tank. "Our poor Ram sure took a beating though."

Amy crawled out the side door and walked around the Ram. The tracks were buried deep into the dirt, the front being covered to the center of the drive sprocket. Up on the mantlet, there was a large black impact wound from the 76, and the long streaking mark from the 17-pounder ran across the bow. The shell had gouged into the steel above the fender and below the driver's front hatch. The top of the engine deck and the rear of the turret was covered in thick black soot and a thin coat of oil. On the rear of the tank, the exhaust had blown more soot and oil down the rear plate. Amy didn't dare open the engine cover to see what she'd done to the engine itself or how much of a mess the compartment was. That was a problem for much later, once they could get the Ram back into the garage.

"It looks like your tank isn't going anywhere soon." Kay said. "Alisa will give you a ride on the back of hers to the meeting area. We'll get our recovery vehicles out here to drag the disabled ones back."

Amy had feared that the ride back would be in awkward silence, but Alisa was just as friendly as Kay. Maybe not as outgoing, but still talkative.

"I'm impressed you guys got so far. If I hadn't been able to hide for as long as I did, there's no way that would have worked. Why did you guys choose to fight from there? It was a pretty genius move. We expected to have to fight our way into or out of the valley, not to be ambushed at the end."

"We didn't exactly choose that spot." Delilah said. "We meant to trap you in the valley but kind of went flying down the hill and blew our engine up on the way down."

"Ah, the old overrev issue I see. I guess it makes sense, the Sherman and the Lee that your tank comes from share the same engine."

Back at the meeting area, it was a good long wait for the recovery vehicles to bring everyone back. The crews chose to start with the hardest, and the Ram arrived first. Eiko spent her time messing with the engine compartment, presumably checking to see what sort of horror show repair job awaited her.

Kay and Naomi had arrived with the Ram, and they and Alisa met with Ayame. Ayame called Delilah over.

"Thank you for such a wonderful match! You guys played so well that I thought you would beat us." Kay said.

Naomi showed a slight and rare smile. "Your snipers in the CTMS were killer. I'd like to get to know them more sometime."

That kind of praise was rare from her.

"I mean… the CTMS was never really supposed to be a sniper, but they have shown a great deal of skill at it." Delilah admitted.

"Put them in a better tank with a bigger gun someday. I'll consider it a fair rematch then."

"Kay, why'd you split yourself up at first? Why not charge head-on at our line?" Ayame asked.

"Easy answer? You guys have more mobile tanks than us. If we grouped up and you flanked us, that would have been the end of the match right there. Less easy answer, it was more fun and fairer. I got to use several groups, we fought in pretty equal numbers, and you got to fight for longer. Both your team and mine also got to see that Ram of yours go nuts."

"Fun… fair?"

"Yes, of course. What are you, a Nishizumi? Tankery isn't war. We're here to have fun, right? We enjoy doing what we do."

"I mean, I guess…" Ayame stumbled.

"I understand fully." Delilah said with a smile as she shook Kay's hand. "One day we'll fight again, and it'll be even more fun."

"Right! See you around!"

With that, the Saunders students went back to join their team.

Attention focused on the Ram. Unlike the other tanks, a simple power reset of the referee equipment wouldn't enable the tank to move under its own power back to the landing craft.

"How do we drag this thing back home?" Yelena asked.

"Well, that WC-51 might have the power. I don't know about the traction though." Amy said.

"I've got it!" Eiko answered. She led them back to the Ram where she'd pulled the WC-51 behind the ram and connected it with jumper cables.

"Eiko, I admire your effort, but I don't think a jump start will make a mangled engine turn over, let alone run." Delilah said.

"I find your lack of faith… disturbing. I hooked up the truck's alternator directly to the starter of the tank. Hopefully that'll be enough to get the engine spinning."

"What about the fact that it's burning oil like a battleship and the fact that it's missing at least one cylinder?"

"I crimped the fuel lines so it won't try to dump any into the dead cylinders."

"And the oil?"

"I topped it off. Someone will have to ride on the back and keep pouring oil in every few minutes or so."

"Eiko, this seems really dangerous."

"You just got shot at by a tank." She said as she started the WC-51.

"Touché. Amy, go try and start it up."

Eiko revved the engine hard. Amy pulled on the starter, the starter motor whining as it received much more power than it was ever designed to. The engine turned and turned as if it wanted to come back to life. A few times it sputtered and sounded like it might catch, but nothing. Amy floored the throttle. Normally this could cause the engine to flood with fuel, but the overpowered starter kept it turning. The sputtering grew louder until the whole tank shook, the engine now running. Back from the grave. Amy had to keep her foot on the throttle to idle at a very high RPM, but it worked. She shifted into first and the Ram lurched forward. The clutch is obviously trashed too Amy thought.

Slowly, the half-dead Ram rolled toward the landing craft and up the ramp, surprising everyone who was already there. Dark blue smoke poured from the exhaust as the engine burnt oil. Eiko had volunteered to keep it full. Amy killed the engine and listened to it grind to a halt, oil dripping from various places onto the deck. It was half-dead, but it was still going home.

The rest of the team loaded onto the LCAC and they pushed off as the sun was setting into the sea. This time, the entire crew of the Ram joined Delilah by the rail as the landing craft sped home. On the horizon, the figure of the Nassau was framed against the golden sky. Delilah forced them all to take a picture together, still in their filthy uniforms. They looked toward the school ship growing in the distance, taking in the view. Amy looked down at their tank.

"Guys, can we agree never to go down a hill like that ever again?"

"Yes." Was the unanimous answer.

"Can we never come to a full stop from sixty-something miles an hour with no seatbelts?" asked Delilah.

Another unanimous yes.

"Maybe we can try some safety equipment in our tank?" Yelena teased.

"I am so not wearing a helmet."

AN: So there it is, the first "real" battle of the series (and it's just barely still Sunday!). I hope it came out well and that the changing perspectives weren't too jarring. Feel free to let me know - what I write makes sense to me, but I know that it might not make sense to others. Sometimes I get my suggested edits back with a couple sentences completely changed in meaning, so I've been trying to write more clearly. At 6,780 words, it is twice as long as the next-longest chapter and is the longest single thing I've ever written. It was fun to write for characters from the series, even if I'm not great at having them do or say things they actually would. I hope everyone enjoys reading so far!