Chapter 21: Long Live the Boer

The day had arrived. The school landed at Port Nolloth and I had never seen so many black people in my entire life. I know there are cities in the south that had a similar ratio of colored and white distribution but it was still the first time for me to really witness it. The only thing I really know about South Africa was Johannesburg but, it's rather obvious we're not exactly close to that city. My culture shock was very much noticed by the rest of the team as they began marching to the docks.

"Quit staring at the locals," Lola commanded with a slap to my right shoulder.

"Come on, Johnny, it's not the first time you've seen people like them," Maribelle told me as she passed by me.

I supposed it was rude of me to just stand and stare while everyone else made their efforts to get things going. I went to the back of the line and walked in the same rhythm as everyone else until we were all off the ship. If there was one thing I missed about home all these years later, it would be having a break from the constant smell of the sea. After a while, some can get sick of it. The ocean's waves that pounded against the coast were always a lullaby for the other girls as well as the locals as I would assume. But here, I heard nothing but a constant rattling of water that eroded the land it touched.

"Johnny!" I heard Delilah call out as the girls from Ryneveld were assembling in front of Johnston's Rebels.

One girl with dirty blonde hair began talking. I know she was speaking in English, but every word that escaped her lips came off as nothing more than gibberish. It appeared that the rest of the girls had just as much trouble understanding the Boer girl but Delilah was able to have a full conversation with her as though we were in a bar in Cameron and talking about how fast the new car goes on the interstate. After who I could assume was the leader of the enemy team would finish her question, Delilah told her that Johnston's had a good winning streak since taking on the Brazilians. She's confident this final match of the season will be no different. I saw the Boer leader chuckle and waved her arm to lead us somewhere.

It was only a few paces where I realized we were being led to our warehouse quarters and after Delilah hugged the Boer leader, we were all assembled to wait for the tanks to be transported over. The girls all grouped up into their respective tankmates as the hour began to pass us by. I adjusted my spectacles and looked to my watch to see it was only a few minutes past noon. Our match won't start until sundown. I guess there had to be a finality to the match after all. I still wished the whole thing could just be done with and I would be able to let the day pass. Everyone was chatting and were still excited for what will come later in the day while I entered the warehouse and watched the sun's descent.

Roughly fifteen minutes had passed by the time Dixie was within earshot. "Johnny? You want anything to eat?"

I had to ignore my stomach, I can survive another day of fasting. "I'm fine."

"You sure?" Her head tilted a little to the left as she put her hands on her hips. "The Ryneveld girls are giving out hot dogs. I'll get you some."

I was about to tell her not to but felt some sense come to me and bite my tongue for a second. "I'd appreciate that."

The sun didn't wait for me when I followed Dixie out of the warehouse and enjoyed some food with the Boer girls and watched the Rebels pretend to be nice to me again. Checking my watch once again, and it appeared to be that we had only an hour and half left before the match was to start. Ryneveld's girls waved goodbye to us as they made haste to get to their warehouse and get ready. Delilah called everyone to attention and made sure to stand atop the Lee as we had finished cleaning up our mess and assembled in the warehouse now filled with our tanks.

"This is our last challenge. We will succeed, we will not falter. Throughout the season I have watched all of you improve in your tankery and with your teamwork. We've been able to take on great challenges with other schools as well as our problems throughout this time and I am proud to call all of you my team."

It was short and sweet, everyone gave a rebel yell and I decided to join in the second round and raised my hands up this time around. Dixie made sure to approach me before she got into the Stonewall and kissed me on the cheek. I was shocked to say the least since she's doing this in full view of everyone else. I felt the glares coming from some of the teammates but I also saw the commander of the Stonewall put her hands behind her back and blush a little. I swallowed my pride and pecked her on the cheek as reciprocation. I saw her face light up as well as her temperature increase as her face only grew redder.

"I'll be rooting for you," I told her as I rested my hands on her shoulders. Intrusive thoughts figured out a time to strike as I pulled her closer and gave her a proper kiss. "For luck."

Dixie was dazed upon such aggression from my end. It took hearing her name being yelled out by one of her tankmates to get her back and she ran faster than that jeep I drove during practice. All that remained was the match. I had to rush to make sure I got a good seat in the stands to see it all happen. The weather was still warm even with the sun still making its exit. The humidity was certainly familiar thanks to being on a ship for a few years but it was tolerable for the most part. Once I made it to the seats, there was a sizeable audience there waiting for the match to begin. On the other side stood the rest of the girls that attended Ryneveld, they sat with a sense of chaotic excitement as they hopped and hollered about. All of Johnston's audience weren't much different. In my absence, Delilah was able to lead her girls to victory after victory and now here we were, the last battle before we had to pack it all in for the year.

The sun gave its final farewell for the day, prompting the flare to sound off and all the tanks began moving. The terrain was mostly grass lands with many valleys. It seemed that all that ballet from practicing will be put to the test with no plains to have fun in. The first shot was fired half an hour after the sun had gone away. The South Africans had advanced to the Southern girls and were about ready to charge. Hood and JEB began kiting the enemy's shots while also giving a few of their own while the Stonewall and Lee withdrew and became two tank groups. Lee led Longstreet and Mosby's Rangers while Stonewall followed and covered Beauregard and Forrest. Delilah had her tanks circumnavigate one of the many valleys. She was able to spot a light tank across that valley and had all three began firing. The Boer tank retreated with only dirt on the armor but none of Delilah's tanks advanced upon it.

On the other side of the battlefield, Dixie had Forrest and Beauregard separate and flank the main Boer forces that were focused on Hood and JEB. It was then I watched JEB and Hood do that backwards maneuver. They moved in semicircle fashion and JEB was in front and right when Hood was behind, Henrietta had her bazooka ready and fired both the rocket launcher and the M22 Locust's main cannon. Right as soon as those shots were made, Hood had passed the covering tank and fired upon the mass of tanks charging after them. Henrietta then got her rocket launcher and did the same thing. One of Ryneveld's tanks was taken out in that crossfire and by that time, Beauregard and Forrest had made their flank and began to fire off shot after shot to the opposing team. They were able to eliminate two more tanks but the reaction wasn't as good as Delilah had wished. Ryneveld had recovered much faster than expected and were able to take down Hood, JEB, and Forrest after that cavalcade of chaos.

Dixie continued trekking her tank away from most of the action thanks to the terrain and her tank being the class it is. The valleys proved to be just as detrimental to her as did the marshes and the swamp back in the bayou. It seemed she still had a plan as she made her way to one of the few hills in the area and was able to go uphill. The only problem of course was that she was going at maybe two miles an hour at best during that. Beauregard was able to escape from the main forces and took the journey of regrouping with Lee. Over where Delilah was, she had her tanks covered in foliage and leaves as the Boer forces were likely following Annamae on the way back and it looked like Delilah was willing to set it up to where she would be able to ambush the main group by the time they get to the valley.

Twenty minutes passed by and Annamae was able to get to the valley Delilah was hidden by and once the four Ryneveld tanks were in just at the edge, Lee, Mosby's Rangers, and Longstreet began opening fire. They were using everything, cannons, machine guns, and rocket launchers and were able to take out two of the tanks but the remaining two were able to avoid the valley and both fired directly at the M3 Lee. Delilah was taken out and Maribelle only had a minute and a half to give orders before the Longstreet also got eliminated in the crossfire. Mosby's rangers and Beauregard raced off from the scene and had their destination be the Stonewall who had only gotten about halfway up the hill by the end of the end of that firefight.

Dixie was able to spot a few tanks firing off at her. Due to the Tog II's sheer size, a few shots did end up hitting her but only did cosmetic damage. She continued climbing up that hill and Beauregard alongside Mosby's Rangers were in sight. They were able to give suppressing fire to get the enemy tanks of the Stonewall and were able to use some of that tank ballet when they were close enough to the Tog II. Ruby and Annamae had their tanks circle around Dixie while firing off towards the rest of the Boer tanks that had caught up. Their maneuverability was enough to take on two tanks and they decided to take a final charge. It seemed with how the battle was going, it was all or nothing at that point. All three tanks turned themselves down that hill and charged upon the remaining five tanks Ryneveld had left. Mosby and Beauregard fired a total of two shots each before slowing down to let the Stonewall get in front of them and they would zigzag around the shots and hide behind Dixie as their descent brought them closer to their opponents.

Then there came a new variable to change the trajectory. A few of the Boer girls' shots ended up taking out the Tog II's treads and put the Stonewall to a halt. Mosby and Beauregard made a last inch effort to maneuver behind Dixie and were able to fire two shots that eliminated two South African tanks. Only problem was that there were three left in that moment and were able to take Annamae and Ruby out before they turned to Dixie. Even immobilized, she gave everything her tank could do. Her machine gun kept firing off until the barrel had melted down. She had her tank fire its main cannon to the largest of the enemy tanks and she pulled out her M9 Bazooka and fired the killing blow. The two remaining Ryneveld tanks then flanked her and each fired a shot to the back of the Stonewall. At that point, we just had to wait until the South African shots could finally penetrate the Tog II's armor. Dixie knew that as well and pulled out a white flag before the enemy tanks could finish reloading.

Ryneveld was the victor.

The most surprising thing about the match was how quickly it all went. It was also strange to see the Rebel girls continue to use all or nothing tactics. But, lo and behold, the winning streak came to an end and I had to return to that warehouse quarters. The walk back was rather brisk and eventful. It was nice that the humid air had finally cooled down a little into the night but by the time I reached that warehouse, I saw the battered tanks and Delilah waiting for me with a grim smile on her face.

"Guess I was a bad luck charm after all," I said, mirroring that smile Delilah was giving.

"Who knew," she responded as she held out a hand to shake.

I shook her hand. "Regardless, it was nice to see your girls in the battlefield one last time."

"Yeah, we made it to the bitter end."

All that was left to do was to wait for the remaining tanks to be brought back and I spent most of that time away from the girls and focused up into the stars and the moon above me. I don't know how long I was lost in the lights in the sky. All I do know is that by the time I averted my gaze from the up above, I saw Dixie running towards me.