Chapter 9

While the boys are engaging the mercenaries…

"What is going on!?" Miho heard Yukari scream, "this is a warzone out there!"

Miho had to agree to that: the outside was mayhem. As soon as their Panzer IV approached the old highway, they were engaged by 2 men, both wielding what Yukari identified to be M16 assault rifles. The men fled at the sight of the approaching tank, but as they navigated the old complex, they saw more scenes of battle. Twice they've passed flaming remnants of what seemed to once be Panzer I light tanks, and once they saw the silhouette of what Yukari said might be an M8 Greyhound armored car through a smokescreen. They're currently parked in what used to be a central courtyard in a hotel, trying to figure out what to do.

Suddenly, in a mighty explosion, one side of the yard's wall blew apart. And through the dust, an M2A1 light tank rolled through. It halted abruptly upon the sight of the Panzer IV, and frantically tried to retreat, only to snap its left treads on a jagged piece of concrete. It fired, and a shell exploded against the medium tank's side, taking off an armor plate.

And just as abruptly as it appeared, the light tank exploded in a massive fireball as something detonated its engine. Flames shot from the hatches, and the turret took off, spinning 3 times before falling next to the burning chassis.

"Nishizumi-dono, look!" Yukari pointed.

Running out of a nearby building was a boy, in a WWII U.S Army field jacket, with an armband bearing the Oarai logo, carrying an M20 Super Bazooka and a Browning Automatic Rifle. He looked at the tank, and stumbled. Then, he ran out of a hole in the nearby wall.

"Follow him." Miho said.

…

"SERIOUSLY!?" I roared into my walkie-talkie.

"Absolutely, sir! A Panzer IV G, with Schrutzen armor plates! And an Oarai logo on its side!"

"Oh, come on." I sighed, snapping my two-way radio back into its holster. "Miho is in this fray? Does she know how dangerous this is?"

"Talk less." Said Andrew, with whom I've just grouped up with, "we need to find and secure them first." He fired the HKM16 he seized from a fallen enemy over the wall, spitting out some rounds before the gun clicked. He cursed and threw it away, drawing his Thompson.

Suddenly, I turned and saw an M20 armored car advancing toward us, accompanied by 9 soldiers. But before either side had the chance to shoot, the roar of a plane engine cut through the noises of shells and rifles, and a Yakovlev Yak-9 fighter dived out of the clouds. It opened up with its 20mm autocannon and 12.7mm machine guns, falling all the infantry and the M20's gunner before pulling out of its nosedive. The remaining crew of the M20 opened their hatches and fled before we can attack.

Snapping out of my salute to the pilot, I lifted my torso and fired through a nearby window frame, falling a man with a M2 Carbine. I motioned at Andrew, and we ran along the wall, turned a corner-

And found ourselves face-to-face with an M2 machine gun crew.

"Fuck!" I kicked Andrew down into a mortar hole as the machine gun roared to life. But it lasted for only a second before Pop! Pop! Pop!

The automatic weapon went silent. I looked up, and saw the crew slumped down on the ground. Then a familiar figure barged out of the nearby building. Lucas knelt down, stuffing the men's grenades into his pocket. He flashed a thumbs-up at us, and ran off.

"Is that your gunner?" "Yeah."

I stepped up to the fallen team and took their machine gun. They won't need it anymore, and it would make a good trophy. Then we took off again.

We were taking positions against a building when half of the house collapsed. Looking forward, I saw a figure moving forward, and I furrowed my eyebrows. That's too big to be any of our tanks.

As the smog cleared, I saw what it is, and my heart skipped a beat in relief.

The Panzer IV.

…

"WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?!" I yelled at Miho and her crew.

"I-I'm sorry, we just wanted to find out what's going on." Miho stammered.

"This place is at war! Didn't you see the flak fire!?"

"By the way, where did that come from?" Yukari asked.

"I can only explain later." I grumbled. "Here, take this," I plucked 2 Grease Guns off some bodies nearby and shoved them into Miho and Yukari's arms. Then I lifted a Garand rifle off the ground, gave it to Hana and rummaged around in the backpack of another attacker, coming up with a few magazines and stuffed them into the girls' pockets. "Don't hesitate. These guys won't leave you any mercy. Now, follow me."

Meanwhile…

Takashi cursed as he leapt over a stack of crates and dashed down an alleyway, running towards the airfield.

He was engaged in constant fighting like all his comrades were until he noticed several people surrounding several somethings moving toward the direction of the airfield a few moments ago. What's strange about them is that they don't even shoot at the Oarai defenders they passed, and the vehicles they were escorting looked too big to be either an M2A1 or an M8 Greyhound. Alerted, he decided to get to the airfield ahead of time and warn the allies there.

Finally, after huffing and puffing, he reached an entry of the airfield. The soldier on duty stopped him.

"Takashi, U.S Army Division of Oarai." He panted, "We've an emergency!"

"Well, what is it?" The boy asked.

"Multiple vehicles and personnel moving towards the airfield. Unable to identify model, but it appears to be a medium tank at least."

The soldier frowned. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, absolutely."

"All right." He picked up his walkie-talkie and spoke into it.

"This is 01. Reports of unknown vehicles approaching. All units prepare for land assault. Get some bombers back here. Send the Futura weapons back into their foxholes."

And he let Takashi in.

The Japanese boy staggered down a runway, finally collapsing on a bench. Reaching into his provisions sack, he took out a small chocolate bar and ate it, letting the sweet ease some of the pain and tiredness. Then, he dug out his canteen and took a long, hard drink. He wiped his mouth, and was just standing up when

WHOOM! THOOM!

A shell flew from the direction of the old urban section and exploded against a utility truck, which burst into flame. Cries and yells of alarm came, and multiple people ran in the direction of the attack, sporting semiautomatics.

Drawing his Wz.35 antitank rifle, Takashi ran into one of the machine gun nests along the runway. Propping the hefty rifle up on its bipod, he aimed at the direction of the commotion.

The smoke faded, first revealing 4 men running down the runway firing HKM16 assault rifles. A machine gun nest roared into action, falling the attackers. The operators proceeded to send more rounds flying into the ball of smoke, but they sparked off something.

Then, an armored car rumbled through the haze, which Takashi identified to be the T27 Armored Tank, with a Saunders logo still on its side. Its coaxial machine guns blazed to life, forcing everyone to dive to the ground.

"Eat this, loser." Takashi muttered, loading an AP round into his weapon. The gun shifted, locking the turret in its sights, and spat out the bullet.

With a sound of metal colliding against metal, the bullet nailed itself into the turret, destroying the small-caliber automatic. The turret shifted, searching for the attacker. Takashi stuffed another round into the breech and slid the bolt into place, firing again at the turret. This time, the bullet hit a few centimeters beside the first, and the autocannon went silent. He figured he had killed the gunner.

As he watched, a teenage girl jumped onto the now neutralized vehicle and pried open a hatch, firing a pistol into the tank. She reached in, and after chucking a body out of the car, and drove it away. Takashi figured out why: they need evidence that Alisa, or someone at Saunders, is behind the ploy.

But as soon as he wiped some sweat off his forehead, thinking the threat had been eliminated, the roar of engines, this time much louder, came back into his ears. He frowned and looked back at the smog that still hadn't dissipated. As soon as he saw what was causing the commotion, his eyes bugged in horror.

Unsnapping his microphone with shaking hands, he yelled into it.

"This is Takashi, at the airfield! All soldiers with AT weapons, proceed to the main runway as soon as possible! Two enemy Wolverine tank destroyers accompanied by infantry are attacking us!"

Gritting his teeth, he tried to aim at one of the tanks. Fortunately, they weren't very fast, so he still had some time. But they had powerful guns in compensation. He was reminded of that when a remote Panzer I sped out from behind a hill and fired its machine guns at the tanks, only to be decapitated by an enemy shell.

"Look out!"

He turned, and saw two Rangers setting up what Takashi recognized in amazement to be a recoilless rifle. The team assembled the weapon, and a boy fired it, jamming the turret on the foremost tank. Takashi fired his Wz.35, and snapped the treads on the other Wolverine. But immediately, the crew were faced by an outburst of M2 bullets from one tank, forcing them to scatter. When the fire died, the crew tried to fire the weapon again, only to step back, cursing.

"Hurry and shoot those things!" Takashi grumbled, firing another round.

"Can't!" the loader moaned, "the firing mechanism is busted! 5 Browning rounds went through it!"

Growling in frustration, Takashi turned back and fired again, but he knew it won't hold. All the Wz.35 can do is immobilize these destroyers and destroy their antipersonnel weapons.

"All units, this is Takashi at the airfield. Current fire is insufficient. Please bring sufficient antitank weapons as soon as possible. Over."

At the same time…

John looked at the two Wolverines from the foxhole he was hiding in.

When the two tanks first smashed through, he was as terrified as anyone else. However, being a teen with a big heart and quite some bravery, he calmed down quick and started to think up solutions.

He didn't have any more grenades – he cursed himself for not taking some off the troopers he slayed – and he had left his entire Panzerschreck kit at their dorm, thinking that he won't need to worry about light tanks. All he had was the MG-42, and a Colt Commando revolver pistol given to him by the Fidel boy, who said he plucked it off a body along with 36 rounds. Gabriel is with him, but he too had left his rocket launcher back at home. In general, no chance of destroying the tanks.

But that's when a brilliant – and in a way stupid, generally very daring – idea came to him. He had noticed that the Saunders logo on the sides of the chassis hadn't been removed. If they can capture the vehicle, it would be steel evidence that Alisa has been behind this attack.

Slinging his MG-42 over his back, he drew the Colt Commando and charged out of the foxhole, yelling out loud. He dashed across the concrete runway, and before the crew had a chance to figure out what was going on, he leapt onto the chassis of the nearest Wolverine, entering the machine gun's blind zone. Gripping the side of the open-roofed turret, he jumped into the combat section of the tank. He pressed the trigger of the revolver once, twice, and the gunner and loader went down. The commander turned in shock and tried to draw his weapon, only to be knocked to the ground by John's fist. Then, he pointed the weapon that just eliminated the other crew at the man on the ground.

"If you want to live," he growled, "surrender right now, and get out of the tank."

The commander gulped and nodded. He lifted his torso out of the turret, hands held high. The machine guns on the airfield ceased firing. He stumbled out, and knocked on the driver's hatch. It opened, and the confused driver lifted himself out, and realized what was going on when John waved his handgun at him.

"This is John. Successfully captured 1 enemy Wolverine. Enemy commander and driver have surrendered. Take them out."

A few moments ago, while John was cursing himself in the foxhole…

Lucas looked down at the tank destroyers.

He was perching on top of a searchlight tower when the machines showed up. Fortunately, their commanders didn't see the necessity to look up, so he wasn't in trouble.

He cursed himself for leaving his Luftfaust at his home. Now, all he had is his trusty FG-42 and a Stieglhandgranate 24. How can these take out a heavy tank?

All of a sudden, he had an idea.

Without further ado, he whipped out the grenade and undid the safe, waiting for a few seconds before dropping it and diving behind the searchlight. It exploded only 1 meter above the Wolverine, instantly flooring the crew. He ran to the side of the tower, and raised his FG-42. With two clear shots, he took out all the enemies in the turret. Then, he rolled back his sleeves to reveal his secret weapon: a set of retractable daggers attached to his wrists. Jumping down into the tank's combat section, he slammed his left fist onto the commander's raised head, killing the man instantly. Pulling the body off the M2 Browning, he gripped it and pressed the trigger, unleashing a stream of fire upon the unsuspecting enemy soldiers that had been using the tank as cover. To his surprise, the other tank did the same, so he figured someone else must have had the same idea as him.

"All units, attention!" he yelled into his portable radio, "This is Gabriel! Successfully seized enemy Wolverine! Do not fire!"

And even better news came, as soon as he said that.

"This is Jacob at the airfield! Enemies are retreating!"

"Mason speaking. We have annihilated all active enemies within the old city compound. Awaiting further orders."

Grinning, Gabriel looked at the attackers, who are being mowed down en masse as their advantages drained. "Finally, it's over."

…

I put the mic down in relief.

I was plugging a Super Bazooka group when I heard Takashi yelling frantically for backup, stating that the enemies have deployed Wolverine tank destroyers at the airport. So, I grabbed the rocket launcher and ran for the airfield. I was about 15 meters away when I heard, in stun, that John and Gabriel had somehow managed to actually seize the enemy tanks without injuries. I don't think "amazed" would be enough to describe my status.

"Louis."

I turned and saw Hiroshi walking up to me with an MP-36.

"I don't know how to put this," he said, "but …"

"Have we lost someone?" I said, terrified at the thought.

"No. I just wanted to say that this is the most … shocking thing that the Rangers have been through. And it had honestly trained ourselves like never before. So, I guess I can actually say thank you?"

"Don't get busy." I sighed, "we've still got business to do."