Pravda had done it again, charging with sheer force their arrowhead formation rammed straight into the heart of Virtanen and Knight's defense. Looking to his left, Virtanen saw a T-34 at full throttle barely miss the Firefly's flank. To his right, another sped by and fired at point blank without stopping to aim at the Panzer IV.
A T-34 100mm variant charged his Panther only to be deterred and change its course as a round from his 75mm cannon impacted against its turret. Pravda's intentions were clear, No respite, no chance to fight back, they sought to constantly overwhelm. Katyusha's strategy appeared similar to last year's but there were notably fewer kinks in it. A pair of vehicles would speed through and penetrate their lines, firing wildly before disappearing only for another to come from a different direction. It was as if armored cossacks were attacking them without remorse.
'There must be others waiting in ambush in case those suicidal T-34's flush us out' Virtanen's mind panicked. Watching the chaos unfold, he noticed his field of vision darken. Virtanen looked upwards to see the moon being blocked by a large cloud drifting through the night. The enemy's fire audibly lessened for the moment as they could no longer traverse as easily. Never missing an opportunity to run when he saw one, Virtanen prayed the cloud's cover would last just long enough.
Snatching at his mic Virtanen shouted his next orders to what remained of his team under his command. "Knight! Frost! Evac the area to the northeast, now! We're going to attempt to rendezvous with Diana and then head for the town!"
"Understood!" Came the mutual replies as their engines revved. The trio of tanks made to evacuate while Virtanen couldn't help but feel pressured by the oncoming wave of T-34s. He wondered how it was going on Kaiser's end.
-TRANSITION-
"Halt!" ordered Kaiser, standing out of his cupola. It had been a fair amount of time since the split in their team and even longer since he had heard from Natalya. It was a terrifying shock when his column looked to their right and saw her IS-1 no more than ten meters away. Just as surprised as he, the two looked into each other's barely visible faces in the dampened moonlight, both their vehicles aimed at each other, having almost fired.
As she tried to advance northeast uninhibited, they followed lower terrain sticking to easily maneuverable but preferably dense areas to conceal their advance. It ended up being so thick that her IS-1 had taken a wrong turn and snuck up parallel to Kaiser's Tiger.
Seeing one another look of surprise, Kaiser spoke first. "Mind telling me what you're doing here when you're supposed to be getting rescued by prince charming and his motley crew?"
He received a roll of eyes and a click of her tongue from Natalya. "We're not princesses in need of saving, Sir. Not that I think Diana would mind her foolish prince coming" she quipped.
"Are you sure you wouldn't mind a prince?" chided Valerya through the radio into her sister's ear. Natalya grumbled a response as Kaiser demanded answers. "Enough jokes, where is Lieutenant Frost's vehicle?"
"Too late for our little heroic Knight to sweep off her feet I'm afraid" she replied shaking her head. Finding there no time to be tactful Kaiser urged her vehicle to follow "Come along and do tell."
-TRANSITION-
Prior to rendezvous with Kaiser
Natalya made another call, informing Diana's crew of the situation. She rolled her eyes at the gleeful chatter that was on the other end. Diana's crew was giving her an ear full about Knight's sudden 'manly' attitude for her sake as she didn't have the strength to deny any accusations.
Natalya wasn't so happy at the revelation, however. 'Throwing caution to the wind and acting on rushed emotion' She critiqued, although she knew the irony of her calling out others for their emotions wasn't lost on her. "Sorry to interrupt the girl talk but we still have a match to fight and a team to find" she reminded.
"Uh-hem" Came Diana's weak yet still firm voice. "Understood, Nat you're the next highest ranking individual here and with this injury of mine, I'll be delegating my position to my loader. I can barely function properly with this headache, it makes me wonder how Kaiser stayed so calm after being on the outside of his tank when a round hit." she chuckled.
"We'll follow your orders as if you were one of our tank crew." chided Diana's RO.
"Thank you for your trust" Natalya felt delighted that others entrusted her, it was shocking how people's opinions of her had changed in so short a time. "I believe our best choice is to join the Virtanens detachment coming for us in the southwest and either swing by west or south to join the Kaisers." Declared Natalya.
"What then?" asked her gunner reclining in her seat. Thinking for a moment she turned her mic on once more giving further direction. "Assuming murphy's law doesn't reappear for the umpteenth time, hopefully, Kaiser or Virtanen can scrape together a plan." The transparency of her commands garnered a few hums but no opposition. Each person understood the difficulty of their situation. "We'll proceed with deep concealment and radio silence as ordered, do not engage unless necessary, That is all."
Their engines broke the night's stillness once more, heat distorting the cold air around their radiators as they pushed once more into the thick darkness. Natalya was now the de facto leader of their little detachment and though perhaps not vital, they could prove essential in securing victory. At least that was what the logical and proud side of her mind argued.
On the other side of her mind, her worries went rampant. 'Is Diana going to be okay? I can't ruin this entire operation because of a single blunder, I can't… Is this my fault? Will I disappoint the team?' Key figure's popped into her mind, her parents always smiling and always encouraging. Val always taunting yet a dear sibling. To her chagrin even Kaiser appeared whether she wanted to admit it or not, disappointing him would sting just as much as her family.
Glancing at the backs of her hunched crew who strained to see in the red moonlight. Natalya bit her lower lip. The sting helped her calm herself. 'No, worry later, work now' it was a saying she'd have chastised as stupid if she had heard it at any other point of her life. Kaiser had been the one to offer it to her when she always overthought. It was ironic in the fact he was the one to tell her she overthought things, but he was right that its simplicity was helpful.
The two vehicles proceeded to skirt the ridgelines in adequate concealment only to be stopped short of a knoll by the familiar sound of foreign tracks and engines. The hills face they resided on held some forestry that concealed them. They crested the top of the lower knoll just enough for the commander's hatch to peer over. It was almost entirely barren in the large open valley opposite them.
Opening her hatch Natalya looked through a small pair of binoculars, watching the enemy's numbers pass her sight. Diana emerged from her hatch to see for herself. "Any Ideas?" Glancing to see Diana, who was sporting a few rows of bandages on her head, Natalya turned back to watch her enemy's movements.
"Wait em out. As much as I'd like for us to break Pravda's Back with an unexpected strike, I have to sadly admit we're outmatched compared to Nonna and Clara." A noise of disapproval emanated from Diana who reluctantly agreed. Natalya smirked at the displeased sound. She didn't get along with many but Diana proved to be quite stubborn and proud, if not outright possessive of what she thought was hers. She was possibly the first friend she made within Transcendence. While the two were in thought they noticed a slowly growing rumbling break the silence to their right.
Pravda's KV-5 Had crested the higher ridge next to them. it's front landing with a loud clattering of tracks on earth and loose rock. The turret and barrel jostled from the heavy landing of its front treads gaining traction. This unsteady position did not prevent them from firing. At their elevation above most of the surrounding area, the shot echoed far and wide as chunks of earth cascaded down onto them. Natalya's eyes widened in realization as she slammed her hatch shut. It was an alert, quicker than reporting the position and struggling to maneuver in the dark they had opened fire to alert their enemies to a threat and the position. If they returned fire they would only reveal themselves more.
"DIANA BOOK IT!" shouted Natalya into her mic as she kicked her driver's seat. The action was received without complaint as the stunned driver jumped and pushed the IS-1 into gear. Diana's T-34-85 followed without delay. As the KV-8 knew of its slow reload and speed, it remained on overwatch. Luckily had no angle of fire on Natalya and Diana's escape. Rather than give chase it chose to reposition and watch their attempt to flee.
"Why aren't they pursuing?" asked Natalya's loader peeking out of the vehicle. "They are keeping eyes on us until a faster Vehicle can intercept and nick us," answered Natalya as she peered at her map. "Damn Light" she muttered, growing frustrated at the shaking of the vehicle..
"Nat, do we alter our course to evade?" came Diana's voice a bit unsteady. The bumpy ride and sharp evasions must have been taking a toll on her.
"Negative, we continue skirting the hills, disregard finding cover. Our goal now is to escape and reconnoiter with any friendly's if possible"
"But we'll be in the open and practically on a platform" argued Diana. "Better high and escaping than descending the valley and being a sitting duck, besides I thought you delegated command?" Countered Natalya.
"Doesn't mean I gave my headset…" pouted Diana. Fire erupted from both their left flank and rear.
The impacts forced geysers of earth to erupt around them as their vehicles evaded to their best ability, Sometimes luck would play out as the weight of their vehicles would shift the dirt beneath their treads and lead them to narrowly avoid a hit. Their luck, however, wouldn't hold for long. As the two were about to break over a second ridge and lose visual contact, Diana whose vehicle was now struggling its way back up to Natalya had been hit in the engine.
Her T-34-85 lazily made its way up to the ridgeline's precipice before stopping. "Diana!, what's wrong?" shouted Natalya as her vehicle lumbered on top of the hill.
"I think this is as far as I go Nat" Diana responded looking back at the small flames erupting from the back of her vehicle. "Our engines shot, we'll be lucky if we can even turn to face the enemy before they descend on us."
Biting her lip, Natalya remembered the Saunders match and offered hope. "We'll tow you out!" she suggested, nudging her driver's seat. When her vehicle didn't change course she gave an icy glare at her driver who shrunk in on herself. "Ma'am I don't think-" The glare strengthened forcing the driver to spin her head forwards and turn. The IS-1 began to turn around the hill once more but before they could even fully turn around flashes of light whizzed past them.
Natalya's vehicle retreated once more leaving only her hatch to see the sight of Diana's T-34-85, engine alight and illuminating their position to the enemy. "Those weren't even aimed at you Nat" laughed Diana.
"We can still get to you we just have to-"
"Use us to escape," said Diana with sudden finality. "Even if you did get to us Nat theirs a good chance we'll be disabled. I wouldn't put it past them to leave us barely running so that they could take you out as well, shooting the medic and all. Well just slow you down with a dead engine."
"But-" Natalya tried to muster an argument, a possible solution, if not to convince her peers then to convince herself. "But what about Knight? I know you wouldn't give up! Weren't you trying to win this with him?" Natalya asked, grasping at straws. It felt dirty to bring her friend personal feelings but she wouldn't just surrender the argument, to leave them out to dry.
"Hmm" pondered Diana. Her tone was strangely calm amid the incoming shells and encroaching enemy. "You aren't wrong Nat. I would like to hug him for his foolish bravery, reward him for all the trouble he caused" she chuckled. "But it seems my crew and I drew the short straw" a small round of laughter from her crew followed. "This is rather unlike you, being up in arms over such a trivial thing. Due to emotional compromisation, I am taking command once more, and before you say anything I'm feeling just fine so go now, you have your orders." Diana's vehicle returned fire downhill collapsing a single tree and obstructing an enemy vehicle.
Natalya's phone rang in her breast pocket. It was Diana calling her privately in a hushed voice so her crew wouldn't hear amid the battle. "I know what you were hoping for Nat. You wanted to find Kaiser first, didn't you?" The sudden interrogation claimed a sudden stutter from Natalya's lips. A motherly laugh came from Diana's end. "Go and find him. I won't ask you to win this for us, my vision isn't the best right now and even I can say it's looking a bit bleak but give them hell for us." Diana then cut her call. As Natalya tried to radio her back her gunner called her attention. "Ma'am, Lt frost is waving at us..."
Natalya looked up to see Diana waving out of her hatch, bathed in the red moonlight her white hair glittered a pale pink. Natalya choked up. Rather than let her crew witness her stinging tears she emerged from her hatch as well. With a salute and a stern face to hold her emotions back, she dropped back into her vehicle. With a somber nod, Diana turned around and did the same. Natalya didn't look back as the sound of explosions intensified and grew distant.
The sounds of combat were eventually replaced by the dull humming of engines and the slapping of tracks against the soil. The gently sloping hills and the night's presence assisted in the eery echoing of sound as it reached Natalya's ears. She couldn't locate where the enemy was approaching from but she assumed she wasn't encircled otherwise she'd still be trapped on that hilltop with Diana.
Her thoughts and vehicle raced in tandem only for a sudden jolt to stop both. Her treads lost traction on the sloping hillside. The early dew that began to set in and the earth already caught between each link only helped to loosen their grip further. The IS-1 started sliding sideways as her driver attempted to straighten the vehicle. Fighting its descent and avoiding collisions with trees at the ravine's lowest point. A sudden shift left threw Natalya to the right, her side slamming into the cupolas rim and with a pained huff, enticed her to recede into the vehicle.
Another quick shift had the crew bracing for impact. With a sudden and final halt, the vehicle lifted its rear upwards slightly then dropped in a loud creaking of steel. With a groan, Natalya looked through her hair, now disheveled and obstructing her sight. She and her crew inspected themselves, 'Only a few bruises nothing too bad.' She lamented.
Her crew groaned, telling of their similar state. Her driver had remained stiff as a board throughout the ordeal and having finally stopped, released all of her tension, going limp in her seat.
Peeking out her hatch, Natalya saw how dark it had become. The area around her in the valley's center was lush and contained clusters of flora along a small stream in which her vehicle's left track was now bogged in. To add to the difficulty a large cloud was moving in blocking what little light they had left. While waiting for her eyes to adjust in the dark, a bright light blinded her as it swam overhead.
A few voices shouted from its source. A foreign language, what little she understood it was Russian. "Idiot!" shouted one voice from uphill. Natalya's heart sunk as she immediately dropped into her vehicle. Bogged down and at the bottom of a valley, they were fish in a barrel. With wide eyes and covered ears, they shut off the engine. As if holding their breath would help they prepared for the final shot to come. Instead, the same voice shouted again this time without the Russian.
"What if they see the floodlights?! Shut them off!" The beams died accordingly. Holding her breath and inching towards her cupola's rim as if a child spying on her parents, Natalya closed her eyes and listened closely to the yelling girl. "What if they get the jump on us? Huh?!" the voice continued.
A second voice responded. "Then why are you shouting?!"
"Because they can see light farther than they can hear us, you Idiot!"
The second girl shouted back in Russian, calling her teammate an idiot as well, childishly making some strange sound of mockery.
"Whatever" interrupted the first voice we have to regroup for the pursuit of the enemy's flag tank. We can't afford to waste time now hurry!" an engine then came to life and departed. Natalya slowly peeked out once more confirming their departure in the quiet.
The cloud cover was directly above, whatever strands of light remained highlighted the silhouette of the Pravdan tank. That of which seemed to be staring intently at them. A moment of tense silence passed then another, then three, finally the girl and her vehicle departed after she started one-sidedly shouting into her radio. Losing strength in her knees Natalya sighed only for four more voices to follow and cause her to jump. She had almost forgotten she had a crew with her, those of which looked as frayed and exhausted as she.
Straightening her hair and clearing her voice Natalya sat straight. "Let's get back to our team. but first, get the shovels."
-TRANSITION-
Natalya's rendezvous with Kaiser
"We had to dig out the left track to move. Even after hearing some panicked transmissions, we knew we had passed Virtanen's group and were hoping we wouldn't miss you as well. All of a sudden we had happened upon your formation moving right past us only a few hills from where we were bogged down" debriefed Natalya, who naturally left out some of the more emotional and embarrassing facts.
"What of Knight? did you respond to him?" inquired Kaiser as he flipped through a few pages on a clipboard.
Natalya paused and adjusted her hand on the cupola's rim, thinking of how to explain. "We heard them as well as Virtanen's colorful language to be quiet but deemed your order final. We kept silent." Kaiser's lips tugged into a smirk at her words. It was hard to see but Natalya could practically hear it from his tone.
"Good job Natalya, you may have just helped me give us a fighting chance". The earnest praise and use of her name after all his rigid formalities caught Natalya off guard to the point she began fiddling with her hair. Kaiser, however, was already underway in giving orders. "Sokolov and both Prokov's prepare to move we are going to take back the initiative, the recent intel from Sergeant Prokov tells us that Pravda is unsure of our location and has consolidated their forces. They are actively hunting our flag tank, meaning we face defeat as of this moment. We will head east and then north-northeast. I'll correct course as we go along, prepare for a prolonged defense and tactical withdrawal."
Nudging his driver's seat, his Tiger lurched forward and began picking up speed. Valerya's KV-85 followed, then Natalya's IS-1. Off into the distance, Sokolov's Stug IV followed suit. Without regard for noise or even visual detection, the Stug beelined east for smoother terrain.
-TRANSITION-
A "S.N.A.F.U." That was all Knight could call their effort for a consolidated withdrawal to the town. Every time they tried to displace further to the rear they would be hounded by their enemy who adamantly dogged them down. The more maneuverable T-34 variants circled in small perimeters firing where they knew his team's approximate location or movements were. Their heavy tanks meanwhile fired from a distance so as not to expose their lighter armored comrades to return fire.
It was only when they would push forward one at a time, one flank, the center, then the other flank, could he, Virtanen, and Frost do all they could to retreat with urgency. The firing seemed to never cease, and their blasted marksman, that 'Nonna' and her counterpart 'Clara' were even hounding them with insane accuracy. At times only avoiding their demise by sheer luck.
"Knight they're left is pushing forward, nows your chance to fall back! head behind the elevation 50 meters to your rear!" Shouted Virtanen's voice into his ear. Snapping out of his deluge of thought and over-saturated senses he stuttered a response. "U-understood" he replied shaking his driver with his foot and relaying the order. Slowly they reversed, mitigating movement if the need to return fire arose.
Hunched in his seat, squinting at his topographical maps in the dim red light coming through his cupolas glass, Knight could feel his hands shaking even amidst the rattling and vibrations of combat. The sheer chance of incorrectly directing his driver, of not looking up in time to notice a slight elevation that would overly expose them, took all he had to not crack under the pressure and be labeled incompetent.
It was a small relief that Virtanen had taken the lead as soon as they were attacked. the imminent battle seemed to snap him from his stupor as much as it seemed to fray his nerves. 'I have to give it to him and Kaiser, their years in that infantry sport sure has steeled their nerves under fire.' Even now Virtanen was directing Damian Frost's retreat once more as the Panther provided covering fire. "In position!" relayed Knight. Virtanen didn't even respond as his vehicle began to move once more.
This situation had been going on for too long. Their retreat was long and irritating the inevitable delay between shots, however, felt like seconds and the pile of empty brass at his feet piled up. His mouth had long gone dry as his skin became slick with sweat, he must have looked like a ghoul in this lighting. He was just thankful his crew couldn't see his terrible complexion while they were immersed in their duties.
'Just have to keep this up, Virtanen can deliver us from this I'm sure!' he pleaded mentally as he stared at the dim red surroundings. His luck, of course, didn't hold. Virtanen's Panther emerged and beat a quick retreat to a slight depression between his and Frost's position as multiple silhouettes emerged not two hundred meters out. Panic arose once more in his mind as his stomach sank.
Frost's Firefly was the first to fire on the emerging trio, followed by his Panzer IV. The Firefly's shot scraped by the first Silhouette. His, however, landed on the second next to it yet did not disable it. They began reloading as the trio sent off a volley at Virtanen. A ricochet came off his turret's left cheek and two impacts landed near the chassis. Hurriedly his loader slammed the next shell forward with a heavy breath as the empty casing fell atop the precarious pile below.
Both his and Frost's vehicles had loaded mere fractions of a second apart and fired this time landing shots on the third silhouette. Two impacts, one on the lower glacis and its left side. The remaining two pulled a sharp turn obscuring themselves within the shadows of the terrain and brush. A sigh of relief and loosening of clenched muscles signaled the small reprieve they earned having fought off the assailants.
Knight lowered his head, letting out a breath when a significantly loud blast fifty meters away alerted him. Jerking his head up he looked to see a bright impact on Virtanen's turret. No sirens buzzed to announce their defeat, they were still active but the Panther had undoubtedly taken damage.
"Enemy ISU 125, opposite side of the hill to you Knight!" shouted Damien breaking his composure. Where he had been mere minutes ago the offending tank pressed forward regardless of its exposure in the open. The Pravdan vehicle was seeking to strike the final blow to Transcendence. Both Frost and his turret traversed too slow to catch the assaulting tank destroyer
Both tank commanders watched helplessly as the 125mm canon lowered itself, aligning with Virtanen's Panther. Commands for a faster reload and faster turret traverse were pointless. Time seemed to still as he watched the eruption of flame from the muzzle of the ISU. At the same time, the rhythmic beating of blood in his ears was interrupted by the sound of a familiar cannon. Within that instant, Knight watched the ISU pop a flag as its barrel dropped, its turret losing transmission fluid from the heady shot it received.
The Panther quickly found a comfortable spot to take cover as Knight's crew spoke in astonishment. "What was that!? I thought we were all that's left?" his Driver shouted.
"Friendly fire on their side?" asked the gunner. His loader followed suit "That came from behind us! besides It sounded like an-"
"88" finished Knight. "Sir! his RO shouted. You're going to want to hear this." Knight didn't need to do anything as an open comms broadcast shot out to all Transcendence vehicles.
"Students and Cadets of Transcendence." Came the firm and even voice they all knew. "Stand Proud You will be the predecessors for future generations. They will look to our actions as record and evidence of how we assaulted the Pravdan colossus!" His voice began to rise, not with anger as they expected, instead, it rose with intensity. "Feel worthy as you represent your school, your colors, with honor as we drive a dagger into the heart of this sport and stake our claim as Transcendence!"
With This final shout, an undoubtable declaration was made and the transmission cut. An eery silence followed suit leaving Knight's crew stunned. Virtanen, Frost, and even Pravda having ceased their assault at losing their SPG seemed frozen from the statement. No one made a sound unsure of what to do next. It was almost too good to be true, to have even been thought of. Another shot rang off. The Same 88 came from behind Knight flying overhead and into the distance. The identifiable whizzing of a shell connecting with steel only to glance off heavy armor followed.
"Good shots Belle, you never fail to impress." complimented Kaiser
Belle relaxed from the gun's sight with a small chuckle. "Neither the pressure you put us in nor your 'assistance' are good for my heart. Besides, it's as you've instructed. Look for anything unnatural from the baseline, if it's not natural, it's an enemy" she recounted.
Kaiser nodded, proud of her memory. "Judging from the last shot I'd surmise that's the KV-5 if not one of their other heavys. West, press up to Knight we're going to relieve him and fall back with the others on our heels"
"Roger" Replied West as the Tiger hurried forward. The stunning silence they had earned was soon replaced as they moved. The Pravdan onslaught resumed firing from unknown positions.
"Why are you here" hissed a voice in his ear. Kaiser couldn't help but smirk at the mix of confusion and anger in Knight's voice, no doubt for coming to save his own failed rescue.
"Don't get emotional brat. I came because our interest's aligned in the end. I found your stragglers as well. At least one of them to be precise" Kaiser cryptically responded.
"One? What happened? Is it Diana?" Knight asked franticly. \
"Afraid not, it was Natalya instead. You were too late". Almost cruelly, Kaiser emphasized his words ensuring Knight knew what his actions garnered. A round then impacted in the earth between their vehicles, the explosion sending vibrations within both."I'll criticize you another time. We have more pressing matters so you'll be relieved to know she's safe and already being taken care of by the moderators."
"I swear if you're lying about finding them-" Knight warned only for Kaiser's cold voice to cut him off.
"If I was going to lie to you I wouldn't be threatening you would I? I'll be frank, I'm only here for our flag. If you want proof of Diana's condition, ask Natalya, she's no longer on radio silence."
A bitter noise was the only response Knight gave. It was enough affirmation for Kaiser to know he had reigned him in. The male Frost would follow Virtanen and Virtanen he surmised, would take help from anybody not in a Pravdan uniform.
Quickly speaking into his radio, Kaiser organized the umpteenth retreat. "Frost, begin pulling directly towards me, as fast as possible, Virtanen you follow him in suit five seconds after he passes you" he ordered.
Damian was surprisingly hostile. "What the hell do you think-"
Kaiser interrupted him not wanting to waste time. "Stay adamant and lose or cooperate and take your share of the glory when we win"
A short pause came followed by Virtanen's response. "Frost. Do as he says." Ordered Virtanen much to their shared chagrin.
Damian's Firefly, hesitant at first followed his order. Kaiser needn't guess what was racing through the minds of their crews. Failure, distrust, unease, worry, panic, a plethora of emotions to be sure but perhaps just a tinge of hope. They had failed in rescuing Frost's sister and distrusted Kaiser after they had blatantly chosen sides. That naturally brought unease and worry for both immediate and long-term prospects. Victory was still the priority for Kaiser but this lifeline he extended was meant as a sliver of hope to achieve more.
-Transition-
Back with the Audience
As opposed to the silence that occurred on the battlefield at this development, raucous applause and shouts erupted in the audience. O'Diveley had diverted his attention from attempting fights with Pravdan students to obnoxiously chanting at them while some of his more tame peers deescalate his taunts. The students of transcendence began standing and shouting their encouragements regardless no one but their adversary's spectators could hear them.
The announcer jumped in on the fervor, though his complimentary narration seemed t be encouraging an underdog with no chance. For Transcendence's students, the fact their team was in dire straits meant nothing as the glares from Pravda's students and supporting adults were almost enough to encourage them to cheer.
Few paid attention to the intensely bright green of the screens showing in night vision. The reddened lighting added to the luminosity of the lenses. The largest screen focused on the male student who had just given the rallying speech to his peers. Kaiser, in his black uniform and white trim dyed by the reddened moonlight, the image did little to detract from the amusement on his face and ferocity in his eyes.
-Chapter End-