A T-50 was an infantry tank officially but it seemed a strange designation for a tank that was historically rated as having a top speed of over forty miles per hour and only an average of 40mm of armour. British infantry tanks had an average of 60mm, and crawled along. If anything, the Soviet tank was closer to French cavalry tanks which also possessed an average of 40mm of armour, except that the T-50 was twice as fast and could actually be said to resemble a cavalry horse charging.

It came at a price though. They had an engine that had never worked properly and making use of their great speed made an already likely breakdown a guaranteed certainty. So Erika had insisted on falling out of formation and finding a quiet concealed spot their little green tank could blend into and then giving it a damn good thrashing with a convenient branch before letting her mechanic do her work. Nakajima Rera had not approved of the beating because she regarded their tank much like a sibling, a little brother who needed her help finding his way. Erika thought that being called Wolf team was appropriate because dogs were tamed creatures doing human bidding while wolves were still wild animals that might choose to ignore humans; or eat them. Their tank was more of a hybrid of the two; a wolfdog perfectly capable of following commands one moment and then mauling someone's Golden Retriever the next.

Unfortunately, she was the Golden Retriever.

"What's it saying to you, Jumpsuit?" She asked the mechanic.

"That I should be concerned about my commander's eyesight because she calls me Jumpsuit when I'm not wearing one." Nakajima replied, grinning to herself.

She had a point, perhaps, although she wasn't sure what else to call her. Yukari after all had claim on the 'Fluffy' title, even though Nakajima's own short hair was distinctly fluffy in appearance. "Do you want to be Grease Monkey?"

"Jumpsuit is fine."

"So what's the verdict?"

"It's just what I thought; a fuel line clog. Just give me a minute." This diagnosis clearly bored her but it satisfied Erika. Such a thing could happen to any tank and was easily fixed. It wasn't a crippling issue that would require the whole thing being removed and the entire Automotive Club's combined efforts which had happened far too many times with the old engine and a couple of times with the new one.

Fluffy meanwhile had gone to keep watch with her binoculars with her usual enthusiasm and she returned with leaves in her hair which Erika didn't feel like mentioning. There was a good possibility she had placed them there herself as camouflage and if not, it would be interesting to see how long it took her to notice. If ever. It was a mean thought, a Kuromorimine-Erika thought and she was ashamed of herself.

"All quiet out there." Yukari reported with one of her crack salutes. "Nishizumi-dono sent them the wrong way."

"Hopefully they don't figure it out yet."

"Will they?" Nakajima asked with her head still down.

"Depends." Erika mused. "Depends how much of a bunch of amateurs they think we are." So far that seemed to have worked out very well for them. Two Shermans completely out of it and a third toothless. Now though Kay at least would not underestimate them and if that meant Saunders became just a little more cautious, they would lose one of their chief advantages. "Which depends how arrogant they are. We ambushed two of their tanks; they'll either respect that or dismiss it as beginner's luck."

She reflected sadly that she would have done the latter had it been two Kuromorimine tanks eliminated by a no-name school. She would have been so confident in Kuromorimine's total superiority that she would have refused to accept that skill had anything to do with it and considered it mere luck, despite the fact she didn't believe in luck and fate that way. She would have lied to herself rather that acknowledge another school's talent. It had taken her face being introduced to a sharp rock to knock that supremacist mentality out of her.

"I thought this match would be over by now." Nakajima admitted. "I thought we would all meet, like we did in the trees, and there'd be a quick clash and one of us would have lost our flag tank in the exchange. I didn't think we'd be hitting and running."

"Why not?"

"I watched some matches. These ten vs ten matches tend to go that way."

"Only sometimes." Yukari interjected, naturally. "Matches can last all day as each side feels the other out, probing for weaknesses, before the actual first attack occurs. And different teams use different styles; Kuromorimine and Saunders both rely on direct attacks and firepower while Keizoku and Pravda lure their enemies into traps so they can eliminate them suddenly, before they even know what's happening."

"And the captain did decide our strategy was to avoid direction confrontations." Erika added. "If they hadn't been tapping our communications, she would have kept them at arms' length as long as possible while we looked for their flag tank."

"Which we're doing now." Nakajima looked up briefly. "By letting them think they're listening to our activities."

"Same strategy. Different tactics." So long as Saunders didn't know they knew they were listening in, they had something of an advantage despite the drawbacks of having to communicate via text. "Good leadership."

"You always sound surprised." The mechanic spoke to the engine with her head pointedly down.

"You didn't know her before."

"She wasn't any good before?"

"Miho preferred to be led." Erika thought about it for a moment. "No… She…" It was difficult to put into her words. "Her mother is Nishizumi Shiho. Her sister is Maho. You've got a tiger on one side and a… Bigger, scarier tiger on the other. It's hard to speak out and be heard when those two are roaring."

"Is her mother really that intimidating?"

"Oh yes!" Yukari gushed readily. "The Nishizumi Style requires strength, doggedness and-"

"No compromises." Erika finished. "If you saw Miho's mother coming at you in her Tiger, you'd know it was hopeless. You might think 'Even Tigers have weaknesses' but you know that Nishizumi Shiho doesn't. She would train at Kuromorimine from time to time, and she would hand-pick a crew of Third Years and she would lead them to victory outnumbered ten to one. Twenty to one even."

"And I thought my mother was frightening whenever I accidentally get engine oil in the house." Nakajima mused.

"Her mother or her sister decide to do something; nothing and no one will stand in their way. If Miho was able to make a decision without oo-ing and um-ing for a few hours, the first person to question her would make her crumble." Which was why she had not been popular as vice-commander at Kuromorimine. "But she's getting better. If she picks an ice-cream flavour now and you ask if she's sure, she says yes now. Maybe if we win this match, she'll finally believe in herself."

"That's she's a worthy Nishizumi." Yukari said quietly.

"Although that might cause other problems."

"What problems?"

"A Nishizumi leading a school other than Kuromorimine to victory using what definitely isn't the Nishizumi Style. Her mother wouldn't like that. Most of Kuromorimine would consider her a traitor. A heretic."

Nakajima looked up. "Heretic?"

"They… We… It's all serious business there." She wondered if Oarai really was that eccentric or if Kuromorimine's straitlaced humourlessness simply made it seem that way. "If I was still there, I would be looking at our mismatched, under-gunned and badly designed tanks and sneering." She didn't have to look at Yukari; she could feel her seething at this description of Oarai's tanks. "I'd be wrong, Fluffy. But that's who I'd be if I was still at Kuromorimine."

Yukari gave her a reproachful look but said nothing.

"Are all the Big Four like that?" Nakajima asked, either oblivious to Yukari's tension, trying to ease it or simply curious.

"What do you think?" Erika asked flatly.

"I think St Gloriana was politely condescending while those Saunders girls were openly condescending." Nakajima sounded amused more than anything. "So that only leaves Pravda and I've heard a few stories about their leader, so I guess that means they really are all smug and superior."

"It's not their fault. The way Sensha-do's popularity has declined means the four of them are only ever really in competition with each other and for the past ten years, Kuromorimine has won nine out of ten tournaments so the others have felt they've been competing for second place more than anything else. And Pravda's taken second place most of those years so really it's been St Gloriana and Saunders fighting over who got to be third…"

"Has it really been that bad for the other schools?"

"Kuromorimine has the best German tanks, Pravda has the best Russian tanks, Saunders has the best American tanks and St Gloriana has the best British tanks." She stated simply. "The other schools have to make do with early and mid-war tanks that simply don't have the armour or firepower to compete with them. You'll see. You'll see when we watch the Chi-ha-tan-Kuromorimine match."

"You're a very bleak person… Commander." Nakajima flashed a grin at her.

"And you two are ridiculously cheerful." Erika countered. "How did I end up with the two chirpiest members of the club?"

"What about Takebe-san?"

"Oh… Bloody hell…" She imagined the presence of Saori in her tank crew and her bubbly positivity that made Nakajima and Yukari seem practically ghoulish by comparison.

"Maybe we're not chirpy. Maybe you're just grumpy."

"I am not grumpy." Erika retorted and heard Yukari make a funny noise. "I am not!"

"Name a Sensha-do class where you haven't tried to attack this engine, threatened to eat Usagi team or started shouting and swearing about something."

"We're Okami team; we're supposed to scare the bunnies." Erika folded her arms and glared at the crown of Nakajima's giggling head. "How about you name a class where you didn't laugh?"

"I can't. I'm a happy person." Nakajima said pointedly.

"And I'm not?"

"Only in battle. Which is… Frightening."

"What do you think, Fluffy?"

Yukari pulled a face. "I think I think having an opinion would be a mistake."

"Coward."

"Yes, Itsumi-dono." Yukari bowed and Nakajima laughed again.

"Sometimes I think I did something terrible in a previous life and this has all been my punishment."

"Stranger things have happened." Nakajima mused.

"Just fix the engine, Jumpsuit."

"I've almost got it."

Erika climbed up onto the turret and listened. She couldn't hear a thing that wasn't natural so they were still in the clear. As her crew hadn't received a text, there was nothing new to report and so the search for Saunders flag tank continued while they were still dead in the water. She felt Yukari climb up right beside her; the girl had no concept of personal space.

"Do you think Ahiru team will find them first?" Yukari asked as if she was able to read her mind.

"Probably. At this rate we'll miss the conclusion."

Yukari breathed in sharply. "She'll fix it and we'll be there! They can't do it without us!"

"Miho can take care of it." Erika replied, though not really believing it. They were still outnumbered and her tank was a powerful asset in Oarai's force. They were more mobile than the StuG and better armoured and better armed than the 38(t) and Type 89; they needed to get back into action. "I would like a confirmed kill though today and if it was the flag tank… That would be perfect." The kills in the exhibition match against St Gloriana didn't count so today was what mattered. Tallies were kept across the tournament, every panzer crew's victories kept track of so that at the end; the aces could be recognised. Maho and her crew were recognised as such aces.

If nothing else, it would be nice to be recognised as Oarai's ace crew. Even if they were Oarai's last ace crew.

"All set." Nakajima called.

[][][][][][]

Isobe Noriko was enjoying Sensha-do.

Her whole life she had only ever loved one sport and it had pained her greatly when her school had not only cut the team for budgetary reasons but also shut down the club too, leaving her and her friends to carry on with their unofficial club that received nothing from the school. To play in the school gym, they had to provide their own net… When the Student Council had announced the return of Sensha-do, an old-fashioned sport whose popularity had been waning for years, they had thought that if its return was successful it would lead to the return of other defunct sports at Oarai. Like their beloved volleyball. The best way to ensure that success and the return of their sport, well obviously it was to join the Sensha-do class and contribute themselves to the effort.

She knew it was a very oblique means of achieving their goal of resurrecting the volleyball team or at least the official club but it wasn't as if any other options had presented themselves to her. Besides, it gave them somewhere else to focus their energies and the perks the Student Council had offered were certainly a major enticement.

But then they had had their first lesson and they had been entranced by it all. Sure, their instructor had clearly been insane telling them to just figure it out and get fighting, but Shinobu had quickly gotten an understanding of the controls, a few head on collisions with trees aside, and she and Akebi had figured out how to work the gun. She would not be forgetting the feeling of firing that first shot any time soon. None of them would. They had talked about it afterwards and become embarrassed as they realised the feelings they were described might be mistaken for something else by an outsider. It had been a relief to hear the other teams sharing the same awkward thoughts and feelings.

During that first lesson they had been overshadowed by the exploits of the two veterans of the club. They had made a secret pact with the history girls specifically because they had expected it but even so, it had still been a great shock as the now Captain Nishizumi had rallied her team after their initial attacks and eliminated the StuG and then them in swift, almost clinically methodical order. They had watched Commander Itsumi then defeat her, and burst into flames in the process. What would have happened if one of the T-50's shots hadn't jammed the Panzer IV's turret was still a hot topic of discussion.

Captain Nishizumi was a warm and friendly, if rather shy, girl who knew her game. It puzzled Noriko to witness her blushing whenever she showed off that knowledge, as if it was something to be ashamed of. She saw a similar thing in Wolf team's gunner, even though she knew more about tanks than Captain Nishizumi; something Commander Itsumi stated as a cold fact.

Commander Itsumi was not warm and friendly. Nor was she shy. With her pale hair and icy blue eyes, Noriko suspected she would have given off a chilly vibe even without her scar. It was hard to look at Commander Itsumi without gawping at that scar. It looked exactly like something out of a war film. But she managed it, they all did and so they avoided being on the receiving end of the aggression boiling under that frozen exterior. During that first match, she had been able to hear her shouting her commands in her tank even over the rumble of the Panzer IV and T-50's engines. While in their strategy meetings she had spoken dryly and frequently sarcastically, she was a consummate professional in battle right up until the moment of engagement and then she became the drill sergeant from hell.

But then, Itsumi had an odd friendly side. It had been alarming to see her suddenly bright and energetic when they had found the long gun for the Panzer IV and practically disturbing when she had given herself and the Captain one-armed neck hugs. It had been a bright positive day for Commander Itsumi but even on her normal days she referred to her gunner by the nickname 'Fluffy' and while first it had seemed mocking, teasing the girl for her thick, frizzy hair, it had become clear to all of them that it was affectionate. Especially when she had begun calling her new driver, one of the Automotive Club, 'Jumpsuit'. Yet if anyone was to suggest it was affection to her, she would give them a death glare. Captain Nishizumi was embarrassed and shy revealing she knew about and was good at Sensha-do while Commander Itsumi was embarrassed and shy revealing she liked other human beings or that she cared for their feelings. This was best seen in her interactions with Rabbit team who were frightened by her tantrums whenever her tank's engine played up but also touched that the older, scarred girl was genuinely encouraging of them.

It was an odd pair to have as leaders. The two mismatched personalities seemed like they should have been at constant odds and yet Commander Itsumi was fiercely protective of the Captain. Well, she was fierce in general. That was pretty clear from all the times she had tried to attack her own tank for its mechanical problems and had needed to be bodily restrained. When they were playing volleyball at the school, they knew she was often in the next room and they could hear her pounding a punch bag so they were aware that if Commander Itsumi really wanted to do damage, she was more than capable. She let herself be restrained.

Her own tank had no such problems as those that vexed Itsumi and at first it had bothered her to hear that this was surprising. Her team had not hit the books to learn about their tank but she had and it had disheartened her to learn that their little machine was not well-regarded. For what it had been designed for and when, it was perfect. A slow moving infantry-support tank, designed to advance alongside the troops and destroy pillboxes with its short barrelled gun firing high explosive shells while it had a machinegun in the rear of the turret; so the gun could fire one way down a trench while the machinegun fired the other way. Perfect for its purpose.

Not good for battling other tanks though.

And yet, their Duck wasn't slow. It wasn't as fast as the T-50 but they could keep pace with the 38(t) when on paper, that shouldn't have been possible. They should have trundled along at the same pace as the B1 bis; a tank that weighed three times as much as they did. The Automotive Club said they had a fantastic little machine and while she didn't like hearing it called 'little', Noriko glowed when they praised its speed, agility and reliability. While the M3 and T-50 had engine issues from their long abandonment, theirs didn't so much as cough. Wolf team had been repeatedly towed back to the hangar while they were still running even after performing flying leaps. The Mitsubishi six-cylinder diesel engine she had learned from Yukari was one of the best used in tanks during the war; better even than those used by Germany and the United States. Yukari said diesel engines rarely ever caught fire which meant the fire that had engulfed the T-50 was truly astonishing. No wonder they had replaced the engine.

They were fast. They were agile. Maybe they lacked a powerful gun but they just had to hit in the right places. Commander Itsumi had pointed out that her T-50's weakness was the rear of the turret where the armour was only 15mm thick and barely angled. At less than five hundred metres, her Type 89 could kill the T-50 if they could hit that sweet spot. Commander Itsumi had pointed this out before a training match, when they had wondered if they were capable of fighting anything besides the 38(t) which was only vulnerable to them from the sides and rear. Yukari had agreed with her, and pointed out that even if they couldn't knock out a tank; crippling it was just as good. A tank with its gun barrel wrecked and its tracks shattered was no longer a threat to them. Their gun was perfectly capable of doing that, even to the biggest, meanest tanks.

Still, it got to her thinking about their engagement with the Matilda. The ambush had been perfect. Brilliant. That moment when the big, heavy British tank had been engulfed in smoke and flame had been the most exciting her life. It had been heart-breaking when the smoke had cleared to reveal the St Gloriana tank undamaged except for a ruptured external fuel tank. She wanted a victory of their own. Something undisputable. Something they could talk about with pride. It wasn't too much to ask.

Her reading had told her that couldn't happen today. Saunders Shermans were impervious to their gun so today, they were the scouts and perhaps if they were lucky, they would be given a chance to a cripple a Sherman. Wolf team had crippled two Shermans after all, even if Commander Itsumi had been seething about not eliminating either of them.

Noriko was proud of the way Akebi had dealt with the raging girl, even if it had surprised her to see her normally self-conscious friend leap into the fray. She hadn't asked but perhaps it had been her expression of the frustration of learning Saunders was cheating, just after losing Mallard team. While she would hardly call herself a friend of the Public Morals Committee, the three girls had put their best efforts into the club; even if they had been press-ganged by the President. Losing them and their heavy tank had been a hard blow. Commander Itsumi had wanted to 'skin them alive' and Noriko didn't doubt her resolve. It had been amusing to watch Akebi wrestle her into submission and to see the raging commander submit.

And while Wolf team fixed their tank and Saunders main force was sent on a wild goose chase, it fell to them to locate the enemy flag tank. Captain Nishizumi had narrowed it down from the entire arena to a couple of locations and with Wolf team out, they were the only scouts left. The others weren't too far away but Noriko still felt like they were completely alone. The engine noise of their tank and its treads seemed swallowed up by the landscape, even before they entered the trees. Noriko liked the responsibility of finding the enemy flag tank, even if they were unable to harm it and would have to flee immediately if it spotted them. But if they could find it and lead it under the guns of Panzer IV and StuG…

She didn't like riding while hanging out of the hatch as every little bump slammed either her back or her stomach into the uncaring metal. Instead she rode on the outside, on the rear of the turret and clinging to hatch. It meant she had to hold on tight and she was frequently in danger of being thrown off but it was better than being beaten black and blue. There was however the outside risk they would be fired on while she was outside and she would be splashed to the four winds. But that rarely ever happened according to Yukari. Rarely ever... It was far more likely she would be sent flying by Shinobu's driving which was aggressive and adhered to the theory that nothing could stop a tank. Certainly not the small fence ahead that barred their passage and she clearly wasn't going to let stop them.

The Type 89 crested the slope, crushed the reed fence and as they levelled out, she was flung forward by the bucking motion but that wasn't what brought her heart into her mouth.

Not even five metres away was the Saunders flag tank; the M4A1(76). Thirty tons of steel in a sleek green brick form with a gun that appeared more than half as long as their Type 89. It bore a pennant marking it as a flag tank and it looked incongruous perched there but not nearly as much as the girl with short brown pigtails clutching a radio set who was stood in the cupola and slack-jawed with astonishment at the sudden apparition of the little Oarai tank.

Noriko stared at her and they were close enough for her to see that the ties holding her pigtails were adorned with gold stars. Close enough to be able to count the freckles on her face as they gazed at each other. Neither of them blinked and the diesel engine of the idling Duck seemed to diminish to nothing so that the wind in the trees sounded like a hurricane.

She very gently tapped on the hatch. And then screamed.

"RIGHT TURN! HURRY!"

The medium tank abruptly turned to the right and then inexplicably reversed, only for Shinobu to use the movement as a running start, creating track spin in the dusty ground as they sought purchase before throwing the little Japanese tank forward with so much force that Noriko clung to the hatch by her fingertips, her feet leaving the hull and for one terrifying moment she was horizontal. They screamed away and she was able to scramble inside just as the Sherman fired, the shell whining past them to strike the ground a metre ahead so that dirt flayed at her face and they passed through a cloud of dust and smoke as she scrabbled for her headset.

"Captain!" Noriko wasn't even aware she was yelling. "We spotted the enemy flag tank at Point 0765! But they've seen us too!" Which was putting it mildly. The Saunders flag tank was pursuing them with all the restraint of the Terminator although it hadn't fired again for some reason.

In sharp contrast to her shriek, Captain Nishizumi's voice came back calm and bizarrely polite considering the circumstances. "Point 0765, confirm? Please keep running and draw the enemy out." She replied and then all was silent except for the rumble of the pursuing Sherman and the squeal of their tracks.

"Captain!" Taeko called from below. "Text from Takebe! Proceed to Point 0615!"

"Shinobu!" Noriko yelled back, watching for another shot.

"On it!" Shinobu didn't shout but her firm tone carried the distance.

The long-barrelled Sherman fired and once again the shell crashed ahead and to their left, throwing only harmless dirt into their hull and turret as Shinobu weaved them along. Their gun couldn't possibly harm the frontal armour of a Sherman but they weren't helpless; they had something else. Commander Itsumi had grumbled about the necessity of equipping their tanks with smoke charges because she didn't think it conveyed the right message. It suggested they needed to run and hide. The fact that they would need to run and hide from Saunders superior firepower had irked Commander Itsumi but the Captain had insisted and the Captain and not the commander had proven right. Now Noriko took one of those smoke charges and delivered it to the Sherman as neatly as she would have a volleyball. Who said that skills weren't transferable?

The Sherman fired into the cloud and the shell soared over her head. The sound of the gun firing hit them hard though, rattling the tank and their nerves. Noriko responded with another smoke charge and grinned as it landed precisely where she intended. She had perfect accuracy while their gunnery was wild. Slow gunnery. Perhaps their loader had slippery fingers, she mused, and then it hit her. Saunders was listening in on their radio communications. This had been the only tank not to attack them in the woods so this must have been the one doing the listening and whatever it used to do that had slowed down the rest of their operations. She even thought she heard a shrill voice from the Sherman screaming at them to hurry up with the loading and Noriko scrambled inside as she thought that voice commanded them to use the machinegun. She wasn't hearing things. The hull machinegun of the Sherman rattled them with hits but the majority went wild. Commander Itsumi had warned them about their dangers of machineguns to their tank, but only heavy machineguns which it seemed Saunders hadn't brought; small mercies.

They replied to the machinegun fire with a shell and to Akebi's delight, despite the fact they were moving and the target was engulfed in smoke, they heard a distinctive metallic crash that meant a hit. For a moment, it seemed as if they could feel the venom emanating from the Sherman.

"I think they're angry." Shinobu remarked dryly. She was the first to see their own tanks, a moment before Noriko did and it caused her heart a momentary pause to see the four guns of the M3, StuG and 38(t) pointed right at her and then she saw the pink bunny on the M3 and she smiled to herself and slewed them out of their line of fire.

Noriko looked back as the smoke charges burnt out on the Sherman's hull and it emerged to find itself confronted with the trio. She didn't even realise that she gripped Taeko's arm with anticipation. It skidded to a halt, the tracks digging in as it reversed and Anglerfish's shot that would have knocked it out instead passed beneath the gun mere inches in front of the Sherman's glacis.

The other three tanks opened fire and she saw three gouts of dirt explode around it and one shot connect, ricocheting off the turret to leave a shining scar. The Saunders flag tank reversed as fast as it could, firing a single wild shot before turning away into the concealment of some bushes and then sharply going into forward gear and shooting off as fast as it could move its thirty ton bulk. The Panzer IV fired again but the Sherman had already gained too much speed and the shell missed.

Now they were the hunters.

[][][][][][]

When they had learned that Saunders was listening in on them, the only person to use the radio for anything besides a confirmation was Miho and Miho's nuanced performance giving orders had been measured; calm. Noriko's sudden yell had rattled Erika to the core, coming as it did before Nakajima had started the engine and so their tank was almost silent as Noriko's voice screamed into her headset.

They listened to it unfold with the strange effect of hearing the shots fired twice; first through the radio and then dully across the landscape. Erika had heard battles through a radio before and knew the feeling of helplessness that came with it.

"Shouldn't we ask where they're going?" Yukari was bouncing up and down with either excitement or nerves.

"Not yet. If they're leading them to the others, we won't get there in time."

"You mean we'll miss it?!" Yukari's hair seemed to wilt and Erika thought that for the first time, she could see the outline of her ears which until now she had thought were merely theoretical.

"If they do it right. If the StuG and Panzer IV succeed." She didn't see how they couldn't given the circumstances, although given the poor luck of their own gunnery so far today…

Nakajima heard her doubt. "You don't think they can do it?"

"I don't think it'll be simple." Erika said carefully and Nakajima laughed. "What?"

"Your moods. One moment you're roaring with enthusiasm and then you're a bottomless pit of pessimism."

"That's not me."

"Yes, it is. And if we're positive, you're negative. If we're negative…"

She was saved from having to respond by Yukari's phone buzzing. "What does the Love Guru say?"

"It's an intercept course." Yukari replied. "They're in pursuit of the enemy flag tank."

Erika sighed. "I guess they missed then. Okay, let's reunite. If our engine is up to it."

"It's up to it." Nakajima rolled her eyes. "Trust me, our boy will get us there. Trust him."

"Panzer vor." She commanded, and Yukari began bouncing again and this time it was definitely anticipation.

The T-50 came to life and it sounded healthy once more. The little green tank bounded forward and headed for the point Saori had directed them to where the thunder of guns grew ever louder. There was a lot of fire and a lot of engine noise and it gnawed at her. A lot of activity for no result. Why would that be? What the hell was going on? She climbed out of the hatch for a better view, regretting it as it meant she could see once more how insane Nakajima's driving was. Her driver took the fact that the shortest distance between two points was a straight line as literally as the geography would allow and once more slalomed them around trees so tightly that Erika gripped her stomach.

It seemed that the gunfire intensified and for a moment she thought that meant they had engaged the rest of Saunders forces but then it became quiet. Not the silence of a match over but a lull. She could still hear the engines and then she instinctively dropped down into the tank as a ferocious crash sounded across the arena.

"That was the Firefly's seventeen pounder." Yukari sounded awed.

Erika climbed back up, just in time for a spectacular panorama to open up before her and Nakajima instinctively brought them to a halt. Spectacular because she had never seen anything like it. There was the Saunders flag tank driving at flank speed so that its flag was threatening to snap off and less than a kilometre behind it were the five other Oarai tanks in a little cloud rather than an actual formation and they were chasing it. Chasing a flag tank like an angry mob after its victim. Behind Oarai, three or four kilometres behind them, were five Saunders tanks. Just five… Perhaps the other two were lagging Erika mused. All four of the M4s were firing so perhaps they had left behind the two with the damaged cannon and the repaired tracks as liabilities for this insane chase.

And it was insane. Miho and the others were firing on the distant flag tank whilst travelling at full speed and even firing simultaneously to make their shots converge wouldn't have made a difference. The terrain, speed and distance meant all of them were firing as accurately as Momo and the same applied to the Saunders flag tank that seemed more likely to hit its allies behind Oarai than Oarai thselves. The distant Shermans were even less likely to hit anything, although they were trying. The rest of the team was caught in a vice but the weakest she had ever seen.

Nakajima opened the driver's hatch for a better look while Yukari squeezed up beside Erika in the cupola so that her vision was partly obscured by the thick cloud of hair in her face. She was too taken aback by what she was witnessing to really notice Yukari's closeness.

"In a way, this development was rather predictable."

"Itsumi-dono?"

"I thought something… different… would happen in this battle and here it is." She watched as their flag tank drew into the centre, with Anglerfish and Hippo team as the vanguard while Duck and Rabbit teams took the rear. The two 7.5cm German guns bellowed at the front but they were wasted at this speed.

"Why don't they stop?" Nakajima asked. "So they can aim with a steady gun?"

"They've got tunnel vision. They've all got tunnel vision." Erika shook her head. "The captain can't see it, especially with Saunders behind her. And those Saunders tanks, they're too desperate and eager to protect their flag tank to realise it either. Though at this range, only the-"

As if she had spoken a curse, the seventeen pounder of the Firefly spoke again, drowning out the bark of the Type 89's little gun. They were able to watch the shell travel across the field, a streak that slammed into the rear of the little Japanese tank with the force of a lightning bolt and the blinding flash to match. Erika cringed, knowing that if it was real ordinance, it would have cut through the entire tank and everything in it. Instead it left Duck team's engine billowing thick black smoke before the tank crashed into a rock with a force they could feel even at this distance. She felt Yukari shake at the sight of it.

Miho didn't care about Saunders listening. "Ahiru team! Any injuries?!"

They could hear the sound of a fire extinguisher as the volleyballers answered that they were fine. "I'm sorry." Noriko said. "We're immobilised." Their tank's rear was splayed open and hidden in a noxious cloud of oily black smoke and yet she still made the formal declaration.

"I guess that was a good shot." Nakajima said quietly.

"Shermans have vertical stabilisers for their guns." Yukari spoke just as quietly. "It's not perfect but… But if you have the skill." The other Shermans fired, failing to even come close to their targets. Erika counted and then the Firefly fired once more.

The M3 had 38mm of armour at its rear, like the M4s pursuing it. Twice the armour of the Type 89. But even if it had been the 51mm of their frontal armour, it would have made no difference against the onslaught from the British gun of its fellow American tank. Lightning struck twice and the force of the blow hamstrung the right track of Rabbit team so that they left it behind as they ground to a halt in a small muddy hollow in the field, oozing a cloud of smoke even thicker than that billowing from Duck team. Erika couldn't place the voice over the radio but they had a little joke as they reported their immobilisation by the 'Pinocchio tank'.

"That girl has the skill." They were two amazing shots and even if it meant she was watching Oarai's fate being sealed, she couldn't help but feel a grudging admiration.

"I could take her out from here. I know I could!" Yukari twisted around and seemed surprised how close they were.

"No. You'd probably miss and they'd know we were here."

"Why aren't they looking for us?" Nakajima asked.

"Maybe that's where the other two are. Or maybe they think we broke down. Or maybe it's just the tunnel vision and they can't count." Erika found it hard to think with Yukari's big sad puppy eyes inches from her own. "It's only a matter of time now."

"We've got to do something!" Yukari grabbed her arm.

The girl didn't flinch as Erika locked gazes with her, even though with how close they were Yukari should have been able to see nothing but scar. Except she didn't. She looked past that and Erika was startled and then alarmed to realise she was looking into her. It was not… It was not permissible. She pointedly removed Yukari's hand from her arm and then placed her own on her shoulders to push her down into the tank.

Her view now unobstructed, she swept the battlefield as the Firefly fired once more and made the 38(t) veer away sharply from the crater that appeared suddenly before it. She saw what she needed to see and ducked back down, closing the hatch.

"Nakajima." The formal use of her family name rather than her nickname startled the driver. "Do you see the woods ahead of us which our teammates will soon pass? Can you get us there before Saunders?"

"He might not like that." She warned.

"He'll do what's asked of him or I'll throw him in the sea after this match and he can rust!" She slapped the hull of the T-50; the Him they spoke of.

Nakajima grinned. "I can do it."

"Then please do." Erika said. "Yukari. We're going to reach those woods and we're going to drive out straight into the rear of those tanks. We're going to be point blank and we're going to be moving fast. I'll reload as fast I can for you but you need to make your shots count."

Yukari's eyes couldn't possibly grow any larger. She had already made Miho look squinty by comparison. "Why don't we-"

"If we ambush them, we'll get two, maybe three shots off before they turn on us and wipe us out. It's not enough and those shots might not do anything. We need to hit them so hard they forget all about what they were doing before."

Yukari stared at her with the shock appropriate to hearing they were going to charge their light tank straight into five Shermans. But she nodded. "Hai!"

Nakajima didn't wait for a command, she just drove and with a suitable howl the T-50 sprinted forward. Erika watched the remaining Oarai tanks shuffle so that the StuG placed itself as a shield behind the 38(t) while the Panzer IV took the leader. She suddenly laughed, the sound and feeling bubbling up inside her. It wasn't even that funny and yet, she couldn't help it. Three tanks of models that had served in German service, and she was racing to defend them with a tank of their archenemy! The designers of this failed Soviet prototype could never have imagined such an event and yet here she was; living it.

She lost sight of the Oarai tanks and this was the moment of the greatest danger. If any of the Saunders crew took a moment to scan their surroundings rather than focusing on the Oarai flag tank, they couldn't miss the sight of them scrambling across the countryside, catching air off every rise as their driver pushed their suspension to its very limits. She had left the driver's hatch open so she had a clearer view and so the sweltering interior of their tank was swift with a breeze that chilled Erika's legs.

The pink fish of Miho's Panzer IV caught her eye, a convenient aiming mark on her green-painted tank today and then the 38(t) and StuG swept past and through a cloud of dust and dirt as another Saunders salvo crashed just ahead of them. A moment later the Saunder's flag tank fired and she heard the tearing of metal and her heart clenched sharply, and then relaxed as she saw the StuG had lost one of its new skirts.

Nakajima slowed down as they reached the woods but they were still travelling well above their tank's top speed from the acceleration of dashing downhill and Erika thought they would surely shoot out in front of the Saunders force to be blasted to pieces or simply smashed ignominiously aside. It didn't happen. Instead with what seemed to be metres to spare, the Shermans appeared in front of them and then vanished to her left and Nakajima made her turn. They were travelling so fast that they passed behind the Saunders tanks and having previously been on their left, they were on their right before with a giggle that was chockful of strain, Nakajima brought them up directly behind them so that now the procession of tanks on the field consisted of the Saunders flag tank, the surviving trio of Oarai vehicles, the Saunders main force; and a vengeful Wolf.

"Mit donnernden Motoren, Geschwind wie der Blitz!" Erika sang and for a moment Yukari glanced at her in astonishment and then she re-fixed her sight on her optics and fired.

The T-50's gun sounded weak after the thunder of the M4s 75mm and the Firefly's seventeen pounder but the 45mm gun was at a range where it was every bit as powerful and Yukari, one of the most naturally talented gunners Erika had ever seen, could not miss. She had a glimpse of a piece of metal the size of a tea-tray fly past them and then she was loading and she continued to sing, aware that Oarai and the Saunders tank that had been listening in on them could hear her.

"Dem Feine entgegen, Im Panzer geschützt!" Safe as the carbon coating made them. "Voraus den Kameraden," Yukari fired again and the spent shell casing seared past her thighs. "Im Kampf steh'n wir allein, Steh'n wir allein," They were behind their comrades in this case but they were standing alone, just as they had been before. "So stoßen wir tief In die feindlichen Reihn!" And they were striking deep in the enemy ranks.

Yukari fired, she loaded and Nakajima bobbed and weaved their little tank. They pinballed between two Shermans that couldn't fire without risking hitting each other and Yukari put a shell into a mantlet and Nakajima hit the brakes so that they dropped back with their stricken victim and Erika drove another shell into the breach and slammed it shut and Nakajima brought them directly behind another Sherman. The 45mm barked, the casing went flying and it wasn't for her to care if they had hit their target, only to give Yukari another shot. She rammed it home and Yukari fired and she thought the shell must have detonated within the barrel as she was deafened by a blast that sent Yukari flying into her.

They fell and so did their tank. She felt it slide on its flank and the ground did little to slow them. They slid for a good distance before finally digging in and coming to a halt that sent the pair of them shooting forward to tangle with Nakajima.

"You alright?" Erika heard herself yell.

"I'm good!" Nakajima screamed right back, her fingers digging in her ears.

"Good!" Yukari was mostly concerned with Nakajima's waggling elbow an inch from her eye.

She crawled out of them and to the cupola hatch. She opened it and fell out of the turret and into the blinding light of day. The clear light of day. For the first time she could remember, her tank was out and not on fire or even smoking. Instead it lay in a ploughed furrow of its own creation. She tried to stand but the ringing in her ears wouldn't permit it and she stumbled flat instead and crawled to the rear of their machine.

They had faced five Shermans; four M4s and the Firefly. As her eyes adjusted, she saw three broken M4s lying in their wake. She blinked a few times and then crawled rapidly so she could look the other way.

Already far away were the remaining M4 and the Firefly, still in pursuit of the three remaining Oarai tanks. Nakajima appeared in front of her, having escaped via the driver's hatch and she sat against the glacis. Yukari flumped into the grass beside her, having tried to stand herself and failed just like Erika.

"Itsumi-dono…"

"We did what we could. It's out of our hands now." She rolled over to face the sky. She had wanted a confirmed kill today and Yukari had given them three in the most unorthodox manner possible. They had taken a light tank into the midst of a pack of mediums and in what must only have been a minute of carnage, had exacted a heavy toll.

But even though the numbers were now equal and the Oarai contingent together unlike the separated Saunders force, Miho's position was still precarious. The Shermans were more accurate, their firepower greater and the Firefly gunner had already proven themselves capable of destroying tanks while travelling at high speed. They had to keep ahead of the two Shermans and stay agile. They couldn't stop to fire on the flag tank without making themselves a target. Something had to give.

They crawled up to join Nakajima and she giggled as she and Yukari used her leg as a pillow, gazing up at the sky with its fluffy clouds. "Did you hit your heads?" She asked.

"They hit the turret." Erika answered, and at point-blank range it had been an immediate kill and the force had thrown them on their side while the impact had translated through the hull to rattle both her and Yukari. It made her yearn for the thick armour of a King Tiger.

They lay there and regained their senses while the recovery units dealt with the three Shermans first. Erika thought she saw those Saunders girls looking at them apprehensively, perhaps not believing they had been attacked and eliminated by such a small and insignificant tank. Or maybe they were concerned about her using her driver's thigh as a pillow while her gunner made use of the shin. She was too tired to care though.

"You sing really well." Nakajima remarked really well.

"What?"

"You. You sing really well. Even in scary German."

Erika waved a hand dismissively. She didn't even know why she had started singing, even if Panzerlied had been appropriate for the moment, and she didn't want a discussion of her vocal talents. However what she wanted versus what her crew desired…

"It's true, Itsumi-dono. I didn't know you could sing."

She waved her hand again but they paid no attention.

"Maybe that's why she shouts all the time. They're vocal exercises."

"Or maybe she wants us to think she has an angry voice so we don't realise she sings like an angel."

It had been quiet but now the report of the Firefly's seventeen pounder rumbled across the landscape followed once again by silence.

"Perhaps she doesn't like me referring to our tank's engine as a song because she believes she's the only singer around here." Nakajima continued, as if she hadn't heard the thunder.

"They say artists don't like to share the spotlight." Yukari giggled and she thought they were both mad. The recovery units were approaching them now and with them were Duck, Mallard and Rabbit teams and the two Shermans eliminated in the ambush. She saw now the other two Shermans, now racing to join the others after whatever mission they had been on. The broken barrel of one made her muse about how much damage she and her crew had done in this match. Three Shermans eliminated and one crippled; nearly half the opposing side. It was a testament to Yukari's gunnery and Nakajima's driving putting them precisely where she needed to be to make her shots count. She had wanted to punish the Saunders girls for their arrogance at the drawing and she couldn't imagine their confidence not being shaken after this. Although it would be meaningless if they lost in the end, and that was why Nakajima and Yukari were still discussing her 'diva' side because it covered the strain they were feeling over how the match would conclude. They really wanted to win and that was bad enough even without the actual stakes of the match and the tournament as a whole.

The recovery team was just beginning to right their tank when she heard the crash of a German 7.5cm gun. The Panzer IV. It had to be. A moment later, the Firefly fired as well. She listened. They all listened. Duck team were gripping five of the six young members of Rabbit team by the shoulders with Akebi gripping both Karina and Yuuki while Saki was sat in the grass looking at a dandelion. Nakajima had joined Tsuchiya and they stood shoulder to shoulder. The Mallards had set their jaws and were trying to look dutiful. Silence. No, not quite silence. The two Shermans trying to rejoin their force were still speeding along so that they could hear their engines rumbling but then they ground to a halt.

"Oarai Girls' Academy wins!"

Erika released a breath she didn't even know she was holding and fell to her knees as dizziness overcame her. Oarai had won? Won? They had done it? The dizziness only got worse and it didn't get better as Yukari gave her one of her hugs. How could this miserable collection of armour possibly have overcome the might of Saunders?

Yet they had. Rabbits were hugging, Mallards were being lifted into the air by powerful Ducks and Yukari was gushing words into her ear. Happy words. Joyful words. They had won after all. They had won. It just wouldn't click.

They loaded her onto the recovery vehicle along with her tank and she had Yukari chattering in one ear and Noriko in the other and she didn't say a word. Nothing. Not a sound. Not a sound until they passed around a hill and they saw the smoking wreck of the Saunders flag tank in the field and Miho's broken Panzer IV on the hill itself. She put two and two together and it allowed her to make a sound.

"Hmmm."

[][][][][][]

At Kuromorimine, victory was greeted with a restrained smile of satisfaction. A gleam of triumph. Certainly not with raucous cheers and hugs that lifted or knocked people off their feet. But then the thirty members of the Oarai Sensha-do team had achieved the impossible. The thirty of them with their seven motley tanks had defeated Saunders University High School. Beaten ten Shermans and eliminated half of them in the process. The result was pure chaos as the Oarai girls struggled to express their joy and it came out in boisterous hugs, high-fives and backslaps.

They left her out of it, perhaps thinking she was still shaken up by her tank's elimination. She was thankful as she was struggling and a Yukari hug had already been hard to handle. Victory should have been glorious. It should have lifted her burdens and yet somehow, she felt crushed. Like they had lost… She had heard that there was nothing as melancholy as a battle lost as a battle won but this was a bit much.

She cheered up during the closing ceremony. First there was the ritual that was comforting and familiar. Secondly, the audience that was mostly Saunders parents and students was utterly rambunctious in their enthusiastic applause. Even though their team had suffered a crack defeat, they had enjoyed the match and its bizarre chase sequence too much to be upset.

Thirdly, she got to watch Miho be the one on the receiving end of Captain Kay's passionate embrace. It looked as if Miho's eyes might actually pop out but the funniest part was seeing Saori and Yukari looking outraged and protective. She placed her hand on the back of Yukari's neck and gently massaged her to make her lower her hackles as she listened to Miho ask the question she had wanted to ask herself; why had Kay brought only five tanks to her flag tank's defence?

"So we'd be evenly matched." The blonde said, as if it was obvious.

"Why?"

"That's Sensha-do!" Kay replied with a wink and then waggled her finger. "This isn't war. Your tank will cry if you're not a good person."

This made Miho light up while Erika frowned. Kay in no way had meant it as an attack but it was a reproof against the attitudes of Kuromorimine and Pravda. She was saying it was just a game but Kuromorimine and Pravda's philosophies were the reason why the championship had so often concluded with the two of them in contest. The other schools had their fun, and lost.

These thoughts pressed in her mind and she struggled to rid herself of them. It was exactly that kind of thinking that had led to the events that had brought her and Miho here. Yukari squeaked as her fingers had gripped her neck tightly and she hastily released her in time to hear Kay apologise for her team's eavesdropping. She had not been in on it.

"We would have lost if you had brought all your tanks." Miho replied magnanimously. She would not have been so forgiving.

"But we didn't. And you didn't." Kay offered her hand to Miho as she had to Erika before the match.

Miho was not particularly dignified in victory as the gesture seemed to trigger all her social anxieties at once. She grabbed Kay's hand with both of hers and then spoke in a voice that must have made every dog within ten miles wince in pain. "Thank you very much!"

Kay blinked a few times at Miho's intensity and then grinned. It took her several seconds to extricate her hand from the Oarai captain's enthusiastic ministrations. Once she did, she turned away and caught Erika's eye. Yukari made an odd noise and sidled so that she was half behind Erika as the girl approached.

"You crazy Wolf girls." She spoke the name in English. "I almost didn't want to take you out!" She grinned at Yukari peeking out from behind Erika and then looked back at her.

"I'm all hugged out today." She said weakly and Kay's grin grew even larger.

"What about you, Oddball?"

"Um-" It was as far as Yukari got before Erika neatly sidestepped and thrust her into Kay's arms. It was even more satisfying seeing Yukari getting a taste of her own medicine than seeing Miho get flustered.

"Take care of yourself, Wolf girls." Kay said.

They watched her return to her team where she placed a hand on her pigtailed lieutenant's shoulder. They couldn't hear what she said but it made the other girl burst into tears with an audible shriek. Someone was in for a thorough debriefing when they got back to their ship…

She kept an eye on Miho as other people came to congratulate her which clearly overwhelmed her. It was a relief when the St Gloriana contingent arrived because Darjeeling didn't frighten Miho and her elegant mannerisms weren't going to cause her anxiety like the overly demonstrative Kay. The same couldn't be said for Rosehip who would probably have clung to herself like a monkey and started grooming her if she hadn't pushed Yukari into her path.

The Crusader commander's enthusiasm however was infectious. The malaise that surrounded her didn't go away but it did lift somewhat as Rosehip and Yukari chatted to each other so fast that Erika wondered how they could possibly understand one another. They didn't seem to leave a single space between their words. Rosehip had loved all their activity throughout the match, from their high-speed evasion in the woods to their madcap charge into Saunders ranks. She wished she had the opportunities for such excitement but Darjeeling she said kept her on a tight leash and Erika wasn't sure if it was just a figure of speech or if she was aware of how much she appeared to be an excitable puppy among the prim and proper St Gloriana girls.

When Nakajima and the rest of the Automotive Club came to conduct provisional repairs to the T-50, the driver was ambushed by the pink-haired girl who fan-girled all over her driving talents and Nakajima met her match in cheerfulness. She saw Darjeeling and Orange Pekoe giving Rosehip sidelong looks, worried she was embarrassing their school. How they could think that when Oarai Girls Academy was frolicking about them, enjoying the vast amount of food and soda provided by the gracious-in-defeat Saunders University High School. Between Oarai and Saunders, Rosehip was barely noticeable.

"Why aren't you having fun, Eririn?" Saori plonked herself down beside her. She had changed back into her school uniform and she was wearing her glasses and her question and manner made her resemble a psychiatrist.

"Well, Dr Takebe." She said, making Saori arch her eyebrows quizzically. "I can enjoy the enjoyment of others."

"We won. You're not enjoying that?"

"Yes." She said, confusing her. "I owe you an apology."

"Apology? Why?"

"Back when you were forming Ankou team and choosing roles, when they made you radio operator, you said you could text really fast. I laughed. Today showed I was wrong to. If all of you hadn't brought your phones and you hadn't been able to relay Miho's orders quickly, we would have been finished. So I'm sorry."

Saori had come to check in on her and cheer her up if need be. She didn't know what to do with any apology and it showed on her innocent face. But she was a clever girl and rallied soon enough. "You dwell on your regrets too much, Eririn."

"Don't start using your Saori powers on me." She warned, making her smile warmly. "You're not going to fix me with a conversation on the back of a little Russian tank."

"Your little Russian tank saved us. We wouldn't have had the chance to fire the winning shot if you hadn't slowed them down and given us the time."

"Maybe… You could have done it without us. Hana's a great gunner and Mako's a…" She fumbled for the right adjective to describe the Sleepy Cat's driving talents. "Remarkable driver. And not crazy like mine. You could have won without us."

"You make it sound like you didn't do anything."

"We did what we could. Everyone did their part. While we were tinkering with our engine, Ahiru-san team found the flag tank."

Saori frowned at her, pouting, and her brown eyes were oddly hard to meet. "Are you sure you're okay, Eririn?"

"I'm fine." She said. "Go mingle."

She left but reluctantly and Erika remained on her perch, taking it all in. She had felt such vindictiveness toward these Saunders girls at the drawing and now they were happily celebrating Oarai's win and their distinctly embarrassing defeat. So far as she could see, none of them were holding a grudge. Maybe the girl who had spied on them but the rest? They had gone so far as to open one of their Shermans up so the Automotive Club could take a look at the insides and compare their different Wright-Continental engines. Clearly they followed Kay's philosophy. A philosophy so far from Kuromorimine, she could hear her mother calling it fraternisation.

By the evening it was time for everyone to return to their schoolships and Saunders naturally timed their exit with the setting sun for maximum spectacle. American tanks backed by the setting sun in the Land of the Rising Sun… If that had been Kay's intention, she had an odd sense of humour.

Saunders had fixed their damaged flag tank so it could leave under its own power. The same couldn't be said for Anglerfish, Duck, Mallard and Rabbit teams, all of whom would have to be repaired back in their hangar. Her damage was superficial. With the match over, the damage computer was switched off and so it didn't matter they had a hole in their turret's armour that showed the carbon coating beneath. A hole that said that if this had been real, Nakajima would have been splashed with what remained of her and Yukari. This wasn't war, as Kay had said, and there was the reminder.

Erika had sharp eyes and so even though Mako's phone was small, she still saw it slip out of her hand and thump into the grass and the girl didn't do the mad scrabble other people did when they dropped their phone; the panic that the screen might cracked. She didn't move. She just kept holding her hand in the air. Erika dropped off the tank and made her way to Hana, Mako, Miho and Saori and saw Hana retrieve the phone and then Mako took off her socks and shoes and then tried to strip off the rest of her clothes. She was just in earshot when she heard the voice. That voice.

"I'll take you in the helicopter we came in."

Erika skidded to a halt in shock and she was not alone. After all, Maho had made a distinct impression on them all last time. It wasn't however the Captain that had her attention, it was the girl standing next to her.

It was Koume.

"Hurry up." Maho said and then looked at her sister and then at her before turning to Koume. "You should talk." She said and then turned and walked away, leaving a stricken Koume behind her.

Mako ran barefoot over the grass after her, Saori took a moment to gather her shoes and socks and then ran after her. That left Miho, Hana, Koume and herself.

"What happened?" She heard herself asking, staring at Koume.

"Mako's grandmother. She…" Hana hesitated. "She collapsed."

"Oh."

They watched them go. Watched the Drache fly off into an orange sky, leaving behind four girls who stood and gazed at it until it became a speck and then long after it disappeared. All to avoid being the first to speak.

(10,843)

Author's Notes:

I keep track of the word counts when I finish because I have tendency to ramble in these notes and wouldn't want people to be annoyed realising almost a tenth of the word count was just me waffling on rather than the actual story.

I had to work mornings (6am start) and evenings (6pm start) a week ago so this stopped me doing any writing for awhile. I write best at the end of the day when I'm not restless. It makes me miss the days when I was sixteen and writing on a Windows 98 PC with no Internet. No distractions. And no Word; I used Wordpad. I didn't know my word counts until I transferred the file to floppy disk (No USBs on that ancient computer) and had a look at school using Word. I wrote a 65,000 word novel without knowing how long it was until I finished it. Anyway, that was why this was delayed.

The opening with Erika, Nakajima and Yukari talking I didn't plan to be so long but the conversation got flowing. It was especially pleasant continuing to integrate Nakajima. She's learning about Sensha-do and her captain in a way that I think makes the Automotive Club's late joining more understanding. I never intended to place Erika with two fluffy-haired and cheerful crewmates but I'm glad it worked out that way. She and Yukari play off each other really well, especially when they're winding Erika up. Nakajima also isn't afraid of Erika which is necessary as I feel I played her intimidation factor up a little too much.

Which leads to the Noriko POV. Wolf team's breakdown was necessary for Duck team to have their moment with Alisa. I love that confrontation too much in the show not to have it play out the same way. It also gave me a chance to present how Erika and Miho are viewed by one of the other Oarai tank commanders as well as a glimpse inside the mind of Duck team.

Duck team's hope of restoring the Volleyball team through Sensha-do isn't that different to the Student Council trying to save the school... Through Sensha-do. They're both insane ideas. I thought the motivation I gave them, wanting to ensure the successful restoration of Sensha-do in the hope it leads to the restoration of other sports made sense. It's never really addressed in the show. I also liked writing about their pride in their Type 89 and how they've learned that they can contribute even against tank whose armour is impenetrable to their gun.

I love the chase sequence too much not to have kept it mostly the same. Ami and Darjeeling enjoy it too much, as do the crowd, and I got to play with my favourite Erika quote.

Is three Sherman kills too much? Maybe. They contributed a LOT to this match. But I wanted to convey the desperation of the situation and I also thought that Wolf team throwing itself into the fray fit with Erika's Sensha-do as seen in Das Finale.

Panzerlied... People have been requesting Erika sing since I started this. So what better song than the one people want to hear Kuromorimine sing before the end.

Why isn't Erika elated in victory? My Erika is full of self-loathing and doesn't really know who she is or what she wants. As her team points out, she has a tendency to negate everything. More to come.

Appreciation to Rihnoswirl for pointing out an error that had slipped by me. I've not been overly concerned with proof reading as I'm more interested in writing the story than a flawless piece of prose. But it does irk me to learn that Word has been turning 'Hangar' as in aircraft or vehicle depot into 'Hanger', as in clothes. I'll be going back to fix that.

Also, my grammar which people keep nitpicking. I am from Norfolk, England. We have what is known as Norfolk Grammar. It's... Different. And while I do my best to avoid it, sometimes it slips through which to foreigners (Anyone born outside Norfolk) looks awkward. For example we say 'Bred and born' here rather than 'Born and bred'.

Anyway, I'm on a break at the moment so I'll do some proofing while I work on the next chapter and tidy up some of the more obvious errors. It doesn't help that I write on one computer and post on another. (Long story)