Girls und Panzer: Ride the Tiger Episode 01 (IC)

[North Arkana]

Elise quickly hailed the A-20 as they raced down the trench. "Sorry about that! It was an actual accident. I don't think it's time to start yet, so we're gonna move off. See ya when we win!" She put down the radio and waited for a reply. The tank continued to race down the trench before it came to an open field. As they entered the field Valerie shouted over the engine, "Don't forget to swerve! The other tanks might think we've started!". The tank raced across the field swerving as it went trying to get to the forest without being in the open for too long, after all, it would only take one shot.

There was still no start signal, so they all gathered foliage from around, and piled it on and around the tank, which was positioned in a clump of trees, all so aware of the rumbling sound of the Polish tank moving about. Well, the front of it anyways. The sides and rear would be visible at close range, but unless a tank got the right angle to see through the trees and ellicit a glint from the mostly unpainted tank, it would be hard to spot.

"Huh,they sure are moving fast, aren't they? I wonder if they're one of the ones who jumped the gun?" Kat muses, watching the AT-1 cross the field from their own vantage point.

Team Mustang can't see the T-28 in the forest from where they are, but Kat trains her binoculars on the area the AT-1 had come from. She spots a tank which looks like a smaller T-34 cresting the ridge, before stopping in another one of the tree stands around the field, apparently to watch the AT-1 scurry off. The crew seemed to be covering the tank with foliage to make it harder to spot, but that only works if someone isn't already watching you. It looked like staying quiet in a good position was paying off already. Team Mustang's own tank was positioned in a stand of trees which covered most of a medium-sized hill. Along with the trees, there was a considerable amount of undergrowth. Kat used the gaps in the branches and foliage to observe the area, while also keeping hidden.

With the amount of undergrowth between us and the open, we might be able to fire without immediately giving our position away. The bushes should hide the muzzle flash, and the smoke will be broken up by all the foliage...

"Oi, Maya, you think you can hit that tank destroyer before it gets into the trees?" Kat asks, still looking through her binoculars at the A-20 covered in foliage.

"I don't know, honestly," she replies. "This is completely different than archery."

Maya uses the hand hand crank to turn the turret towards the moving AT-1, slowly enough that it shouldn't attract attention. Her palms are sweaty. She's more nervous than she's ever been before. If she misses, it won't be like archery where she's the only one who loses. The everyone in the crew might lose.

"Nah, don't worry about it, Maya. This is easier than archery. Just get into that zen state of mind like you usually do," Kat says, after glancing down at Maya. "Just think of it like shooting a much more powerful bow than usual. One where precision is more important than technique."

Kat had seen Maya like this a few times before. She'd get real jumpy during a archery match and let her nerves keep eating at her if no one was there to refocus her attention.

Maya speaks after a few seconds of silence. "No, I can't get a shot from here. They'll get into the trees before I can aim properly."

"Okay, that's fine. Turn the turret to ten-o-clock. You see that cluster of bushes, in those trees over there near the ridge?"

"Yes, I see them," Maya responds.

"That's a tank. Concentrate, you should be able to see the basic shape of it after a little while. Take the time we have now to line up the perfect shot. As soon as the match start, I want you to shoot, okay? Don't wait for me to tell you when, just shoot when you feel the moment is right."

Kat looks at her watch while keeping an eye on the tank in the trees. The clock is ticking down to the official start. She kicks Saya slightly to make sure she's still awake, and Saya responds by cursing at her.

"Saya, get another AP round ready, we're firing two rounds. Misaka, get ready to shift into reverse. Once we're done shooting, we're going to get off this hill by going out the back, there's no point in exposing ourselves yet."

Okay... now we wait for the games to begin...

[West Suburbia]

The 7TP rumbled along the creek, tearing up grass and dirt with its treads as it chased after the A-20. Unfortunately, as the enemy tank was faster, it managed to climb over the safety of a ridgeline, out of sight of Christina's periscope. Cursing in Polish, Christina rapped the breechlock with her hand.

"Should I continue to chase them over that ridge?" Lian's barely audible voice went through Christina's ears. Christina was about to say, "Hell yes!", but then she heard Svetlana spoke.

"I think you should stop," the Ukrainian said.

Christina turned to Svetlana. "Who is the commander here? Huh? Is it you? Huh -"

"It's common sense," Svetlana replied. "There might be more tanks over that ridge. If we're too slow to cross over it, then we will be an easy target. But, as you are the commander, your choice, Janowski."

"Don't call me that!" Christina's face reddened. Turning back to her periscope, she weighed Svetlana's words in her mind. Finally, she made up her decision. "Lian, full stop!"

The 7TP ceased to move, bumping into the edge of the ridge as it came to a full stop. Turning to Svetlana, Christina said, "There. I took your idea. You happy now?" She hated how her authority was already be challenged. But at the same time, Svetlana was partly right. She didn't know if there were more tanks over that ridge that would rain death on them, resulting in them knocked out.

Svetlana twirled her radio earpiece around, which was in one ear (in the other ear was her earpiece for the interior communication) She hadn't been listening to the radio much, ignoring what the others said, since they were probably smart enough not to disclose their plans over an open line. However, something then caught her interest.

"[A-20 calling BT-7, we would like to propose a pact. We can both work together for this exercise, and if you help us eliminate all the other tank crews, we will let you eliminate us to be the winners.]"

Having been raised on the Russian language in her small townhouse in Eastern Ukraine, Svetlana let the information soak in, then gasped. Christina looked over at her with a curious glance, almost dropping a shell she had in her hand.

"What is it?" Christina inquired, raising an eyebrow.

"That tank we were chasing...an A-20 right?" Svetlana said. When Christina returned a blank stare, the Ukrainian girl continued. "Right? Oh well, that doesn't matter right now, but an A-20 is planning to ally with an AT-1 and destroy us and everyone else together, then throw the match to the AT-1 to allow them to win.... that's what they said over the radio."

Christina wrinkled her nose. "Whoever that A-20 crew is...what's in it for them?" she said quietly. "The satisfaction of killing everybody? They're probably going to turn on that AT-1 and betray them." Peering out of her periscope, she cursed the fact that it was fixed. "Svetlana, since you're sitting under the hatch, can you poke out and survey the area?" Reaching behind her into the niche where the radio was kept, Christina produced a pair of binoculars and handed it to her gunner. "Just tell me the physical surroundings. Then I will decide where to go."

Svetlana nodded and taking the binoculars, popped out of the hatch so only the area above her bosom showed. After a few minutes, she ducked back down. "Across the creek there is a forest, in front of us, you know, there's that ridge and God knows what's over there."

Christina considered. Then she said, "Lian, cross the creek. We're going camping."

Lian complied, and soon the 7TP crossed the creek, reaching the other side, accelerating into the forest. Svetlana gave her commander a questioning look, but Christina just smiled and said, "Svetlana, keep your head out of that hatch for me, will you?"

[Stormhound]

The L3 lay parked in the forest, Bran rested against the interior, starting to snore, something Volpini tried to ignore as she herself struggled not to dose off. While the camouflage was rusty, the vehicle's small stature, only around 4'5, would make it a hard target to see, and an even harder target to aim at.

Their luxurious position was interrupted by the sound of the 45mm gun firing. Immediately, the gunner jumped up, yelping as her head hit the roof of the tankette. "Dammit..." she muttered, signalling to Volpini to drive the Carro Veloce forth. "It looks like the match has begun." she smirked, snickering as she thought about how the others might underestimate her and the driver.

Not having to be told twice, Volpini pressed down on the pedal, sending the L3 forth. Reluctant to strain the engine or drive into a tree, she went slowly at first, at 15 km/h before increasing to 20 km/h and finally reaching 25 km/h as they reached the edge of the forest. The Carro Veloce swerved, throwing the unsuspecting gunner off her position, landing on the driver's shoulder. Volpini blushed, but drove the CV down the dirt road, following the sound of the blast.

[West Suburbia]

Lian didn't know why Christina wanted to go into the forest. Whatever she said and did, she was probably knowing what she was doing... Lian didn't want to argue anyways. Being crammed into a puny place to drive the 7TP, isolated from the rest of the team, suited her well. There was no one to be constantly talking to her, the way she preferred, and the thought of being scrunched up shoulder-to-shoulder with another person, in a space that wasn't much bigger then the driver's box, made her shiver quietly.

She was driving with the top portion of the two piece driver's hatch, which swung out, open, as the small observation slit built into that top hatch piece barely gave her any visibility. In the event of a fight, however, Lian knew she had to shut the hatch down for her own safety. The brief fight with the green enemy tank at the creek was a reminder of that. Keeping her eyes on the rutted path that she was driving on, Lain tried to avoid the largest boulders and ruts for the smoothest ride possible while Christina issued directions to her. The steering levels required a fair amount of strength to jerk and the gearbox...well, she hoped she didn't have to go into reverse anytime soon. The gearbox level took her forever to pull, time she probably didn't have in a battle.

"Lian, stop right here!" Christina's voice echoed through her earpiece. Reaching for the gearbox, she gave a strong pull on the level to neutral. The level was stuck. The tank was still cruising along at a speed of 15 kilometers, according to the speedometer. Giving another firm tug, the level finally shifted to neutral, and Lian applied the brakes.

The sound of a cannon firing caught Lian's attention. Perking up, she wondered if another tank somewhere was starting an attack or being attacked. Shrugging, she then sat back and listen to Christina and Svetlana discuss something about hiding their tank and waiting for the battle to pass while every else killed each other.

"No, no, no," she heard Christina. "If we hide, then they will laugh at us for being scared to fight!"

"There's that alliance between the A-20 and AT-1. Other vehicles might be making alliances too." Svetlana's voice said. "We let the alliances kill off each other, and when they bound to turn on each other, then we race out and finish them. Besides, Lian can't drive well yet, so evasive maneuvers are out of the question."

Lian heard Christina muttering something under her breath. A sigh came from her a minute later. "Ok," she said. "Lian, drive us to that depression right there and park the vehicle,"

Lian did what she was told. Once the 7TP arrived there, after a bumpy landing, the turret stuck out, while the rest of the hull remained protected and hidden. Lian heard the sound of feet trampling on the top of the turret then the sound of branches cracking and leaves rustling. Svetlana then appeared in front of her.

"We're going to stay here and hide, alright?" she said, giving a small smile.

Lian shrugged and gave a slight nod.

[Lingria]

When the bell for the match to start rung the Silver Devils team was still adjusting the tank "The match has started!" Yelled Tinuyosha, The tank started with a rumble and was pushed into action. "The tanks turret is operational" Kazumi yelled over the engine "Great now let's get this scrap heap moving!" Yelled Tinuyosha, The tank slowly moved forward "Nozomi go left" Tinuyosha jumped down and kicked her left shoulder "Ow!,Tinu try next time not to break me" Nozomi replied,The tank slowly started to turn left and drive through the bushes onto the main plains "Full speed ahead!" Tinuyosha yelled,She nearly go lurched back as the tanks pitch changed. Spotting something on the other side of the map she pulled out her Binoculars "ITS THE RUSSIAN TEAM!" She finally said "GO RIGHT!" Kicking her right shoulder the tank drifted left then right, and disappeared in the forest

[North Arkana]

Kat taps Maya on the shoulder lightly.

"The match has started. Fire when ready."

Maya takes a deep breath in, and slowly breaths out. With no practice working the gun, the she did the best she could targeting the foliage covered tank using the information she had picked up listening to Hina inspect the gun sights.

"Firing!"

The breech kicks back into the turret as the empty shell casing is ejected.

"Reload!" Kat shouts to Saya.

"Okay okay! I'm doing it!"

Saya pushes the round into the chamber as the the gun returns to battery.

"Take the second shot!"

The gun recoils again as Maya fires, and before it finishes its cycle, Kat kicks Misaka lightly in the back.

"Now, reverse! Get us behind the hilltop!"

"Wha! Hai hai hai!"

Misaka throws the Stuart into reverse, crushing several bushes on the way off the hilltop and hopefully out of the line of fire.

[Perestroikavo]

CLANG! The impact of a round bouncing off the side of the turret made a noise so loud that all the girl's heads were ringing. Before they could react, another shot came in, followed by the sound of metal splintering. By now, Alexei was crying again, and ignoring the gun, or even trying to move. Sasha was frantically talking to herself, most likely just trying to justify what had happened. Vladmira was panicked, trying to get the engine started again, and even though it turned over multiple times, the thing refused to give the roar signaling its successful start. Viktoriya (henceforth known as Vik) was the only one who seemed to remain calm. She looked at Alexei, and spoke, in her usual cheerful voice.

"Don't worry silly billy, we're still all okay!" She giggled afterward, giddy with excitement, while she continued looking out the hatch, oblivious to danger. This brought an odd silence to the tank. Alexei stopped crying, Sasha just looked around for a minute, and Vladmira just fumbled with the controls more. It was... eerie. The silence was broken by the start of the engine, and all the sounds of a tank creaking about the woods. Suddenly, a wretched grinding noise came from the turret area, and Alexei began to speak, slowly. "The turret drive is broken. We are stuck with the gun facing directly in front of us, and I'm going to look over the assembly itself for any damages." She fell silent once again, a small mechanical clinking joining the ruckus of a moving tank. They drove uselessley around the forest for a bit before Sasha began to talk into the radio again. This time, she spoke with brash arrogance, all while the rest of the crew gaped at her claims.

"Don't worry, A-20 crew still alive. Whoever the coward was that shot us twice and ran missed, and we are completely unscathed. Prepare to lose!" With that, she hung the transmitter back onto the radio set, and ignored the rest of the crew's glares. Alexei clinked the action shut, and spoke for the last time. "We're all good, AP loaded, ready to fire." Vladmira looked to Vik, before shouting up. "Where do you want us to go?" A moment of silence followed, before Vik replied. "I think we will go to the field near home base, it was pretty." Sasha audibly gasped, but Vladmira simply complied with her directions, and they soon pulled out of the treeline, and into the clearing near the garage. Turning the tank about face to the treeline, team Breshnev's Brow simply waited for another tank to reveal themselves.

[Rynagria]

"Maiko!" Suddenly yelled Iona, as her gunner opened eyes quickly, having listened for any of sign of the official start. It was distant, but she heard it, a signal that started the match. The sound was followed by two cannon shots, which were different from the rest what they heard earlier, and it was closer, she estimated 900 meters.

"Wakarimasu! (わかります!)" Responded the gunner, turning the turret towards the source of the noise, which landed on where the M5A1 had been. Without hesitation, Maiko pressed down the trigger, lobbing the 6.5 kilogram HE shell out of the short barrel. Due to the low velocity nature of the shell, it roughly took three seconds for it to connect with something, in this case the ground. For their efforts, it did created a noticeable crater a meter from the Stuart's former position.

"Reload!" Ordered the commander, Fumiko lifting the next round with considerable difficulty, not used to lifting such weight. The whole process took roughly six seconds, before she would respond with a near inaudible voice.

"Junbi kanryō. (準備完了.)"

"Maiko, Ute! (撃て！)" Shouted Iona, Maiko repeating the process, the tank rocking back from the force of the shell being fired the barrel. "Nagisa, begin proceeding to point 0023 immediately!"

"Hai!" Was the answer from Nagisa, as she pulled back steering levers beside her, the enormous tank mimicking the action of the levers. With the tank in reverse, they got out of their prepared position, and then aligning the tank with the road. Going at their full speed on the road, which was 37 km/h, distancing themselves from this place as much as they could.

(OOC: You're turn Ulv.)

[Ulvenes]

Hearing rounds go off wildly put the Fenrir team at a great unease. However despite that they took comfort in their confidence of their camouflage. Freyja loaded a five centimeter shell which was small and very light and closed the breach before yelling to Danielle, "Kanone fertig!" and was quickly replied with "Richtig!" from Danielle as she aimed down the sights with her hand on the handle but finger off of the trigger. Ulrica then noticed a T-28 tank driving parallel to their position a fair distance away. "Ziel! Sowjetischer Panzer! Ein Uhr!" She yelled in to her throat mic. "Jawohl!" Danielle replied and traversed the turret slowly in the direction of where the enemy tank was located before finding it through her scope. She then watched it and followed it, keeping her gun a few inches in front of it, "Ziel erworben" Danielle said, confident in her calculations and placed her finger over the trigger. After waiting a brief second, Ulrica yelled out "Feuer!" And Danielle pulled the trigger. The gun fired and recoiled, ejecting the small shell casing. Freyja immediately picked up a new shell and shoved it in to the breach before closing the breach and yelling "Kanone fertig!" again.

[Rynagria]

Hearing rounds go off wildly put the Fenrir team at a great unease. However despite that they took comfort in their confidence of their camouflage. Freyja loaded a five centimeter shell which was small and very light and closed the breach before yelling to Danielle, "Kanone fertig!" and was quickly replied with "Richtig!" from Danielle as she aimed down the sights with her hand on the handle but finger off of the trigger. Ulrica then noticed a T-28 tank driving parallel to their position a fair distance away. "Ziel! Sowjetischer Panzer! Ein Uhr!" She yelled in to her throat mic. "Jawohl!" Danielle replied and traversed the turret slowly in the direction of where the enemy tank was located before finding it through her scope. She then watched it and followed it, keeping her gun a few inches in front of it, "Ziel erworben" Danielle said, confident in her calculations and placed her finger over the trigger. After waiting a brief second, Ulrica yelled out "Feuer!" And Danielle pulled the trigger. The gun fired and recoiled, ejecting the small shell casing. Freyja immediately picked up a new shell and shoved it in to the breach before closing the breach and yelling "Kanone fertig!" again.

Before the crew of Miniature Meteor even heard the shot, the tank suddenly stopped in its tracks, the shell grazing the top of the upper hull. Seeing the shot nearly hit them, Iona quickly looked around, until she saw the hostile tank hundreds of meters away. "Nagisa, what happened? Why did we stop?"

"Must be something wrong with the engine and we barely have any power running through the tank, if this keeps up, our tank might register as incapable of continuing on." Reported Nagisa through the mic, as she opened the driver's cover, allowing herself have better visibility of what's in front her. Saki, hearing the report, immediately pushed the hatch open and jumped out. Next, the radio operator would run all the way back to the rear of the tank and opened the engine compartment, which produced smoke, looking for the source of the problem.

"Maiko, rotate the turret to our 3 o'clock, and Fumiko load another High Explosive shell! Once done, fire at will!" Barked Iona calmly, as her gunner turned the turret slowly, then elevating the gun to some considerable degrees due to the distance between them. Still not used to the weight, Fumiko took sometime loading the gun, but did so slightly faster.

"Hassha. (発射.)" Announced Maiko, as once again she pulled the trigger and lobbed the shell towards the Panzer III, aiming it at the commander's cupola. Meanwhile, Fumiko acted on instinct and loaded another shell into the breech, placing an APCBC round this time.

[Ulvenes]

Before the crew of Miniature Meteor even heard the shot, the tank suddenly stopped in its tracks, the shell grazing the top of the upper hull. Seeing the shot nearly hit them, Iona quickly looked around, until she saw the hostile tank hundreds of meters away. "Nagisa, what happened? Why did we stop?"

"Must be something wrong with the engine and we barely have any power running through the tank, if this keeps up, our tank might register as incapable of continuing on." Reported Nagisa through the mic, as she opened the driver's cover, allowing herself have better visibility of what's in front her. Saki, hearing the report, immediately pushed the hatch open and jumped out. Next, the radio operator would run all the way back to the rear of the tank and opened the engine compartment, which produced smoke, looking for the source of the problem.

"Maiko, rotate the turret to our 3 o'clock, and Fumiko load another High Explosive shell! Once done, fire at will!" Barked Iona calmly, as her gunner turned the turret slowly, then elevating the gun to some considerable degrees due to the distance between them. Still not used to the weight, Fumiko took sometime loading the gun, but did so slightly faster.

"Hassha. (発射.)" Announced Maiko, as once again she pulled the trigger and lobbed the shell towards the Panzer III, aiming it at the commander's cupola. Meanwhile, Fumiko acted on instinct and loaded another shell into the breech, placing an APCBC round this time.

"Scheisse!" Danielle said as she watched her round just graze the enemy tank while the gun was reloaded. "Verdammt.." Ulrica said as she watched the enemy tank. The turret began to traverse in their direction, probably spotting the smoke of their shot. Knowing that their tank had 70mm of frontal armor, and as far as she could find as far as research went, the main gun on the T-28 that they were engaging could penetrate 90mm of armor within one hundred meters. Thankfully, they were outside of a hundred meters so even if their gun hit it should bounce off.

However Ulrica didn't want to take that chance, especially given that Danielle only had an hour or so worth of gunnery. But before she could command anything the enemy tank fired off a shot causing Ulrica to gasp and quickly duck down in to the turret and hurt the shell whistle over the hatch. "Holen Sie sich diesen verdammten Panzer in Bewegung!" She yelled in to the mic and Kaz quickly reacted, pushing both drive levers forward and the tank shoved itself through the shrubbery. "Fahren Sie um, damit wir sie von hinten zu schlagen!" She yelled again and was met with a quick "Jawohl." from Kaz. The panzer drove at an angle toward the rear of the enemy T-28 and Ulrica closed the hatch. "Schussbereit!" Danielle yelled to Ulrica, keeping her scope and the gun focused on the side of the T-28. "Richten Sie für die Motorabdeckung, Feuer frei!" Ulrica replied and Danielle traversed the turret to the rear of the T-28, aiming for the engine compartment. She then pulled the trigger and fire off another shot.

[Stormhound]

The hatch of the L3/33 swung open and Bran stood up to observe her surroundings while Volpini continued forward; the little L3 maneuvering across the field cautiously to avoid an unwanted confrontation with any enemy tank that might be nearby. However, the gunner had no intention of staying out of the battle, no matter how under armed she was. "Full speed ahead," she ordered, before realizing the friction amongst other things made it hard for Volpini to hear. The gunner leaned down and repeated herself to the driver, before rising again to peruse her surroundings.

Blam.

The sound of gunfire startled Bran, and Volpini nearly hit the pedal, but was quick enough to realize that would have sent the commander flying out of the tankette. The firing repeated and Bran grinned. Leaning down again, so her head poked into the L3's compartment, she looked at Volpini. "Turns out our opponents did our work for us," she said, raising her head and turning to the direction of the gunfire, tapping the driver's shoulder with her foot to signal her to change direction.

[Rynagria]

Before the crew of Miniature Meteor even heard the shot, the tank suddenly stopped in its tracks, the shell grazing the top of the upper hull. Seeing the shot nearly hit them, Iona quickly looked around, until she saw the hostile tank hundreds of meters away. "Nagisa, what happened? Why did we stop?"

"Must be something wrong with the engine and we barely have any power running through the tank, if this keeps up, our tank might register as incapable of continuing on." Reported Nagisa through the mic, as she opened the driver's cover, allowing herself have better visibility of what's in front her. Saki, hearing the report, immediately pushed the hatch open and jumped out. Next, the radio operator would run all the way back to the rear of the tank and opened the engine compartment, which produced smoke, looking for the source of the problem.

"Maiko, rotate the turret to our 3 o'clock, and Fumiko load another High Explosive shell! Once done, fire at will!" Barked Iona calmly, as her gunner turned the turret slowly, then elevating the gun to some considerable degrees due to the distance between them. Still not used to the weight, Fumiko took sometime loading the gun, but did so slightly faster.

"Hassha. (発射.)" Announced Maiko, as once again she pulled the trigger and lobbed the shell towards the Panzer III, aiming it at the commander's cupola. Meanwhile, Fumiko acted on instinct and loaded another shell into the breech, placing an APCBC round this time.

"Scheisse!" Danielle said as she watched her round just graze the enemy tank while the gun was reloaded. "Verdammt.." Ulrica said as she watched the enemy tank. The turret began to traverse in their direction, probably spotting the smoke of their shot. Knowing that their tank had 70mm of frontal armor, and as far as she could find as far as research went, the main gun on the T-28 that they were engaging could penetrate 90mm of armor within one hundred meters. Thankfully, they were outside of a hundred meters so even if their gun hit it should bounce off.

However Ulrica didn't want to take that chance, especially given that Danielle only had an hour or so worth of gunnery. But before she could command anything the enemy tank fired off a shot causing Ulrica to gasp and quickly duck down in to the turret and hurt the shell whistle over the hatch. "Holen Sie sich diesen verdammten Panzer in Bewegung!" She yelled in to the mic and Kaz quickly reacted, pushing both drive levers forward and the tank shoved itself through the shrubbery. "Fahren Sie um, damit wir sie von hinten zu schlagen!" She yelled again and was met with a quick "Jawohl." from Kaz. The panzer drove at an angle toward the rear of the enemy T-28 and Ulrica closed the hatch. "Schussbereit!" Danielle yelled to Ulrica, keeping her scope and the gun focused on the side of the T-28. "Richten Sie für die Motorabdeckung, Feuer frei!" Ulrica replied and Danielle traversed the turret to the rear of the T-28, aiming for the engine compartment. She then pulled the trigger and fire off another shot.

Luckily for Saki, she had finished repairing the tank as best as she could and was already on her way to the reight machine gun turret, the enemy shell instead going hitting the tracks. Inside the turret, Iona noted that the power and engine was back to normal output, the turret speeding up in tracking the Panzer III. Meanwhile, Saki the only one there to do anything about the tracks, ran back to begin fixing that.

"Maiko, Ute!" Bellowed Iona, as she watched her gunner nod her head, immediately pulling the trigger afterwards. As the gun recoiled and ejected the empty shell, Fumiko was ready with another round, loading an HE round into the breech.

[North Arkana]

"Misaka, keep the tank where it is. I'm going to go take a look at what's happening," Kat says, climbing out the commander's hatch with binoculars around her neck. She had heard the increasing number of cannon shots and wanted to see what was happening. "I'll be back real quick."

"What!? You're getting out of the tank? Isn't that dangerous? Stupid too?!" Saya shouts at Kat.

"Relax, there's nothing in the rules against doing some recon. I'll be fine."

Working her way carefully into the bushes, Kat takes a position where she can observe the goings on in the field below. She had been surprised when the incoming shell hit the place her tank had been previously, but felt it was safe enough to take a look around after no further shots came in their direction. Looking through her binoculars, Kat sees what seems to be a Pz III of some kind engaged in a duel with a T-28. There was also a dust cloud a fair distance away, probably another tank on the move, but she didn't have a direct line of sight to see what it was.

[West Suburbia]

Camping in the forest had its own issues. Although it had been quite some time, no tank had driven past the 7TP so far. Christina was profoundly frustrated about this fact. She didn't want to wait out the whole battle with nothing to do. It would be just as bad as being the first one to get knocked out and getting janitor duties. Glancing over to Svetlana, who was on the radio, she sighed very loudly and rapped her hand against the breechblock.

"Was your plan to wait here and hide?" she asked. "Who cares if they aren't weakening each other. If they are fighting each other, then we can jump in and finish the weaker one."

Svetlana turned to face her. "You didn't have to take my suggestion, you know."

Christina got on her laryngophone. "Lian, drive out of the ditch, turn right, then follow the rutted path. It's time to head out."

As the tank started to rumble down the dirt path, its suspension bumping up and down, Christina kept her eyes on the periscope, looking ahead of the road. As soon as the 7TP cleared the treeline, they stumbled upon a clearing. Christina could see the roof of the garage from where they came from, which was nearby. Wonder if anyone is still in there? she wondered.

((This next part is under the presumption that Team Breshnev's Brow is just sitting in the middle of the clearing and not hiding in a bush))

Svetlana suddenly gasped. "Tank spotted!" she yelled.

"Where? Where?" Christina asked, her heart starting to race again. Then she saw it. It was the same tank from the creek! Her brow furrowing, she bent down to pick up a 37mm shell and rammed into the breech. "Lian, keep moving - straight at them! Svetlana, fire!"

The gun fired. Christina watched the shell hit the ground in front of the A-20. Quickly reloading, she ordered another shot, which glanced off the sloped upper glacis plate. Growing frustrated, she then was surprised when Svetlana issued an order to Lian. "Lian, stop the tank so I can aim better. Once I shoot, start moving again."

"What are you doing?" Christina asked as she loaded in another shell.

Svetlana replied, "Winning," as she aimed and curled her finger around the manual trigger.

[Rynagria]

"Iona, the tracks is fixed!" Shouted Saki over the mic, as she once again ran for her station in the right turret, doing so in record time. As she dropped into her turret, Saki rotated machinegun and aimed it at the Panzer III, firing several burst of 7.62x54mmR at the tank. While it was fruitless, hopefully it would make them sweat a little.

"Nagisa, I want you to immediately move once we fire the main gun, stay on the road and full-speed. I want you to head for the last position of where the other tanks are, let's make them chase us a little bit." Ordered Iona, as she signaled for Maiko to fire the main gun, before the gunner lined up their next shot once more.

"Hasha." Replied the T-28's gunner, immediately pulling the trigger of the once Saki stopped firing the machinegun burst, the HE shell being lobbed at her target. Once this occured, the tank reversed slightly, then turning from the direction the came from and went down the road full speed.

[Romus Maximus]

Elise panicked as she heard the shots firing in each direction after the bell rung. She began to flinch as she heard each boom from the other tanks cannons. Valerie stuck her head out of the hatch and looked around the forest. She saw a large grove in the trees, and a nearby bush big enough to hide the tank.
"Jenny, take us into that bush with the gun pointing towards the grove of trees. Keep us just forward enough that we can see the grove through the viewports."
"Doing it." The girl cheerfully replied as the tank began to turn and head towards the grove.
The rolled into the bush and began to lie in wait, while the shots continued, hoping that an enemy tank would roll into their sights.

[Ulvenes]

"Iona, the tracks is fixed!" Shouted Saki over the mic, as she once again ran for her station in the right turret, doing so in record time. As she dropped into her turret, Saki rotated machinegun and aimed it at the Panzer III, firing several burst of 7.62x54mmR at the tank. While it was fruitless, hopefully it would make them sweat a little.

"Nagisa, I want you to immediately move once we fire the main gun, stay on the road and full-speed. I want you to head for the last position of where the other tanks are, let's make them chase us a little bit." Ordered Iona, as she signaled for Maiko to fire the main gun, before the gunner lined up their next shot once more.

"Hasha." Replied the T-28's gunner, immediately pulling the trigger of the once Saki stopped firing the machinegun burst, the HE shell being lobbed at her target. Once this occured, the tank reversed slightly, then turning from the direction the came from and went down the road full speed.

"Taking machine gun fire." Ulrica said as they were hit with a machine gun. "Sounds like rain." Danielle said and giggled softly, Freyja joining in the laugh. Then the enemy tank shot again, missing once more. "They need to train on that tank more!" Danielle said as she watched through the scope. "Offizier. The target is moving down the hill. Should we pursue?" Kaz inquired, "Cowards.." Ulrica muttered to herself before thinking, They might just be feigning their retreat to lead us in to a trap of some sort.. She thought. "Ja. Pursue the target." She ordered, and was quickly met with a "Jawohl Offizier!" from the driver. The Panzer III went down the hill and the crew strapped in tighter with their speed increasing drastically. They began to gain on the T-28 rapidly.

[Rynagria]

"Iona, the tracks is fixed!" Shouted Saki over the mic, as she once again ran for her station in the right turret, doing so in record time. As she dropped into her turret, Saki rotated machinegun and aimed it at the Panzer III, firing several burst of 7.62x54mmR at the tank. While it was fruitless, hopefully it would make them sweat a little.

"Nagisa, I want you to immediately move once we fire the main gun, stay on the road and full-speed. I want you to head for the last position of where the other tanks are, let's make them chase us a little bit." Ordered Iona, as she signaled for Maiko to fire the main gun, before the gunner lined up their next shot once more.

"Hasha." Replied the T-28's gunner, immediately pulling the trigger of the once Saki stopped firing the machinegun burst, the HE shell being lobbed at her target. Once this occured, the tank reversed slightly, then turning from the direction the came from and went down the road full speed.

"Taking machine gun fire." Ulrica said as they were hit with a machine gun. "Sounds like rain." Danielle said and giggled softly, Freyja joining in the laugh. Then the enemy tank shot again, missing once more. "They need to train on that tank more!" Danielle said as she watched through the scope. "Offizier. The target is moving down the hill. Should we pursue?" Kaz inquired, "Cowards.." Ulrica muttered to herself before thinking, They might just be feigning their retreat to lead us in to a trap of some sort.. She thought. "Ja. Pursue the target." She ordered, and was quickly met with a "Jawohl Offizier!" from the driver. The Panzer III went down the hill and the crew strapped in tighter with their speed increasing drastically. They began to gain on the T-28 rapidly.

"Nagisa, is this the fastest this tank can go?" Asked Iona over the intercom, as she stuck her head out of the turret hatch, watching the Panzer III get closer on them. With a crackle from the radio, her driver replied with a very blunt and terse answer, with the vehicle slightly going faster.

"No." Was the answer, which left the commander somewhat confused as to why they didn't go full speed, Saki coming in for that.

"If we go any faster, the engine might explode this time and knock ourselves out in the process if we keep pushing...... I was the one that told that to Nagisa to keep it a certain max, but anyways if we don't do something, we're still going to get knocked out correct?" Explained Saki over the radio, Iona finally understanding as to why, but even if they were able to go full speed, the enemy tank is still faster than them.

"You made the right call Saki, we'll just have to think of something on the fly right?" Responded Iona, as she looked around the road for anything that maybe of use, then back at the the tank pursuing them. Suddenly, an idea sprung in her mind, but it might not even work. "Maiko, since there's plenty of trees, I want you to shoot them with AP rounds and cause them to fall on the path of our enemy. Are you up for it?"

"Yeah, if it leads us winning our duel with them, then of course I am. The question is if Fumiko is up for it." Answered Maiko, with Fumiko agreeing by picking up a shell, which caused the gunner to smile. With a nod, she swiveled the turret towards the enemy tank, an HE shell still in the chamber. Since they weren't doing any evasive maneuvers, the shot should be relatively easy for even her, pulling the trigger. After the first shot, she began to move the turret towards the trees, firing again at a thick one as soon as the gun was loaded once more. Her target was the closest tree behind them, the one with the thickest trunk. The solid shot went through the about half of the trunk of tree through and through, which caused the tree to begin to fall towards the road, as she assumed the tree was at least four and a half feet across.

[Romus Maximus]

Griffin team sat waiting for a few minutes before realising that the shots were to far away and Elise quickly kicked Jennifers chair dead centre and the tank rumbled forwards. They began to head towards the ridge that they had passed as they raced across the field but rather than go over they began to move around. The tank rumbled on moving cautiously through the forest.

[Perestroikavo]

-Snip-

Natalia had come out of the garage and was giving the A-20 a cursory look over from afar, with Vik and her chatting, well yelling across the field to eachother. BOOM! The sound of a tank gun going off, and the whistling impact of the shell into the dirt near the A-20 sent Natalia scurrying and Vik back down into the tank. Before any of them could react, a second shot was fired, and it glanced off the front of the tank. Vladmira noticably flinched at the lould clang of the impact. However, the girls were all angry from the first encounter, and with grim determination, set about their tasks. The turret traversed towards the Polish tank.

"Fire!"

Vik shouted it, echoing through the entire interior. The action lept back and a casing ejected, signaling that a shot was fired. It whizzed over their commander's hatch, seemingly inches away from it. Alexei shouted up to Vik-

"It's the tank that ambushed us at the creek! They've followed us the whole time!"

Sasha was fiddling with the radio, evidently knocked out of frequency by the shell's first impact. Vik and Vladmira exchanged a nod, and the tank's tracks tore up the grass under them, and the A-20 leapt into motion, engine roaring like a primal beast. Vik was counting the seconds before the Polish tank reloaded. It should be firing any second now. Vladmira slammed on the brakes to delay the other's shot again, and ended up dazing most of the crew for a moment.

"Fire!"

The gun made a very different sound this time. The round still arced towards the tank, but it had sounded... louder than before. Vik looked out at it quickly, and tensed up. The barrel had banana peeled, and they were now practically defensless. She dropped her head back in the tank. The entire crew, sensing how rigid she had gone behind them braced for impact, and watched their shell arc towards the other tank, the machine gun chattering away as they waited for what seemed an eternity..

[West Suburbia]

-Snip-

Svetlana lined up the reticle with the A-20 and gritted her teeth as she calculated the distance. Her hand was clenched tightly around the gun elevation traverse crank, finger resting on the firing trigger, ready to fire. At this range, she knew from reading the handbook, the armor piercing shell would be able to go through the tank's frontal armor. It should have, by all accounts.

"Fire already!" Christina's voice screeched through her head, via the earphones. Flinching a little, and with her concentration gone, Svetlana took her eyes off the the periscope and gave Christina a glare.

"What are you looking at? If we don't move they will knock us out!" Christina said with a hurried voice, with an undertone of urgency. "You don't have all day to freaking aim!"

"They are charging at us," Lian said, but of course no one could hear her. She sat hunched over, her eyes squinting out of the tiny viewport to see the A-20 accelerating up towards the 7TP, tearing up grass behind it. Suddenly it stopped, and the enemy tank gun's muzzle flashed.

A metallic clanging burst through the tank, throwing Lian back against her seat. As her ears rang, she only knew one thing: they were shot. Up in the turret meanwhile, both Christina and Svetlana were still rattled by the shot, which had hit the turret ring under the armored casing on the coaxial machine gun port, obliterating the thin metal casing into shavings and the turret traverse gear. Going immediately back to her periscope, Christina bit her lip and cried, "Lian, get moving! Put this thing in reverse!"

Growing a little frustrated, Svetlana went back to her sight and noticed something significant as the tank was rocking backwards. The enemy tank gun had banana peeled, rendering it probably useless. Pulling the trigger, Svetlana watched her round smash into the enemy's tank driver port. As the round ejected from the breech, the metallic rattling resumed, but this time it sounded like a bunch of marbles being shaken in a tin can which was inside a washing machine.

Annoyed, Christina loaded in another shell. "One more shot!" she said. Svetlana nodded, took aim, and fired again.

[Ulvenes]

"Nagisa, is this the fastest this tank can go?" Asked Iona over the intercom, as she stuck her head out of the turret hatch, watching the Panzer III get closer on them. With a crackle from the radio, her driver replied with a very blunt and terse answer, with the vehicle slightly going faster.

"No." Was the answer, which left the commander somewhat confused as to why they didn't go full speed, Saki coming in for that.

"If we go any faster, the engine might explode this time and knock ourselves out in the process if we keep pushing...... I was the one that told that to Nagisa to keep it a certain max, but anyways if we don't do something, we're still going to get knocked out correct?" Explained Saki over the radio, Iona finally understanding as to why, but even if they were able to go full speed, the enemy tank is still faster than them.

"You made the right call Saki, we'll just have to think of something on the fly right?" Responded Iona, as she looked around the road for anything that maybe of use, then back at the the tank pursuing them. Suddenly, an idea sprung in her mind, but it might not even work. "Maiko, since there's plenty of trees, I want you to shoot them with AP rounds and cause them to fall on the path of our enemy. Are you up for it?"

"Yeah, if it leads us winning our duel with them, then of course I am. The question is if Fumiko is up for it." Answered Maiko, with Fumiko agreeing by picking up a shell, which caused the gunner to smile. With a nod, she swiveled the turret towards the enemy tank, an HE shell still in the chamber. Since they weren't doing any evasive maneuvers, the shot should be relatively easy for even her, pulling the trigger. After the first shot, she began to move the turret towards the trees, firing again at a thick one as soon as the gun was loaded once more. Her target was the closest tree behind them, the one with the thickest trunk. The solid shot went through the about half of the trunk of tree through and through, which caused the tree to begin to fall towards the road, as she assumed the tree was at least four and a half feet across.

Ulrica gasped as she saw the pillar that was a tree falling in what was to be their path. It was so big that the if it landed on the light Panzer, it would certainly crush it injuring if not killing most if not all of the crew. Knowing full well that their Panzer was going too fast and had gained too much momentum to stop, "Kaz! Full speed foward!" Ulrica yelled in to her mic. Instead of the response she had hoped for, her order was met with "But we will ram the-" before her jackboot met with Kaz's back, pushing her foward in to the levers giving the tank more throttle and jerking the small Panzer in to the rear of the T-28, saving them from the falling tree.

[North Arkana]

After watching the T-28 and Pz III disappear into woods from her vantage point, Kat makes her way back to the tank where the rest of the crew is waiting. When she climbs into the turret, she kicks Saya in that back, who's drifted off to sleep.

"Wake up, we have work to do. Misaka, take us back up to our previous location. We'll wait for a couple minutes at most, and then we'll go hunting."

"Hai~"

The Stuart makes its way back into the trees and bushes atop the hill. Kat once again scans the area around her, looking at the field and the forest for any signs of movement.

"Maya, you see that road near the edge of the field?"

'Yeah."

"There's something moving along it."

"Oh, yes,I can see something moving also. It's really small. I don't think I could hit it from here."

"Alright, then let's close the distance!" Kat says with a grin. "Misaka, full speed ahead! Get us across that field and onto that road, we're going to chase down whatever that little thing is!"

The Stuarts engines roar as Misaka crashes the tank through the bushes in front of the tank. Going downhill to cross the field, the M5A1 quickly hits and slightly surpasses its listed top speed of 58 km/h.

"Keep up this speed, we want to be in the open for as little time as possible!"

"Hai!"

Kat's team races across the field and towards the road, aiming to catch up with, and hopefully knock out whatever it is they're chasing.

[Stormhound]

"Right, turn right." Bran commanded, jabbing Volpini with her foot to signal her to turn the tankette. Multiple firing could be heard in the distance, the opposing teams were probably worn out and their tanks damaged, just the opportunity they needed to take. The commander was about to say something else when she caught a glimpse of an enemy tank in the distance. Bran immediately reached for her binoculars and focused in on the vehicle, a T-15, much closer than she thought.

Frantically, the commander dropped into her position and closed the hatch. "T-15 around a few hundred meters away from us. Approach them." the driver nodded and sent the Carro Veloce speeding forward, while Bran focused on the machine guns, aiming on the T-15 and preparing to fire.