Unrelenting Fury

-1-

Fog of War

A thin fog rolled across the muddy battlefield. The eerie silence was broken by the engine of a gray Panzer II light tank adorned with the insignia of the Kuromorimine Girls High School. Its tracks clicked and suspension squeaked as it made its way through water filled craters and over mounds of mud. It passed a knocked out M4 Sherman, its white flag waving in the light breeze. Further along, there was a burning Panther, then more Shermans... it was entire graveyard of tanks. Shortly after passing a Panzer IV H, it began to pass another M4 with its turret turned 90 degrees to the right. Just as the light tank passed in front of the muzzle, the sound of the M4's 75mm gun rang out and hit the Panzer II directly in the engine. It caught fire and rolled down a slope into a crater. The explosion caused by the Panzer II was fit for a heavy tank and concerned the Sherman's commander enough for her to hop out and go check on the enemy crew.

Inside the Sherman, the rest of the crew was doing assorted things. The loader, Maria, lay on the floor of the turret trying to fix some circuitry. She cursed under her breath when she was zapped by a spark. The gunner, Bailey, just rested her head against the wall with her eyes closed. The driver, Samantha,(or usually just 'Sam'), was doing her best to patch up the assistant driver, Amy. Earlier, Amy had banged her head against the wall of the tank when an overly aggressive Panther decided to ram them in the side. Now she was bleeding badly from a head wound and is barely able to keep consciousness. The commander clambered back into the tank.

"Are those Black Forest girls alright?" Maria asked without taking her eyes off her task at hand.

"Yeah, they're alright. Mighty big explosion for a light tank," the commander, Kay, said. Kay is the captain of the tankery team of Saunders Girls High School. As much as she likes to have fun in the sport, she maintains a level of competitiveness and sportsmanship. But the tournament she is in now, which is stated to be an experimental game, she will have to maintain a level head on the battlefield especially with the opponents she is up against; both of the Nishizumi sisters.

"Kay! Amy needs medical attention now!" Sam said urgently. Kay nodded and tried to raise the emergency team on the radio.

"Emergency team, this is Kay. Do you copy?"

*Static*

"Emergency team, this is Kay. Do you copy, over?" She pounded the console to try to get a signal. There was nothing except static. "Radio's dead. We're on our own for now."

After a few more curses from Maria, she stopped and tapped Sam on the shoulder.

"You're good to go," she said.

Sam toggled the ignition and the engine whined as it started to turn.

"Come on!" Sam said. Finally, the engine roared to life. The sound and vibrations shook Bailey to be partially awake.

"Bailey, gun forward. Sam, take us back to camp." The tank jerked forward and steadily made its way across the battlefield.

Hang in there Amy. We'll get you home. Kay silently added to herself.

One month prior to the tournament, all the schools' student council presidents that have a tankery club on their ship were called to a meeting and were told to bring their tankery captains with them. After a short briefing from the officials, many of the schools declined to take part in the match or just left without saying a word. Those schools kept tankery alive within their campuses but would rather use their funding on education. The only schools that had stayed were Anzio, Kuromorimine, Ooarai, Pravda, Saunders and St. Gloriana.

Anchovy and Darjeeling were genuinely curious to listen to what this new experiment was about, Kay is the tankery captain of a school where money wasn't a problem, Katyusha has too much pride to show her back to her opponents, Maho has a name to uphold, and Miho felt obliged to stay as she won the championship the previous season. Ooarai's student council president, Anzu, sat with her legs up on the table and a snack in hand as she listened to the details of the new tournament.

The tournament is a weeklong elimination based game. It ends when either all vehicles on one side are destroyed or when the seventh day comes to a close. It may sound simple enough but there was a rule that surprised all of them. If it was possible to retrieve and or fix a knocked out vehicle from or on the playing field, it can be used again at any time in the tournament. The chance of actually re-commissioning vehicles would be a doozy in practice however. Maho and Katyusha possess the heaviest tanks in the league and dragging something like an IS or a Maus back to base camp... they visibly shook their heads lightly and decided to bring their entire arsenal. Anchovy had really light tanks and Kay possessed quantity so replacing tanks for either of them won't be much of a problem. The only two that would have problems would be Miho and Darjeeling as they have a decent number of tanks, but enough to last a week?

Each side has a designated safe zone; a base camp. All combat is restricted to two miles away from the safe zone to prevent any dangers from stray rounds. The use of wiretapping, recon planes (one period correct plane per school i.e. a P-51 for Saunders, a Mosquito for St. Glorianna, etc), and scouts were all legal. Emergency teams would be on standby in case anything happens.

When all was said and done, Anchovy and Darjeeling decided to sit this one out but were told that they could join at any time. Only four schools would be participating; Saunders and Pravda on one side and Ooarai and Kuromorimine on the other.

Kay's Sherman slowly rolled into the camp. Girls closer to the entrance were weary and dirty as they have just come off the field while the rest in the back near the barracks were all refreshed and lively as a good rest did them well. The interior of the barracks was more like a nice hotel rather than actual military bunks and rooms.

Maria hopped out and ran to an official who immediately called the medics. After they came to a halt, four medics rushed over with a stretcher. Sam opened the assistant driver's hatch and helped Amy out and onto the stretcher.

"Sam, the tank's done. Take it over to the bone yard," Kay ordered. Sam nodded and went on her way. After the tank pulled immediately out from in front of her, Kay was facing Saunders' sniper.

"What took you so long?" Naomi asked.

"Traffic was a bitch," Kay joked. They got a small laugh out of it and briefly hugged each other. "So has Alisa gotten anything useful?"

"She might've if our equipment wasn't destroyed."

Kay sighed.

"Luckily I sent scouts out when I did." As if on cue, an M18 Hellcat tank destroyer entered the camp followed by four M22 Locusts of Saunders' "Flying Tigers" group. The Hellcat was made legal for use in tankery by modifying the turret to be a closed turret and to give enough space for the crew inside the turret. The Locusts were dark brown and had dark gold tiger stripes on the side and an anime style cat face on the front armor. That combined with its small size made it darn cute.

"Hey! Where are the rest of the Locusts?" Kay shouted to the Hellcat commander as she passed by.

"That's what I need to talk to you about."

"Alright. Meet me in the briefing room."

"Roger that," said the Hellcat commander.

Kay turned around but was surprised to see a girl she has never seen before in front of her. She was a little bit shorter than Kay and had short brown hair and dark green eyes. She fidgeted and was obviously nervous.

"Um, are you Kay?" she asked.

"Yes. You new here?"

The girl nodded.

"Let me ask you something. Have you ever killed a person before?" Kay asked darkly.

"What...?" The girl shrunk.

"Nah, I'm just kidding!" Kay said cheerfully and threw her arm around her neck. "Welcome to the tankery team! What's your name?"

"Nora."

"Well then Nora, do you have any experience with tanks?"

Nora shook her head.

"Then you can be a bow gunner. Easiest job in a tank. Now if you follow this lady here," Kay pointed at Naomi who was inserting a strip of gum into her mouth. "She'll teach you everything that you'll need to know about the machine gun. Got it? Great! Now if you'll excuse me, I got a briefing to attend to."

Kay left a confused Nora and a stoic Naomi as she ran towards the barracks.

"Is she always like this?" Nora asked the Firefly commander/gunner.

"Like what? Oh, like that? I guess so. I hardly notice it. Maybe because I'm used to it."

Kay was in a room with a map of the arena laid out in front of her. The Hellcat commander was marking the plastic laminate on top of the map as she spoke.

"Between this hedge and the tree line is where the Locusts are pinned down. I don't know how many are still operational or if any of them still are. Tank destroyers have them pinned down. They are here, here, and possibly one here. I don't know. We only saw the muzzle flashes. Low profile. They're probably Flatpanzers. Ooarai's Hetzer may be there as well."

"Flatpanzer" is what Saunders started to call the Jagdpanzer IV/70 as it was essentially a flat Panzer IV.

"Do we have any eyes down there?" Kay asked.

"We had a Chaffee here and here. Both got the hell out of there when they started taking fire."

"Is it okay if I use this road and use both hedges for concealment?"

"You're the team captain. Do what you have to do."

Outside, Kay told Sam to get the M4A3E8 (76)W or "Easy Eight" as the model was nicknamed and ordered Tess (the commander of the M4A2 who was the first to be taken out in the match with Ooarai last season) and Alisa to get their tanks as well. She was wondering who to call next when Naomi and Nora walked up.

"Hey, perfect! Naomi, get the Firefly. We're going to destroy some tank destroyers." Kay said.

"So you're taking out the 76 mil, huh?" Naomi asked, looking at Kay's Sherman. "I guess I have to work for my kills now."

"Oh, what's the matter? Can't handle some competition?" Maria asked mischievously from the top of the Easy Eight.

"Don't forget that I'm the best shot here," Naomi retorted.

Kay was about to climb in when she remembered the empty bow gunner's hatch.

"Hey, Nora. Why don't you come into my tank?"

"You...You serious?" Nora stammered.

"Sure. I'm in need of a bow gunner."

"Thank you, ma'am!" Nora said and bowed.

One by one, the tanks headed out of the gate in order of Kay's Easy Eight, Tess's M4A2, Alisa's M4A1 (76)W, and Naomi's Firefly. All four tanks carried supplies ranging from spare tracks and bogie wheels to sleeping bags and MREs. Each tank also has three logs held in place by rope on both sides of the tanks.

"This is Charlie 1-1, coms check," Kay said.

"Charlie 1-2, copies," Tess replied.

"Charlie 1-3, copies," answered Alisa.

"Charlie 1-4, copies," said Naomi.

"Brilliant. Now let's go rescue some kittens," Kay announced.

The four Shermans remained uncontested on the way to the beet fields where the Locusts were and along the way picked up three other Locusts who fell in line.

"That's wonderful. Thank you for the good news." Kay hung up the radio.

"What was that about?" Bailey asked.

"Amy suffered a concussion. She's in the hospital. She'll be fine."

The crew of the Easy Eight let out a collective sigh of relief.

"All tanks halt," Kay ordered. She looked at the tree line at the far end of the second field on the other side of the two hedges with her binoculars.

"Okay, all tanks hard right, hard right. Locusts, fall behind a medium."

The tanks turned off the road and onto the barren field. They advanced in a row with Locusts behind Kay, Naomi, and Tess.

"Keep your eye on that tree line," Tess told her gunner.

They crossed the first field without a problem and proceeded to run over the second hedge into the next field. Unknown to any of them, crosshairs were already trained on them. The sight they were greeted with was quiet chaos. Tank tracks swerved all over the field and ended at the burning wrecks of three Locusts while others just seemed to disappear into the ground.

"We got Locusts," Alisa said. Besides the knocked out light tanks, a fully functional Locust could be seen hiding in a small crater. After receiving orders from Kay, it backed out of the crater and fell in behind Alisa's tank as it passed. Tess was about to run over a Locust in a foxhole.

"Charlie 1-2, right stick, right stick! You have a Locust in front of you!" Kay shouted.

"Right stick, right stick, goddamn it!" Tess shouted at her driver.

"Watch where you're going!" Kay shouted and thrusted her finger at the tank next to her.

"They weren't paying attention," Maria mumbled.

Nora shuddered. Was this Kay the same person she met a couple hours ago? She's definitely not the joking and carefree girl she had met.

As they advanced another two Locusts popped up and fell in behind Naomi and Alisa. One more was backing up when a shell screamed past the M4A2 and destroyed the Locust.

"Crap! Did anyone see where that shot came from?!" Kay asked. Another shell ricocheted off the ground between Kay and Tess. Tess's bow gunner started opening up on the location in the tree line where the shell came from.

"Load AP, high explosive," Naomi ordered. Her loader slammed a shell into the breach.

"You're clear!"

Naomi pressed the button and sent the round into the tree line. A spectacular explosion followed soon after.

"Ah ha ha ha ha!" Naomi laughed at her victory.

"There is no time to celebrate," Kay said. A shell threw dirt up in the air in front of the M4A2.

"Got 'im," Bailey said. She fired and ripped apart the tree next to the Jagdpanzer. "Damn!"

Tess's gunner fired followed by Alisa's. Both rounds found their mark and the white flag was raised.

"Does anyone have eyes on a third gun?" Alisa asked. A shell screamed out of the trees and bounced off the rounded edge of the tank's front armor with an ear-piercing screech.

"Oh my god!" Alisa exclaimed.

"Jesus Christ!" one of her crew shouted as they all held their ears.

"That was just a ricochet. You're okay," Kay reassured.

"That sure as hell didn't feel like one," Alisa said, her voice still shaking.

"Everyone, open fire with your machine guns," Kay ordered.

"Everyone, fire your machine guns," Tess echoed.

Coaxial and bow guns roared to life as the tanks crept forward. Red tracers flew, bounce, and exploded as high-explosive incendiary bullets went to work on the trees. Kay's bow gun stayed silent.

"Hey, start shooting," Sam told Nora.

"But what do I shoot at?"

"Where everyone else is shooting."

"What is a machine gun going to do to a tank?"

"Nothing really. But it'll annoy the hell out of them."

"Okay," Nora said unsurely. She lifted the trigger of the M1919A4 and watched the bullets fly. All tanks stopped once they reached the edge of the trees.

"All Locusts, swarm them," Kay said. The light tanks broke cover from behind the mediums and took off into the trees. Just like the pests they were named after, they buzzed around the lone Jagdpanzer IV/70, taking little bites at the tank destroyer with their 37mm guns. The Kuromorimine girls tried to swat them with the 75mm but in doing so, showed their side to the Firefly. Naomi grinned and stepped on the trigger. Last known tank destroyer was eliminated. Kay told her team to keep their heads on a swivel for the Hetzer as she went up to the Jagdpanzer commanders to thank them for a good fight.

It was dark by the time officials took the final group of Kuromorimine girls back to their base and Kay decided to spend the night outside where they were. There were trenches that they could use as shelter and there were even some rooms, albeit a bit small and muddy. At least they can put the supplies on the tanks to good use. As the girls set up the rooms and dug new ones if needed, Kay had the tanks moved into the trees. She radioed the officials telling them they would be staying out of the base for the night and gave them the arena coordinates of where they were. The officials would mark the surrounding area off limits to avoid casualties but would not tell either team whose side the sleepers are on. This also makes it more difficult to pinpoint their exact location. Evidently, Kay's group was not the only ones staying out. She was given two more locations of sleepers. Of course, she didn't know who they were but none of her team reported that they were staying out so she assumed they were Kuromorimine's or Pravda's.

Nora was about to enter a room when Kay hailed her.

"Nice job out there today," Kay complimented.

"But I didn't do anything besides shoot a gun," Nora said modestly.

"You did more than that. You followed the orders and advice of your teammates well and helped make shelters. Also to have your first match to be like this one," Kay chuckled. "You must be the most hardcore newbie I've ever met."

Nora blushed and gave a small smile.

Kay patted her shoulder. "Get some sleep. We've got a long day tomorrow." Nora nodded and entered her room. Nora shared a room with Tess who was in her sleeping bag and reading a book. An electric lantern filled the room with a cold white light. Nora slipped into her own sleeping bag, shivering. Tess got a heat pack from the supply bag at the head of her sleeping bag, squeezed it, and handed it to Nora. Nora thanked her and put the pack on her chest.

"Hey, Tess. Is Kay usually like this?" Nora asked.

"Like what?"

"Joking and playful off the field and very serious on it," Nora clarified.

"No, she's usually very happy and enthusiastic all the time. She's very serious now because she doesn't have to face one, but two Nishizumis," Tess explained.

"Okay...?"

"You don't know the Nishizumis?" Tess asked. Nora shook her head. "Maho Nishizumi; Captain of Black Forest's tankery team and daughter of the best tankery instructor. Very calm, cold, and calculating. She is very good at what she does and never loses except on two occasions and for the same reason: her younger sister Miho.
Miho is much different than her sister. She is very nice to others and cares for their well being. That's what made Maho lose for the first time. Miho jumped into a river to save a drowning tank, leaving the flag tank uncommanded and unprotected. Miho uses very unorthodox tactics and is very unpredictable as she always has something up her sleeve. That was Maho's second loss when she dueled her sister last season.
Combine Maho's prowess and Miho's dicey tactics, you got yourself one very powerful opponent."

Nora nodded, understanding her captain and opponents. Her stomach growled loud enough for Tess to hear. Tess failed to suppress her giggle.

"Hungry? Hang on. I should have an MRE somewhere in here," Tess said as she rummaged through her bag.

Kay crawled into a burrow she shared with Alisa and Naomi. There was just enough room for her to sit upright and her sleeping bag was across from Alisa. Naomi was the farthest from the entrance. A heat lamp sat in the middle giving off a fiery orange light. Alisa held her right hand above it. It was shaking slightly.

"How does she do that?" Alisa asked. Kay tipped her head questioningly. Alisa motioned her head toward Naomi who was fast asleep. "She's lights out once her head touches the pillow."

"Well, this isn't actual war so she has nothing to be guilty about," Kay answered. Alisa didn't respond. "Are you still shaken up about that bounce?"

Alisa nodded but didn't say anything.

"Don't worry. This wasn't your first ricochet and it defi-"

"It wasn't just a ricochet!" Alisa exclaimed, raising her voice. Naomi frowned and shut her closed eyes before turning her back on the two girls.

"There was definitely something wrong about that shell," Alisa continued in a quieter voice. "Something about... it just doesn't feel right.

Meanwhile, somewhere else on the arena, flames flickered aggressively as the fuel of an isolated Saunders M4A2 began to burn. Three girls lay a dozen or so feet from the tank. Two of them were bleeding from serious wounds and the other had burns on her back. There were two more girls right next to the tank. It was the commander was dragging a wounded crewmember away from the wreck. The commander herself was suffering from shrapnel wounds and burns and she collapsed halfway to the rest of her crew. Her breaths were raspy and quick as smoke clawed at her throat. A dark figure stood on the edge of the fire's light. It looked at the girls then at the hole in the side of the tank before turning around to walk towards an awaiting Panther.

A/N: Well there's the first chapter. Please comment and criticize (constructive preferably). Anyways guys and gals, take care and I hope to catch you in the next chapter.

PS: Yes, Tess is supposed to be the girl who shouted "Jesus!" before being taken out by Erwin during the Saunders-Ooarai match.