A cacophony of noise woke her up, talking, crying, the clack of heels, low murmuring voices. As she slowly came to, intense pain flared up in her back, causing her to cry out.

A familiar voice spoke up, "Easy Erwin-san, easy. Don't stress yourself." The voice was quiet, and had a subtle comforting tone.

She opened her eyes, before closing the tightly at the bright light.

"Easy, take your time. Let yourself wake up first, let yourself adjust."

Following the familiar stranger's advice she took a deep breath, flinching at the pain in her chest, releasing the breath, she opened her eyes, blinking at the light.

A face came into focus above her, the short red hair and comforting brown eyes giving away her identity, "Miho-san?" she croaked, her throat raw.

The face smiled, "It's good to see you awake, you gave us all a scare."

"What happened?" asked Erwin, voice still cracking.

Miho's comforting face faltered slightly, "How much do you remember?"

Erwin thought back, "We were following Morshead, I was certain he was running into a trap. I was right, he was ambushed," suddenly she looked panicked, "It was a Tiger Miho, a Tiger."

Miho raised her hands comfortingly, laying them gently on Erwin's shoulders to prevent her from sitting up, "I know Erwin-san, I know. Carry on, what do you remember?"

"I remember watching the ambush, I remember watching a Morshead died," she looked close to tears, "I remember watching a people were gunned down. I didn't do anything, I just watched."

"You did do something Erwin," Miho said comfortingly, "Do you remember?"

Erwin's face grew thoughtful, "Yes, vaguely, we moved towards the Tiger, I told Oryou to draw it's attention away from the infantry, and the Victoria's were to knock it out. We moved towards it, moving quickly and evasively, then there was a loud bang and we stopped, I remember fire, and smoke."

Erwin grew panicked, "What happened Miho-san, Caesar, Saemonza, Oryou, what happened to them, where are they, what happened to me?"

Miho tried desperately to calm Erwin down, but she was growing increasingly agitated.

"Are they dead Miho? Are my friends dead?"

Before Miho could answer the doors opened with a bang, Erwin could only sigh in relief as her three friends walked in, all unharmed. Seeing her friends she burst into tears, reaching out for them.

Leaving her to her friends, Miho left the room.

Erwin didn't notice, desperately grasping at her friends, tears streaming down her face. Patiently, each of her friends allowed her to grab them, knowing that she was checking they were real. Seeing the distress their friend was in, each girl started to cry as well. Soon it had devolved into a massive group hug, with each girl crying in relief, they had seen combat, and lived.

When the tears had faded away, Erwin gathered the courage to speak, "What happened?" she asked quietly.

The three girls exchanged looks, "Well..." began Caesar

Flashback

The tank was full of smoke, farthest from the point of contact, Oryou was the most stable. Turning around, she took in her friends, Caesar was OK, having been bending down to pick up a shell. She had hit her head but nothing major. Saemonza was OK too, having been leaning forward, looking out of the gun sight. When she saw Erwin however, she had screamed, "Erwin!"

Her scream had drawn the attention of her friends, and they two screamed upon seeing Erwin. She was splayed over the gun breech, blood dripping from her head. What raised the most concern were the slowing growing dark patches on the back of her uniform. The girls scrambled towards their friend, it was difficult in the cramped space of the tank, but they were determined.

They could see Erwin begin to stir.

Saemonza was nearest, "Erwin-san, can you hear me, stay with us Erwin-san."

Caesar reached her next, "Please Erwin-san, stay with us, don't go to sleep."

They could see Erwin begin to close her eyes.

"No Erwin-san," said Caesar, "Don't sleep, please don't go to sleep."

"ERWINNN," screamed Oryou.

But it was no use, they could only watch in horror as Erwin's eyes closed and she went to sleep.

"We need to get her to a hospital, or get a medic," said Oryou panicking.

"How, we're in the middle of a battlefield and there's a Tiger tank aiming straight at us, and oh yes, the tank is on fire." cried Caesar, breaking down at seeing one of her oldest friends in such a condition.

"The worst thing is, we're a sitting duck, they could take us out at any time." said Saemonza.

Any further conversation was interrupted by a loud explosion, causing all the girls to flinch, assuming that the Tiger had fired again.

When nothing happened, the girls looked up, light flooded into the tank, and smoke flooded out, as the commanders hatch was opened.

"G-day, who's in there?" came a heavily accented Australian voice.

"Help us please, get a medic," croaked Oryou, voice hoarse from the smoke.

The smoke cleared, allowing the man to see into the tank, "Oh gawd strewth," he said, as her saw the crew, "Medic," he cried, turning away from the tank, "Medic."

He climbed down into the tank, "Which of you girls needs help the most?" he asked calmly

"Our commander, Riko," said Oryou, using Erwin's real name, "She's bleeding heavily, it looks bad."

"I'll do what I can, but you girls should get out, the tank looks like it's going to blow soon."

Another body appeared at the top of the hatch, "Captain, who needs help?"

"The commander, she's bleeding heavily."

"Lift her up, as much as I don't want to move her, the tank is going to blow, so it's safer to move her."

The captain gently picked Erwin's unconscious form up, but despite his gentleness she still cried out, even being unconscious. He lifted her up out of the tank, and into the hands of the medic.

With their commander out, the rest of Hippo team, quickly clambered from the nearest hatch, all falling into the sand. The heat was sweltering but they thought nothing of it, their focus was on Erwin who had been moved into the shade by one of the remaining trucks. As they went to go towards her, a burning wreck caught their eye.

The burning wreck of the ambushing Tiger was 50 metres away from their Stug, which was being hosed down with one of the fire extinguishers from a Matilda. It's main turret hatch was open and smoke was billowing out. There was a large hole in the centre of the frontal armour, it was obvious that a shell had punched straight through the tank, the driver was obviously dead, given the red tint around the hole, but the remaining crew, which seemed to be the gunner, loader and commander, were being held off to the side. The girls could see a look of shock and horror on the blood smeared faces of the Tiger crew.

Hippo team glared at the crew, angry at them for hurting their friend, before they ignored them and focused on Erwin.

"How's she doing doc?" asked the Captain.

"She's extremely lucky from what I can tell. Something seems to have stopped the shell from splintering into too many parts, normally a penetrating shot like that would have scattered shrapnel all across the tank, but it seems that something made sure the shell didn't split into too many parts. And thankfully, none of those pieces of shrapnel hit anything vital. She'll live, but I would like to get her to a hospital as soon as possible to make that a certainty.

End of Flashback

"What happened then?" asked Erwin

"Thankfully, at that exact moment, reinforcements arrived. It seemed that upon finding out where you had gone from Major Howard, Miho-san was determined to come to your assistance. She had met the two Victoria's just as the Tiger fired the second time and hit us, the shot which almost killed you," said Caesar

Erwin winced at the reminder of how close she had been to death.

Oryou continued the story, "The shot which destroyed the Tiger had come from Leopon team, who had come along with Miho-san. It's lucky, they saved our lives, the Tiger was positioned fire again After destroying the Tiger, Miho-san had sent a jeep down to us as soon as she had seen you being lifted from the tank. When she finally reached us she was panicking, and I mean really panicking, it was like seeing Miho-san as she was when she first arrived at our school. She was so panicky that it was almost impossible to calm her down, what happened to calm her down was quite funny."

Erwin was puzzled, "What did happen?"

"Let's just say that we owe you five shillings each." pouted Caesar

She took a minute to think, why would they owe her five shillings, then comprehension dawned, "You mean ..."

"Yep, right on the lips, and right in the middle of everyone. Miho-san's face was hilarious. It was even funnier when Yukari blushed bright red and ran off to hide in the Panzer IV."

Erwin chuckled, "She finally did it. It's about time."

"It got funnier when Hana-san smiled smugly and held her hand out to Saori-san and Mako-san."

#

After leaving Erwin with her friends, Miho had headed for her quarters, intending to rest peacefully for the first time in a week. But that went out of the window when she saw Yukari waiting outside her room, Yukari was quite obviously nervous, with her hands fidgeting and her practically hopping from one foot to another. Miho knew she had been avoiding Yukari, the kiss had thrown her off her game, it wasn't that she didn't like Yukari, it's just that she never thought about feelings like that, even after arriving at Ooari. With her childhood defined by pleasing her mother, and her first year at Ooari focused on the Senshado league, and then the match against the University team, and then the Chinese problem, and then being in WW2, she had never thought about things like that before. But she didn't want to ruin her friendship with Yukari, a friendship she valued as much as, if not more than, her friendship with Hana and Saori. To that end, she had avoided Yukari, and had gotten away with it since Erwin was in hospital.

But it seemed that Yukari's patientce had run out.

"N-Nishizumi-dono?" stuttered Yukari, her nerves getting the better of her.

Miho took a deep breath, "We need to talk Yukari-san, come in." She opened her door and walked in, Yukari close behind.

As the door closed, Miho sat on her bed, Yukari stood near the door, glancing around the room. It was bare, as to be expected, but there were a few signs of personality, mainly the Boko bear on the bed.

Yukari took frequent glances around the room, avoiding Miho's eyes.

"Sit down Yukari-san, please."

Yukari sat on the bed, as far away from Miho as possible, "I'm sorry Nishizumi-dono, I shouldn't have done it, please don't be too mad at me."

"I'm not mad Yukari-san, truly."

"But you avoided me, for a week, I know Erwin-san has been in hospital, but you spoke to Saori-san and Hana-san."

Miho flinched, "I know Yukari-san, I know. But I don't know how to deal with things like this. I've spent my entire life focused on one thing, nothing else ever came to mind. My entire life has revolved around Senshado, so to have you suddenly kiss me threw me off. I needed time to think, to contemplate."

Yukari remained silent, understanding Miho's point, having met her mother after the university match. Even after beating one of the best Senshado teams in Japan, Nishizumi-dono seemed unable to show empathy, and had immediately criticised many of Miho's actions. Miho had remained silent throughout, but Yukari had seen the tears in her eyes. She had even seen Maho Nishizumi lose composure for a second as she looked angrily at her mother.

"Feelings have always come second to me, it's what caused problems remember, in the final."

Yukari interrupted Miho, taking the initiative, "I know that Nishizumi-dono, and that's part of the reason I like you, it's why I gave you time and space, but please, give it a chance."

"But I don't know how I feel Yukari-san, I like you but I don't know if I can like someone like that."

Yukari interrupted Miho again, this time with another kiss, this one longer than the one in the desert, moving away Yukari spoke, "How did that feel Miho?"

Miho's mind had gone blank for a second, so her answer was delayed, but when it did come, Yukari almost jumped for joy, "Good, it felt good, it felt right," She smiled, "It felt right, more right than anything else in my life."

Yukari cried out in jubilation, making Miho smile happily, seeing Yukari so happy made her feel happy, it also felt right, just like the kiss.

"And Yukari-san, no more Nishizumi-dono, it's Miho, just Miho."

"Of course Nishizum... I mean Miho-san."

The smiles on each of their faces was blinding.

#

The atmosphere in the command room was tense, the last week had been harrowing for the girls, with one of their number in hospital with serious but thankfully non-fatal wounds, none of them had been able to truly relax. Each girl tried, doing something that usually made them feel relaxed, whether it be working on the tanks, sleepy, eating, sunbathing on the beach or planning the military campaign.

With Erwin finally awake, much of the tension had drained away, but each of the girls knew that the delay would have allowed Rommel to dig in and call up more reserves, the appearance of a Tiger tanks also worried them.

Standing at the head of the table was Major-General Somerset who, since the unfortunate demise of Lieutenant-General Morshead, had taken command of the Tobruk defence forces, he had designated Maho Nishizumi as his second in command for the moment.

Stood around the table were the rest of the Senshado girls who had come with him to North Africa, barring the members of Hippo team who were still with Erwin in the hospital.

"From what our scout planes have seen, the Germans retreated another 20 miles when they realised that we weren't chasing them. They've spent the past week digging in, a defensive line has been formed, and from what we can see in the pictures, Rommel seems to have access to another 14 Tiger tanks. I'm sure the presence of a Tiger tank in this time and place surprises all of us, but we knew that just by our being here things would change," briefed Maho

"Yes, but not like this. The Tiger tank was a monstrosity that took a while to develop. To encounter one this early means that things are happening earlier," said Yukari, her inner tank geek fighting with her logical side. The tank geek loved the idea of Tigers being developed earlier, the logical side of her knew that if the Tiger was developed earlier then the German tanks that were only theoretical or prototypes when Germany fell may well become a reality.

Miho nodded, "Yukari-san is right Onee-chan, think about what would happen if the Maus project was completed earlier, and was actually deployed in battle. And the speeding up of the tank project, plus how utterly outclassed the Luftwaffe was during the Battle of Britain, may well lead Hitler to speed up the development of other projects, such as the jet engine or the rockets. We need to defeat Rommel as quickly as possible, and then find a way of beating Hitler in mainland Europe."

"Now I may not be a history or tank fanatic like many of us, but isn't the biggest problem at the moment the upcoming Operation Barbarossa?"

The person who spoke was a surprise to all the girls, none of them expected Kay to be the one to bring up something like that.

"Don't look at me like that, even I know that Operation Barbarossa was Hitler's biggest mistake, but it may not be if things are proceeding at this speed."

"Umm, forgive me for intruding, but what is Operation Barbarossa?" asked Major-General Somerset.

Remembering that he was the only one present who was ignorant about the future, Kay educated him, "Operation Barbarossa is, if the timeline proceeds as it should, Hitler's plan to invade and defeat the Soviet Union. In the time we come from this proved to be a big mistake, but with the changes that seem to have occurred, then it may proceed entirely differently."

"Kay is right," said a voice from the door, the girls looked around as Erwin walked in, supported by Caesar and Saemonza, with Oryou walking behind to endure they didn't fall, "A German advance with Tiger tanks would proceed much more efficiently than it did in our history. One of the biggest problems the Germans faced was the more powerful Soviet tanks, the Tiger was deployed to defeat these tanks. If the Tiger is used from the beginning, we may well see a faster Soviet collapse, Moscow might even fall. If the Germans advance faster then the attack won't be delayed by poor weather, or at least not until it's too late."

"Miss Matsumoto, are you well enough to be here?" asked Somerset.

"Whether I am or not doesn't matter, Rommel needs to be beaten, and the Germans need to be sent from North Africa, I know this would allow Hitler to focus on attacking eastwards, but we need to be ready to help the Soviets when the time comes, and we can't do that if we're stuck in North Africa."

"What do you recommend then Miss Matsumoto? You know Rommel, how do we beat him quickly?"

Erwin smiled widely.

#

They trundled across the desert, "Zepplin, this is Lion 1, come in Zepplin,"

"Lion 1 this is Zepplin, go ahead,"

"Zepplin, we are 2 miles from the defensive line, ready strikes 1 & 2."

"Roger Lion, Strikes 1 & 2 ready, good luck,"

Erika Itsumi put the radio down, she had doubts about this plan, it seemed insane, to send an entire Brigade straight into the German lines and hope they broke through. It seemed apt given the name of most of the tanks under her command. She knew why they were being used, but that didn't mean she liked it.

Looking from her cupola, Erika looked at the ranks of Kitchener tanks that were trundling along with her. Her orders were to smash into the German line, using her tanks' nigh invulnerability to protect the following troops from German fire. They were being used given that they were designed specifically to bounce shots from German 88mm. The bottom of the Kitchener tanks was also heavily reinforced to protect against land mines. In her Brigade, the tank with the weakest armour happened to be her King Tiger, which still had a good 150mm of armour at a 40 degree angle. Theoretically, none of her tanks could be destroyed by any gun the Germans had at the moment, not even the 88mm.

Her reservations about the attack were dampened by that fact, combined with the presence of the currently experimental Gloriana class tank destroyer, which was currently situated on the crest of a hill, five miles from the German line, about three miles behind her. It's was situated there to provide fire support when necessary; whilst artillery could do the job just as well, the Gloriana had orders to focus on the Tiger tanks they knew would be there, and that the artillery would struggle to destroy.

"Lion 1 this is Hippo," crackled the radio, with the voice of Erwin who, despite only waking up two days ago, was determined to be with the attack every step of the way.

"Hippo, this is Lion 1, go ahead." replied Erika

"Lion 1, Rommel will make sure that his troops hold their fire as long as possible, these tanks are some he has never seen before, so he'll be wary. He'll want his troops to make their fire as effective as possible, and in tank warfare that usually means waiting until the enemy is close."

"Don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes, you might say," came the boisterous voice of Kay who seemed to have regained much of her enthusiasm recently.

"Exaclty," said Erwin, "Just like Bunker Hill, Rommel will want us to get close. But we have the advantage here. I estimate he'll fire when you are around 500 metres out, which if I read this correctly, should be quite soon. Good Luck Itsumi-dono."

Erika smiled, as emotionless and antagonistic as she seemed, she was glad to have people that cared about her. The past year had taught her a lot about the value of friends, and they were in no place to have internal problems.

"Lion Brigade, this is Lion 1, be prepared for enemy fire,"

"Roger that Lion 1, let's show Hitler's goons how to fight a war. We British invented the tank, and we'll stay top of the game."

Erika chuckled, the past year had taught her a lot about British culture and the British people. Many of them seemed more like Rosehip of St Gloriana than Darjeeling and the 'Elite'.

"Itsumi-dono, we've just passed 500 metres," said her gunner.

"Understood, brace yourselves."

Almost immediately, just as Erwin predicted, the German line unleashed a hail of fire.