1

"Don't sit out in the open! Keep moving!"

From the vantage point of her T-34's turret, Katyusha was masterfully directing yet another exercise of her Sensha-Dou team, with the other crews listening to her via radio and under the watchful eye of Nonna, her faithful shadow, as usual standing by and ready to jump in at command.

But this time, Katyusha didn't have to rely on her loyal second-in-command. As a herd of deer beleaguered by wolves, the opposing tanks commanded by a second-year student kept moving inside the small village in the middle of the training field, unknowingly getting into a trap with no way out.

At the right moment, just as the enemy was hoping to have reached a defensible position at the top of a small hill, Katyusha sprang her trap, ordering an encirclement that in mere seconds trapped the opposing team in a vice grip.

The other girls attempted a half-hearted reaction, but in the end they surrendered almost immediately, to avoid at least the humiliation of being shot down as turkeys.

"The battle is over."

"Well done, commander." commented Nonna.

"But it was foregone." was Katyusha's cold reply. "The truth is that, no matter how hard I try, I can't step out of line. My tactics are always the same."

Nonna almost couldn't believe her ears.

For the first time since taking command of the team, Katyusha was beginning to doubt herself and her resources.

The Winter Cup was just a few weeks' off, and as much as she tried, Pravda's command couldn't switch to a tactic different from the one she was accostumed to. It wasn't a deliberate choice; simply put, unconsciously she always reverted to the safe choice that would always bring victory, unable to force herself to consider other solutions.

And the thing was troubling her: everyone was counting on her, and this sense of impotence, barely hidden between successes that, safe for a few cases, routinely came to her team, was eating away at her.

A T-34/85 came to a stop near Katyusha's tank, and Clara's elegant figure popped out of the turret; this time, however, the young Russian girl immediately realized that her commander was in no mood for any jokes on her inability to speak Russian.

"Commander, do you wish to have another training match?"

"No, for today it's enough." answered Katyusha, glumly. "Today I don't feel like doint more. Let's get back."

"As you wish." said Nonna politely.

The tank column, of course without those that had to wait for the salvage vehicles, after being taken out, took the way home, moving through the barren plains of northern Hokkaido, coated in snow but still graced by a pleasant winter sun.

Katyusha's tank was in the lead, followed closely by Nonna's IS-2 and Clara's 85, with the second-class tanks of the kohai coming up to the rear.

It took more than an hour to sight Pravda's school carrier, safely moored inside a bay surrounded by tall cliffs that suddenly dropped straight to the sea.

Perhaps it was inexperience, perhaps it was fatality.

Before anyone could notice, the second to last tank in the column, crewed by second-year students, had the right track seize up and began to swerve. The pilot, perhaps out of fear, suddenly steered but caused the tank to spin, sending it reeling backwards almost to the edge of the cliff.

"Look out!" exclaimed Clara.

The preceding tank was quick enough to launch a towing cable, but before anyone else could do the same the seized tank disappeared behind the cliff, forcing all the other vehicles to anchor the supporting one, before it followed suit.

"Damn it, quick! Get it up!"

"We're trying, commander, but the ice does not give us enough grip!"

"I've warned the support teams, they're going to be here in a few minutes!"

At that point Katyusha jumped down her tank, going to the edge of the cliff and taking stock of the situation. The situation was degenerating quickly, with the tank precariously dangling vertically and swinging around, and the height ensured that the crew was a goner for sure, if the cable gave out.

"If you don't have a death wish, get the hell out of there!"

"We can't." said a voice inside the tank. "The hatch won't open!"

"Damn it all!"

"Commander, help will be here in three minutes!" said Nonna.

"No time for that!" And with that, Katyusha proceeded to fast-rope down the cable.

"Commander, no!"

In a few seconds, Katyusha reached the tank, climbing on the turret and going for the hatch; unable to use her full (if meager) strength to open it because of her position, she tried to force it open just with her arms.

"C'mon, open, open, you blasted thing!"

Unfortunately, her efforts proved futile, and she stopped lest she break a wrist or something.

"Listen!" she yelled at the tank commander. "We have to use force at the same time! On three, push with everything you have!"

"Alright, commander!" the girl answered from inside, scared but still in control.

"One! Two! Three!"

Katyusha almost dislodged a shoulder by using up everything she had left, but luckily this attempt worked, and the hatch popped open.

"Quick! Climb on the cable! Move it!"

The four girls took less than thirty second to get out of the tank and grab a hold of the cable; Katyusha waited till the last one was safe, before going for the cable herself and holding tight, just before the overstressed hook gave out. The T-34 plunged down into the sea, getting crushed onto the rocks before exploding with a deafening noise that raised flames and smoke, other than a tall water column.

"Commander!" screamed Nonna from above. "Are you all right?"

"What do you think? Get moving and pull!"

Unfortunately, Katyusha had never learned to climb a rope, so unlike the four girls she had just saved she had to wait for the cable to be reeled in.

But the cable had gone through too much in the last few minutes, and the other girls were too busy calming down their still traumatized friends or holding their breath, to notice that the steel fibers were giving out.

"Look out!" screamed Clara. "The cable is snapping!"

Katyusha, who had almost reached Nonna's hand stretched towards her, felt at first a violent lurch; then, before she or the others could even realize what was happening, the seemingly solid hold gave in.

"Commander!"

Said commander saw Nonna, whose face was projecting terror and disbelief, getting smaller and smaller and disappear through the air first, and then, after a devastating hit in her back that almost broke her in two, beyond the water's surface.

"Commander! Katyusha!" were the last words she heard before everything went black.