Things have been spiraling downwards for some time, but I suspect they're about to come to a head. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if the bandits outburst this chapter somehow wound its way to Kay, who responds with some variation of "get out of my team, then". Possily, Tally will fall somewhat lower in between, but might then rise with the help of her new crew.
"I've got something!" Arisa announced over the radio not long after Tex rejoined the rest of the team. The column was headed east, trying to give chase to the group that had just ambushed me. But Ooarai had enough of a lead that they could realistically be anywhere. "Head to Plateau 128!"
"What's going on? Where's 128?" Kay asked, confused.
Arisa was quiet for a moment. "Harlem Heights. All enemy tanks will assemble there."
"Are you sure about that? How do you know?"
"My information is accurate," Arisa replied confidently.
I frowned, but didn't add anything to the conversation. Not yet. Tuco was watching me like a hawk, and she'd jump on me if I said anything that could be mistaken as telling Kay something was wrong inside the tank. I didn't trust Arisa's intel after she sent Haruna and I straight into an ambush.
Unfortunately for me, Kay did seem to still trust Arisa's confidence and judgment. "Okay! All tanks, go ahead!" she called out, before giving out course corrections. We all fell into line, and the eight tanks of Saunders' mobile division set out on a southwesterly course for the plateau at Harlem Heights.
I pored over my map as we drove, doing my best to ignore everyone else inside the tank. The one-two punch of the ambush and getting mutinied had knocked me firmly off balance, and I needed to find something to get back on my feet.
If I could, I'd pull out the cell phone in my pocket and call Rach, but that was strictly against the rules of sensha-do. No contact to anybody on the outside, and no using your modern electronics to get an advantage over the other team. I couldn't even call Kay over the radio and talk to her either. As much as the platoon line was now private, with Haruna knocked out, I couldn't say a darned thing with the Bandits listening in.
There was something wrong with the tactical situation and I needed to figure out what. Arisa was entirely too confident for someone who had driven two tanks into an ambush without a single word of where that information was coming from. And there was something off about how Arisa was relaying that intel, too…
My map revealed a surprising amount. We'd given the field a once-over yesterday, and the area we'd codenamed Harlem Heights was in the southwestern corner of the field. Beyond the plateau itself, there was very little strategic value, and it wasn't particularly close to anything important, either. On the one hand, that made it a very good place to disengage and regroup, so that you could completely break contact and then choose where you wanted to reengage. On the other, there was nothing there, and there were plenty of places where a team could regroup without hostile contact. The terrain around there was so open, too, that there weren't any particularly good places to drop an ambush, either.
How had Arisa figured anyone would want to come here? Ooarai didn't have any snipers beyond that StuG, and there was nowhere to fade to as part of a hit and fade attack.
I picked up the radio mouthpiece. Tuco pivoted to directly watch me, and she patted the pocket that she'd shoved my cell phone into. It wasn't a subtle reminder of the blackmail hanging over my head. I grimaced and nodded at her, even as I tried to figure out a way to get around her.
"Kay? You there?"
"I'm here. What's up, Charlie?"
"I was looking at my map, and I think Arisa is full of crap. We're not gonna find Ooarai here."
Kay was quiet for a moment. "Tally? Why do you think that? Actually, hold one."
"Copy…" I paused, and poked my head just out of the hatch to see if I could figure out what was wrong. The trees were thinning out, and the column was starting to emerge out onto the open ground of Harlem Heights. I'd spent so long wrapped up in my thoughts and planning that my warning came late enough to basically be useless!
The tanks came to a halt in a loose semi-circle formation, and all of the TCs were turned out of their hatches, scanning the area with binoculars or the Mark-1 eyeball.
"You were saying, Charlie?" Kay asked.
"Ah…" I hesitated. Despite that, she'd caught on to my dispensing of codenames. Good. She might be able to help yet. "Well, we're here, and Ooarai isn't. I think that's perfectly clear at this point. There's nothing here that's even remotely useful strategically beyond the plateau itself."
I glanced over at Spunky, and saw Kay nodding along with my explanation. My analysis must have made at least a little sense to her. Arisa should never have led us this far astray, and she should have known the plateau was useless.
"There's nobody here!" Kay shouted to the world. Her voice echoed around the plateau for a moment before the shout faded into nothingness.
"That can't be!" Arisa insisted. "My information should have been good!"
"Well, it clearly wasn't," Naomi remarked from her position as rearguard. Arisa didn't even bother replying to the sniper's snark.
I could feel eyes on me. A shiver went down my spine, and I started frantically looking around for those eyes. Tuco and Angel were both watching me from below, but… Kay was looking at me too. So was Naomi.
"Wh-what's the plan, Kay?" I asked nervously. Even with all the distance between us, I could see the frown on her face as clear as day.
"We backtrack. Charlie, I want you to find me a good position to start our sweep. How, you're still on rearguard. If anything happens, I want to know."
"Yes, ma'am!" Naomi and I replied in unison.
I dropped down into Tex's turret, and relayed the order from Kay to get us moving. Tuco nodded and gave the order, while I just turned my focus towards my map. It was a large field, even larger than the practice field at Camp Intrepid or the one we'd played on at Maginot. Large enough that I had too many options to just pick one.
It needed to be something central enough that we could react to any sort of situation, but at the same time, we needed to be able to get there quickly so that we could start our push in whatever direction Kay or I chose. Probably Kay.
Where should we go?
Time was of the essence. What was it Kay had told me? 'A good plan violently executed now is better than a perfect plan executed next week.'
"Alright, Tally," I murmured to myself. "Pick a point and send it." That alone was enough to make up my mind, and I picked up the radio mouthpiece again. "Kay, this is Tally. We're going to want to start our search at point Yorktown. It's central, fairly open, and reasonably flat."
"Sounds good to me. How?"
"Agreed. Let's start there," Naomi replied.
"Y'know, I can see how that callsign would get confusing really quickly. We should probably use a different system next time," I commented.
"At least I'm using callsigns," Naomi shot back.
"I am aware, yes."
"Is something wrong, Tally?" Kay asked, concern quite clear in her voice. I didn't say anything. I couldn't say anything. The Bandits had me under their thumb, and as much as I wanted to just say something, I couldn't. I did, however, click the mic once. "Shit. Okay, keep your head down. I'll help as soon as I can. I gotta command the team first."
Kay started passing out orders to the rest of the team, and I dutifully relayed them to Tuco. At least she seemed willing enough to listen to Kay's orders…
++++++++++
Kay was worried about her team. Tally was in trouble, and couldn't talk about it. Arisa was hiding information that she needed. And most importantly, even with Tally's help, she was helpless to do anything but lead her team on a wild goose chase around the entire field!
"Dammit. Arisa, come in!" Kay repeated for what felt like the twentieth time. She'd been completely silent since the team had arrived at Harlem Heights. What was she up to?
"All Ooarai tanks are coming for us!" Arisa cried over the radio, quite panicked.
"You were fine a few minutes ago. What happened?"
"Well…" Arisa drew the word out. As sure a sign as any that this mess was ultimately her fault. "They probably figured out that I was tapping their radio and used that against us…"
"You fool!" Kay shouted at her. She wasn't the type to get angry easily, but Arisa's cheating had nearly cost them the match!
"I'm so sorry!"
"I always tell you that battles must be fought fairly! That's why Hannah is there to keep your schemes in check!" Kay paused to get a hold on the situation. "Just get out of there! Go south if you can! Hurry up!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Arisa replied, before the background noise of her battle went silent. She had cut her mic to focus on her immediate situation. Good.
Of course, Arisa had put the team in a tough spot. If Kay knew her teammate, she'd have checked the rulebooks and ensured that she wasn't cheating, and that they couldn't be disqualified for this, but at the same time, Arisa hadn't told her where any of that intelligence had been coming from. She'd lied about it, as directly as one can during a sensha-do match.
"It wouldn't be fair to strike back with all of our tanks after the radio tapping," Kay mused into her radio. "Let's match their numbers! There are five enemy tanks, so only three tanks will follow me."
But who to bring? Naomi and Neru were a given, as they were the reliable platoon leaders. But who else? Tally had been reliable so far in the match, and had gone on three different special assignments so far. But on the other hand, she was in trouble in her tank. The Bandits had done something to her, and she couldn't talk about it.
She could let Tally rest. If this was the end of her involvement in the match, it might be for the best.
"I want Easy, Golf, and How with me. Everyone else, hold positions here. Naomi, I want you on the gun by the time we make contact."
"Yes, ma'am," the sniper replied. Neru and Nita echoed her moments later, and they were followed by mixed grumbles from the other three TCs who hadn't been selected. Tally was oddly silent.
Kay watched the four tanks who remained behind with some trepidation. There wasn't an authority figure there to keep an eye on Tally in case something happened. She only lingered on that thought for a moment before the four moving tanks rumbled around the corner and broke line of sight.
"Arisa, keep me apprised of your situation and location!" Kay ordered. "We're on our way!"
It was going to be a chase, a rush to even get close enough to potentially save Arisa's hide. Kay gave the order, and watched as the four tanks all accelerated towards where their beleaguered flag tank was under attack.
"Uh, Baker? We've got an unexpected guest coming in from behind," Naomi reported from the rear of the formation.
The blonde team captain pivoted in her seat, and looked back at the fifth M4 Sherman coming to join the column: Tex. Shit. Tally would never disobey orders like that, which meant that she didn't have control over her tank anymore.
"Charlie, stand down!" Kay ordered into her mic. "Your part in this match is done. We can handle the rest."
The rogue tank was quiet for a moment. When Tally spoke, it was quiet, but a relief nonetheless to hear her voice. "Negative. We're joining the column."
On the one hand, it meant that Tally and her rogue crew were close enough that Kay could keep an eye on them. On the other, it was bad precedent to let the rogue crew do what they wanted to. But unless she shot at her teammates and knocked out Tex here and now, the M4's crew weren't going to listen to orders anyway. There was nothing she or Tally or anybody could do without forcibly disabling the tank.
"God dammit…" Kay murmured to herself. She cycled her radio until she was on Second Platoon's channel. "Golf, I'm going to need you to fall out of the column. I have reason to believe that Charlie has gone rogue, and I want you to follow along from a distance and keep an eye on them. If they do anything screwy, I want to know immediately. If you can, don't engage Ooarai unless you get shot at first."
Nita didn't put up an argument. She could tell how serious a situation this was. Blue Jay fell out of the formation, and Tex was quick to take the other tank's position.
Kay looked back, over the two M4s. Tally was completely buttoned up, which, while safer, wasn't her style. Just another clue towards the mystery of what was happening to the redhead. For now, though, all Kay could do was pray that this wouldn't become a problem.
++++++++++
I hated this situation. I was basically a prisoner within my own tank, and there was nothing I could do to change the situation. My crew had staged a mutiny, and was now disobeying direct orders to stay back with the rest of the team that Kay wanted to leave behind in the name of fairness. That one had riled the Bandits up just as much as anything I could have done, because they were liars and cheaters who fully believed that fair fights were for suckers.
Directly in front of me, Angel was probably the most agitated of the three Bandits. She really lived up to being the Bad of the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. "The Lee is mine. I don't care a damn about the rest, and the team can go to hell fer all I care, but the Lee is mine."
"We're gonna have to help that bossy, cheating bitch if we want to win," Tuco grumbled. "Angel, as soon as we've won, plant one straight into the ass of that pompous M4A1 for me."
Angel scoffed. "Like I won't do it first, just fer meself."
"Please don't attack friendlies…" I murmured.
"Shut up, you," Angel snapped at me. "We don't have to listen to you none no more, so do us all a favor and shut your trap. Permanently."
"By that same measure, I don't have to listen to you," I retorted. "So I think I'll keep talking, just to piss you off."
"Guess I'll just have to shut it for you!" Angel started turning around in her seat to face me, but before she could do anything, Blondie piped up.
"Don't go attackin' her. No need to make this worse for everyone."
"Fine. But she'd best not screw with me, else I'll be angry."
"And we won't like you when you're angry, yes, yes, I know," I snarked. "As if I like you when you're not angry."
By some miracle, no fighting broke out within Tex by the time we made it into visual range of Ooarai and Arisa, and by some similar miracle, Arisa had managed to survive long enough for us to make it there. If she could hold on just a little bit longer, we could put the pedal to the metal, and close the range enough to make this work.
"Arisa, status report!" Kay demanded over the radio.
The response we got explained more than just how well the crew of Wiz was doing. It painted a perfect picture of what Arisa's morale looked like. "Why does Takashi love her?! Why doesn't he see that I love him?!"
Much like the Maginot match, Arisa had completely lost her nerve. A part of me was disappointed, but at the same time, if I was in the same situation as she was, with a seemingly foolproof plan collapsing into bits around me, I would probably have fainted. Just because it hadn't happened recently didn't mean it wouldn't happen again.
"...Understood. Hannah, status report!" Kay asked, almost completely unbothered by Arisa's ranting.
The report of the 17-pdr momentarily interrupted the loader, but the sight of the big shell zipping out to land just behind Ooarai was still rather inspiring. If only I wasn't in such a terrible situation.
"We're still intact, and Ooarai has been holding their attack until they can get closer, but Arisa is doing Arisa things. Plus, all this extra radio equipment is making being a loader rather difficult at the moment. I am currently digging for ammo because my ready racks are empty."
"Copy that. If you need to take command of the tank, do it. Arisa and I both trust you do that," Kay advised. "Now just hold on a little longer. We're nearly in range."
Something must have gotten through Arisa's weeping, because she let out a cheer almost as soon as Kay said that.
Less than a minute later, Kay gave the order we'd all been waiting for. "All tanks, open fire!"
In less than two seconds, three 75mm shells shot out from the trio of regular M4s. While they all fell short, Ooarai still reacted to the threat we presented. Two of their tanks, the Lee and the Type 89, fell to the back of their formation to cover their flag tank. Angel gave a malicious laugh, probably as she zeroed in on the M3. She really wanted that KO.
My eyes were glued to my periscope. I didn't care a single bit about what was going on inside the tank, but I needed to keep an eye on the match. All three M4s exchanged a few volleys with the Ooarai rearguard at maximum range, to zero effect. Of course, then Naomi opened up for the first time since the opener to announce our presence. All it took from her was a single shot, while on the move, to nail the Type 89. The Japanese light tank rolled to a stop before crashing into a small boulder.
"Good shot, How!" someone shouted over the radio.
"Thanks," was Naomi's terse reply.
"AP up!" Tuco announced. As per usual, Angel didn't announce her shot or anything, and she just stepped on the trigger and fired the round. Moments later, it was echoed by the Firefly.
Both shots raced through the air, both on target for the M3 Lee. Angel had fired first, but the 17-pdr's muzzle velocity was something absurd, more than fifty percent faster than the 75mm M3, and the much larger round shot past the one from Tex. Two impacts struck the Lee in rapid succession: the first slammed squarely into the back of the casemate, while the second struck much lower, and to the right, near the tracks. The Lee kept rolling for two seconds before it took a dive into a crater. The white flag popped up a moment later.
"Haha, we got them good didn't we, Angel!" Tuco cheered. Angel didn't reply, and she merely grit her teeth and awaited the next round.
The line of M4s got another salvo off before Ooarai reacted. The StuG placed itself between us and our quarry.
"Keep firing!" Kay encouraged. "We've got them on the ropes now!"
"Blondie, slow down," Angel grumbled. "Gimme a good firin' platform."
"Yeah, yeah," the driver replied, even as she complied. Soon enough, Tex slowed to a near crawl, and everyone else zoomed on past, guns a-blazing. Naomi was holding her fire, but she was the only one. Kay and Neru were still giving it everything they had.
"Charlie, you're falling behind," Kay called over the radio. "Don't get yourself too far from the fighting."
"Just trying to use the stab, Kay," I replied. I hoped that Angel wanting a stable firing position was the only reason we'd slowed down.
"Okay, okay." Kay was quiet for a moment, which coincided with another round going out from Spunky. "Hey, Arisa, watch out. Death from above! How, I'm counting on you to keep her safe!"
"Yes, ma'am!" Naomi confirmed.
I blinked and shook my head before looking through my periscope once more. The Panzer IV had broken off, and was going up the hill we were coming up on, probably to get a better firing position.
Pluck surged ahead of the rest of the platoon and followed the Panzer IV up the hill. I kept visual track of the Firefly easily enough, but paid it little mind as I shifted back to follow the action ahead of us. It was only when I noticed that the angle I was standing at was off that I realized something was up. Tex's turret was tracking towards Pluck.
Angel was after Naomi.
Dozens of curse words in three different languages immediately sprung to mind, but I pushed them aside in the spirit of doing something about the friendly fire. I grabbed the TC's override and cranked the turret hard to the left. I wasn't a moment too soon, either, as the cannon roared a split second after the turret started traversing.
The shot went wide.
Angel rounded on me with a furious fire in her eyes. "Get your filthy hands off that control. That bitch stole my kill."
"And I will not abide by friendly fire from my tank," I shot back. "Or did you not learn after that last friendly fire incident?"
"This ain't your tank no more. Never was."
"Of course she is! I'm the only one here who actually cares about Tex! You lot only care about her as much as you need to so that you can get more knockouts in a match and feed your fragile egos more and more!" I retorted.
"Don't touch that again."
"I wouldn't do anything reckless if I were you," Tuco taunted. She pulled my cellphone from her pocket and waved it at me before shoving it back where she'd been keeping it. "I'd really hate for you to never get this thing back again. It looks like quite a nice phone."
I glared at her. "I've already accepted that I'm not getting that back from you so long as you can wave it over my head as blackmail." My glare moved away from Tuco, and I picked up the mouthpiece for the radio. "How, this is Charlie. My crew just tried to shoot at you. Watch out."
Naomi didn't respond.
Angel brought the turret back towards the main Ooarai force, and let loose with the 75mm once more. The shot went way long, and slammed into the dirt closer to Arisa than it had any of Ooarai's tanks.
"Adjust down. You're shooting long."
"I know what I'm aimin' at!" Angel snapped, vitriol clear in her voice. I frowned as Tuco loaded the next round. This one went long, too, and landed even closer to Arisa than the last one.
I knew what they were doing as Tuco loaded the next one. The Bandits no longer cared about anything but shooting at the people who they believed were the problems. Naomi, who had "stolen" the "kill" against the Lee, and Arisa, who had directed us straight into an ambush.
I lunged for the TC's override once more. Angel's hand snapped up and caught my wrist before I could get there. I immediately started squirming to get out of her grasp, but to no effect. It did exactly nothing to disrupt her aim, and Angel let loose a third time against Arisa. I couldn't even watch, but given how there was no announcement of our defeat, she had missed once more.
Angel slowly turned around to face me, and her gaze held the fury of a thousand suns.
"Charlie, cease fire! Say again, cease fire!" Kay ordered, but she was cut off altogether before she could say more.
"Oops," Tuco said, completely unapologetically, as she unplugged everything from the radio. She let the cables fall to the floor of the turret. "You really shouldn't have done that…"
Angel scoffed, her vice-like grip still holding my wrist. "Pathetic. All it takes is a single touch to stop you from doing anything."
I went for the commander's override again, with my other hand, just to spite her. She grabbed my other wrist. Then, with both of my arms firmly under her control, I pulled her back at the same moment that I threw my head forward. My forehead impacted Angel's nose, and she recoiled, letting my hands loose.
"Get her!" Angel roared.
Tuco lunged at me from across the recoil guard. She grabbed one of my arms, but it wasn't enough to stop me. I didn't need to fight them. My objective now was simply to ensure that they couldn't sabotage the team any further. All I needed to do was hit the emergency shutdown button.
Angel scrambled to grab my other arm, but I shoved her back with a leg as I flipped the protective cover open. My free hand slammed down on the big red button, and the effect was immediate. Tex came to a very sudden halt, and the familiar 'thwip!' of the white flag reached our ears.
"You bitch!" Angel screamed as she pushed back against my leg. Tuco tried to pull me towards her.
The brawl inside of Tex was quick and dirty. Angel got around my blocking leg and started swinging her fists at any target she could get at in the confined space of the turret. Even with the recoil guard blocking her way, Tuco managed to get a secure her hold on my arm. I needed to get out. Now.
I managed to bash Tuco's grip open, and yanked my arm free. Both hands found the edge of my cupola, and I held onto it with everything I had. I tried to resist doubling over in pain as Angel's punches found my kidney. I kicked her back and shoved half of the hatch open. It was all I was going to get.
The morning workouts with Hannah and Cheyenne were well worth the effort, and they were enough to help me leverage myself out of the tank. Angel grabbed at my leg as I tried to scramble out. I kicked at her with my free leg, and when she recoiled, I was out.
I tumbled off the side of the tank and slammed face down into the dirt. My world spun for all of a second before I scrambled to my feet and started sprinting away from the tank. Behind me, the Bandits emerged from Tex, with their personal BB guns at the ready. My feet hammered against the ground, and I'd made it thirty feet before a BB hit my back. The leather of my tanker jacket blunted the impact enough that I hardly felt it as I ran. More followed it, and I staggered with the repeated blows from the metal pellets.
I wasn't sure how far I made it before a tank interposed itself between me and the Bandits.
"That is enough!" Kay roared from atop Spunky. I finally lost my balance, and fell to the ground. I just lay there for a moment before tears began welling up, and I started quietly sobbing in pain. I was only vaguely aware of someone dismounting the tank, and then Kay picked me up in a gentle hug. "Hey, hey, it's okay now. You're safe."
I returned the hug tightly, and let my tears flow freely.
"I got something!" Arisa announced over the radio, not long after my tank rejoined the rest of the team. The column was headed east, trying to give chase to Ooarai in force. "Head to Plateau 128."
"What's going on? Where's 128?" Kay asked.
Arisa was quiet for a moment. "Harlem Heights. All enemy tanks will assemble there."
"Wait, are you sure about that, Arisa?" Kay asked. "How do you know?"
"My information is accurate." Arisa stated. I frowned, but didn't add anything to the conversation. Maybe I was just being overly cautious because I just barely escaped an ambush by the skin of my teeth, but I didn't share Arisa's confidence. From Kay's response, she did trust Arisa's confidence and judgement.
"Okay! All tanks, go ahead!" Kay called out eagerly, giving out course corrections. We fell into line, and the eight tanks of Saunders' mobile division set out for the plateau at Harlem Heights.
It was not a short march southwards. Sitting unbuttoned, I kept an eye on my map while mostly trying to focus on anything but the tanks. The one-two punch of my crew actually hating me and driving straight into an ambush had me off balance, and I needed to regain that somehow.
My hand tapped against the cell phone in my pocket. My mind immediately went to calling Rach to help cool down, but that was strictly against the rules of Sensha-do. No contact to anybody on the outside, no using your modern electronics to get an advantage over the other team. I could call Kay over the radio, and since Haruna had been knocked out it would be a semi-private line, but she had more important things to worry about than my personal issues.
I almost went to radio her anyways, but held myself back. We were chasing after ghosts right now, even with Arisa's confident strategic direction, and Kay needed to focus on that. I needed to focus on it, too. I was a part of leadership, and that meant helping do leadership things like planning.
But it wouldn't do to just barge in without a plan, I needed to figure something out. My map was the first place I looked, and it revealed a lot. There was nothing of strategic value near Harlem Heights. Of all the locations we had given codenames, it was the furthest south, and the nearest strategic markers were well away from the plateau. Maybe Ooarai knew something we didn't about the area, but it was so open that I couldn't anticipate it being a good ambush spot.
How Arisa had figured Ooarai would come here, I had no idea. There was nowhere to fade to as part of a hit and fade, and if it wasn't a good spot for an ambush…
I picked up my radio and made sure I was on the leadership channel. "Hey Kay, I was just looking at my map, and I don't think we're actually going to find Ooarai here."
"Hold one, Tally." Kay replied.
"Copy that."
I didn't have to wait long to find out why Kay had told me to wait. The trees were thinning out, and the column was starting to emerge into open ground. I'd spent so long wrapped up in my thoughts and in my planning that my warning came late enough to be basically useless!
The tanks ground to a halt in a loose semi-circle formation, and basically all of the TCs were scanning the ridgeline with binoculars or just the Mark-1 eyeball.
"You were saying, Tally?" Kay asked as my tank pulled to a stop.
"I was about to say that we weren't likely to find Ooarai here. There's nothing around here that's useful that can't be found elsewhere, and beyond the plateau itself there's no strategic points here." I explained, my mouth running about as fast as my tapping foot.
"Oh." Kay oh'd.
"And now we've gotten up onto the plateau, and there's no sign of Ooarai anywhere."
I took a moment from scanning the ridges to glance over at Kay's tank, and saw her nodding. My analysis certainly made sense, but Arisa shouldn't have led us this far astray. She should have known Ooarai wouldn't rush to a fairly useless terrain feature.
"There's nobody here!" Kay shouted to the world. It echoed around the plateau for a moment before the shout faded into nothingness.
"That can't be! My information should have been good!" Arisa insisted.
"It very clearly wasn't." Naomi remarked from her position as rearguard. Arisa didn't bother replying to the sniper's snark.
"What's the plan, Kay?" I asked, trying to keep the sudden surge of worry out of my voice.
"We backtrack. Tally, I want you to find me a good position to start our sweep for Ooarai. Naomi, you watch our backs."
"Yes, ma'am!" Naomi and I both replied.
My worries lay forgotten and were pushed aside as I focused on the task Kay had given me. It was a large map, a whole lot larger than anything we'd played on before, and there were too many options for me to go "there" and pick just one.
I idly passed on the order to fall back into line as I worked my way through the map. There were a few that I initially considered before discarding, and I settled on one in particular.
"Kay, this is Tally. We're going to want to head for point Saratoga. It's a pretty open area, right in the center of the arena, and it looks to be reasonably flat. It'll be a good staging point to advance from."
"Naomi?" Kay asked.
"Sounds good to me. We don't know where Ooarai is, so a central point may get their attention." Naomi replied.
"Okay, very nice!" Kay cheered, before she started relaying orders to the lead elements of our column.
"That was a good choice, Tally. Keep up the good work." Naomi commented, but I couldn't help but frown. Good work would have been telling Kay before we arrived at the decoy position, or having the sense to not run headfirst into an ambush. One good decision wouldn't outweigh all of the bad ones.
"Arisa, come in!" Kay called into the radio for what must have been the twentieth time. Our eye in the sky was radio silent, and while we knew she hadn't been knocked out, the complete lack of contact was concerning. We were roughly half of the way to point Saratoga, and if Arisa was under attack, we'd be too far away to help much.
"All Ooarai tanks are coming for us!" Arisa suddenly cried out over the radio, panic evident in her voice.
"You were fine a few minutes ago. What happened?" Kay asked.
"Well…" Arisa drew out the word. Just by that, I had a feeling this was all her fault. "They probably figured out that I was tapping their radio and used that against us."
I blinked at the admission of guilt. Was that even Sensha-do legal?
"You fool!" Kay shouted over the radio, and I had to hold it away from my ear to not go deaf.
"I'm so sorry!"
"I always tell you that battles must be fought fairly! That's why Hannah's there to keep your schemes in check!" The frown on my face evolved into a half-wince half-grimace as I listened to Kay berate Arisa. "Just get out of there! Hurry up!"
"Yes ma'am!" Arisa answered before the background noises of her battle went silent. She must have cut her mic to focus on her immediate situation.
I was at a loss for words. My instinct would be to grab everybody and rush as fast as we could to Arisa's aid, but five on one, Arisa's chances of surviving that long were slim to nil. We had been baited hard by false intelligence, enough that the match was all but lost.
"It wouldn't be fair to strike back with all our tanks after the radio tapping." Kay mused into her radio. "Let's match their numbers!"
That… I probably should have expected something along those lines. It's a very Kay thing to do. It would probably cost us the match, even if we did somehow manage to catch up and save Arisa's butt, but I doubt victory was her primary motivation anymore. It's a sport not a war.
"There are five enemy tanks, only three tanks will follow me." Kay announced over team comms, letting everybody know. "I want Charlie, Easy, and How. Everybody else hold position. Naomi, you're up!"
I relayed the orders to the Bandits, and Tuco gave me a look. It was the first time she'd looked at me since blowing up at me. "TC, what's going on? Why's half the team stopping?"
I took a deep breath, trying to center myself before answering. There was no way she would take this well, nor would the others. "Arisa screwed up. She's the one who sent us straight into that ambush, and now she's under attack by Ooarai's full team and needs help."
"Ha!" Tuco laughed. "That's what you get for making us walk into that! Comeuppance at its finest!"
"If she gets knocked out, we lose." Angel said harshly, and Tuco's smile faded immediately.
"So we have to help that good for nothing bossy cheat?"
I nodded.
Tuco swore. Loudly. "You hear that Blondie? We need to help that backstabber if we want to win!"
"I hear ya." Blondie grumbled. "And I take it we ain't got no choice in the matter?"
"Kay told us to go, so we go." I answered.
"That Lee with 'em?" Angel asked tersely.
"Should be. Arisa said it was the whole team."
"Good. I've been gunnin' for them, and they've escaped me twice now. It won't happen a third time."
For some reason, that comment didn't fill me with confidence. I tried to shake off my worries as I went back to shoulder defilade, but as with everything else I've tried to do today to raise my spirits, it didn't help in the slightest.
By some miracle, Arisa managed to survive long enough for us to get line of sight on Ooarai's five tanks. We were still out of range, but we had eyes on, and if we put the pedal to the metal, we could catch up.
"Arisa, status report!" Kay called.
"Why does Takashi love her?! Why doesn't he see that I love him?!" Arisa half bawled. It was a non-sequitur that I think fairly accurately described the situation. Much as had happened during the Maginot match, Arisa had lost it. I wanted to be disappointed, but if I were in her situation, I would probably be so much worse off.
"Understood. Hannah, status report!" Kay asked, completely unbothered by Arisa's rant.
The report of the 17-pdr momentarily interrupted Hannah, but the sight of the big gun's shell zipping out to land behind Ooarai was still inspiring.
"We're still intact, and Ooarai has been holding their attack until they can get closer, but Arisa is doing Arisa things. And all this extra radio equipment is making being a loader rather difficult right now. I have to dig for ammo." Hannah reported.
"We're getting close. Just hold on a little longer." Kay said.
Something must have gotten through Arisa's weeping, because she cheered as soon as Kay said that.
"All tanks, open fire!" Kay ordered. Three 75mm shells zipped through the air mere seconds after the order came through, and while all landed short, Ooarai reacted to the threat we presented.
Almost immediately, two tanks, the Lee and the Type 89 fell back in their formation to cover their flag tank. I heard Angel give a malicious little laugh, probably as she zeroed in on the Lee. She certainly wanted that knockout.
The three M4s exchanged a few volleys with Ooarai at maximum range before anything struck either side. All it took was a single shot from Naomi, while on the move, to knock out the Type 89. The first shot she had fired since the opener to announce our presence, and it was a knockout.
"Good shot, Naomi!" I called through the radio.
"Thanks." She answered tersely.
"AP up!" Tuco called as I let my mic hang loosely in my hand. All of the targets were ahead of us, and we were engaged. There was nothing for me to do but call out corrections and relay orders from Kay.
"On the way!" Angel called. Moments later, her shot was echoed by one from the Firefly.
The two shots raced through the air, both on target for the Lee. Our shot had been fired first, but the 17-pdr's muzzle velocity was something absolutely absurd, and the larger round zipped past ours. Two impacts struck the Lee in rapid succession, and it kept rolling for two seconds before taking a dive into a crater and popping the white flag.
"Haha, we got them good, didn't we, Angel!" Tuco cheered. Angel didn't reply, simply gritting her teeth and waiting for the next round.
The M4s got another volley off before Ooarai reacted, and the StuG placed itself between us and the 38(t).
"Keep firing!" Kay called out a general encouragement. We had them on the ropes now.
Despite that, the running battle dragged on, and we were rapidly closing the range. We were close enough that I buttoned up and was following the action through my periscope. For some reason Naomi was holding her fire, but the basic M4s kept up a withering barrage that had to have shaken all of Ooarai's crews with the number of near misses.
"Tally, you're falling behind. Is something up?" Naomi asked over the radio, and I had to take a moment to confirm that yes, we had fallen behind the group. Not enough to be dragging on behind them, but all three other tanks in the platoon were now ahead of us.
"Blondie, is there a reason we've fallen behind?"
"Can't rightly tell, TC."
"No clue, Naomi. Sorry!" I apologized.
"It's fine."
"Arisa, watch out, death from above." Kay called out. I blinked for a moment to confirm what I was seeing. The Panzer IV had broken off, and… was going up a hill. To get a better firing position. "Naomi, I'm counting on you!"
"Yes, ma'am!"
Naomi's Firefly surged ahead of the platoon to follow the Panzer IV up the hill. I tracked her easily, and had to shift my periscope over to follow the action going on ahead. I blinked and moved away from my periscope. The turret was tracking Naomi instead of Ooarai.
Dozens of curse words in three different languages immediately sprung to mind, and I did the only thing I could. I grabbed the TC's override and cranked the turret hard over to the left. I wasn't a moment too soon, as the cannon roared just after the turret started traversing.
The shot went wide.
"The hell are you doing? That bitch stole my kill!" Angel demanded.
"She's our teammate." I insisted. Mom's angry voice layered itself into mine as I continued. "Or did you not learn after that last friendly fire incident?"
Angel didn't say anything, and I let go of the TC's override once we were back on target with the gun facing forward. I kept a careful eye on things, just in case Angel tried something again.
My microphone came up to my mouth once more. I spoke very softly, trying to keep my voice from going anywhere but the mic. "Hey Naomi, Angel just tried to shoot at you. Be careful."
She didn't respond.
The 75 roared again, and I watched through my periscope as the shot went waaaaay long, slamming down closer to Arisa's tank than any of Ooarai's.
"Adjust down, you're shooting long." I reported.
"I know what I'm shootin' at." Angel remarked, vitriol once more entering her voice. I frowned and watched as Tuco loaded the next round. The shot went long again, and landed even closer to Arisa than the last one!
"Cease fire!" I called out, but nobody listened to me. Tuco loaded the next round without looking in my direction, and I lunged for the TC's override once more to try and stop Angel. Her hand snapped up and caught my wrist before I could grab the handle.
I froze, and watched with mounting horror as Angel fired a third shot at Arisa. Then, not releasing my wrist, Angel turned in her seat and glared at me with the fury of a thousand suns.
"Tally, cease fire, cease fire!" Kay called into the radio, before she was cut off altogether.
"Oops." Tuco said, absolutely unapologetically as she unplugged everything from the radio.
"Never interfere with my shot again." Angel stated, still holding onto my wrist. Her grip was like a vice, and it was starting to hurt. I was frozen with panic, and I tried to say something to get her to let go, but no words came. "Pathetic. A simple touch is all it takes to stop you."
That one word echoed through my mind. Pathetic. They thought I was pathetic. Just like all those bullies in middle school. It was always that word they used. Pathetic. 'You're pathetic, Tally!' 'Look at her, crying there. She's so pathetic!' 'You never do anything right, you pathetic weakling.'
"I am not pathetic!" I screamed, ripping my wrist from Angel's grasp. Tuco lunged for me from across the turret, but the recoil guard protected me for the moment I needed.
There's a little discussed feature in all Sensha-do tanks nowadays. The emergency shutdown, a reasonably sized red button on the TC's side of the radio, kept under a protective cover to make sure it doesn't accidentally get pressed during combat. It pops the white flag, immediately killing the engine and power, while also locking down the turret and gun. It's mostly used for surrendering, or if someone sees a substantial risk and needs to kill the tank now.
In my moment of freedom, I went for the button.
"Get her!" Angel roared as I flipped the cover up and slammed my hand down on the button. I heard the white flag go 'thwip' before Tuco and Angel got their hands on me, and I could hear Blondie getting upset too.
A fist hammered into my kidney as I tried to fight my way to the freedom of my hatch. Tuco grabbed my leg and pulled as I shoved the two-piece hatch open. Angel threw another fist which impacted my stomach and nearly made me double over, but my hands found purchase on the cupola's edge, and I pulled with all of my might.
Those morning workouts with Hannah were well worth the effort, and without them I would never have been able to escape, but even then, I still needed to slam a knee into Angel before she could get a better hold of me. Tuco's grip on my leg loosened as I pulled away, but my shoe went with her before I was more out of the hatch than in.
I tumbled off the side of the tank and landed on my belly in the grass. As soon as I knew where I was, I scrambled to my feet and booked it before any of the Bandits managed to worm their way out of the tank. My feet hammered the ground as I ran, slightly off balance without one shoe, and I made it maybe thirty feet before a metal BB slammed into my side, only mitigated by my tanker jacket. I wobbled but kept running as another BB hit the ground next to me.
I'm not sure how far I made it before a tank interposed itself between me and the Bandits.
"That is enough!" Kay shouted, and I finally tumbled to the ground. I just laid there for a moment before tears welled up and I began sobbing. Somebody dismounted the tank and walked over to me before embracing me in a soft hug.
"Hey, it's okay. You're safe now." Kay said quietly. I returned the hug and let the tears flow freely, sobbing into her shoulder.
Here we go, Part Fifty! The moment you've all been waiting for, where Tally finally grows a spine and fights back against her bullies. I have had that scene planned for a long time, and I am so happy to finally get there, even if things got a little out of hand along the way, pacing-wise. Originally, I was gonna put the story on a brief hiatus here, but that was before my muse utterly collapsed for October and November, so hopefully there will be more content in the coming weeks. Assuming my muse doesn't die again now that I've got that scene off my chest. Also, according to SV's word counter, this is a huge milestone for reaching chapter 50 and for reaching 100k words! As I said last night, I'd like to express a huge thank you to everyone for sticking around and enjoying the story!
Ah, now this is better. And it's bye bye Bandits. Too bad for Blondie, she seemed like she might have been salvageable, but Angel had far too a toxic grip on the group dynamic.
I think it could do with some frantic energy (short sentences, cutting actions in and out with - and such) as opposed to accuracy once the fighting gears up, but idk?
That...is not how I would have described things. Snapping and suffering a violent breakdown, maybe, but I wouldn't have even remotely described it as growing a spine.
No offense, but you may want to take Tally's entire character back to the drawing board. She, and her extensive, repeated, always on display character flaws are dragging the story into a downward spiral and I'm having difficulty caring, as long as we have to see less of her.
This is probably not helped by the primary antagonist to date, the Bandits, being almost comically evil and short-sighted. It's difficult to take them seriously when so much of what they do is the kind of stupid you'd expect out of six-year olds on the playground, who haven't yet developed the ability to form links between actions and consequences.
That...is not how I would have described things. Snapping and suffering a violent breakdown, maybe, but I wouldn't have even remotely described it as growing a spine.
No offense, but you may want to take Tally's entire character back to the drawing board. She, and her extensive, repeated, always on display character flaws are dragging the story into a downward spiral and I'm having difficulty caring, as long as we have to see less of her.
This is probably not helped by the primary antagonist to date, the Bandits, being almost comically evil and short-sighted. It's difficult to take them seriously when so much of what they do is the kind of stupid you'd expect out of six-year olds on the playground, who haven't yet developed the ability to form links between actions and consequences.
On top of that, cannon Girls und Panzer still played out the same, so the tankery portion of the story is done.
You could do that the friendly fire caused the PZ4 to miss their shot or something, but that would be kind of a cheap asspull at this point.
Are you planning to end the story or something? Because you've written yourself into a bit of a corner.
On top of that, cannon Girls und Panzer still played out the same, so the tankery portion of the story is done.
You could do that the friendly fire caused the PZ4 to miss their shot or something, but that would be kind of a cheap asspull at this point.
Are you planning to end the story or something? Because you've written yourself into a bit of a corner.
Well the Bandits are done for, their actions are more then enough to get them kicked of the team.
From there I can see two different routes, either they are also expelled from the school or they spend the remaining years in Sanders as absolute pariahs.
In the former case they also have the problem that they did this during a national tournament (likely with video and radio recordings) and the officials will investigate and share the results.
Therefore the Bandits will likely end up being blacklisted by all the Tankery schools.
That...is not how I would have described things. Snapping and suffering a violent breakdown, maybe, but I wouldn't have even remotely described it as growing a spine.
No offense, but you may want to take Tally's entire character back to the drawing board. She, and her extensive, repeated, always on display character flaws are dragging the story into a downward spiral and I'm having difficulty caring, as long as we have to see less of her.
This is probably not helped by the primary antagonist to date, the Bandits, being almost comically evil and short-sighted. It's difficult to take them seriously when so much of what they do is the kind of stupid you'd expect out of six-year olds on the playground, who haven't yet developed the ability to form links between actions and consequences.
Well I do care about Tally and do not think she is dragging the story down. I can agree that calling the situation "growing a spine" is pushing it a bit but I see it as the most she possible could have done without breaking with her character as presented to us to this point. I guess I just like following people with anxiety and panic issues. It is very relatable for me.
On top of that, cannon Girls und Panzer still played out the same, so the tankery portion of the story is done.
You could do that the friendly fire caused the PZ4 to miss their shot or something, but that would be kind of a cheap asspull at this point.
Are you planning to end the story or something? Because you've written yourself into a bit of a corner.
I liked it. I personally feel like all the panic attacks and stuff are believable. I'm really not understanding why people are complaining so much. From what I understand of Tally's character, this isn't normal for her, she doesn't have panic attacks all the time. However, she is in a completely different part of the world, immersed in a different culture (no matter how americanized Saunders might be), working her way through a foreign school system without her normal supports in life, and has been working with a huge source of frustration in the form of the Bandits. She's massively stressed out and not coping well, so yeah, panic attacks. Add on a heaping of self-doubt and you get Tally.
Reading through all of these reactions for this chapter and the last, I can't keep myself from thinking "If Hell on Tracks had a TVTropes page, this would totally be under Your Mileage May Vary in some form or another."
It's difficult to take them seriously when so much of what they do is the kind of stupid you'd expect out of six-year olds on the playground, who haven't yet developed the ability to form links between actions and consequences.
I don't necessarily agree with every part of this assessment but this I absolutely do. The idea that the Bandits go so far as to shoot BBs at Tally's back as she's fleeing their tank after punching out in the middle of a match to prevent them from friendly firing more people is so hilarious that I can't take anything seriously.
I don't necessarily agree with every part of this assessment but this I absolutely do. The idea that the Bandits go so far as to shoot BBs at Tally's back as she's fleeing their tank after punching out in the middle of a match to prevent them from friendly firing more people is so hilarious that I can't take anything seriously.
Yeah... If I decide that a rewrite is needed of that scene, that's definitely getting canned. I always wanted to mention that they had six-shooter airsoft/BB guns, to fit their "Las Banditas" stylings, but looking back that was absolutely not the place to do it.
BB guns or not, las Bandidas are HISTORY now. I mean, there's rampant pilfering and frak-everybody-not-us insular BS, and then there's two blatant attempts at team-killing, including of the flag-tank, during a match at a NATIONAL-LEVEL TOURNAMENT in front of a live TV audience with aviation-industry levels of recorded telemetry! How the hell did Angel think she could get away with this sort of buddy-fucker bullshit under these circumstances!? Or was she just so overwhelmed with anger and spite that she went full teenaged "'Consequences'? Never heard of them. Don't know, don't care!" Because if she was that prone to helmet-fires, I'm a little surprised they lasted this long!
Still, there ain't no bloody way they can weasel out of this one, not when Tally managed to rouse enough resistance to punch the Suicide Switch and bale out. All the other stuff aside, including Angel's attempting to throw a match at the Nationals, the mere fact that they drove their TC to that extreme during a live competition — any game, let alone this one! — will be proof-enough of their toxic dynamic that Coach Chieftain won't just fry them, he'll slow-roast them on a barbecue spit and ask the rest of the Senshado Federation to send their best marinade recipes!
I wouldn't call what Tally did 'growing a spine'. I would describe it more as attempting to do anything useful to protect the overall team from her dumpster fire of a crew, while suffering a panic attack that limited her critical thinking abilities. I think that took courage, in the 'doing the right thing despite bing afraid' interpretation of courage. I also find it believable that she would do something desperate and extreme before fleeing the abusive situation.
I don't like the Bandits shooting her with BBs, or their inexplicable unity in the face of Angel's self-destructive stupidity. Why is Tuco still feeding the gun when Angel's being a TKing asshole? I hope that Blondie had at least some sense and moved to restrain Angel when the tank shut down and the BB shooting started. Angel, at least, is done for, whether that means being cut from the team or something more severe remains to be seen. The other two might be able to argue that they couldn't see or prevent her attempts to TK, and therefore sneak a lighter punishment.
I liked it. I personally feel like all the panic attacks and stuff are believable. I'm really not understanding why people are complaining so much. From what I understand of Tally's character, this isn't normal for her, she doesn't have panic attacks all the time. However, she is in a completely different part of the world, immersed in a different culture (no matter how americanized Saunders might be), working her way through a foreign school system without her normal supports in life, and has been working with a huge source of frustration in the form of the Bandits. She's massively stressed out and not coping well, so yeah, panic attacks. Add on a heaping of self-doubt and you get Tally.
People are complaining because a character that is crippled by their character flaws is not all that exciting to read about. A character that is defined by their flaws is fine, but a character that is ruled by crippling flaws that leave them without agency is a bad choice for a protagonist. People are complaining because a high-school action/adventure story about tank fighting isn't really the best, or even a good, vehicle (pun!) for telling a story about someone overcoming deep-seated psychological flaws and issues, or getting therapy.
People are complaining because, as far as this story is concerned, suffering repeated panic attacks is literally the norm for Tally whether you believe it's the norm for her fictional history as well. People are complaining because despite being billed as an action/adventure and "ha ha, tanks!", these elements take a distant backseat to being beaten over the head with crippling teenage psychological problems, every chapter, over and over and over and over again, and that's not what they were looking to get out of the story, nor is it what they were lead to expect from the setting and premise.
And, while your mileage may vary, none of that is interesting or exciting to read about. It's also hard to justify when the school should have a mental health professional, who should be taking notice of the intensely poor mental state Tally is in and taking major steps to rectify it, starting by removing her from the cause of her issues, the Tankery team, which would immediately deep six the entire story premise, and we can't have that. So instead, we have to read on about a situation kept going by authorial fiat and bad decisions, retreading stations of canon with no meaningful deviation after an entire novel's worth of written words, with a character that is difficult to like and empathize with at best and at worst is actively driving people away from the story. That is why people are consistently complaining about the story.
And, because I can see the comparisons being made to the canonical anime already, keep in mind that Miho's issues are both significantly different and far, far, far less front and center in every episode or interaction. Trying to compare this story to the anime on grounds of character similarity is not exactly one-to-one.
I would suggest we refrain from ganging up on the author. It is evident that they have received the advice and feedback. The last thing we want is for them to give up on the story.
This latest chapter at least gives me some hope for Tally. The fact that she was able to have enough agency to do something is far better than her previous curl up into a ball and try to believe the world away.
So if this is the step that gets her away from the Bandits, which will cut her panic attacks by half at least, then I believe that Tally as a character is salvageable and the story can go more into tonkery. I was just getting concerned that Tally was becoming for me a character like Tess of Hardy's Tess of the D'Urbervilles. Hardy ended up committing character abuse and breaking the main character to the point that I no longer cared about the character and stopped reading the book.
Yeah... If I decide that a rewrite is needed of that scene, that's definitely getting canned. I always wanted to mention that they had six-shooter airsoft/BB guns, to fit their "Las Banditas" stylings, but looking back that was absolutely not the place to do it.
I would not worry too much about it, before that they have already shown bad impulse control and lack of regard of others that them shooting BB guns at people would fit the pattern. Those traits really fit their nickname.
A (souped up?) airsoft Garand/Thompson/Grease gun/M1911?
Not that this makes it better. Those can, especially if they are tuned up for max muzzle velocity, cause injuries far beyond a mild bruise.
If those three are really that far gone Tally can count her blessings about hitting the master safety. Those .30cal coax guns use live ammo, never mind the 75.
