Girls Und Panzer Tankery's End

Alt. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

Colonel Blake Abernathy observed the battlefield with a scowl. The field was void of green grass, bushes, trees, nothing expect the mud and broken metal pieces from tanks in previous engagements. The field of battle had turned from the normal Tank battle into a sit and wait World War one style of trench warfare. The two sides sat and watched each other for hours before one side decided to attack and the other countered after they repelled the attack. For half a month this was the norm, and Blake was getting tired of it.

"Colonel enemy reinforcements at ten O'clock!" Blake heard a spotter call. He turned his gaze and saw another mass of Challenger tanks moving to his right and lining up with another large group of Challenger tanks. The Federation was preparing another attack across No Mans Land.

"Get the guns up and prepare for another assault!" Blake called into his radio. A collective acknowledgment responded and the Mass of M60 Pattons raised their guns and trained them into the dead zone.

Akari watched as the M60's lined up their guns pointing them straight towards her. She sighed and shook her head, of course she shouldn't have expected the renowned Colonel Blake Abernathy to not be expectant of another attack. Oh she had read up on him, know your enemy and all that, Commander of his High Schools team for all four years, singlehandedly invented a new form of American Sensha-Do, landed himself in the Americans Hall of Fame. This man was a legend come to life.

"Commander, the force is ready for another assault." Chika informed her. Akari turned to her 2IC, she had that look in her eye again, the understanding that these bulldozing tactics wont win them this standoff. She was right. These back and forths hadn't reeled any results when they first started this fight but then just sitting here not doing anything yielded no results either.

"Alright, lets get going." Akari said moving towards her Challenger 2. She mounted the cupola and entered the hatch before she turned on her radio and spoke. "All forces assembled for our new assault, we keep moving even if we're being hammered out there. Make it to their line and disorganize them. Move out!"

The mass of Challenger tanks started up and began moving. They charged forward, over their defenses and into No Mans Land, and immediately the M60's shot up the front row. All the enemy shells impacted in front of the Federation charge causing a halt on the attack.

"Back up, back up!" called out one of the tank commanders. The front rank of Challengers reversed and drove back into Federation lines as Akari sighed again and smacked her head with her hand.

"Of all the damned-. Akari couldn't finish her sentence, her frustration reaching a breaking point. "Get everyone back, the attack is canceled."

Chika shook her head, exited her own tank, and hopped onto Akari's.

"Ma'am, what are we going to do now?" Chika asked.

"I don't know, nothing comes to mind. We're just going to be sitting here. How did things end up this way anyway?" Akari asked herself just as a tank shell impacted one of the Challengers off to her left. "What the hell was that!?"

"They shot at us Commander!" One of Akari's girls called out.

"Damn them." Akari said as she pulled up her binoculars and tracked the smoke trail to behind the M60 line. Behind the Association front, several meters to the south, was a small groupings of trees and bush. Within that clump of foliage sat a tank. A Grille Ausf H. The Americans did not have any of those. "What the hell is going on?"

"Who fired that!?" Blake called out on the radio. No one took responsibility for the shot and even the individual tank commanders were checking their tanks barrels. If they hadn't shot then who did? Blake lifted his binoculars and scouted to the south, where he saw the shot come from. His M60's were all without a smoking barrel, not a single on of his men fired that shell.