Final chapter of the 'Opening Act'. Finally getting this slow build-up over. Enjoy the chapter!

Boom!

A white flag popped up from one of our Pershings, fluttering freely in the wind. The crew of the Pershing came out, disappointed. They were meant to be some of the best Point had to offer, but it seems that they just didn't make the cut.

I pinched my mic and spoke, "And with that, the crew of 'Grant' has earned the privilege of calling themselves 'Knights'."

A round of applause erupted from the rest of the Tankery team who were watching the try-outs. Ever since the match against Lannes, I've been hard at work rewriting Point's style of Tankery. Before they relied on rigid formations and superior firepower. Now, I was going to make them as flexible as possible, with the only ones who can issue orders for the entire team being me.

I looked back at the crew of 'Grant', which was commanded by Juniper White. A capable commander who was unable to show her true potential under Rod Benson.

"'Grant' will begin training in their Ru-251 tomorrow morning. You will be excused from classes to do so." I said, "And with that, these try-outs are over."

Everyone got up from the bleachers that were set up and started walking off. A few stayed in their own little groups and talked among themselves. I myself went over to congratulate Juniper and her crew, they earned it. Quite a lot of crews tried out for the spot of being a Knight, with only a single one getting the spot.

I spotted Juniper waving off her crew as she stayed behind and looked at her tank. Most likely looking back at the same tank she has been commanding for the last year.

"Juniper White," I called out, "Congratulations for making the spot."

"T-Thank you, sir. I promise I won't let you down."

I smiled underneath my mask, "I wouldn't expect less."

I walked off into my office to look at our current lineup. After walking in, shutting the door, and locking each of my eight locks, I sat down into my desk and opened up my computer. Going over the lineup, I was less than satisfied. Although we could content with Saunders, St. Gloriana, Roma Nova and Lannes, we could have some trouble against Star, Britanica and Lincoln.

For now however, our tanks are fine. I went over my strategy against St. Gloriana in my head, and with the field of the match being given to us the day of the meeting, I could formulate a plan.

St. Gloriana most often uses tight formations using their heavier tanks such as the Churchill and the Matildas, while they use their faster tanks such as the Crusaders and Cromwells as a screening force. The whole field was split into an 8x8 grid, similar to a chess board. Over to the center was a ridge going down from the North-East and ending in the South, with wooded areas taking up much of the field. There are some roads to allow for easy movement, but it was pretty obvious what were the cons of using them.

As I went over our funds and equipment, I heard a knock on my door. I got up and unlocked each and every lock and opened the door to see one of our freshmen commanders, Harry Lagato. Believe it or not, he made the spot as one of our Bishops. His skills were brought out to shine from all the competition, and his drive to beat everyone else was a little frightening.

"Yes?"

"I'm here to ask when our first match is?" Harry said.

"It will be on the 3rd, is that all?"

"I also wanted to asked what tank I'll be commanding, y never disclosed it with me."

He's right, I haven't, "Very well, it will be a Super Hellcat."

"Thank you, and that is all." Harry walked off, probably to his crew.

I walked over to my desk and decided to check in on Rachael, who's infiltration mission was postponed due to the meeting. I had given her the task of making sure everything was in order. I texted her to ask how things were going. She hadn't responded so I assumed she was busy.

I got up from my seat and walked out of the room, intent on finding the four chess club regulars. I assumed they would be in the chess club room, as they usually were.

And as I got to the door, my hunch was correct. I heard some maniacal laughing coming from what sounded like Kevin, most likely because he had bested one of them.

I bathed into the room, with the four being visibly frightened at my sudden appearance.

"K-King, don't do that!" Kevin exclaimed.

"I'm sorry, am I interrupting something?" I said smugly, "We agreed to familiarize ourselves with the Lycan today, did we not?"

"What's the point anyway?" David asked, "We might not even be able to use it this year."

"With that type of thinking, you're guaranteeing our defeat."

"Alright, alright."

The guys got up and started on their way towards the Lycan's underground garage. We each split up to make it seem less conspicuous, with myself taking the longest route. I went around the cafeteria and walked just outside the gym before finally making my way to the garage with the hatch leading into the storage room.

Luckily, there was barely anyone still on campus, with the few left either just leaving or staying in the library.

Found the same boxes stacked around the hatch leading down. After moving them, I opened the hatch and began climbing down the ladder. As I stepped down, I saw the four other guys already getting ready for target practice. David was loading some shells into their respective storage units while the other guys were handing them over to him.

"How long until you're ready?" I asked.

"Two minute, tops." replied David as he came up from the cupola to take another crate of shells.

I walked over to John and tried to help him pick up some crates of shells, only for me to remember than I'm not exactly the most fit person out there. Yeah, I'm not chubby either, but I'm a turtle when it comes to Cardio.

"Dude," Kevin asked, "You okay?"

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine..." I said, as I continued to struggle to even lift the crate an inch from the ground, "Just... gotta put some... elbow grease into... it..."

The four guys had looks of amusement and embarrassment painted across their faces. This wasn't the first time they've seen me struggle to lift anything heavy, but they always found it amusing. George ended up taking the crate from me and handing it over to David, who took it's contents and went back into the tank.

"I had that..." I pouted, but they couldn't see thanks to my mask.

"No you didn't." John deadpanned.

The five of us got into the Lycan, with each of us taking our respective positions. George, since he was the radio operator and there being no need for one as of now, would practice commanding if I ever was absent or knocked out.

John drove us out from the underground garage, going into a tunnel system that led to an exit hidden with foliage. While we were making our way to the garage, we made sure that no one would see us, and that no one would be where we would be practicing. After about a minute of weaving through the tunnels, the Lycan finally made it to the above ground entrance, with myself and George walking over and opening the large doors. The Lycan drove out and towards the practice range, with a familiar head of grey waiting for us there.

"You're late." Rachael told us.

"Avery here decided to try and help with loading our shells." Kevin said.

"But wouldn't that make getting ready faster?"

The four guys and I all looked at each other, "You wouldn't understand."

"Anyway," Rachael said, "The targets are set up, you're good to go."

"Alrighty, George?"

"Yeah?"

"You're in charge." I leapt out from the cupola and stood beside Rachael, watching as George ordered the guys up to the firing range.

"You think they'll do good?" Rachael asked.

"Unfortunately, the Lycan's gun isn't the most accurate at such ranges, so it's better to use it up close." I said.

"I'm sure you thought up of some 'Master Plan' to make it work."

"I don't plan out everything, you know..."

"And other lies you can tell yourself." Rachael scoffed.

Boom!

The Lycan's 120 mm gun fired at one of the targets ranged at 500 meters, demolishing it. The target was nothing but wood scraps and metal trusses left over.

"I thought you said it wasn't accurate at these ranges."

"It isn't, that was just luck.'

I was right, as the Lycan had trouble hitting the target ranged at 750 meters. The round kept going too high or too low. If this was one of our other tanks, this wouldn't be acceptable at all. However, the Lycan is meant to be able to take the fight to the enemy, and to close the distance between our lines. It was our brawler, alongside Rachael's E-75, range wouldn't matter as much. As well with it's speed of 38 km/h, it could rapidly close the gap while bouncing shots from all sorts of different guns.

After about seven shots, the Lycan finally hit the target. Said target was blown to bits, with the wood flying as pieces of shrapnel. The Lycan readjusted it's gun to aim at another target, also ranged at 750 meters. The size of the fields were 8 by 8 km for the first round, with the semi-finals and finals being sized at 20 by 20 km. The Lycan would be as a severe disadvantage at those ranges, which is why I plan on relying on my own forces to pick apart the enemy for the later matches.

After taking out another two targets, we decided to stop and switch over to the Tiger, which was much better at range. Rachael took the Lycan and drove it back to the underground garage, leaving us guys to fire at some more wooden targets.

The Tiger's gun was a nice change to the Lycan's 'Ripper'. It was much more accurate and had a far longer effective range. We were able to take out target after target, only missing about six times in total. After taking out the last target, we drove the Tiger back to the garage and got ready to head home.

"See ya, Avery." George said, waving as the four went out to probably binge Girls und Flugzueg. I wanted to head home and try out baking a cake. I wonder how that will turn out?

*Britanica Institute*

Boom!

The sound of a Comet's 17 pounder gun tore through the air, with it's shell finding itself striking a Black Prince's turret. A flag sputtered out of the Black Prince, waving proudly.

The commander of the Comet popped out of it's cupola, revealing a brunette wearing a red uniform similar to those used by the British during the Napoleonic War. The girl had her hair tied into a ponytail off to the side, with her wearing a black tricorne hat with gold lining.

Clapping could be heard from behind her, and as the girl whipped around, a certain man walked up to her.

"That was magnificent, Olivia."

"Thank you, Joseph."

Olivia hopped down to ground level. As she touched down, Joseph offered her a water bottle.

"I assumed you'd be thirsty." He said with a smile.

"Thank you." Olivia took the bottle graciously, and continued walking off, "I'll be in my office."

Olivia made her way to her office, walking inside. It consisted of a few shelves to the side, with a desk with her name on a plaque facing towards the door. She sat into her desk and began going through the Tankery Team's assets. The combined forces of both the Boy's and Girl's Tankery Teams were unmatched by any other in terms of size and skill. She was confident in their victory.

However, one variable remained undetermined. Something about that 'King' figure seemed familiar, but Olivia was unable to put her finger to it. She was sure something about him was similar, but to what eluded her.

Olivia, being bored, took out her phone and began scrolling through her contacts. She stopped at the name of the principal of the school and called. After a few seconds of ringing, she had picked up.

"Hello?" An older feminine voice said.

"Mrs. Wellesley, I was wondering if you accepted his application? I'm sure he would make quite a valuable asset to the team."

"Hmm, yes, I've been thinking about it. If he can pass a test of your making, then he will be allowed to attend Britanica."

"It will be done."

Olivia hung up, scrolling back up to the top of her contacts. However, there was a certain someone's name with hearts on either side of it. Though, with the speed at which Olivia was scrolling, it was hard for anyone to make out. Whoever this person is must mean quite a lot to her.