Dust Devils - A Girls Und Panzer Story

Mojave Rose v. Bascom

"Panzer Vor!"

At once, the Mojave Rose Tankery Team simultaneously drove forward. They assembled into a V-formation with the T-44 as the tip of the spear. Today's match is a flag match, and the Cromwell was selected to be the team's flag tank. Its commander, Sage, was paranoid. If the team comes into contact with the enemy team, the first shot would undoubtedly be toward them, and so, every crew member had their heads on a swivel. Yet the land was barren, the only thing moving was them.

"We're coming up to Hill 'X-Ray'. Nomad. Mirage. Go," ordered Valarie.

The two speedsters of the team raced off. The commanders of the Stuart and Puma knew precisely where to go, a spot that has been carefully curated by Valarie with Buchanan's input. More than ideal to spot targets and be an overall nuisance. Thanks to their machines' incredible speeds, they reached their destination in no time. The commanders of each vehicle were scanning the environment.

"Hey...uh, Nomad? Got anything?"

"No. Nothing."

Both of them remain vigilant. Minutes went by with only their engines' idling preventing total silence from ushering in. The pair would've dozed off when they then caught sight of figures popping over the horizon.

"Wait...I got something, yeah! That's them!" exclaimed Mia.

At a distance of 4000 meters, they have spotted the enemy team. They were driving at an angle where they were closing in, but the direction they were heading was away from Hill 'X-Ray'. Mia clutched the radio.

"Oasis, we have visual. We're going to reel them in now."

"Copy, we're ready."

Mia looked at her crew.

"Showtime!" she said with a big smile.

Without hesitation, Olivia quickly and effortlessly loaded an AP round. They waited for another minute for the opposition to drive closer to get more accurate shots. But they can't get too close, now. In unison, both vehicles fired the first shots of the day. One shot sailed over one of the forward Crusaders while another landed just in front of a Sherman, showering the tank with a cloud of dust. The enemy team was aware of their presence and now all turned toward their harassers. More shells were flung down range but results woefully varied. At this distance, the 37mm of the Stuart was ineffective. Any hits were just bouncing off the hulls of vehicles. Their lives became more difficult when the enemy team reformed, and the more armored Shermans moved forward to protect their Crusaders.

"Hold on...hold on...," said the Puma's gunner, Iris.

She had spotted a gap in the enemy's formation. At the squeeze of the trigger, a 50mm round flew from the barrel, across the scorched land, and was firmly planted on an exposed Crusader, the tank coming to a halt, immobilized.

"Yes! Yes! Got 'em!" she cheered.

"We got ourselves a little sniper, eh?" Aurora complimented.

A barrage of return fire racketed the area around them. No hits, but that was too close for comfort.

"We've overstayed our welcome. Off to 'X-Ray'!" Mia exclaimed.

The Stuart and Puma drove off to their next objective. All the while, their turrets were turned to their rear and were firing incessantly at the enemy. Lacking stabilizers or any other technology standard on modern main battle tanks, their shots were all over the place. Their goal, however, was not to eliminate enemy tanks, though taking that Crusader down was a welcome surprise. They are firing to harass and make the enemy follow them. So far, the plan was going perfectly.