Welcome, cadet. As usual, your mission is simple, but far from easy. Find the password buried somewhere in the vast expanse of cyberspace. You will have subtle hints to guide you, but you'll need to use your head to discern how to interpret them. Should you do so quickly, crystal prizes may be at your disposal. Values are listed below. 1st: 49,000 2nd: 36,000 3rd: 25,000 4th: 16,000 5th: 9,000 When you have found the alleged password, submit it to the proper form. Nothing should be taken for face value upon first inspection. While it may seem oxymoronic, be prepared to be caught off guard. You're already losing time. Get going, cadet. The password has been confirmed to consist of five characters: #1,#2, #3, #4 and #5. All of these correspond to an English letter, and when combined, form an English word. This is as far as our esteemed digital recovery team can ascertain. However, they have decrypted a likewise total of five links, each likely containing the path to a character. There is no specific order necessary to scanning through them, as you can choose which link to challenge first. Whatever you do, however, be sure to do it quickly. DECRYPTED LINK α DECRYPTED LINK β DECRYPTED LINK γ DECRYPTED LINK δ DECRYPTED LINK ε

Revised for both Thunder and Smoky's descriptions. The Turrets section has also been transformed slightly to accommodate for this information. I was considering bringing up the idea of a series of graph systems for each weapon, and this seems like it would be a good outlet for it. I'll see if I can organize something over the course of the next month or so. For #1, those values are how much damage a shot deals at the end of the minimum range. They describe the minimum percentage limit of damage a Twins projectile deals at that range before dying out. Essentially, you will never fire a Twins bullet and deal anything less than 10% of its total damage. As for #2, I'm not sure I fully understand what you're stating. Is the name Splash Damage listed over something that should not be listed as Splash Damage, or should something be named Splash Damage that isn't named Splash Damage?

Range of max damage (m) — distance at which the turret deals highest maximum and minimum damage statistics. If the distance is greater than the max damage range, the damage for both congruently decrease until the minimum damage range is reached. Range of min damage (m) — distance at which the turret's damage stops decreasing. If the distance to the target is greater, damage will be dealt according to "weak damage" parameter. Here are the revised descriptions of the Wiki's Smoky section. Hopefully, these do a better job of describing how the damage decreases from the maximum range.

29,582. How is this still going?

Maximum, minimum, and all in-between statistics are indeed correct. Likewise, critical damage should also have a congruent 9-10% increase in relation to the maximum damage statistic at that range. (Say, after weak damage range, M0 Smoky would deal 14 damage maximum, whereas a critical hit from that range should deal 24 damage.)

The reason that you're having difficulty achieving maximum damage is because, as far as tests I've constructed have concluded, that the minimum and maximum damage values (in your case, 140 - 220) are determined randomly based on a bell curve. In accordance to the 69-95-99.7 rule, this means that shots will more often deal damage from the middle of the spectrum (floating around 180) than from the ends of the spectrum, i.e. the minimum and maximum ranges. This being the case, the chances of you doling maximum damage are about 0.3%. The minimum and maximum damage stats are not drawn on a basis of range at all; rather, the random bell curve distribution is responsible. The maximum and minimum damage range stats are responsible for the decline of power. Even so, no matter how far away you are from the target, the damage stats will always remain congruent percentage-wise with one another. All right, first of all, ease up on the font in the future, please. Secondly, I believe you misread the page. That would be 30 damage per tick, or half second. That's 60 damage there, which seems like a more reasonable number. However, I'm not certain of the damage statistics in game, I'll test them myself in a moment. They should be in accordance with the Wiki, and I don't remember any changes made to Firebird's afterburn effect after the global statistics update.

Sorry to disappoint, but I've already constructed a list for the Pro's Advice column prior to the series' revelation. You won't have to wait too long for Thunder, though, it happens to be near the top of the queue.

Pro's Advice #1: Swinging your Hull Pro's Advice #2: Controlling your Hull in Format Battles Once again, the series returns with another breakdown of collective tidbits, with Arakelyan back in the game and revealing the critical but often overlooked aspect of a weapon's impact force; more specifically, utilizing said impact force to send an opponent's aim astray. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jewXUVtzjm8&index=3&list=PLoGHE_kS3ppNjijtBsuSuGJGYvc-5Ye5R The Basics Ultimately, impact force in Tanki Online is the result of a shell or projectile coming into contact with another player's tank. Depending on the variety of projectile launched, the impact force can involuntarily shift a tank in the direction the projectile was moving. "Every action has an equal and opposite reaction." That's just basic Newtonian physics for you. If you're a clever player, you've already figured out how to use this equal and opposite reaction to help prevent players with high DPS (damage per shot) weaponry from effectively targeting you and your team. In order to effectively use impact force as a deterrent, we must first understand where it's most effectively used in a given situation. On a flat surface with a wide range of space (i.e. Berlin, Dusseldorf, most segments of Monte Carlo), the most effective technique to evade a shot would be to fire at the corners of their war machine. Since auto-aim can sometimes counteract the rise of the tank when taking a shot through the lengthwise portion of its body, it would be best to eliminate the factor entirely and cause them to unleash a shot in a direction away from you. However, when a tank's side is exposed at you as they're preparing a shot, try and hit their turret dead-center, making sure to swing your hull upwards if you can. (Hull swinging is explained in detail in Pro's Advice #1, listed in the roster above.) When fighting an enemy from a lower altitude than where they stand, it might become more applicable to use your impact force to throw their aim upwards as well. Most auto-aim ranges can't reach a player when the distance from the player is less than or equal to double the altitude difference when staying still, and this inaccessibility range is still usually only halved when the higher player swings their hull downwards. (You can check the individual downward auto-aim statistics in the Tanki Online Wiki under each turret's statistics page.) Their problem is only heightened when they're being buffeted from below by a Twins or Ricochet, weapons that both can keep a suppressing stream of bullets pushing the underside of the hull or the turret upwards. Conversely, this same tactic does not work as well for a player that uses their impact force to throw off another tank's aim from above, as the force is directed through the tank and into the ground beneath them. The ground, being an immovable object, will act as a buffer for the tank and greatly reduce the effectiveness of the shift, which means they're more likely to punch holes in you. However, strangely enough, a weapon with high, concentrated impact force, such as Shaft or Railgun, can actually cause the tank to bounce slightly from the ground, and, if they fire a turret with decent recoil, could wind up on their side or even go full circle and flip themselves over. It's evident that DPS-class weapons are far more threatened by the idea of missing than CDR-class (cumulative damage rate) weapons, or weapons that deal small bits of damage at a rapid rate (i.e. Firebird, Freeze, Isida, Twins, Vulcan). If a DPS-class weapon misses their shot, they're losing an opportunity to deal that much more damage to a potential target. Railgun is probably the most susceptible to this problem, since even Shaft has arcade mode to fall back on if they miss their shot, and both Thunder and Hammer reload quicker. Despite what Arakelyan says, in some cases, impact force versus a CDR based weapon is not as useless as it seems. Granted, it'll be easy for a player with one of those weapons to readjust their aim, but if you're skilled at driving in reverse and shooting, you can potentially outspeed a player of the same hull by using your impact force to knock them off course. Granted, it's a trivial distance most times, only a meter or two gained in the best of situations, but it can occasionally be enough to avoid maximum damage from Firebird and even dodge Isida entirely. Freeze, if it catches you, will slow you down to the point where escape is impossible, and Vulcan's aim cannot be placed elsewhere by anyone but the user. (Again, though, it's still effective for messing with their driving, which means there's a chance you could force them to get hung up on a wall or some other obtrusive polygon to escape.) What's Changed Since The same change in weight and auto-aim has also affected the impact force of each turret, most of them losing much ground that was required to flip an opponent. Most flips occur when a player fires immediately after being broadsided by a projectile with lots of power behind it, no longer capable of upending a vehicle on their own accord. All of these tactics have stayed in effect after the updates, though. Smoky's alteration has made it the ultimate anti-DPS weapon, seconded only to Hammer with a full clip. A quick and consistent reload under two seconds, a concentrated point of contact, and enough impact force to shift a Titan of the same modification a respectable number of degrees are an effective counter to a match full of Railguns, Thunders and Shafts. Admittedly, not far too much has changed since the production of Arakelyan's video to negate the information therein. In A Nutshell Target the corners of the hull when you can, as to decrease the likelihood of being struck yourself. When fighting from below, stay within double the distance of the altitude difference between you and your target. When running from a CDR weapon-user, use your impact force to force their vehicle into a wall. Have any extra suggestions as to how to maximize the usefulness of impact force? Feel free to leave a post explaining how below! Next month, we won't be straying too far from the subject of DPS weaponry, so if you're interested, keep your eyes peeled for Issue 60. .

= ATTENTION! = Players that have not answered Q2 and Q3 correctly the first time will have a second chance to answer them correctly, as there were not enough correct responses for them respectively. The contest will end when all five placement slots are filled by separate players, but only one extra chance will be given to those that have not responded. Any player that has not already answered these questions will have one attempt.

Read Part I Here Read Part II Here Read Part III Here Read Part IV Here Read Part V Here Read Part VI Here Read Part VII Here Read Part VIII Here Read Part IX Here NickNackPattyWaack's Hornet M1 instantly crumpled under the kinetic force projected by my Railgun blast, the electric-blue line spiking directly through its core and forcing the machine to discard a uniform blue flag. "Uno, the flag is down! Go for it!" My splotched green Hunter was on the edge of the red team's base, leaning from its relative cover behind one of the concrete jersey barriers that were such commonplace to Monte Carlo. My last shot had felled the leader of the opposing clan Stealth 360, whom was on the verge of slipping into the cover of the far rear alley. In a matter of seconds, a zebra striped Hornet/Firebird floated on-scene, returning our flag with a quick brandish of the front of her hull. someoneuno is hard on the trail as usual, I thought, bemused. It's only a matter of time before that Thunder finds her, though. From the limits of my precarious lookout, I scanned the raised concrete labyrinth for ComeAtMeBro14, the only Shaft our humble clan had available. On cue, his tank reappeared back on our side within a second, the oblong turret already twisting aside to face our adversaries, the accompanying Hornet roving eastbound to find an advantageous sniping position; specifically, one covering the sloping ramp behind the red flag, where a pair of dark Viking/Thunders and an M0 Wasp/Railgun were taking cover, their various positions bringing errant thoughts of WWI trench warfare to my mind. Back on our side, AR12GAMING was still crammed in the back by our flag, his steely grey Titan an impermeable barrier between trespassers and our flag harbor. Potatoe10937's petite M1 BP machine was twitching spasmodically behind him, a forest green mouse sleuthing for any intruders that dare trespass on our side. T3chio was carting himself busily about the duo in his metallic Wasp/Isida of mixed modification levels, fulfilling his role by keeping every defender at maximum health. My Railgun was nearly fully charged once more, so I turned my eye back to the ramp where the Vikings were hiding. "Germ, there's a pair of Vikings on the ramp by the flag. If Tater, Bro and I could finish them off, it'll give you and uno enough wiggle room to swipe their flag." The leader of Tanki Brethren, AllTimeGerman99, responded in a hurried fashion, his western cadence transforming his speech into a jabber that was slightly more difficult to understand. "Yea, go 'head, 'm spawning in now." Potatoe10937 wasted no time in responding with a quick 'yeah', while I remained silent, bouncing my driving fingers over the forward and reverse controls. Before I prepared to pop back out of my hiding spot, I witnessed the Forester M1 Wasp already commence dashing pell-mell across his side of the arena, the end of his Railgun just barely poking out of the walls he passed. The coal-black Wasp on the red flag's home ramp was beginning to move to the surface platforms, his own turret rotation patterns mimicking my partner's. Now's your chance. With a tap of the Spacebar and a finger crushing the reverse key, I was already moving out of cover, a round cooking in my now luminescent barrel waiting to bore a hole through my new target. To my disappointment, however, the strike had failed to impact the end of his hull that I was targeting by a considerable distance. My ally, however, did not miss. Potatoe10937's shot, crossing my vision like a comet, hit true through the opposing Wasp's left set of treads, causing the shadowy vehicle to wobble dangerously under its own momentum. The owner of the craft was not ready to go down easily, however; it was apparent that he intended to grapple with the in-game physics to the fullest of his extent, yanking his treads to the left to maintain an odd stargazing pose on the ramp, desperate not to careen off of the edge. Another chance began to regenerate pixel by pixel within the yellow bar hovering behind my tank. Seeing another opportunity to gain some ground, I decided to abandon my post and take shelter on the far side of an adjacent stone peak. If I remember correctly, this spot in particular, has a Double Power station nearby. An olive green crate with a hazardous yellow and black radioactivity symbol began its descent over my head seconds later, confirming my theory. The Wasp, having finally succumbed to gravity, toppled over the ramp's side, beginning its terrifying plummet to the city below. A pale blue glow emanated from the flailing Railgun during the descent but was quenched shortly thereafter through hitting the self-destruct zone. Guess I won't need to focus on him, after all, I thought, chuckling quietly to myself. Readjusting my position in the wooden library chair, I could see that the Storm-clad Viking/Thunder was on the move to the surface, suffering the full wrath of a surprise visit from someoneuno's M1 Firebird. She never had a chance to finish him, though, before NickNackPattyWaack barreled headlong towards her after phazing through a Tundra clad Freeze/Mammoth during respawn, peppering her hull with a cloud of orchid plasma spheres and ending her spree. I heard AllTimeGerman99's Wasp growl as it rounded the corner that I was previously sheltered behind as I peeked out from behind the obtuse ramp, punching a hole though NickNaackPattyWack's war machine once again. Golly, M1 Rail sure is tough, I contemplated, enjoying the fireworks displayed sponsored by the leader of Tanki Brethren's hull. Glad I bought this thing on sale during Tanki's 5th birthday. AllTimeGerman99's stained copper Wasp, having long since passed my camping position by, leaped with minimal effort over the red base's central peak, unnecessarily picking up a falling N2O crate midflight. I'm sure Germ is, too. The clouded blue Viking had only the time to blast one shot into the Dirty-clad M1 Wasp before he was terminated with a second-long stream of crackling electricity, leaving AllTimeGerman99 scot-free to raise the red battle standard over his head, take a sharp turn onto the nearby ramp, and leap into space. However, the other Thunder/Viking wasn't about to let simply him walk away. The blast from the shell's impact sent my leader tumbling sideways onto the other side of the unbridged void, his compact hull performing a short cartwheel before landing on its skirted side. Fortunately, the center of his weight remained on the platform, but a fair amount of the front tread sets were jutting precariously over the edge of the map. The steel plated M1 Isida atop was twitching and rotating oddly, his overall posture strangely reminding me of a beetle struggling to aright itself. His voice even sounded strained over the connection, as if he was trying to hoist a heavy weight off his shoulders while playing. "I've got the flag, I'm downed by their base on our side. Need some 'elp." The dark M0 Viking had a second left to live before my Double Power-augmented Railgun charge sent bits of it into the stratosphere. Instead of ducking back behind the ramp, however, I let the momentum of my M0 hull carry me back down the path to the central bridge that overshadowed the map. Potatoe10937 was on the move parallel to me on the left, having previously taken shelter behind one of the concrete walls lining our side's forefront lane. All I gotta do is distract them for a moment longer. Then Tater can perform an assist and bring the flag home the rest of the way. A quick turn to the right, and I was facing the width of the massive bridge, both strongholds visible in the peripherals of my screen. If you could call them strongholds, with the severe lack of shielding in a number of areas. Inspecting the furthest reaches of the sparsely armored paths revealed no other living soul, the bridge blocking my view of AllTimeGerman99 and the left base's sparing prop distribution somehow concealing Potatoe10937. Nothing was visibly advancing from the red team's span of land. Disregarding the lack of players, I had completed the turn and was bearing down on the accessway to the central bridge when I was suddenly struck with an ovular orange disc, yanking the rear of my Hunter to the right and causing me to recoil in my seat. Halting and letting my heart skip a beat, I pulled my hull away from the edge of the ramp, wildly thrashing my Railgun in an erratic circle around me before realizing that no green was removed from my health meter. Confused, I commanded my turret to face left, discovering that ComeAtMeBro13 was facing me, the Shaft motionless on its seat. Wha... did he just shoot me? I opened my mouth to protest, but stopped short upon remembering that I was currently in a library. After about half-second of hesitation, I settled for an angry mumble. "Oi, Bro, watch your fire, you almost threw me off the map..." Sounding almost insulted, he responded in full volume, the apparent injury tweaking his voice a quarter-octave higher than usual. "I am watching, but you have someone behind you!" Instinctively, I turned my vehicle around, hull and all, just in time to catch a glimpse of a furious-looking Hunter/Firebird/Lava, currently in the process of struggling to free itself from the far edge of the jersey barrier I was hiding behind not thirty seconds ago. I must have been directly in his line of fire. It was probably right behind me when he decided to shoot. Taking advantage of the half-used lifetime of my Double Power boost to blast the hapless vehicle to smithereens was no difficult task in comparison to letting go of my temporary fury at my teammate. "I'm sorry. Just please... try not to toss me off the edge of a cliff to kill another guy." Rotating my hull to face the bridge once more, I crested the ramp and rediscovered AllTimeGerman99, still lying on his side, twitching the short ranged M1 turret sporadically. Far to my right, his original assailant, the wide black Viking, had respawned once more. Fortunately for both AllTimeGerman99 and I, Thunder user was pinned in place behind a stone outcropping by a clearly visible ComeAtBeBro14, his Shaft pointed true at the edge of the barricade, waiting for a solid opportunity to strike. There's no way he'll be able to attack German from that position, I concluded gleefully. Unless he has suicidal tendencies. On the opposite side of the battlefield, Potatoe10937 was carefully making his way across the open ground between jutting bars of concrete, his weapon carefully trained on the other base. I'll need to cover him until he can grab Germ's flag. From my lofty vantage point, I couldn't see another tank on their upper road taking shelter. A number of other close ranged tanks were clustered on the tilted plane behind the flag post, logically afraid to leave their refuge, lest they suffer a blast from my two long ranged allies. Upon noticing me, they scattered with the instinct of a crowd of discovered ants, the Mammoth/Freeze heading up and over to duck behind a triangular stone peak while a Viking/Isida backed down the ramp in a frantic yet futile effort to escape my firing range. A number of other tanks were visible doing battle with an angry, flame-spewing zebra, pressing forward with unnerving effectiveness despite T3chio's assistance. The coal-black Thunder was not moving from its perch. I quietly relayed my tactical judgements to my hearkening teammates. "Potatoe, go help Germ, I can hold them from up here!" Out of the corner of my eye, on the opposite section of the red base, the black Wasp had returned to the map, moving without haste in my direction as it developed into a tangible form. With only a third of the Double Power charge remaining, I whipped my turret around with dangerous levels of overconfidence and unleashed a round in his direction, only to have it soar harmlessly over his head. I gave the desk beside my computer a soft pound. Blasted altitude differences... Both the Viking/Thunder and Wasp/Railgun had moved out of cover now, the latter developing a pale blue nodule of light near the tip of their turret. I hope they're aimed at me, and not Potatoe. I'll never be fast enough to return that flag. However, it never had a chance to unleash the shell before suffering a crushing blow to the port side of the Railgun itself, a bright orange portal opening the Wasp wide open upon impact, tearing it to pieces. Immediately, the Thunder turned to this new adversary to target him, but his aim was in turn skewed by a cerulean bolt, the explosive shell launched in a direction unknown. I checked my peripheral vision to find Potatoe10937 already on the move, covering the remaining expanse of levitating concrete to his leader. Surprisingly, he only seemed to have suffered splash damage from the deflected shot, judging by the amount of light blue still contained by his health meter. It took but a matter of seconds for the two to transfer the flag, a tap of F and a quick shove of the clan leader into the abyss expediting his return to the team. someoneuno, having spawned by our Double Power drop zone, quickly came to the new flag-holder's aid, as he was quickly losing health due to revenge shots made by the selfsame Thunder. Taking executive action, I managed to clip the end of his Viking as it was ducking for shelter with the last few seconds of my Double Power charge, but the Storm-clad Viking just as quickly took its place and began pummeling me from below, skillfully swinging the front of his hull upwards to strike me. It only took two shots from Asloth for my tank to incinerate itself, but in that time, someoneuno had already stolen the flag from Potatoe10937's corpse, bolting over the central peak through the open portions of the blue side's stronghold similar to an athletic horse conquering hurdles. At this point, I knew we had won the match. She may have suffered an explosive blow to the hindquarters trying to reach the flag spawning point, but it was simply not enough to defy her momentum, especially with T3chio following closely and reconstructing her injured machine with a steady blue current. With a cheerful flick of the Hornet, she slid laterally past a sentinel AR12GAMING with ease and cruised directly over the blue flag's pedestal, causing the red banner raised above her Hornet to vanish and a bright green notification to appear on the top of the screen. 3 - 2. That's game, I realized, a wave of excitement spiking quickly throughout my body as the semitransparent scoreboards obscured the fields immediately after her capture. AllTimeGerman99 could be heard laughing over the Skype channel. "Good work ou' there, all a' you. Nice save there at the end, uno." Someoneuno giggled, a high-pitched trilling sound through my weary headphones. "Thanks, Germ. Wouldn't have made it far without cover from Tater and Sigma, though." The glow of the screen illuminated a grin forming on my face as I input a 'GG' by means of the in-game chat. "Heh. Glad I could be of assistance, then." I digested the events of the match as my team celebrated over the comm, Monte Carlo having reset and scrambled everyone's placements, my particular tank being dumped by the blue team's Double Armor station behind another cracked jersey barrier. Wouldn't have made it that far without cover from Tater and Sigma, though. The words ricocheted inside my skull for a moment, refusing to abate despite the growing activity over my headset. I must've been doing something right if they think I was helpful to the clan. Maybe I don't suck so bad at being a teammate after all... The leaders of each clan were using the chat system in Tanki Online expressly now, discussing something about screenshots and the clan forum pages. takumi12 was whirring his M0 Thunder in his socket whimsically next to me, the Hunter he was using gently rocking back and forth behind an olive green crate adorned with metal sheets. "Wow, Sigma. We actually won. Aren't you excited?" His turret stopped rotating, facing a section of cold, white skybox. I couldn't quite find the words to respond immediately, so I just let my turret's barrel play in the air for a second or so, vibrating back and forth like an antenna attached to a car that was plucked by a mischievous child. "I'm glad we won, taks, yeah. I'm glad I didn't mess anything up badly enough for us to lose, anyways." takumi12's voice, usually at a cheery pitch capable of outclassing a number of birds, sunk to a more deflated tone. "I did everything that Germ told me to do, but I died... a lot. I'm happy we won, too, but I just wish I could have done better." AllTimeGerman99 chimed in. "You performed yer job as best y' could, yeah? Didja try?" "Uh huh. I tried my best." AllTimeGerman99's voice was silenced for a moment, the channel suffering from a mighty ripple of lag. "Seems as though yer best was enough." I nodded in agreement, despite knowing that none were able to witness it. "Clearly." My Railgun had begun to twist in its socket once more through the absentminded taps of my left ring finger, scanning the whitewashed city horizon. Seems as though yer best was enough. AllTimeGerman99's philosophy lingered a bit longer in my head as I exited the battle and flicked open a new tab, entering the URL of Tanki Brethren's clan page through sheer muscle memory to send a rejoice letter of our victory to the page. I must've been doing something right. * * * Sparks from the M3 Railgun's ion trail spat in a uniform wave from the edge of the slate grey cornerstone I had taken cover behind just milliseconds ago. Returning fire, I somehow managed to plant a successful shot almost perfectly through the barrel of LIlsim's turret, its direct impact bringing him dangerously close to capsizing on the eastern ramp from the red flag. Look at you, Carlos Hathcock. I couldn't suppress a hubris-induced grin as I watched a second lavender shot plow through the injured Hornet's rear tread, setting the entire tank on fire. "Watch T3, he's coming up behind you with the flag!" viperf50, whom I assumed to be responsible for the killing blow of LIlsims, had begun shouting over the intercom. My Railgun had only just begun charging not a second ago, so there was little I could do as T3chio, the leader of Tanki Brethren, hoisted himself up and over the ramp out of our territory and onto the central platform, making a beeline for the blue flag holster. As I charged out from behind my cover to intercept him, he swiveled his own M2 Railgun and sent a charge through the front of my hull, skewing my movement path and forcing me to crash headfirst into another angular slate wall, this one blocking my progress to reach the blue flag. "He's about to cap, I don't know how many shots he needs to go down!" As I readjusted my hull to pursue T3chio, a shell only about a second away from being fully loaded, fake02 materialized from behind the adjacent barrier from my peripheral vision. I could only scrabble helplessly to escape the unnecessarily oversized polygon's grip as he launched a bright mauve pike through my engine, effectively ending my assault. While my tank made the traditional visit to the upper troposphere to respawn, I made a brief analysis to myself of the events unfolding in the Sandbox below. fake02 is making his way to our flag spot once again, likely to keep an effective flag train going. MHSxc1 is following close behind along the western wall, ready to pick up where he left off. My clanmates are mainly gathered on the high platform and the right side of the arena, just like we practiced for Form Four. TankiMedic is pressing forward from the front, while viperf50 is taking shelter behind the wooden cabin as a defensive measure. Pokemontrainer2 was nowhere to be found, probably killed off by MHS. Maybe he MHS in the process. I watched the ground swoop gracefully beneath me, ready to be transported to the next randomized spawn-in location. If there's a way to get Medic through unharmed, then maybe I could substitute for Pokes until he returns to the field and assist the flag catcher from the east. If I don't spawn there, I'll just defend as usual and let viper handle the flag instead. I looked at the scoreboard, frowning. We're losing 1:2 now, I concluded grimly, a yellow notification coupled with a blaring horn assaulting my senses. We need to be able to pull this flag out now if we want this form to still be effective. My view panned to the right of the pale flag symbols, allowing me to read the timer. And we've only got five minutes to do it. Readying my fingers to move again, I folded my hands and stretched them until I felt a few satisfying cracks. "Viper, you've got two coming in for the flag, let Medic cover you and try to take 'em down." The trajectory of the camera seemed to be carrying me towards the western side of the arena. Looks like I'll be taking the defensive role again. "I'll target fake, you take on MHS." The ghost of my vehicle was visible now, the duo bearing down on me quickly. "Go!" I was already using the western platform wall as cover, letting MHSxc1's tank keep my XP vehicle a phantom for as long as possible. By the time my tank solidified, my Railgun was already facing aft and preparing to spear an incoming fake02, a dulled blur of various shades of blue sliding across the grass and onto our flag. Now completely behind MHSxc1, a spike of adrenaline sent me into overdrive. With unnecessary pressure applied to the down arrow, I reversed my tank and crashed directly into my twin opponent, effectively holding him in place for viperf50 to expend a round into. His shot cut clean through MHSxc1, pulsing from the gap between our stronghold's closest stone escarpment and the humble wooden house. Shoving the sooty corpse away, I finally had the leverage to attack fake02. I noticed that as I hit the spacebar and wound up my launch mechanism that he, too, was preparing to deliver a punch. For a brief half-second, all we could do is cruise past each other, similar to a pair of galleons circling one another in preparation to dispatch boarding parties. Then the lavender darts found their way to their respective targets, catapulting both fake02 and I in separate directions. I leaned back in my recliner, awestruck. You've got to be kidding me. My tank had completely toppled onto its back, the topaz Hornet's momentum causing it to hurtle itself over completely. fake02, however, was somehow spared this same fate, his hull wobbling nervously on its side, exposing the welded seams holding together its underbelly. I squished the Delete button more times than necessary, a loud dak-dak-dak-dak audibly reverberating over the intercom. fake02, having fully understood his own personal conundrum, was in the process of swiveling his gun into the ground to right himself once more. Then, for a range just beyond my view, someone's Railgun round sent a ripple through the air and blew the salty blue tank sky-high before it managed to land gently on both tracks. As my own tank exploded, I resolved the answer to my question before I even thought to ask it. Pokemontrainer2 whirled around the corner of the platform and past the dirty crater I left behind, his M2 Railgun emitting a smooth whirring sound as the inverted sprocket holding it in place rotated back and forth rapidly, letting him seek out and train his focus upon any targets that dare stand in his path. LIlsims, as I was able to witness from the limbo of respawn, was readying himself behind the northern side of the platform, rocking his M3 Hornet back and forth with the lithe of an anxious wildcat. Pokemontrainer2 must have seen him as well, deciding to reverse midstride and wind his own Hornet within the relative safety of the western ramp entry. Just as he slipped behind the tiny wall, the Legend kit had already broken away from the far wall, loosing a fiery orange bolt in his general direction. A smirk vented a considerable amount of concern as the shot soared far over his head. The location where my tank was reborn didn't permit me to view the fight any longer, since the entire central platform blocked my view of their engagement. Instead, the ghostly vehicle found new life on the southeastern side of the map, where viperf50 had put a dent in MHSxc1's brand new M2 equipment. I scanned the eastern path ahead, but saw no signs of my co-leader. A quick glance to the upper right corner of the screen explained the rest of the story. "Medic, did you hit anyone before you died?" "I finished off T3 and left a mark on sims," he replied, "but fake got me in the end." "Alright, Pokes is by the flag, and I think he won his fight with sims. Head through the middle as you would with Form Two." I was barking orders with the dexterity of an auctioneer at this point. "Viper, stay where you are and watch left, we'll be a lot more vulnerable there. I'll take right and be ready to assist Pokes from there." With that, I thrust my Fracture-coated tank from behind the wall and weaved in a narrow zigzag across the field, sticking close to the central stone table and readying a charge for anyone that should come my way. fake02 had already climbed the short ramp to the upper platform and had a round prepped for me, a feeble but intensifying purple dot at the end of his Railgun. Instinctively, I took a sharp left and slammed painfully into the wall in a successful attempt to dodge his shot, the bullet discharging the last of its momentum into the sheet of concrete. My Hornet's engine protested vehemently with a series of angry growls as I revved away from the wall, a low hum only adding to the cacophony when I began charging a retaliation shot. To my surprise, instead of being buckled sideways, he erupted into a ball of heat and metal shards. Who hit him? Pokes immediately after waiting for him to respawn? Medic? I didn't break pace to revel in my small victory, speeding across the threshold of the blue camp just as I met up with Pokemontrainer2 once more. He stepped over the enemy flag pedestal and hoisted it high, not slowing down despite taking on the burden of an extra projectile through his Hornet's starboard thread set, courtesy of MHSxc1's more than decent aim. Wow. How didn't he suffer an injury this entire time? A warm balloon started swelling in my chest, and I failed to suppress another smirk. Glad he's on our side. I briefly hunkered down behind the concrete wall for about three seconds before slamming the up arrow and the spacebar simultaneously, my turret seeking vengeance on the opposing topaz machine for its trespass against my clanmate. A second burst of ignited fossil fuels appeased my weapon's wrath for the moment, along with my own. After turning about to take a circumspective intake of my surroundings, I discovered that viperf50 was no longer at his post, and that T3chio was nowhere to be seen. Flab. Someone needs to cover Pokes. "Medic, watch for T3, he's likely headed your way." TankiMedic seemed slightly antagonized by my warning. "Yeah, I know, he's here right now." [T3chio has taken our flag] Fantastic, I nearly growled aloud to myself. Hopefully, Pokes isn't directly in his line of sight. LIlsims popped into life directly next to me, already trying to plant the ghost of himself inside of my tank. Refusing to succumb and let him gain several more seconds of invincibility, I frantically threw my Hornet wide from the point, bouncing between the up and down arrows at random, my left forefinger barely applying pressure to the spacebar in anticipation. Either he's going to be able to catch me off guard with an immediate shot, or he's going to somehow spawn beneath me and flip me over. I need to get rid of him NOW. In a redoubled effort to shake him loose, I feigned rearing my Hornet back up the ramp to slide behind the slate barrier to the right, but halfway up the ramp, I changed course and readied the magnetic shuck for launch. LIlsims flawlessly finished the climb up the ramp, looking straight down the glowing barrel of my M2 Railgun. Immediately, he tried to weave behind the same barrier and charge his own shot, but it was too late for him to dodge the round moving towards him at many times the speed of sound. Clipping the face of his turret, his entire tank leaned sideways, the sunset glow from the end of his Railgun arcing skywards. Somewhere in the skybox, a cloud suffered a fatal blow, but at the cost of LIlsims capsizing thanks to his own recoil. Just as the remainder of his turret vanished beneath the surface of the map, a wave of notifications swept the words lining the corner of the screen upwards all at once. [T3chio has lost our flag] [Pokemontrainer2 destroyed T3chio] [TankiMedic has returned our flag] [Pokemontrainer2 has captured enemy flag] We're tied now, I observed upon a brief glance at the lower right portion of the monitor, slightly blurred by a small accumulation of dust particles. 2:2, and we've got exactly three minutes and forty one seconds to pull a rabbit out of our hats. If I can take back this flag safely, we can defend until time runs out. I felt my heart thudding in my chest, its rhythm fueled by the consistent waves of electricity pulsing across my nervous system as I backed over the steely pedestal and collected the blue banner. My heart rate only increased as I watched first fake02, a dull blue cloud in my spinning vision, then MHSxc1 appear side by side, only a crate length away from the flag pedestal each. On the verge of panic, I reversed my Hornet away from impending doom as fast as I could, nervously swinging my hull side to side to the point where I was inducing a controlled fishtail with the front of my tank. My next round had not yet loaded. Hurry up... they're going to spawn any millisecond... There was nothing I could do to prevent MHSxc1 from wheeling from behind the platform and jettisoning a shot directly through my core, fake02 following suit shortly thereafter. Within a matter of seconds, the former had already returned the flag, and began taking the eastern path towards ours. His topaz Hornet didn't make it far without suffering a grievous wound from a vengeance strike made by viperf50, however. fake02, as I witnessed during my monitor's simulated flight, did not follow suit behind the topaz machine, but instead turned tail and fled behind the barrier once more. Are they initializing another defense? Medic can't take another hit, and viperf50 isn't going anywhere. Where is Pokes? Returning from respawn once again, I noticed that both LIlsims and T3chio have recovered from their various fates and were already traveling the open ground of the western path, both having clearly spawned near that position. My own random spurn managed to bring me back to the southern ramp, so following my knee jerk reaction, I hammered the up arrow into place and skittishly alternated between the Z and X keys, hunting lustfully for any sign of fake02's Marine coating. Not two seconds later, I found him coasting along the western path's furthest wall, his attention locked firmly in place by the spontaneous appearance of TankiMedic about half a map in front of him. A quick an inexplicable tint of red hazed my vision. I've had enough of you already. I purposefully delivered a solid jab to the front left corner of the tank, skewing his aim satisfyingly far to the right of the oncoming Sandstone blur and forcing him to expend the wrath of a high density, electromagnet-primed charge into the nearest beige cliff. TankiMedic delivered a quickly thanks over the intercom before finishing off the unlucky tanker with a satisfying cloud of flame, then proceeded to turn around and lay siege unto the two new arrivals into base, seemingly unimpeded. A passive glance toward the red camp revealed that viperf50 already seemed to have his hands full with MHSxc1; the pair could be seen looping around the house in the distance, bright lavender glows and the occasional escaping beam betraying that they were locked in a intense battle of prediction. "viper, once you're done with MHS, try and tackle LIlsims, he's got our flag now." "Trying, he's not letting me g-- GOT 'EM!" viperf50 cheered triumphantly as he managed to flick the corner of the enemy vehicle with a bullet on the rightmost border of my screen, effectively ending MHSxc1's chase. Wasting no time, I turned my attention to the blue flag just in time to witness Pokemontrainer2 tackling the podium it stood upon once more. From the headphones, his engine could be heard audibly roaring as he hightailed it out of their base, taking the better sheltered western road once again. This time, there were no other tanks heading his way, but he had apparently suffered a wound in the period that he had disappeared behind the concrete barriers. Déjà vu. Hopefully it'll occur the same way it did last time. "Shed, I missed sims, he's two shots!" TankiMedic was shouting over the channel over an artificial explosion on his end. Not like last time at all, I reflected, an icy finger starting to trail its way down my spine. I whirled around on the spot only to find myself staring straight down into his barrel, the sun burning brightly in its core. Before I could react, the concentrated force of a semitrailer smacked directly into the faceplate of my Railgun, the initial jerk lifting the front of my Hornet to the digital sky and shattering four-fifths of my health bar. A spasm reverberated through my body, that familiar plucked-guitar-string tension testing its strength. I can't recover from this position fast enough, I realized, panic beginning to feed and expand the urchin in my stomach once more. And I still haven't let off a shot. Something raw and instinctive compelled me to rotate my turret 180° degrees from the left around on my still suspended hull. LIlsims, instead of deciding to try and plow through my uplifted hull, began to swing his hull about and rove around me from the left side. My eyes widened as I saw my opportunity, and I didn't hesitate for a millisecond to smack my laptop's Spacebar, quickly followed by a series of rapid taps of my middle finger. The events that occurred next only came to me as a multichromatic blur. I saw a bright purple flash. The world around me began to spin crazily, the only item staying even remotely steady being my own tank. Even the Fracture-clad machine still took on a warped appearance as the brick water tower, previously standing sentinel with the red flag pedestal in its shadow, suddenly decided to start orbiting around me with the frenzied nature of an agitated honeybee. Someone shouted in surprise over Skype, but I couldn't focus on it properly. Crimson nametags whizzed in and out of my vision as I revolved on whatever axis I somehow still stood upon. After a few seconds, my Hornet stopped pirouetting, having tired the last of its momentum, and promptly collapsed flat on its right side to rest. Stunned, I scanned the world around me, trying to discern exactly what happened. Did I hit him? The numb thought bounced off of my brain like a tennis ball from a slanted slate roof, only the blink of a suggestion at first, but eventually succumbing to its own gravity and pressing for closure as I reoriented myself. Unable to use Z and X to effectively to view my surroundings, I settled for a rightward turret position for a quick arightening, but my hopes were immediately dashed by a tangerine bolt forcing its way through whatever HP I had remaining. I took a brief moment to let the loose adrenaline valve in my system tighten itself as I respawned, letting coherent thoughts control my mind over instinctive responses. Alright, so if I hit him, sims should be a one shot, but there'll be a number of people ready to cover him, since fake02 should be respawning by now, and MHS should be well on his way. A quick glance at the central ramp confirmed my thoughts, with fake02 already wriggling his way onto the central platform and MHSxc1 appearing in the corner closest to the blue flag. On my descent, I begun to assume he had suffered a brief lag spike, as his ghostly XP equipment began performing an odd series of hops in mid-air before crashing back down to earth, zipping at unnatural speeds headfirst into the cliff beside him. He immediately suffered a peck from an overzealous viperf50, whom in return picked up a decimating blow from T3chio. In the time of my absence, he had made himself a comfortable home alongside the western path's wall. It took me minimal effort to likewise finish him off after spawning in, a careless shot cutting through his beige and green tank like a hot knife through butter. Pokemontrainer2 finally revealed himself from behind the wooden shack, the blue banner raised high and proud atop his turret. He carved a path through the grass and dropped the flag in front of me, then set off to the central platform to find a vantage point. Accepting the new responsibilities I had just been granted, I hoisted the flag and pressed my citrine machine against the wall of the red base and took into mind what was beginning to take place. I have the blue flag. LIlsims has the red flag. We're tied on points. I took a quick peek at the timer. We've got just less than two minutes left in the match and counting. It looks like this is going to be a stalling match. I patiently rocked my hull back and forth along the wall, focusing on the Q and E keys to find a vantage point to view the field from. "What's the situation over there look like? I don't see anyone." Occasionally, TankiMedic's glowing nametag would appear in the general area behind one of the looming billboards, but I couldn't quite get a bead on where his tank was. TankiMedic had to holler over a series of in-game notifications that indicated that our flag traded hands between members of Tanki Brethren. "MHS has the flag now. Sims and fake are headed your way." I raised an eyebrow in surprise, then proceeded to swiftly back away from the wall and bullseye fake02, of whom managed to get caught on the western ramp's corner. Why would he give the flag to someone with low health? What's he playing at? On cue, a bright blue and purple flash of his paint betrayed his position upon his pass of the eastern ramp's entrance. My eyes widening, I revved to the western path as quickly as my XP combo could carry me, barely slipping behind the shelter of the corner just as LIlsims barreled around his own and threw an orange javelin where I was idling a second ago. I readied myself to launch a retaliation shot, but quickly realized it would be impossible to accomplish with only three-fourths of a full charge. By the time the spacebar did more than make a loud tapping noise when I pressed it, he was already long since behind cover. Roving out from behind my wall, I switched targets midcharge and ended the life of fake02, still lingering on the upper platform for whatever reason. LIlsims, apparently realizing he gained an advantage, used the time that I couldn't fire at him to beeline to my hiding spot by stampeding through the red base itself. A lavender ion trail tore through me from behind, stealing a large portion of my health bar. My confidence in my survival similarly plummeted, hitting the bottom of my expectations with a sickening crash. Unfortunately for LIlsims, however, viperf50 had just spawned by the wooden shack behind him, chuckling over his headset. The hapless M3 tanker was never expecting a thing as he was readying to cripple me with another round. However, the feeble yellow dot disappeared in a bright orange cloud the instant it was born, the remaining scraps of metal following their original path of momentum and letting the once beautiful machine tumble violently. It eventually ground to a screeching halt at my titanium plated bow. If I could have pumped my fist into the air at that moment, I would have, but I restrained myself in remembrance of the unseen opponent poking holes in my back. Instead, I coiled myself back around the mangled metal corpse to the safety of the water tower's shadow once more, peeking from behind the structure in an attempt to lock on to my previous assailant. A dash of red and gold hovered just above the opposing platform before being lost to sight behind a slate grey cornerstone. He came out of hiding with the flag to shoot me, despite being very low on health. Not sure if that's a sign of bravado or foolishness. Itching to get back into the fight, I marched my Hornet directly up to viperf50 and deposited the flag onto the ground in front of him with a simple tap of the F key. "I'm gonna go try and take out MHS, do what you can to hold onto this thing." Not looking back to see if he noticed the banner immediately, I switched my orientation about and tossed my machine back up the southern ramp, barreling madly in the last visible location of MHSxc1. With a few concise taps on the keyboard to adjust the camera altitude, I confirmed that he was indeed still resting on the far side of the slate wall, apparently waiting for a magnetic shell to finish loading before he proceeded with his assault. I barely had time to so much as wave the end of my barrel at him, however, before I was caught off guard by both a lavender and a sunset orange ion trail crisscrossing before my vision, eradicating the remains of my proud machine. Good thing I had the foresight to drop off the flag with viper. While I was hovering in limbo, however, I felt uneasy about viperf50's positioning behind the house. Where's T3? I scanned the field nervously, but I couldn't find his Savannah-clad Hornet anywhere. Blast that paint. With my graphics, it'll be impossible to see him from a distance... As my last chance at catching a glimpse of T3chio died with my return to Earth, I sighed quietly to myself. They should ban that paint from eSports in general or something, I thought sullenly. On the eastern path, LIlsims was visibly barreling down as quickly as he could onto viperf50's hiding spot, his M3 Hornet carrying him dangerously quick across the dirt and grass textures. TankiMedic, having apparently died in the battle beyond me, suddenly spawned into existence to the left of the empty bubble of space where I was waiting to appear. Not even waiting for the game to drop him into the arena properly, he was already charging madly towards the dark brown building, the Railgun bolted atop the oblong machine twitching frantically as it sought for its glistening Spark brother. As my engine finally roared to life after leaving the mysterious medium of limbo, I felt an odd sensation in the core of my stomach. The electricity that normally ricocheted through my nervous system started pulsating faster than usual. My keystrokes each echoed in my ear for a long time after striking them, the aftermath of holding one leaving a slight indent on my finger. A tiny bead of sweat, previously threatening to push itself from my skin due to the overcompensating warmth of the house's heater, found its way out of the left side of my temple and started forcing a shaky trail down my forehead. We agreed to not have micro upgrades on, right...? LIlsims' Railgun was whirring oddly fast in an attempt to track my Tundra coated comrade. Something's wrong here. My stomach contracted violently as I realized what was about to happen. "Viper, get away from the wall! Move to Medic!!" I howled over the Skype channel, hoping it would be enough. LIlsims was officially within spitting distance to the building now, Medic's shot having missed and my opportunity to loose one thwarted by the presence of the impenetrable cabin. Please let me be wrong, I prayed silently. viperf50, under the fierce pressure of LIlsim's hull ramming full power into viperf50's side, was intemperately slammed into the cliff behind him, the shell he was preparing to launch shifting dramatically to discharge into the building. The recoil of his launch only pushed his tank sideways and forced the topside portion of his machine into the cliff face. I could only watch in horror as a bright orange blade decapitated my clanmate, shattering every last red pixel in his health bar and depositing the flag amongst the wreckage directly on top of LIlsims. Read Epilogue Here .

Edited. Thank you.

It takes only ten seconds to self-destruct after hitting Delete, yes. However, this does not accurately reflect the time that the player is incapacitated. The player realized they are flipped, and press Delete. (1 - 2 sec) The player self-destructs. (10 sec) The player's corpse lies on the field after exploding. (4 sec) The camera swings around to the next spawn location. (3 sec) The player spawns into the game, sporting brief intangibility. (3 - 4 sec) Potential total elapsed time: 21 - 23 seconds.

The developers have had issues with bugs corrupting the kit section before. Remember the last update that added Domino and Watercolor to the game? I think maybe their programs need a bit of touch-up, is all.

Thanks to an unfortunate series of time restraints and my sadistic cliffhanger prolonging nature, the finale for Between Tabs will not be out this month, but in the following [issue 58]. See you then.

There's been word recently on a new tournament series coming up shortly, and I know you're all interested to see what the eSport developers are hammering away at this time around. I decided to start an interview with two well known Tanki Online eSports organization members, joostcool and GeneralVeers, to dig up some information beforehand. Shedinja: Howdy, folks, and thanks for taking the time to be part in this interview. For starters, do y'all have an idea as to what inspired the creation of this new tournament? GeneralVeers: We saw the German and Russian communities having events of their own, and we wanted something for our community. That, in addition to, the considerable outpouring/criticism from our own community for our lack of what appeared to be willingness/ability to create something for them. It has taken a large amount of efforts on our part, in combination with the co-operation of the Home office to finally make this become a reality. joostcool: There are many aspects to the answer of this question. "Community need" is a known aspect. Players/clans simply need to have tournament to keep their Tanki-life active and fun. But there are also aspects with more depths: we, for one, recognized the issues with the division of clans in their respective tiers. We are aiming to fix the division to a fair league system. Another aspect is that people say eSports is dead. We are hoping to continue having tournaments 'to bring it back to life'. Shedinja: Alright, so in a nutshell, this was conjured to bring something new to the table, then. So this new tournament, what would it be called? GeneralVeers: Well firstly, I wouldn’t say conjured, It was created by some really amazing and creative people on our team over a number of weeks. Careful thought was given to what would and wouldn’t work. Formats, equipment balancing, you name it, they considered it all. and there was much discussion and opinions considered to bringing us the “Tankionline Domination Series.” joostcool: It is in fact going to be 2 tournaments. One called Domination Series Elite, the other called Domination Series Junior. Shedinja: Of course; I understand that for every important event in Tanki Online, there's always a team of hardworking and dedicated volunteers spending countless hours perfecting each aspect. Respect to all of you for taking the time for each and every one of these. Speaking of aspects, is there something special about these tourneys (besides that bit of a plot twist, having two instead of one) that hasn't been seen in others? joostcool: Yes, we have multiple formats in the tournament. I can't however promise whether this stays the same. The formats were discussed before we even knew there was going to be a reworking of the hulls, so we'll have to work on that. Shedinja: The new updates are throwing everyone for a loop, I suppose it would affect the creation of tournaments and such as well. What would be the target audience for these new competitions? joostcool: The target audience for the tournaments are ranging from 1st lieutenant to Marshal for the junior version and from Major to Generalissimo for the Elite version. The biggest distinction between those tournaments is that the junior tournament was created for M2 equipment only and Elite was created for M3 equipment only. Shedinja: From appearances, it seems this new contest group was designed for inclusive purposes, and I'm sure the mid-ranking community would really appreciate that as well as the high-ranking. Are there dates for each tournaments already set in stone? joostcool: As announced we will start registering clans starting on Thurdsay, October 20th to Monday, October 24th. After the closure of the registrations we take a couple of days to process all the applications and start after that. The tournaments will run simultaneously from that point. There is no set date yet, but you can expect it to the end of next week. Shedinja: Doesn't seem like a huge time frame for players to work with, but it'll be effective in weeding out the unprepared. Speaking of preparation, what do y'all think that this new style of tournament is going to set the stage for? What groundwork does it lay for future contests and the like? joostcool: This tournament will lay a huge groundwork for future contests and tournaments. Based on this tournament we will restructure the entire clan section. Currently, we have 3 different tiers which are based on date of creation. That has nothing sporty in it. So the future of all clans will be determined by what position you finish on in this tournament because you'll be moved to different tiers. That means this tournament is really important for future events that we're planning for all clans! I myself would aim to have tier/league based tournaments with obviously the higher tier or league you are in, the bigger the prizes and the bigger the fame. However, it's not just me in the eSports team. Shedinja: This set of tournaments sounds like they're going to be game-changers in the most literal sense, aye. Indeed, the suggestion of tiered tournaments seems like an astute one, and would make sense from a logical class standpoint. One last question, this one directed towards the subject of players: what advice for taking part in this tournament and others in the future would you grant? joostcool: For this tournament: Prepare very well. This tournament is extremely important for your future and the prizes will be huge. If you planned on playing on eSports, this is where you can get a jumpstart! Much appreciation towards the two renowned eSports workers for their description of the critical tournaments. To the readers... well, it's already been stated: the Domination Series are a turning point for the eSports communities; don't miss an opportunity to sign up today of you're interested! .

Greetings, cadets. Welcome to the combat simulation facility referred to as the "War Room". Here, tankers are given a series of questions that are applicable situationally across the battlefield. These questions may vary in subject, but they will stay revolving about the main topic of Tanki's combat mechanics. Good grades and quick response times are rewarded well; each question answered correctly will potentially earn a player crystals, but they must be quick to discover the answer and submit it before their peers. For example: Question 0 1st: 15 000 2nd: 12 000 3rd: 9 000 4th: 6 000 5th: 4 000 When they are finished conjuring their results, tankers submit them properly through the response bars following each question. If you wish for success in the academy to be somewhere in your future, I suggest following suit and heeding the hyperlinks. Only the quickest and most persistent of their class will be able to achieve fruition from their results. However, it would be wise to check your work -- an incorrect answer, regardless of how quickly it is submitted, will not accrue credit or crystals. So, cadet. Are you up to the challenge? Then proceed.

Alright, I know I'm not the only one curious by a long shot, and I have a hunch that I know the answer, but just for total peace of mind: is the removal of kits from the kit section permanent? If so, it's now just a redundant slot that takes up data and space. The one lonely "100 supplies kit" could be shunted into the Special or even Supplies category if the removal of the Kits section is indeed a permanent one.

In the previous V-Logs, players of uncontested skill and mettle granted us humble players some excellent advice and insight into ways we can increase our chances of success in battle. In the first of these, one clever player by the name of Arakelyan delved into the topic of how to utilize your hull to hit players from angles that auto-aim can't quite reach. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jLuhltwN-Wc&list=PLoGHE_kS3ppNjijtBsuSuGJGYvc-5Ye5R&index=1 The Basics The main focus of this video is on a turret's auto-aim statistic, or how much the turret's projectile will divert upwards, downwards, left, or right when there is a target in range. This means that instead of around staying true to its trajectory from launch to impact (and potentially missing the tank by a few pixels), it may be shot to hit a tank within the given auto-aim zone of that weapon. For example, Railgun, instead of firing a direct shot that always takes a ramrod straight path from the barrel, the shell may divert a few degrees to hit an opponent within that auto-aim range. This is demonstrated during 0:06 - 0:19 of the video, and in PX1 and PX2 below. Understanding how to swing, or rock your hull, can easily double or even triple this range, but whether the shot impacts or not depends on which angle you fire the shot from. If you're moving forward and suddenly reverse quickly, your tank will tilt itself forward, allowing you to shoot downwards to an extent. Likewise, driving backwards and abruptly thrusting forward will force your machine to lean backwards, letting you fire at positions higher than average. Arakelyan displays excellent examples of this during 0:15 - 0:24. This is best attempted when your tank's turret is aimed towards the front or rear of the hull, while angles perpendicular to that of the tank's treads, such as immediately left or right, will grant almost no angle change. This is due to a combination of the turret's placement on the hull and the method that the hull tilts. Since the axis of revolution, or where the machine tilts when swinging, cuts through both tank's treads near the center (as denoted in PX3 below; this is the same for all hulls), the angle of elevation of the front and back of the tank are going to experience the greatest change, of which gradually decreases to zero upon rotating the turret parallel to the axis of rotation. With most hulls harboring a centered turret slot, this means that a shot fired from a left or right facing weapon will not acquire an altitude change of any kind. Wasp, Dictator, and other likewise hulls are somewhat exempt, having a non-centered turret slot. Besides using the swing method to target enemies at higher or lower altitudes, you can also use it to throw off the aim of DPS (damage per shot) weapons like Thunder, Hammer, Railgun, and Shaft, so long as you are also using a weapon with respectable impact force. Since these weapons rely on impeccable aiming to deal any damage, albeit in large amounts at once, being able to knock off their aim is probably one of the most valuable skills a player can acquire. When firing from a higher or lower playing field towards your opponent through swinging your hull, your turret's auto-aim will lock onto either the top of their turret or hull and knock them sideways, forcing them to tilt away from you and ensuring they will not be able to attack you for a moment. The impact is far more significant from heights or valleys than when received from a level field, thanks to differences in the trajectory of the shell. It's not quite rocket science, but both do involve basic laws of physics involving thrust and angle. Rockets have a propulsion system on the bottom for catapulting themselves into space because they need thrust from the opposite direction to move in the direction they want to go. Likewise, a player hitting another with a strong impact projectile from below or above is going to throw them off-course more than if the playing field were level. This is thanks to the extra leverage gained to push them off of the ground, tossing their entire machine airborne and removing the barrier of safety that the edges of treads would provide the tank to slow down the tipping process when hit. This tactic is still fairly effective on level terrain, going a bit further than just nicking the sides of an enemy tank. Swinging your hull upwards when firing can allow you to potentially throw their aim above you. This is due to the opponent's turret taking the impact force instead of the hull, which means all of the force is going to be absorbed by the top of the tank, yanking and tilting it backwards to a small extent. This may be just enough for the shot to whiz over your head without leaving a mark. Level-field shot deflecting through targeting the turret is more focused on the hull's weight base being manipulated by the gun's lack thereof. While this is a bit riskier, a tanker with a heavily impacting weapon can use this swinging technique to potentially flip or considerably slow down other tankers climbing ramps. It's usually done through simply shooting at the front end of their tank and throwing the base of the hull backwards. However, since they're on a slanted surface moving upwards, the player on top has considerable leverage, enough to lift their treads off of the ground and give them nothing to grip. This leaves the other player in a defenseless wheelie for a few seconds, if not flipping them over entirely. However, note that a tank suffering from this blow can always reverse their momentum and drive back down the ramp as quickly as possible, bringing them back to level terrain and allowing themselves to land aright again. If you don't know how already, it's also a fairly good idea to be well-versed in flipping tanks that are just exiting the ramp the old fashioned way: hitting a fast one that's about to leap off at full speed onto the platform above. If they're going fast enough to toss themselves into the air, a shot for your Smoky, Railgun or Hammer can bowl them sideways, since they have nothing solid to grip and steady themselves. Lastly, Arakelyan goes over how to counter being hit with a high impact weapon from the side. Generally, you'll want to avoid exposing your side to someone with such a weapon, as anyone in this position is susceptible to being flipped. Should you be in a position where this is unavoidable, however, you can possibly save yourself by making a sharp turn while still moving forward to keep the impact from charging solely through your tank, alleviating some of the pressure from the top of your tank and exerting a force on the ground below. This is often enough to keep you from reaching a tipping point. If executed properly, you can pull off a short wheelie and land treads-down, ready to plunge into the fight once more. What's Changed Since The most apparent difference between then and now is the lack of impact force of epic proportions tossing tanks aside like cardboard. Railgun, Smoky, and Ricochet were previously convicted for being too powerful against lightweight tanks, so they had the hull's weight reorganized so that they wouldn't be flipped by the aforementioned turrets without effort and incredulous timing. Now, this affects the number of tankers a player with such a weapon will flip. It's become nigh impossible to flip a Hornet with a Railgun of equal modification unless the driver is also using a high recoil weapon akin to Railgun. Admittedly, the realm where the most flips were occurring was the XP/BP universe. Nowadays, in order to flip an XP combination, you have to fire at the side of a tanker while swinging your hull just before they fire. This will cause them to launch a round into the sky, completely missing the target and pushing their hull past the tipping point, up-ending them and giving you that precious 20 seconds to do what needs to be done. In a nutshell, Arakelyan's video boils down to these few points: Be conscious of your hull's positioning when firing, as it could be the difference between you making a shot or missing by a meter. When swinging, remember to drive the opposite direction or simply stop pressing the key before firing to angle a shot upwards or downwards. Do everything in your power to continue turning sideways to counter the impact of an enemy shot. You tank is in charge of where momentum is distributed, so use that to guide your unbalanced hull back to safety. If y'all decided to stick around this long to pick up everything there is to know, good for you. Whether you learned something new (or not), I hope you enjoyed reading this article. Feel free to leave your feedback below; there'll be more of these coming shortly. Tread carefully, cadets. .

Part #1: Swinging your Hull This month, another treasure is resurrected, summoned from the abyss of the older V-Logs for extensive dissection. HolyHeroAlex's ideas of how to control your hull during format battles are essentially an augment to Arakelyan's previous video, giving the gift of more crucial tidbits to using your light hull properly. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2qHGFhUQoB8&list=PLoGHE_kS3ppNjijtBsuSuGJGYvc-5Ye5R&index=5 The Basics In the quick-paced meta world of XP/BP, knowing the ins and outs of both Wasp and Hornet are absolutely essential for survival alone, not to mention victory. HolyHeroAlex first covers the critical facet of hull shape; specifically, starboard and port versus bow and stern. When an enemy Railgun trains their barrel on you and begins charging an attack, keeping the wider sides of the hull facing away from your opponent and pointing your hull towards them minimizes the amount of surface area for them to hit, ultimately offering more survivability. For Hornet, this surface area is decreased more notably than Wasp's, but that's to be expected, judging by its compact size. While this may decrease the likelihood of them hitting you by a small extent, the primary reason to twist your hull to face them when you witness that familiar glow is to help brace for impact. Hornet may have the stability of a rock on a level field but throw high recoil and uneven terrain into the mix and trouble may quickly ensue. Depending on the events that occurred within the last second, being broadsided by a shot may have the potential to flip you. However, a shot from the front is guaranteed not to capsize any hull on a level surface. From the sides, less power and leverage are required to tip your tank due to the shorter width. But from the bow and stern, a shot fired directly through the center of their hull has to displace all of the machine's weight throughout its entire length, which requires far more force that any Railgun (or any weapon in Tanki Online, for the matter) has to accomplish. A further breakdown is depicted through the image below. The tactic of dodging shots though area minimization is useful on the move as well, but applicable in only a few select conditions. Should you happen to be trapped in close quarters with an enemy driving alongside you and they begin heating up their Railgun, there's always a chance for you to brake hard and turn your hull to face theirs. Again, this minimizes total surface area for your opponent to land a shot, and chances are they're going to continue moving forward without you and strike the quadrant of space where your tank used to be. Using this timing to break away and find decent cover (and of course, dealing a parting shot) would be an astute decision. If defensively dodging bullets isn't quite your cup of tea, though, then you can always ram a challenger's hull with your own and attempt to knock it off. This is fairly risky, but if done right, you can become one of the most difficult targets to hit in the most ironic form, taking advantage of Railgun's mediocre rotation speed and forcing them to let around loose before they can completely twist their turret to face you. Another opportunity to grab a flag, find cover and/or punch a hole them is granted. Theoretically, it's unlikely that a tank will stand still long enough and wait to be shunted about like the events that took place from 0:38 - 0:50. More likely than not, they'll be in motion and will be waiting for you to be within decent firing range before actually taking the shot since common knowledge and experience dictates that letting any tank near an XP/BP machine can lead to potential lag, tank-phasing mishaps, or event the events of the aforementioned tactic. Besides, Railguns thrive with range on their side, and many effective players take advantage of this fact to the fullest extent they have available. Not an uncommon situation, everyone at some point has dealt with 'corner combat', or the event in which two players are hiding behind their respective exterior sides of a tall, interactive polygon with a convex perpendicular bend (also known as a corner, if you haven't caught on yet) and are waiting for the right opportunity to fire at one another. Every mono-e-mono Sandbox player is familiar with this conundrum, and plenty of other maps grant opportunities for similar situations to blossom. As HolyHeroAlex denoted, most people bluntly drive forward and shoot, but this bears the risk of your opponent firing before you and spurning your aim. Not only that but driving carelessly around the bend can even allow a Railgun swinging their hull to use their impact force and your recoil in tandem to send you belly-up. Avoiding this outcome isn't guaranteed by any means, but some quick maneuvering around the corner, past their tank's location, and to a position behind them may grant an emergency getaway. Typically, the Railgun on the other side of that corner is looking for a small target just before the edge to fire at, so charging completely around the bend eliminates the pre-anticipated target in exchange for complete and utter exposure to the rest of the field. If you're swift enough, you can swing around the bend, barely evade a shot aimed for that corner, and retaliate with your own. Wasp does a better job performing these sudden leaps and out speeding Railgun's rotation speed, not to mention sporting a smaller target zone. This is not foolproof by any means, though, as the looming Wasp or Hornet may not be flat against the wall and may be able to turn their turret and their hull that minuscule degree difference that lets them nick the rear end of your tank. Instead of blindly planting the shell anywhere into them, focus on whatever end of their hull is nearest to the corner. The impact force, if they're not flat against the wall, will toss that corner back against the wall and subtract those few precious rotation degrees needed for them to blast you to smithereens. Try to consistently aim for the nose of their craft, but take note that it's not impossible for them to back away and cause you to miss while simultaneously widening their degree of immediate fire. A lot of the XP/BP game is founded on course calculation and momentum, keeping the matches dynamic only to a point. When putting a standard non-format battle under the microscope, one can derive that there are usually only two or three routes to invade a base and grab a flag, and skilled defenders can easily guard most of them without too much difficulty. However, subtract all weapons but Railgun and all hulls but the fastest, and no ground is solid ground. That is, 'defense' is but courteous nomenclature for 'offense from our side'. This means pretty much any side is susceptible to attack at any given time, even those that an XP/BP vehicle is guarding. As a brilliant example, HolyHeroAlex explains how to escape from an enemy through charging directly past them. If you're heading around a corner and the path ahead is too long of a straight shot to escape through, there's always a way out -- back the way you came. From a flag-toting distance standpoint, turning tail and charging at your opponents only means that they have less ground to cover when attempting to return the flag. It's common knowledge to most format players to avoid staying inside an enemy base for too long, considering only two shots will do you in and this is where they're all reborn. However, note that winding toward and past your opponents as depicted from 1:30 to 1:37 instead of away from them could save you an extra six seconds if they misfire. That's precious time to release an easy shot and run in the general direction of your teammates. The above tactic functions very similarly to the corner combat segment: drive around the fellow before they can release a shot, plant one yourself into the edge of their hull, and use any cover in the opposite direction. It works only when they don't expect you to return, however, and most will try to recalculate their aim when on the corner or ramp. It's insanely difficult to pull off against a seasoned veteran; worst comes to worst, your discarded, burning shell can still be an impediment to their objectives for several seconds. What's Changed Since Turning your hull to face someone isn't usually done due to overturn prevention anymore since the decreased impact force of Railgun and other weapons. However, this is negated somewhat by the general decrease in hull weight, which is helpful for destabilizing an opponent on unsafe terrain, but not enough to upend a Hornet or Wasp with a lazy broadside shot. Secondly, the roundabout corner combat methods are no longer news. In fact, in that time period, they were still considered old tricks used to mess with less experienced tankers. Their effectiveness relies entirely on predictability; rather, the lack thereof. If you've grown accustomed to simply shooting from behind the wall, suddenly swinging around the corner will most certainly catch them off guard. However, if you've gotten into the habit of performing the prior over the course of the match, a clever feint in simply shooting from behind the wall will confuse wary tankers. Keep your opponent playing a dangerous guessing game, and you'll frequently have the upper hand. In a nutshell, HolyHeroAlex attempts to convey these points: Don't take broadside attacks under any circumstances that you can prevent, as you might wind up flipping yourself if you begin charging just a moment after an enemy Railgun does. Turn your hull to face your opponent to minimize the amount of surface area available for opposition to hit. Instead of constantly shooting from behind the corner, surprise your enemies by swiveling around them and throwing their stratagem off course. Change your corner combat techniques depending on how long you've been using one or another against your opponent. That's all for this particular clip. Hopefully, you picked up something new to use on the field, be it in a format battle or for use under any circumstance. We'll still be covering the topic of XP/BP format matches in the near future, so if you're interested, stay tuned. Tread carefully, cadets. .

In the typical sense, no, modules are not typically downloadable devices. However, a download is a packet of data being taken from a larger source, i.e. the module selection area in the garage, and brought to a potential consumer, i.e you and your tank. In this sense, technically, they would be considered downloadable, though they are not permanent emplacements as a typical download would offer. Besides, Downloadable Defenses is far catchier than Attachable Defenses or Implacable Defenses, wouldn't you think? There's really nothing that can be done about the title now anyways, even if there was a better option. Had I left the article as A Guide To Module Types, that would have served its purpose just as well to attract the interest of anyone curious about the topic, but that seemed a bit too bland to me. Disregarding all of the above, the title is not of major concern in juxtapose to the content of the article itself. I would imagine that's where the real importance of the article should lie, instead of just having a half-way decent hook to interest players in reading said article.

With paints and protections split apart, wearing that special paint you've fawned over since Corporal has no drawbacks involving resistances with defenses so poor that they're useless at higher ranks or those that overlap others already owned, making it a waste of hard-earned crystals. Be it Blue, Lead, or Winter, you can always hook up your favorite paint to the module that best suits the battlefields lying ahead. However, if you're more of a function over fashion player, then the update that cleft paints in two may have another unique benefit to offer: the dubious tactics of tank camouflage. While it is considered a superfluous scheme to pass careless Shafts by, taking advantage of the old and new paints as methods of reducing detection is certainly worth the time on specific maps to potentially increase your lifespan. You can't hit what you can't see, no? Previous Articles I'm not the only one to delve into this topic. In [issue 7] and [issue 29], @hogree and @Thekillerpenguin respectively tackled the 'trivial' topics of tank camouflage, effectively explaining the benefits and deficits of specific paints' concealment properties. At first glance, it would seem irrelevant to create another article on the subject, but several new forces have come into play that requires the topic to be drastically, if not completely, rewired. To recap over the previous two, the most important points to gather not actually involving paints themselves are listed as follows: Stay small. The less volume of hull you have to conceal, the better. Vehicles such as Wasp, Hornet and Viking are the best choices, due to their small sizes or low profile. However, it should be noted that certain variations such as M2 Hornet and Viking and M3 Hornet might not be the best choices, due to their steel detailings leaving your tank standing out like a sore thumb in some situations. XT equipment only amplifies this problem and should be left to those who find their home on the front lines, drawing all of the attention of baffled opponents. Stay stationary. Masquerading as the rocks or the grass is effective only when it follows the rules of rocks and grass. That is, they don't move. You shouldn't either. I highly doubt that another player is going to mistake you for just a breeze. Stay sharp. The term is ambiguous, yes, but it essentially means that you need to keep a constant eye on your opponent's movements and fire at them only when they're not looking. The moment they see you, you're only going to have the same advantages as you typically have on the battlefield, and chances are that you're likely going to be targeted and further prevented from fighting in that area covert ops style, forcing you to play more openly. Stay sniping. In other words, don't start spraying. Firebird and Freeze are terrible choices for camping weapons for obvious reasons. However, less apparent poor choices for camping are Vulcan and Railgun. The former requires continuous spraying to inflict damage, and the latter leaves both a bright charging sequence and a blatantly obvious ion trail for seconds in the sky, making tracking ridiculously easy. Shaft has some difficulties with sniping due to the laser sight. The best weapons to use with camouflage by far are, oddly enough, Thunder and Smoky, thanks to their quick muzzle flash, no trail, and instant impact. (The upcoming artillery-type weapon may have potential to stay hidden as well, but only time and developer's news will tell on that subject.) What's Happened Since As far as standard battle techniques go, the items above are all the best that one can do when attempting to screen themselves from others. Camouflage is considered fairly irrelevant, due to a combination of nametags, the R/V keys, and supply notifications rendering the concealment aspect somewhat ineffective at short ranges. Secondly, since both of the previously mentioned articles have been created, a few critical events have occurred. Shaft's Laser Scope I think we can all safely agree that this update has significantly crippled Shaft's overall effectiveness on the field. However, it was not wrongfully so; this weapon was easily one of the most dangerous on the field on maps like Kungur, Skyscrapers (previously Abyss, all of you vets will remember), Monte Carlo, Berlin... even medium sized maps such as Serpuhov and Barda, where range was limited by high building density and uneven terrain levels, were constantly dominated by a clever sniper. While the laser scope did indeed ruin Shaft's hiding capabilities, intelligent players figured out how to keep their beam hidden while hunting for their prey, keeping shaft a dangerous enemy. New Paint Editions Over the years, Tanki Online's developers have rolled out a few new paints from the assembly lines, now available in stores everywhere. Some of these certainly have piqued interest as tools of disguise, some in more unorthodox methods than others. Unorthodox certainly doesn't imply outstanding effectiveness, however. Module Selection New and old, any defenses you want to use with a specific paint can now be used at whim. Smart players have already taken utmost advantage of this and revived 'dead' paints from the lower ranks. Y'know, those with excellent concealment aesthetics, but mediocre resistances that typically weren't useful at all next to prized defenses like Inferno and Africa. These, in tandem with players with better graphic settings being able to spot tanks easier than those without all of the automatic settings placed, have thrown heavy changes onto the game, leaving those with similar tactics from the previous articles to possibly be outpaced. However, many relevant points made by hog and TKP still stand stalwart today, and will be covered alongside the newfound possibilities for camouflage. Environments As I would wander across the mountains near my town, I'd find locusts with various skin colors depending on what kind of stone they claimed as their home. One particular hill was comprised entirely of dark igneous stone, an unusual phenomenon in a valley with primarily hematite-based rock, where everything was a light shade of terra cotta as far as the eye could see. While the rest of the valley was primarily dominated by hoppers with rusty coloration, this unique upheaval of rock had sprung a unique generation of coal-colored insects, completely unique to the valley. These creatures have mastered the art of disguising themselves perfectly in their respective terrains, and a tank should perform no differently when pursuing this tactic. When preparing to select a paint for an upcoming match, be sure that it can effectively blend with the colors in the background. For example, using Urban, a dark gray and green paint not unlike asphalt and shrubbery, might be a good choice for a Future or Rio DM; more specifically, the plants near the edges of the map, where the road meets the darker shades of the bushes. Many paints have niche locations for where they can be used effectively, attracting minimal attention even from the most scrutinous of tankers. A respectable number of these niche locations are even effective holing points for medium to long-ranged fighters on their own merit, disregarding aspects of disguise altogether. Many paints are multi-purpose, however, serving as viable tools of obscurity versus prying enemy eyes on many grounds. I've dug through the list of paints and correlated them to many locations throughout the Tanki Online universe, revealing a multitude of suitable hiding spots in relatively plain sight. Desert Grasslands Shrubberies Buildings Industrial Space and Sky Winter Nighttime Destroyed Tanks Essentially Pointless Several of these are up to debate on how well they can actually deceive enemy tankers, be it due to graphical settings, an individual player's color blindness or variance (as far as my optometrist has explained, I have no inhibitions involving color blindness, but I do require glasses for moderately severe astigmatism), or due to even the tactical efficacy of staying still for great periods of time limiting camouflage to mobile defense at best. For each test I conducted, I studied the paint under maximum graphic settings, dynamic lighting, shadowing and all. I also had each tank move about a bit during testing for best possible measure. v v v E X T R A S v v v Again, while a skilled veteran may not always be tricked by a clever paint choice, there's always a fair chance that you can catch them and many less wary players off guard. It's common knowledge that bright and quickly moving items are far more attention-grabbing than dull, trawling ones; wisdom would state to apply that knowledge and stay absolutely precise with your placement, control the timing of your movements, and of course, keep an unwavering eye on your enemy's every move. Follow these guidelines well, and your chances of being noticed last increase exponentially. Tread carefully, cadets. .

Read Part I Here Read Part II Here Read Part III Here Read Part IV Here Read Part V Here Read Part VI Here Read Part VII Here Read Part VIII Here Despite the stagnancy of the heater-spurned air around me, I felt a chill course through me as I clicked Play, zipping across an indeterminable number of servers to a preview of the Sandbox T3chio had invited me to. Scanning my friends list, it became clear that teammates weren't far behind, TankiMedic and Pokemontrainer2 having already abandoned the previous match, waiting on my invitation. Punctual as usual, I mused, the rubber bands wrapped about my ribcage slackening a tad. Hopefully they're just as quick on the field, ready for what's coming next. Just as quickly as they loosened, I felt the vines coil about my chest again, that familiar pinpoint of electricity begin to make its rounds through my nervous system. Erg. Hopefully I'M ready for what's coming next, too. I started to tap my fingers incessantly on the flat of my laptop, the familiar tap-tatatap-tap-tatatap-tap-tap sounding slightly muted through the porous headset material. I should have played a bit myself before diving into T3's match. At least should have gotten an XP match in before the day started, or joined some sort of battle... With a rapid jerk, I managed to temporarily clear my head and gather my thoughts for a moment. Focus, John. This is as good as it's going to get. Our team is in its prime after extensive training over the past week, and we've likely hit our peak. We ARE ready for what's coming next, whether I believe it or not. I hovered my mouse icon over the Skype tab still running in the background, telling TankiMedic to keep Pokemontrainer2 in the main chat until I send out the invites. "Don't want to lose anyone else before the match starts," I added. Without warning, a speaker icon appeared over the Tanki Online tab and I began to hear the muffled cannonblasts and quiet growls standard to an empty map. Wasting no time, I shuffled between tabs back to the game and prompted my friends list to appear once more. It took a total of three seconds to send all of the invites and about five more for my comrades to completely fill the red team, according to the digital timer counting down at the bottom right corner of the screen. I frowned slightly upon noticing the flag requirement neighboring the counter, sporting only a requirement of three flags total. That's unusual, both a timer and a flag requirement, I pondered. Maybe T3's got places to be? Could it be there to put pressure on stalemates? What's he playing at? Bringing my attention back to the field, our opponents were already organizing their positions on the blue team, intermittently sprinkled across their expanse of the stage. LIlsims, readily visible from any perspective, was occupied attempting to perform a perfect swing about our side's signpost with M3 Hornet and Railgun, the metallic lofts and divots contrasting sharply with the underlaid waves and bursts of Spark. Huh. So he did get the Legend kit after all. Near the center of the stage, MHSxc1, sporting a Fracture paint just like mine, was standing inert with his turret forward and engines silent. Further back within their base, I could just see flashes of fake02 and T3chio himself busily practicing their defensive maneuvers, rocking their hulls back and forth behind the safety of the concrete barrier. However, it seems as though fake's alternate account wasn't as fortunate financially, I noted as I watched him slide in and out of view repeatedly with his Marine coat. [T3chio: We begin the match at 10:00. Both teams must be on their respective sides by this time, and all preparations should be made before then.] I stopped studying LIlsims' driving attempts and took a second glance at the battle timer. 13:21. We've got three minutes and twenty one seconds to sweat further. I let out a quiet sigh. He knows we're not outgunning him with raw power, what with just our M2s spare viper's Hornet. Heck, none of our Rails can even handle fake with one shot, and he ain't even wearing a resistant paint... I tapped Z several times in succession to face left and get a better look at viper50, who was engaged with the self-imposed assignment of painting bullseyes into boarded windows, sparing no expense to target every nearby house. LIlsims is gonna be all over that guy with his M3s, I reminded myself sullenly. At the least, micro-upgrades are on, so he might not be consistently 1HKO'd. I checked the conversation below T3chio's warning to find no one, spare TankiMedic in concurrence to T3chio's announcement, had spoken. It seems like nobody's arguing against his Tundra, anyways. Taking the opportunity, I pulled the ancient wooden lever next to me and slightly reclined the beaten maroon seat, simultaneously revving my own engines. Following viperf50's suit, I started blasting my own imprints onto the rusted Tanki Online billboards, taking care to avoid striking a wildly flailing LIlsims still obsessed with carving donuts into the asphalt. My stomach coiled in envy as I watched his chiseled Railgun whir effortlessly within its socket. "Hey, Shed." The familiar energetic voice of viperf50 poured through my headset. "You ready, man?" My voice snagged on something in my throat trying to formulate a response. Ugh. I hate this question. I rarely have a sure response for it. Probably because I'm never really ready. A voice of my own suddenly broke through my mental murk, heavily tinted with wry disposition. Ain't that exactly the point, though? Let's face it, you're not going to know the outcome to anything and everything, so stop acting like you have the potential to and relax a bit. Even if you're fully geared up and ready to anticipate what could happen, you'll crumble under the weight of what could be before it does and wind up losing before the battle begins. So ask yourself: do you always have to be ready? Can I not just say 'screw it all' and take a leap? Be fearless and play for once. Win or lose, life will go on. I took a deep breath, digesting my thoughts for a moment before finally replying. "No, viper, I ain't ready, but I ain't ever gonna be, either. If we're being totally honest, none of us are: not us, not TB, not even T3chio himself. And that's perfectly fine, too; we ain't supposed to be." I chuckled slightly to myself. "Ready or not, in the most literal sense, we're gonna take them on." As the rest of the team murmured in agreement and viperf50 let out a playful 'woot woot', I started whirling my own Hornet around in circles as I pondered over what I just said. Is T3 really thinking along the same lines as I am? Come to think, he usually doesn't clam up during matches like he is now, even when we played together as a part of Tanki Brethren. Never was quite the formal type, either. Heck, maybe he is just as nervous as I am, who knows. [T3chio: The match begins in 60 seconds. Polyatomic, is your team set?] A quick scan of the battle timer confirmed that only ten minutes and fifty-seven seconds remained in the match. I didn't hesitate responding this time around. [shedinja: Aye. Are y'all set yourselves?] [T3chio: Yes.] I readjusted the headset into a more comfortable position on my ears again. "Alright, Medic, relay this info to Pokes. We're taking Form Three first to try and pick up as much ground as possible. If we want to keep them pinned on their sides, we have to reach their barriers first. Viper and I will travel along the sides to pick off any resistance that tries to take them, while you and Pokes take the center and slow them down as much as you can." "Alright, got it," Medic replied. I could hear his keyboard chattering away as he continued. "Try and take out sims if you can, we can't take that kind of damage for too long." "Aye. Whichever of you has full health, go after the flag. We'll try to cover you the rest of the way, but viper might have to block intruders from the west entrance. He might not be fast enough to catch up to you guys in time." "I still have enough firepower to take on most everybody else," viperf50 said. "but I'll have to stay defensive for a while after you guys get the flag. I can give you guys support if you want it." "Got it." I shuffled my Hornet's alignment so that it laid parallel with the wall before me. 10:17. Just over a dozen seconds remaining. "Into positions for Three. Medic, keep Pokes updated." Out of my peripheral vision, I saw TankiMedic taking up the ground before the ramp, poised to dive behind the safety of the stone jutting from the ground. Just out of sight, I heard Pokemontrainer2's engine cough as he made way for the far east side of the stage. viperf50 drifted into view slightly behind me, prepped to dish out supporting fire. Just like we practiced. [T3chio: 10 sec] I tapped at the Q and E keys to peer from behind the brick tower into the opposing field, searching for a member of Tanki Brethren to get the drop on first. Not a single errant pixel of Hornet or Railgun origin poked out from the edge of the platform. What are they setting up over there? I felt my guts begin to knot again, harder than ever before. No. Stop that. We'll worry about it once we get there. 10:02. Ready or not, here we come. Then the timer struck 10:00 and engines across the map roared to life. Immediately after the timer struck ten, I slammed the up arrow key and expertly skidded around the corner of the wall, training my turret directly on the small gap of space before the next blind turn. Far to the right, I saw MHSxc1 fly from the ramp onto high ground, a shot already launched and quickly dissipating. To confirm my concerns, I heard TankiMedic bark something about Pokemontrainer2 getting hit. A quick peek back above told me vengeance had been sought through two crisscrossed beams of light, lashed with degree-perfect accuracy through a smoldering corpse. Keeping my efforts focused forward, I had already cleared half the distance between the two bases without catching sight of any opposing clan members. viperf50 was lagging behind slightly, drifting casually to the right alongside the wall to avoid lining himself up for any piercing shots. Spasmodically tapping Q and E still revealed no sign of any nearby players. Either we're scott-free with swiping the flag, or there's someone already waiting behind the barrier on the main platform for us to move into position. My Railgun swung to the right drastically as I prepared to cut my treads left, accessing a decent firing angle to counter any potential threat. Upon reaching the outcropping, however, it became apparent that nobody was there. viperf50 was on the ball, immediately relaying the data. "Meds, there's nobody west side, everyone else over with you?" "We've got fake and LIlsims over here, but we haven't seen T3 yet." Without any prior indicator, I heard a Railgun begin charging. It was viperf50, launching a shot into the bushes, striking a lavender will-o'-wisp and causing it to jerk sharply to the right. The following shot flew miles overhead. Oh flab, he was hiding in the bushes the entire time? How didn't I see him enter? I opened fire into the shrubbery and caught a glimpse of the Savannah-coated Hornet desperately trying to flee before the hull erupted into smoke and flame. Huh. No wonder I couldn't find him. With my wimpy graphics settings, I couldn't hope to detect him from a distance within that greenery. This could be a major problem. I could hear sprockets inside viperf50's Hornet winding away behind me as we rounded the bend post haste into the blue base. Atop the central platform, TankiMedic and Pokemontrainer2 were still attempting to tackle T3chio and LIlsims, the former teammate with only a fraction of his health remaining and the latter detonating before my eyes, a bright orange spear impaling his tail end as he tried to dive over the edge of the stage. Meanwhile, MHSxc1 had spawned in the far corner and was barreling headlong at TankiMedic, who had just expended his last shot on one of the two closer Hornets and causing it to rupture and spurt angry flames. "Medic, hang in there as long as you can, I'm going to try and cart the flag through the center. Viper and I have full health right now." I lost sight of TankiMedic's beige vehicle as it slid out of view behind a slate barrier. "Got it, but watch yourself; sims still has full health and MHS just spawned in. Where's T3?" I heard a muted explosion from his computer, presumably his own tank. We've gotta keep moving, I thought just as MHSxc1 popped into reality from the blue base's opposite corner. "Dead," I replied. " viper and I caught him." I continued making a beeline for the flag, keeping a careful eye on the main arena should the only M3 player decide to swing back around for defensive measures. MHSxc1 had already moved out of targeting range in his pursuit of TankiMedic, so it was a simple task to grab the flag and turn tail for the central ramp. viperf50 swiftly changed course behind me and scraped the walls with his hull in the direction we came. "I'm doubling back to take care of sims and MHS. They're going after the flag." A bright yellow notification coupled with a blaring brass note confirmed his statement instantly. "I'll follow you until the second barrier," I replied, "but I need to stay sheltered from MHS, he's hunting by the house." I leapt over the incline's end smoothly, swinging my turret to first the left, then behind me as I scanned my surroundings. MHS is indeed behind the house, joined quickly by fake, and T3's just spawned in too far away to do anything to me immediately. Where's LIlsims, then? I hit the brakes sharply to avoid being swatted by a round from fake02, who decided to double back and try to clip my tank from the ramp. A flash of bright red and gold caught my eye from the furthest right peripherals of my screen. There you are. He hasn't left our base yet. After a failed retaliation shot in the green tank's general direction, I changed course and broke to the western side of the map, having to take a round from T3chio in the process but avoiding imminent death from two opponents at once. By the time I had slipped down the western ramp and back behind the dubious safety of the low ground, LIlsims had already escalated the southern ramp and was in the process of making a quick getaway with the flag. viperf50 was suddenly hollering at me through the headset. "Shed, watch fake!" Panic shot through me as I pecked 'E' several times to adjust my camera height. Sure enough, fake02 had left his post by the house and was barreling around the corner from inside our base, turret glowing and preparing for launch. Instinctively, I back away to the ramp once more and sufficiently used the stone corners to protect myself from the incoming blast. Simultaneously, as T3chio closed in for a second shot, I swept my own Railgun to the right and caught just a single iron-cast tread with enough force to bowl him sideways and send his shot into the signpost. Shortly thereafter, his tank was pierced once again with a thistle ray from viperf50, blockading the ramp and rendering it impassable for a precious few seconds. Fortunately, I didn't drop all of my momentum in the process of evading both players, allowing me to swivel around the lip of the ramp and fall back onto the ground once more, this time within the sanctity of my own base. TankiMedic was already grappling with MHS by the house, my partner landing an excellent parting shot on the amber machine as he tucked himself behind the wooden shack. Pokemontrainer2 and LIlsims were nowhere to be seen. I stayed within the sloped alcove for a moment, busily rocking my tank back and forth, eyeing fake02's last position behind the brick tower, and considering my options. I still need three seconds to charge my weapon, and both Medic and viper are busy at the moment. I'm probably going to have to tackle fake myself. Scrounging some courage, I charged from my temporary sanctuary, taking an acute angle from the wall and training my gun at the corner, making unconscious trajectory recalculations as I drove. The Q and E keys were taking spasmodic impacts as I desperately searched for a sign of the navy blue tank. Screw it. There's no point in waiting for death to roll around the corner. I hit the spacebar before I was even close to the edge of the platform, my weapon still locked onto the small bar of pixels before the corner. My warm-up was half complete when I saw the tiniest of dark blue points pass the threshold of the concrete wall. Just as quickly, they retracted themselves and my shot buried itself in the rock wall a million miles away. Knowing I was doomed, I tapped F and catapulted myself towards the corner with ferocity that would have made a kamikaze pilot proud. I was dead before I could even turn my hull sideways to impede fake02's progress further, the leader having punched a gaping hole through it. "Flag! Our side! fake's a two-hit!" Before my ghost even left the ground, fake02 was immediately shot by TankiMedic, aggressively dashing for the flag that was far too distant for him to even hope to reach. He only made it about halfway to the original drop point before fake02 easily scooped it up, viperf50 even closer still to rescue with a blast that impacted a second too late. I began tapping away at the Q and E keys once again in tandem with a steady course towards the eastern side of the map. Where was LIlsims? I can't see him anywhere from this side of the map. "Medic, where's sims?!" I called out, nearly nipping a chunk out of my microphone in the process. Adjusting it without breaking stride, I discovered the answer to my question: racing for the blue flag, turret facing stern to fend off a furious Pokemontrainer2 in hot pursuit. LIlsims' control seems to be a bit loose, I realized as I watched his M3 Hornet from afar, skidding awkwardly in the general direction of the capture point. The Railgun atop was flailing wildly, jettisoning a beam into the wall beside him instead of into his assailant. This could be incredibly useful to us, I realized, an iron smirk forming across my face as my teammate set the skidding mech ablaze and returned our flag. "Medic, viper, I don't think sims got in much practice with his M3 combo, he's slipping." viperf50 responded first. "He just got his equipment a day or two ago, dude." "I know he picked it up recently, that's why he's slipping. It makes him less threatening than the rest of the team, they're already worn into their weapons and can aim consistently." Whirling around the bend with minimal effort, I used the remaining forward momentum to swing my hull onto the flag spawn plate, turning my hull left and perpendicular to the wall I just passed. A sandy-green bullet had begun moving in my direction, still transparent from spawning somewhere near the center of their base. Reversing behind the relative safety of the corner once more, I yielded but a few milliseconds before energizing my weapon to impact T3chio's left shoulder, resulting in a successful deflection of his primed shot. A second purple ion trail graced the space beside me and landed the finishing blow on him as I made my retreat. Thanks, Biggs. A wave of pride surged over me as Pokemontrainer2 raced past me once again, taking a position on the eastern ramp to have a vantage point against a rapidly approaching MHSxc1. I turned the corner back onto the red team's side just in time to have the nose of my amber Hornet slammed sideways by a lavender missile, the impacted area marked by a weird, circular wave of the same color. Skittering across the grass, I tapped spacebar and emptied my turret's chamber into my assailant, of which I could now clearly identify as T3chio. Wasting no time, knowing that MHSxc1 was clearly on my tail, I dove behind the nearby wooden shack and frantically poked at Q and E to assess player locations. MHS is dropping from the central platform and headed in my direction, and fake is doing the same within our base. I'm sure I hit him, so I can take him out if I need to. fake02 is respawning again, and LIlsims can't be too far away now that he's not holding the flag. Pokemontrainer2 can probably land a hit on MHS so I can finish him, too, but I'd rather not have to expose myself to the blue side for too long. TankiMedic's on his way back from the middle, making his way up from the western ramp. If he takes out fake, I can dive across the map and still save a shot for MHS, while simultaneously not having to stay within the blue base's sight long. MHSxc1 was already landing on the ground, spurning dust and dirt from his treads upon impact. The crystalline yellow bar required just a second longer to eradicate the remaining emptiness. "Medic, hit fake!" A bright beige vehicle peeked from over the ramp, weapon already glowing and hunting for a target. LIlsims, however, was quicker to the draw. Though he was on the complete opposite corner of the map, I could still easily make out the Spark paint against the natural greens and khakis as he apparated from seemingly nowhere and punched a round through TankiMedic's dangerously bright Railgun from an angle behind him. His tank rolled sideways to a treacherous degree before his own shot discharged into the ground, sending his treads spinning back the other direction to land with only the corners of his right treadset touching the ground. Almost within the same fraction of a second, T3chio was swinging his own Railgun around in preparation to finish the job. For whatever logic-forsaken reason, my Railgun still had the tiniest of dark pixels waiting to be subtracted from the reload bar. My mind pulsed with a silent plea. C'mon, Pokes, shoot someone! To my surprise, however, it was not Pokemontrainer2 that answered my prayer, but viperf50, wheeling around the corner and stabbing fake02 through the heart. Within the same instant, Pokemontrainer2's weapon must've finally recharged, for he finally opened fire on the topaz Hornet that had strayed dangerously close to my camping spot, the impact force jabbing MHSxc1's hull into the corner of the house and halting the last of his momentum. viperf50 began hollering over the channel again. "Now's your chance, go go!" "You don't need to tell me twice," I replied as I bounced over the arrow keys for a moment to navigate my way out from between the buildings. "Watch yourself, sims is nearby!" "Nope, killed him." "Already? Nice." I noted the status messages in the corner of my screen alongside viperf50's notably low health, a flimsy layer of crimson buried within a burgundy bar. "You lived through an M3 shot after all." "Uh huh. Probably won't next time, though, but he don't know that." "I suppose that's for the better." Having made my way out from behind the building, I sent a purple beam expressly in the direction MHSxc1, of whom was still struggling to wriggle his way between the house and Pokemontrainer2, standing four-square against the rugged wall of the arena. Within seconds, the first flag of the match had been claimed, requiring but a minute and forty two seconds to acquire. The next will be far harder to acquire, I thought sullenly, changing gears and flattening my citrine machine against the concrete before me to prepare for another assault. Another shot, its owner unknown, whizzed over my head and discharged harmlessly into the crags behind me. It always is. Read Part X Here .

Attention, ladies and germs! The contest is now closed, the results are under the [Results] topic. See for yourself here!

The player I killed was an insurgent from one of the loomynaughty's data collecting facilities. You can thank me whenever you feel able.